Official Review: Miss Fancy Pants by Alicia Gargaro-Magana

rachel_bruhn · Post by **rachel_bruhn** » 23 Sep 2015, 08:46

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Miss Fancy Pants" by Alicia Gargaro-Magana.]

4 out of 4 stars

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Miss Fancy Pants by Alicia Gargaro-Magana is a romance novel with a twist of adventure. This is Gargaro-Magana's first novel, but she draws on years of experience as a movie and TV show producer as well as owning her own publishing company. She has also written for several magazines over the years.

From the first page, the reader is thrown into the dream life of the main character, who remains nameless throughout most of the novel. Once out of her dream, the reader learns that her life is less than extraordinary, although she tries to make a living by bringing adventure into the lives of tourists in the Los Angeles area. After an unexpected encounter with Bill Boxem (who gives her the nickname of "Miss Fancy Pants") and a drunken visit with a psychic, the main character's life is turned upside down. She becomes acquainted with John Tower, an associate of Bill's, who wants to offer her a lucrative job offer that will promise lots of adventure and travels. Being in a bit of a financial crisis, and with some encouragement from her best friend, Clarissa, she decides to accept the offer. From that point forward, the reader follows her new secret life, working for a company that is trying to make the world a better place, while trying to hide her feelings for the very attractive John Tower. This is a book you have to read to see how things turn out!

At first blush I thought this book would be more of an erotic romance novel since it starts off with a very erotic fantasy adventure involving a chandelier and a cleric. After that introduction, I thought the story was a bit slow and choppy. It was rough enough that I had resolved to just reading the book so that I could say I had finished it. I am very happy that I stuck with it because it gets so much better once the main character meets John Tower! The action and intrigue picks up after chapter six and continues through the end of the book.

On a technical level, I only noted a couple of minor typographical errors. What was most frustrating while reading was that the main character is only referred to as "she" during narration and assorted nicknames by those that she encounters until being dubbed as "Fancy" much later. When the main character interacted with other female characters, it was confusing at times which "she" was being referred to within the narration. However, I believe the absence of a given name plays into the central message of the story.

Amidst the romance and adventure that takes place in Miss Fancy Pants, there is a thread that weaves throughout all of the characters, and the main character in particular. It is a message about knowing who you really are and embracing who you really are. In the beginning, the reader is introduced to a character that dreams of living a "fabulous" life full of excitement and adventure. However, she concedes that that particular lifestyle is not meant for her, nor is she meant to find love. When she is finally offered a job that gives her (almost) everything she could have ever wanted, she doubts herself and says she does not belong there. She also refutes the possibility that she is meant to love John or that she is even good enough for him. Along the way she is given the nickname of "Fancy", which she assumes as her name. In the end, Fancy finally learns how to embrace her true self, but is it too late? Readers can relate to this message, because it challenges them to question who they really are and identify what is holding them back from being their true selves.

Despite the rocky start, I believe that Miss Fancy Pants by Alicia Gargaro-Mangana has earned 4 out of 4 stars. I love the message behind the story and the story itself is quite riveting once the real action begins.

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Miss Fancy Pants
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ValtearTheShadebane · Post by **ValtearTheShadebane** » 04 Jan 2016, 18:24

Great review! I think sometimes it makes the story more personal when the main character's real name is not known...it kind of puts you in their shoes a little. I like adventure stories, but romance not so much, however this seems like an interesting book to read.

rachel_bruhn · Post by **rachel_bruhn** » 05 Jan 2016, 11:38

Honestly, I didn't even notice there wasn't a name until I was doing the review. It didn't detract from the story at all.

Elgar · Post by **Elgar** » 05 Jan 2016, 22:54

Nice review ..... will put it on my to read list1

Aishwarya Kjanduri · Post by **Aishwarya Kjanduri** » 08 Jan 2016, 03:11

An amazing review, indeed! The use of words is amazing & a great way to describe the story. Liked it a lot.

kimmyschemy06 · Post by **kimmyschemy06** » 08 Jan 2016, 07:30

Sounds like my kinds of story. Maybe not so much for the romance but for the self-discovery aspect which, as I understand the review, is touched in this book. Great review! Congratulations to Alicia Gargaro-Magana for such a wonderful book!

rachel_bruhn · Post by **rachel_bruhn** » 08 Jan 2016, 08:15

While it is a romance novel, I think that Fancy's journey to discover herself is what allows her to find romance. The two themes really go hand in hand.

KimPete83 · Post by **KimPete83** » 12 Jan 2016, 17:45

This was a really great, informative review. It sounds like an interesting story, one that I probably would like, but I appreciate your honesty that the book has choppy parts. This doesn't really bother me as I am a person who can kind of skim over the choppiness and not lose anything in the story but it's good to know what to expect!

Post by **bookowlie** » 18 Jan 2016, 10:15

Nice, well-written review! You made several good points, particularly about the slow start and the sometimes onfusing way the character is referred to as "She." I am glad the story picked up steam after a while!

rachel_bruhn · Post by **rachel_bruhn** » 18 Jan 2016, 10:23

I wasn't really confused until I went to write the review and couldn't remember her name! I thought I had forgotten a major detail of the book, which is not like me, but when I went back through to find her name I realized it was never used. I think it adds to the theme of finding oneself. Fancy is inherently nameless until she is given the nickname. It is with that name that she begins to find herself and have an identity. It was very creative in my opinion.

Post by **bookowlie** » 18 Jan 2016, 10:29

I belong to an in-person book club and one of the books we discussed was written in the 1st person. Most of the other characters didn't refer to the main character by name too often. When we discussed the book, many of us forgot the main character's name as a result!

gali · Post by **gali** » 28 Aug 2016, 06:49

Sounds like a cute book! I am glad you enjoyed the book after its rocky start, and that it better once the main character meets John Tower! Good job on the review!

tarafarah7 · Post by **tarafarah7** » 28 Aug 2016, 07:41

I have to say that after reading the description and customer reviews on Amazon, I was still not really 100% sure what this book was about....UNTIL I read your review!! Thank you!! It was one of the best I have ever read!!:-) Because of this, I'm going to head back to Amazon and get my copy. They really need to post your review in the description section for this book on Amazon. I feel like so many more people would buy it because they would have a better idea what the book was about! Thank you so much again!!:-)