Rating = 4, Content: Clean
Source: Provided a copy from the author for an honest review
With her love of sweaters, goofy hair, and awkward manners—not to mention her family curse—Treasure Blume knows love is not in her future. That is, until she matches wits with Dennis Cameron, a divorced chef with a six-year-old daughter. Full of mischief, mayhem, and laugh-out-loud humor, this is an unlikely love story you’ll want to read over and over again! (Goodreads)
Treasure Blume is a bit awkward and doesn't leave a good first impression on people (part of her gift/curse). The book starts with a horrible blind date. The blind date didn't end up happening and after he left, she promptly took off her embroidered Noah's Ark sweater and got comfy in her sweats while she called her best friend, Roxy, to rehash her evening and get a fresh perspective on life.
Treasure is a first-grade teacher who cares about her students and wants the best for them. She comes up with some great ideas to help each of them feel included and shows compassion in several different ways. I liked the way she handled some tough situations that came up. She's not perfect but has the best interests of others at heart and that comes through.
Then there's Grammy Blume, who is every bit as quirky as Treasure. When Treasure was young, Grammy was a scary old lady and when she was 12, her father left her alone with Grammy for the first time. Treasure opened up to her about a humiliating experience that happened in school. Grammy took action and she and Treasure have been close ever since. She told Treasure about her gift/curse which helps Treasure cope with the way she's treated by others.
Grammy is also part of Ruby's Red Hot Chili Steppers, a semi-elite dance team composed of mature women over 65 years old. Treasure is their gopher, whose duties include handing out water bottles, cueing music and filling in wherever she's needed. This group is awesome! I loved reading their interactions with each other; they made me laugh several times. Grammy Blume is a colorful, fun character who tells Treasure things she needs to hear. It's always good to have someone like that in your life because sometimes it's hard to see your own good qualities and it's always nice to have someone point them out to you.
There are lots of other fun characters and I laughed quite a bit. The romance was gradual and realistic. When she first met Dennis, it was definitely not love at first sight. Their first interactions with each other didn't go well. When their feelings shifted, it was still a rocky road and I rooted for them to find a way to make their relationship work. This book started out slow for me and then it started to pick up and was hard to put down as I wanted to see what would happen with Treasure. There's a great message in this book and it's definitely worth reading!
Lisa Rumsey Harris grew up writing stories and riding horses in Southeastern Idaho. She received a bachelor's and master's degree in English from Brigham Young University. She lives in Orem, Utah, with her ancient Siamese cat, her multi-talented husband, and her three adorable daughters.
1 comments:
Spot on summary! I concur with your thoughts on your last two paragraphs. --Well done Mel!
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