Chick Lit Plus by Samantha March

Chick Lit Plus

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

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Debut Authors and Titles- October 2011
Chick Lit Authors

Debut Authors and Titles- October 2011

Debut Author and Titles- October 2011

Title: Miracle on Regent Street
Author: Ali Harris
Available: October 13
Synopsis: Dreams can come true – it could happen to you…For the past two years, Evie Taylor has lived an invisible existence in London, a city she hoped would bring sparkle to her life. But all that is about to change. For winter has brought a flurry of snow and unexpected possibilities. Hidden away in the basement of Hardy’s – once London’s most elegant department store – Evie manages the stockroom of a shop whose glory days have long since passed. When Evie overhears that Hardy’s is at risk of being sold, she secretly hatches a plan. If she can reverse the store’s fortunes by December 26th – three weeks away – and transform it into a magical destination once again, she might just be able to save it. But she’s going to need every ounce of talent and determination she has. In fact, she’s going to need a miracle.

Title: The Camera Never Lies
Author: Tess Daly
Available: October 13
Synopsis: Britt Baxter is unaware of the effect she has on people. A big-hearted, no-nonsense northern girl, she naturally looks for the best in everyone she meets, but in her attempts to make it as model she finds she struggles against being pinned down on the casting couch by the most unlikely people…
So when a happy accident lands her a career as a presenter on breakfast television, it looks as if she has made it out of the modelling world of close-ups and cattle calls and into the big time – or at least daytime TV.
But scarcely has Britt had time to wonder at how far she has come, when backstage machinations propel her with ever increasing speed through a series of trapdoors and she soon realises that the drama backstage far eclipses anything that happens in front of the camera.
Tess Daly has written a fast-paced novel with perfect comic timing and as many twists and turns in the plot as her heroine has costume changes. With language that fizzes on the page, enough romance to make the Sex and the City girls blush and a cast of characters that includes American-smoothie heartthrob Hollywood reporter Josh Bailey, Rise and Shine’s co-hosts Cherry Smith – known for her tinkling laugh and penchant for toyboys – and lecherous family man Ken Chudleigh who always has a hand in the cake tin. The Camera Never Lies is both hilarious and hair-raising, a glamorous and revealing tale of love behind the scenes from the popular Strictly Come Dancing presenter.

Title: The Night Before Christmas
Author: Scarlett Bailey
Available: October 27
Synopsis: All Lydia’s ever wanted is a perfect Christmas…
So when her oldest friends invite her to spend the holidays with them, it seems like a dream come true. She’s been promised log fires, roasted chestnuts, her own weight in mince pies – all in a setting that looks like something out of a Christmas card.
But her winter wonderland is ruined when she finds herself snowed in with her current boyfriend, her old flame and a hunky stranger. Well, three (wise) men is traditional at this time of year…

September 17, 2011
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Novel Spotlight: The Winters in Bloom by Lisa Tucker
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Novel Spotlight: The Winters in Bloom by Lisa Tucker

In bestselling author Lisa Tucker’s latest, a family discovers that it’s only when the walls between the present and past crumble that the future can bloom.

Together for over a decade, Kyra and David Winter are happier than they ever thought they could be. They have a comfortable home, stable careers, and a young son, Michael, whom they love more than anything. Yet because of their complicated histories, Kyra and David have always feared that this domestic bliss couldn’t last – that the life they created was destined to be disrupted. And on one perfectly average summer day, it is: Michael disappears from his own backyard.

The only question is whose past has finally caught up with them: David feels sure that Michael was taken by his troubled ex-wife, while Kyra believes the kidnapper must be someone from her estranged family, someone she betrayed years ago.

As the Winters embark on a journey of time and memory to find Michael, they will be forced to admit these suspicions, revealing secrets about themselves they’ve always kept hidden. But they will also have a chance to discover that it’s not too late to have the family they’ve dreamed of; that even if the world is full of risks, as long as they have hope, the future can bloom.

Lyrical, wise, and witty, The Winters in Bloom is Lisa Tucker’s most optimistic work to date. This enchanting, life-affirming story will charm readers and leave them full of wonder at the stubborn strength of the human heart.
About Lisa: Lisa Tucker is the author of six novels: The Song Reader, Shout Down the Moon, Once Upon a Day, The Cure for Modern Life, The Promised World, and The Winters in Bloom. Her books have been published in twelve countries and selected for Borders Original Voices, Book of the Month Club, the Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club, People magazine Critic’s Choice, Redbook Book Club, Amazon Book of the Year, Barnes & Noble Reading Group program, Target “Breakout” Books, Books A Million Fiction Club, the American Library Association Popular Paperbacks, the Book Sense list and the Book Sense Reading Group Suggestions.

Lisa has been a guest on the CBS Early Show, the public radio program To the Best of Our Knowledge, the BBC, the Associated Press show Between the Lines, and the syndicated cable program Connie Martinson Talks Books. She has been featured in The Philadelphia Inquirer, St. Louis Post Dispatch, The Los Angeles Times, Albuquerque Journal, and Publishers Weekly, and in a variety of magazines and newspapers around the world.

About Lisa found on lisatucker.com

September 16, 2011
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Health Report: Tips on Calcium
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Health Report: Tips on Calcium

Who doesn’t get enough calcium? I will sheepishly raise my hand. I can’t tell you how many times my doctors have told me that I need more calcium in my diet. And no, the milk in my Froot Loops does not count. I have always taken their advice with a grain of salt, but as I’m getting older and more aware of my health choices, I realize that I need to consume more calcium. In May’s edition of Better Homes and Gardens, they had a full article on the importance of calcium for women. Did you know that women under fifty need 1,000 mg a day, older women need 1,200 mg. When reading that, I didn’t know exactly what my daily consumption was, but I could bet it wasn’t anywhere close. Reading through the article, I was pleased to see that BH&G offered five tips and tricks to hitting your mark.
1. Low-fat diary delivers more. This example was used: 8 ounces of whole-milk yogurt has about 274 mg of calcium, while an equal amount of low-fat yogurt has about 400 mg.

2. Don’t just reach for the milk. What do you think of right away when someone says you need calcium- milk. But this isn’t your only option. BH&G suggest dry roasted almonds, green leafy vegetables, canned salmon, and even sardines as alternatives.

3. Absorption depends on D. Vitamin D regulates calcium in the small intestine, so it is important that you are getting enough of this. Skin makes vitamin D in response to sunlight, but you can also get this vital vitamin through foods such as fortified milk or even sockeye salmon- or take a supplement.

4. Divide big doses. I learned something new with this tip- the body can’t handle too much calcium at once. BH&G says 500 mg or so at one time is enough. Something to keep in mind.

5. Dose and pill size aren’t synonymous. Be sure to check all labels thoroughly to know how much supplement is in each tablet. This goes for all pills and supplements.

I felt that I really took a lot away from this great article in Better Homes and Gardens. Not only did it reiterate the fact that calcium is much needed in the body, but the tips and advice that was given was easy to understand and better- easy to do. I’m happy to report that since reading the article, I have been drinking more milk (I’ve found I really enjoy milk with pasta dishes- who would have guessed?) started eating more yogurt, and even found out that I can tolerate spinach. Do you have tips of your own that you use to get enough calcium?

Research and facts retrieved from : Better Homes and Gardens, May 2011

September 13, 2011
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In My Mailbox: Week of September 11
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In My Mailbox: Week of September 11

In My Mailbox: Week of September 11

Title: Sophie’s Turn
Author: Nicky Wells
Received: From Nicky Wells
Synopsis: This honest, funny and sometimes bitter-sweet novel tells the story of one woman’s entanglement with a rock star.

Slapper. Slut. Adulteress. These are hardly words that Sophie Penhalligan would normally use to describe herself. And yet this is exactly how she is behaving, all things considered, even if she isn’t quite married to Tim yet. Aged nineteen, she travelled halfway across the country to honour an invitation by her favourite rock band, Tusk, to join them for the last gig of their tour. And now her past is coming to tempt her… How could Tim ever stand a chance against Dan, the charming, handsome lead-singer? How could she?

Sophie, now twenty-eight and a budding newspaper journalist, is happily embroiled in a relationship with Tim, her boyfriend of two years. Until recently, she was confident that Tim would eventually propose—probably as soon as he could get his act together. But just as Tim’s persistent inaction is beginning to cast a cloud over their relationship, Dan’s sudden reappearance turns Sophie’s world upside down. Thus unfolds a roller-coaster of events including an ill-fated trip to Paris with Tim, a night of unfulfilled romance with Dan, Sophie and Tim’s engagement party gate-crashed by Dan, and Sophie’s professional secondment to accompany Dan’s band on their revival tour—at Dan’s special request and very much against her will.

And then, one fine day in Paris, Sophie suddenly finds herself engaged to Dan while her erstwhile fiancé Tim is… well, doing whatever it is Tim does back in London. What is she to do now? Who wouldn’t give anything to meet their favourite star, let alone marry him?

Find out how Sophie gets into this impossible situation, and how she turns it around, in Sophie’s Turn, a modern romantic fairy tale.

Title: The Pub Across the Pub
Author: Mary Carter
Received: From Kensington Books
Synopsis: When Carlene Rivers wins a raffle at an Ohio fair, her prize is a pub in Ireland. There she finally has the freedom to find her own voice. And in her flirtation with the pub’s charming former owner, she may learn to trust her heart—and luck—for the first time.

Title: Eat Pray Love
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Received: From a friend
Synopsis: Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned thirty, she went through an early- onslaught midlife crisis. She had everything an educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want-a husband, a house, a successful career. But instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief, and confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love, and the eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be.
To recover from all this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, and undertook a yearlong journey around the world-all alone. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year. Her aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well. In Rome, she studied the art of pleasure, learning to speak Italian and gaining the twenty-three happiest pounds of her life. India was for the art of devotion, and with the help of a native guru and a surprisingly wise cowboy from Texas, she embarked on four uninterrupted months of spiritual exploration. In Bali, she studied the art of balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. She became the pupil of an elderly medicine man and also fell in love the best way-unexpectedly.
An intensely articulate and moving memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment and stop trying to live in imitation of society’s ideals. It is certain to touch anyone who has ever woken up to the unrelenting need for change.

Title: Devilishly Hot
Author: Kathy Love
Received: Unsolicited
Synopsis: Annie Lou Riddle had a plan: Move to New York City. Break into the fashion industry. Work her way to the top. Nowhere in that scenario did she expect to accidentally sell her soul in exchange for a job at Hot! Magazine. Oops. Demons, it seems, aren’t big on letting mortals off the hook. Now Annie is stuck working as assistant/personal slave to Finola White – diva extraordinaire, and glamorous she-devil. Whatever Finola wants, she gets, and she wants Annie to match her up with Nick Rossi, the gorgeous detective investigating shady doings at Hot! Frankly, Annie sees the appeal. Nick is effortlessly sexy, rugged, charming – and the one man Annie should definitely not be flirting with, or kissing, or…Oops. But some loves are too devilishly hot to resist…

September 11, 2011
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Beauty Review: Maybelline Define a Lash Mascara
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Beauty Review: Maybelline Define a Lash Mascara

A few months ago I purchased Maybelline’s Define a Line Eyeliner, and had awesome results with it. I was so pleased with the liner that I decided to try out the Define a Lash Mascara, hoping for the same luck. Unfortunately, the mascara didn’t quite live up to the hype I had in my head. While it’s not a bad mascara, I didn’t have to deal with any clumps or anything like that, it just didn’t give any sort of oomph. I bought the black, but it still barely tinted my lashes, and while maybe it lengthened them a little, it wasn’t a difference maker and seemed to wear off within a few hours. I started using this mascara on my light makeup days, when I just wanted a little something to coat my lashes. So if you are looking for a product to really give you length, this is not the one for you.
[Rating: 3]

September 10, 2011
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In My Mailbox: Week of September 4
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In My Mailbox: Week of September 4

In My Mailbox: Week of September 4th

Title: Live Out Loud
Author: Heather Wardell
Received: From Heather Wardell
Synopsis: Songwriter Amy wants to honor her late best friend by starting the support center for teenage girls they’d planned when they were just girls themselves. When her song becomes an internet sensation she sees how to get the money she needs, but soon realizes she adores her new pop star career. She must choose: create the center she needed herself as a teen or truly become Misty Will, pop princess.

Title: Dollars to Donuts
Author: Kathleen Kole
Received: From Kathleen Kole via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Take one newspaper columnist; move her from the anonymity of her home city to a sleepy, small town; add a dollop of nosey, suspicious and just plain odd neighbors; a dash of mystery in the form of a stained garbage can and a rodent and, finally, a large pinch of unsettling attraction to a virtual stranger and you’ll find yourself with a recipe that imitates April Patterson’s life.
Sound strange? It is.
April Patterson had no idea that when she decided to follow the path of family and love, she would find herself an unwitting player in an eyebrow raising cul-de-sac mystery, grasping for her privacy as she plays “Dodge the Neighbor” and being forced to examine her relationship motives … all before she had unpacked her last box!
Taking a deep breath, and a large bite into a comforting donut, April consoles herself with the knowledge that it will all work out. It always does … doesn’t it?

Title: A Slot Machine Ate My Midlife Crisis
Author: Irene Woodbury
Received: From Irene Woodbury via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: This darkly funny novel describes Wendy Sinclair’s spin-crazy life in Las Vegas after she impulsively decides to not return to Houston following a bizarre girls’ weekend in 2005.
The confused, unhappy 45-year-old newlywed soon rents a ramshackle apartment in a building filled with misfits; wallows in a blur of spas, malls and buffets, and, ultimately, becomes a designer of cocktail waitress uniforms and an Ann-Margret impersonator in a casino show with Elvis.
She also hangs with some pretty colorful characters. Paula’s her bold, brassy glamazon BFF who’s looser than a Casino Royale slot. Maxine’s her saucy former-Tropicana-showgirl boss. Paige and Serena are two twenty-something blackjack dealers she shops, gambles, and clubs up a storm with. Major crushes on a hunky pilot and sexy former rock star are also part of the mix.
And then there are the phone fights with Roger, Wendy’s workaholic husband waiting impatiently in Houston. Their clashes are louder and more raucous than a hot craps table at Caesar’s! Does she go back to him, or does her midlife crisis become a midlife makeover?

September 4, 2011
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Beauty Review: Biore Pore Minimizing Lightweight Moisturizer
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Beauty Review: Biore Pore Minimizing Lightweight Moisturizer

I have been trying out the Biore line, especially the pore minimizes, since that is a big problem that I have. When it came time to buy new moisturizer, I decided to try the Pore Minimizing Lightweight Moisturizer with SPF ($20). I really liked this product, it went on smoothly, smelled nice, and I think it did help control my large pores. The reason why I wouldn’t use it again is because it’s really not all that lightweight. After I would apply it, it would feel super heavy on my face, and I would have to wait 10-15 minutes before I even attempted to put on my makeup. But it worked well for days that I went makeup free, and could just throw some on and have the added bonus of a sunscreen built right in. Overall, good product, but not a favorite for me. It looks like this product is going to be discontinued anyways, so I’m glad I didn’t fall in love with. And I’ve been having pretty good luck with Biore, but they discontinue products so fast that I think I will try a new brand next. I would hate to get my heart set on something only to learn it’s no longer available!
[Rating: 3.5]

September 3, 2011
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Breast Cancer Awareness
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Breast Cancer Awareness

Breast cancer is a subject that is close to me, and each year I like to do something to bring awareness to the disease, which is the most common cancer among women in the US. This year, I knew I wanted to use my blog as some sort “platform,” but I wasn’t sure the best way to go about it. So, I’m doing this post to announce some of my ideas, and if anyone has any more, please suggest them! Or if anyone wants to team up together, holler at me! I’m open to any and all suggestions.
My first thought is tied with the Chick Lit Challenge that I host. For every review that is submitted for the challenge, I will donate $1 to the Susan G. Komen organization. Second, I will have a donation button up on Chick Lit Plus from early September to the end of October, and all donations that I receive will also go directly to the Susan G. Komen organization. These are two ideas that are pretty set in stone for me.
Another idea I was thinking about was doing some sort of contest, where women can submit articles to be published on Chick Lit Plus. The subjects could range from how breast cancer has affected you, to what you do to help find the cure. One story could be chosen each week and featured on CLP, and the ones who get chosen could win a prize- maybe a book?  If anyone wants to donate any sort of prizes to this, that would fantastic! Again, this is just an idea, not one I have decided on for sure, and I am hoping to get some feedback from all you lovelies that take the time to read my blog. If you have any other suggestions or comments, feel free to leave them below, or email me at Samantha@ChickLitPlus.com . Thanks everyone, hopefully this will be great and we can make it a yearly tradition!

September 1, 2011
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Alyssa Milano Welcomes Son
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Alyssa Milano Welcomes Son

And baby makes three! One of my favorite actresses and sports enthusiasts, Alyssa Milano, welcomed son Milo Thomas Bugliari on Wednesday morning. According to People.com, Milo was born at 9:27 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs., and was 19 inches long. This is the first child for Milano, 38, and husband Hollywood agent David Bugliari, who married in 2009.

August 31, 2011
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