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Check to See if You’re a Winner!

Thank you to everyone who voted for the first annual Chick Lit Plus Awards! I am counting up the votes and can’t wait to announce the final results. Before that, I wanted to list the winners for all of you who voted for your favorites! I had some amazing authors donate their books, and below are the winners. Please check to see if your name or email is listed. If so, please send me an email at Samantha@chicklitplus.com before Friday September 10th to claim your prize. Thanks again everyone!

1 Winner receives three novels by Marla Martenson, Excuse Me, Your Soul Mate is Waiting, Good Date, Bad Date, and Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker – SAMANTHA SANDERS
1 winner receives Vivian Rising by Daniella Brodsky- CASEY (CASEYAMARA@GMAIL.COM)
1 winner receives Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger- SARAH REID
1 winner receives Swallow by Tonya Plank- LISA NELSON

Congratulations to the winners!

Final Votes for Chick Lit Plus Awards

Today is the last day to vote for your favorites to win the Chick Lit Plus Awards! A link is provided below to each category, please use the comment section on those posts to submit your vote. Every single person who enters their vote will be entered in a drawing to receive the following books:
Excuse Me, Your Soul Mate is Waiting by Marla Martenson
Good Date Bad Date by Marla Martenson
Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker by Marla Martenson
Swallow by Tonya Plank
Vivian Rising by Daniella Brodsky
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

If you vote for multiple categories, you are entered multiple times!
Best Laugh Out Loud Novel
Best Romance Novel
Best BFF Novel
Best Villain in a Novel
Best Scandal in a Novel
Best Tear Jerker Novel
Best Novel from a Debut Author
Best Novel written by a Celebrity
Most Intriguing Concept
Best Female in a Novel
Best Male in a Novel
Best Series
Novel that should be turned into a Movie
Best Novel made into a Movie
Character with the Best Job
Best Wedding in Novel
Best Supporting Character
Best Cougar Novel
Best Cover
Best Sequel
Best Mystery/Cozy Mystery

Chick Lit Plus Awards: Prize Winners Selected!

A big thank you to everyone who nominated their favorites for the Chick Lit Plus Awards! I had a great response and can’t wait to see who the winners turn out to be! I will be tallying up the nominations this week, and starting next Monday, the final voting process will begin. Be sure to vote for all your favorites- more great prizes will be handed out! Speaking of prizes, listed below are the names of all the winners for those who nominated. Thanks again to everyone who voted, I’ll be looking forward to hearing more opinions next week!
**1 Winner of all three Marla Martenson novels, Excuse Me, Your Soul Mate is Waiting, Good Date, Bad Date, and Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker:
Jencey Gortney
**2 Winners to receive both novels by Micheline McAllister: Welcome to My Life and Love You, Love Your Work, Let’s Do Lunch!
Melissa Amster & Michele (HearDoc2B@gmail.com)
**2 Winners each to receive a copy of Swallow by Tonya Plank:
Susan Parham & Sara_Lisa
**2 Winners each receive a copy of Reunion by JL Penn:
Stephanie(christmansl@gmail.com) & Sarah(sarah.barnard@bigpond.com)
**3 Winners to receive a copy of Vivian Rising by Daniella Brodsky:
Stephanie(christmansl@gmail.com), Runner10(csdsksds@gmail.com), & Joanne Elvin
**1 Winner to receive a copy of Hook Line and Sink Him by Jackie Pilossoph:
Susan Parham
**2 Winners to receive a copy of Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger:
Michele(HearDoc2B@gmail.com) & Emily(wolffemily@gmail.com)

All winners- please email me your mailing address at Samantha@chicklitplus.com by Friday August 27th

Swallow by Tonya Plank

Sophie Hegel is a young lawyer living in New York City. After graduating from Yale Law School and securing her first real job, Sophie is proposed to by her decade older boyfriend, Stephen. While he is proposing, Sophie feels something in her throat, described as a fist-ball, lodging her breathing. From that moment, the fist-ball keeps appearing during important times in Sophie’s life, such as representing clients and meeting other lawyers. Sophie tries therapy to understand what is happening to her, as the fist-ball is causing her to be unable to eat or drink. When the therapist talks about her childhood, Sophie dredges up painful memories about her father, who films pornography movies., and the relationship she has with her mother and sister. The therapist diagnoses Sophie with a psychosomatic illness called Globus Sensate, and Sophie must deal with her issues in order to overcome this disease.
Swallow, the debut by Tonya Plank, is an interesting story. It took me awhile to grasp the concept that there was an imaginary fist-ball constantly in the main characters throat. I really didn’t understand where the story was going. Once I dove deeper in, I could see how her childhood left damaging psychological distress on her adult life, and started rooting for the character to overcome and succeed. Swallow is marked as dark comedy, but I don’t see anything comedic about the story. I thought it was extremely edgy and dark, and I enjoyed Plank’s writing. I think readers should give this novel a chance, even though the synopsis may see a little far-out, the story is meaningful.
Rating: 3/5

Author Profile: Tonya Plank

Name: Tonya Plank
Website: http://www.tonyaplank.com/
Bio: Tonya Plank was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She has a B.A. in English and Political Science from the University of Arizona, an M.A. in History from Brown University, and a J.D. from Rutgers Law School at Newark. She worked as an appellate public defender in New York City for many years. While practicing law full-time, she wrote her first novel (Swallow), which was published in December 2009. Swallow, an Amazon best-seller in legal fiction, received several awards, including a gold medal for best regional fiction in the 2010 Independent Publisher Awards (IPPYs), the gold medal for women’s fiction in the 2010 Living Now Book Awards, and was a finalist in the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards and the National Indie Excellence Awards. A former competitive ballroom dancer and a longtime balletomane, Tonya writes a dance blog, Swan Lake Samba Girl, which has been lauded by James Wolcott of Vanity Fair and Terry Teachout of the Wall Street Journal, and has been cited in those publications as well as the New York Times Arts Beat blog, the Washington Post, and CNN.com. The blog won a 2007 award from the Public Defender Network for best blog by a public defender that has nothing to do with the job. She also writes for the Huffington Post and several dance publications.
Currently: Tonya lives in New York and is working on her second novel, an urban / legal drama about a group of young men who witness a shooting from various perspectives.

In My Mailbox: Week of June 20

In My Mailbox: Week of June 20, 2010

Title: Fly Away Home
Author: Jennifer Weiner
Received: From Artemis Azima- Engelman & co.
Synopsis: Sometimes all you can do is fly away home . . .When Sylvie Serfer met Richard Woodruff in law school, she had wild curls, wide hips, and lots of opinions. Decades later, Sylvie has remade herself as the ideal politician’s wifeher hair dyed and straightened, her hippie-chick wardrobe replaced by tailored knit suits. At fifty-seven, she ruefully acknowledges that her job is staying twenty pounds thinner than she was in her twenties and tending to her husband, the senator.Lizzie, the Woodruffs’ younger daughter, is at twenty-four a recovering addict, whose mantra HALT (Hungry? Angry? Lonely? Tired?) helps her keep her life under control. Still, trouble always seems to find her. Her older sister, Diana, an emergency room physician, has everything Lizzie failed to achievea husband, a young son, the perfect homeand yet she’s trapped in a loveless marriage. With temptation waiting in one of the ER’s exam rooms, she finds herself craving more.After Richard’s extramarital affair makes headlines, the three women are drawn into the painful glare of the national spotlight. Once the press conference is over, each is forced to reconsider her life, who she is and who she is meant to be.Written with an irresistible blend of heartbreak and hilarity,Fly Away Homeis an unforgettable story of a mother and two daughters who after a lifetime of distance finally learn to find refuge in one another.

Title: Anyone for Seconds?
Author: Fiona Cassidy
Received: From Fiona Cassidy
Synopsis: Frankie has recently met the man of her dreams, Owen, at the college where she is temping as a public relations officer. The lecturer was abandoned by his wife Jane when their daughter Angelica was only seven. Frankie has a lot in common with her new boyfriend as her husband Tony also dumped her and then headed off to the US with his stick-insect lover. He hasn’t seen his kids Ben and Carly since. But if the path of true love never runs smooth, then the road to Frankie’s second chance at love and a united family is definitely littered with potholes. Not only does she have to deal with one very moody and insolent teenager who isn’t keen on another woman entering her dad’s life, she also has to face off against two spiteful in-laws in the form of her ex’s grandmother “Nebby Peg” and Owen’s sister-in-law Brenda. But on her side she has her sister Ella, back from Scotland for a visit with an upsetting secret, and her wild-haired friend Ruby. Frankie is a feisty character who will resonate with those who have walked in her shoes. A promising debut – I’ll be back for seconds.

Title: Swallow
Author: Tonya Plank
Received: From Tonya Plank
Synopsis: Sophie Hegel is a shy New York lawyer from small-town Florence Arizona, known not for the Renaissance but for housing a large prison. She’s just graduated from Yale Law School and landed her first job when, one evening she feels a fist-like ball form at the base of her throat. Diagnosed with the psychological condition Globus Sensate, this “fist-ball” wreaks havoc on her life, causing difficulty eating, speaking, and eventually breathing. With a cast of characters that includes a pornographer father, a sister with a knack for getting knocked up by denizens of the town pen, a tough-talking fashion maven, a painter of male nudes, an eccentric Sing Sing-residing client and a bevy of privileged Manhattan attorneys and judges, Swallow is a dark comedy about the distance that can separate fathers and daughters, and about a young woman’s struggle to survive in a world of pedigreed professionals for which she has no preparation.