In My Mailbox: Week of May 20
May 20, 2012 by Sara
Filed under Chick Lit Plus, In My Mailbox, Updates
In Samantha’s Mailbox:
Title: Southern Charm
Author: Tinsley Mortimer
Received: Amanda @ Simon and Schuster
Synopsis: A modern Manhattan fairy tale with the sparkle of a champagne cocktail, Tinsley Mortimer’s debut novel provides a delicious peek into her world of society, fashion, and big-city fame.
SOUTHERN GIRL Minty Davenport has always dreamed of skyscrapers, yellow cabs, and a life like Eloise’s in New York City. So upon graduation from college, she bids adieu to Charleston and makes a beeline for the Big Apple. Almost instantly, she finds herself at an event being photographed for Women’s Wear Daily, and her career as a New York society “It Girl” is launched. As Minty navigates the ironclad customs of New York society, a blossoming love life, and a job working for a ruthless and powerful publicist, she finds that the rules a southern belle lives by—being nice to everyone, accentuating her femininity, and minding her manners—don’t necessarily guarantee success in Manhattan. She may indeed be accumulating new friends and opportunities along with boldfaced mentions and a very eligible bachelor boyfriend, but someone is plotting her very public downfall. When Minty gets to the top of the social ladder, she must decide if the glamorous life she thought she wanted is really everything she hoped it would be.
Tinsley Mortimer’s insider observations about New York’s elite are deliciously witty, and the heart of her book is that of an irresistibly lovable young woman who is on the brink of finding her dream.
Title: The Perfect Location
Author: Kate Forster
Received: Unsolicited, Avon Books
Synopsis: Three glamorous actresses gliding through a life lived on the silver screen. One Hollywood Blockbuster.
An intricate web of passionate pasts, addictions, lovers and secrets, perfect for fans of Lesley Lokko and Adriana Trigiani.
Rose Nightingale is an Australian actress still recovering
from a bad marriage.
Sapphira De Mont is the world’s most beautiful movie star,
but hides a secret addiction and a broken heart.
Calypso Gable is a young star on the rise trying to escape
her mum-manager’s clutches.
As they come together on set in the Italian hills, they find
out more about one another – and about themselves –
than they ever thought possible.
An intricate web of passionate pasts, addictions, lovers and secrets, perfect for fans of Lesley Locko and Adriana Trigiani.
Title: Come Fly With Me
Author: Sandi Perry
Received: From Sandy Perry
Synopsis: Haven’t we all experienced a moment when we’ve said something we wish we could take back? What if you were an eleven-year old girl and thought that moment caused the death of someone you cherished? Allison Ross, now a twenty-nine year old art gallery owner in Chelsea, was that young girl. The sudden death of her father in a suspicious car crash begins the unraveling of the tightly-wound world she has built around herself. This present day tragedy raises the unresolved issue of her Uncle Joey’s untimely demise, for which she feels responsible. Adding to her turmoil, she is shocked to learn that she’s been named interim CEO of her father’s luxury jet company. Past and present blur as she fights to maintain control of a company she wants no involvement in while she struggles to keep her gallery afloat.
Allison’s neighbor and good friend, Kenyon James, bakes butter-filled goodies culled from her Bubby’s recipe files, and teases her that one day someone is going to come along who will be able to break through the armor she wears over her heart. Enter Alexander Coventry, a brilliant barracuda who is the prime candidate to take her father’s place as CEO of RossAir Industries. Alex is the charmingly handsome son of a wealthy Atlanta family whose father taught him defeat is not an option. Allison and Alexander have two things in common—they both feel the need to prove to themselves to their fathers, and they’re both incredibly stubborn. His motives toward her and the company get muddier by the day as these two opinionated forces dance around one another as they jockey for power, fall in love, and search for her father’s killer. The story reaches its climax with a return to the cliffs of Frenchman’s Bay in Bar Harbor, the scene of her early childhood trauma.
In Sara’s Mailbox:
Title: The Rock Star in Seat 3A
Author: Jill Kargman
Received by: Unsolicited
Synopsis: It’s Hazel’s thirtieth birthday and she has everything she’s ever wanted: a kickass job, a dream apartment in New York City, and the perfect boyfriend—who’s just days away from proposing. Hazel thinks she’s happy but isn’t quite ready to settle down. So when her most far-fetched fantasy enters the realm of the possible, shouldn’t she drop everything to see it through?
The morning after her birthday, Hazel boards a flight to L.A. only to get the surprise of her life. When she’s bumped up to first class, extra legroom and free drinks are absolutely the last things on her mind when she catches sight of her seatmate: her all-time biggest celebrity crush, rock star Finn Schiller! Only the night before she’d confessed her infatuation with the gorgeous musician, and her boyfriend joked that she had a free pass if she ever met him. Hazel can’t believe fate has actually thrown them together.
Even more unbelievable is that during the flight they genuinely connect. Finn likes her uncensored cursing and wicked sense of humor, and that she’s unlike all of his groupies; Hazel likes his killer looks, ripped physique, and soulful music. But what started as a fantasy quickly becomes a real attraction, and after a dream date and taste of the rock-star life with Finn in L.A., Hazel is forced to examine the track her life is on. Indulging in a passionate affair with a rock star seems crazy—but could she ever forgive herself if she walked away from her wildest dream coming true? And is her wildest dream the stuff that happiness is made of?
A lively novel about a down-to-earth New York City girl who suddenly finds herself in a rock ‘n’ roll Cinderella fantasy, The Rock Star in Seat 3A is seasoned with Jill Kargman’s signature wit and hilarious dialogue. This is a fairy-tale romance with a twist.
Title: South Hills Sidekicks: Uninvited
Author: Leah Spiegel & Megan Summers
Received By: Leah Spiegel
Synopsis: When Alley started her senior year at Upper St. Clair in the South Hills area, it was supposed to be the usual drag of hanging out with people who spent more on one outfit than Alley did on her entire wardrobe. That was until Kirsten, a girl in their clique, suddenly goes missing and the only people who seem to care are her friends. All evidence leads to the new comer Shane, a cocky and self-pretentious person in Alley’s opinion, but the police seem uninterested so she and the rest of the girls start a little investigation of their own. But they are nowhere closer to finding Kirsten than when they started and now they had the police’s attention; just not in the way they expected. The girls have to start over and discover that maybe it wasn’t an outsider who took Kirsten, but someone within their own clique who has something to hide; a secret that just might have gotten Kirsten killed.
Title: Secrets, Lies & PG Tips
Author: Leanne Rose
Received by: Leanne Rose
Synopsis: ‘Secrets, Lies & PG Tips’ is a chick-lit novel written in first person, narrated by British 25 year old Nina Parker. Nina is a self-confessed hopeless romantic and recently moved to San Francisco to pursue a glamorous (as seen on TV) life of cocktail parties, designer shoes, a high flying career and of course, the perfect man to share it all with.
In reality, Nina’s biggest work challenge is remembering the soy milk in her boss, Eddie’s overcomplicated coffee. And the cocktail parties are more ‘swigging wine from the bottle while watching sitcom reruns’ kind of evenings. And as for the perfect man…..
In My Mailbox: Week of May 13
May 13, 2012 by Sara
Filed under Chick Lit Plus, In My Mailbox, Updates
In Samantha’s Mailbox:
Title: Fatty Patty
Author: Kathleen Paterka
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Small towns, long memories. Everyone in the exclusive summer resort of James Bay, Michigan remembers FATTY PATTY, the chubby little girl with the round face and wild red curls. All grown up now, Patty Perreault teaches at the same elementary school where the painful playground memories still taunt her. She has not forgotten the cruel nickname; plus she still has not lost those extra pounds. Convinced her weight is the biggest reason why she is a four time loser in the semi-finals for Teacher of the Year, Patty resolves to make some changes in her body and her life.
Sam Curtis, an overweight accountant she meets at the community pool, swims into Patty’s life with romance on his mind. But as their friendship grows, Patty finds it hard to see beyond his extra pounds. She is torn as Sam refuses to deal with his own overweight issues. Her heart tells her one thing, but her eyes see another. She is not interested in an overweight boyfriend. When it comes to winning the Grand Prize in life and love, Patty has some hard lessons to learn. Will she be able to confront her fears about the kind of woman she yearns to be? Will she be able to put down the fork and give her heart a try?
Title: Viewer Discretion Advised
Author: Cindy Roesel
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: LIVE FROM MIAMI! The sensationalism shown on television can only be topped by the drama that happens behind the camera! After being fired from her job in Los Angeles, Charlene “Charley” Thomas moves to sizzling Miami and begins working as news director at a local television station. While getting used to her new gig, Charley wakes up to the fact that her station manager, Jonathan Lefton, is the boss from hell who will do anything for a story no matter who gets hurt in the process. When nude pictures of noon anchor, Miranda Andrews, are discovered in the men’s room of a Key West bar, all hell breaks loose. They end up on Lefton’s desk and he promotes her over the main anchor, sparking off a firestorm. Miranda’s quickly thrown into the mix and assigned special reports. Charley finds herself overseeing an investigation that could shine light on the guilt of a dirty cop. Real life begins to mimic the drama of broadcast news when station personalities face life and death all for rating and Emmys! VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED is a modern day “Sex and the City” meets “Broadcast News.”
Title: Kat Fight
Author: Dina Silver
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: The seriously funny, fabulously flawed Kat Porter has arrived, and she may just steal your heart—not to mention your boyfriend. Readers everywhere will revel in this sharp-witted, well-meaning whirlwind in author Dina Silver’s hilarious new novel, Kat Fight. In her quest for love, Kat makes every wrong turn, juggling two men, one best friend, and her own deeply confused heart’s desires.
Kat Porter is a consummate romantic, eager for her chance to find love and commitment. But after her boyfriend of four years, Marc, begins to grow apathetic and sends her calls straight to voicemail one too many times, Kat finally musters the courage to confront her so-called sweetheart, who seems more interested in dodging her than courting her. Though she’s no fan of ultimatums, Kat is at the end of her considerable wits, and lobs a massive one his way, completely confident that he’ll make the right decision when faced with losing her. He doesn’t.
With radio silence from Marc, Kat’s lifelong dream of finding a husband and forging a family is decidedly on the skids. That’s when her childhood friend Julie steps in, forcing Kat on a blind date to help her move beyond the break-up. Not only does Kat botch the setup, she instead finds herself in hot pursuit of Julie’s love interest, Ryan Sullivan. A man who, in addition to literally taking her breath away, is the living, breathing personification of everything Kat wants in a husband.
Can Kat connect with the man of her dreams without hurting two of the people she cares most about? At the same time, she must also contend with the quips of her beloved catty coworker Adam, her bi-polar boss Brooke, and a string of comic, unpredictable plot twists. All the while, Kat’s cheeky perspective and generous heart will leave readers adoring every moment of her journey while chuckling and cheering for the ever cute, razor-sharp Kat as she fights to land the love of a lifetime.
In Sara’s Mailbox:
Title: Between You and Me
Author: Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
Received: Angela @Engelman & Co.
Synopsis: What happens when you are followed by millions . . . and loved by none?
Twenty-seven-year-old Logan Wade is trying to build a life for herself far from her unhappy childhood in Oklahoma. Until she gets the call that her famous cousin needs a new assistant— an offer she can’t refuse.
Logan hasn’t seen Kelsey in person since their parents separated them as kids; in the meantime, Kelsey Wade has grown into Fortune Magazine’s most powerful celebrity. But their reunion is quickly overshadowed by the toxic dynamic between Kelsey and her parents as Logan discovers that, beneath the glossy façade, the wounds that caused them to be wrenched apart so many years ago have insidiously warped into a show-stopping family business.
As Kelsey tries desperately to break away and grasp at a “real” life, beyond the influence of her parents and managers, she makes one catastrophic misstep after another, and Logan must question if their childhood has left them both too broken to succeed. Logan risks everything to hold on, but when Kelsey unravels in the most horribly public way, Logan finds that she will ultimately have to choose between rescuing the girl she has always protected . . . and saving herself.
In My Mailbox: Week of November 21
In My Mailbox: Week of November 21st
Title: Goodnight Tweetheart
Author: Teresa Medeiros
Received: From Ayelet Gruenspecht/Gallery Books
Synopsis: Abigail Donovan has a lot of stuff she should be doing. Namely writing her next novel. A bestselling author who is still recovering from a near Pulitzer Prize win and the heady success that follows Oprah’s stamp of approval, she is stuck at Chapter Five and losing confidence daily. But when her publicist signs her up for a Twitter account, she’s intrigued. What’s all the fuss? Taken under the wing of one of her Twitter followers, “MarkBaynard”—a quick witted, quick-typing professor on sabbatical—Abby finds it easy to put words out into the world 140 characters at a time. And once she gets a handle on tweets, retweets, direct messages, hashtags, and trends, she starts to feel unblocked in writing and in life. After all, why should she be spending hours in her apartment staring at her TweetDeck and fretting about her stalled career when Mark is out there traveling the world and living? Or is he? Told almost entirely in tweets and DMs, Goodnight Tweetheart is a truly modern take on a classic tale of love and loss—a Griffin and Sabine for the Twitter generation.
Title: The Hating Game
Author: Talli Roland
Received: From Talli Roland
Synopsis: When man-eater Mattie Johns agrees to star on a dating game show to save her ailing recruitment business, she’s confident she’ll sail through to the end without letting down the perma-guard she’s perfected from years of her love ‘em and leave ‘em dating strategy. After all, what can go wrong with dating a few losers and hanging out long enough to pick up a juicy £200,000 prize? Plenty, Mattie discovers, when it’s revealed that the contestants are four of her very unhappy exes. Can Mattie confront her past to get the prize money she so desperately needs, or will her exes finally wreak their long-awaited revenge? And what about the ambitious TV producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end?
Title: How I Learned to Love the Walrus
Author: Beth Orsoff
Received: From Beth Orsoff
Synopsis: When Los Angeles publicist Sydney Green convinces her boss to let her produce a documentary for the Save the Walrus Foundation, the only one Sydney Green is interested in saving is herself. The walruses are merely a means to improving her career and her love life, and not necessarily in that order. Sydney would’ve killed the project the second she learned she’d be the one having to spend a month in rural Alaska if it had been for any other client. But for rising star and sometimes boyfriend Blake McKinley, no sacrifice is ever too great. Yet a funny thing happens on the way to the Arctic. A gregarious walrus pup, a cantankerous scientist, an Australian sex goddess, a Star Wars obsessed six-year-old, and friends and nemeses both past and present rock Sydney Green’s well-ordered world. Soon Sydney must choose between doing what’s easy and doing what’s right.
In My Mailbox: Week of February 28
In My Mailbox: Week of February 28
Title: Poor Little Bitch Girl
Author: Jackie Collins
Received: From Jackie Collins for review
Synopsis: Three twenty-something women, one hot rich guy, two mega movie stars, and a devastating murder: Poor Little Bitch Girl has it all.
Denver Jones is a hotshot twenty-something attorney working in L.A. Carolyn Henderson is personal assistant to a powerful and very married Senator in Washington with whom she is having an affair. And Annabelle Maestro—daughter of two movie stars—has carved out a career for herself in New York as the madame of choice for discerning famous men. The three of them went to high school together in Beverly Hills—and although Denver and Carolyn have kept in touch, Annabelle is out on her own with her cocaine addicted boyfriend, Frankie.
Then there is Bobby Santangelo Stanislopolous, the Kennedyesque son of Lucky Santangelo and deceased Greek shipping billionaire, Dimitri Stanislopolous. Bobby owns Mood, the hottest club in New York. Back in the day he went to high school with Denver, Carolyn and Annabelle. And he connected with all three of them. Frankie is his best friend.
When Annabelle’s beautiful movie star mother is found shot to death in the bedroom of her Beverly Hills mansion, the five of them find themselves thrown together . . . and secrets from the past have a way of coming back to haunt everyone. . . .
Title: The Overnight Socialite
Author: Bridie Clark
Received: Public Library
Synopsis: In this beguiling retelling of the classic Pygmalion, we meet Lucy Ellis, a Manhattan transplant who dreams of making it as a fashion designer but instead toils away on a Garment District assembly line. Road-blocked each time she tries to score a break, Lucy is beginning to think the unthinkable: maybe it’s time to pack it in and move home to Minnesota. Then, during a torrential downpour, at her most bedraggled and disheartened, Lucy meets Wyatt Hayes IV.
Wyatt-man-about-town and bored Ph.D. anthropologist- has just been publicly dissed by New York’s reigning socialite, Cornelia Rockman, whom he’d been dating. He boasts to his best friend Trip that he can transform any woman- even a trailer-born nobody like Lucy- into this year’s “It” girl. “Give me a few months,” he tells Trip, “and I could turn her into a social luminary. She’ll make the rest of the pack look like dim little tea lights.” If Wyatt can fool the East coast aristocracy into thinking Lucy’s the real deal, he can reveal the farce behind Cornelia’s social superiority complex…and score a career-boosting book deal.
Headstrong Lucy challenges her teacher at every turn, but armed with a made-up pedigree and a wardrobe costlier than most studio apartments, she’s soon navigating a world in which the most photographed socialite takes all. Can Lucy survive in a wilderness where no girl wears the same gown twice, the Astors are considered Johnny-come-latelies, and weddings are more lavish than the coronation of Louis XIV? Will she forge the connections needed to make a name for herself in fashion? And can she surmount the schemes and suspicions of her newfound rival, Cornelia?
Three months of rigorous prep and test runs culminate in Lucy’s showdown at the Fashion Forum Gala, where she and Wyatt confront the ne plus ultra of society…and their unexpected feelings for each other. But the gaps between them-as well as Wyatt’s secret agenda-may make this improbable couple an impossibility.
Set against the gold-plated world of Manhattan’s social elite, The Overnight Socialite puts a witty twenty-first-century spin on a timeless story of transformation and unlikely love.
Title: Dirty Girls on Top
Author: Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez
Received: Public Library
Synopsis: The Dirty Girls are back, saucier and sexier than ever….but would it be wrong to ask them to be a little smarter, too?? Especially when it comes to men. And sex.
Lauren Fernandez is at the top of her game as the cleverest columnist the Boston Gazette has on board—but she can’t quite figure out how to pick a guy or how to eat (and not drink) like a healthy person. Usnavys is still sashaying all over town, 260 pounds of her dolled up in designer duds and ready for action—from anyone except her husband Juan, that is. He’s become just a bit boring staying home scrubbing the tub and cooking up chicken fingers for pre-schooler Carolina while somebody else brings home the bacon.
Maybe the other Dirty Girls could help Lauren and ‘navy out, but they’ve got their own messes to deal with: Rebecca Baca hasn’t gained a pound since college (well, who would, if they had an ounce of self-control?) but suspects her picture-perfect marriage may not yield the baby she longs for; Sara may be the star of her own decorating show on cable television, but her dangerous pull toward her ex-husband Roberto isn’t so pretty; Amber keeps renaming herself and doesn’t want to hear that her soulfulness and reinvention aren’t enough to make fans actually buy her music; and Elizabeth is discovering that a relationship with another woman takes more than bravery and a nesting instinct.
Dirty Girls on Top is about trying to figure it all out without quite as much time left as there was five years ago. And it’s about sex and love—getting it, not getting it, yearning for it, having it with the wrong person, fighting it from the right person, trying it a new way, giving up on it. And, in the end, if your fingers are crossed and the planets are in alignment, having it come out just the way it should.
Title: Drop Dead Beautiful
Author: Jackie Collins
Received: Public Library
Synopsis: “Like mother, like daughter. “No truer words for Lucky Santangelo’s sixteen-year-old Max, who goes looking for trouble when she hooks up with some guy she met on the Internet. Soon the beautiful, willful Max finds herself in deeper waters than she can imagine as she becomes a pawn in a greater scheme that leads back to Lucky and Billy Melina, the studly movie-star boyfriend of Lucky’s best friend, superstar Venus. “” If Max’s troubles weren’t enough, Lucky has her multi-billion-dollar Las Vegas hotel complex to contend with…along with Anthony Bonar, the illegitimate grandson of her one-time Godfather and lethal enemy, Enzio Bonnati. So begins a non-stop thrill ride as Lucky builds her dream resort–and gambles with all she holds dear. Max, too, is following her dreams, and as her high-flying triumphs prove, she’s more than just a little Lucky.
