My Book Filled Life: BLOG TOUR - Five Minutes Late by Rich Amooi

Can an always-tardy garlic mogul and a punctual Silicon Valley librarian fall in love?

The world needs garlic and somebody’s got to sell that garlic. Cedric Johnson is that man. But even though he’s got just about everything he can wish for, Cedric is still missing one thing in his life: someone special. Fate may be on his side, but he encounters a few distractions along the way—like almost being killed by a UPS truck. Oh, and a little case of blackmail.

Ellie Fontaine is a walking Wikipedia with clear professional goals, but when it comes to landing Mr. Right, she doesn’t know jack squat. She even gives online dating a shot and ends up with an unappetizing buffet of unibrows and losers. What’s a girl to do?

After Ellie saves Cedric’s life, serendipity takes over as they continue to run into each other. Their connection grows stronger with each meeting, even though he embodies her number one pet peeve: he’s always late. But even if they can get past their issues and misunderstandings, Ellie’s ex-boyfriend, an unscrupulous cop, will do anything to keep them apart.

Five Minutes Late is a hilarious fast-paced romantic comedy, full of snappy dialogue and fun, quirky characters, guaranteed to warm your heart.

“He kissed me in the library!” said Ellie. “That’s my place of work and it’s completely inappropriate.” Ellie forked some noodles on her plate. “I’m up for the biggest promotion of my life and if that kiss has repercussions, I’ll kill him with my bare hands.”

Grandpa Frank laughed. “You’re not overreacting a bit?”

“You don’t go kissing people in their place of work.”

“Well, I don’t know about that. Things happen in the moment of passion and sometimes you just can’t help yourself. I kissed your grandma in the malt shop … a few times.”

Ellie stopped chewing.

“Don’t look so surprised. I wasn’t a prude, you know.”

“I know, but …”

“Is it about the promotion? Or is it something else?”

Grandpa Frank knew her so well.

No. It wasn’t about the promotion, now that she’d thought about it. The real issue was she enjoyed the kiss and didn’t want it to stop. That scared her, because she still wasn’t sure about who he was. She was attracted to Cedric that was for sure. He was witty and charming, but she had a lot of unanswered questions and doubts about him.

Ellie smiled. “Have I ever told you that you’re a wise man?”

“Yes.” Grandpa Frank chuckled. “But I don’t get tired of hearing it.”

“I enjoyed it. The kiss.”

Grandpa Frank nodded.

“And I slapped him.”

Grandpa Frank grimaced. “Poor guy. I guess this is one of those times where we men don’t understand you women. Why would you slap him if you enjoyed the kiss?”

Ellie shrugged and fidgeted with the salt and pepper shakers. “Nervous reaction, I guess.”

Rich Amooi is a former Silicon Valley radio personality and wedding DJ, now a writer of comedy and romance. He believes in destiny, silliness, infinite possibilities, Betty Crocker Super-Moist Yellow Cake with chocolate frosting, gratitude, laughter, and happy ever after. Rich lives in San Jose, California with his wife and their very hairy dog.

He enjoys writing stories that are light, fun, a little bit crazy, and romantic. :)

NEWSLETTER

I found this to be a refreshing and entertaining romance, with a few laugh out loud moments made even better because it's written by a man, who manages to make the story romantic without going all flowery and mushy.

Both Cedric and Ellie have issues in their past that have unconsciously manifested themselves into their present behaviors: Cedric hasn't been in a relationship in over 2 years, and Ellie is obsessed with punctuality. After Ellie saves Cedric's life, they continue to run into each other in awkward situations, but due to miscommunication on both sides, their relationship doesn't seem to make any progress. It doesn't help that Ellie's ex-boyfriend is a few nuts shy of being a complete psycho.

What I liked about this book is that with Cedric being a garlic farmer (of all things!), you might think he wouldn't be cool or have a sense of humor, but he's the complete opposite, which made the story flow better (at least to me). He even took the initiative to come to an understanding with Ellie regarding the setbacks in their relationship.

I also liked how the book wrapped up, but I do wish we could have learned exactly what happened with Ellie's ex-boyfriend; with all the drama he caused throughout the book, he just dropped out of the picture. Another small issue is that Cedric and Ellie never discussed what happened with his previous girlfriend. We know what happened due to a flashback, but Cedric never actually told Ellie the story. But overall a very enjoyable story!

RATING