My edition: paperback, published on 3 October 2014 by Mills & Boon, 400 pages.Description: Nicole, a born organiser and true romantic, has created her dream job when she sets up the Hopes & Dreams proposal agency - staging YouTube worthy proposals...until she's hired to plan a proposal by gorgeous photographer Alex Black's girlfriend.
Alex is the New Year's kiss that Nicole hasn't been able to forget - and now she's planning his wedding to someone else! But if she lets herself fall for Alex's charms, her reputation and business will be ruined before it's even got off the ground!
Suddenly the girl whose always prepared is at a loss...and falling head over heels.
Rating:
Last year I read delightful festive read Make My Wish Come True by Fiona Harper and so I was thrilled when I had the opportunity to review this year's Christmas release by the same author. I actually read this a few months ago (perfectly in time for the festive season), but I haven't reviewed I sooner because I always have many books to review and ones I strongly love or dislike are far easier to talk about than the mediocre ones that fall in the middle, like this particular book.
Nicole Harrison is the owner of Hopes & Dreams proposal agency. If you want your proposal to be unique and noteworthy, even going viral on YouTube, then she is the girl for the job. However, for someone whose job revolves around romance, her own love life is severely lacking. Until she spends one memorable New Year's Eve snogging a gorgeous mystery man.
Fast forward nearly a year and Nicole is struggling to keep her company running, there simply isn't enough money coming in. So when famous-for-being-famous socialite Saffron Wolden-Barnes steps through the door, she could be the answer to all Nicole's prayers. If she can make Saffron's proposal perfect, the publicity alone could safe the company.
There is only one problem, when Nicole researches the man Saffron wants to propose to it turns out that it is her New Year's mystery man! Will Nicole be able to put her own feelings aside to save her company?
The story which sounded fun from the outset was actually very predictable, which was a true shame. There could've been a lot of interesting twists and turns to create a more gripping read but it pretty much followed the plot as I expected from the start.
I also found the characters somewhat one-dimensional and lacking, and Nicole herself was a tad too self-centred for me as reader to be able to sympathise with her, which made it difficult to truly get invested into their lives and really care about where the story was heading.
Having said that, the novel was an enjoyable and easy read, even if its predictability meant it lacked a sense of excitement or unexpectedness. And with an okay story and sweet romantic undertones The Little Shop of Hopes and Dreams is perfectly suitable as a mindless read to dream away with, I just personally prefer my books to have a bit more substance than that.
You can pre-order the novel from Waterstones, Amazon.co.uk or your own preferred retailer.
Would you like to know more about the author? You can connect with her online at:
Website: www.fionaharper.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/fi.harper.author
Twitter: @fiharperauthor_
Many thanks to the publisher for a copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.
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