ARC Review: Believe It or Not

Believe It or Not
Tawna Fenske
Contemporary Romance
Sourcebooks/March 6, 2012

Do you believe in...accounting?

Numbers never lie, so Violet McGinn found safe haven in the most boring profession she could find. Until her renowned psychic mother lands in the hospital and Violet has to run her business. Now you can have your taxes filed and your aura read, in one convenient location.

Do you believe in...music?

Drew Watson is the jaded owner of the local hot spot next door, and doesn't need a single thing except a good crowd to dance to what he's spinning on Saturday night.

Do you believe in...love?

The only thing Violet and Drew seem to have in common is that neither believes in that psychic hoo—hah. Except Drew seems to play exactly the right song at exactly the right time. And truth be told, it makes Violet's heart dance just a little ...

After enjoying Ms. Fenske's Making Waves, I was happy to see she had another romantic comedy coming out. This time our heroine is a serious accountant with possible psychic abilities and the hero owns a strip club bar featuring male strippers two nights a week. You would think they wouldn't have anything in common but Ms. Fenske brings these two together and shows us how much they really do.

Violet heads back to Portland, Oregon to help her mom, Moonbeam while she recuperates from surgery. Violet isn't psychic but gets talked into taking over her mom's store and appointments. Violet decides to make the best of it, even if it requires her to fake her psychic predictions. Then weird things start to happen, like Violets predictions coming true. Violet was a hoot! She had a few "I Love Lucy" moments and only through sheer luck, avoided disaster.

Drew Watson shares a building with the crazy psychic next door. They've had an ongoing feud for years - he thinks she's a fake, she thinks he exploits the human body with his strippers. When Moonbeam's daughter shows up, Drew has an odd attraction for this serious accountant turned fake psychic. Drew is a funny, sweet hero with a preference for 80's hair bands which he calls "butt rock". I've never heard that term before and neither had Violet. Soon they find they have more in common than their tastes in music.

Violet and Drew have some clashes but they also have some hot and tender moments. Events and people cause some complications but Violet and Drew confront and discuss their problems, showing that while they know how to have fun, they can also be mature when it's called for. I liked how they each took responsibility for their mistakes. This was mostly Violet since, while she does try to do the right thing, it doesn't always work out the way she plans it.

I liked the secondary characters, a bunch of odd ducks with Moonbeam and her quirky friends, Violet's customers and Drew's employees making life interesting for all they encounter. I did find that some of those characters, mainly Moonbeam's friends were a little too cliché.

The plot has a few sub-plots running alongside the romance. Possibly one or two too many sub-plots that took some of the focus away from Violet and Drew. Since my favorite scenes were with Violet and Drew, there were times when I found myself wanting to get back to them rather than scenes with Violet's customers or her mother. I did like how Violet's relationship with her mother changed from Violet wanting to keep her distance to appreciating Moonbeam and all her quirkiness.

This is a light, funny read. A romantic comedy with peculiar characters in a different setting. If you're looking for an amusing romance, this could be the one for you.

Rating: B

The cover - not sure why it looks like they're on a beach with very little clothing. The story is set in Portland, Oregon. More rain than sunshine and the clothes came off inside. The cover makes me think of east coast beaches not the Pacific Northwest. Maybe this won't be the final cover.