Official Review: The Singer and the Waitress

Kourtney Bradley · Post by **Kourtney Bradley** » 12 Aug 2016, 20:24

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Singer and the Waitress" by Isabella Harron.]

2 out of 4 stars

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The Singer and the Waitress by Isabella Harron is a modern day romance novel that takes place in the small town of Mason, Texas. The story starts off following country singer Lincoln Wade, who is attempting to escape the media following the start to a nasty divorce. Lincoln ends up staying with his manager’s relatives and posing as their nephew during his time away from his singing career in Nashville. The country music star ends up meeting Emily, the co-owner of Em’s Diner and realizes that meeting this pretty blonde could all be a part of fate. Just as the two are starting to envision a future together, they are just as quickly facing trying situations that could cease their relationship before it has even had a chance to really begin.

While I feel like this book could have really great potential, I found it to be lacking any kind of true emotion. Both characters instantly and unrealistically begin to imagine what their life would be like by each other’s side, before uttering a single word. Their romance seemed more like a high school infatuation, rather than that of a 40-year-old single mother and a 29-year-old country music sensation. Other than lacking in their connectivity, I found both of the characters to be under-developed and difficult to relate to. Emily becomes a blubbering mess after only realizing that she found Lincoln to be attractive, and Lincoln confesses love while rolling around in hay with a woman he has only just met.

Another issue I came across was the editing of the novel. There were numerous occasions throughout where there were incomplete sentences, quotation marks used in places where there was no conversation occurring, and endless punctuation errors. The book needs a complete and thorough editing, because reading it as-is proves to be a challenging task with several sentences/paragraphs that are hard to understand. Another editing issue that I came across was conflicting chapter indicators. The beginning of each chapter would be labeled twice. For example, "Chapter Six Chapter 3." The dedication page was also left as a "cut and paste," as it said, "Insert dedication here." There were also several spelling errors that seemed to distract me from the story line. For example, “about” was spelled as “baout,” and “been” was spelled as “benn,” both being picked out from the same page in chapter three.

Not only did I feel like the editing was rushed, but the story line just as much so. The pace of the relationship fueling the two main characters was too rushed to feel natural, and the ending off the book was so predictable and ended so abruptly that I felt as though I had somehow missed a few chapters. (I hadn’t- I checked.)

Overall, I found the book seemed to have the start to a good romantic plot, which could lead to an intriguing read. However, due to the consistent number of errors, lack of editing, and rushing of the story, I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. I would like to see the author sending the book through an editor to make some necessary adjustments, and then maybe spend some more time on developing the characters. I would recommend this book to those who enjoy reading a quick and light romance novel.

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The Singer and the Waitress
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braver · Post by **braver** » 22 Aug 2016, 18:50

Wow, "Insert dedication here" might be the most egregious editing error yet. Good job on the review!

Kourtney Bradley · Post by **Kourtney Bradley** » 22 Aug 2016, 19:12

braver wrote:Wow, "Insert dedication here" might be the most egregious editing error yet. Good job on the review!

Thank you! I thought so too! It seemed as if there was a template.

Post by **bookowlie** » 23 Aug 2016, 20:17

Nice, insightful review! I can see how you would be disappointed in the book between the countless errors and lack of emotion between the characters. It's a shame because the premise sounds interesting.

Kourtney Bradley · Post by **Kourtney Bradley** » 23 Aug 2016, 20:18

bookowlie wrote:Nice, insightful review! I can see how you would be disappointed in the book between the countless errors and lack of emotion between the characters. It's a shame because the premise sounds interesting.

Thank you for the feedback! I can usually over look minor errors, but sometimes they become too distracting!

Post by **bookowlie** » 23 Aug 2016, 20:24

I am the same way. If there are too many errors, it's annoying like a mosquito flying around while you're reading. It also bothers me that people should have to pay for a book that has so many noticeable errors.

Kourtney Bradley · Post by **Kourtney Bradley** » 23 Aug 2016, 20:34

I used to think it was pretty neat if I could pick out errors in a book I had bought, but over the years it has become more of a distraction.

Cee-Jay Aurinko · Post by **Cee-Jay Aurinko** » 06 Sep 2016, 10:16

The plot sounds fair enough. I hate it when books have a lot of errors though. Great reviewing, klbradley!

Kourtney Bradley · Post by **Kourtney Bradley** » 06 Sep 2016, 11:45

Cee-Jay Aurinko wrote:The plot sounds fair enough. I hate it when books have a lot of errors though. Great reviewing, klbradley!

The plot definitely had potential, I agree.
Thank you!

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 13 Sep 2016, 02:04

That was a very honest review. I may enjoy whirlwind romance a little but 'characters instantly and unrealistically begin to imagine what their life would be like by each other’s side, before uttering a single word' is something else

Moreover, it seems like the book would benefit from thorough editing. Good job on the review.

Kourtney Bradley · Post by **Kourtney Bradley** » 13 Sep 2016, 02:05

kimmyschemy06 wrote:That was a very honest review. I may enjoy whirlwind romance a little but 'characters instantly and unrealistically begin to imagine what their life would be like by each other’s side, before uttering a single word' is something else Moreover, it seems like the book would benefit from thorough editing. Good job on the review.

Thank you!!

AA1495 · Post by **AA1495** » 15 Sep 2016, 13:42

The plot does seem interesting. These editing errors would be very irritating though - I'll have to skip this one. Thanks for the review!

Kourtney Bradley · Post by **Kourtney Bradley** » 15 Sep 2016, 13:47

AA1495 wrote:The plot does seem interesting. These editing errors would be very irritating though - I'll have to skip this one. Thanks for the review!

Thanks for the feedback!