Positively Laugh Out Loud!

 

Penelope's sister, Izzy, met her soul-mate in the island kingdom of Skymar.  Now Penelope is doing an internship there for her college degree.  She is working toward a career in theater production and this is the opportunity of a lifetime. Her introduction to the country of Skymar was less than stellar and her first impression  was a bit off-putting.  Never-the-less, the intrepid Penelope is not going to let those curmudgeonly vibes dampen her spirits nor her ideas for helping the theater she has been assigned to help.  Through her work, she helps Grandpa Gray find his feet again, she helps Matthias Gray overcome his deeply imbedded pain, and she brings the family's theater back to life, all while sprinkling her  brand of pixie dust over everything.  

Pepper Basham has written a very non-formulaic romance novel that is laugh-out-loud hilarious.  I would guess that 90% of the novel is epistolary through the media of text messages and emails. The reader has to get over halfway through before there is any real narration to the story.  She has included overt, dastardly villains; and some sneaky villains who are a bit more clandestine with their shenanigans. There are a couple of mystery characters that are hard to figure out but whose identities  are revealed later on in the book.  They all add to the warp and weft of the book to make a cohesive story come to life.  Penelope's "never say die" attitude is one of the most endearing aspects to the book and her work ethic in bringing the theater back to its former glory are something to behold.  The float in the parade was the cherry on top of the sundae that was Penelope's magic. 

This is a fun, five star book, with two thumbs up, and a parade float that will take you straight to Narnia. 

Thomas Nelson Publishing provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own.