Review: a two sided read
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 23, 2012
This book contains a very real young woman, late-twenties if I read the clues correctly, whose inner voice spoke clearly about her struggle to grow as a Christian woman. Her aunt was a strong foil and guide - very real. I enjoyed watching Summer struggle and mature a little in this book. Her encounter with the "vamp" from her high school years started off well. Her visit to the woman's home, and the insights she gained about her rival were well done. Then the rival died. I felt cheated of the opportunity to see Summer and this woman put aside high school leftovers - the more mature Summer and this woman could have connected, and helped the novel become a deeper read and an even better whodunnit.The two sides to this read: I felt this book had been written by two people, who shuffled the story like a deck of cards. As I read (I kept reading because of Summer, and I wanted to find out about the bury-er of the diamonds - which was never satisfactorily clear, by the way), I felt that someone had written a high school romance novel and tried to stuff Summer into it. I could almost draw a line between the realistic life of the character and the romance novel sugar buzz.If the guy had real character, he'd have been a regular guy and asked her out. His dialogue and character needed a dose of "guy", not a "handsome prince from a romance novel."There were also a few scenes with the chocolate process - I was left feeling that the author had not experienced working with/decorating chocolate. Fingertips will not make detailed lettering on top of a piece of candy.The mystery was a good one and had some good hooks, but was very choppy. This is a good first draft of a book that could be something with a few more revisions.