Cover Reveal: Hard Hats and Doormats by Laura Chapman
CLP is excited to share the cover today for Hard Hats and Doormats by debut author Laura Chapman! Look for the book to be released by Marching…
In My Mailbox: Week of November 10
Title: Vegas to Varanasi
Author: Shelly Hickman
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Anna has never been the beautiful one; she’s always been the nice one. So when the gorgeous man sitting across the table at a wedding reception remembers her from high school—and quite fondly at that—she’s taken off guard. Formerly overweight and unpopular, Kiran has never forgotten Anna, the one person who was kind to him when no one else could be bothered, and Anna’s a bit flustered as she slowly comes to grips with his intense attraction for her. In what feels like a romantic dream come true, all-grown-up, hunky Kiran invites Anna on a trip to Varanasi. But her troubled, whack-a-do ex-boyfriend starts interfering, creating drama at every turn, which begs the question, “Can nice girls really finish first?”
Title: Last Christmas
Author: Talli Roland
Review: Talli Roland
Synopsis: For Lucy, the best Christmas present is forgetting the past.
Eager to banish the ghost of Christmas past – when her boyfriend dumped her on the streets of Paris – Lucy is determined to make this the best Christmas ever. She rallies friends and family for an epic celebration that just happens to fall on the same day as her ex’s festive wedding. Furious at how she’s been treated, Lucy can’t help relishing the party v wedding smackdown.
But when the wedding is threatened and only Lucy can help, can she find the spirit inside to save the day, or will this Christmas be even more disastrous than the last?
Title: Doubting Abbey
Author: Samantha Tonge
Received: Samantha Tonge
Synopsis: Swapping downstairs for upstairs… How hard can it be!? Look up the phrase ordinary girl and you’ll see a picture of me, Gemma Goodwin – I only look half-decent after applying the entire contents of my make-up bag, and my dating track-record includes a man who treated me to dinner…at a kebab shop. No joke! The only extraordinary thing about me is that I look EXACTLY like my BFF, Abbey Croxley. Oh, and that for reasons I can’t explain, I’ve agreed to swap identities and pretend be her to star in the TV show about her aristocratic family’s country estate, Million Dollar Mansion. So now it’s not just my tan I’m faking – it’s Kate Middleton style demure hemlines and lady-like manners too. And amongst the hundreds of fusty etiquette rules I’m trying to cram into my head, there are two I really must remember; 1) No-one can ever find out that I’m just Gemma, who’d be more at home in the servants quarters. And 2) There can be absolutely no flirting with Abbey’s dishy but buttoned-up cousin, Lord Edward. Aaargh, this is going to be harder than I thought…
Title: It Would Be Wrong to Steal My Sister’s Boyfriend (Wouldn’t It?)
Author: Sophie Ranald
Received: Sophie Ranald
Synopsis: You live together, laugh together, borrow her shoes and eyeliner – is there anything you can’t share with your sister?
Ellie’s younger sister Rose has it all. She’s beautiful, stylish and dates gorgeous, glamorous millionaires, while Ellie is quite happy watching TV on the sofa with her old mate Ben. But when Rose brings her new boyfriend home, it’s lust at first sight for Ellie. And although she knows it’s wrong, everything changes: she’ll do whatever it takes to get Oliver, even if it means abandoning her principles and turning a deaf ear to her friends. After all, would it be so wrong to take up running, put some highlights in her hair and make herself look a tiny, little bit more like Rose? But as Ellie follows in her sister’s stiletto-heeled footsteps, she realises that finding love could mean losing the most important thing in the world.
It Would Be Wrong to Steal My Sister’s Boyfriend… is a warm, witty whirlwind romance. If you’re a fan of Tracy Bloom, Pippa Wright and Mhairi McFarlane, you’ll love Sophie Ranald.
Title: The End
Author: Denise Moncrief
Received: Denise Moncried
Synopsis: Sometimes the end is only the beginning.
Almost a year after her husband dies, Ellie Marston opens the file for Tab’s last manuscript, a thriller so compelling it reads like a true story. His manuscript needs an ending, so Ellie writes the obvious conclusion. The same morning she types The End, her career as an assistant district attorney falls apart. Accused of throwing the high profile Patterson case, she resigns in disgrace. The only friend she has left in the criminal justice system is Det. Paul Santiago, a man she has worked closely with on numerous cases. While she was married to Tab, she squashed her growing feelings for Paul, determined to make her deteriorating marriage work, but circumstances after Tab’s death bring Ellie and Paul together.
Ellie’s paranoia increases as she becomes convinced Patterson is harassing her, certain that someone is searching her belongings for any hidden evidence she might have that would reopen his case. It becomes clear there was a conspiracy to release Patterson. She seeks help from her former co-worker, Presley Sinclair, but soon discovers Presley is deeply involved in the subsequent cover up. Worse yet, Tab’s affair with Presley drew him into the twisted conspiracy as well.
Together Paul and Ellie attempt to uncover the conspiracy in the District Attorney’s office, the set up that forced her to resign. The key to the mystery is hidden in the pages of Tab’s manuscript. Once Paul and Ellie come to the correct conclusion—Tab’s manuscript is a true story and Ellie’s added ending is the only logical outcome—Ellie attempts to reveal Patterson’s hidden partner in the District Attorney’s office, but the co-conspirator she uncovers is not whom she suspects. Danger swirls around her as she steps further and further into the conspirator’s trap.
Title: Wish Upon a Star
Author: Trisha Ashley
Received: LightBrigade PR
Synopsis: Cookery columnist and author Cally’s world is turned upside down when her baby daughter is born with serious heart problems. Her ex disappeared when she was pregnant, and Cally has spent much of the early years of daughter Stella’s life at the hospital. When Stella’s only hope is hugely expensive life-saving surgery in the States, Cally moves in with her mother in the rural village of Sticklepond, to save money for the operation.
The village rallies round and begins fund raising with a vengeance, including the laid back and rather handsome baker Jago, who is still trying to escape the clutches of his controlling ex-fiance. With everything that is going on, the last thing Cally wants to do is fall in love, but she is also tired of going it alone. In the run up to Christmas, the true spirit of the festive season begins to show.
A warmly told tale that takes Trisha Ashley fans back to Sticklepond, with colourful characters old and new.
Book Review: Facebook Jeanie by Addison Westlake
Reviewer: Samantha
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
It’s Bridget Jones meets Groundhog Day…
Ever wonder if you made the right choice? What if you could go back and find out?
31-year-old Clara is in a steady relationship—with Facebook. Every night after her depressing bureaucratic job (so much for saving the world), after coming home to her empty apartment Clara settles down with a pint of ice cream for some good, old-fashioned Facebook stalking. It’s her college boyfriend, The One Who Got Away. He now has a perfect marriage, perfect house, perfect life—everything she could have had if she hadn’t been so, so stupid.
But, wait. Jeanie from Facebook shows up at Clara’s job. There’s a new app they’re beta-testing and Clara’s perfect for it. That night she clicks on it and… nothing happens. But the next morning when Clara wakes up at noon, hung over, listening to her roommate blow-drying her hair and singing “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”, she realizes she’s back in college. With the chance to do it all over again.
Back in the world of frat parties, BFFs, and long-suffering, overlooked lab partners, join Clara as she discovers what it really means to hit the reset button on life. What could possibly go wrong? And, this time, can she get it right?
Review:
What a freaking hoot of a book! I loved this one from beginning to end. The modern element and comical factor of Facebook designing a time travel app had me laughing up a storm and talking to my friends about the crazy “what if?” factor. I loved watching Clara try to get it right, and some of the new lives she is thrust into are just plain hilarious. The ending worked out as it should, but of course I won’t tell you what that means to me 😉 Read this one to find out and for a good laugh!
5 stars
GoodReads
Author Interview: Beverley Eikli
Big thank you to The Reluctant Bride author Beverley Eikli for answering a few questions for CLP today! When did you know writing was for you? I…
Book Review: Is This Love? by Sue Moorcroft
Reviewer: Terry I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. This is such an amazing story about the true love that a…
Blog Tour Sign Up: Mounting the Whale by Colleen McCarty
The self-made and affluent Pierce family is hurled into a seamy kidnapping plot when they receive a text message from Janine—the most troubled of all the Pierce children.
Cartel got me, tell mom
The siblings, drowning in their own problems, are forced to focus on the task at hand: a half-cocked rescue mission that involves a borrowed yacht, a favor from a notorious drug kingpin, and a shocking reunion none of them expected.
When the family decides to sneak into Mexico, mother Cybil is forced to deal with a rival CEO whom she’s developed feelings for in secret. Her only son, Tom, is willing to risk bodily harm to save Janine while his other sisters, Carlyle and Valerie, suspect that the kidnapping is less than legitimate.
The long sea voyage tests the limits of the family’s already frail bonds. Dark secrets of infertility, drugs, gambling and extreme taxidermy begin to float to the surface. But nothing compares to what they begin to learn about their missing sister.
If they’re going to make it out alive, they must realize that they are fighting the same battles and facing life’s greatest challenges: love, loneliness, and the struggle to find a place in the world.
Amidst all the chaos, the Pierce family is brought face-to-face with the ugliness of Janine’s addictions, the truth about their mother’s fortune and the most terrifying question of all: Can you really save someone who doesn’t want to be saved?
On Tour: It Ain’t Easy Being Jazzy by Quanie …
Quanie will be on tour November 11-25 with her novel It Ain’t Easy Being Jazzy Jazzy secretly wants to get back together with her ex-boyfriend, Curtis,…
Book Review: The Vintage Teacup Club by Vanessa Greene
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
Three women’s lives are about to change because of a few delicate pieces of china…
When Jenny Davis comes across a beautiful vintage tea set at an outdoor market in the English countryside, she’s convinced it’s fate. A young bride on a budget, she has her heart set on a vintage tea-party theme for her wedding—and the gorgeous gold-rimmed china before her is perfect. There’s only one problem. Two other women have fallen in love with it, too. So they come up with a solution: They’ll share it.
They establish a sisterhood, sharing the ups and downs of their lives—from broken hearts and weddings, to family drama and career dreams. When a figure from Jenny’s past threatens to ruin her big day, Alison’s teenage daughter pushes her to the limit, and Maggie’s romantic life is thrown into turmoil, the members of the Vintage Teacup Club band together—proving their newfound friendship will last a lifetime.
Review:
I thought The Vintage Teacup Club was a charming novel, with unexpected friendships and lots of heart. I enjoyed following each woman’s story and what the teacups meant for them, and I really don’t think I preferred one woman over another. You know how sometimes when you get multiple POV’s and you tend to lean towards one, always eager to read her part? I had the same enthusiasm for Jenny, Maggie, and Alison, and that made the book a lot of fun to read and also quite quick. This story is a great women’s fiction read, with relationship talk, learning how to start over, and of course – a great tale of friendships.
4 stars
Future Tour: Vegas to Varanasi by Shelly Hickman
Shelly will be on tour January 13-27 with her romantic comedy novel Vegas to Varanasi Anna has never been the beautiful one; she’s always been the…
