Alaska Virgin Air

by Izzy Ballard

FAIRBANKS , ALASKA ADVENTURE, -40°, BEARS, MOOSE . . . HUSBAND-SCHOOL DROPOUT OF AN EX. YIKES! Abigail Vertuccio, reluctant clairvoyant, has three simple goals in life. One. Don’t let people find out about her infuriating habit of seeing the future. Two. Stop seeing the future. Three. Get as far away from her past (and that means Alaska ) as possible. She thought she’d succeeded when she hopped in her ancient motor home and hit and road. Only now she’s back in Alaska – Grandma’s orders – to help run the family rural air service, Alaska Virgin Air. Home only a week, Abbey stumbles onto a plot to destroy the family business. Never one to leave matters to the experts, she and two of her zanier friends orchestrate a counter-attack of stakeouts and spying that have even the Alaska State Troopers rolling in the aisles. Despite all her efforts, she’s batting zero on the spy front. It’s beginning to look like someone’s trying to kill her. As if that isn’t enough, things with her ex are alternately heating up and scaring the hell out of her. She has only one question. Should she get out of town now, before she ends up in someone’s bed, married again or just plain dead? Okay, two questions. What the hell good is being clairvoyant if it never seems to work when she really, really wants it to?

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Paranormal, Fiction, Ebooks, Mystery

304 pages, Paperback

First published October 26, 2009

Reviews

[SandraE · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this book 3 stars purely because it was able to make me laugh out loud. Unfortunately, there were many flaws in this book that made it hard to follow. It is never a good thing when the reader becomes confused while reading and very bad when they do not care enough to go back and reread it to clear up said confusion. This book falls under that category. That problem combined with really stupid decisions by all the characters in this book made for an annoying read.

[Ana Popielnicki · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am only at around page 125 of this 586-page book and am seriously considering just ending the misery there. I despise the main character (Abbey), the narrative is horrendously disorganized, there is inconsistent behavior among characters (of which there are legion!), and there, decision made. Stopping right now before I poke my own eyes out. I'm sure there are those who would enjoy this book, but I'm not one of those.

[Diane ~Firefly~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read with kooky characters. Abby's grandmother guilts her into coming back to Alaska and running the family airline for a bit. Abby has commitment issues probably due to her very free spirited mother. Abby and her friends all seem to be having relationship issues that are mostly cleared up by the end of the book.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book a lot. Fun, interesting and novel premise, interesting characters, well written, realistic feeling, engaging and different from the characters in most other romantic comedic mystery novels. Good descriptions of locations, good plot.

However, the protagonist in particular and most of the other women in the book just waffled too much about which men they were really interested in most. Just make a decision at some point! It doesn’t have to be early on in the book. I understand that part of the enjoyable unfolding of a story can be the delay in resolving those questions but at some point in order for the story to be satisfying to me you have to make a decision (even if that decision is to reject all of them).

I found it annoying that the main character connected at all with her ex. The way he was written I couldn’t really see any redeeming qualities in him. I guess if maybe he came up with a good explanation for his past actions and it came out that they didn’t really happen in the way that they appeared I could get behind her giving him a second chance but he never did.

I also wish that the author had fleshed out the descriptions of the bad guys more and made them into more three dimensional characters but that is a fairly minor complaint.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read.

[Bernie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alaska Virgin Air is a fun book about a Jersey girl in Alaska written by author Izzy Ballard.

[Carrol · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a title like Alaskan Virgin Air (AVA) I wasn't expecting to read a great mystery or a book that would require me to "think" a lot. This book met my expectations and I enjoyed it. Take AVA to the beach, to the pool, or anyplace you want to relax and just read.

I've heard the term "chick lit" used lately and guess this book would qualify. It made me laugh out loud, brought back memories of some of my Italian friends, and just plain entertained. In response to some of the other reviews; yes, some of the characters were immature. Yes, the author could have gone into the sabotage of AVA in more detail. Yes, there were several things the author could have done differently.

Maybe it's because I love Alaska and will read anything set place in that beautiful state. Or, maybe it's just that at times I just want to read a funny, entertaining book, but I really enjoyed reading AVA and will be reading other books by Izzy.

[Cathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this 3 stars as I did laugh out loud about that many times. The story would be more enjoyable if it had not been so disjointed. Some of the characters were extremely immature. I also feel all the references to Sicilian's Rules was annoying and ridiculous.

Though the above comments seem extremely negative, don't take it that way. These are just comments that I feel made the story a 3 star rather then a 5 star read.

The storyline, if the author had focused more on Abbey and the issues with the airline, instead of going off into multiple directions would make this story more interesting. I did finish the book as I was curious to see where the author was going with the story.

If a lot of the nonsense had been left out of the story, the book would be about 300 pages and a much better read.

[Kimberlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was entertaining and scattered with bits of humor throughout. The characters were likable, too.

But there were some writing issues that just made it hard for me to stay connected. Some things werent believable, descriptions of events were vague and I had no idea what really happened, and everything was tied up with a convenient bow at the end.

Also, the heroine kept commenting about how being clairvoyant was a death sentence, but the author rarely used it for any meaningful purpose. She should have just left that out altogether.

Some readers will enjoy the story just fine, but it wasnt catchy enough for me to want to read more in the series.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2½ stars - I rounded up because some of my feeling about this book is that I thought it was a mystery and it turned out to be chick lit. There was a small amount of mystery involved in trying to discover who might be sabotaging the family business, Alaska Virgin Air, but it was primarily about the relationships between the main character and her friends, family, and men.

Overall I thought it was enjoyable, and didn't notice the troubles with the writing other reviewers have mentioned (except at the very end there were a few poorly edited sentences). However, my Kindle edition had 292 pages, not the 500+ other reviewers mentioned, so I assume some revisions have been done.

[D · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm giving this book two stars as the characters were difficult to follow at times and the storyline was just a comedy of errors. Between business takeover, smuggling and british spies in Alaska, it became too forced. There were a few times I laughed and I did manage to finish it so it, so it earned the second star.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book to read. The good: The characters...they made me laugh. The Bad: Too many things going on. Would've been better if the story focused just on the main character (Abbey) issues with being thrust into running her family's airline and maybe finding romance...the other stuff just muddied the plotline waters. Other than that...fun book to read.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun light read. However, it wasn't a book that I couldn't put down. I liked the character of Abby, but there are actions I just couldn't relate with her. Characters would appear and there were times that you weren't quite sure of the point of having them. Those are the critical points. Overall, it was an easy read, predictable, and enjoyable.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally enjoyed this book. Usually when Alaska is a setting for a book, it's one cliche after another and I spend more time rolling my eyes than enjoying the book. This was very well done. the characters outshone ALASKA. One little critisism... when was the last time you went to the Howling Dog and saw that many hunks crammed in there? LOL, I live in the 'banks.

[Gregg Brickman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the cover, I expected a light-hearted, entertaining read. It was. Though the plot is a little thin in spots, I found the characterization holds up and the sense of place is strong. I recommend it for what it is--entertainment.

[Erin Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a fun, frenetic read. If you thought you were a commitment phobe, Abbey has you beat. Add in her quirky friends, her opinionated mother and all the misadventures and you have a crazy read that keeps you laughing.

[Anne Conley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story, great heroine, super supporting characters. I really liked that I had no idea what was going on with the "other" love interest until the end of the book, and that the heroine didn't wiffle waffle back to him...Sorry, I guess that was a spoiler.

[Kariss · Rating 3 out of 5]

a fun fast read ...

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love any story set in Alaska. So excited to read this one,and it was kind of a letdown. Interesting story just not very well laid out.

[Leslie aka StoreyBook Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute story, some LOL moments...but sure was a lot going on (lots of characters and stories)

[Jeanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, I slogged through all 586 pages. I'm still asking myself why.

[Jacqueline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. It was a cute mystery.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light, funny, and a good, quick read. Love the zany cast of characters and zippy dialogue...along the lines of Janet Evanovich and Donna Andrews. Ms. Ballard had me chuckling out loud.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great contemporary romantic mystery. Not cozy; she puts a doozy of a sexy night in there... not with the Hero, either.

[Robbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. Definitely mystery-lite. More romantic comedy-of-errors than anything, but not badly written.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong comic voice and delightful characters. Lots of fun to read.