Wendy Markham Book Signing

Wendy Markham will appear at Chappaqua Public Library, 195 S. Chappaqua Public Library in New York on Tuesday, October 27^th. There will be an author discussion starting at 7:30 pm, with the topic : How Edgar Allan Poe Influences Contemporary Mysteries. Authors will be signing after the discussion.

Summer in the City by Robyn Sisman

Summer in the City by Robyn Sisman introduces us to Susan Wilding, the struggling Londoner who is ready to give up on men, and Lloyd Rockwell, the New Yorker living the good life with his perfect girlfriend. Both Suze and Lloyd are working for the advertising agency Scheider Fox; Suze trying valiantly to work her way up by showcasing her creative graphic talents, and Lloyd enjoying being a well respected hot shot executive at the top of his game.  The two are in for an adventure when the company offers them a  ‘house-swap’ opportunity, letting them try to adjust to life on the other side of the pond.

Suze and Lloyd couldn’t be further opposites, with differences in their style of living, work, and love lives. Suze meets a man in Manhattan who she falls fast for, but turns out he is a sleaze trying to make a name for himself in the celebrity world and simple using Suze as a toy. Lloyd proposes to his girlfriend Betty, all while knowing something is terribly wrong with the relationship. Deception plays a large role in this novel, with Suze trusting the wrong co-workers and inadvertently helping them get Lloyd fired. After be-friending Lloyd’s best mate, Jay, Suze realizes the terrible mistake she has made, and is determined to help Lloyd get his job back. Over phone calls, emails, and more talking with the middle man, Jay, a romance begins to show between Suze and Lloyd. But what does that mean for Lloyd and his fiancée Betty, who is well under way with their wedding plans? What happens when Suze and Lloyd return to their respective lives, thousands of miles from each other?

Robyn Sisman pens a delicious novel that transports the reader back and forth from London to New York, trying to keep up with the characters and the hectic lives they are leading. Get caught up in the drama, deceit, and unlikely romance as opposites truly do attract in Summer in the City.

 

Killer Heels by Sheryl J. Anderson

Are you a Sex in the City fan? Of course I am, and the moment I began reading Killer Heels by Sheryl J. Anderson I felt that I was transported right onto the set. Our heroine, Molly Forrester, is a replica of Carrie Bradshaw, a sassy Manhattan journalist with an ambition to move up from her so-so advice columnist position (“You Can Tell Me”), two girlfriends with night and day personalities, and of course: a love of expensive designer shoes. The cover alone was enough to lure me to pick up this book, with nothing but legs and pink stilettos resting above the New York skyline.

The plot begins with Molly walking into (literally into) a crime scene involving her companies’ advertising director, Teddy Reynolds and his murdered body at the office.  Molly’s beautiful, brand new Jimmy Choos are ruined after inadvertently stepping in Teddy’s blood, but what’s more- Molly is now determined to solve this mystery, get a fabulous story, and finally become a real writer. It doesn’t take long for the wide array of characters to step up and get their hands messy as well. Molly’s two sidekicks- Cassady Lynch, a fierce lawyer, and Tricia Vincent, a sweet event planner, are loyal and loveable throughout. I enjoy how Anderson makes these characters come alive, giving reader’s knowledge and insight about their careers, love lives, and families. Peter Mulcahey, Molly’s ex-boyfriend who happens to be a rival reporter, enters the scene in hopes of getting the better story than Molly to move up in the writing world. And there is hottie Detective Kyle Edwards, who is assigned to the murder case. His piercing eyes and built body is enough to make Molly forget her words, but the no-nonsense attitude he portrays about the case derails Molly making any moves on him. 

The plot is well crafted to hold your attention throughout the book, and the suspense and mystery makes you want to flip to the back prematurely to solve the murder. Killer Heels is the first of four Molly Forrester novels, and the debut sparks the thrill-seeking, fashion obsessing, and even romance side out of all the chick lit lovers.

 

Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella

Shopaholic Takes Manhattan is Sophie Kinsella’s follow-up to Confessions of a Shopaholic. Becky Bloomwood is back, after paying off all her high flying debts she accumulated on her multiple shopping sprees. Since paying off those debts, along with her new job of financial advisor on a morning talk show, Becky has the mind set that she is free and clear to shop her fashionable little heart out again. You see it coming: the collection letters in the mail, her new bank manager offering no sympathetic ear, and the continuous downward spiral of her shopaholic life.

It only gets worse after Becky’s famed PR boyfriend, Luke Lloyd, moves them across the pond to New York City, in hopes of opening a new branch. Becky’s financial woes are leaked to the press, causing lost deals for both Becky and Luke, and Becky boards a plane back to London, thousands of dollars gone and worse, single. You ache for Becky even though you are well aware that it is her fault; how could she let herself spend thousands of dollars on one dress or hundreds of dollars on some new makeup? Now Becky has no hopes in getting a job and prepared to hit rock bottom.

But like all good chick lit books, Kinsella finds a way for Becky to come out on top. The last few chapters fly by with action, deceit, new opportunities, and the ultimate cliff hanger in the last page of the book. We know that a third book in this series will be coming, and I look forward to it as much as I did this well written second novel.

 

The Agency by Ally O’Brien

The Agency by Ally O’Brien is truly a book for the Cosmo reading, celebrity driven, fashion loving chicks out there. Get tangled in Tess Drake’s messy publishing world full of celebrities, sex, backstabbing, and of course- murder. O’Brien mixes all the ingredients of a fabulous chick lit plot into this saucy novel, making you fall in love with Tess even as she makes mistake after mistake with her best friends fiancé and boss’s husband. There is great foreshadowing that makes you hurt when you have to put the book down, continuing to wonder what is going to happen next.  Each character that Tess meets with, from her commanding but still soft, successful father, to Oliver,  her favorite client on a spiraling downfall, each one brings something new and spicy to this already catchy read.

One of the best parts of this book is that it doesn’t follow the classic happy ending- Tess gets screwed over by some unexpected characters that breaks your heart and makes you question your own friends. But the moral of the story rings clear and keeps you thinking even after you turn the last page. Pick up your cosmo, slip those stilettos on, and grab yourself a copy of The Agency.