Review: Diary of a Bibliophile Review
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 7, 2013
Oh, I sooooo identify with this main character!  I have a tendency to blurt out things that sound fine in my head, but somehow the words completely change when they fall out of my mouth.  Gwen is a normal, intelligent woman, but somehow, when she is in the presence of a single man her brain malfunctions and her mouth operates like it has a mind of its own.  In the scenes where Gwen and Ethan meet, her humiliation just builds and builds with every word.  It is so funny!While most men are turned off by Gwen's running mouth and biting honesty, Ethan finds it refreshing.  As a famous celebrity chef, Ethan is fed up with disingenuous people who want to ride his coat tails.  At least with Gwen, he knows where he stands.  The romance that builds between the two felt realistic.  It was quick, but no insta-love.  The pacing was perfect for a novella length story.I really liked the elements of magic in this story.  In a novella, it is hard to build an elaborate paranormal world.  The hints of magic reminded me a little of an Alice Hoffman novel.  Just perfect.The writing quality in this book was strong.  (There is nothing worse than downloading an e-book that is riddled with errors.)  Ms. Gray's use of dialog was brilliant, and the book was well edited.  This was a fun, short read.Overall, I give Sweet Serendipity...Plot - 5 bookmarksCharacter development - 4 bookmarks (Probably would have been 5 if it had been a full length novel and the characters had more time to grow.)Paranormal elements - 5 bookmarksDream cast (otherwise known as who I pictured while reading) - Curtis Stone (Ethan - I know his coloring doesn't match the character, but when I think of hot celebrity chef, my mind goes straight to Curtis), Carey Mulligan (Gwen), Carol Kane (Eliza)