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Offbeat Love Stories and More by Jennifer Lafferty

Offbeat Love Stories and More by Jennifer Lafferty is a collection of short stories, often times centered around love. The pieces are very, very different in comparison to one another and there is no common theme or characters to string them together, but they are fun nonetheless. The plot of each story is unique in its own way, and the characters are believable and real, struggling with the same types of issues that most people do. My favorite tale by far was “The Prom Date,” which is a cute tale about young people coming to age and trying to figure it all out.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading Offbeat Love Stories and More, but I am glad that I gave it a shot. I am so used to having short stories weave together and eventually incorporate the same few characters or so, but Lafferty has done something very unique here with hers. I also really enjoyed that each of the stories are told from a completely different point of view (whether it be age, gender, race, etc). Overall, I would recommend this to anyone looking for something a little different. The material is fresh and original. Well done Jennifer!

[Rating: 4/5]

Kissing the Cotton Clouds by Michela O’Brien

Kissing the Cotton Clouds by Michaela O’Brien follows three friends: Livy, Seth and Aidan. The book follows the trio through twenty five years of life, starting when they were teenagers all the way deep into adulthood. Having gone through life and its successes, failures, heartaches, and great loves … they realize that life is rarely what you imagined, or what you hoped for at fifteen – and sometimes things don’t turn out quite like you think. As the author takes us through time, we witness how they each take on their own lives.

The novel is separated by year and I found the transition to be fairly easy to follow. Michela created characters that are well developed and you feel for each of them as they journey through life, but I felt that I was often times distracted from the main story by the backdrop of the issues of the times. While it definitely enhances the story and makes it feel more authentic, I felt like I never really got to know the characters because of it. My other major complaint is that I had a hard time relating to the language in the book because Michela uses a lot of British slang in the book, and although it feels very realistic, it is hard for an outsider like myself to understand. Other than that, the book as a whole was well written (besides these two minor points) and I enjoyed the book a fair amount. However, it did take me quite sometime to get through seeing as how I was often distracted by everything else going on instead of the story itself.

[Rating: 3/5]

My First 5K: Week Two

This past week has been week number two in my training schedule for the upcoming 5K I signed up for. The schedule is getting a…

Blog Tour Sign Up: Suburban Task Force by Addison Towne

Suburban Task Force is a light, humor filled, high octane, action-comedy. It follows Jade Lydell, who at thirty one finds herself living the surreal life of a married suburbanite. Her simple, and now materialistic days are busy with shopping, drinking and playing with couples that live the same high-end lifestyle.

It takes a home invasion scare and a co-workers brutal mugging to wake Jade from her suburban slumber. The adventure begins when she and her two best friends forgo an uplifting spa retreat for an intense tactical, gun and self defense weekend, all without their husbands’ knowledge.

Upon their return, feeling rejuvenated and proud, the women try to re-adapt to their suburban lifestyles. Not so easy when you have to attend a VIP party on Catalina Island with the who’s who of Hollywood and Politics. Without warning, the island is taken hostage by a rogue terrorist group. With the men and women separated, and all outside communication cut off, Jade and her friends feel their only hope is to use their combined talents and outlandish movie knowledge to outsmart their captors.

Comedy and daring action ensue as the three women, with one weekend of self defense training, try to lead an all out attack against those holding their loved ones hostage.

In My Mailbox: Week of June 24

In Samantha’s Mailbox:

Title: The Undiscovered Novelist

Author: Sarah Bridgeton

Received: Via CLP Blog Tours

Synopsis: Twenty-seven-year-old Jordyn Simmons has almost everything she’s ever wanted—a sexy live-in boyfriend, an adorable son, and a finished novel she plans to publish. The only two things missing from her life are a publisher for her book and a relationship with her estranged mother, Debra. As Jordyn pursues her novelist ambitions, her world collides with Debra’s, and both women are forced to make decisions that will change their lives forever.

Title: This Tangled Thing Called Love

Author: Marie Astor

Received: From Marie Astor

Synopsis: Claire Chatfield has everything a girl could possibly wish for: looks, a promising career, and an engagement ring from one of New York’s most eligible heir-bachelors! Life should be a dream and yet, it does not feel like one… When an enigmatic new neighbor, Alec Brunell, moves into an apartment above from Claire’s, Claire is surprised to find herself wondering whether the choices she has made in her life are worth following through.

In order to secure his place as his father’s successor, David Lawson must settle down with a wife befitting the future head of Lawson Enterprises – and who could fit the prerequisite better than lovely Claire Chatfield? There is just one glitch – David Lawson is in love with another woman.

Alec Brunell has never lacked for women’s attention, but he finds himself at a loss when faced with his downstairs neighbor, Claire Chatfield. Still, her iciness only adds fuel to his fire, as Alec is determined to change Claire’s view of him.

This Tangled Thing Called Love follows the story of four people searching for love – will they have the courage to find it?

Title: Dewitched

Author: EL Sarnoff

Received: Via CLP Blog Tours

Synopsis: After serving time for Snow White’s attempted murder, the Evil Queen is about to get a makeover. Just not the kind she expected. Thinking she’s being sent to a luxurious spa that will enable her to restore her beauty and recapture her title, Fairest of All, Jane Yvel instead finds herself at Faraway, a rehab center that caters to fairy-talelanders addicted to evil.

Upon confronting her love-hate relationship with her magic mirror, she is sent back to the world of happily-ever-after. Her goal: to discover the true meaning of beauty. Her assignment: to work for Marcella, a demanding Princess-In-Waiting. Jane finds herself irresistibly drawn to Marcella’s dashing fiancé, Prince Gallant, and his exquisite seven-year old daughter, Calla Rose. Will the Evil Queen who had no heart end up with a heart that’s broken?

Wickedly funny, darkly shocking, and deeply moving, DEWITCHED unravels the Snow White story as we know it and will make you see the evil legend in a new light as she rewrites her life.

Title: The Next Best Thing

Author: Jennifer Weiner

Received: From Emily @ Engelman & Co.

Synopsis: Actors aren’t the only ones trying to make it in Hollywood.…At twenty-three, Ruth Saunders left her childhood home in Massachusetts and headed west with her seventy-year-old grandma in tow, hoping to make it as a screenwriter. Six years later, she hits the jackpot when she gets The Call: the sitcom she wrote, The Next Best Thing, has gotten the green light, and Ruthie’s going to be the showrunner. But her dreams of Hollywood happiness are threatened by demanding actors, number-crunching executives, an unrequited crush on her boss, and her grandmother’s impending nuptials.

Set against the fascinating backdrop of Los Angeles show business culture, with an insider’s ear for writer’s room showdowns and an eye for bad backstage behavior and set politics, Jennifer Weiner’s new novel is a rollicking ride on the Hollywood roller coaster, a heartfelt story about what it’s like for a young woman to love, and lose, in the land where dreams come true.

In Sara’s Mailbox:

Title: Clean Break

Author: David Klein

Received: Lisa @ Booksparkspr

Synopsis: A riveting tale of psychological suspense about a woman who finds herself in an impossible situation. Lured by the hope of a better life for herself and her son, Celeste Vanek must deal with the emotional and physical resistance of her compulsive gambler husband when she asks for a divorce. Though she hopes she is on the verge of making a clean break, her husband demands his family back, and things get violent. Jake Atwood, who witnesses the shocking scene between Celeste and her husband, struggles with his own emotional and ethical issues while attempting to help Celeste escape her marriage. At the same time, Jake is involved with Sara, a married and childless police detective who has a private agenda to pursue when a crime is committed that links all of these characters together and changes their lives forever. With heart-pounding suspense and brilliant psychological insight, CLEAN BREAK will leave readers breathless.

Title: Great Aunt Sophia’s Lessons for Bombshells

Author: Lisa Cach

Received:

Synopsis: Grace Cavanaugh is hell-bent on proving her Women’s Studies dissertation thesis that beauty only leads to misery. And what better research subject than her great-aunt Sophia, a former B-movie star? Now eighty-five and facing surgery, Sophia has asked Grace for company. . . .

Grace imagines a helpless, lonely old woman, forced to turn to a great-niece she barely knows. Instead she finds the aging diva holding court in a Pebble Beach mansion, oozing a bombshell-itude—arthritis and wrinkles be damned—that captivates every male in sight. To Grace’s dismay, her greataunt decides a perfect distraction would be transforming the frumpy feminist into a femme fatale who purrs for her suitors . . . or devours them. She ordains classes in everything from carb cutting to lingerie, culminating in a challenging final exam. The newly svelte Grace must test her wiles—on both devilishly handsome and morally corrupt Declan and sensitive but painfully awkward Dr. Andrew.

Newly unleashed desires—and the discovery of a closely held family secret— threaten the bookworm-turned-babe’s entire feminist upbringing. Her thesis gone sadly awry, Grace wonders if her great-aunt is right: Will trusting her heart lead her to find beauty in the most unexpected places?

Future Tour: Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons by Denise Grover …

Denise will be on tour July 16-August 6 with her novel Twenty-Nine and a Half Reasons When Rose reports for Fenton County jury duty she…

Blog Tour Sign Up: Finding Lucas by Samantha Stroh Bailey

Samantha will be on tour in September with her chick lit novel Finding Lucas. Please use the sign up form below if you would like…

Guest Post by Lauren Clark

If you enjoy Dancing Naked in Dixie ….  Dancing Naked in Dixie, set in the real-life city of Eufaula, Alabama, is the story of magazine…

Between You and Me by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Between You and Me by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus follows Logan Wade and her somewhat normal existence … that is until she gets a call from her famous cousin Kelsey saying that she needs a new assistant. Usually, business between family members if a bad idea, but what happens when your family member happens to be a world renowned pop sensation and Fortune Magazine’s most powerful celebrity? Logan dives in when Kelsey makes her an offer that she can’t refuse, but their relationship is quickly but to the limits when tensions rise on tour and Logan has to be the middle man between Kelsey and her parents. Anxious for some normalcy, Kelsey tries to break away from it all, but she ends up making mistake after mistake. Kelsey continues to unravel in the public eye and it is only a matter of time until Logan must make a choice between saving herself, and saving her cousin.

When I was first contacted about reviewing Between You and Me, I instantly said yes. I’ve been a big fan of both authors for quite sometime now and was anxious to see their latest joint venture in paper back, and I was thoroughly impressed with this book. If you are a fan of Britney Spears (who isn’t right?!?), then you will really enjoy this book because it closesly mirrors her life the last couple of years as she fell from pop princess to absolute train wreck. The authors wrote Kelsey in a perfect comparison to Miss Britney and she plays the role perfectly. She is unpredictable and dying for attention, even though she vows that she wants nothing less. The book is fast paced, entertaining, and a perfect piece of fictional pop culture. I could definitely see Kelsey plastered on the front pages of our gossip magazines with some of the stunts that she pulls in the book. Overall, a perfect summer time read – a true escape and a wild ride.

[Rating: 5/5]