Blog Tour: The Unlikely Gift of Treasure Blume by Lisa Rumsey Harris

Title: The Unlikely Gift of Treasure Blume
Author: Lisa Rumsey Harris
Stand Alone
Format- PDF
Publisher- Sweetwater Books (Imprint of Cedar Fort Inc.)
Release Date: November 13th 2012
Pages- 304
Source- Cedar Fort Publishing

Overview:
Treasure Blume hasn't had the easiest life. She's disliked by all... at least when they first meet her. Her family cure or "Gift" as her Grammy likes to say causes everyone to dislike her. Only if they are really good people will they get over this initial dislike and see her for who she truly is.

Dennis is facing a whole new way of life. He used to be a great chef and still is only he's working at his daughter's school as Mr. Lunch Lady. It's nice to be close to his daughter and he would do anything for her unlike his ex-wife who cares only for self but it's been a struggle. He's coming from being this great chef to serving lunch to a bunch of kids who don't even like his food. He also cares for his mother who's slowly being taken away by cancer. But a whole new challenge faces him. His daughter's first grade teacher baffles him. He can't understand how she can irritate him so. Although getting along with her might not be such a huge challenge - falling in love with her might be the greatest challenge he's ever had to face.

Review:
Adorable cover. It describes Treasure so well. She dresses in obscure sweaters that I've come to love like I've come to absolutely, completely LOVE this story. When I look back on this book all I can think of is huge exclamation marks in my head and the giddiness I feel for this beautiful story about finding love in the right people and accepting yourself.

Treasure Blume (fantastic name) is a first grade teacher. She took after her mother that way in becoming a teacher but not in her mother's easy going way of having everyone like her. She is the complete opposite in that sense. After all her "gift" does make everyone dislike her. Her family gift can be traced back to many generations ago. It always occurs to the third girl. The person may have variations of the gift like her grandma who dislikes everyone immediately instead of people disliking her which is the case for Treasure Blume. Her grandma thought Treasure escaped the gift because it always happened when there were three girls but no such luck. Even if she has a brother she is stuck with her gift.

Treasure is a saint. Nobody knows that she's such an absolute good person accept the people she's close with. If you haven't gone through puberty or if your around 65 years old and older you are not affected by the gift. So her parents didn't even like her right away. Her sister, Patience, was too old for the deadline but I honestly believe she wouldn't like her anyways because she's all wrapped up in herself to care about any of her family members. So no harm, no foul there. I describe Treasure as a saint but don't think for one minute she's that obnoxious perfect type of person because she's not. She's quirky and sweet. She's beyond likable. This whole story had me thinking if I would get over her gift and see her for her true self. Would I be that petty as I have read others be to her? I really don't know. Maybe in the beginning but I would hope that I can see the obvious amazingness that is Treasure Blume.

This author is crazy good at introducing the love interest - Dennis. She's great at writing period but I am mainly so happy to see how she wrote the love they had for each other and how it naturally progressed that I felt like shaking my book (computer in this case) and saying THANK YOU! Thank you for making such a great love interest who's a generous and nice person. He may not have started out so nice to Treasure but even in those moments I could not get mad at him. He absolutely loves his daughter who's a sweetheart and he's taking care of his mother when she's sick. The only huge mistake he made was in ever being with his ex-wife who's a witch. Why would you do that to yourself!? It's criminal for such a great guy to be with a horror like her. Dennis is the type of guy you want to bring home to your mother but you want to bring home to you too. I cannot praise this relationship and both characters enough.

The grandma's a bit off her rocker but in a good way. She's very opinionated and very loud. She's loud in what she wears, what she does, and what she says. Her fire has some sweetness in it too because you know how much she cares about Treasure by just seeing them together and the advice she gives her. Did I mention how much she loves to dance too? That gave you some bad images, didn't it? A grandma in a leotard or skin tight clothes. That's what comes to mind for me but I just laugh it off because she's just so fun to read about. Here's this woman who dislikes everyone she meets and even though it took her a while to get past it she was able to so that her personality shines all throughout the book.

It was hard for Treasure to believe that she would ever get a teaching job but she did. She also got to meet someone who has the worst attitude ever towards her. She's used to being tough for herself and brushing comments off but this woman has her flustered. Bonnie, the senior secretary, is the villain in this story. She uses her brother's position as superintendent over everybody's head to get her way. There is no way I will ever be swayed to see her as anything other than a bully. Every good story needs a good villain and this one provides an excellent one. She frustrated me to my core but she was such a good villain that I ended up liking her role (notice I didn't say I liked her character) anyways. She portrayed the bad guy quite masterfully with her "I'm better than you" attitude and provided some obstacles for Treasure.

If you haven't noticed I completely loved this story. There was a love interest that wasn't a bad boy which is a nice change I'm seeing in my reading. I know this is not what you would call a YA book so there aren't usually bad boys (I think) in Adult books but still. This author did everything right. From the plot, to the characters, to the story, to everything! This is an uplifting story that makes you think. I even think, dare I say it?, this could go in my favorite pile. Now if I'm even considering adding an Adult book into my favorite pile you know this book was seriously awesome. I hope I was able to give this book the most glowing review possible because it's worth the read. Heck, it's worth the buy! I feel like I need to get this book when it comes out and share it with my mother who hardly ever likes anything I want her to read. So one last word to sum up this book - Beautiful.

About the Author:

"Lisa Rumsey Harris grew up writing stories and riding horses in Southeastern Idaho. She recieved a bachelor's and master's degree in English from Brigham Young University, ehere she now teaches writing classes. Lisa lives in Orem Utah, with her ancient Siamese cat, her husband (who cooks nearly as well as Dennis) and her two adorable daughters. Check out her world at http://www.treasureblume.com/ or on facebook at Lisa Rumsey Harris, author." -Summary provided by the author

Thanks so much to Cedar Fort for letting me review this book!