Chick Lit Plus by Samantha March

Chick Lit Plus

Celebrity gossip, articles on fashion, health, fitness, and beauty.

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In My Mailbox: Week of June 30
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In My Mailbox: Week of June 30

Title: The Longest Holiday

Author: Paige Toon

Received: From Paige Toon

Synopsis: ‘Don’t wait for the storm to pass; learn to dance in the rain…’ Laura has been married to the man of her dreams for seven months. But a week before the wedding, Matthew made a terrible mistake. Escaping the humiliation that is now her marriage, Laura is whisked off to Florida’s Key West by her best friend Marty. A carefree holiday full of cocktails and fun, surrounded by gorgeous, tanned men, is exactly what the doctor ordered. Distraction comes in the form of sexy Cuban scuba diver Leo. Laura’s instant attraction to him knocks her flying, and she falls hard. As the end of the holiday approaches, Laura doesn’t want to go home. Is it time to face the music? Or is there more to Key West than a holiday romance?

Title: Brooklyn Girls

Author: Gemma Burgess

Received: From Gemma Burgess

Synopsis: Fantastically funny, fresh and utterly relatable, Brooklyn Girls by Gemma Burgess is the first novel in her brand new series about five twenty-something friends—Pia, Angie, Julia, Coco and Madeleine—sharing a brownstone in hip, downtown Brooklyn, and discovering the ups and downs and ins and outs of their “semi-adult” lives. The first story belongs to sophisticated, spoiled, and stylish Pia, who finds herself completely unemployed, unemployable, and broke. So what is a recent grad with an art history degree and an unfortunate history of Facebook topless photos to do? Start a food truck business of course! Pia takes on the surprisingly cutthroat Brooklyn world of hybrid lettuce growers, artisanal yogurt makers and homemade butter producers to start SkinnyWheels—all while dealing with hipster bees, one-night-stands, heartbreak, parental fury, wild parties, revenge, jail, loan sharks, playboys, karaoke, true love, and one adorable pink food truck. And that’s without counting her roommates’ problems, too. Gemma Burgess has captured the confusion, hilarity and excitement of the post-graduate years against a backdrop of the pressures and chaos of New York City life, with heartfelt empathy, fast humor and sharp honesty.

Title: Auf’d

Author: Amy Saunders

Received: From Amy Saunders

Synopsis: Lending a hand to a charity fashion show sounded like such fun. Now if only Belinda’s idea of a good time included a smothered designer and trouble with Bennett.

While Belinda balances opening a business and a house reno,
haute couture Portside-style lands her in one hot mess of runway intrigue and man drama.

It seems not everyone at this show is what they claim to be –
or even who.

Title: Hush Little Baby

Author: Suzanne Redfearn

Received: Grand Central Publishing

Synopsis: Jillian Kane appears to have it all—a thriving career, a gorgeous home, a loving husband, and two wonderful kids. The reality is something else entirely. For nine years she has hidden the bruises and the truths of her abusive marriage in order to protect her children, knowing, if she left, Gordon would destroy her—destroy them. In an act of desperation, she flees and finds herself on the run with two young children, no money, and no plan. Gordon is in hot pursuit and there is only one inescapable certainty: No matter where she goes, he will find her and kill her.

Suspenseful and unforgettably moving, HUSH LITTLE BABY exposes the shame and terror of domestic violence as well as the disturbing role sabotage can play in the high-stakes game of child custody. This compelling family drama will resonate with lovers of Jodi Picoult, Gillian Flynn, Lisa Scottoline, and Anna Quindlen.

Title: Sweet Nothings

Author: Janis Thomas

Received: Penguin Group

Synopsis: Ruby McMillan’s world is turned upside down when her husband announces one morning that he’s dumping her for another woman. Without a goodbye to their two teenaged children, Walter leaves Ruby to cope with her ruined dessert, an unpaid mortgage, and her failing bakery.

With only royal icing holding her together, Ruby still manages to pick herself up and move on, subsidizing her income with an extra job as a baking instructor, getting a “my-husband’s-gone” makeover, and even flirting with her gorgeous mortgage broker, Jacob Salt. Suddenly single again at the age of forty-four, she’s beginning to discover that life is the most delicious when you stop following a recipe and just live.

Title: Everybody Has Everything

Author: Katrina Onstad

Received: Grand Central Publishing

Synopsis: After years of unsuccessful attempts at conceiving a child, Ana and James become parents overnight, when a terrible accident makes them guardians to 2 ¿ year-old Finn. Suddenly, two people who were struggling to come to terms with childlessness are thrust into the opposite situation-responsible for a small toddler whose mother’s survival is in question.

Finn’s crash-landing in their tidy, urban lives throws into high relief some troubling truths about their deepest selves, both separately and as a couple. Several chaotic, poignant, and life-changing weeks as a most unusual family give rise to an often unasked question: Can everyone be a parent?

June 30, 2013
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Wedding Update: Nightmares!
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Wedding Update: Nightmares!

My wedding is just under three months away and I have started having dreams – more like nightmares – every night this past week about the wedding. I have dreamt about my dress not fitting, wearing the wrong dress, the DJ playing my music at the wrong time, lost veils and garters, the groom not finding a ride to the wedding, my bridal party not showing up. What is going on here? As I’m telling people this, a lot of married women are telling me they went through the same thing – and some brides even still have these nightmares, years after they said I Do! I’m glad I’m not alone, but man, these are not fun. I wake up every morning so stressed about another item I need to check off the list or my overactive mind finds a new scenario that can go wrong on the big day. I never imagined planning a wedding would become this stressful, but as we get closer, I can definitely see the toll it’s taken. Invites are going out next week (only three weeks behind according to my The Knot checklist!) and I can’t wait to see if I start dreaming about those next. Off to hunt down a cocktail – or maybe just a piece of chocolate 😉

June 24, 2013
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In My Mailbox: Week of June 23
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In My Mailbox: Week of June 23

Title: Secrets of a Spiritual Guru

Author: Tamara Lee Dorris

Received: Via CLP Blog Tours

Synopsis: Meet Melissa Murphy: wine-drinking real estate agent who finds herself “accidentally” assuming the role of a spiritual blogger when her boyfriend leaves her for his yoga teacher. Can she keep her role secret while trying to win her man back? If the lying doesn’t kill her, the poses might!

“…Achingly funny and impossibly wise…” Jenna McCarthy, author of, If It Was Easy They’d Call the Whole Damn Thing a Honeymoon; Living with and Loving the TV-Addicted, Sex-Obsessed, Not-so-handy Man You Married

If you’re looking for a hilarious look at yoga, real estate and personal development, you’ll love this book

Profound insight on human nature delivered in what seems like a yoga book (it’s not), a real estate book (no way), but instead is a woman’s fiction, humor tale that will keep readers smiling and longing for more.

This is the first book of the Guru Series

Title: Exchange in Eichstatt

Author: Melanie Surani

Received: From Melanie Surani

Synopsis: When Kat Shergill travels to a small town in Germany for a college course, she has no idea she’ll run into Peter, an ex-boyfriend. Almost as soon as they realize they still have feelings for each other, Peter is kidnapped.

Though Kat does everything she can to understand the clues and ensure her friend’s safe return, she angers the kidnapper, whose taunting text messages and calls suddenly stop. Radio silence means no more information and possibly an abrupt end to the game.

Title: All My Restless Life to Live

Author: Dee DeTarsio

Received: From Dee DeTarsio

Synopsis: All My Restless Life to Live Life is a soap opera, especially for Elle Miller, who writes for one. (Ellen dropped the “n” in her name in hopes of finding a better ending for herself.) When her laptop crashes, she borrows her recently deceased dad’s computer and gets way more than she bargained for.

Elle unravels mysterious communications from his computer, while her mom decides to give Internet dating a try. As Elle tries to save her career at I’d Rather Be Loved with a storyline featuring a trip through Atlantis, she takes a trip to the Emmys, and finds herself in the middle of a romance between a real doctor and a hunk who just plays one on TV. Friends, family, and clues from “the other side” all help Elle figure out the difference between living the good life and living a good life.

Fans of Marian Keyes and Jennifer Weiner will delight in Dee DeTarsio’s sparkling prose and lively dialogue as she takes readers into the heart of women’s lives. Filled with friendship, love, loss, betrayal, and challenges that force her characters to find their place in the universe, Dee’s novels give us that hopefully-ever-after we’re searching for.

Title: The Candidate

Author: Josie Brown

Received: From Josie Brown

Synopsis: Democratic political campaign consultant Ben Brinker can’t remember the last time he was excited by a candidate’s vision. He feels he’s lost his way, both emotionally and professionally. Worst yet, his show-me-the-money policy seems to have finally caught up with him. Two of his recent clients have been disgraced in one way or another: a senator is caught in lurid sex scandal, and a congressman is indicted in a kickback scandal. In no time at all the political pundits are calling Ben a “candidate cooler.” Now Ben is desperate for any campaign gig he can get.

As luck would have it, Andrew Harris Mansfield, the charismatic junior senator from North Carolina and former Marine pilot, asks Ben if he wants to run his soon-to-be-announced campaign for president.

Little does Ben know what’s in store for Andrew, or their country–

Nor does he realize that the key to saving both have been placed in his hands.

Title: The Back Up List

Author: Amber Best & Miriam Brady

Received: From Amber Best & Miriam Brady

Synopsis: The Back-Up List has only ever been a joke- that’s it. Madison Grey has a celebrity crush list of possible replacement husbands ready with the off-chance her husband might inexplicably vanish. Clearly, Madison was not prepared for- A. her husband’s untimely death and B. Calvin Hunt, rock god and top man on her Back-Up List to begin crushing on her. Talk about your cruel cosmic ironies. It has only been six months since her entire family was killed in a tragic accident and he’s looking to her for a hook-up! Really?

Calvin Hunt, rock icon, is living the dream of any womanizing man-whore- that is until he spots the first unavailable woman he’s ever met. What the hell? Is she gay? He’s busily seducing her with concert tickets and exotic getaways, all while he’s touring. There are plenty of obstacles he’ll have to overcome to be with her and he’ll need all the help he can get from his stoic bodyguard, his nosy Oprah-channeling brother and even Madison’s bizarrely quirky friends who are all fighting to cross his name off of Madison’s Back-Up List.

June 23, 2013
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Channing and Jenna Dewan-Tatum Share First Baby Photo!
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Channing and Jenna Dewan-Tatum Share First Baby Photo!

I won’t lie – I’ve been waiting for this shot! Channing Tatum and wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum shared a photo today of their new baby girl, Everly, on their Facebook accounts. The shot was posted on Sunday, also Father’s Day, which is a first for the family. Dewan, 32, and Tatum, 33, welcomed their first child on May 31. Cute photo and an adorable name to match!

June 16, 2013
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In My Mailbox: Week of June 16
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In My Mailbox: Week of June 16

Title: Thirty-Two Going on Spinster

Author: Becky Monson

Received: Via CLP Blog Tours

Synopsis: Julia Dorning is a spinster, or at least on the road to becoming one. She has no social life, hates her job, and lives in her parent’s basement with her cat, Charlie.

With the arrival of Jared Moody, the new hire at work, Julia’s mundane life is suddenly turned upside down. Her instant (and totally ridiculous) crush on the new guy causes Julia to finally make some long-overdue changes, in hopes to find a life that includes more than baking and hanging out with Charlie.

But when the biggest and most unexpected change comes, will the new and improved Julia be able to overcome it? Or will she go back to her spinster ways?

Title: Lake Como

Author: Anita Hughes

Received: From Anita Hughes

Synopsis: Hallie Elliot has a perfect life. She is an up-and-coming interior designer in one of San Francisco’s most sought after firms, and has just recently become engaged to Peter, a brilliant young journalist. But when she stumbles upon Peter and her boss in what seems to be a compromising position, her trust in her perfect life is shaken.

So Hallie escapes to Lake Como, Italy to spend time with her half-sister, Portia Tesoro, an Italian blueblood dealing with the scandal of a public estrangement from her cheating husband. While staying in the Tesoro villa, Hallie falls in love with the splendor and beauty of Lake Como, and finds work designing the lakeside estate of a reclusive American tech mogul. The caretaker of this beautiful estate is a handsome man named Angus, and Hallie finds herself drawn to his charm and kindness, despite hints of a dark secret in his past.

But just as Hallie is beginning to find her footing on Italian soil, she uncovers a family secret that upends all the truths she’s believed about herself, and calls into question the new life she’s built in Lake Como.

Sisterhood, family, career, and sumptuous descriptions of Italian life fill the pages of this newest offering by Anita Hughes. Lake Como is a heartbreaking and heartwarming story of love, self-discovery, and the quest for truth.

Title: Being Me

Author: Lisa Renee Jones

Received: BrookTrib

Synopsis: Fascinated by the dark fantasies in the journals she’s discovered, and the two men who have now found a place in her life, Sara McMillan finds herself torn between her new life and her past. Now, more than ever, Sara identifies with the lost journal writer, Rebecca, and is certain that something sinister has happened.

In the arms of the sexy, tormented artist Chris Merit, Sara seeks answers about Rebecca and ends up discovering things about herself she never knew existed. Chris forces Sara to reconsider who she is and what she truly wants from life, but not before his dark desires threaten to tear them apart. Her boss, Mark Compton, offers her the shelter to understand just what those needs mean to her, and what they might have meant to Rebecca, but can she trust him to lead her to a final conclusion to Rebecca’s story?

Title: Undeclared

Author: Jen Frederick

Received: From Jen Frederick

Synopsis: For four years, Grace Sullivan wrote to a Marine she never met, and fell in love. But when his deployment ended, so did the letters. Ever since that day, Grace has been coasting, academically and emotionally. The one thing she’s decided? No way is Noah Jackson — or any man — ever going to break her heart again.

Noah has always known exactly what he wants out of life. Success. Stability. Control. That’s why he joined the Marines and that’s why he’s fighting his way — literally — through college. Now that he’s got the rest of his life on track, he has one last conquest: Grace Sullivan. But since he was the one who stopped writing, he knows that winning her back will be his biggest battle yet.

June 16, 2013
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Wedding Update: Three Months Away!
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Wedding Update: Three Months Away!

Well, I’m sad to report that my camera with the handy little video option has died. I haven’t been able to figure out how to prop my phone up long enough for me record a video on there, so I’m just going to have to resort to the old-fashioned way to talk about my wedding – writing! I am now just under 3 months away from becoming Mrs. Janning, and plans are starting to overtake my life. What am I working on now? We just picked up our invites the other day, so next on my list is buying a zillion stamps, stuffing the envelopes, printing our mailing labels, and getting to the post office. We are also trying to finalize our ceremony, and I’m very happy that I have finally picked out all the music. It was a lot harder than I thought finding songs for the wedding party to walk down the aisle to, myself walk down the aisle to, and then recessional, but I finally got that crossed off my list!
We are still working with our male wedding party to get them in and get fitted for their tuxes! Yes –we went with Vera Wang tuxes and I’m jealous of them! We have until August to get it done and I’m sure it will be just fine, but men are quite difficult to finagle I tell you! The guys are wearing grey tuxes and black bowties, and I can’t wait to see them 🙂
My dress fittings are going to start next month, so I’ve been on the hunt for shoes. My dress is the perfect length … for flats. No heels for me on my wedding day, and I’m actually okay with that. I’m afraid I would be so nervous I would trip or do something equally stupid, but it’s been quite the task trying to find cute flats that go with a wedding dress. My mother was so generous and purchased my bridal jewelry and veil so I’ll have those items with me for my fittings, but I need SHOES!!
Taking a deep breath. September 7 is going to be here in the blink of an eye, and I’ll be so excited to share as much as I can on the big day and then of course after 🙂 Thank you everyone for your kind words and emails that I am getting. I can’t wait to be a bride!

June 12, 2013
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In My Mailbox: Week of June 9
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In My Mailbox: Week of June 9

Title: Is This All There Is?

Author: Patricia Mann

Received: Via CLP Blog Tours

Synopsis: “Is this all there is?” It’s a question every wife and mother eventually finds herself asking and thirty-five year old Beth Thomas is no exception. On the surface, her life is perfect. She’s married to her college sweetheart, has two beautiful little boys, and enjoys her part-time teaching appointment at the local university. But when a friend persuades Beth to go dancing on a rare night out, a chance meeting with twenty-one year old Dave, one of her former students, changes the course of her life. Loud music, too much to drink, and the thrill of feeling young again lead to an unforgettable kiss that was never supposed to happen. Beth tries to leave the memory behind, but Dave convinces her that he fell in love with her while he was in her class. As he continues to pursue her, he forces her to look at everything in her life through a different lens and the temptation of what he’s offering becomes too strong.

Patricia Mann’s “Is This All There Is?” introduces readers to the seemingly perfect world of Beth Thomas, a 35-year-old mother and wife who takes a risqué detour from diapers and duty to chart a course into erotica, deception and deceit. As the part-time college professor yields to the overpowering push and pull that follow a magnetic encounter with a former student, Beth is held captive in the seductive space that lingers between desire and reason. Honest and moving, Mann’s work is a touching snapshot of middle-America today, a compelling story about one woman’s struggle to keep up appearances while coming undone.

Down and Out in Bugtussle by Stephanie McAfeeTitle: Down and Out in Bugtussle

Author: Stephanie McAfee

Received: Penguin

Synopsis: With her fiancé now her ex-fiancé, Ace has hightailed it back to Bugtussle, Mississippi, and back to her Gramma Jones’s house. Her best friends, Lilly and Chloe, are delighted she’s back, but Ace still has some challenges ahead of her.

For one thing, her replacement as Bugtussle High School’s art teacher, Cameron Becker, refuses to vacate the position. So Ace is stuck working as a substitute teacher while harboring fantasies of running Miss Becker out of town. On top of that, Lilly and Chloe are obsessed with setting her up on less-than-romantic blind dates—even though all she wants is a break from her pitiful love life.

To ease her troubled mind, Ace resolves to restore her grandmother’s gardens to their former glory. But in the well-worn gardening book she’s dug out of her grandmother’s attic there are a series of suspicious notes that indicate her grandmother may have had a special someone in her past. Now, with her faithful chiweenie, Buster Loo, by her side, Ace is determined to get to the bottom of her grandmother’s secret life, all the while hoping her own life isn’t about to implode….

Save the Date by Allie SpencerTitle: Save the Date!

Author: Allie Spencer

Received: Random House UK

Synopsis: The only thing worse than the family holiday from hell, is the family wedding from hell. So, when faced with being marooned in a Tuscan castle with her thoroughly dysfunctional family for the 1930s-themed wedding of her rich, over-spoilt cousin Jessica, who could blame Ailsa Stuart for being less than enthusiastic?

As her family’s exhausted peacemaker she will have her work cut out. Not only is there her own nearest and dearest to deal with, but the sudden appearance of her ex-husband, desperate to reconcile with her almost sends her over the edge. But Ailsa needs to pull herself together, because without her calm presence, the wedding could end badly for all of them.

He’s The One by Katie PriceTitle: He’s the One

Author: Katie Price

Received: Colbert Macalister PR

Synopsis: A passionate story of lost love and second chances, from the bestselling Katie Price.
Twenty-year-old Liberty is beautiful, ambitious and dreams of making it as an actress. She is also a single mother and has a three-year old daughter, Brooke. Living with her mother, she supports her daughter by modelling and working as a waitress.

Then, over one perfect summer, Liberty meets and falls in love with Cory, a young American taking time off from university. But Liberty never feels good enough for him, and when she meets his university friends, she feels it’s only fair to let him go. Heartbroken, Cory leaves to go back to the States.

Liberty, meanwhile, suddenly gets the break she’s been praying for. Zac, a TV director has seen her picture and wants her to audition for a role in LA. And so, Liberty and Brooke begin a new phase of their lives. Suddenly, she is successful, but she can’t forget Cory. Until news of his engagement reaches her, and she finally agrees to marry Zac.

Years later, everything has changed. Liberty has fled LA, taking a reluctant teenage Brooke with her. But returning to her home town of Brighton reawakens painful memories. Especially as she meets Cory again. She still loves him, but he seems to hate her. Can she ever convince him to trust her again?

June 9, 2013
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In My Mailbox: Week of June 2
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In My Mailbox: Week of June 2

le: Between Friends

Author: Amanda Cowen

Received: Via CLP Blog Tours

Synopsis: The only way to have a friend is to be one…especially between the sheets…

When neurotically challenged and unlucky in love Megan Daniels is propositioned by her life-long friend Ben Romano with a coin toss (heads, they sleep together, tails, they don’t) the night before they are about to attend a destination wedding, she drunkenly accepts his challenge. But when Megan wakes up the next morning with a bad hang-over and Ben in her bed, she is more than mortified. It isn’t until the tropical heat begins to ignite emotions Megan never believed or thought she could possibly have, when she starts to question if risking their friendship is the answer to finding true love.

A cute and contemporary debut novel, BETWEEN FRIENDS faces one girl’s struggle between the fine lines of friendship and love and the risk of opening up her heart to the possibility of forever.

pastors wivesTitle: Pastors’ Wives

Author: Lisa Takeuchi Cullen

Received: Penguin Group

Synopsis: Lisa Takeuchi Cullen’s debut novel Pastors’ Wives follows three women whose lives converge and intertwine at a Southern evangelical megachurch. Ruthie follows her Wall Street husband from New York to Magnolia, a suburb of Atlanta, when he hears a calling to serve at a megachurch called Greenleaf. Reeling from the death of her mother, Ruthie suffers a crisis of faith—in God, in her marriage, and in herself. Candace is Greenleaf’s “First Lady,” a force of nature who’ll stop at nothing to protect her church and her superstar husband. Ginger, married to Candace’s son, struggles to play dutiful wife and mother while burying her calamitous past. All their roads collide in one chaotic event that exposes their true selves. Inspired by Cullen’s reporting as a staff writer for Time magazine, Pastors’ Wives is a dramatic portrayal of the private lives of pastors’ wives, caught between the demands of faith, marriage, duty, and love.

love storyTitle: The Hypnotist’s Love Story

Author: Liane Moriarty

Received: Penguin Group

Synopsis: Ellen O’Farrell has grown tired of the lack of respect her profession is afforded by others—especially her critical physician mother. She is proud to be a hypnotherapist and has found her niche. Unfortunately, she has not been as lucky in love. That is, until she meets Patrick Scott. A handsome young widower she met through an online dating service, Patrick seems too good to be true. So when he one day announces that he has something to tell her, Ellen braces for the worst. His confession: he is being stalked by a former girlfriend. That’s okay, Ellen assures him, and inwardly she has to admit that she finds the situation kind of intriguing. Thrilling, even.

Ellen would love to learn everything she can about the woman—Saskia—but she refrains from pumping Patrick for details because it clearly upsets him. Indeed, Ellen would love to get inside this woman’s head. What she doesn’t realize is that she already knows her. The obsessed Saskia, under an assumed name, has become one of Ellen’s hypnotherapy clients intent on getting as close as possible to her perceived rival.

As Ellen and Patrick grow deeper in love, Saskia grows even more fixated on her former lover. What Patrick failed to see is Saskia’s deep attachment to his young son, Jack, whom she nurtured in the wake of his mother’s death. Meanwhile, Ellen gets some news that could forever change her life and could either solidify or jeopardize her relationship with Patrick. Could Saskia exploit this new development to further her own calculated motives?

June 2, 2013
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In My Mailbox: Week of May 26
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In My Mailbox: Week of May 26

Title: Stupid By Choice

Author: Leighton Summers

Received: From Smith Publicity

Synopsis: A novel about the adventures and regrets of a Texas Oil Princess’s quest for finding love… Melanie St. John is a beautiful, smart, rich Texan daddy’s girl born to a bold, high-powered lawyer in the oil business who helps Melanie grow into someone who is both worldly and capable. But once she leaves college and enters the privileged world of dating highly sought-after men of leisure, she is catapulted in and out of the wealthiest places on the globe while hoping to get married and start a family with one of them. But these mostly destructive love affairs soon become a dynamic exploration of wealth and love, with all the highs and lows. And to complicate matters she is surrounded by her older, free-wheeling, wildcat sister (and her sister’s exotic but destructive best friend) as well as her own two completely opposite best friends, and each of them also hopes to find their own Prince Charming—which all only adds to the competition, adventures, and scandals. But throughout each relationship Melanie explores the deeper, more prevalent themes of family, friendship, love, intimacy, freedom, betrayal, motherhood, and most of all, inner strength.

His Fantasy Maid by Susan BlexrudTitle: His Fantasy Maid

Author: Susan Blexrud

Received: Via CLP Blog Tours

Synopsis: On the eve of Jake Sinclair’s bachelor party, his best man surprises him with a fantasy maid named Amy. Clad in a bikini, she cleans his house and jump starts his heart. She’s beautiful, smart, and compassionate. Why is a woman like this working as a fantasy maid? A few days later, with thoughts still distracted by the enigmatic Amy, Jake crashes his car and wakes in the hospital emergency room where his fantasy maid is now wearing scrubs and wielding a stethoscope. Is she an hallucination, or is his fantasy maid a doctor?

Expected by Sarah EnglandTitle: Expected

Author: Sarah England

Received: From Crooked Cat Publishing

Synopsis: Sam Sweet is terrified of giving birth.

Only,she doesn’t daretell anyone. Especially her grandchild-obsessed mother or herfiancé, Simon – top surgeon by day, mind-game expert by night.

Repressed by the expectations of others, Sam feels trapped. All she ever wanted was a career and a crack at independence, but as a catastrophically failed psychiatric nurse who now injects fillers into the crinkled faces of unhappy women, a career is proving tricky. There’s something wrong with the product and clients are suing.

Jealous work colleagues stir up scandalous gossip, and soon Sam hits rock bottom, consoling herself with button-popping chocolate binges and terrifying spending sprees.

Sam is going to have to find her voice if she ever wants to be herself, fall in love, and follow her dreams.

Alas, the wedding date is set…

Love in Darkness by EM TippettsTitle: Love in Darkness

Author: EM Tippetts

Received: From EM Tippetts

Synopsis: Alex had everything when he was with Madison. But the darkness within him wouldn’t go away. After two years apart, he returns to Pelican Bluffs and to the girl he never wanted to leave. Madison wants to give their love another chance, but Alex can’t fight fate. He is what he is. Ruined. Crazy like his mother. And Madison deserves so much more. When his secrets spill out into their small town, Alex has a choice to make. Hide away in the darkness forever, or let love in.

May 26, 2013
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