My Funny Valentine

by Rhonda Nelson

"Quirky, irreverent and laugh-out-loud hilarious, Rhonda Nelson speaks my language!" --New York Times bestselling author Vicki Lewis ThompsonVintage Rhonda Nelson! Though Rhonda is known more recently for her sexy, romantic comedies she began her career writing funny, heart-warming romance for Kensington's Precious Gems line. The books were only sold in Wal-Mart and spent less than a month on the shelves. Now, thanks to the wonderful world of digital publishing, they're available again.Young widow Bella Valentine isn't looking for love in all the wrong places--she's not looking for love at all. With a young son, an aging Victorian house in need of constant repair and a busy business keeping the women of Magnolia Grove, Mississippi groomed and in current fashion, she doesn't have time for romance...until it literally arrives at her front door...in the form of Gray Cameron.Bestselling mystery author Gray Cameron is in town researching his latest novel and needs a place to lay his head for a few months. Bella's above-stairs apartment fits the bill excellently and the scenery--hers specifically--is nothing to sneeze at either. But when the sexy widow and her adorable son prove to be more interesting than his current novel, Gray knows he's in trouble. And trouble has never felt so good...

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Novella, Holiday

123 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Do you know those old cheesy Harlequin novels in A6 or something like that format on your mother's or grandmother's shelves that kind of initiated into the world of romance although you really don't enjoy the reading experience but want to read anyway because it's supposed to be romance afterall? Well, I can safely say that this one fits the bill to the very last item on the list. It's one of these simplistic romance novels where the hero and heroine are attracted to each other from the very start, start talking and a couple of weeks later are already ready to state their love for each other despite the fact that the reader doesn't actually get what either of them sees in the other or why they should be together in the first place.

My full review for this book can be found HERE.

[CeCe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had a great start, but then it lost me.

The heroine is a widow. Lost her husband three years before. The hero starts renting from the heroine. He is a writer and doing research about the town. They find each other attractive. The hero says he is not looking for a relationship, but can't help but fall for the heroine, blah, blah, blah.

The only thing that really happened was later in the story the hero left town to go back to San Francisco. He told her it was for business, but he needed to think about the relationship. He said he would call her, but didn't. The heroines neighbors went to San Fran to beg him to call the heroine. The hero comes back to the small town and basically gets the heroine back by simply saying "I love you". He did not really grovel or anything. It was pretty weak.

I did like the ladies who hung out at the salon. They made me laugh and I thought they were wonderful friends.

If you are looking for a romance in a small town with little to no angst, this one is for you.

[Scarlet Fanning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not exactly a holiday theme story, but the heroine is named Bella Valentine.

This one will keep you laughing with the southern charm provided in Bella’s Hair Salon by the feisty older women who have made the place their daily hang out. Bella lives in Magnolia Groves, Mississippi with her five year old son, Ethan. She has had a tough three years since the death of her husband.

Gray Cameron has rented her upstairs apartment to finish his latest mystery manuscript. The best selling author is one of Belle’s favorites. The sexual tension is strong as the two tip toe around their desire.

The feisty white hair gang want have that as they do everything in their power to push them together. Belle had planned to never remarry after the love of her life died. Gray had planned to never marry because he needed solitude to write.

The feisty ladies have work to do.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh, it was fine. The characters were likeable enough, the setting sweet, the storyline not too surprising. The main issue was the usual lack of communication but that was dealt with in a more realistic way than usual (though, wtf, did those 4 salon ladies fly across the country and break into his apartment on a whim??? Or was that another bit of poor editing?) It was also nice to have the conflict NOT generated by Another Woman; she was there but she was a red herring and dealt with without much fuss.

Mainly the big drawback was the seeming lack of an editor's perusal. Lots of typos and some flow issues. Oh, and the title had NOTHING to do with the book other than the heroine's last name. Hmph.

[Jen_C · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I did not round it up due to the careless editing errors and because of the overly descriptive paragraphs.

Cute, funny romance with a bunch of old biddy secondary characters all up in the main couple's business.

[Judy Christiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a light and easy romance read. I enjoyed it. I was a bit annoyed at the many typos in the kindle version I read. Seems that that could have been corrected before it was issued.

[Sandy Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming

This is a sweet, simple story about finding love. The characters are full of small town goodness. No violence. No bad characters. Just sweet simplicity.

[Cindy Caron · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful, sweet love story. If you love happy endings and a few tear-jerking moments along the way, this is definitely the book for you. Ms. Nelson has given us a story that tugs on our heart strings in so many ways, that it is hard to not love it. The emotions that are portrayed are real, felt by most of us at some point in our lives, yet still a mystery to many more.
After loosing her childhood sweetheart over 3 years ago, single mom Bella has tried hard to put her life back together, raising her young son on her own, with a little bit of help from her "geriatric guardians". When Gray comes knocking at her door to rent her apartment above her living quarters and her beauty shop, he literally knocks her for a loop.
Great read. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a 3.5 stars, really, just rounding down. I will leave it to others to give a synopsis. I love the stories by this author; they are very fun and quick reads! I would rate it a 4 star if the Kindle edition wasn't so horrendously rife with typos. (All of this author's e-books are this way.) Immensely distracting at times. Obviously, the manuscript was converted for e-publishing and no one read it before sending it out to the masses! (Unless the print edition is just as bad, but I doubt it!)

[Marie Jermy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of Ms Nelson's finest and not one I'll be reading again. The Kindle edition had quite a few typos that were very distracting. Didn't like Bella and Gray either. They were one dimensional and Ms Nelson just threw them together romantically because she could. Also the four old women in the salon got on my nerves, they did nothing for the story and from the middle of the book until the end I skipped over their scenes completely.

[Izzy Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a sweet book that was just what a single girl like me needed to read on the dreaded 'singles awareness day'. Sometimes, when finding love in the real world seems bleak and hopeless, reading about a deserving couple find their forever love is just what the doctor order to renew ones faith in love. Heck, if a romance book can't do that for you, I don't know what will!

[Kame · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute story. Not a whole lot of character development - I don't think I could sit down and have a chat with any of them. The little boy is adorable and steals some scenes.

Worth the .99 I paid but no more

[Lily Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reminded me of the fun, screwball comedies you just don't get these days. With a sassy, independent heroine, a love interest who never means to fall from her (but can't quite help it) and an awesome chorus of kickass old ladies who have an opinion on everything, it's a quick, fun ride.

[Nicole Bollinger]

Call an editor.

some parts of this typical romance made me laugh out loud, I enjoyed it, it's just a little hard to avoid her massive typos. spellchecker caught everything but she became he so many time.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best yet

I have read a couple of other books that she wrote and I think this one is my favorite so far not just an ordinary love story but it is so much more it has every feeling you could have all in a short book from laughter to sadness. I loved it!

[Marion Galvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun charming story

Fun charming story

covers all emotions I laughed out many times. tears came as well. great read. well written, publisher needs to brush up...many typos that affected the flow. does not affect my love of the author

[Amary Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet!!!

Wonderfully sweet contemporary romance about a widowed mother working as a beautician and the relationship that evolves between her and her new tenant...a mystery writer....her favorite mystery writer. Comes with a large dose of humor.

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many typos. Frustrating.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't really get into this sadly, I have enjoyed a couple of this authors earlier books but this one didn't strike the right chord for me.

[Sassy Beta Reading & Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!!! It made me laugh, it made me cry....it was an excellent read! Hope to find more books from this author. This book ended way too soon.

[Amie01 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was good, but very predictable. I think she could have dug deeper with developing the characters.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little story, very predictable though.

[Pam Jackson-gorsline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life's changes

This is a good, funny, happy story. The characters were easy to know as well as interesting. I recommend this reading.

[Bandora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet story in need of polishing

The story was sweet and straight to the point but is in desperate need of proofreading as there are a lot of "autocorrect" errors.

[Fatima McKindra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it...funny, cute and sexy even though it was a short read.