Little Pink Taxi
by Maria Laval
Rosalie Heart is a well-known face in Irlwick – well, if you drive a bright pink taxi and your signature style is a pink anorak, you’re going to draw a bit of attention! But Rosalie’s company Love Taxis is more than just a gimmick – for many people in the remote Scottish village, it’s a lifeline.
Which is something that Marc Petersen will never understand. Marc’s ruthless approach to business doesn’t extend to pink taxi companies running at a loss. When he arrives in Irlwick to see to a new acquisition – Raventhorn, a rundown castle – it’s apparent he poses a threat to Rosalie’s entire existence; not just her business, but her childhood home too.
On the face of it Marc and Rosalie should loathe each other, but what they didn’t count on was somebody playing cupid …
Favorite Quotes:
Well, she had some old wizard cast a spell on the bed before her nuptials to make sure her betrothed could … Perform … Over the years, this bed has proved a steady source of income for the McBrides. Any man whose virility was in need of a little …push could bring his wife here for a fee –a jar of whiskey, a brace of pheasants, a good-sized salmon. Every mark on the bedposts represents a successful night… We organise weddings here now, and people come a long way to … ahem … stay, in this bed.
The kind of physical attraction she’d never experienced before, but that could, according to her friend Alice’s late night confessions, make you lose your head, your self-respect, and most of your clothing.
Now it’s time for the Stitch and Bitch group… The local knitting group or “Knit and Natter”, as they are formally known.
What’s wrong? Is it a little too strong for you? … Perhaps my hand slipped as I was pouring in the coffee granules … unless I mistook the pepper container for sugar.
My Review:
With the playful cover and title, I was expecting a Rom/Com, and although the entertaining storylines included romance and amusing humor, there were also strong elements of mystery and suspense with and serious crimes that were committed and solved along the way. I enjoyed the premise, quirky characters, smooth writing style and well-paced mysteries that kept my curiosity primed.
There was a bit of everything in this story including a hidden treasure, ghosts, parentage issues, and a series of vexing crimes that started out as small nuisances before mushrooming into more serious felonies that included hit and run, sabotage, attempted murder, kidnapping, blackmail, burglary, and assault. And I dare not forget the mythical properties of the magical bed with centuries worth of actual notches.
I reveled in the quirky traits and colorful descriptions and behaviors Ms. Laval gave her characters. I adored the major players although the character of Rosalie was not always likable as she was stubborn and immature and prone to outbursts and childish displays of temper - of course, I have never been accused of such annoying behaviors myself as I’m simply lovely, all-the-time.
I have two sparkling new additions to my British Isles Vocab list with “yob,” which Mr. Google informed me was a rude, noisy and aggressive young man, and “bampot,” which according to the Urban Dictionary is a Scottish term meaning 'hooligan' or 'trouble-maker', so essentially, they are much the same thing and both quite fun to say.
Empress DJ
Author Bio –
Originally from Lyon in France, Marie now lives in Lancashire with her family. She works full-time as a modern languages teacher, and in her spare times loves writing romance and dreaming about romantic heroes. She writes both historical and contemporary romance, and her historical romance The Lion’s Embrace won the Gold Medal at the Global eBook Awards 2015 (category Historical Romance). She is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Authors. Her native France, as well as her passion for history and research, very much influences her writing, and all her novels have what she likes to call ‘a French twist’!
Social Media Links –
Twitter:
www.twitter.com/MarieLaval1
Blog: http://marielaval.blogspot.co.uk/
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