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Stuck in Downward Dog by Chantel Simmons
Chick Lit Review

Stuck in Downward Dog by Chantel Simmons

Mara Brennan needs to get her life together. She has been dumped by her live in boyfriend, who moved out of their tiny basement apartment and took everything with him, including her bed and her self-confidence. She is working at a dead-end job as a receptionist at a cosmetic clinic, and her overbearing sister has taken up residence with her to try to cheer her up after the break-up. Meanwhile, her best friends, Olivia and Mitz, are living the perfect lives with their boyfriends and husbands and dazzling careers. Mara can’t help but feel she is missing out on being able to host her own dinner parties, get a fabulous career, and perfecting her yoga poses.
Mara makes her OM List (Olivia and Mitz List) to try to become a better person and more like her friends. While trying to check off the items such as hosting the best dinner party and becoming a fabulous chef, Mara realizes a few important details. She has a tiny apartment not suitable for hosting parties, and she hates cooking. She also realizes that Olivia and Mitz’s lives may not be so fabulous after all, once cracks begin to show between the three friends. Through it all, she finds a supportive a family that thinks incredibly highly of her, and figures out how she can help her perfect sister through a personal crisis.
Stuck in Downward Dog, the debut novel from Chantel Simmons was an excellent story of trying to find oneself. The challenges that Mara was facing are completely relatable, and the humorous journey of her identity makeover made me laugh throughout. I do have say the beginning started off a bit slow; the plot didn’t start to excite me until about half way in, but once it hit that point I couldn’t put it down! One aspect I really enjoyed about the novel is that it didn’t end with the heroine finding herself by getting a boyfriend. I thought that was really inspiring and even more motivating to readers, sending a message that women can be powerful with their careers and selves without being married. A favorite book of mine and a define recommendation to all.

February 12, 2010
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Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
Chick Lit Review

Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

Lara is having a problem: she is being haunted by her 105 year old great-aunt’s ghost. Sadie, who was a daring flapper back in her time of the Roaring 20’s, keeps appearing alongside Lara, but as a younger version of her deceased self. She has some unfinished business and needs Lara to help her find her necklace before she can pass on. At first Lara is frustrated and fed up with trying to help Sadie, who is making her wear ridiculous flapper clothes and makeup and go on dates with boring men just so Sadie can feel “alive” again through the only person that can see her. But as time goes on, Lara realizes how much she and Sadie have in common, and strangely, how Sadie can help with her floundering love life and equally dismal career as a headhunter.
Twenties Girl from Sophie Kinsella was a favorite of mine- which shocked me. Though I am a huge fan of Kinsella I was thinking this novel sounded too out there for me. A ghost haunting her great-niece? But I was proved wrong, and could not put it down! The novel was engaging, humorous, inspirational, and even had a few fun twists thrown in as well. I honestly think Kinsella is one of the few authors that could have pulled this plot off, and she did it with a comedic twist and a bit of mystery throw in. A must read!

February 10, 2010
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Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster
Chick Lit Review

Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster

Such a Pretty Fat from hilarious author Jen Lancaster will keep you laughing throughout. Lancaster pens her journey to try to lose those extra fifty pounds, get healthier, and maybe stop getting called a “fat bitch.” Bitch she can handle, but maybe it wouldn’t kill her to hit the gym, work up a sweat….
Or maybe it will. She joins Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers, starts using her gym membership and hires a personal trainer. So while eating tiny portions of cardboard food and being worked to her workout death, Lancaster gets the idea to track her journey and turn her experiences into her next novel. The money from getting published is the best motivation to keep her going back to Barbie, her perky personal trainer that pushes her to the extreme each time she steps foot in the gym.
After realizing that paying attention to her diet and exercising is actually helping her lose weight, Lancaster becomes more motivated to keep it up, and Such a Pretty Fat turns out not to be only a hilarious memoir of one’s struggles with body image, health, and weight loss, but an inspiration as well. A must read on the chick lit lists.

January 24, 2010
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The Chocolate Lovers’ Club by Carole Matthews
Chick Lit Review

The Chocolate Lovers’ Club by Carole Matthews

Lucy Lombard and her three friends are addicted. To chocolate. The foursome often meet up at their safe place, Chocolate Heaven, to divulge in chocolate and digest each other’s problems. Lucy has found her boyfriend cheating on her yet again, and has to decide if she can give him a second chance- for the fifth time. Nadia, who gave up her career to be a stay at home mom, is struggling with her husband’s own addiction- the much more dangerous addiction to gambling. She is watching their money dwindle down to nothing, and has to make the decision to stay with her husband or take their son and leave. Chantal is struggling through her marriage; even though the money that came with her husband is fabulous and keeps her bejeweled can’t make up for the complete lack of any sex life. She often enters into extramarital affairs, until one man steals $30,000 worth of her jewelry and an escort she was hiring turns out to be otherwise involved- with another friend. And do-gooder Autumn is having her peaceful life broken up by her drug abusing brother moving in with her.
The Chocolate Lovers’ Club by Carole Matthews focuses on these four friends and the challenges they are facing in their lives. The usual Matthews humor is there, but I could also find a serious tone underneath all the chocolate talk. The plot centers around the friends and their addiction to chocolate, but if you look deeper, each friend is struggling through other addictions- Lucy’s addiction to a cheating boyfriend, Nadia’s husband’s gambling addiction, Chantal’s addiction to sex, and Autumn’s brother with a drug addiction. The Chocolate Lovers’ Club is a favorite of mine simply because of a well designed plot, enough humor to keep me laughing, yet enough real life drama’s to let me really take something away from the women’s stories.

January 19, 2010
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Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner
Chick Lit Review

Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner

Certain Girls, the sequel from Jennifer Weiner’s Good In Bed, gives readers another glance at the complicated life of Cannie Shapiro. Cannie is struggling with her daughter Joy, who is about to turn 13 and become a women with her bat mitzvah. Joy has other ideas about how her bat mitzvah should go, including a mature dress and more exciting theme than The Sound of Music, but Cannie can’t get past her over-protection. Joy was born prematurely, and that caused her to have to wear hearing aids in both ears. Because of this and her own hard childhood, Cannie becomes an overbearing mother and causes Joy to rebel.
Matters only get worse when Joy suddenly becomes fascinated with building a deeper relationship with her biological father, the elusive Bruce, and her maternal grandfather, the man that Cannie despises. On top of everything else, her physician husband, Peter, has decided he wants to try to have baby, which would require a surrogate mother, and her writing career could be on the verge of ending.
Certain Girls is written from two different perspectives- both Cannie’s and Joy’s. It was hilarious to see the different viewpoints from mother and daughter, and made my connection to the book so much more. This was a heartfelt story that took me on a verge of emotions- from laughing out loud to shedding a few tears. Weiner’s writing style is unique and beautiful, and her novels are a must for all chick lit fans.

January 16, 2010
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Table Manners by Mia King
Chick Lit Review

Table Manners by Mia King

Table Manners, the follow up novel from Mia King’s Good Things, introduces Deidre McIntosh back into reader’s lives. Everything seems to be going so smoothly for our heroine: she has her own line of pastries with a fabulous company and secured the perfect boyfriend, Kevin Johnson, one of the most eligible bachelors in all of Seattle. Deidre’s perfect world suddenly comes to a halt though when everything falls apart at once. The company she is working for isn’t letting her run with her creative ideas for her pastries, Kevin’s snarky sister Marsha seems out to get Deidre, and worse- Kevin’s sexy seductive ex-fiancé suddenly enters into the picture- with her eyes on Deidre’s man.
Mia King brings another fabulous and delectable novel to readers, who follow Deidre and her friends along their difficult journeys. Deidre’s best (gay) friend is soon to get married to his partner, but what they envision for their special day is difficult to achieve. And Deidre’s friend Lindsey from Jacob’s Pointe is thinking about selling the beloved Wishbone diner after suffering a heart attack and losing any positive outlook on life. During her time of crisis, Deidre finds that she has no one she can turn to. But like all good chick lit stories, readers will get that happy ending albeit a few unexpected bumps along the way. Table Manners left me hoping for a third novel from the truly gifted Mia King.

January 15, 2010
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Good Things by Mia King
Chick Lit Review

Good Things by Mia King

It doesn’t take long for the cookie to crumble. Forty year old Deidre McIntosh has found that out the hard way. After a successful five year run as the host of Seattle’s television show Live Simple, Deidre has found herself with no job, no income after her investments go bad, no roommate and now no place to live. Her best (and gay) friend of twenty plus years has moved on and moved out with his boyfriend, leaving her alone and broke.
Enter the gorgeous Kevin Johnson. After a couple of chance meetings leading to a one-night stand, Kevin offers Deidre his vacation house in the desolate country side of Jacob’s Point. Not having many other options, Deidre sells off her designer labels and packs up her few belongings to begin roughing it far from the city. After her horrendous first night in the rustic cabin, Deidre just doesn’t think Jacob’s Point is the best place for her. A visit to the local diner and making some unlikely friends and possible business opportunities changes her mind, and slowly Deidre begins to build her life back up.
Good Things, the debut novel from Mia King is a must read for all chick lit fans. Each chapter left me wondering what was next from the head-strong and stubborn heroine, which way the plot was going to twist next with interesting character relationships, and the delicious recipes at the end of the book were an added bonus. A fresh and engaging take on a chick lit storyline.

January 4, 2010
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With or Without You by Carole Matthews
Chick Lit Review

With or Without You by Carole Matthews

Lyssa Allen cannot believe it when her boyfriend, Jake, announces he is moving out. The two have been trying (unsuccessfully) to conceive a child with multiple IVF attempts, but Lyssa’s growing obsession with motherhood drives Jake into the bed of a colleague, the younger, athletic, more independent Neve. With her job going downhill, Lyssa decides she needs a major change in her life- and she is going to find it by trekking through the Himalayas. If ‘the other women’ Neve can do it, there is no reason Lyssa can’t. What does it matter that she hates the outdoors and can’t live without her blow-dryer?
Turns out, Lyssa takes to the Himalayas better than anyone could have expected. It doesn’t hurt that she quickly falls for the tour guide, the sexy American Dean. Dean was once a California man, but left the easy life behind to live permanently in Nepal. As the days go by, Lyssa realizes she is falling in love with this man, and the ways of her ‘old’ life seem so silly and mundane now. But can she really leave her family behind? Leave behind her career and all her friends?
With or Without You is one of my favorite novels from Carole Matthews. Following Lyssa’s story will make readers think, and all the curves that get thrown in along the way will keep you on your toes until the end. The supporting cast brings so much to the novel; with Lyssa’s sister (known as the “Rabbitt”) juggling six kids under the age of 30 and a mutual friend of Lyssa and Jake’s confessing his crush on Lyssa will keep the plot interesting throughout the way. A heartfelt ending to this compelling story is a definite winner.

December 21, 2009
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The Men I Didn’t Marry by Janice Kaplan & Lynn Schnurnberger
Chick Lit Review

The Men I Didn’t Marry by Janice Kaplan & Lynn …

Hallie has been dumped. And not just dumped. Her husband of 21 years has left her- for the younger, perkier, cellulite free Ashlee. With her husband gone and children off to college, Hallie wallows her pain away in massive amounts of Oreo’s at her empty house. But she needs to snap out of it and move on. She is a successful lawyer living in New York City with a fabulous best friend and a handful of kooky neighbors, and moving on is exactly what she is going to do. By visiting her past.
Hallie gets the idea to go looking for her ex-boyfriends; the men she didn’t marry. Maybe that can help her figure out how she chose Bill, her soon to be ex-husband who doesn’t seem to realize that you can’t just have a ‘second act’ with a younger woman when you are married. First up is Eric, a college boyfriend who has now become an extremely rich investment broker, but he seems more interested in himself, his money, and his Blackberry. Next is Barry, who Hallie met while backpacking across Europe. His experience turned out to be on the …quiet side, and a whole lot different than Hallie could have imagined. And finally, Kevin. Hallie travels to the beautiful island of Virgin Gorda to find her high school boyfriend, and thinks she may have found love again.
The Men I Didn’t Marry by Janice Kaplan and Lynn Schnurnberger is ferociously funny, a fabulous and witty tale that will keep your interest until the end. The main character’s motivation to keep her head up and not give up on happiness is inspiring and thought provoking for readers. And the flair of mystery- what exactly did happen to Hallie’s sister and who is the mysterious fourth ex-boyfriend- will keep you wrapped up until you can happily mark this must read novel as finished.

December 12, 2009
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