Today at Let’s Review Wednesday, the book is Priced to Move, Book 1 in the Shop-Til-U-Drop collection by Ginny Aiken.
The Story
Andrea (Andie) Adams, a GIA-certified gemologist with an exciting but stressful job in the New York Diamond District, welcomes the opportunity to move back to Louisville, Kentucky, when her Aunt Weeby suffers a severe compound fracture.
She’s barely at her aunt’s house when she’s asked to join the home shopping network owned by her aunt’s friend and antiquing buddy Mona. Andie agrees to become the resident gemstone and jewelry expert at the Shop Til U Drop (aka S.T.U.D.) network. When she’s ambushed right before her first broadcast with the addition of a handsome but gemology-ignorant cohost, the sparkle of her new job vanishes. After the disastrous debut, she discovers a body in the network’s vault and her day crumbles like talc.
My reaction
Since I make jewelry as a hobby and have long been fascinated with anything relating to gemstones and geology, Priced to Move held a certain appeal. Add to that Ginny’s breezy writing style, and I was thoroughly entertained by this quick read.
For those who don’t like first-person or present tense narratives, this one may not be the easiest read. It didn’t bother me; I found it added to the “Girlfriend, let me tell you what happened to me!” voice of the book.
If you’re interested in how gemstones are mined and brought to market, travel, romance, mystery, adventure or any combination of the above, I recommend Priced to Move as a fun summer read.
About the Author
(Paraphrased from Amazon’s Shopping-Enabled Wikipedia page)
Ginny Aiken was born in Havana, Cuba, and grew up in Valencia and Caracas, Venezuela.
The former newspaper reporter wrote her first novel at 15 but burned it when she turned 16. That early writing effort set the stage for later novels, which would win awards and become best-sellers in the secular and Christian markets. She currently has 36 listings on Amazon, including Kindle, hardback and paperback formats.
She holds certification in French literature and culture from the University of Nancy, France, as well as a B. A. from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. She lives in South-Central Pennsylvania with her husband and family. When she’s not busy with the duties of a soccer mom or band mom, she enjoys reading, writing, classical music, and needle arts.
