Readers’ Favorite Reviews

Cars, Coffee, and a Badass Ninja Toilet is a humorous contemporary fiction novel written by K.C. Hilton. Owning and operating a used car lot had its moments, even if they were mostly insane ones, punctuated by the unimaginable awfulness of some of the people who came by. It started when Julia and her husband, Romeo, had bought a few used cars at an auction on a whim. Somehow, that purchase had morphed into a full-scale business that Julia ran while Romeo was off running his electrician business. Julia loved cars. She still got a kick out of getting all greased up, peering into the innards of her latest acquisition, changing spark plugs and wires, and making things tick, but the customers? They were an entirely different can of worms that seemed to be uniquely dreadful each time that can got opened. Julia had lost track of the times she had sworn to Romeo that she had had enough, that she wanted her life back, to be able to go to the toilet when she wanted, and to eat a leisurely and uninterrupted lunch, but she found herself bidding fast and furiously at every Thursday car auction, and still harbored an ambition to become an auto mechanic.

K.C. Hilton’s humorous contemporary fiction novel, Cars, Coffee, and a Badass Ninja Toilet, will instantly resonate with anyone who’s ever owned a small business or been on the receiving end of the customer service experience. My admiration for the feisty, self-proclaimed badass ninja just kept on growing as I read this hilarious and enchanting book that chronicles Julia’s experiences under the hood, and her reactions while dealing with the endless requests for speaking with the man of the business. And while I never really quite got her fascination with having a toilet that could contend with not one but sixteen golf balls in one fell flush, I certainly did have a laugh thinking about the possibilities, and will even confess to having looked up the most amazing Champion 4 toilet on Amazon. Hilton’s story, which no doubt echoes some of her own experiences as the owner and operator of her own family business, and who has, like Julia, her own pink tools, is an absolute hoot. It’s a joy to read, an absolute page-turner, and a cautionary tale for anyone who thinks being in business for yourself is easy — it isn’t. Cars, Coffee, and a Badass Ninja Toilet is most highly recommended.

Reviewed by Gisela Dixon for Readers’ Favorite – 5 Stars

Cars, Coffee, and a Badass Ninja Toilet by K.C. Hilton is a light, humorous non-fiction book on the ups and downs of working in a customer-service oriented job and business. Cars, Coffee, and a Badass Ninja Toilet is basically a collection of anecdotes and stories from K.C. Hilton’s life as a small business owner, managing her own used car sales business. Sales is a demanding field under any circumstances, and the pressures of sales plus running the business itself is a high-stress environment. K.C. Hilton takes the reader through the daily grind of working 24×7 for one’s own business, managing the financial aspect of the business in addition to sales and operations, and working and dealing with people from all walks of life, ranging from fun, easy-going, and even humorous people to some difficult customers.

Cars, Coffee, and a Badass Ninja Toilet is a fun and entertaining read. A major chunk of the book is devoted to the author’s encounters with customers of all types—whimsical, easy, rude, funny, difficult, etc.—as well as literally thieves or people looking to make a quick and easy buck by any means. I also liked how the story focuses on her home life and especially the humorous and funny exchanges with her husband, Romeo, and all of their home projects, among other things. The writing style is very engaging and creative. I appreciated how K.C. Hilton has highlighted the inherent gender bias and sexism that she encounters being a female boss in a predominantly male dominated field. Overall, this is a good read.

Reviewed by Kim Anisi for Readers’ Favorite – 4 Stars

Cars, Coffee, and a Badass Ninja Toilet by K.C. Hilton is a book about Julia Karr, who runs a car lot and has to deal with the most unusual, and often crazy customers. Some of her customers want to speak to the “man in charge” and treat her like she’s incapable of charging batteries or selling cars. Then there are the customers who don’t keep up with their payments, customers who use test drives for unacceptable things, people who DO unacceptable things on the actual car lot, and people who are downright stupid. Julia feels like it’s all too much, and thinks about giving up, but her husband will hear nothing of that. So life goes on. Julia dreams up some inventions in her head, writes emails to big companies, and then discovers a very special toilet.

While I found Cars, Coffee, and a Badass Ninja Toilet by K.C. Hilton a rather amusing and interesting read (I had no clue what kind of ideas people have to misuse and abuse the services of a car lot, like test drives!), I felt this was more of an autobiographic book than a novel about an invented character. I am sure there is a lot of the author herself in Julia, and I wonder what kind of toilet we’d see in her own bathroom (and maybe a basket of golf balls next to it?). I felt there was a bit of a lack of a plot with a serious problem to solve, i.e. something with an exciting highlight towards which the book would build up. But if you view it as a loose collection of daily encounters of a woman working in what can be seen as a job in a man’s domain, it is a really good read and gives you plenty of reasons to laugh out loud – literally speaking! The book accompanied me to bed for a few nights in a row. It definitely was a good evening read that won’t get you too wound up for sleeping. If you are looking for something light, entertaining and sometimes quite interesting, this is a good choice. Unless you run a car lot yourself, I bet you’ll learn quite a few things about the creativity of dishonest people.

Reviewed by Alyssa Elmore for Readers’ Favorite – 5 Stars

What do you do when life gives you stupid people day in and day out? How do you keep smiling when customers are rude to your face? In Cars, Coffee, and A Badass Ninja Toilet by K.C. Hilton, Julia Karr is a pre-menopausal five-foot-two blonde, who claims pink as her signature color. She also owns a car lot. Her weaknesses include coffee, chocolate, wine, and a solid toilet. Yes, she obsesses about owning a super-toilet. Julia’s days consist of helping strangers find the perfect car match, running down repo’d vehicles, asking for payments, answering inane questions, and tons of paperwork. Julia works six days a week on her car lot, though she doesn’t know why. The only thing that keeps her going is her husband, Romeo, and his love for cars. When Julia questions the car lot and its impact on her life, she comes to a surprising conclusion. Will Julia keep fighting for her rights in a man’s world? Or will she sell the business and become the domestic goddess everyone thinks she should become?

Cars, Coffee, and A Badass Ninja Toilet by K.C. Hilton is a laugh-out-loud comedy about a female car dealer fighting against stigmas and sexism. This is a hilarious read starring a semi-hysterical badass female ninja. I loved Julia’s somewhat skewed view of people. Having worked in customer service myself, her thoughts and attitudes made perfect sense to me. After a while of dealing with the stresses of running a service-based business by herself, I can see where she could start to lose her grip! I would recommend this novel to women who love a strong protagonist, and who work in customer service. I loved this book! It was so funny! I appreciated how the author showed the difficulty in Julia maintaining a balance between her work life and home.