Future Tour: Don’t Let Me Go by Catherine Ryan …
Catherine will be on tour September 3-24 with her women’s fiction novel Don’t Let Me Go Former Broadway dancer and current agoraphobic Billy Shine has…
Inner Circle by Evelyn Lozada
I’m a big fan of sports, reality shows, and novels. So when I was asked to review Inner Circle, the first novel in The Wives Association series written by Evelyn Lozada, I was obviously sold. Lozada is currently married to NFL star Chad Ochocinco, and her books (co-authored by Courtney Parker) are loosely based on her knowledge of what it is like to be an athlete’s wife. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this book, but as someone who constantly says she is in love with men such Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews and Donald Driver (GB fan- can you tell?) I was curious to get the inside scoop on the ladies with these men we see on TV.
Well, I’ll say this – after reading Inner Circle, I don’t think I would ever want to date an athlete. They do not come across attractive (in the non-physical sense at least) in any way. It’s hard for me to think of men such as Drew Brees or Tom Brady treating their wives this way, but a disturbing pattern was to be found. Now to the story – the main character is Eve Inez, wife of Chase Landon, the super-star wide receiver for the Los Angeles Leopard’s. Eve is insistent on keeping her independence, which means sticking with her job as a sports agent and not letting her just be Mrs. Chase Landon. When her BFF Amber finds out her husband had an affair and knocked up their chef, Eve decides to form The Wives Association. Wives of famous athletes will band together to protect each other, should their men ever try to leave them and cut off their swanky lifestyle they have grown accustomed to. While Eve pours herself into protecting her friends, she doesn’t realize that her own best friend has been keeping a secret from her – one that will threaten Eve’s own marriage and happiness.
Overall, I really did enjoy Inner Circle. I’ve been browsing through some reviews on Amazon, and there were many that disliked the book and were pretty vocal about it. I liked the behind the scenes look, even if it did make me a bit scared of athletes now. I thought the writing was good, a little slow and repetitive at times, but I thought it was juicy enough to make me okay with those lows. There was a bit too much “beating bitch’s asses” for my like, that got old really fast to me. But the ending really had me on my toes, and I sped through the last few chapters at lightning speed. I loved the cliff-hanger ending! It made me definitely interested in reading the second book. If you are a sports fan or know Lozada from reality TV, I think this one should be on your list. I will say there is a lot of what some are calling “hood language” and a handful of extremely explicit sex scenes sprinkled throughout. Looking forward to this series!
[Rating: 4]
Paula Takes a Risk by Randi M. Sherman
Randi M. Sherman is currently on tour with CLP Blog Tours and Paula Takes a Risk. MC Paula Tenenbaum is thirty-four, newly single and newly…
Malena Lott on Summer and Creativity
On Summer and Creativity
by Malena Lott
Each season has its strengths, gifts supplied not only to nature and mankind, but to our outlook on the world around us. Personally, I’m a spring/fall fangirl, but I relish the dark winter nights, curled up by a fire; and summer, with its longer days and sweaty evenings on the deck, watching fireflies flit in the creek as I marvel at the chorus of night sounds growing louder as the sun goes down and my beer bottle empties.
Summer is about imagination and play. It’s the season of vacations and laughter, sunburns and splashing. Summer feeds the creative soul like a ripe watermelon to thirsty children. Morning pages come faster this time of year, so much so I can barely get it all down fast enough. My mind says, “more, more” when I think I have no more time to give, but of course there’s more time because summer days seem endless so I return to the screen again when the shade blankets the table just so or I sit cross legged after dinner with a notebook in hand to scribble the ideas that won’t let me be.
Creative writing isn’t so much about process or productivity as it is about permission to begin and to return to the page. Something “more important” always beckons – a hungry family, dirty laundry, “real” work that pays the bills. But to the creative writer, nothing feel more real than putting words on the page, first releasing them and then revisiting them and forming them into something bigger than they once were, building sentence to paragraph to scene to chapter to story to end.
You gave life to something that began as a blinking cursor. You shared a person’s hurt and healed them. You left something indelible on the hearts and minds of the reader that will last beyond the season. You are a writer.
Create.
Malena Lott s the author of three novels, The Stork Reality, Dating da Vinci and Fixer Upper; two novellas, Life’s a Beach and The Last Resort, several published short stories, including July’s “The Pool Boy,” and also writes young adult under the pen name Lena Brown. Readers can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram under“malenalott” and she blogs about mojo and zen at malenalott.com.
Ship To Shore by Elizabeth Krall
Ship to Shore by Elizabeth Krall follows main characters Sally and Dermid, who meet on a ship while sailing across the Atlantic ocean. Sally is instantly drawn to Dermid and although they have a strong connection, their romance ends badly … and very quickly. But, there may still be hope for them as Sally accepts a job assignment on remote Scottish island nearby to where Dermid lives, although she insists that he isn’t the reason. But that quickly changes. Once Sally’s assignment is over, does she plan to stay in Scotland? Or will she return home?
Ship to Shore is a witty romance set against the North Atlantic as a backdrop, where two people must learn to trust their instincts and truly go for it in terms of love. At first they are both wary of truly committing to the other, but once they learn to trust their hearts, they are finally able to give in to one another. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I believe I finished it in a few days and thought about it while I wasn’t reading, constantly wondering what would happen to Sally and Dermid and if they would ever wind up together. Thankfully, the ending doesn’t disappoint (although it literally happens at the very last minute). I loved the scenic descriptions and you can tell that the author definitely did her research. All in all, a wonderful read and a great escape during the summer time.
[Rating: 4/4]
Blog Tour Sign Up: Down at the Golden Coin by …
Down at the Golden Coin is about unemployed airline pilot, Annie Mullard, who feels she has sunk to a new low during the Great Recession, when she’s forced to go to a run-down laundromat, the Golden Coin, after her washing machine breaks. But it’s here she meets a Messiah. Even though twenty-something, blue-haired Violet can read minds, send Annie into past lives and levitate Tide with Bleach Alternative, she isn’t anyone’s idea of a Messiah. But Violet is equipped with the wisdom, love and humor to help Annie find a way to a more authentic life, one in which Annie’s free to create her own reality and where money is not the key to happiness.
Future Tour: Living in Glass Houses by Zoe McNight
Zoe will be on tour October 15-29 with her women’s fiction novel Living in Glass Houses Sometimes even good people make bad decisions when it…
On Tour: A Year to Remember by Shelly Bell
Shelly will be on tour July 23-August 13 with her novel A Year to Remember When her younger brother marries on her twenty-ninth birthday, food…
Seventeen Ultimate Guide to Beauty by Ann Shoket & The Editors …
While I may not be seventeen anymore, that’s no excuse for me not to brush up on beauty lessons. I was excited when I was…
