Final Total: 7.3 (we're opening the book and starting to read. . .)

Reader 1:

Cover: 3.5/4  It's a nice cover. It's simple, the composition is pleasing, the fonts are well chosen. I know I'm getting myself into a chick-lit story that involves travelling. Nice job.

Title: 1.5/2 It's a good title, but I'm finding the "Elly and..." part a little odd. Maybe because that's the sort of syntax you'd usually see in childrens' books - Harry Potter and... for example. I'm expecting a big adventure - and that is coming, if the blurb is anything to go by - but maybe of a more magical quest type.

Blurb: 3.5/4

I don't really have any qualms with this at all. You describe the setting well. I know exactly what the book will be about, where it will start, and can more-or-less predict where it will go.

The fourth paragraph ("But life can change...") could possibly use a bit of a re-write, but nothing major, really. It reads a little bit clumsily where you say "Elly's prospects soar. Then*,* she learns she can't cash the long-expired check." Other than that - no issues. This is quite well polished. 

Total: 8.5 (I'm interested in opening the book)

Reader 2:

Cover: 4/4  This is, of course, a fantastic cover. And I think you know it. The only thing I think could be slightly improved is the placement / font of the author name. It's fine as it is, but to hit that 'wow' level, you'd have to do something a bit different -- perhaps more creative -- with it than you've done. You probably are wanting to keep that look though, to make it fit with the other stories in the series, so I haven't taken any points off due to that. 

Title: 2/2 It works well with the cover and sounds like Elly there is going to be going off on her own adventure. 

Blurb: 2.5/4

Elly would give anything to have her life resemble a Hallmark movie.She longs for her happily-ever-after: a proposal by her boyfriend, a big raise at the perfect job, and a fat inheritance from her great-aunt.Instead, she finds herself alone, broke, and sorting through a storage unit filled with worthless junk.

This first bit is fantastic. It's interesting, clear and puts us into Elly's shoes immediately. But life can change in an instant. When Elly opens a decade-old envelope addressed to her, she discovers it contains an astonishing monetary gift. Elly's prospects soar. Then she learns she can't cash the long-expired check. What's more, she's never heard of her benefactor: a woman who claims the money is honoring a long-ago favor by Elly's grandmother.This part is perhaps too detailed and somewhat awkwardly constructed. What we need to know is that she finds an old check and a letter from a lady she's never heard of. We don't need to know the rigamarole she went through or what she thought of it. That's too much. Hoping to alleviate her financial straits and find a connection to her long-deceased family, Elly embarks on a search for the mystery woman. This sounds -- nigh on impossible? How can you connect to a long-deceased family? Is Elly going to attend some seances and ask the dead how she can make her bank account healthier? That's what it sounds like. Trouble is, she doesn't know if chasing this particular rainbow will result in a pot of gold--or yet another crushing disappointment.This ending is fine, but we might already guess that the answer is "pot of gold" simply because crushing disappointment doesn't exactly happen in this genre, although the pot might not be as golden as Elly might like. Due to that, this last part is almost a redundant statement. We know the answer already before even starting the story. In general, this is a well-done blurb, but it has some phrasing and reveal kinks left to work out.

Total: 8.5 (I'm interested in opening the book)

Reader 3:

Cover: 4/4 Love it. Clean, great colors. I enjoy the off-center focal point with the red dress. Nice use of thirds. The font choices lend themselves to a Prairie style romance - right away I know what I'm looking at. Well done.

Title: 1/2 I'm not actually sure how this applies to the blurb... I'll get into it in more detail in the Blurb department, but is the 'road less traveled' here supposed to mean hunting for some old lady's money? If so... I'd sure hope it was less traveled, yeah.

Blurb: 0/4 There's a bit of bloat going on (just a few places to trim, really). You could cut the first sentence in the third paragraph, 'But life can change in an instant.' That's cliché, and it's made obvious (and therefore redundant) by the next line. This is an insanely minute nitpick, but you've got a second colon in the last sentence. The info following isn't absolutely necessary, either. All I need to know right now is that she's never heard of her benefactor.

The next line is where I start scratching my head. Unfortunately, it's a plot arc issue, not something I can suggest anything for. She's poor. I get it. But Elly is starting to look like a money-grubber, here. "You were going to give me money, and I made all these plans and started counting chickens with my new, soaring prospects, but then I found out I couldn't get my hands on what you gave me, so now I'm going to come looking for it. Pay up, old lady! I want my pot of gold!"

That could totally not be what happens, but that's the impression I'm getting. Maybe I'm betraying a certain snootiness, but I'm not all that interested in reading about a chick who harasses old women and doesn't know that you can't cash a check past 90 days. Now, if she was returning something she found, and the emphasis was more on her seeking out lost relatives (which is mentioned in passing), then maybe. But to be totally, crushingly disappointed because you can't just show up and ask an old lady to give you her money? Meh. Not sure how you could rectify this in the blurb if this is the actual plot, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that might be off-putting to more people than just me.

Total: 5 (I've put the book back on the shelf)