The Accidental Beauty Queen by Teri Wilson

 

Title: The Accidental Beauty Queen
Author: Teri Wilson
My Rating: 3.75/5 stars
Content Rating: PG
Tidbit: Identical twins pull a swap during a beauty pageant when one of them has an allergic reaction that alters her features in this romantic comedy.

I recently felt I needed something light and fluffy, and The Accidental Beauty Queen definitely delivered! This was a book club pick for my in-person book club, and it was a fun read for February!

Charlotte's identical twin Ginny has been in beauty pageants for a long as they both can remember. This is Ginny's last shot to win the crown for Miss American Treasure before she ages out of the pageant. So when she wakes up early one morning with her face severely swollen from an allergic reaction, her only solution is to have Charlotte, her identical, yet not-so-glamorous twin, compete in her place for the preliminaries. Will Charlotte be able to pull off the switch AND deal with the sparks flying between her and the hottie she met while walking her sister's dog?

It was a fun and easy read. Rather predictable, but it was a rom-com, so I expected that. Charlotte's character is a school librarian with a passion for books, so I enjoyed the bookish references throughout the story. In terms of steaminess, it's definitely clean and has a small bit of mild language. If you enjoyed the movie Miss Congeniality, you'll enjoy this book too.

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I Remember You -- Harriet Evans

Tess Tennant and Adam Smith have been friends forever. They grew up across the street from each other and were inseparable in their youth. Most townsfold in the small English town of Langford figured they would be together forever.

But they went their separate ways after finishing high school. Tess moved on to London and college while Adam, though brilliant and with a promising future, stayed behind in Langford trying to deal with the sudden death of his mother -- the only parent, the only family he ever knew.

Thirteen years later, Tess finds herself back in Langford as her life takes an unexpected turn: she loses her job and her boyfriend dumps her. Back in Langford to teach Roman and Greek history at the local college, Tess is trying to find her niche; all the while getting used to being around Adam all the time again. Tess realizes she is becoming someone she didn't want to be while in Langford, but a school trip to Rome helps her come out of her shell and experience a romance with Peter, the American journalist.

But when one of the students on her school trip falls horribly ill, things change suddenly. Secrets come out and soon the entire town of Langford will never be the same; especially Tess and Adam.

***I am being generous with the 3 stars... I'd probably prefer to give it 2.5 or 2.75. As with the other Harriet Evans book I read, this was slow to get into, but picked up pace and more of my interest by 1/3 of the way in. Maybe I'm just over the British chick-lit phase of my youth, but a lot of the storyline was ho-hum. And some of it was even ridiculous in my opinion. I mean, the story was fine and once I got into it, I was interested to see HOW things would turn out the way I was pretty sure they would. But at the same time, I thought there was a lot that could have been condensed or cut. Definitely not adding any more by this author to my to-read list, though. Don't like them that much. But in my (crazy) desire to always read whatever I've ever put on my to-read list... Well, I read it. And now it's done.