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In My Mailbox: Week of December 29
Chick Lit Plus

In My Mailbox: Week of December 29

Title: The Art of Letting Go
Author: Anna Bloom
Received: Anna Bloom
Synopsis: One year. One woman. One Diary. One question: Can you ever stop history from repeating itself, and if you could, what would you do to stop it?

When Lilah McCannon realises at the age of twenty-five that history is going to repeat itself and she is going to become her mother—bored, drunk and wearing a twinset—there is only one thing to do: take drastic action.

Turning her back on her old life, Lilah’s plan is to enrol at university, get a degree, and prove she is a grown-up.

As plans go, it is a good one. There are rules to follow: no alcohol, no cigarettes, no boys, and no going home. But when Lilah meets the lead singer of a local band and finds herself unexpectedly falling in love, she realises her rules are not going to be the only things hard to keep.

With the academic year slipping by too quickly, Lilah faces a barrage of new challenges: Will she ever make it up the Library stairs without having a heart attack? Can she handle a day on campus without drinking vodka?
Will she ever manage to read a history book without falling asleep? And, most importantly, can she become the grown-up that she desperately wants to be?

With her head and her heart pulling her in different directions, can Lilah learn the hardest lesson that her first year of university has to teach her: The Art of Letting Go?

Title: The Vanishing
Author: Wendy Webb
Received: Hyperion
Synopsis: When Julia Bishop is left widowed, friendless, and penniless by the suicide of her Ponzi-scheming husband, a.k.a. “the Midwestern Bernie Madoff,” she has no one to turn to. So when the mysterious Adrian Sinclair appears at her door, she takes him up on his crazy offer to employ her as a caretaker to his mother, the famous gothic author Amaris Sinclair, who the world believes to be dead. Like Amaris before her, Julia “vanishes” from her old life to Havenwood, the beautiful Scottish castle on Lake Superior that the Sinclairs call home. Her new position seems too good to be true… and Julia starts to wonder if maybe it is. Why are the doors to the library always closed? Why does Havenwood feel so familiar? And if no children live there, why does Julia keep hearing a small voice sing, “Jack and Jill went up the hill / To fetch a pail of water…”

Title: Hard Hats and Doormats
Author: Laura Chapman
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Lexi Burke has always been a stickler for following rules and procedures. As a human resources manager for a leading Gulf Coast chemical company, it’s her job to make sure everyone else falls in line, too.

But after losing out on a big promotion–-because her boss sees her as too much of a yes-woman––Lexi adopts a new policy of following her heart instead of the fine print. And her heart knows what it wants: Jason Beaumont, a workplace crush who is off limits based on her previous protocol.

While navigating a new romance and interoffice politics, Lexi must find the confidence to stand on her own or face a lifetime of following someone else’s orders.

Who says nice girls have to finish last?

Title: The Art of Falling
Author: Kathryn Craft
Received: BookSparks PR
Synopsis: Now that her dreams are in tatters, Penny must find a way to rebuild what is broken
All Penny has ever wanted to do is dance–and when that chance is taken from her, it pushes her to the brink of despair, from which she might never return. When she wakes up after a traumatic fall, bruised and battered but miraculously alive, Penny must confront the memories that have haunted her for years, using her love of movement to pick up the pieces of her shattered life.

Kathryn Craft’s lyrical debut novel is a masterful portrayal of a young woman trying to come to terms with her body and the artistic world that has repeatedly rejected her. The Art of Falling expresses the beauty of movement, the stasis of despair, and the unlimited possibilities that come with a new beginning.

December 29, 2013
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In My Mailbox: Week of December 22
Chick Lit Plus

In My Mailbox: Week of December 22

Title: Be Careful, It’s My Heart
Author: Kait Nolan
Received: Kait Nolan
Synopsis: The best things happen while you’re acting…

The historic Madrigal theater, in the heart of downtown Wishful, is about to close its doors forever. A last ditch fund-raising effort, a production of White Christmas, is probably the only thing that could bring Tyler Edison out of retirement. She fell in love on that stage, but when Brody Jensen abandoned her, she lost the heart to sing and dance for the crowd. Maybe it’s time to take that back…

It seems like pure chance when Brody’s job, which has taken him all over the world, brings him back to his little hometown to oversee his boss’s latest secret project. Brody’s looking for closure, planning to sell the house his parents left him and finally put his past, and his memories of Tyler, behind him. What better way than to be a part of this last show? Even though his leading lady is surely long gone…

Put on your dancing shoes, auditions start at six o’clock.

Title: The Wedding Dress Club
Author: Lisa T. Snow
Received: Lisa T. Snow
Synopsis: Beyond the gray cubicle walls, a world of fantasy awaits. Six diverse co-workers escape the pressures of family, relationships, and office politics by finding refuge in a bridal salon, where the quirky, open-minded owner allows them to try on wedding gowns – for fun. Only Olivia is getting married – but all have access to the dreamy dresses at Antoinette’s. Through weddings, quinceañeras, and the stress of working for a billion-dollar cosmetics company, co-workers find companionship and common ground, pushing social boundaries in the most unlikely of places: a bridal salon.

Title: Mercy Snow
Author: Tiffany Baker
Received: Grand Central Publishing
Synopsis: In the tiny town of Titan Falls, New Hampshire, the paper mill dictates a quiet, steady rhythm of life. But one day a tragic bus accident sets two families on a course toward destruction, irrevocably altering the lives of everyone in their wake.

June McAllister is the wife of the local mill owner and undisputed first lady in town. But the Snow family, a group of itinerant ne’er-do-wells who live on a decrepit and cursed property, have brought her–and the town–nothing but grief.

June will do anything to cover up a dark secret she discovers after the crash, one that threatens to upend her picture-perfect life, even if it means driving the Snow family out of town. But she has never gone up against a force as fierce as the young Mercy Snow. Mercy is determined to protect her rebellious brother, whom the town blames for the accident, despite his innocence. And she has a secret of her own. When an old skeleton is discovered not far from the crash, it beckons Mercy to solve a mystery buried deep within the town’s past.

December 22, 2013
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In My Mailbox: Week of December 15
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In My Mailbox: Week of December 15

Title: Something Yellow
Author: Laura Templeton
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: It has been thirteen years since Holly’s nine-year-old sister, Rachel, disappeared without a trace.
It has been thirteen years since Holly left her hometown.
It has been thirteen years since Holly’s first love and high school boyfriend, Houston, was the only suspect.
Now another nine-year-old girl has disappeared.
Holly is back, and so is Houston—never charged and still proclaiming his innocence.
Can she trust him . . . should she trust him?

Title: Sex in the Title
Author: Zack Love
Received: Zack Love
Synopsis: New York City, May 2000. The Internet bubble has burst, and Evan’s boss fires him with an email. The next day, his girlfriend dumps him, also via email. Afraid to check any more emails, Evan desperately seeks a rebound romance but the catastrophes that ensue go from bad to hilariously worse. Fortunately, Evan meets someone whose legendary disasters with females eclipse even his own.

To reverse their fortunes, they recruit their friends into a group of five guys who take on Manhattan in pursuit of dates, sex, and adventure. With musings about life, relationships, and human psychology, this quintessential New York story about the search for happiness follows five men on their comical paths to trouble, self-discovery, and love.

Title: How to Survive Your Sisters
Author: Ellie Campbell
Received: Ellie Campbell
Synopsis: A wonderfully warm and witty debut novel about family secrets and
sibling rivalry.

The four MacLeod sisters are no strangers to sisterly rivalry and with one of
them about to be married, there are bound to be fireworks. Perfectionist
Natalie wants the ‘wedding of the year’. Harassed mother, Milly, just wishes
her bridesmaid’s dress wasn’t the size of a tent. Career-obsessed Avril
secretly moons over a married man and world traveler, Hazel, the youngest,
yearns to be taken seriously. Forced together for the first time in years, and
with an unexpected guest stirring up old resentments, squabbles are inevitable.
But when tragedy strikes things really fly apart – as some shocking skeletons
emerge rattling from the crowded MacLeod closet…

Title: Sugar Spun Sister
Author: Anna Garner
Received: Anna Garner
Synopsis: Life isn’t exactly sweet for Cricket Whittier. Her boss hates her, her work is soul-destroying, and the sexy guy she’s hooking up with doesn’t want to date her. But this girl is far from hopeless. When Cricket’s in the kitchen with her ice cream maker and a few choice ingredients, her troubles slip away as she becomes a delectable dessert-designing powerhouse. She loves it so much, she dreams of opening her own ice cream shop one day.

As it turns out, “one day” just might be closer than she thinks. Propelled by the help and encouragement of her best friends, Lindsay and Nora, Cricket starts making plans to set up shop. Which is easier said than done what with the internal squabbling, the sky-high costs, her parents forecasting failure and her increasingly complicated love life. Despite all these hurdles, will Cricket be able to make her sweet dreams come true?

December 15, 2013
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In My Mailbox: Week of December 8
Chick Lit Plus

In My Mailbox: Week of December 8

Title: The Lies That Save Us
Author: JL Redington
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Alexa is beautiful, smart and alone in the world, a result of devastating losses in her life. She purchased a diner in the quiet out of the way town of Startup, Washington and hired employees to help run it. She’s just beginning to feel secure in her loneliness.
Suddenly her world is jolted awake by Cayman, a handsome young stranger that enters her diner seemingly from nowhere. Event’s happen quickly, and soon Alexa is deep into secret lives, deception and desire.
Will she figure out the riddle of her father’s death? Will she be able to resist the temptation to fall in love with Cayman in spite of her suspicions? Will she live to tell the tale?

Title: Sweet Expectations
Author: Mary Ellen Taylor
Received: Joan Schulhafer Publishing
Synopsis: Daisy McCrae knows that change can be sudden—and devastating. And while it doesn’t have to be a bad thing, change has the power to turn your whole world upside down….

Running the family bakery and living in the store’s attic might not be Daisy’s dream life, but she’s beginning to understand what being content feels like. And then she gets some unexpected news. In one moment, Daisy’s calm existence turns into chaos. Now she’s struggling to keep it together, especially with renovations at the bakery spiraling out of control.

But when a box of recipes and mementos is found hidden behind a wall in the bakery, Daisy suddenly has something to cling to—a mystery that echoes her own troubles and gives her the opportunity to figure out what she really wants out of life….

Title: Love on a Budget
Author: Norma L Jarrett
Received: Norma L Jarrett
Synopsis: Jake Jiles was always handy with tools. Despite his love for all things do-it-yourself, he went to college and majored in business to fulfill his parents’ dream. He finally got the courage to leave his corporate job and start his “Honey-Do-4-Hire” business. Less than a year in, he’s already exhausted his savings and still living at home with his mother, but he’s determined to birth his franchise. Consumed with his business and fresh off a breakup, he wasn’t in the market for Mrs. Right. But after completing a job on Valentine’s Day, his potential dream girl, Sky showed up. After a brief chat over her car dilemma, he ignored the chemistry and left without her number. But cupid and God had other plans. After a divine connection, the only thing that stood between Jake and Sky, were funds. Will Jake pursue “Love on a Budget” or miss out because the price is too high?

Title: Shy Town Girls – Ivy
Author: Kate Leimkuehler
Received: Kate Leimkuehler
Synopsis: Jake Jiles was always handy with tools. Despite his love for all things do-it-yourself, he went to college and majored in business to fulfill his parents’ dream. He finally got the courage to leave his corporate job and start his “Honey-Do-4-Hire” business. Less than a year in, he’s already exhausted his savings and still living at home with his mother, but he’s determined to birth his franchise. Consumed with his business and fresh off a breakup, he wasn’t in the market for Mrs. Right. But after completing a job on Valentine’s Day, his potential dream girl, Sky showed up. After a brief chat over her car dilemma, he ignored the chemistry and left without her number. But cupid and God had other plans. After a divine connection, the only thing that stood between Jake and Sky, were funds. Will Jake pursue “Love on a Budget” or miss out because the price is too high?

Title: A Cinderella Christmas
Author: Holly Kingston
Received: Novelicious Books
Synopsis: This laugh out loud romantic comedy is a Christmas cracker of a read!

This year’s Cinderella pantomime is the hottest production in town. What’s more, Lucy is starring alongside Ryan Aspall: famous TV actor, sex symbol and potential love of her entire life. One teeny problem – Lucy is tripping the light fantastic as … the back end of the comedy cow. Surely nothing kills a flirty moment quite like wearing a massive set of udders?

At least she has the support of glamorous (if potentially flammable) Charmaine; a reality star diva of a Cinderella, who Lucy is completely fascinated by. But behind the fame and beauty, Charmaine is not all she seems.

With more drama off the stage than on it, and everyone wanting to be star of the show, will Lucy find the confidence to make it out of the cow suit and into the spotlight this Christmas?

December 8, 2013
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In My Mailbox: Week of December 1
Chick Lit Plus

In My Mailbox: Week of December 1

Title: The Chick Lit Cookbook
Author: Alicia de los Reyes
Received: Alicia de los Reyes
Synopsis: You’ve said it a dozen times before: If only you had the chance, you would write a chick lit novel. But between job, boyfriend, kids, school — life — you just can’t find the time.
The Chick Lit Cookbook: A Guide to Writing Your Novel in 30 Minutes a Day is the solution. This fun, cupcake-themed guide will take you from start to finish of your first draft. In 13 chapters, each with a short exercise that will get you writing now, you will learn how to create the perfect main character, her ideal love interest, a world for her to live in and an adventure that will draw in readers. You will outline your entire first draft — and then you will write it.
The Chick Lit Cookbook is a beginner’s guide to writing funny, snappy, sucks-you-into-the-story prose about modern women, life and love. It is full of tips and techniques, prompts and pep talks that will spark your imagination and inspire you to put pen to paper. The exercises can be done while sitting on the bus, waiting at the doctor’s office, or talking on the phone with your mother-in-law. This book will show you that you can and will write a chick lit novel.
Whether you’ve been wishing for years that you could write chick lit or are a brand-new fan of Bridget Jones and Becky Bloomwood, you owe it to yourself to pick up this guide. The Chick Lit Cookbook will prove to you that writing a novel can be fun and easy — it’s just like baking cupcakes!

Title: A Delicate Bond
Author: JoAnn Hornak
Received: JoAnn Hornak
Synopsis: Natalie is just seventeen days away from getting married when Lisa, her maid of honor and best friend of ten years, sends her a cold
e-mail announcing that she will not be able to come to the wedding. When Natalie discovers the reason behind Lisa’s sudden baffling behavior, their friendship quickly unravels. Natalie cannot believe how selfish Lisa is being, while Lisa thinks Natalie’s standards for friendship are too high. Natalie and Lisa are soon faced with major upheavals in their lives. In the process of working through their problems without the support of one another, Natalie and Lisa are forced to face their deepest fears and failings. Each woman sets off on a journey of self-discovery as they examine what went wrong in their friendship and whether it is possible to be “too honest” with a good friend.

Title: Synchronized Breathing
Author: Tara Ellison
Received: Tara Ellison
Synopsis: Nothing announces the failure of one’s life quite as loudly as having to move back in with your mother at the ripe old age of thirty-five. Unfortunately for Scarlett Spencer, her marriage has recently imploded and she’s headed to Beverly Hills—toddler in tow—to move in with her oversexed mother, CeCe. But maneuvering life back at home isn’t the only challenge . . .

After being a stay-at-home mom, Scarlett wades back into the Hollywood employment pool with hilarious results. Even more terrifying is the prospect of reentering the dating world. She soon learns that balancing motherhood with the unique demands of Hollywood men creates a new twist on the dating dilemma. Tired of dating jerk after jerk, Scarlett goes on a self-imposed “man-diet,” which isn’t easy when her mother is perpetually on a manhunt. But in the quiet of this new man-free existence, Scarlett discovers what is really important in her life.

Synchronized Breathing is a cheeky, light-hearted story about moving on and realizing that mother doesn’t always know best.

Title: Love on a Budget
Author: Norma L Jarrett
Received: Norma L Jarrett
Synopsis: Jake Jiles was always handy with tools. Despite his love for all things do-it-yourself, he went to college and majored in business to fulfill his parents’ dream. He finally got the courage to leave his corporate job and start his “Honey-Do-4-Hire” business. Less than a year in, he’s already exhausted his savings and still living at home with his mother, but he’s determined to birth his franchise. Consumed with his business and fresh off a breakup, he wasn’t in the market for Mrs. Right. But after completing a job on Valentine’s Day, his potential dream girl, Sky showed up. After a brief chat over her car dilemma, he ignored the chemistry and left without her number. But cupid and God had other plans. After a divine connection, the only thing that stood between Jake and Sky, were funds. Will Jake pursue “Love on a Budget” or miss out because the price is too high?

December 1, 2013
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In My Mailbox: Week of November 24
Chick Lit Plus

In My Mailbox: Week of November 24

Title: Buried Leads
Author: LynDee Walker
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: When an Armani-clad corpse turns up in the woods, crime reporter Nichelle Clarke smells a scoop. A little digging, and Nichelle uncovers a web of corruption that stretches all the way to Washington, D.C. Politics. Murder. And a dead lobbyist. It’s everything Nichelle’s ever dreamed of.
The cops are playing it close, the feds even closer, and Nichelle’s afraid her boss will assign the story to the political desk any day. Richmond’s new ATF SuperCop makes an arrest before she can say “Louboutin,” but Nichelle’s gut says he’s got the wrong guy.
Her sexy Mafia boss friend warns her off the case, her TV rival is hot on her designer heels, an ambitious copy editor wants her beat, and victims are piling up faster than she can track them down. As Nichelle zeroes in on the truth, it’ll take some fancy footwork to nab this headline before the killer nabs her.
Title: Mounting the Whale
Author: Colleen McCarty
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: The self-made and affluent Pierce family is hurled into a seamy kidnapping plot when they receive a text message from Janine–the most troubled of all the Pierce children.

“Cartel got me, tell mom”

The siblings, drowning in their own problems, are forced to focus on the task at hand: a half-cocked rescue mission that involves a borrowed yacht, a favor from a notorious drug kingpin, and a shocking reunion none of them expected.

When the family decides to sneak into Mexico, mother Cybil is forced to deal with a rival CEO whom she’s developed feelings for in secret. Her only son, Tom, is willing to risk bodily harm to save Janine while his other sisters, Carlyle and Valerie, suspect that the kidnapping is less than legitimate.

The long sea voyage tests the limits of the family’s already frail bonds. Dark secrets of infertility, drugs, gambling and extreme taxidermy begin to float to the surface. But nothing compares to what they begin to learn about their missing sister.

If they’re going to make it out alive, they have to recognize they’re fighting the same battles and facing life’s greatest challenges: love, loneliness, and the struggle to find a place in the world.

Amidst all the chaos, the Pierce family is brought face-to-face with the ugliness of Janine’s addictions, the truth about their mother’s fortune and the most terrifying question of all: Can you really save someone who doesn’t want to be saved?

Title: New Beginnings
Author: Mary Metcalfe
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Workaholic real estate agent Carol Brock can’t seem to find a good man. Her first husband cheated with a law clerk less than half his age. Then she found herself in a string of bad relationships with unscrupulous men, including a con man and art thief, who shredded her professional reputation and strained her relationship with her college-age children. Carol has sworn off men and is determined to reclaim her life and career on her terms. But, when Boston’s most eligible bachelor, restoration specialist Devin Elliott, puts in an offer on a charming Victorian, Carol admits she’s attracted. Devin’s offer unwittingly unleashes a psychopathic rage in an ex-girlfriend that spills into Carol’s life. As she and Devin try to stay one step ahead of violence, Carol must decide whether she’s ready to risk her heart again.

Title: The City Center
Author: Simone Pond
Received: Simone Pond
Synopsis: During the man-made apocalypse in the 21st century, a group of elites killed off a majority of the population. Only two groups of survivors remained––those selected to reside inside the Los Angeles City Center and the rebels, relegated to live on the Outside.

Centuries later, Ava Rhodes is one of five potential successors competing to become the next Queen of the City Center. A week prior to the final competitions she encounters Joseph, a rebel from the Outside, and discovers her utopian home is actually a prison and breeding facility aimed at designing the perfect human. She escapes with Joseph to the Outside world, sending the City Center’s leader, Chief Morray, into an obsessive pursuit for his property.

Along the journey, Ava falls in love with Joseph and discovers an even darker secret about the fate of her people. She must decide whether to stay with Joseph, or save her people from destruction.

Title: The Echoes of Love
Author: Hannah Fielding
Received: Midas PR
Synopsis: Venetia Aston-Montague has escaped to Italy’s most captivating city to work in her godmother’s architect firm, putting a lost love behind her. For the past ten years she has built a fortress around her heart, only to find the walls tumbling down one night of the carnival when she is rescued from masked assailants by an enigmatic stranger, Paolo Barone.

Drawn to the powerfully seductive Paolo, and despite warnings of his Don Juan reputation and rumours that he keeps a mistress, Venetia can’t help being caught up in the smouldering passion that ignites between them.

When she finds herself assigned to a project at his magnificent home deep in the Tuscan countryside, Venetia not only faces a beautiful young rival but also a sinister count and dark forces in the shadows, determined to come between them.

Can Venetia trust that love will triumph, even over her own demons? Or will Paolo’s carefully guarded, devastating secret tear them apart for ever?

Title: Melting Ms Frost
Author : Kat Black
Received: LightBrigrade PR
Synopsis: When Aidan Flynn walks into Cluny’s Restaurant, he can’t take his eyes off his new flame haired boss, Annabel Frost. With his heart set on seducing her, Aidan can think of nothing but getting beneath her cold exterior.

Known as one of the toughest women in the business, Annabel is impervious to Aidan’s many charms, and his sultry-eyed looks and lilting Irish accent do anything but captivate her.

But Aidan knows there’s more to Annabel than meets the eye. And he’s not going to stop until she reveals all…

November 24, 2013
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In My Mailbox: Week of November 17
Chick Lit Plus

In My Mailbox: Week of November 17

Title: The Hole in the Middle
Author: Kate Hilton
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: I Don’t Know How She Does It for the This Is 40 generation.

Sophie Whelan is the epitome of the modern super woman. When she operates at peak performance, she can cajole balky employees, soothe her cranky children, trouble-shoot career disasters, throw a dinner party for 10, and draft an upbeat Christmas letter—all in the same day.

But as Sophie’s 40th birthday looms, her seamless life reveals disturbing web-like fractures. Conflict with her boss, blossoming jealousy of her husband’s femme fatale business partner, and her feelings of hopeless inadequacy as a mother and daughter, are cracking the edifice of her life.

Rescue may be at hand when Lillian Parker, a wealthy widow who befriended Sophie during her university days, makes Sophie an irresistible offer. Why, then, does Sophie hesitate? The answer is the reappearance of Lillian’s nephew, Will Shannon, the great unresolved love of Sophie’s life. As she remembers the vivid drama of their college romance, Sophie confronts the choices she has made in life and in love and looks for the one answer that has always eluded her: what does she really want?

The Hole in the Middle is a heartbreaking love story, a laugh-out-loud portrayal of the twin demands of work and family, and a fresh take on the hot debate about having it all. It is not to be missed.

Title: Just For Christmas
Author: Scarlett Bailey
Received: Unsolicited
Synopsis: Her best friend’s wedding…
When Alex Munro learns that the love of her life is getting married to another girl, all she wants is to be alone – and as far away from Edinburgh as possible.
Moving to a Cornish cottage, which comes complete with the world’s scruffiest dog, Alex finds that her new neighbours are determined to involve her in their madcap Christmas festivities.
Then she meets her sexy neighbour Ruan – and somehow Alex doesn’t want to be alone this Christmas after all. But having lost one fiancé, Ruan has no intention of letting anyone get close to him again…
Title: Fallen
Author: Traci L Slatton
Received: Traci L Slatton
Synopsis: As chaos descends on a crippled Earth, survivors are tormented by strange psychic gifts. In this time of apocalyptic despair, love is put to the test. One woman with mysterious healing power guides seven children to safety. Charismatic Arthur offers her a haven. Slowly Emma falls for him. But at the moment of their sweetest love, his devastating secret is revealed, and they are lost to each other.
Title: There’s More to Life Than Cupcakes
Author: Poppy Dolan
Received: Novelicious Books
Synopsis: A romantic and deliciously witty bestseller, perfect for fans of Mhairi McFarlane, Jenny Colgan and, of course, The Great British Bake Off.

Ellie Redford has a husband, a job and a home. According to the rest of the world, it’s baby o’clock already. Shame life doesn’t come with a recipe…

Ellie knows that starting a family with lovely husband Pete would be an amazing adventure. Pete would make a brilliant dad and she’d have an excuse to eat shed loads of Cherry Bakewell. But Ellie’s bestie would rather she was up at 3 a.m. with a bottle of Malibu, not formula. And with redundancies looming, Ellie’s boss isn’t exactly going to throw her a shower if she disappears for a year, with pay.

While Ellie juggles her feelings (and everyone else’s) as competently as a drunken clown, she finds herself signing up for a baking class, alongside the young, free and sizzling hot Joe. As they work buns and shape tarts, is there more to their friendship than a shared appreciation of Paul Hollywood?

Ellie’s soufflés may be rising, but her personal life is one big soggy mess. If she doesn’t make a decision soon, she may just lose everything that matters to her. Maybe it’s time to take off the pinny and face up to the truth: there’s more to life than cupcakes…
Title: Undressing Mr. Darcy
Author: Karen Doornebos
Received: Penguin Group
Synopsis: Taking it off in the name of history…

Thirty-five-year-old American social media master Vanessa Roberts lives her thoroughly modern life with aplomb. So when her elderly Jane Austen–centric aunt needs her to take on the public relations for Julian Chancellor, a very private man from England who’s written a book called My Year as Mr. Darcy, Vanessa agrees. But she’s not “excessively diverted,” as Jane Austen would say.

Hardbound books, teacups, and quill pens fly in the face of her e-reader, coffee, and smartphone…

…Until she sees Julian take his tight breeches off for his Undressing Mr. Darcy show, an educational “striptease” down to his drawers to promote his book and help save his crumbling estate. The public relations expert suddenly realizes things have gotten…personal. But can this old-fashioned man claim her heart without so much as a GPS? It will take three festivals filled with Austen fans, a trip to England, an old frenemy, and a flirtatious pirate re-enactor to find out…

November 17, 2013
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In My Mailbox: Week of November 10
Chick Lit Plus

In My Mailbox: Week of November 10

Title: Vegas to Varanasi
Author: Shelly Hickman
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Anna has never been the beautiful one; she’s always been the nice one. So when the gorgeous man sitting across the table at a wedding reception remembers her from high school—and quite fondly at that—she’s taken off guard. Formerly overweight and unpopular, Kiran has never forgotten Anna, the one person who was kind to him when no one else could be bothered, and Anna’s a bit flustered as she slowly comes to grips with his intense attraction for her. In what feels like a romantic dream come true, all-grown-up, hunky Kiran invites Anna on a trip to Varanasi. But her troubled, whack-a-do ex-boyfriend starts interfering, creating drama at every turn, which begs the question, “Can nice girls really finish first?”

Title: Last Christmas
Author: Talli Roland
Review: Talli Roland
Synopsis: For Lucy, the best Christmas present is forgetting the past.

Eager to banish the ghost of Christmas past – when her boyfriend dumped her on the streets of Paris – Lucy is determined to make this the best Christmas ever. She rallies friends and family for an epic celebration that just happens to fall on the same day as her ex’s festive wedding. Furious at how she’s been treated, Lucy can’t help relishing the party v wedding smackdown.

But when the wedding is threatened and only Lucy can help, can she find the spirit inside to save the day, or will this Christmas be even more disastrous than the last?

Title: Doubting Abbey
Author: Samantha Tonge
Received: Samantha Tonge
Synopsis: Swapping downstairs for upstairs… How hard can it be!? Look up the phrase ordinary girl and you’ll see a picture of me, Gemma Goodwin – I only look half-decent after applying the entire contents of my make-up bag, and my dating track-record includes a man who treated me to dinner…at a kebab shop. No joke! The only extraordinary thing about me is that I look EXACTLY like my BFF, Abbey Croxley. Oh, and that for reasons I can’t explain, I’ve agreed to swap identities and pretend be her to star in the TV show about her aristocratic family’s country estate, Million Dollar Mansion. So now it’s not just my tan I’m faking – it’s Kate Middleton style demure hemlines and lady-like manners too. And amongst the hundreds of fusty etiquette rules I’m trying to cram into my head, there are two I really must remember; 1) No-one can ever find out that I’m just Gemma, who’d be more at home in the servants quarters. And 2) There can be absolutely no flirting with Abbey’s dishy but buttoned-up cousin, Lord Edward. Aaargh, this is going to be harder than I thought…

Title: It Would Be Wrong to Steal My Sister’s Boyfriend (Wouldn’t It?)
Author: Sophie Ranald
Received: Sophie Ranald
Synopsis: You live together, laugh together, borrow her shoes and eyeliner – is there anything you can’t share with your sister?

Ellie’s younger sister Rose has it all. She’s beautiful, stylish and dates gorgeous, glamorous millionaires, while Ellie is quite happy watching TV on the sofa with her old mate Ben. But when Rose brings her new boyfriend home, it’s lust at first sight for Ellie. And although she knows it’s wrong, everything changes: she’ll do whatever it takes to get Oliver, even if it means abandoning her principles and turning a deaf ear to her friends. After all, would it be so wrong to take up running, put some highlights in her hair and make herself look a tiny, little bit more like Rose? But as Ellie follows in her sister’s stiletto-heeled footsteps, she realises that finding love could mean losing the most important thing in the world.

It Would Be Wrong to Steal My Sister’s Boyfriend… is a warm, witty whirlwind romance. If you’re a fan of Tracy Bloom, Pippa Wright and Mhairi McFarlane, you’ll love Sophie Ranald.

Title: The End
Author: Denise Moncrief
Received: Denise Moncried
Synopsis: Sometimes the end is only the beginning.

Almost a year after her husband dies, Ellie Marston opens the file for Tab’s last manuscript, a thriller so compelling it reads like a true story. His manuscript needs an ending, so Ellie writes the obvious conclusion. The same morning she types The End, her career as an assistant district attorney falls apart. Accused of throwing the high profile Patterson case, she resigns in disgrace. The only friend she has left in the criminal justice system is Det. Paul Santiago, a man she has worked closely with on numerous cases. While she was married to Tab, she squashed her growing feelings for Paul, determined to make her deteriorating marriage work, but circumstances after Tab’s death bring Ellie and Paul together.

Ellie’s paranoia increases as she becomes convinced Patterson is harassing her, certain that someone is searching her belongings for any hidden evidence she might have that would reopen his case. It becomes clear there was a conspiracy to release Patterson. She seeks help from her former co-worker, Presley Sinclair, but soon discovers Presley is deeply involved in the subsequent cover up. Worse yet, Tab’s affair with Presley drew him into the twisted conspiracy as well.

Together Paul and Ellie attempt to uncover the conspiracy in the District Attorney’s office, the set up that forced her to resign. The key to the mystery is hidden in the pages of Tab’s manuscript. Once Paul and Ellie come to the correct conclusion—Tab’s manuscript is a true story and Ellie’s added ending is the only logical outcome—Ellie attempts to reveal Patterson’s hidden partner in the District Attorney’s office, but the co-conspirator she uncovers is not whom she suspects. Danger swirls around her as she steps further and further into the conspirator’s trap.

Title: Wish Upon a Star
Author: Trisha Ashley
Received: LightBrigade PR
Synopsis: Cookery columnist and author Cally’s world is turned upside down when her baby daughter is born with serious heart problems. Her ex disappeared when she was pregnant, and Cally has spent much of the early years of daughter Stella’s life at the hospital. When Stella’s only hope is hugely expensive life-saving surgery in the States, Cally moves in with her mother in the rural village of Sticklepond, to save money for the operation.

The village rallies round and begins fund raising with a vengeance, including the laid back and rather handsome baker Jago, who is still trying to escape the clutches of his controlling ex-fiance. With everything that is going on, the last thing Cally wants to do is fall in love, but she is also tired of going it alone. In the run up to Christmas, the true spirit of the festive season begins to show.

A warmly told tale that takes Trisha Ashley fans back to Sticklepond, with colourful characters old and new.

November 10, 2013
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In My Mailbox: Week of November 3
Chick Lit Plus

In My Mailbox: Week of November 3

Title: Driving Me to You
Author: Julie Farrell
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: When Sam meets her sister’s sexy mechanic, Verlaine, she instantly falls for those gorgeous brown eyes and rugged charms, and a secret romance begins. Unfortunately, there’s unfinished business between Sam and her monstrous childhood nemesis. No, not her sister Gemma, but her late-father’s beloved Bentley.
Gemma is struggling to save the family vintage-car business, and it doesn’t help that little sis has just swanned back home, with no intention of helping. Gemma knows the only solution is to involve Sam’s old flame, the charismatic venture capitalist, Marcus Priestley. But Marcus is compelled to win Sam back, and he certainly won’t let the hired help muscle-in.
Verlaine is Gemma’s sexy mechanic, who’s trying to blag it as a chauffeur. But he’s so bad at tying his necktie, he looks like a stripper at a hen night. Working with Gemma’s vintage cars is his dream job, but things get complicated when he falls for the boss’s sister and sets himself up as rival to Marcus. Then the road trip adventure from London to Brighton beach begins!
Who will Sam choose in the love triangle? The penniless new love or the wealthy ex? And how will she tame the Bentley, to become the strong and powerful woman that she’s always known she could be?
This charming comedy covers modern issues for modern women, such as dating, relationships, careers, friendship, and, of course, love.

Title: White Lies
Author: Emily Harper
Received: Emily Harper
Synopsis: Imagine standing in line at Harvey Nichols waiting to buy the most gorgeous silk Gucci dress. The only minor problem? You can’t afford it, it’s a size smaller than you are, and you have absolutely no place to wear it.
Meet Natalie Flemming: a twenty-something woman working in London for a fabulous shoe-designing firm, but the only thing they let her touch is the company’s tax forms. She has decided to give fate a vacation and takes the task of finding the man of her dreams (or Johnny Depp if he would just return her calls…) into her own hands.
She craves adventure, spontaneity, passion- or will just settle for a decent date.

Title: Love & Limoncello
Author: Alexandra Sage
Received: Alexandra Sage
Synopsis: Disgruntled City lawyer Alessia Vincenzi is bullied at work by the boss from hell and increasingly frustrated with her volatile love life revolving around commitment-phobe Matt and reserved workaholic Josh.

When Alessia is made redundant following a drunken email rant at her bosses, she quickly takes up her cousin Luca’s offer to spend the summer at his luxury villa in Sorrento, and attend the high-profile opening of his new restaurant, ‘Decadenza’.

Disappointed when work prevents Josh from spending a week at the villa with three other friends – Sophie, Charles and Giles – Alessia soon meets hard-up but hunky gardener Antonio, and handsome but intense artist Giancarlo, and tries her hand at making limoncello as a money-making scheme to help Antonio.

Following a disastrous date with Giancarlo, things get increasingly complicated when Josh unexpectedly flies out to Sorrento, and it soon becomes clear that a disturbing secret ties Alessia’s family with Giancarlo’s, threatening Alessia’s chances with Josh, and leading to potentially fatal consequences.

Title: Broken
Author: CJ Lyons
Received: Sourcebooks
Synopsis: For Scarlet Killian, every day is a game of Russian roulette—she has a 1 in 5 chance of dying…

New York Times bestselling author CJ Lyons makes her YA debut with a fast-paced thriller sure to keep readers guessing to the very last page.

Fifteen-year-old Scarlet Killian has one chance for a normal life. Only problem? It just might kill her. Diagnosed with a rare and untreatable heart condition, Scarlet has never taken the school bus. Or giggled with friends during lunch. Or spied on a crush out of the corner of her eye. Scarlet has come to terms with the fact that despite the best efforts of her doctors and parents, she’s going to die. Literally of a broken heart. So when her parents offer her a week to prove she can survive high school, Scarlet knows her time is now… or never.

Scarlet can feel her heart beating out of control with every slammed locker and every sideways glance in the hallway. But for the first time in her life she makes real friends. She also makes new discoveries about the truth behind her illness… a truth that might just kill her before her heart does.

Title: Dangled Carat
Author: Hilary Grossman
Received: Hilary Grossman
Synopsis: Hilary had gotten used to dating the commitment-phobic Marc, thirteen years her senior. They had a great relationship—why rush into things? She saw no need to pressure him for marriage, believing that when the time was right, he would propose. But after they had been together for four years, their friends decided to take matters into their own hands, pushing Marc to propose and making Hilary realize how much she really did want to marry the man that she loved. Unfortunately, Marc still wasn’t ready—and their friends’ meddling in the form of a faux engagement party led to a disastrous New Year’s Eve that brought their relationship to an inevitable turning point.

In this relatable, lighthearted, and playful memoir, Hilary reminisces about her life before Marc—from the insecure and awkward teenage years she spent in a back brace and dealing with the loss of her father, to her early relationships and, finally, to the day she met Marc and realized that she really wanted to see him again. Through their first date—even though Hilary was technically seeing someone else at the time—and the ease of their early time together until Marc first decided that they were moving too quickly, up until that fateful New Year’s Eve, Hilary shares the details of their relationship and how Marc’s inability to commit led her to find an inner strength and confidence she didn’t know she possessed.

For anyone who has ever dated a commitment-phobe, who has found their patience wearing thin with the one they love, or who has sat around wondering if he is ever going to pop the question while trying to remain the very picture of patience and grace, Hilary’s humorous and honest story will hit home.

Title: Christmas Bliss
Author: Mary Kay Andrews
Received: Tandem Literary
Synopsis: ‘Twas the night before Christmas, and Savannah was breezy
But there’s trouble afoot – and it’s heading toward Weezie.
Seems BeBe’s been holding a big secret back
that would make Santa’s reindeer stop dead in their tracks.
Can these two best friends wriggle out of these twists?
Will they do it in time to ensure CHRISTMAS BLISS?

Return to the wonderful world of Mary Kay Andrews’ Savannah with Christmas Bliss.

November 3, 2013
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