What do readers think of The Look of Love by Mary Jane Clark? Write your own review.

I am a first time reader of the author's Piper Donovan Mysteries and The Look of Love will be my last. I had a very difficult time getting into the book and thought it was very choppy and disjointed. I kept reading thinking it would improve, but alas it didn't.

Piper Donovan isn't the average wedding cake baker. In fact she's only made one wedding cake before, but what a cake it was. On the basis of that one cake, she has been asked to come to Los Angeles and make a cake for Jillian Abernathy, director of Elysium. A trip to LA, a wedding cake, some acid in the face and a few murders are all ingredients in The Look of Love by Mary Jane Clark.

Piper isn't a foolhardy young woman. She knows that she wants to be an actor and that there are more opportunities in LA than in New York. She also knows that doing a cake for Jillian Abernathy, not to mention an all-expense paid trip to California and a stay at a topnotch spa resort is an excellent opportunity. Or is it? Unfortunately there is a murder at the spa on the day of Piper's arrival. Is this a sign of things to come?

I'm not quite sure why this is classified as a Piper Donovan mystery as Piper seems to be more of a bystander and not actively involved in the murders. She does get dragged into a minor investigation into the antics of one of the spa's employees by an undercover journalist. However, she's not really involved in the murders or murder investigations other than being in the same facility at approximately the same time.

There's some intrigue involved in this story but it didn't really keep my interest. The characters are relatively realistic but I had difficulty accepting that Jillian could deal with having such a high-pressure job, director of an elite spa, but quickly fall apart over everything else. There were parts of the story that worked and worked quite well: Piper and her friendship with Jack, Piper's overprotective father and his worrying, and the investigation by the undercover journalist. In the end, I didn't really find The Look of Love all that mysterious or captivating a read. It's a decent read but it didn't work for me.

This is just an average mystery. I believe this is part of a series which may be why there isn't much character development. Based on the simplistic writing style and improbable storyline, I don't believe I will be reading any more Piper Donovan mysteries.

Unfortunately, this is not a very well written book. In fact it seemed amateurish, and I couldn't help wondering if it had been written for a teen audience. The idea for the plot had potential, but it just never delivered. Sometimes a silly, light, brand name dropping novel amuses. This one was just plodding!

This is my first Mary Jane Clark book and I was disappointed in it. The format was quite choppy with short chapters (some only a half a page long. There was no character development. The plot was boring and predictable. I found myself hurrying through the last part just to get to the end. It would probably make a fairly good summer beach read, but that's all.

Simply put, this is not a good book. The writing style is choppy and disconnected. The plot is flimsy. And, you never get to know any of the characters well enough to care about them. By time you find out who did it, you don't care.

Although my interest was captured in the first chapter, after that I felt the chapters were a bit short. The character development was pretty good, but I wanted more. The plot was good but too rushed and book felt thrown together which may have been the reason it took so long to get it. If you like a very fast read for a plane ride, etc. this book would do.

The Look of Love was an OK story to read, and the author had a good writing style, but I thought the characters lacked depth. The relationships (especially the one between Piper, the heroine, and Jack, her boyfriend), were not well developed. And, I didn't think it was necessary or even added to the story to include the descriptions of how to make the icing and the cake for the wedding. It was fine to have the recipes at the end of the book. That was a nice touch, but the description was not needed in the text of the book. I really don't think I am interested in reading another Piper Donovan mystery.