Book Review: Believe it Or Not by Tawna Fenske

So Not Digging This Cover*

At First Sight: Accountant Violet never wanted anything to do with her mother Moonbeam's psychic business. But when Moonbeam suffers a fall, and only agrees to have surgery when Violet promises to look after the business and keep Moonbeam's appointments, Violet is stuck playing the psychic and listening to 80's glam rock, courtesy of the bar next door and it's owner Drew. 

Drew knows his business is a little unusual - much as he likes to say his bar is just like any other, the place is most well known for it's male strippers nights - and he hasn't always seen eye-to-eye with Moonbeam, though they get along ok enough. 

But, when Violet comes to take over the place next-door for a while, Drew feels instantly drawn to her, even as he tells himself that a girl as straitlaced and 'normal' like Violet won't be interested in a strip-bar owner like himself.

The attraction is there, though. 

Second Glance: Believe it Or Not was a really fun read! Within a few pages I was laughing. Sometimes it was because of Moonbeam's hippie friends and others because of Drew's strippers, but I had a laugh all through this book. 

It had a lovely romantic-comedy-made-for-TV-movie quality to it (and I mean this in a really good way) because it was just good, campy fun. 

I like Violet and her tendency to blurt out strange factoids over everything and I found it to be an endearing quality, and I really thought Drew was a nice guy (though I found his love of cherry Coke a little strange, I have to admit). 

Bottom Line: Believe it Or Not is a really funny contemporary story, where the pages just fly by an you keep a smile on your face all the way through. 

Favorite Scene: "What seems to be the problem, Jamie?" Drew said, coming to seat beside him.

Jamie looked up at him, his eyes red-rimmed and goopy. Jesus, Drew thought. And women throw their panties at this guy?

"It's Sid," Jamie sniffled. "He called me a wuss."

"Right. Remember what we talked about with the sticks and stones...?"

"But it really hurt my feelings, boss." Jamie said, his expression so wounded that Drew couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Wel, as sorry as he could feel for a man who'd been named Mr. Oregon Bodybuilder for three out of the last five years.

"You have to get through this, Jamie," Drew soothed. "Those guys just tease you to get a rise out of you. If you don't let them ge you, the'll stop."

"But dancing is my art." he sniffled. "They don't understand how it wounds me when they make a mockery of something that's so emotionally valuable to me." 

"Hey," Drew said. "Remember those pretty girls in the front row last week? They could have tucked that hundred in anyone's shorts, but whose did they choose?"

Jamie smiled a little at that, "Mine." (...)

Then he trotted away, leaving Drew to stand there staring after him. "I should have been a preschool teacher." he muttered. 

*Re: Cover - I'm sorry, but if you're going to put a shirtless man on the cover, put one with a six-pack. This one looks like it got a beer gut if you look at it a certain way.