Review: Countdown to Love by Julie N. Ford

ISBN #: 978-1599555164

Page Count: 240

Copyright: 2011

Book Summary:

(Taken from Amazon)

Kelly Grace Pickens is an excited bride - until she's abandoned at the altar. Desperate, she accepts an offer to appear on a reality TV show, Count Down to Love. Her country ways are a stark contrast to the mysterious bachelor from New York. Wading through hurt and betrayal both on and off screen, Kelly discovers that being true to yourself is essential to finding happiness and love.

Mandy's Review:

Cover

Not being a fan of the color pink, this cover would not have drawn me to it had I seen it on a bookstore shelf.  Other than that, the heart, rose and silhouette of the couple exemplify the title pretty well.

Plot

A reality show, similar to The Bachelor, is the vehicle for this classic tale of two people in the search of finding themselves and true love. 

The reader, however, gets a behind-the-scenes look into the life of reality television.  Granted, this is a fictional portrayal of a reality series, but it seems plausible.  The majority of the single girls that the bachelor has to choose from have only agreed to participate in the reality show in order to showcase their talents, hoping for career advancement once the show is over.

How can a bachelor, if he's sincerely looking for love and not a career advancement of his own, then hope to find his true love?  Can one find true love in front of cameras?  Can trust be built when it seems everyone is only out for themselves?

Main Characters

Kelly - This girl is as naive as they come.  Thinking she had found her true love, she is shell-shocked to discover her fiance has skipped town on their wedding day leaving her with the bill and a foreclosed home.  Due to the persuasion of her cousin, she decides to go onto a reality television show to earn enough money to pay for the non-wedding and a new place to live.

Dillon - Worldly and a self-made millionaire, he is the newest bachelor on the reality television show, Countdown to Love.

Trevor - Kelly's fiance - His integrity comes into question throughout this book.  The reader knows about him from the beginning, but we're not really introduced to him until close to the end.  Does he really love Kelly or is he only out for himself?

Overall

This is an entertaining story that I would classify as a light read: Something you can enjoy without doing a whole lot of thinking.  I appreciated having the reality series portrayed as the backdrop of this tale.  It gave the book a uniqueness that I've not seen in any of the other love/romance stories.

Oh, and you don't have to worry about any crude or vulgar language/scenes in this book.  The writing was kept clean, which I appreciated immensely.