Official Review: Annie's 1st Break by Willee Amsden

Post by **bookowlie** » 20 Oct 2015, 10:47

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Annie's 1st Break" by Willee Amsden.]

3 out of 4 stars

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What entices people to read a book? One reason is a wonderful cover. Another is an attention-grabbing first few paragraphs. Of course, there are various other reasons. However, if there is a great cover and interesting first page, the book is already ahead of the game. Willee Amsden’s Annie’s 1st Break is a great example of this. (Note: Willee is the correct spelling of the author’s first name). It is the first installment in the Annie McCauley Romantic Comedy Mystery series. Wow, that’s a mouthful; I’ll let you figure out which genres this book fits into.

Former trailer-park Texan Annie McCauley is trying to make it to the big time as a model in New York City. She falls for Tomi Di Ponti, the CEO of a cosmetics and jewelry company, but she has romantic and professional competition from Brittany, another trailer park alumni. When Annie becomes the spokesmodel for the company’s new Czarina line, it appears she is on her way with a contract that includes a six-figure salary, a new luxury car, and other perks. Add a gay best friend, a bodyguard/rival for her affections, and an old feud between families and you have the recipe for a rollicking story.

The author has a nice, chatty writing style. The descriptions are excellent in a wacky, oddly realistic way. Here are a few nuggets: “…opens my refrigerator and sees the science projects gone wrong that constitute my food supply” and “Except for her cursing and blowing the horn and commenting on the intelligence of the other drivers, it was a pretty quiet trip”. I also enjoyed the sprinkling of Annie’s rules and what I call “Annie-isms” throughout the story.

Annie and all of the supporting characters are well developed with interesting backstories. Luis and Annie’s close friendship is very believable and relatable. Luis is the perfect best friend and cuts right to the heart of anything he and “Queen of the Obvious (as he refers to her) are chatting about. Embarrassing situations swirl around plucky Annie wherever she goes, with one toilet seat issue even making her famous on Youtube.

The biggest weakness here is that many points get “discussed to death.” This bogs down the pace of the story. Sure, there are humorous situations, but more along the lines of a weekly TV sitcom. In fact, I think the story would have worked better as a sitcom with weekly, funny situations rather than a book’s cohesive storyline. Right from the first chapter, each occurrence drags on for too many pages even if it’s not central to the plot. The toilet seat incident, for example, starts off hilariously and then goes on way too long. It’s like a joke that starts off funny until the person takes an hour to tell it. In another section, Annie and her new bodyguard Luther have a pages-long conversation about who’s the boss in their business relationship. I believe the author could have benefitted from a good editing job to reign in the excess. A trimmed-down version would keep a reader’s interest consistently throughout the story. The plot does pick up steam in the last third of the book and I became more invested in the outcome.

There are a few sections that didn’t ring true. Annie agreed to Brittany’s mother’s plea to get Brittany a job in Tomi’s company. There was a lot riding on the new product line and it was head-scratching that Annie would get Brittany a job working alongside her, given their rivalry. I also thought that it was unrealistic that Tomi would share confidential information with Annie about the state of the company’s affairs so soon after giving her a contract.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I would recommend it to readers who enjoy light mysteries and romantic comedies with offbeat characters. Despite the flaws I mentioned, the book is still a humorous, light read and it deserves to be recognized as such. I often found myself smiling and even laughing out loud while reading; that’s always a good thing.

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Annie's 1st Break
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gali · Post by **gali** » 20 Oct 2015, 13:28

Great review as always. I am glad you enjoyed it.

Post by **bookowlie** » 20 Oct 2015, 14:59

Thanks Gali. I appreciate the compliment, particularly since this review was a little difficult to write. The book was such a mix of different genres. Is it a bird, is it a plane, is it Superman?

Ramona · Post by **Ramona** » 20 Oct 2015, 21:07

Great review! You seem to have nailed the good and the not so good about the book. And yet in your opinion, the good definitely outweighed the bad. I enjoyed reading your review.

Post by **bookowlie** » 20 Oct 2015, 23:15

Thanks Ramona. By the way, I love your reading dog avatar.

willee96 · Post by **willee96** » 21 Oct 2015, 07:27

I rarely comment on a review of my own book. That's dangerous ground for an author. This review was so helpful to me as a writer that I just had to say thank you for an insightful, honest, well balanced review. I admit the genre is difficult to nail. As the series has progressed it has slipped into the romance/mystery category. Each book is meant to be a romantic comedy mystery. I'm glad it made you laugh out loud. My goal is one million laughs, one reader at a time. Thanks again for the points you made and I'll use them to tighten up future books in this series.

Post by **bookowlie** » 21 Oct 2015, 08:20

Thanks for taking the time to comment! I would like to mention that I liked this book enough to want to read the next installment. The characters have stayed with me two days after finishing the book, which is always a good sign.

For anyone that is considering reading this book, the Kindle version is free, at least for the moment. If you want to laugh a lot, get this book. You will laugh a LOT.

gali · Post by **gali** » 21 Oct 2015, 08:24

bookowlie wrote:Thanks for taking the time to comment! I would like to mention that I liked this book enough to want to read the next installment. The characters have stayed with me two days after finishing the book, which is always a good sign.

For anyone that is considering reading this book, the Kindle version is free, at least for the moment. If you want to laugh a lot, get this book. You will laugh a LOT.

Thank you for the heads up. I bought it.

Post by **bookowlie** » 21 Oct 2015, 08:46

gali wrote:
bookowlie wrote:Thanks for taking the time to comment! I would like to mention that I liked this book enough to want to read the next installment. The characters have stayed with me two days after finishing the book, which is always a good sign.

For anyone that is considering reading this book, the Kindle version is free, at least for the moment. If you want to laugh a lot, get this book. You will laugh a LOT.
Thank you for the heads up. I bought it.

I hope you enjoy reading it. I am not a major reader of romance novels, but I do like mystery and comedies.

bluemel4 · Post by **bluemel4** » 21 Oct 2015, 08:53

Fantastic and engaging review! I love that this book is a mashup of genres. It sounds like a fun read. I am going to have to get a copy.

Post by **bookowlie** » 21 Oct 2015, 08:57

Thanks! By the way, I love that word "mashup". In another review book I read a few months ago, the characters had a hobby where they would make up their own board games by doing a mashup of two games. Love that word.

Tanaya · Post by **Tanaya** » 22 Oct 2015, 13:30

I laughed at your parenthetical note about the spelling of the author's name, and I don't know why. As always, I thoroughly enjoyed your review, especially in comparing the book to a sitcom. Excessiveness is a newly developed pet peeve of mine, so that wouldn't sit well with me. But I could always use more humor in my life so thanks for the recommendation.

Jesska6029 · Post by **Jesska6029** » 22 Oct 2015, 16:41

I'm putting this on my list! This totally seems like something I would enjoy! Great Review!

Post by **bookowlie** » 22 Oct 2015, 20:19

Tanaya wrote:I laughed at your parenthetical note about the spelling of the author's name, and I don't know why. As always, I thoroughly enjoyed your review, especially in comparing the book to a sitcom. Excessiveness is a newly developed pet peeve of mine, so that wouldn't sit well with me. But I could always use more humor in my life so thanks for the recommendation.

Thanks Tanaya. Even with the excess, it was a very enjoyable light read.

-- 22 Oct 2015, 21:21 --

Thanks Jesska. I think you would like the book. Some passages are hilarious.