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Planning to Live by Heather Wardell
Chick Lit Review

Planning to Live by Heather Wardell

I have been a big fan of Heather Wardell since her first book, and her latest novel cements my place as an admirer as both a reader and a writer. Planning to Live has a simple plot structure: Rhiannon, a thirty year old overweight perfectionist flees from her parent’s house on Christmas Day simply to avoid the temptations of food. But while driving on the icy roads, Rhiannon loses control of her car and slams into a tree. Trapped in her car, bleeding, and with no way to reach her phone to call for help, Rhiannon reflects on her life up until that moment. She thinks about her obsession with food, her relationship with her parents, the death of her first love. When hours go by and she is still not found, Rhiannon faces the reality that she may not get out of the accident alive. Her laptop is her last source of possible communication with her family and friends, and Rhiannon writes out her thoughts, hopes, and goals. While she thinks about her life, she realizes that it is the journey, not the destination that is so important. A motto for everyone to live by.
Even with a simple plot, girl stuck in car, this novel is powerful. While Rhiannon thinks about her life and the decisions she has made, I thought about my life and the decisions I had made. When Rhiannon realized it is the journey, not the destination, I thought of how true that statement is. And while the entire novel takes place in one night, with a few flashbacks along the way, I felt that I knew Rhiannon for years. I won’t give away the ending, and I won’t because I really want everyone to read this book. I know it will be just as rewarding for you as it was for me. Thank you Heather for another great read!
Rating: 4.5/5

January 10, 2011
3 Comments
Fourteen Days Later by Sibel Hodge
Chick Lit Review

Fourteen Days Later by Sibel Hodge

Helen Grey finds it easier to hide hermit-style after she finds out her boyfriend has been cheating on her. Rather than face the world and all the other cheating males out there, she hides inside and focuses on eating rather than diving into the dating pool. Her best friend, Ayshe, comes up with a fourteen day challenge to boost Helen’s confidence that Helen agrees to try, but doesn’t enjoy the activities such as speed dating and dog walking. All the while, Helen grows closer to Ayshe’s brother Kalem, but knows she can do nothing about her feelings. Kalem has a drop dead girlfriend in the picture, and Helen can’t risk her friendship with Ayshe over a boy. But as the challenge continues, Helen starts to notice changes in her life, and wonders if a fourteen days lifestyle challenge really could work.
Fourteen Days Later is the debut novel from author Sibel Hodge, and while I like the concept behind the story, I didn’t like the story a whole lot. Helen is your typical accident prone heroine, but with some crazy thing happening to her consistently throughout the fourteen days, it starts to become a bit unbelievable after awhile. And within the first chapter I figured out that Helen and Kalem would develop a “thing” but Helen didn’t figure it out until the last couple chapters, which made everything in between seem a bit pointless. The drama and buildup just wasn’t there. I felt the plot was too over the top yet slow at the same time. There were definitely some funny moments where I had to laugh out loud, but this is definitely not a favorite of mine. Perhaps Hodge’s second attempt, The Fashion Police, will fare better.
Rating: 2/5

January 5, 2011
2 Comments
Four Thousand Miles by Jesi Lea Ryan
Chick Lit Review

Four Thousand Miles by Jesi Lea Ryan

Natalie Spencer just had to get away. Losing her job was bad enough. Then her self-absorbed mother just informed her that she was pregnant- and the father is a former classmate’s of Natalie’s. And she found out her husband had been leading a double life and an affair under her nose for years. Yes, Natalie Spencer just had to get away. She takes the first flight out of Milwaukee that she can find and ends up in London- only to nearly get mugged in the Tube station. Gavin Ashby comes to Natalie’s rescue, thwarting the mugging attempt and offering her a place to recover at his home. Gavin provides a distraction to Natalie and the crumbling state of her life, and they form a special friendship. But when Natalie realizes she may be falling for Gavin, she doesn’t know if she can give up her life back in the States and stay in London with him. She must decide if she is willing to give love another chance, or if she should just get away.
I really liked Four Thousand Miles, the debut novel from Jesi Lea Ryan. Natalie was a terrific heroine, and I supported her when she boarded that plane to London. Her journey with Gavin was romantic yet tricky. I was never quite sure Natalie was going to realize what a great guy Gavin was, and the ending had me flipping frantically through the pages to see how the relationship turned out. I think one of the main reasons I connected so much with this novel is because it felt very real. Natalie was a real girl living in Milwaukee, struggling with her job and family, and did what I would probably have done- fled. Even the ending that had me guessing felt real, because it wasn’t just a nice and tidy little love story ending. There were real people with real problems going through the motions and figuring out their lives. And I love that! I think Jesi Lea Ryan did an outstanding job in Four Thousand Miles, and I hope she has more for us soon.
Rating: 4.5/5

January 1, 2011
4 Comments
Haunted Honeymoon by Marta Acosta
Chick Lit Review

Haunted Honeymoon by Marta Acosta

Marta Acosta wrote a terrific series that joins chick lit and vampires, the Casa Dracula series. The fourth and final installment, Haunted Honeymoon, gave a well deserved ending to heroine Milagro de los Santos. Readers first met Milagro when she was a simple human, but after meeting and falling for Oswald Grant, Milagro has blended seamlessly into the vampire world with vampiristic capabilities and being the only human to survive infection. After the engagement between Milagro and Oswald ends, Milagro begins dating the Dark Lord- Ian Ducharme- but catches him noshing on the blonde next door. Milagro finds vampire activist Wil and engages in a small affair with him, but Wil is murdered- and someone set up Milagro to take the blame. Wanted for possible murder and unable to solicit any help from Ian, Milagro must make some difficult decisions to keep herself- and the vampire clan- happy again.
Overall, I loved this Casa Dracula series. Milagro is the perfect heroine, feisty, funny, independent, but also a little misguided at times. The new romance between her and Ian was exciting to read about in Haunted Honeymoon¸ and there were just enough twists in the plot along the way to keep me guessing how the ending would work out. I think readers will appreciate how Acosta closes the series, and will make them a bit sad that we might not hear from our friend Milagro anymore. I would love to know what happens to her in the future!
Rating: 4.5/5
See my review for other books in this series:
Happy Hour At Casa Dracula- 4 stars
Midnight Brunch- 5 stars
The Bride of Casa Dracula- 4.5 stars

December 30, 2010
2 Comments
My Top 10 of 2010
Chick Lit Review

My Top 10 of 2010

Now that 2010 is almost officially over, I decided I just had to make a list of my favorite books of the year. As I looked at my Excel spreadsheet that listed the XXX titles that I read during the past year, I got a little overwhelmed at picking my Favorites. Luckily, I realized that I had made this task a bit easier on myself by adding a Favorites section on my blog. That helped narrow down my choices, but it was still difficult coming up with my Favorite 10 of 2010. Here are the books I chose (in no particular order).
Go Small or Go Home by Heather Wardell- 4.5 stars
A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff- 4 stars
Waxed by Robert Rave- 5 stars
Hook Line and Sink Him by Jackie Pilossoph- 4.5 stars
Good Things by Mia King- 4.5 stars
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella- 4.5 stars
Reunion by JL Penn- 5 stars
On Folly Beach by Karen White- 5 stars
Georgia’s Kitchen by Jenny Nelson- 5 stars
Life After Yes by Aidan Donnelley Rowley – 5 stars

December 29, 2010
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The Bride of Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta
Chick Lit Review

The Bride of Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta

Milagro de los Santos is in for challenge. Now engaged to the undead Oswald Grant, Milagro has the task of planning the vampire nuptials. She hits a wall when she wants to stand firm on some of her American traditions, and the vampire counsel doesn’t take kindly to her requests. They also want her to move out from the house she shares with Oswald, and she has to deal with her smarmy wedding planner from hell on top of that. Milagro starts to think someone is sabotaging her wedding after she is involved in a suspicious car accident, her wedding rings goes missing, and more wedding details go awry. Could it be her deceptive wedding planner? The vampire counsel? Or could someone else- or thing- be behind all the mayhem?
Marta Acosta keeps the funny going in the third novel from the Casa Dracula series. The ending through me for a surprise, but an enjoyable one, and I think chick lit fans will keep loving the world Acosta has built. The Grant family now seems like my own family, and I enjoy watching their lives grow alongside Milagro’s and Oswald’s. If you haven’t picked up the first Casa Dracula novel yet, I would highly recommend buying the whole series- you won’t regret it!
Rating: 4.5/5
See my review for other books in this series:
Happy Hour At Casa Dracula- 4 stars
Midnight Brunch- 5 stars

December 27, 2010
1 Comment
New Release: These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf
Chick Lit Review

New Release: These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf

Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Weight of Silence, follows her phenomenally successful debut novel with THESE THINGS HIDDEN (MIRA Books, February 2011, $15.95 U.S./$18.95 CAN.), an equally absorbing dramatic work. In THESE THINGS HIDDEN, Gudenkauf deftly tells the story of three families united by a chilling secret the night two babies are born.

The story begins with a girl named Allison Glenn being released from prison after spending five years there for an unconscionable murder. Without any contact from her parents or her sister, Allison is sent to a halfway house in her hometown. She is determined to reconnect with her sister Brynn and desperate to atone for involving her in what happened that fateful night. Brynn wants nothing to do with her sister and feels that it is she who is still imprisoned — forced to keep hidden the truth of what really happened.

As a precocious sixteen-year-old high school student, Allison seemed to have an ideal life in the town of Linden Falls, Iowa—perfect grades, sports achievements, beauty and popularity. But there were cracks under that flawless exterior. Her parents were relentlessly driving her to perfection and the pressure of meeting unrealistic expectations propelled her into the arms of Christopher Tullia, an unsavory college student who offered her an escape from the demands of her day-to-day existence.

That respite came at a high cost when Allison realized that she was pregnant. Desperate to preserve the illusion of her perfection and future she hid the pregnancy. That facade was shattered when Allison, suddenly in labor, convinced her loving and sensitive younger sister Brynn to help keep her secret.
When the truth is revealed the consequences are unimaginable and change the lives of the families involved forever.

THESE THINGS HIDDEN
Heather Gudenkauf
Mira Publisher
$15.95 U.S./$18.95 CAN.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7783-2879-7
352 Pages

HEATHER GUDENKAUF
Heather Gudenkauf is the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling novel The Weight of Silence. She lives in Iowa with her family. Heather is an advocate of Safe Haven laws that are enacted in most states to provide a safe place for parents or another person who has the parent’s permission to leave an infant at a hospital or health care facility without fear of arrest for abandonment. Visit her website at www.HeatherGudenkauf.com

December 21, 2010
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Midnight Brunch by Marta Acosta
Chick Lit Review

Midnight Brunch by Marta Acosta

Marta Acosta follows up her enjoyable Casa Dracula debut with Midnight Brunch¸ still following the life of heroine Milagro de los Santos. Milagro is the only known human to survive a vampire infection, making her quite popular in the vampire world. But Milagro has eyes only for the dashing Oswald, and now lives with him in the family estate. Milargo is upset when she learns she isn’t allowed to attend the naming ceremony for the new baby in the family, simply because she is not family. Already feeling left out at times around Oswald and his clan, this only angers Milargo further. When Oswald departs on a humanitarian trip, Milagro decides to follow a few leads to understand more about the vampires and their culture. She doesn’t expect to find herself in a desert spa, playing assistant to a celebrity actor, and having her life threatened by quirky vampires who are determined to take over the world.
I know a lot of people say that sequels never stack up to the original, but I loved Midnight Brunch- even more than Happy Hour at Casa Dracula! I knew Milagro and Oswald and their story, and I was happy to see that the action picked up with barely a stitch in time going by. It was like welcoming old friends. Milagro is the same sexy heroine, living on the dangerous side by choice this time, and I liked watching her and Oswald’s relationship grow. I would definitely recommend readers to the Casa Dracula series, even if you aren’t vampire or paranormal fans. I wasn’t, and hadn’t read a paranormal book before Happy Hour, and I’m sure glad I did! Acosta’s writing and the world she created are too good to pass up.
Rating: 5/5

December 20, 2010
1 Comment
Happy Hour at Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta
Chick Lit Review

Happy Hour at Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta

Happy Hour at Casa Dracula is book one in the feisty, fantasy, and romantic “vampire” series from Marta Acosta. Readers are introduced to Milagro de los Santos, the hip Latina who accidently gets infected by the ravishing Oswald. When Milagro suddenly gets the urges to eat raw meat and drink blood, Oswald whisks Milagro away to his family compound, and starts spilling the family secrets. Oswald and his family won’t claim themselves as vampires, instead insisting that they have a genetic condition- which makes them have urges to drink blood and can’t go in the sun. They fear Milagro has been infected after her encounter with Oswald, and that no human has survived infection. When Milagro appears to be able to fight off the infection, and grows increasingly attracted to the engaged Oswald, she must accept the vastly different life she will now lead.
I have never read vampires book, and don’t get much into paranormal reads, but when my pal Marta Acosta asked me to review her series, I couldn’t say no. And I’m glad I didn’t turn her down! Happy Hour isn’t a typical vampire novel filled with dark scenes and biting necks. Milagro is a hilarious protagonist, an independent chick who isn’t afraid to walk on the wild side and wear that skin tight leopard dress. The journey she takes readers on promises to be funny, entertaining, and will keep you flipping the pages. I love the world that Acosta has created, and look forward to more from the series!
Rating: 4/5

December 16, 2010
4 Comments