Vivacious Violet

Hello Readers! 

I am on a roll with my TBF 2011 reading! I’m bound and determined NOT to have a repeat of last year (where I was trying to finish 6 books less than a week before the festival!), so I’m getting started early. 

I got a great deal on several TBF books on Barnes&Noble.com this past weekend. I got books by Heather Brewer and Melissa Kantor for $1.99 each! I love a good bargain (and a good book). I can’t wait for them to arrive. There are few things more exciting in life than a package from Barnes&Noble. 

Anyway, today I am not here to boast about my mad shopping skills (nerdy again, right?), but to review “Violet on the Runway” by Melissa Walker. 

Violet Greenfield is tall, skinny, and completely lacking in confidence. She attends public high school in her North Carolina town, hangs out with her best friends, Julie and Roger, and works part-time at the local movie theatre. But all that changes when Angela Blythe, an agent for Tryst Models in NYC, recruits her for a life in the limelight. Violet, who has always felt that she never found the one thing that she was “great” at, jumps at the opportunity. She sets off for New York City, is thrust into the spotlight, and learns that getting what you want is not always easy. 

Violet is a believable and likeable character. In the sneak peek excerpt of “Violet By Design” (the next book in the “Violet” series), Violet says, “I realize the whole hotel opens in the middle around a giant, curving staircase like in “Gone With the Wind” – which, okay, is my secret favorite movie. My public favorite movie is “The Royal Tenenbaums,” which, while a great film with infinitely more cool cred, is no “Gone With the Wind.” It’s lines like this that convince the reader that Violet would make an awesome best friend. 

Fans of “Ugly Betty,” “Project Runway” and “Models of the Runway,” and “America’s Next Top Model” can’t go wrong with “Violet on the Runway.” 

(And a fun fact, Melissa Walker has worked in the fashion industry. Check out her bio online or in the back of one of the “Violet” books for more info!)