In My Mailbox: Week of June 1

Title: Dying Brand

Author: Wendy Tyson

Received: CLP Blog Tours

Synopsis: When image consultant Allison Campbell attends an award ceremony to honor a designer friend, she’s thrust into a murder investigation. Only this time, it’s personal.

A former boyfriend is dead, slain on the streets of Philadelphia. His widow claims he was meeting with Allison, yet Allison hadn’t spoken to him in years. Nothing about his death—or life—makes sense. When compromising photos from their past arrive at Allison’s office, they raise more questions than they answer.

Driven to find justice, Allison deconstructs the image her ex had created for himself, looking for clues about the man he’d become. As her hunt for the truth unveils secrets, Allison’s past and present collide—with deadly results.

Related subjects include: cozy mysteries, women sleuths, whodunit mysteries (whodunnit), murder mystery series, amateur sleuth books, mysteries and thrillers, suspense.

Title: NeverEnding Beginnings

Author: MaryChris Escobar

Received: CLP Blog Tours

Synopsis: This contemporary romance is Groundhog Day meets My Best Friend’s Wedding. Readers who like women’s fiction by Meg Cabot, Emily Giffin and Allison Winn Scotch will enjoy this romantic comedy.

Kate is alarmed to find out that her best friend Amy is getting married after dating for only six months. Her alarm turns to shock when she learns that the groom-to-be is Kate’s old college ex. As the big day approaches, Kate’s inability to hide her feelings is threatening to ruin her friendship with Amy.

Kate’s last minute, vodka-fueled wedding toast has her wishing she could turn back the clock and make things right. Imagine her surprise when she wakes up the next day and finds out she can.

Forced to relive one of the most painful weeks of her life, Kate slowly works to repair the damage she has done. In the process, she learns a lot about herself and the cynically charming best man, Ben.

 

Title: Any Way You Dream It

Author: Monique McDonell

Received: CLP Blog Tours

Synopsis: Sometimes when life throws you lemons, you create a fake fiancé. That’s exactly what Lucy does when her high school nemesis calls. She didn’t mean to lie. Really, she didn’t. But with nowhere to live and a car that has just decided to die on her, the thought of attending the reunion alone is one she can’t contemplate.
Cherie thinks arrogant, wealthy and way too handsome Chase is the answer to her friend’s dilemma and for reasons Lucy can’t fathom, Chase agrees. The man is too good to be true – he fixes her car, takes her to stay at his place – more castle than house – and seems to find her fascinating.
Life hasn’t been easy for Lucy and she has a hard time accepting anyone would believe Chase would be with her. Still, he turns out to be the perfect choice and in the month leading up to the reunion makeshimself an indispensable part of her life, which may be the biggest problem of all.
Lucy knows life is not a fairy tale – she’s living above her place of work, her sister has run off leaving her with three kids and, when the weekend reunion begins, she has to go back to a town where her greatest humiliations took place.
Will her ‘romance’ with Chase be turn out to be the answer to her dreams or will the whole sham turn into just another nightmare?

 

Title: Sweet Forgiveness

Author: Lori Nelson Spielman

Received: Penguin Group

Synopsis:
The Forgiveness Stones craze is sweeping the nation—instantly recognizable pouches of stones that come with a chain letter and two simple requests: to forgive, and then to seek forgiveness. But New Orleans’ favorite talk show host, Hannah Farr, isn’t biting. Intensely private and dating the city’s mayor, Hannah has kept her very own pouch of Forgiveness Stones hidden for two years—and her dark past concealed for nearly two decades. But when Fiona Knowles, creator of the Forgiveness Stones, appears on Hannah’s show, Hannah unwittingly reveals on air details of a decades-old falling out with her mother.

Spurned by her fans, doubted by her friends, and accused by her boyfriend of marring his political career, Hannah reluctantly embarks on a public journey of forgiveness. As events from her past become clearer, the truth she’s clung to since her teenage years has never felt murkier. Hannah must find the courage to right old wrongs, or risk losing her mother, and any glimmer of an authentic life, forever.

 

Title: The OMG Test

Author: Pippa Franks

Received: Pippa Franks

Synopsis: Like Jane Austen’s Emma, Olivia Daly can’t resist the urge to meddle, but her Bridget Jones touch means things usually go awry.

Shop manager Olivia’s well-intentioned interfering stems from a fear of change. When friends talk of leaving, she quakes in her stilettos (or sensible work shoes). These shoes must stay a step ahead to prevent this from happening.

Commitment is not at the top of Olivia’s ‘To Do List’. However, four friends with learning difficulties, dubbed ‘Olivia’s Misunderstood Gang’ (OMG), think otherwise. They devise a test for potential boyfriend/husband candidates. Olivia approves of the test, with the intention of using it to find ideal – and more importantly, – local matches for best friends Jasmine, Melissa and Sebastian.

When enigmatic shop-fitter Connor gate-crashes her life and heart, Olivia conscientiously puts him through The OMG Test, ‘for anyone who may be interested,’ refusing to admit how she feels.

As the test progresses, Connor passes each aspect with flying colours.Yet he does appear to be hiding something. But unless it’s a wife and kids, does it warrant a fail? After all, there’s no such thing as the perfect man…even women aren’t perfect all the time…

 

Title: Rock Star’s Girl

Author: Jennifer Farwell

Received: CLP Blog Tours

Synopsis: Emily Watts just wants a weekend break from the workaholic hours she’s taken on to keep her business—a popular fashion-snark website—up and running. What she gets is overnight celebrity and a career-killing media scandal.

While taking time out to attend a concert in support of friend Jesse Cinder, a struggling musician, Emily meets Cory Sampson, the lead singer of a chart-topping rock band. When she agrees to a date with Cory, making entertainment headlines is the last thing she expects. Even so, it’s a minor surprise by comparison to her discovery that in the music world, media notoriety trumps all. Tabloid allegations erupt when Cory and fame-hungry Jesse use Emily for personal gain, and her tarnished image spells disaster—personally and professionally. To save the website and writing career she’s made her life and dream, Emily must go from being a pawn in the Hollywood headline game to becoming the media mastermind.