Final Total: 6.5  (we're opening the book and starting to read. . . )

Reader 1:

Cover: 3/4

Ok, I like it. Simple. Modern. Goes fairly well with the blurb with the plane. For an American, however, planes heading toward sky scrapers can have some pretty gruesome connotations. Not that this has to cater only to Americans, but when I first looked at it, that's what came immediately to mind: this story is somehow about 9/11. Just FYI. You don't have to change it, necessarily, but it may spark that same reaction in a specific slice of your readers, and without anything else to go on in the title, they may pick it up expecting one thing only to find something else entirely – which may prompt them to put it back down.

For future reference, a screen name doesn't look anywhere near as serious or professional as a real name (or a nom-de-plume, if you prefer.) You don't really need 'a story by' either. If you go to your profile and click the edit profile button, you can add a name that is more believably real and keep your screenname the same. That's my two cents.

Title: 1.5/2

Meh – non-descript, but adequate and related to the story. You could maybe try adding a hint that this is NOT 9/11 in a subtitle or tagline? But again, you don't technically have to.

Blurb: 1/4

I enjoyed the unusual turns of phrase: fate middling one more time, for instance. If that was a typo, it sorta made me think of fate being the middle man. Meddling might be what you were after, though? 

Quote: What is the quote about? Yeah, I get the 'ten years' thing, but the relationship between the quote and the blurb is a bit abstract. Is it supposed to mean you can't organize ten years easily? It feels like something is missing since we only have the negative. What else did Patrick Bruel say? What CAN you do with ten years?

The Actual Blurb: MCs are named and setting is given. There is what might amount to an inciting incident in the meeting on the plane... I say might, and I'll explain it in a minute, but this is where the blurb starts sliding into Blahsville. The thing that seems to propel the story forward doesn't go anywhere all that interesting. There isn't any hint that they are drawn to each other romantically, so 'picking up where they left off' sounds like they're just going to start talking about themselves again. What joy. There isn't any mention of any real obstacle in their path, why they have to battle with sense/sensibility (alrighty then, Jane), or what-the-actual-heck reason they would have not to pursue their blossoming friendship. I mean, that's what this is, right? It can't be love yet, they've only really just met. Is there a spouse to worry about? Is there a job that will get in the way? It seems like the story is only just beginning when they meet the second time, and THAT is the real inciting incident, but then there's nothing about what they'll lose if they pursue each other. So there's no real tension to hook the reader with, and any interest inspired by the serendipitous meeting dribbles right down the drain. Also, if this is a story of 'parallel lives, etc. etc.,' is all of that happening in the ten years before they meet again? Or after? Please say after, otherwise reading this story would be the equivalent of eating the hole of a donut. 

Grammar: '... bringing people together*,* and as they sat next to each other...' 'never(,) in a million years(,) meet again.' (You don't technically need those last two commas since it's a colloquial phrase with a clear ending; ergo, you could get rid of them since you don't have to set the preposition apart for clarity.)

Should it not be 'left *off*'? Pick up where you left off... or left it... Meh. Not really that important, it just feels weird in my brain.

Total: 5.5 (I debated for a moment, then put this book back on the shelf.)

Reader 2:

Cover: 2.5/4 This cover works for me and I'd pick it up to read the blurb. The arrangement of the design elements are engaging and it gives me a 9/11 disaster feel. It looks like things are going to get really, really bad!

What doesn't work for me so much in particular is the pica size of the title -- it should be much larger -- nor the colour, which might work better if it matched the orangey rust colour of the building or another element in the photo. You also don't need the 'by' with the author title. That sounds really school or like a press release and not what you would see on the cover of a novel. The author name could also stand to be more prominent.

Title: 2/2 Works. I'd go right to the blurb.

Blurb: 2/4

What, no airplane crash? No catastrophic disaster? I was expecting something far more dramatic from the cover.

First thing, you want to write your blurb in the present tense, even if the story is in the past tense. That's just a given. There are also some minor errors/typos (fate middles one more time? Maybe you mean 'meddles'? ) and some bumpy phrasing that could use ironing out.

All-in-all, this blurb isn't bad, but takes way too long to get across what is essentially a very clearcut and simple plot line. Let me take a crack at simplification...

"Edward, an English actor off to conquer Hollywood, and Leïla, a marketing exec from Casablanca on her way to a training seminar, end up on the same flight to the United States. Stuck in adjoining seats for the 11-hours, they strike up a conversation, sharing the most personal, intimate parts of their lives with each other. After all, they'll never see this stranger again. What do they have to lose?

Ten years on, Edward and Leïla meet again on a hilltop in London. (I don't know enough of the story to add in what happens at that meeting)

TEN YEARS is a story of lost and found, of parallel lives and chance encounters, of sense battling with sensibility, and heart with reason."

You may not like the phrasing I've used, but it serves as an example of how much can be economised and still get across the outline of the story in an engaging, informative way.

Total: 6.5 (I'm interested in opening the book)

Reader 3:

Cover: 3/4 Simple, but in a good way, although I would lower the author's name a bit. The red looks good against the blue of the sky. Very modern. My problem is that the photo is of a building in Japan, but they are flying to America via London, but thats nitpicky. The cover has a nice composition, and I can see why you chose it. Saying that, if I saw it without reading the blurb I would have thought it was going to be more of a drama than a romance, perhaps about Wall Street. It feels a little corporate. Although to be honest - the more I look at it the more it makes me think of 9/11 (the plane does slightly look like it's going into the building).

Title: 1.5/2 It's short and sweet, and I rather like it. It makes sense with the blurb, but it doesn't really tell us much. I can see why you chose it, but I also think you could do a little better.

Blurb: 3/4 The opening line is awful. I'm sorry, but it has to be said. It reads awkwardly, and it's a quote that is kind of relevant to the story, but the blurb could do just as well without it. Saying that - it might be a translation issue. Maybe "like you are arranging Scrabble letters"? According to google it would translate into "We can not put 10 years on the table as one spreads his letters to Scrabble" but that still reads a bit weird. I would just get rid of it.

Other than that, I'm quite interested in this blurb. It is a little over-stylised in parts, for example *of sense battling with sensibility* - I'm not sure if you are trying to make me think of old romances by putting that in, but it's not doing this blurb any favours. It's a tired, overused line.

Did you mean "as fate *meddles* one more time"?

I would be quite interested to read a little more about what happened to them in the ten years, or maybe just how the story will find them - are they much changed? Why are they both in London? What hill are they on? I'm thinking either Greenwich or Primrose, but would be nice to specify.

I would also like to see a little more about what they talked about on the plane, and how that left them. Were they disappointed to let each other go?

Saying all that, I'd be quite interested to read on. The premise is quite compelling.

Total: 7.5 (I'm interested in opening the book)