Blog Tour Sign Up: 5 Stages of Grief by Bethany Ramos
Bethany Ramos will be on tour in January with her chick lit novel 5 Stages of Grief. Please use the sign up form below if…
Giuliana Rancic Has Breast Cancer
Sad news coming from Hollywood today. Giuliana Rancic, TV host for the E! Network and star of her own reality show, Giuliana and Bill, revealed that she has breast cancer. Rancic, 37, made the announcement Monday morning on an appearance on The Today Show. Rancic and husband Bill have been very open about their journey to parenthood, which has included IVF and a devastating miscarriage. The couple- who have been married for four years ¬– were gearing up for round three of IVF when their doctor insisted Rancic get a mammogram. Because Rancic has no history of breast cancer in her family, she admitted she “wasn’t prepared to get a mammogram until I was 40 years old. I never in my wildest dreams expected anything to be wrong.”
The discovery of the tumor happened in August, and Rancic is preparing for surgery and then six and a half weeks of radiation. She assured fans that the cancer was caught in the “early stages” and will not give up on having a baby. “That baby will have saved my life. There’s some master plan. Now I know that [God] was looking out for me.”
She continues on to say, “I think a lot of us think we’re invincible. We have to start putting ourselves on the to do list.”
CLP and Breast Cancer Awareness month- My Donations & Writing Challenge
Breast Cancer Awareness- Call For Submissions
Call for submissions! Throughout the month of October (which is Breast Cancer Awareness month), I am looking for stories from woman that deal with your experiences with breast cancer. This is pretty open topic that can range from if you had breast cancer, a family member or a friend had cancer, what you do to support and find a cause, how you raise awareness, etc. There is no word count limit on these submissions. Please send your stories to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com with the subject line Breast Cancer Submission. Please include your story, any pictures that you would like to be included along with captions, and your full name and mailing address. Depending on the number of submissions, I will choose a winner each week. That weekly winner will have their story published on Chick Lit Plus, and also be able to choose a book from my personal bookshelf. (I will email the available titles to winners). The four weekly winners will also have their names entered into a drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card, which will be chosen at the end of the month. For those entries that were not chosen as winners, snippets from those stories will be featured in an article that I write at the end of October. If there are any questions, please email me at the above email address. Thank you!
The Summer We Came to Life by Deborah Cloyed
The Summer We Came to Life by Deborah Cloyed explores the friendship between four young women- Samantha, Isabel, Kendra and Mina. Childhood friends, the girls take a trip each year to someplace exotic, and this year they are in Honduras. But this trip is different, because Mina is no longer with them. She lost her battle to cancer, and now the three friends are struggling to move forward without her. Each friend is at a different place in her life, and with her own unique problem she is trying to figure out. Also in Honduras with the group are Isabel and Kendra’s mothers, and Mina’s and Kendra’s father. The adults are also trying to find their own answers in life, and to understand about the journey they’ve taken so far.
This wasn’t a terrible book, it was well written and Cloyed takes readers on a unique journey with her characters. I struggled a bit to get into the story after Samantha drowns and goes into a different world, one where she is with Mina again. I just got lost after that plot twist, and couldn’t find the same enthusiasm that I had in the beginning of the novel. The narratives are a bit all over the place- from Samantha’s point of view to the parents, and it was confusing to keep jumping all over the place with that. I think Cloyed really wants readers to take away the lesson to never give up on life, to always keep fighting for yourself and what you believe, which is great. The four girls make for an interesting and creative character set, but the second half of the book just fell flat for me.
[Rating: 3]
In My Mailbox: Week of October 16
In My Mailbox: Week of October 16
Title: 5 Stages of Grief
Author: Bethany Ramos
Received: From Bethany Ramos via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Danielle thinks that the worst is behind her, but she couldn’t have been more wrong… As a beauty editor of Denver’s hot new High Life magazine, Danielle Starkey didn’t have becoming a widow on her to-do list. Then nine months after her husband’s death, she discovers he booked a vacation with another woman. Suddenly, Danielle sees Adam’s death in a whole new light and has to get over it – for the second time. Hit with the truth when she least expects it, Danielle brings a fresh, funny, and honest approach to the grieving process as she struggles through online dating, stalking her dead husband’s mistress, and, hopefully, finding the man of her dreams. With her stubborn and sassy best friend April by her side. Danielle refuses to let sleeping dogs lie. Will she finally face the truth about herself and her marriage? Or will she succumb to one of the five stages of grief?
Title: The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken
Author: Mari Passananti
Received: From Kelly and Hall
Synopsis: Zoë Clark thinks her world will implode when her fiancé dumps her on the eve of their splashy wedding. After nearly a decade with her college sweetheart, Zoë feels like a teenager about to be eaten alive by the New York dating scene. And her problems don’t end there. Zoë works a less-than-ideal job, managing other people’s careers while her own ambitions wither. To add insult to injury, she does so in the employ of a larger than life woman whose staff measures the boss’s emotional state by the zealousness of her make up application. Quitting is out of the question; Zoë’s rent doubled when her fiancé bailed. Enter Oscar Thornton. He’s handsome, charming, attentive and rich – the perfect boyfriend. But does he harbor a dark secret? Or will Zoë torpedo her newfound happiness by indulging a far fetched suspicion? The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken tells the story of a young woman who sets out to find a man to solve her problems. Instead she finds herself facing her own shortcomings, testing her oldest friendships and realizing that she has the power to make herself happy. Packed with snappy dialogue and playful wit, The Hazards of Hunting While Heartbroken will strike a chord with any woman who’s ever allowed herself to think, My life would be perfect, if I could just meet the right guy.
Title: The Sixes
Author: Kate White
Received: From Chick Lit Is Not Dead- Giveaway
Synopsis: From the New York Times bestselling author of Hush and the Bailey Weggins mystery series comes a thriller set in a college town where a student’s death sends one woman on a search for the truth and into the clutches of a frightening secret society.
Phoebe Hall’s Manhattan life has suddenly begun to unravel. Right after her long-term boyfriend breaks off their relationship, she’s falsely accused of plagiarizing her latest bestselling celebrity biography. Looking for a quiet place to put her life back together, Phoebe jumps at the offer to teach in a sleepy Pennsylvania town at a small private college run by her former boarding school roommate and close friend, Glenda Johns.
But behind the campus’s quiet cafÉs and leafy maple trees lie evil happenings. The body of a female student washes up on the banks of a nearby river, and disturbing revelations begin to surface: accusations from coeds about abuses wrought by a secret society of girls on campus known as The Sixes.. To help Glenda, Phoebe embarks on a search for clues—a quest that soon raises painful memories of her own boarding school days years ago.
As the investigation heats up, Phoebe unexpectedly finds herself falling for the school’s handsome psychology professor, Duncan Shaw. But when nasty pranks turn into deadly threats, Phoebe realizes she’s in the middle of a real-life nightmare, not knowing whom she can trust and if she will even survive.
Plunging deeper into danger with every step, Phoebe knows she’s close to unmasking a killer. But with truth comes a terrifying revelation: your darkest secrets can still be uncovered . . . and starting over may be a crime punishable by death.
Priceless by Nicole Richie
Charlotte Williams is a typical New York socialite, enjoying the finer things in life and being the apple of her father’s eye. But when darling daddy is taken to federal prison on embezzlement charges, Charlotte’s charmed life is suddenly in ruins. Cheated investors are after her, and even her household staff was duped by her father and questioning her about their money. Charlotte flees New York and finds comfort in the only person that can provide it for her–Miss Millie, the woman who helped raise Charlotte after her mother passed away. Charlotte tries to settle into her temporary life in New Orleans–making a new friend in the fashionista Kat, securing a job as a waitress, and possibly finding romance with Millie’s son, Jackson. But a stalker that set up an unpleasant website about Charlotte is not letting her find peace. He is determined to bring her down because of her father’s actions, and the threats are soon out of control.
Priceless is the follow-up novel from Nicole Richie after The Truth About Diamonds. This novel seemed more fiction to me than the first, where I was able to see parallels from those characters to Richie’s celebrity life. With Priceless, I was much more invested in the story and Charlotte’s troubles, even though I’m sure Richie relied on her socialite experience for some of the scenes. But casting the celebrity bit aside, I thought this novel was a fast read that entertained me throughout. The characters were well-written and made relatable, even though I am far from that social status. I thought Charlotte was very likeable, even though her character could have gone the other way, so I was really rooting for her throughout the whole story. More books like this from Nicole Richie will definitely not be a bad thing.
[Rating: 4.5]
On Tour: Our Eyes Met Over Cantaloupe by Anne McAneny
Anne will be on tour October 17-November 6 with her novel Our Eyes Met Over Cantaloupe A wedding order at The Secret Lives of Cupcakes…
A Parfait Murder by Wendy Lyn Watson
When Wendy Watson asked on Facebook who wanted to review her latest mystery, A Parfait Murder, I signed myself right up. After reading the first, I Scream, You Scream, and thoroughly enjoying the delectable mystery, I knew I wanted to follow the series. I did miss the second book, Scoop To Kill, but I have that on my list to read. For the third book in the Mystery A La Mode series, Tally’s cousin Bree gets an unexpected visit when her ex-husband appears back in town. Sonny shot off seventeen years prior, after Bree got pregnant with her daughter Alice. After never making child support payments, Sonny shows up with a flashy business proposition for the town- and a stunning female on his arm. Sonny hires Kristen Ver Steeg as his lawyer, but she winds up dead- and Bree is holding the gum. Tally knows her cousin is innocent, but with all the evidence and motives pointing straight at Bree, Tally knows she doesn’t have long to clear her cousins name. Meanwhile, Tally is trying to successfully date Finn Harper, a childhood friend and sweetheart who got away, but when a complicated family secret gets revealed, Tally and Finn’s relationship is forever changed.
Once again, I had a great time diving in to this fun mystery series. And seriously- who doesn’t love these covers? They grab my attention right away. Watson brings back heartfelt characters with a lot of personality, and I really enjoyed getting to know Alice. The ending with the family secret simply shocked me, I really can’t say I saw that one coming. There were a few other plot twists that caught me off guard as well, which I love. The suspense was up there, and I think readers will have a great time reading A Parfait Murder. Be sure to check out the rest in the series as well!
[Rating: 4]
Blog Tour Sign Up: Year of the Chick by Romi …
Romi Moondi will be on tour in January with her chick lit novel Year of the Chick. Please use the sign up form below if…
