Chick Lit Plus Blog Tour: Our Eyes Met Over Cantaloupe

I have to start with a huge thank you to Samantha at Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours and author Anne McAneny for allowing me to be a part of the blog tour for Our Eyes Met Over Cantaloupe . I absolutely loved this book!

Here's what this hilariously titled novel is about, courtesy of Goodreads:

A wedding order at The Secret Lives of Cupcakes Shop is always reason for Millie Morris to celebrate; except when the groom is her ex-boyfriend and the bride is the woman he dumped her for. Still, it's business for her mom's shop. Millie even makes a good-faith effort to shoo the groom away when he confides his doubts about marriage. But when Millie's job as a crime reporter finds her covering a big court case, she must choke down her unresolved feelings like a burnt cupcake slathered in bitter frosting; because the bride is the lead lawyer on the case.

Unexpectedly intertwined on multiple levels with both her ex and his fiancée, Millie must choose to either remain in her half-baked state of existence or finally rise above it.

While Millie is the main attraction to this novel there was also a full cast of crazy supporting characters, which I loved. Each character, whether it's Millie's mom Grace, best friend Betty Boop (you will love the explanation to that nickname), Grace's best friend and business partner Pauline, cupcake baker Josh, and so on, each has a background that is touched on without overpowering the overall narrative. None of them felt like two dimensional characters which can often happen in novels. Nor did they take over from Millie and what she is dealing with throughout the book. It was a perfect balance and I applaud McAneny for her amazing secondary characters.

The only teeny weeny thing that I found bothered me was that I couldn't get a clear picture of Millie in my head. She was so down on herself about her looks that it was hard to imagine a character that actually was good looking (which I was led to believe she was as she does have some...well, let's call them male suitors) At one point I believe she describes herself as having long giraffe legs and a pelican's beak for a nose. Funny? Yes. Completely self-deprecating? Yes. Are you imagining a less than attractive amazon woman with a huge nose? Probably. This is probably just a little quirk with me so please do not let this be a deal breaker. I mention it only because I'm curious to know if anyone else had the same issue. However, I love that Millie is so tall. Being 6' myself, I enjoy a tall female protagonist every once and awhile. Not every female is teeny! Ahem. Ok, a little personal bias there. Moving right along... :)

This novel had me laughing out loud. Seriously. I was getting very strange looks from my boyfriend as I was reading it because I was doing that laughing-so-hard-no-sound-is-coming-out kind of laugh. I wouldn't be surprised if there were tears at some points because I was laughing so hard. I don't have a particular line or quote that I found particularly hilarious because there were so many parts that I really enjoyed. What I liked was that Millie was incredibly clever, quick, and witty. That can be the best sort of humour and it worked for me.



Mmmmm...



I just need to take a moment to mention how much my mouth was watering while reading this book. A good chunk of the story revolves around Millie's mom's shop, The Secret Lives of Cupcakes, so many delicious sounding cupcakes were described and enjoyed by the characters. Apparently the store in the novel is based on a real stuffed cupcake store...I need to find me one of those stores! Just a note: if you head over to the main tour page and leave a comment you can be entered to win not only a $10 Amazon gift card but a dozen stuffed cupcakes! A note on the note: you have to live in the US to win this one so even though I can't win it (sad) I want to make sure you all know about it!

Overall, I adored this book. It made me laugh, it made me think, and it made me fall in love with the characters. Best kind of book, don't you agree? I will definitely be on the lookout for more by Anne McAneny and I highly recommend Our Eyes Met Over Cantaloupe.

Happy Reading :)