I almost cheated myself and missed out on this fantastic book!
SYNOPSIS: Katie Pritchard knows what men like Dylan McKinnon are like. In fact, she knows what he is like since he buys his flower bouquets at her shop! There's a pattern to his purchasing and she has no intention of getting caught up in that sort of game. But what happens when Dylan sets his sights on Katie? Will these two learn to look beyond appearances to see the soul beneath?
MY THOUGHTS: Thanks, Merri (Paisley), for our discussions on this one as I have to tell you... I never would have picked this book up otherwise. I know Vikki talked about some of the Presents titles last year, but this one just hit a sour note with me. I hate the whole idea of "plain Jane"; it's so degrading and insulting! Katie deserves better than that!
The depth of love portrayed in this book was truly incredible. Dylan and Katie have a fear of love, a fear of the sort of pain that the loss of deep and abiding love brings. Both are wounded and in need of healing. There are some scenes near the end of this book that are so powerful they leave me in tears even now to think about them.
Katie and Dylan are both focused on appearances and it is beautiful to watch them recognize that it is the inner soul that is most important. As Katie dresses more and more outrageously, trying to hide herself from love, I couldn't help but laughing! Who hasn't had a time they've retreated or hidden from things, hoping that it will just go away?
The flower symbolism was interesting but a bit gimmicky. The scenes where love is portrayed between the various people in the book were so powerful that the flowers seemed almost over the top. I appreciated learning about the various meanings of flowers, but it was the heart of the story focusing on the power of love and the power that the fear of love has that really captivated me and made this one a winner for me.
So glad you read this one!
So glad you read this one! The Plain Jane title irked me, seeing her call herself that labeland yet I remember so well people making comments about girls like that so it gave me pleasure to see her move beyond that and discover herself. I always hated hearing people comment on women, reducing them to their appearance in real life and also see how women do it to themselves too so in that sense, this book gave me a lot of pleasure.... I just don't like remembering my adolescence one bit. I deserve every grey hair on my head! I think this author has a way of making the reader see those parts of herself very clearly.
AKA Merri
Family Challenge Team: The Spine Breakers with my dh Glenn AKA Phaedrus
Plain Jane...
I know, that label just drives me utterly nuts. It puts women in an unflattering category based solely on appearances! I did like the way the author took the story beyond appearances to a deeper meaning.
The D2K Paranormal Junkies 2008 Challenge
Sadly judging a book by it's
Sadly judging a book by it's cover is applied to women more often than not. I'll be happy when we change this.
Add some SPICE to your life.
Me too!
Definitely me too!
The D2K Paranormal Junkies 2008 Challenge