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Book Review: The Wedding Dress Club by Lisa T Snow
Chick Lit Review

Book Review: The Wedding Dress Club by Lisa T Snow

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. 3 stars

I will admit this book took a couple of tries to read. The beginning was complex and confusing and I felt very overwhelmed with the many characters introduced right away…

After getting past that, there seemed to be more character introductions, which has thrown me again. I finally felt as if I had a control on all parties involved almost 1/2 of the way through the story…A very frustrating issue.

The story once it began is actually a fun one. It’s about several individuals from different walks of life that find themselves bonding over a love of pretty things…and when I say pretty things I say beautiful amazing wedding dresses. Because many of us have great memories of seeking out our wedding dress and finding that perfect one. These folks just take it a bit further, almost like an obsession and form a club. All of the member’s work together in an office, so perhaps it’s how they enjoy their down time. The club eventually turns into a fund raising idea and all of these once lonely people seem to bond and find friendship through their love of pretty things.

The story, once you actually get past all the introducing of characters and it gets moving is actually a fun story. I really enjoyed it and all the characters were fun.

January 10, 2014
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Book Review: Be Careful, It’s My Heart by Kait Nolan
Chick Lit Review

Book Review: Be Careful, It’s My Heart by Kait …

Reviewer: Kate I received a copy of Be Careful, It’s My Heart by Kait Nolan in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: The best things…

January 9, 2014
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Book Review: Sweet Expectations by Mary Ellen Taylor
Chick Lit Review

Book Review: Sweet Expectations by Mary Ellen Taylor

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
Summary:
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….
Review:
I read the first book in this series, Union Street Bakery, and thought it was marvelous! There was a good storyline and a bit of ghost aspect as well, and I read it quickly. Finally getting my hands on Sweet Expectations, I was looking forward to seeing how Daisy’s story continued to play out. Let me tell you – there is a quite a twist right at the beginning to really throw you for a loop! Once again we are introduced to a mystery that is hidden in the walls of the bakery, found when the sisters start to do renovations. I loved the sub-plot of that took Daisy on a search and find mission, and both sisters got a little more limelight in this one as well. The only thing I didn’t like as much was constantly being reminded that Daisy was abandoned by her mom and the fact that she really can’t seem to move past it. But other than that, really good book and I recommend the first one as well!
4.5 stars

January 8, 2014
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My Top Ten of 2013
Chick Lit Review

My Top Ten of 2013

And another year is in the books! 2013 was fabulous for me – bought a house, got married, got a puppy. Marching Ink published two novels, I finished my third (to be published in February), and went to BookBuzz Toronto – check out my author blog for that experience! Also on that blog are my goals for 2014. Instead of a resolution I thought of 10 goals I would like to achieve this year. I hope to be able to check them all off! I reviewed 189 novels in 2013 on Chick Lit Plus (crazy!) and while I think that number will go down this year because of the different projects I’m doing, I still hope to review around 100. I guess we’ll see…in 2015!

Here are my ten favorite reads of 2013. Enjoy my list and Happy New Year all!

Blogger Girl – Meredith Schorr
Hush Little Baby – Suzanne Redfearn
The Girl You Left Behind – JoJo Moyes
Everybody’s Got a Story – Heather Wardell
The Life List – Chrissy Anderson
How To Eat a Cupcake – Meg Donohue
Becoming Mrs. Walsh – Jessica Gordon
Zoey & The Moment of Zen – Cat Lavoie
Caramel and Magnolias – Tess Thompson
Hard Hats and Doormats – Laura Chapman

January 7, 2014
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Book Review: Sugar Spun Sister by Anna Garner
Chick Lit Review

Book Review: Sugar Spun Sister by Anna Garner

How do you help your best friend better her life when she’s stuck in a miserable copywrighting job (and a boss who hates her), a relationship that will never make it past “friends with benefits” (or so her boyfriend says), and who has the uncanny knack to make life’s situations tastefully yummy while developing amazing ice cream flavors in her kitchen? Well, Lindsay & Nora help and encourage Cricket Whittier to open her own ice cream shop.

Cricket has always wanted to open up her own shop one day, but the timing has never felt right for her. After a taste test run in the local park, Lindsay & Nora show Cricket that she DOES have what it would take to be a successful entrepreneur. Encouraging words, best friend support and all the heavy cream in the world doesn’t make it easy for Cricket to open her shop, but she soon finds out that hard work, determination and having dreams that are bigger than the nay-sayers (in addition to the encouragement, support and heavy cream) is exactly what she needs to be successful. After forming a partnership with her best friends, Cricket is celebrating the opening of her very own gourmet ice cream shop.

Sugar Spun Sister is the story of a young woman who follows her heart and makes her dreams come true. Filled with laughter and best friends, Anna Garner hit it again with a great story. She’s quickly becoming one of my favorite new authors. I can’t wait for the second book in this new series!

January 7, 2014
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CLP Blog Tours Book Review: Buried Leads by LynDee Walker
Chick Lit Review

CLP Blog Tours Book Review: Buried Leads by LynDee Walker

LynDee Walker is on tour now with CLP Blog Tours and Buried Leads
Summary:
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.
Review:
I hadn’t read the first book in this series, Front Page Fatality, but that did make me like this book any less! I’m a sucker for a good mystery book, and this was hooked me from the beginning. I loved the Mafia boss/love interest angle. But more than just the romance part, I thought Buried Leads was smartly written. There is murder and politics and corruption and Nichelle is right in the middle of it following the clues and trying to crack the case. I have Front Page Fatality on my to-read list simply because I know I will enjoy the story, and look forward to more from this series!
4 stars
*Anyone who leaves a comment on the tour page will be entered to win a $20 Amazon gift card! Anyone who purchases their copy of Buried Leads before January 13 and sends their receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com will get 5 bonus entries!*
Author Bio:
LynDee Walker grew up in the land of stifling heat and amazing food most people call Texas, and wanted to be Lois Lane from the time she could say the words “press conference.” An award-winning journalist, LynDee traded cops and deadlines for burp cloths and onesies when her oldest child was born. Writing the Headlines in High Heels mysteries gives her the best of both worlds.
LynDee is a member of Sisters in Crime and James River Writers. BURIED LEADS is the second novel in her Headlines in High Heels mystery series. Her debut, FRONT PAGE FATALITY, is an amazon and Barnes and Noble #1 bestseller. Nichelle Clarke’s next adventure, SMALL TOWN SPIN, will be on sale April 8, 2014.

LynDee adores her family, her readers, and enchiladas. She often works out tricky plot points while walking off the enchiladas. She lives in Richmond, Virginia, where she is working on her next novel.
Connect with LynDee!

Twitter: @LynDeeWalker
Facebook: LynDee Walker
Goodreads: LynDee Walker
Amazon author page: LynDee Walker

Buy the Books!

FRONT PAGE FATALITY: A Headlines in High Heels Mystery (Henery Press, available now)
BURIED LEADS: A Headlines in High Heels Mystery (Henery Press, available now)
HEARTACHE MOTEL: Three Interconnected Mystery Novellas (Henery Press, available now)
SMALL TOWN SPIN: A Headlines in High Heels Mystery (Henery Press, April 2014)
lyndee@lyndeewalker.com
Get a signed copy and support a wonderful independent bookshop: Fountain Bookstore

January 6, 2014
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Book Review: How To Survive Your Sisters by Ellie Campbell
Chick Lit Review

Book Review: How To Survive Your Sisters by Ellie Campbell

Reviewer: Allie I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.   The MacLeod sisters are four very different individuals who…

January 3, 2014
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Book Review: Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner
Chick Lit Review

Book Review: Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner

I received a copy of Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
An unexpected love story.

Jules Strauss is a Princeton senior with a full scholarship, acquaintances instead of friends, and a family she’s ashamed to invite to Parents’ Weekend. With the income she’ll receive from donating her “pedigree” eggs, she believes she can save her father from addiction.

Annie Barrow married her high school sweetheart and became the mother to two boys. After years of staying at home and struggling to support four people on her husband’s salary, she thinks she’s found a way to recover a sense of purpose and bring in some extra cash.

India Bishop, thirty-eight (really forty-three), has changed everything about herself: her name, her face, her past. In New York City, she falls for a wealthy older man, Marcus Croft, and decides a baby will ensure a happy ending. When her attempts at pregnancy fail, she turns to technology, and Annie and Jules, to help make her dreams come true.

But each of their plans is thrown into disarray when Marcus’ daughter Bettina, intent on protecting her father, becomes convinced that his new wife is not what she seems…

With startling tenderness and laugh-out-loud humor, Jennifer Weiner once again takes readers into the heart of women’s lives in an unforgettable, timely tale that interweaves themes of class and entitlement, surrogacy and donorship, the rights of a parent and the measure of motherhood.
Review:
Jennifer Weiner is a big favorite of mine (though that shouldn’t be a huge shock to anyone) and I always look forward to reading her books. I was especially interested in reading Then Came You, because I enjoy reading about books that deal with issues of surrogacy and parenting as of lately. This is a long book but touches on many different characters, each weaving a path that intersect with one another to create quite a compelling story. India’s character didn’t thrill me through most of the book, and I think Jules was my favorite, probably because she was the most relatable to me. This isn’t my favorite book by Weiner, but a good one that I would recommend.
4 stars

January 1, 2014
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Book Review: Shy Town Girls, Ivy by Katie Leimkuehler
Chick Lit Review

Book Review: Shy Town Girls, Ivy by Katie Leimkuehler

This is the second book in the Shy Town series and it focuses on Ivy. Ivy is a twenty-something girl-about-town, who is a rising star in the advertising industry. She lives with her best friend Ella, and another girl, Bobbie. A fourth girl, Meryl, rounds out their gang. Their world is based in Chicago and filled with work drama, fashion dilemmas and romantic entanglements. Ivy seems to find trouble wherever she turns. Despite knowing she shouldn’t mix work with pleasure, Ivy starts dating one of her clients. Matters get more complicated when she develops feelings for her best friend’s brother, Shane. Add some daddy issues to the mix, and the angst of being a quarter century old, and you’ve got yourself a story.
The beginning of the book was a struggle for me, which may be because I’m not a twenty something anymore. The Shy-Town girls’ day-to-day lives, work aside, seemed trivial to me. I initially found Ivy to be self-indulgent and arrogant (and proud of it). I was turned off by all the drinking and talking about random hook-ups (although I eventually learned this didn’t mean sleeping together). Obviously, my age was getting in the way of my connection with the characters. When the story focused on Ivy’s career I was more interested. When the author dropped a literary bombshell with letter from Ivy’s long-lost father I became seriously invested. As the story progressed, I was thrilled to see Ivy growing up. The character development was authentic and believable. I came full circle, caring for Ivy and appreciating her relationship with her friends. I even became a little nostalgic about my own twenties.
I also really enjoyed the romantic storyline that takes place in the book, although it’s really not the focus of the story. Ivy’s story is about work, friendship, family, love and growing into an adult. The writing is very good, especially the dialogue. The plot is fun and there’s a great teaser at the end of the book that definitely has me intrigued to read book three.

December 27, 2013
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