Blog Tour Sign Up: Write from the Heart by Heather …
Heather will be on tour in February/March with her novel Write from the Heart. Please note this will be an eBook tour only. Use the…
Chosen by Chandra Hoffman
This is a review for CLP Blog Tours. Chosen is the story of Chloe Pinter, a young social worker at a Portland adoption agency, who gives readers an inside look at a dark (and scary) side of domestic adoption. Chloe works to bring in birth mothers to the agency, connect them with loving families who would love to love a child, and make sure the adoption process goes smoothly. But when it comes to birth parents Penny and Jason, the situation is anything but smooth. Penny and Jason are a young couple that comes from the wrong side of the tracks, hopelessly poor, uneducated…and desperate. Francie and John McAdoo are waiting anxiously for Penny to give birth, and finally bring home the baby that Francie has waited so many years for. But Francie’s own world begins to fall apart as soon as she brings home the baby and finds her husband has a penchant for Singapore “prostitutes.” And finally there is the Nova’s, who have been through fertility treatments and failed adoptions, and are finally pregnant on their own. But when their baby is kidnapped, their entire world is turned upside. Chloe and all these characters are carefully intertwined and their daily lives, difficult decisions, and surprising outcomes will leave readers thinking and talking about this book much after they have finished reading.
Like I said with my last sentence, this book will get you talking. I can’t tell you how many times I have talked about the book, characters, scenarios, etc. since finishing. The writing is eloquent, the characters and situations gripping, and the plot had me absolutely hooked from the first page. It opened me up to a whole new world of adoption, and to be honest- kind of scared me. I learned a lot from Hoffman, who has worked for adoption agencies herself, and closed this book feeling more educated. I enjoyed getting into so many characters thought processes, and I loved the Anonymous sections. My only issues were that I felt the adoption agency where Chloe worked wasn’t very professional- and that included Chloe herself. So many mistakes were made that led to pivotal moments, and I would hope an agency I chose wouldn’t behave that way! Also, the ending was a little unsettling. If you like happy and tidy endings, this won’t be for you. Chloe’s decisions baffled me a little, but overall, I could understand where she was coming from and still really enjoyed her as a heroine. I’m glad I have been introduced to Hoffman, as Chosen is a solid debut and I look forward for more to come!
[Rating: 4]
In My Mailbox: Week of November 27
In My Mailbox: Week of November 27
Title: Princess of Park Avenue
Author: Daniella Brodsky
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Anyone can see Lorraine Machuchi is no ordinary Brooklyn girl. Anyone except for Lorraine, that is. She’s been too busy obsessing over Tommy Lupo to notice. Living day to day on his confusing midnight phone calls and big-haired memories of their relationship in the early nineties, she’s given up any opportunity of leaving Brooklyn. And though she never saw the home she loves as a failure, there’re a lot of folks she’s pissed off by staying put—her mother, her dead grandmother’s ghost, not to mention the old Italian ladies who shake their heads at her in the pork store. And what’s worse, the very guy she tossed everything away for just told her he’ll never wind up with her—a girl who’s not going anywhere.
…Okay, so you might disapprove of her motive—changing for a guy. But then you probably haven’t seen Tommy with three shirt buttons undone. Besides, when Lorraine crosses the bridge to Manhattan she begins to realize she’s got a lot to offer. She starts coloring hair at a swank salon where they actually appreciate a little talent, even if you have to bend some rules to use it. She gets a fabulous Park Avenue sublet, even if it does involve chasing around a dog/horse named Pooh-Pooh. She meets a guy who’s actually…perfect, even if she might be too hung up on Mr. Wrong to notice. She’s asked to become the newest member of the Princesses, an elite group of Park Avenue’s most powerful socialites, even if the reasoning behind it might be a little fishy. Sure, their $400 cashmere sweaters, charity balls for poor girls with small boobs, and ‘sexy’ yoga are a bit over-the-top, but a Brooklyn girl can learn a lot by discovering her own inner princess…
Title: Binding Arbitration
Author: Elizabeth Marx
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Libby pleads her case at the cleats of celebrity baseball player, Banford Aidan Palowski, the man who discarded her at college graduation, begging him to live up to his biological duty. Libby’s worked her backside bare for everything she’s attained, while Band-Aid has been indulged since he slid through the birth canal and landed in a pile of Gold Coast money. But helping her might jeopardize the only thing the jock worships: his baseball career.
If baseball imitates life, Aidan admits his appears to be silver-plated peanuts, until, an unexpected confrontation with the most spectacular prize that’s ever poured from a caramel corn box blindsides him. Libby reveals his son desperately needs him and it pricks open the wound he’s carried since he abandoned her.
All Libby wants is a little anonymous DNA, but Band-Aid has a magical umpire in his head who knows Libby’s a fateball right to the heart. When a six-year-old sage, and a hippy priestess step onto the field there’s more to settle between Libby and Aidan then heartache, redemption, and forgiveness.
Title: The Queen Gene
Author: Jennifer Coburn
Received: From Jennifer Coburn
Synopsis: If It s Not One Thing, It s Your Mother. “You are so lucky to have a mother like Anjoli.” — That s what all my friends say. But really, my friends weren t there when I was eight and my theatre-savvy, drama queen of a mother said she didn t want to take me to the Central Park Zoo because the animals didn t put on a good show. My mother is like a vapor: when she enters a room, she occupies every bit of space. Don t get me wrong — I adore my mom…from a distance. It s just, well, what can you say about a woman who takes her teacup Chihuahua to every new age healer in Manhattan, who has a living-beauty will so her eyebrows will still look great if she s in a coma, and who tells my cousin Kimmy that the sperm bank has too many rules and suggests a new lipstick and a train ride to Princeton instead?
To top it off, she calls me ten times a day to say, “Darling, I m in crisis!” What, like I m not? In addition to mothering my mother, I m also trying to keep my marriage hot with a two-year-old under foot — babysitting the artists in residence at my Berkshires artists colony, which seems to be the Bermuda Triangle of creativity but a breeding ground for seriously insane — resisting an attraction to a man so sexy he could give your eyeballs an orgasm — and trying to rid my 100-year-old home of mischievous ghosts. Yeah, sort of got my hands full. The way I see it, I ve got two choices: go completely mad, or start living my own life on my own terms, starting with my mother. I m just not sure which option is crazier…
Title: A Summer in Europe
Author: Marilyn Brant
Received: From Kensington Publishing/Unsolicited
Synopsis: On her thirtieth birthday, Gwendolyn Reese receives an unexpected present from her widowed Aunt Bea: a grand tour of Europe in the company of Bea’s Sudoku and Mah-jongg Club. The prospect isn’t entirely appealing. But when the gift she is expecting — an engagement ring from her boyfriend — doesn’t materialize, Gwen decides to go. At first, Gwen approaches the trip as if it’s the math homework she assigns her students, diligently checking monuments off her must-see list. But amid the bougainvillea and stunning vistas of southern Italy, something changes. Gwen begins to live in the moment: skipping down stone staircases in Capri, running her fingers over a glacier in view of the Matterhorn, racing through the Louvre, and taste-testing pastries at a Marseilles cafe. Revelling in every new experience — especially her attraction to a charismatic British physics professor — Gwen discovers that the ancient wonders around her are nothing compared to the renaissance unfolding within…
Plotting the Story: Samantha March
Every writer will have a different way of plotting their novels. Some craft the characters, the scenes, the turning point, the climax, and the resolution…
On Tour: High-Heels and Slippers by Ella Slayne
Ella will be on tour November 28-December 19 with her novel High-Heels and Slippers Meet Josie Jenkins, a Brit living in Texas, fan of indulgent…
On Tour: Chosen by Chandra Hoffman
Chandra will be on tour November 28- December 19 with her novel Chosen In the spirit of Jodi Picoult and Anna Quindlen, CHOSENfeatures a young…
Dollars to Donuts by Kathleen Kole
Kathleen Kole is on tour with CLP Blog Tours. April Patterson is starting to seriously question her move to Boxwood Hills. The sleepy little suburban town has her dodging her kooky and overly-nosy neighbors, gives her a mystery involving said neighbors and a dead rodent, and leads her relationship with boyfriend Kevin down an unknown path. The bright side to moving? April gets to spend more time with her sister Jessica. Jessica is needed when the mystery deepens, stalkers become involved, and April and Kevin’s new houseguest begins to entice April.
Dollars to Donuts is Kathleen Kole’s second novel, after Breaking Even. Like the first book, this one was a fast and cute read that kept me happily engaged with the characters as I kept reading. I loved the relationship between April and her sister Jessica. It was warm and humorous and sometimes filled with drama, but a strong bond was always there. The neighbors and all the run-ins April had with them kept me laughing out loud, and the mystery kept me wondering what was really going on in her neighborhood. The only part that threw me off was the relationship between April and houseguest Gerrit. Even though April had been with Kevin for years, moved to a new town with him and lived with him, her attraction to Gerrit seemed to really come from nowhere and develop super fast. There were a few times that April came off really uncaring when it came to Kevin, and that rubbed me the wrong way. But I loved how the ending tied everything together and gave each character a happy ending. Another recommendation!
[Rating: 4]
Interview with Irene Woodbury
Hi Irene! Below are my interview questions. Thanks!
Can you describe A Slot Machine Ate My Midlife Crisis in twenty words or less?
A bizarre girls’ weekend in Las Vegas evolves into the darkly funny midlife crisis of forty-something newlywed Wendy Sinclair.
What made you want to write this story?
I always wondered what it would be like to go on a weekend trip and not go home. What would I do? What would the people back home say? Where would I live? Would I get a job? What kinds of people would I meet? Instead of actually doing this, I wrote a novel about someone who does it. I got to live out my fantasies through Wendy.
Why did you choose Las Vegas as the setting?
I spent a lot of time there as a travel writer. I found the city incredibly interesting and wanted to learn more about it. Writing this book gave me the opportunity to do that. Plus, I think the characters have traits in common with Las Vegas. They have attractive surfaces, but are complex and troubled underneath. Las Vegas is like that: a glitzy, frivolous surface with plenty of deeper, darker aspects to it. So, the characters and the setting complement each other.
What was the most difficult part of the writing process for you?
Writing with my heart and my head. You have to think everything the characters think, and feel everything they feel. It was hard to sustain that level of focus and intensity day in, day out, for five years.
Do you think you want to write a sequel?
I would love to pick up the characters at the end of Slot and take them further. I miss the creative-writing process–escaping into a make-believe world for hours each day. But it’s a big commitment. It would probably take three to five years, so I’d have to think it through.
How did you get started in travel writing?
On a vacation trip to London in 2000, my husband talked me into helping him with a travel story. I took over and wrote 40 pages. I never thought I’d enjoy travel writing, but I loved it. A couple of months later, the story ran in the Los Angeles Times. So the credit, or responsibility, goes to my husband.
What are you currently reading?
Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
What are some top Vegas attractions you would recommend?
The Lion Habitat at MGM Grand
The Conservatory at Bellagio
Jersey Boys show at Palazzo
Love show at Mirage
Spa Mandalay at Mandalay Bay
View of the Las Vegas valley from Eiffel Tower at Paris
What have been some of your favorite travel destinations, either to visit or write about?
London was my Number One destination for a few years. The stories I did there are some of my favorites. I also loved working in Las Vegas, Paris, Dublin and Madrid.
What is your advice to aspiring writers?
Find out the preferred length of whatever it is you’re going to write, and stick to it! Don’t do what I did and write a 175,000-word novel that has to cut by 35,000 words so that agents or publishers will be interested. It just adds extra work and anguish.
Blog Tour Sign Up: Blank Slate Kate by Heather Wardell
Heather will be on tour in January with her novel Blank Slate Kate. Please note this will be an eBook tour only. Use the sign…
