Chick Lit Plus

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

Latest Youtube Videos

My December Birchbox Review

December was my second month to receive a Birchbox, and I’m having a blast with my new products. December’s box was filled with fun and practical items, and my reviews are below. If you haven’t signed up to receive your customized Birchbox yet, I suggest you do!

“Birchbox delivers the best products and the best insider secrets, without any fuss. Every month Birchbox members will receive a curated box of luxe beauty samples. Each box will span beauty categories and deliver exciting products that fit into both your day-to-day routine, and into those days when you want to turn up the drama a notch.”

1. AHAVA Mineral Body Lotion – This lotion smells so freaking good. It smells fresh and almost powdery, but not overwhelming. This has become one of my favorite lotions and I would definitely buy a full size bottle of it!
2. Amika Obliphica Hair Treatment – I was so excited when I saw this in my Birchbox. I’m always looking for new products to use on my hair, which is often super frizzy. And I’m thrilled with the results! I used just a drop of the oil after I got done blow drying my hair, and it didn’t weigh down my strands or make my hair look greasy. The frizz was decreased and my hair looked shiner. I recommend this product 100%!
3. EBOOST Orange Natural Energy Booster – I’ll be honest, I was a little hesitant to try this. I’m not a big fan of drinking my vitamins, but I wanted to give it a whirl so I could write a review. The verdict? It actually wasn’t bad! It was orangey and even a little fizzy with a sweet taste. The energy booster is packed with vitamins B, C, and D and has a dose of natural caffeine. It was nice to reach for during cold season!
4. Inococo Nail Polish Appliqué – I’ve been hearing about nail polish stickers lately, and was happy to give them a try and see if they worked for me. It was interesting to learn that these strips are actually thin layers of nail polish, and are better for nails because they contain less solvent and have small pores to let nails breath. And – they stay on for two weeks and come off with nail polish remover! I thought they were pretty simple to put on, of course my right hand gave me troubles since I’m right-handed, but I was impressed overall with them.
5. Jouer Moisturizing Lip Gloss – Last month I received the Jouer Moisturizing Lip Enhancer, and it was my favorite product in the box. It was hard for me to really rate this item, because the color I received was way too pink for me. What I did was put on the Jouer Lip Enhancer, then lightly applied the Lip Gloss and blended them together. I actually really like the combination!
6. Showstoppers Designer Fashion Tape- I haven’t had an opportunity yet to use the double-sided tape, but I’m glad that I have it my drawer ready to go! You never know when it will come in handy. This tape comes in nude or black, and will stick to a variety of fabrics. Great to have when you need it!

In My Mailbox: Week of January 8

In My Mailbox: Week of January 8

Title: Chasing Rainbows
Author: Kathleen Long
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Bernadette Murphy likes her life. Really, she does. What’s wrong with carrying around an extra ten pounds from fertility treatments? Or having your dog kicked out of obedience school? Again? What’s that saying about the devil you know? For Bernie, it’s the devil she never expected that changes everything.

Her father’s sudden death leaves a gaping void in her life and is one in a series of events that rock her world. Her husband leaves for another woman, and her best friend announces an unplanned pregnancy at the age of forty-one. Bernie’s behavior goes from acting out to out-of-hand, and she finds herself in trouble at home, out of work and banned from the mall after a confrontation at the cosmetic counter.

When her mother discovers her father’s book of cryptograms, Bernie realizes his encoded lessons in living might be exactly what she needs to survive. From dealing with her family’s grief and bonding with her best friend’s thirteen-year-old daughter, to dieting, dating and mindless almost-sex with the landscaper, Bernie discovers what her father always knew.

In life, you either choose to sing a rainbow, or you don’t.

For Bernie, the singing is about to begin.

Title: Forged in Fire
Author: Trish McCallan
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Beth Brown doesn’t believe in premonitions until she dreams a sexy stranger is gunned down during the brutal hijacking of a commercial airliner. When events in her dream start coming true, she heads to the flight’s departure gate. To her shock, she recognizes the man she’d watched die the night before.

Lieutenant Commander Zane Winters comes from a bloodline of elite warriors with psychic abilities. When Zane and two of his platoon buddies arrive at Sea-Tac Airport, he has a vision of his teammates’ corpses. Then she arrives—a leggy blonde who sets off a different kind of alarm.

As Beth teams up with Zane, they discover the hijacking is the first step in a secret cartel’s deadly global agenda and that key personnel within the FBI are compromised. To survive the forces mobilizing against them, Beth will need to open herself to a psychic connection with the sexy SEAL who claims to be her soul mate.

Title: Favorable Conditions
Author: Kathleen Kole
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Can you imagine being forty-five, your last child has moved on to college and the time is ripe for you to blaze a new trail into your future? Pat Keegan can. Well, except for the tiny detail that all her preconceived notions about how that future was going to shape up are completely out the window. Pat was under the impression that once her child rearing years were complete she and her husband would walk hand in hand toward a rose colored future. Fat chance. Before their daughter had even been accepted by a College, he was blathering about needing space to rediscover himself and made quick strides to the nearest exit. Suddenly, Pat is divorced, rattling around her large house and asking the empty rooms, “What now?” She knows she has to carve out new dreams – after all, forty-five is a far cry from the end of the line – But how? Join Pat as she jumps feet first back into the world outside her door, takes on a new business venture, is pursued by a much younger man and has to muddle her way through more emotions that she knew she had – all to finally attain her goal of rediscovering who she is and what she wants from the next phase of her life.

Title: Idol Hands
Author: Cynthia Hill
Received: From Cynthia Hill
Synopsis: Tara can pinpoint the moment when everything in her life changed: it was when she fell in love with Aidan Forrest – who just happened to be a part of the biggest boy band in the world, Idol Hands. She spent two years as his “secret girlfriend,” hiding from the media to protect his career, until he broke up with her, breaking her heart, and leaving behind a secret that Tara has never shared. Fourteen years after their breakup, she’s in a bad marriage, and a dead-end job. When she sees a television documentary in which Aidan confesses that he still loves her, she makes a life-changing decision: she leaves her husband to go and find Aidan. With no real plan of attack it’s not going to be easy, but Tara knows that she can’t give up.

Beyonce Welcomes Baby Girl

Finally! After rumors and speculation that Beyonce had given birth, it has finally been confirmed that her baby was born on Saturday in New York.…

In My Mailbox: Week of January 1

In My Mailbox: Week of January 1

Title: Ros
Author: Dee DeTarsio
Received: From Dee DeTarsio
Synopsis: To Marian Keyes – and to the Marian Keyes in every woman – that smart, funny, sad, put-upon, brave part of your soul that makes this world a brighter place. Dee DeTarsio’s literary talents shine with tenderness and humor as she once again takes readers into the heart of women’s lives in an unforgettable tale. Filled with friendship, love, loss, betrayal and out-of-this-world challenges that force her characters to find their place in the universe, Ros gives us the hopefully-ever-after we’re all searching for. When a plane crashed behind Micki Cramer’s house, in San Diego, California, she kept waiting for the sirens and rescue team to show up. As the first responder, it was up to her to tug on the arm that was waving out of the broken wreckage. Holding her breath against the choking smoke, she managed to get the pilot out and carry him to safety into her backyard. He wasn’t that heavy; he was about the size of her 10-year-old nephew, who did play a lot of video games and ate nothing but Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, but still. As it turns out, he wasn’t a guy after all. Ros, the pilot, was on a mission to find her missing brother who had crash-landed at Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. Seems she was a bad driver, too, missing her target by nearly a thousand miles and more than half a century. If Ros can teach Micki how to use eleven percent of her brain, how can Micki help Ros?

Title: A Perfect Storm
Author: Lori Foster
Received: From Kate @ Media Muscle
Synopsis: Two strangers risk their lives for retribution in New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Lori Foster’s intense, edgy and scorching A PERFECT STORM. Spencer Lark and Arizona Storm are thrown together as partners in revenge for the fourth and final book of the Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor series. Following in the footsteps of WHEN YOU DARE, TRACE OF FEVER and SAVOR THE DANGER, A PERFECT STORM features the smoldering mercenaries who will do anything to protect the innocent–especially when those innocent are the women they love.
Spencer Lark already knows too many secrets about Arizona Storm, including her kidnapping by human traffickers, her harrowing escape and the painful memories she carries from her past. In order to expose a despicable ring of human traffickers—and continue his mission of revenge for his wife’s death—the bounty hunter reluctantly agrees to partner with Arizona on her latest operation. He quickly realizes no amount of training has equipped him to handle her hypnotic blend of fragility and bravery, or for the protective instincts she stirs in him.

Arizona has made it her mission to use herself as bait in an attempt to bring down trafficking rings. It’s a dangerous game for an amateur, even more so with a professional partner as distracting and appealing as Spencer. But as their plan—and their chemistry—shift into high gear, Arizona discovers there’s an even greater risk in surrendering her heart to a hero….

Title: Daughters-in-Law
Author: Joanna Trollope
Received: From Transworld Books – Unsolicited
Synopsis: As Anthony and Rachel Brinkley welcome their third daughter-in-law to the family, they don’t quite realize the profound shift that is about to take place. For different reasons, the Brinkleys’ two previous daughters-in-law hadn’t been able to resist Rachel’s maternal control and Anthony’s gentle charm and had settled into their husbands’ family without rocking the boat. But Charlotte—very young, very beautiful, and spoiled—has no intention of falling into step with the Brinkleys and wants to establish her own household. Soon Rachel’s sons begin to think of their own houses as home and of their mother’s house as simply the place where their parents live—a necessary and inevitable shift of loyalties that threatens Rachel’s sense of herself, breaks Anthony’s heart, and causes unexpected consequences in all the marriages. Then a crisis brings these changes to the surface, and everyone has to learn what family love means all over again.

SheKnows Book Lounge

I am so excited to finally announce the launch of the new SheKnows Book Lounge! I was asked last year by superstar Crystal Patriarche to…

Russel Brand Files for Divorce from Katy Perry

I was really hoping all the reports on this one was wrong, but turns out another Hollywood couple is heading for splits-ville. People.com has reported…

In My Mailbox: Week of December 25

In My Mailbox: Week of December 25

Title: She Tells All
Author: Judah Lee Davis
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Her magic stilettos ensure that she will get lucky tonight, while her big mouth ensures she will stay in trouble. This sleepy little southern town just isn’t big enough for the adventures of mischievous Madison Miller. But when tragedy strikes, she is forced to learn important lessons about life, love and why she should NEVER sleep with strangers.

Title: The Baby Trap
Author: Sibel Hodge
Received: From Sibel Hodge
Synopsis: Based on her own experiences with infertility and two attempts at IVF, Sibel Hodge’s latest novel The Baby Trap will have you laughing and crying at the ups and downs of modern baby-making…

When Gina turns thirty-three her body clock unexpectedly begins clanging in her ear with annoying persistence. The only problem is, having a baby isn’t as easy as she thought. Whether she’s feng shui-ing the house to death with fertility symbols, throwing out her husband’s tight boxers in favour of baggies, swapping wine and chocolate for green tea and yams, popping fertility drugs like M&M’s, or having sex so precision-timed it makes international warfare manoeuvres look unorganized, her life is turned upside down. And when nothing seems to be working, her quest for the B-word turns into an obsession.

Can Gina stay sane, get pregnant, and keep her marriage together? Or will her baby trail become a baby trap?

Title: The Look of Love
Author: Judy Astley
Received: Unsolicited
Synopsis: Bella has given up on men. Happily divorced, her latest boyfriend just omitted to tell her about his current wife, so she’s back on her own again. Then her ex-husband turns up, wanting to sell the family home in which she and their two teenage children are well settled. But all their lives are changed when a television company rents the house for a reality TV fashion makeover programme.
Against her better judgment Bella finds herself taking part in the programme, and while she learns a little bit too much about what really goes on behind the scenes, she also discovers that love can appear in the most unexpected places….

2011 Thankful for the Holiday Blog Hop

I am doing something new to this year and participating in the 2011 Thankful for the Holidays Blog Hop! This is being hosted by Romancing…