Friday Five Challenge ~ Paradise House by Erica James ~ Buy or Pass

Rosie Amber’s Friday Five Challenge, involves taking only five minutes to choose a book cover which appeals instantly. So take a few minutes, pour yourself a coffee…..and have a browse

In today’s online shopping age, readers often base their buying decisions from small postage stamp size book covers (Thumb-nails), a quick glance at the book description and the review. How much time do they really spend making that buying decision?

AUTHORS – You often only have seconds to get a reader to buy your book, is your book cover and book bio up to it?

My Friday Five Challenge is this….. IN ONLY FIVE MINUTES….

1) Go to any online book supplier,

2) Randomly choose a category,

3) Speed through the book covers, choose one which has instantly appealed to your eye,

4) Read the book Bio/ Description for this book, and any other details.

5) If there are reviews, check out a couple,

6) Make an instant decision, would you BUY or PASS?

I searched for Pembrokeshire as we’ll be there in a couple of weeks, and this cover caught my eye. 

Another blockbuster from bestseller Erica James – set beside the sea in idyllic Pembrokeshire.

Angel Sands is a traditional seaside resort of bed and breakfasts, cottages to let and teashops. And with the best views of the tiny beach and surrounding coastline is Paradise House, home to the Baxter girls – or the Sisters of Whimsy as they’re known locally. 

With their mother taking time out to find herself, it’s down to Genevieve to maintain the smooth running of the family-owned B&B. Not an easy task, given that their father – now that his wife isn’t around – has suddenly become a magnet for the opposite sex. And there’s little help from her sisters: Nattie is too busy offending her long-time admirer, and Polly spends most of her days with her head in the clouds or in a book. But when news spreads in the tightly knit community that a nearby dilapidated barn has been sold, Genevieve finds that a bittersweet trip down memory lane is unavoidable…

The cover didn’t really give me an idea of the story initially but I liked the title and the tag line – Nothing is as it seems…. After reading a little more I realised the story revolves around the three sisters depicted on the cover and is set in Pembrokeshire. Erica James has written a fair number of books and seems to have quite a following.

The Kindle version is £5.99/$9.09 for 452 pages. Under other buying options a new paperback is only around £3.00, including delivery. The reviews come in at an average of 4.4 stars, 39 out of 45 are 4* and 5* On Amazon US there are just 4 reviews standing at 4.3 stars. A surprising lack of reviews considering the first edition was published around 2003 and the author has a back catalogue of around 15 books.

One of the most helpful reviews from someone who’s reviewed lots of books says…I recently read this book while on vacation, and it was the perfect way to relax! The story was compelling and the characters funny and believable! I especially loved the way Ms. James moved back and forth from past to present, to help us understand the characters connections! I have read just about every book by this author, and am NEVER disappointed! Can’t wait for the next! Well done Ms. James!

I get the impression it’s a fun and light, holiday type read.

So would I BUY or PASS ~ I’ll PASS on this one, although I may try one of the author’s other books at some point. My to read list is out of control at the moment, so a book would really have to grab me before I’d add any more.

If you’d like to enter next week’s challenge, and the more the merrier, check out Rosie’s blog to read about the Friday Five Challenge.

More Friday Five Challenge choices

Rosie chose a dead detective

Supernatural and shape shifters for Shelley

Barb finds The Most Magnificent Thing

A recommendation for Alison 

Wendy goes for a romance with a great cover