Search - Smart vs. Pretty

I couldn't relate to the characters in this book so i though it was ok, a friend of mine read it a liked it a lot.

Good representation of the relationship between sisters of a close age.

Two sisters fight to keep their family heritage - a coffee shop - from going under. Not the best chick-lit I've ever read, just okay.

This book has been languishing on my TBR pile for quite a while and is written by a new to me author. I enjoyed the premise of this story taking place in a coffeehouse. What the book description failed to convey to me was that when the story begins, Francesca aka Frank and Amanda are already running the coffeehouse and have been a while. Unfortunately, the business is failing fast and they are facing foreclosure and becoming unemployed as well as homeless.

Frank and Amanda are complete opposites. Frank is pessimistic and cynical. She’s been burned by love and is carrying huge quantities of guilt over the death of their parents. As the older sister, she feels she has to shoulder the responsibility of everything and she resents the way Amanda seems to stroll through life without a worry or care in the world.

Amanda is more trusting and accepting of strangers. She practices I Ching divination, tossing pennies on the table to advise her on matters of importance. Amanda doesn’t appear to be burdened with the stress that plagues her sister. She appears friendlier and happier, though it appears, at times, she is unable to separate business from pleasure.

As complex as they both are, I felt they complemented each other perfectly and I enjoyed seeing their relationship evolve and strengthen. This story had a lot of interesting supporting characters. Clarissa, the grad student who takes Frank and Amanda under her wing to help them save the business proved me right as someone who isn’t all they claim to be. Matt, the anti-social, anti-establishment outspoken employee surprised me. He comes across as a slacker but turns out to be that and so much more.

This story is about so much more than sisters and sibling rivalry. There’s romance, murder, mysterious coffee beans, unpaid debts, revenge, dishonesty and slander. It seems like a lot to juggle and understand, but the story worked. Some of the dialogue is choppy, but was easy to overlook once I got focused on the story and wanting to know what would happen next. There are better chick-lit books out there, but this one turned out to be a surprise for me. I recommend it and will be anticipating reading more from this author.

Fun book about sisers, murder, love, and coffee!!

When their coffee shop begins to loose money from the new Starbucks next door, too sisters re-do the entire shop...