Review: Mechanical Nightmare!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 10, 2013
I received  the eBook from the author as a give-away on LibraryThing.com.  All she asked in return was a review. I started reading the book the day I received it. Immediately I liked the characters. (I really wish I could have known Teddy! That's a hint to the author.) Rosie, like  all of  the characters had flaws. They didn't impede the story, you just know they're  hanging around. Dade, I loved immediately. He was so typical male in some ways and so atypical in others. I never knew which way he'd go at any given moment. I liked Rosie's four friends and would have loved  to have learned more about them but this was not their story.The bottom line is that I liked the story. It was cute and easy to read and it wasn't so predictable as to be boring. I'd give the author a B+ on this.That's the good news; now for the bad. There were just too many grammatical and/or typing errors in the novel. As a retired teacher, they jumped out at me. Some even slapped me on my head. When I taught 7th and 8th grade Communication Arts, I'd tell the students at what level a certain  skill was introduced and at what level mastery was expected.  When they realized they were making 2nd grade mistakes they were embarrassed and corrected them without complaint.  Shit Kickers and Stilettos  was what I would have expected as the first typed copy, one step up from the initial `sloppy copy'.I think some of the errors would have been corrected by spellcheck in Word with the `grammar' box checked. I know Word Perfect would have corrected many. (Oh how I miss Word Perfect.) Here are three of the errors that should not have found their way to the published book:Page 26 With impatient growl he opened the first of the three reports that he needed to go over before his meetingtomorrow.Page 39 She explained that her parents owned a house in Weston Massachusetts about a half hour out of the city, butthey traveled all the time.Page 136 If she hadn't already made up her mind about her feelings for Dade her  irrational jealousy would haveforced  her to come too damn quick  conclusion.Then there's the matter of the puppies' names. One puppy is named Ava and the other Zaa Zaa. My first thought was that the dogs were named after the Gabor sisters. If so, Ava is correct, but Zaa Zaa should have been Zsa Zsa.  If she indeed named the puppy Zaa Zaa, a little explanation might have been helpful for those readers who made the connection.  If  I were grading the mechanics of the book, I'd have to give this an F!I know it's sometimes hard to proofread your own work because you read what you thought you wrote. Take the time to read and reread and reread again to find those errors that spellcheck didn't highlight. If Rita Sawyer wants to see more five star ratings and an increase in sales, this issue must be addressed.