Just as free-spirited bookstore employee Cleo Davis faces closure of her beloved shop, the owner informs her it will continue as part of the successful Stephens chain. When the chain’s risk assessor, the very reserved, very attractive Mark Stephens, enters the store to look over her business plan, Cleo clashes with him right away. Oil and water have nothing on them. Mark has always followed the … followed the rules. But the minute he steps into vibrant and spunky Cleo’s store, he knows he’s in trouble. One moment he’s in her “craft corner” painting bookends with kids, the next in a bidding war with Cleo at a charity auction. He can’t deny that opposites attract, and Cleo’s vivacious personality has him rethinking his life in more ways than one.
But when Cleo’s store officially becomes part of the bookstore chain, Mark will become her boss…and completely off limits.
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This was a very sweet story with a clean romance and some of the storyline reminded me of the movie “You got mail”.
Cleo works in a bookshop in the little town of Wood Creek. She has taken on all of the creative responsibilities and runs the shop very easygoing and knows how to run a shop in a small town. Unfortunately the owner hopes to sell the shop to a big bookstore chain and the appraiser is Mark Stephens who comes to town to see how the shop is run and if there is a possibility of buying it.
Cleo and Mark has very different opinions of how to run a bookstore but she talks Mark into waiting and seeing how her Valentines campaign goes and if it attracts more costumers. There are three events and he decides to come to them all and they slowly become closer and closer and he slowly figures out that he is not the person he wants to be. But how can he change his life for the better and is she willing to relinquish some of her control and trust that he only wants what is best for her?
Sometimes I was truly irritated with both of the characters but mostly her. She was supposed to be this brave, creative, sweet, strong woman but a lot of the time she just seemed sad and bland.
He at least decides that he wants to change his lifestyle and that he is open to a relationship with her.
I liked the small town Wood Creek and the little shop street called Heart Street. The side characters were also very sweet and I look forward to reading the next book in the series of “The little shops on Heart Street”
I got this book from Entangled Publishing and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you Entangled and NetGalley for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.
A Valentine Proposal
By: Viv Royce
*REVIEW* .5
I love a good romcom and/or chicklit story, and that’s what I got from A Valentine Proposal. Cleo and Mark are at odds but attracted to each other. You can probably imagine how this story, essentially, goes because it’s approaching formulaic. Don’t get me wrong-it’s a delightfully adorable read with warm moments and humorous moments. Cleo owning a bookstore was a nice touch for us (aren’t we all?) bookworms. I enjoyed reading this story and do recommend it for romcom fans, but there are no big surprises here. Overall, it’s a light easy read.
Be still my bookish heart!
This story had all the love, all the unexpected romance, all the bookish joy readers long for and more. From an adorable meet-cute (picture a bear rescue involving a book castle with a damsel not so much in distress as she in need of assistance and a somewhat unwilling knight in shiny armor happening upon the scene!) to several near misses, smile inducing bonding (where you totally know they are meant to be) to a big fat question mark of if they will actually end up together (not spoiling it…sorry, not sorry!), it’s a Contemporary Romance written for the bookish heart in you, and what’s more, it’s part of a series that sounds rather heart warming too!
I adored (maybe identified with as well) Cleo for her heart, her warmth, her determination, and her spark. She knew books were more than simply books, and a bookshop was more than a place to house, showcase, and sell them. As for our reluctant love interest… Mark was definitely a work in progress, but he had good bones as they say. He knew in his heart of hearts, buried under all that business mumbo jumbo, that what Cleo had was something special…and I’m not just talking about her business sense.
In the end, a TOTAL MUST READ, and a series that I might just have to backtrack and check out the first installment. If you like clean romance with oh-so-much heart and book love to spare, this is definitely the book for you.
***ebook received for review; opinions are my own
A Valentine Proposal is the second book in Viv Royce’s Little Shops on Heart Street series. All of the books are standalone titles and can be read in any order (so far, at least).
Cleo is a free spirit that is used to not having anyone understand or love her for who she is and what she loves in life. Mark is as almost as stuck in his ways as his father who never deviates from his successful business plan that has built his empire. Cleo is set on showing Mark that there’s so much more than a cookie-cutter business plan to running a successful business in a small town. When Mark’s family business takes over Cleo’s little bookstore and becomes her boss, is there any hope for them?
I read book one in this series, A Family by Christmas so I was already familiar with the small-town setting and a few of the minor characters mentioned. We got a bit of a peek into what was going to be the start of Cleo and Mark’s story in this book, as well, so I was looking forward to seeing how this book played out.
What I liked: Cleo. She’s brave in the sense that she chose to chase HER dreams instead of the dreams her parents had for her, even though she did give that life a shot. She moved to a small town to completely start over and was loving living her dream.
Mark. While it seemed he would be stodgy and unmovable in his viewpoint, in the end, he wasn’t. And he was even braver than Cleo when it came to risking it all for matters of the heart.
The message. There are so many things in life that shape who we are and the choices we make. But chasing your dreams to find true happiness, while not sacrificing important and positive relationships, is worth the risk. We’re not always going to live up to someone else’s plan for our lives, and when that happens, we have to be okay with ourselves and moving on from those who make us feel like we’re a disappointment.
NICUnure’s Rating: This is definitely a very sweet, very clean read. Very much a Hallmark type of story, so if you’re looking for something more, you definitely won’t find it in this book. Overall, I enjoyed the story, but it did feel like the plot just kept circling around the same internal conflict for both main characters over and over again before someone actually decided to break the cycle. But I would definitely recommend this book to those of you out there looking for a good, sweet, and clean read. And I look forward to seeing what’s next in this series from this author
I give A Valentine Proposal by Viv Royce 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Unfortunately, I was rather disappointed with Viv Royce’s “A Valentine Proposal.” I had a tough time connecting with the main characters, Cleo and Mark, as well as believing in their feelings for each other. My biggest problem was the speed with which their relationship developed. Mark and Cleo met only a handful of times before they were supposedly “in love” with each other, and I just didn’t find it to be believable based on the content of their interactions.
It might have been easier for me to believe in Mark and Cleo’s love for each other if the story had been a bit longer, allowing more of a chance for character and relationship development. I liked Cleo when she was briefly introduced in the previous book in this series, but she seemed different to me here. I thought she would be fun and kind of quirky, but instead she turned out to be very insecure and weighed down with self-esteem issues due to a long-standing conflict with her parents. Mark came across as a rich, handsome workaholic who didn’t have much of a life outside of his job. He started to develop more of a personality towards the end of the story, but some of the choices he made seemed like they came out of left field based on the little I knew about him. Also, for the first half of the book Mark was so preoccupied with his sister Tamela’s love life that it was difficult to see his interest in Cleo at all.
Speaking of Tamela’s situation, I can completely understand why Mark did not want his sister to be hurt, but as far as there being nothing he or his parents could do about her relationship with James, I don’t think that’s necessarily true. If James was really only after Tamela’s money, why couldn’t their parents cut her off or insist on a pre-nup if Tamela was determined to go through with the wedding? I think James would show his true colors and lose interest in marrying Tamela very quickly if he knew that he would no longer be able to access her funds. In any event, I was slightly annoyed that this subplot wasn’t wrapped up before the end of the story, but perhaps the author plans to bring Tamela back as a character in a future book and address it there.
Overall, I didn’t completely dislike this book, but I really can’t recommend it. That said, I did enjoy the first book in this series (“A Family by Christmas”), so I will plan to give book #3 a try and hope for better results.
*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.
What a nice, and sweet romance. It was very enjoyable to read it in this cold winter day. When I started reading I was glued to my kindle and simply had to finish it in one sitting. I liked every part of it, characters too. Only one thing was bad for me- it ended to quick, I wanted to read more. Looking forward of reading other books by this author!
This is a sweet story about helping two people to realize their dreams. Mark has become an emotionless workaholic. He doesn’t want to involve feelings and get his heart broken. Cleo is neglected by her parents and is now trying to forge a life of her own. These two meet and both are unwilling to risk their heart and getting involved. The story is Whitten in an easy and slow cadence that allows them both to figure out what it is they really want. They eventually find their way to each other and happiness.
Matching books and maybe employees!
Bookseller Cleo Davis wanted to buy the bookstore where she worked but she didn’t have enough savings. Cleo hoped the risk assessor from the Stephens bookstore chain would decide the store was a fit for the company and she would be able to manage it for them. Mark Stephens checked out the stores that the company was thinking of buying for his father but when he met Cleo Davis he wasn’t sure the store would be a fit since they weren’t about pushing everyone to buy books but matched customers with books they would enjoy reading plus being a center of community activities.
Cleo was all about making people happy to find a new book to read and make her town a home and Mark had to figure out how they could be together without changing companies.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
3.5/5
This is the second book that I have read from this author and it was an ok read for me. If you are looking for a clean romance then this is the one for you. I still like my books with a little heat. Cleo and Mark were a good couple.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
Little Shops on Heart Street #2, This standalone story is a cute read, it is a bit of fluff and I don’t mind that every now and then. I wish there was just a bit more to the actual story.
Cleo spent most of he life doing what her parents told her to do. Get good grades, go to law school, become a lawyer but Cleo always knew she was missing something. She wanted more from her life than that and while on vacation she found a perfect town with a bookstore that called to her. Cleo has been there ever since, much to her parents dismay. Only now the current owner needs to sell and Cleo can’t buy it on her own but the big bookstore, Stephen’s, can. Now Cleo is worried that the uniqueness of the shop is going to get gobbled up by corporate cookie cutter store.
Mark works for his Dad as risk assessment, he goes out and evaluates all the future locations for the Stephen’s bookstore and sees if the location and the business is worth the risk. When Mark first walks into Cleo’s bookstore he notices all the things that are going to have to change, Cleo on the other hand tells him he’s wrong. There are some Valentine’s Day activities she has planned with the town that she invites him to to prove it’s not just about the bottom line but about knowing your customers and neighbors.
Overall, it’s short and sweet. The chemistry between them is strong but I still wish there was a bit more to it.
A Valentine Proposal by Viv Royce a cute and sweet five-star read. This is such a great story, it’s the second story in the Little shop on Heart Street and it can be read as stand-alone as I haven’t read the first story and didn’t feel like I missed anything. This is a great story, you can read it quickly and it will suck you in and not let you out, it was deep enough that you could really grip it, but not so deep that you got stuck in the details. Cleo Davis was a great warm character, you could just pick her up and put her in your pocket to make sure she was all safe and well, the passion she has for books, comes off the page. Mark Stevens took longer to warm to, but when I did, well he warmed me plenty. This is a great story and I will be going back to check the first one out.