The Word of Mouth Manual: Volume II, by Dave Balter

I have finally finished reading The Word of Mouth Manual: Volume II, by Dave Balter, and offer my readers my opinion of this book.

I liked many of the anecdotes (aforementioned Tickle Me Elmo marketing story) and for the most part, enjoyed the pithy book, which was easy to read. Mr. Balter must have one heck of a sense of humor, as it was easy to see his droll humor in many parts of the book.

The most interesting part of the book for me was the chapter devoted to the revamp of the prize structure. It was nice to finally gain a grasp of what was going through their heads when they decided to chuck the old (more lucrative) system in favor of the new system, which just got rolled out about two months ago (Shaloha). Though he admitted that the so-called pests were actually still beneficial to BzzAgent in a way, it was clearly unfair to the rest of the agents who didn't sit around 24 hours a day and type up false reports just to earn points, sit on them, and then take campaigns later and nab all of the good prizes. I didn't get many prizes from BzzAgent under the old system; a juicer, a gaming pack, some cutting boards... but I did donate to charity a few times out of frustration because there was never anything for me there to redeem for that I had enough points for or that was something I would have wanted anyway.

Even though the Bzz reward program is less lucrative (Mypoints - 50 points doesn't buy anything!) I do feel that in the long-term, it will separate the wheat from the chaff. It will no longer be lucrative to file endless reports just for the sake of gaining points to grab high value items. Instead, if you do bzz more than two reports required per campaign to maintain your standing, you are obviously doing it for the love of Bzz.

The Word of Mouth Manual: Volume II, by Dave Balter would be an interesting read for those involved in marketing, business owners (small, medium or large) and of course, us Bzz Agents!

Celeste Bradley's Heiress Brides Trilogy

I make no secret of loving series. I just hate reading a really superb book that leaves me wanting more, only to find that that's it, there's no more after and you are left wondering how things turned out for some characters in the back story. Having read Celeste Bradley's Heiress Brides trilogy, I am feeling pretty satisfied right now! I did not feel as if there were any loose ends that weren't tied up.

Book 1 of the Heiress Brides Trilogy: Desperately Seeking a Duke

As I mentioned in a previous post, this book starts out with 3 cousins vying for the family fortune. The winner takes all, provided they land themselves a Duke. It looks like Phoebe Millbury has it all sewn up, or does she? Cousin Dierdre is not very happy with Phoebe's match and bookish cousin Sophie couldn't care less since she has no intentions of marrying to win the fortune. Phoebe is torn between what she perceives as duty and penance and what her heart would much rather prefer to do. Desperately Seeking a Duke treats us to a budding romance in the back story, as well as focusing on poor Phoebe's plight. Duty or true love? Calder or Rafe? The ending to Desperately Seeking a Duke was a surprise for me and quite delightful in the way everything worked out in the end!

Spoiler alert:

If you haven't finished Desperately Seeking a Duke, please do so before you read on!

Book 2 of the Heiress Brides Trilogy: The Duke Next Door

Since Phoebe has now disqualified herself from her chance at the family fortune, Dierdre steps up to the plate with a rather matter-of-fact marriage proposal to Calder, who stepped aside for his brother Rafe to marry Phoebe. Allowing Rafe to marry Phoebe may have been the right thing to do for Rafe, but perhaps not for Calder, who has already been the subject of rumors and scandal in the past. Dierdre assumes that having rank will mean a happy life, but those dreams come screeching to a halt practically immediately after her wedding. It is then that she realizes that her betrothed left a little detail out before marrying her... one that will change her life forever. To add insult to injury, he treats her like a child and she and Calder engage in a game of cat and mouse. She loves him desperately, but she won't be whole until she wins his love. It looks like Dierdre has won the family fortune since Calder, a marquis, will soon inherit a dukedom from an ailing relative. Meanwhile, Sophie starts to get cozy with Dierdre's viperish step-mother's cousin, Graham Cavendish...

Spoiler alert, again! If you haven't read the past two books, please do so before reading further!

Book 3 of the Heiress Brides Trilogy: Duke Most Wanted

With Phoebe and Dierdre married off, Sophie Blake plans to enjoy the rest of the Season in London. She is socially awkward and has become good friends with Graham Cavendish, the fourth son of a Duke. Graham thinks has no prospects at gaining a title as a fourth son until a family tragedy thrusts the mantle of duty upon him. Suddenly, Graham inherits and needs a rich wife fast to save his estate and keep his cottagers from starving to death. A wonderful transformation by LeMenteur, a famed dressmaker featured in the previous books, suddenly makes bookish and awkward Sophie the belle of the ball! Graham realizes that he needs a rich wife and though he realizes his love for Sophie, he resists the match because he wants to do right by his cottagers, be able to pay creditors, and rebuild his family's estate. The end brings a good surprise about Sophie and we are left wondering if love is enough to get this star-crossed couple through.

All in all, I really enjoyed this series. The first book took me a while to get into, but it seemed that once I hit the half way point, the storyline flowed extremely fast and wonderfully. The chapters in all of the books were very short and held just enough mystery to get you to turn to the next chapter to find out what was going to happen next. I recommend this series to anyone who loves Regency Romances.

Celeste Bradley