Customer Reviews

Making Over Mike (Regency Contemporary Romance)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Begin with a career girl determined jump-start her business. Add one out-of-work chef working as a part-time taxi driver. Include heated attraction. The result a delicious, eclectic romance light on the palate and heavy on the fun.

Serial dieter and personal life coach Amanda Connor will go to any lengths to make Aspirations, Inc a success. She sets up a lottery and anxiously waits at the last minute for a winner, while the TV station manager threatens to withdrawal all support of her company. She brags that she can transform any man, but secretly hopes for one with strong possibilities. So when the taxi guy shows up with the winning ticket, she finds herself making good on her promise, despite the condition of his clothes and attitude. Mike doesn't want to be on TV and he doesn't want to discuss his personal goals -- even if he had any. When she enters Mike's world, however, she has absolutely no idea how to cope with it.

Mike Cavaco finds the Lotto tickets in the backseat cushions of his taxi. He only agrees to go along with the Lotto because he "can't stand to see a perfectly nice girl lose her TV-news deal because of him." Despite his determination to be a nice guy, however, he doesn't think much of Amanda's plans for a makeover at a posh resort and a shopping spree. Mike thinks he gets all the "buff and polish" he needs every morning in the shower. Yet he finds himself swept away by Amanda, into an outrageous world of women whistling at his knees and toe waxing.

MAKING OVER MIKE is an outlandish comic delight for the poolside summer reader. Witty dialogue, pleasing characters and a humorous plot, this novel has all the necessary elements to satisfy a craving for romance. The secondary characters are also a lot of fun, including the mother with paste handprints on her pants and the creator of modern art. Such detail gives MAKING OVER MIKE a hint of depth without bogging down the narrative. MAKING OVER MIKE is great mind candy! Very highly recommended.

Amanda Connor is a woman of the millennium. She is always on the go, ambitious and president of a start-up company... who'd do just about anything to save her new business. (Oh, she also names variety of her clothes: get-a-promotion-suit, no-second-thoughts-bra and the breakup-bolstering-ensemble.) And Amanda desperately needed to ride on the hype of her Life Coach Lotto promotion to save her baby company.

And on the opposite side of the ring is Mike Cavaco. Somewhat temporarily down-on-his-luck, Twizzler chewing, taxi driving and genuinely down-to-earth guy. Who also describes himself as a man's man, a guy's guy, "a John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, 'hand me that socket wrench I can fix this', pro-football watching kinda fella". (How can you not love this guy already?? And wait til you meet his 3 side kicks!) Who also happens to be the rather reluctant winner of the Life Coach Lotto.

The thing is, Mike doesn't want to get made over. He's happy the way he is. Or so he thinks! And as the unwilling Mike allows the transformation begins to take place (at times against Mike's will) he and Amanda also discover that really need each other. Of course, from the very beginning there was that "mysterious and powerful attraction between" them! But how far will Mike let Amanda do her thing? And will Amanda take no for an answer? But besides this refreshingly modern heroine and her macho hero, the story is funny to the bone and rather clever. The narration is just as comical and interesting as the dialogue! I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed over my first Lisa Plumley novel.

Rarely does an author make my auto-buy list after only one try. Lisa Plumley is one of these elite few who landed decisively with her latest release, MAKING OVER MIKE.

The owner of a struggling start-up company, Aspirations, Inc, Amanda Connor is desperate. Unless she can come up with the winner of her Life Coach Lotto promotion, she can kiss her dreams and aspirations goodbye. Her chance for success rests solely on a local news station's offer to track one of her clients through a whole-life makeover and, if successful, translate that into a weekly TV spot for Amanda.

Taxi-driver(aka unemployed chef) Mike Cavaco is just trying to make ends meet while he searches for the right employment opportunity after having discovered that "good intentions" mean nothing. However, his "good intentions" again turn his life upside down when he finds 16 tickets for the Life Coach Lotto stuffed in the back seat of his cab. Being an honest guy, Mike feels it's his responsibility to turn them in so the rightful owner can claim them. No premonition told him he was in for the ride of his life.

Amanda's first reaction to the ripped-jeans-stained-T shirt-scruffy-shaggy apparent winner of the contest, "Oh, no. Not the taxi guy," quickly dissolves into determination and resolve when she realizes what a coup this would mean for her business and her future. And determination is what Amanda needs lots of to get Mike to agree, as `makeover' is not a word found in Mike Cavaco's personal vocabulary. But something about Amanda sticks with him and refuses to leave and Mike finds himself reluctantly agreeing.

Mike's your typical macho guy and faced with pink fluffy spa robes, manicures, waxing, he certainly could have become nasty about all of it. But the author refrains from devolving him into that category, using humor instead, and for this she put me firmly in love with this guy. As the makeover progresses, and he learns more about Amanda, Mike finds himself becoming more and more attached to his Life Coach. And despite her rule to never get involved with a client, Amanda finds herself falling deeper and deeper for the scruffy cab driver.

At times the story is hysterically funny [the scene in a restaurant/pool hall where Amanda and Mike wager a game of pool with Mike's motorcycle/pool shark friends is priceless], poignant [the transformation of the Mike's friends, the dreams Mike and Amanda have and the motivation that drives them], and heart wrenching [as Mike and Amanda come to grips with what they've come to mean to each other]. Their struggle to resolve the crisis in their lives that this makeover has created leads to some difficult choices for both and to a final scene that had my eyes a bit misty even as I smiled.

MAKING OVER MIKE evoked my every emotion and made me thankful for authors such as Ms. Plumley-who proves it is possible to craft a story filled with strong, believable, sympathetic characters without resorting to the crude and uncouth. These are the kind of characters with whom I'd like to have as friends in real life. If you're a fan of Patti Berg or Millie Criswell, you will love Lisa Plumley's MAKING OVER MIKE. And thankfully, you won't have to wait too long for her next book, FALLING FOR APRIL, which will be out in March 2002. It's already on my list of books to buy in 2002.

Amanda Connor envisioned the Life Coach Lotto as the ultimate advertising gimmick that would breathe new life into her dying company, Aspirations Inc. Amanda collaborates with a local television station and offers the lottery winner a free personal life coaching and career planning make-over. What Amanda didn't envision was that there would be no winner. Her company is sinking before her eyes when Good Samaritan, Mike Cavaco walks into the TV station with a roll of tickets he found in the back of his cab. Amanda doesn't want the tickets; she wants Mike. Caught in the middle of a media ambush, Mike makes a run for his cab with Amanda and the camera crew are right behind him. Mike is just short of clearing the exit when he hears a studio executive threatening to ruin Amanda company if she doesn't pull off the contest. Mike softens at the desperation in her voice and agrees to help her out of what he sees as a temporary jam. Mike wears Bugs Bunny boxers; Amanda is into silk. She drinks bottled water; he's into beer. He has threadbare jeans; she has a power suit. And they're absolutely perfect for each other. Making over Mike is laugh out loud, romantic comedy at its best. Page after page of zany situations, colorful secondary characters, and snappy dialogue make this a superior read.

Self-proclaimed life style guru Amanda Connor has offered a unique approach to attract clients - a "Life Coach Lotto," whereby she will help the winner via a makeover and coaching. She never imagined that the winner would be a cab driver who found the ticket and does not really want any coaching from her. But when Mike discovers that her career could be in jeopardy, he grudgingly allows her to do her life coaching thing. The only problem is that he fights her every step of the way - he is the bull in her proverbial china shop, and just doesn't relate to spa treatments. As they battle it out over his clothing, job, and lack of ambition, the two opposites start realizing that there's a spark between them.

With witty dialogue, laugh-out-loud scenes, and great secondary characters, Plumley has penned a funny romantic comedy. She has a gift for writing believable satirical dialogue, and "Mike" is no exception.

Making Over Mike is a fantastic story, full of funny situations and lovable characters. It was nice to read a smooth, fun romance for a change, and not one fraught with murder, intrigue or supernatural events. An excellent beach read for sure!

In Phoenix, Amanda Connor knows how important her "Life Coach Lotto" promotion is for her business aspirations, to make a success of her company Aspiration, Inc. She persuades Channel Six to follow the makeover of the winner for one month.

To Amanda's chagrin, the winner turns out to be quite a loser as Taxi driver Mike Cavaco enters the TV studio with the triumphant tickets. All Mike wants to do is return what he found left behind in his cab and escape into his world of self pity that has engulfed him ever since he lost his regular job. However, before he can react he is drawn into accepting the victory. Amanda may think she can make Mike over, but he wants to say no only it keeps coming out yes because he finds himself attracted to his life make over counselor.

MAKING OVER MIKE is an amusing contemporary romantic romp that never takes itself seriously. The story line is fun and humorous in a madcap way, as neither of the lead characters wants what is happening, but between the TV station and love, they have no choice. Anyone who enjoys reading a funny frolicking romp will want to peruse Lisa Plumley's cheerful tale.

Hariet Klausner

I picked this us at the local library's sale, and I'm happy I did. The plot is great, the hero is extremely appealing, and the love scenes are hot. I didn't have the problem other readers had with the heroine, and I didn't have an issue with the constant references to her attempt at a diet. Truthfully, anyone who has ever tried to lose weight knows that when you're trying to lose weight it is, in fact, always on your mind. I thought the secondary characters were exceptionally well drawn, especially Mike's pals. I'm totally confused at the criticism that the April Fool's thing wasn't revealed until the end of the novel. Not true at all - there is an extended explanation mid-book. His mother doesn't find out until the end of the book, but the reader is (or should be) clued in. I'd give it five stars except for some inexplicably sloppy editing mid-book, in which Mike's shoes are laid upon by a large basset hound, then kicked off his feet moments later ... I don't want to figure out what's happening with the hero's feet during a love scene. There's also at least one almost incoherent methaphor that should have been struck by an alert editor, but these are quibbles. A fun, relaxing read. I'll look for more of her books.

This book is delightful! I really liked Amanda, Mike is just what you want in a hero, and their friends are a riot! These are vivid, interesting characters, and the writing is witty, bright and laugh-out-loud funny. Do yourself a favor and buy this one as soon as you see it. You won't be able to put it down...

This is the first book I've ever read by Lisa Plumley and I will say that I enjoyed it and would probably purchase and read another one of her books. The story is well written and moves along rather quickly. The author does an excellent job of describing the characters and their surroundings. I liked Mike and his buddies from the bar slightly more than Amanda's friends Mel and Gemma. Their entire interaction felt forced, almost as though they were thrown in because it's the thing to do; that the heroine must have two girlfriends and drink margaritas with them weekly. Amanda seemed way too independant and pushy to have any true friends. When she was with her friends she didn't really listen to them.

That being said, I hated Amanda. She diets compulsively, to the point that most of her internal dialouge mentions her dieting at least once a chapter, doesn't listen to other people, and comes across as spoiled when she doesn't get her way. And she always gets her way until the end of the book when the hero decides that being steamrolled into a career he doesn't want trumps his infatuation with her. Why he likes her; I have no idea.

The other problem I had with this book was April Fool's Day. It is mentioned many, many times throughout the book as an important moment in the life of the hero. It changed the course of his destiny, so to speak. But the reader doesn't find out what happened or why it's significant until the final chapter, and it was really annoying. Parts of the story are told from the point of view of Mike, yet the reader is never made aware of WHAT he used to do before being a semi employed Taxi driver or WHY April Fool's Day is important. I thought it was a restaurant for a while and concluded it to be the worst name ever for an eating establishment.

It's worth reading if you have some down time on the beach or are taking a long trip somewhere; but I don't know that I"d place it super high on "The Books to Read List".