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Love and Freedom by Sue Moorcroft
Chick Lit Review

Love and Freedom by Sue Moorcroft

Honor Sontag has always done the right thing. Plays by the rules, is fair, does what is expected of her. But when she is pushed too far, she flees her home in Connecticut and heads to England in search of her birth mother, and some much needed clarity. While there, she befriends her landlord’s family, especially the only male among the bunch, Martyn Mayfair. While sparks fly between Honor and Martyn, both hold back for different reasons. Martyn has been hurt in the past before, and Honor, well she is still legally married. Their romance is thrown other hurdles- Martyn’s stalker that happens to be Honor’s new boss, Martyn’s career as a hottie underwear model, and Honor’s secrets that she is keeping hidden from Martyn. Can Honor finally find her love and freedom in England? Or will always doing the right thing keep her from Martyn and a chance at true happiness?
Love and Freedom is a really sweet romance from Sue Moorcroft. I had a lot of fun reading the British terms and getting to know both Honor and Martyn. Honor is the perfect heroine- a good person with a big heart but riddled with flaws and confusion, not sure which way to turn. I thought the beginning was just a touch too slow, and I was a little hesitant about where the story would lead me. But after just a few chapters I was hooked, and there are some stunning bombshells that are dropped along the way that made my mouth drop open. This was a great romance with a lot of drama built in, and I think chick lit readers will appreciate the plot and the characters that are along for the ride.
[Rating: 4]

September 12, 2011
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In My Mailbox: Week of September 11
Chick Lit Plus

In My Mailbox: Week of September 11

In My Mailbox: Week of September 11

Title: Sophie’s Turn
Author: Nicky Wells
Received: From Nicky Wells
Synopsis: This honest, funny and sometimes bitter-sweet novel tells the story of one woman’s entanglement with a rock star.

Slapper. Slut. Adulteress. These are hardly words that Sophie Penhalligan would normally use to describe herself. And yet this is exactly how she is behaving, all things considered, even if she isn’t quite married to Tim yet. Aged nineteen, she travelled halfway across the country to honour an invitation by her favourite rock band, Tusk, to join them for the last gig of their tour. And now her past is coming to tempt her… How could Tim ever stand a chance against Dan, the charming, handsome lead-singer? How could she?

Sophie, now twenty-eight and a budding newspaper journalist, is happily embroiled in a relationship with Tim, her boyfriend of two years. Until recently, she was confident that Tim would eventually propose—probably as soon as he could get his act together. But just as Tim’s persistent inaction is beginning to cast a cloud over their relationship, Dan’s sudden reappearance turns Sophie’s world upside down. Thus unfolds a roller-coaster of events including an ill-fated trip to Paris with Tim, a night of unfulfilled romance with Dan, Sophie and Tim’s engagement party gate-crashed by Dan, and Sophie’s professional secondment to accompany Dan’s band on their revival tour—at Dan’s special request and very much against her will.

And then, one fine day in Paris, Sophie suddenly finds herself engaged to Dan while her erstwhile fiancé Tim is… well, doing whatever it is Tim does back in London. What is she to do now? Who wouldn’t give anything to meet their favourite star, let alone marry him?

Find out how Sophie gets into this impossible situation, and how she turns it around, in Sophie’s Turn, a modern romantic fairy tale.

Title: The Pub Across the Pub
Author: Mary Carter
Received: From Kensington Books
Synopsis: When Carlene Rivers wins a raffle at an Ohio fair, her prize is a pub in Ireland. There she finally has the freedom to find her own voice. And in her flirtation with the pub’s charming former owner, she may learn to trust her heart—and luck—for the first time.

Title: Eat Pray Love
Author: Elizabeth Gilbert
Received: From a friend
Synopsis: Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned thirty, she went through an early- onslaught midlife crisis. She had everything an educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want-a husband, a house, a successful career. But instead of feeling happy and fulfilled, she was consumed with panic, grief, and confusion. She went through a divorce, a crushing depression, another failed love, and the eradication of everything she ever thought she was supposed to be.
To recover from all this, Gilbert took a radical step. In order to give herself the time and space to find out who she really was and what she really wanted, she got rid of her belongings, quit her job, and undertook a yearlong journey around the world-all alone. Eat, Pray, Love is the absorbing chronicle of that year. Her aim was to visit three places where she could examine one aspect of her own nature set against the backdrop of a culture that has traditionally done that one thing very well. In Rome, she studied the art of pleasure, learning to speak Italian and gaining the twenty-three happiest pounds of her life. India was for the art of devotion, and with the help of a native guru and a surprisingly wise cowboy from Texas, she embarked on four uninterrupted months of spiritual exploration. In Bali, she studied the art of balance between worldly enjoyment and divine transcendence. She became the pupil of an elderly medicine man and also fell in love the best way-unexpectedly.
An intensely articulate and moving memoir of self-discovery, Eat, Pray, Love is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment and stop trying to live in imitation of society’s ideals. It is certain to touch anyone who has ever woken up to the unrelenting need for change.

Title: Devilishly Hot
Author: Kathy Love
Received: Unsolicited
Synopsis: Annie Lou Riddle had a plan: Move to New York City. Break into the fashion industry. Work her way to the top. Nowhere in that scenario did she expect to accidentally sell her soul in exchange for a job at Hot! Magazine. Oops. Demons, it seems, aren’t big on letting mortals off the hook. Now Annie is stuck working as assistant/personal slave to Finola White – diva extraordinaire, and glamorous she-devil. Whatever Finola wants, she gets, and she wants Annie to match her up with Nick Rossi, the gorgeous detective investigating shady doings at Hot! Frankly, Annie sees the appeal. Nick is effortlessly sexy, rugged, charming – and the one man Annie should definitely not be flirting with, or kissing, or…Oops. But some loves are too devilishly hot to resist…

September 11, 2011
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Beauty Review: Maybelline Define a Lash Mascara
Chick Lit Plus

Beauty Review: Maybelline Define a Lash Mascara

A few months ago I purchased Maybelline’s Define a Line Eyeliner, and had awesome results with it. I was so pleased with the liner that I decided to try out the Define a Lash Mascara, hoping for the same luck. Unfortunately, the mascara didn’t quite live up to the hype I had in my head. While it’s not a bad mascara, I didn’t have to deal with any clumps or anything like that, it just didn’t give any sort of oomph. I bought the black, but it still barely tinted my lashes, and while maybe it lengthened them a little, it wasn’t a difference maker and seemed to wear off within a few hours. I started using this mascara on my light makeup days, when I just wanted a little something to coat my lashes. So if you are looking for a product to really give you length, this is not the one for you.
[Rating: 3]

September 10, 2011
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On Tour: Until the End of Forever by Shannon Hart
CLP Blog Tours

On Tour: Until the End of Forever by Shannon Hart

Shannon will be on tour September 12-October 3 with her debut novel Until the End of Forever When Sarah Matthews keeps having recurring nightmares she…

September 9, 2011
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Blog Tour Sign Up: Chosen by Chandra Hoffman
CLP Blog Tours

Blog Tour Sign Up: Chosen by Chandra Hoffman

It all begins with a fantasy: the caseworker in her “signing paperwork” charcoal suit, paired with the beaming parents cradling their adopted newborn, against a fluorescent-lit delivery room backdrop. It’s this blissful picture that keeps Chloe Pinter, director of The Chosen Child’s domestic adoption program, happy juggling the high demands of her boss and the incessant needs of both adoptive and biological parents.

But the job that offers her refuge from her turbulent personal life and Portland’s winter rains soon becomes a battleground itself involving three very different couples: the Novas, college sweethearts who suffered fertility problems but are now expecting their own baby; the McAdoos, a wealthy husband and desperate wife for whom adoption is a last chance; and Jason and Penny, an impoverished couple who have nothing—except the baby everyone wants. But when a child is kidnapped, dreams dissolve into nightmares, and everyone is forced to examine what went wrong . . .

September 9, 2011
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A Pug’s Tale by Alison Pace
Chick Lit Review

A Pug’s Tale by Alison Pace

As a huge dog lover, I was immediately smitten with the cover of A Pug’s Tale by Allison Pace. And I’m happy to report that I was just an enamored with the story as I was with the cover. The heroine, Hope, works at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, has a boyfriend that is currently living in Africa with Lawyers without Borders, and is starting to get lonely. She only has Max to talk to- which is her boyfriend’s pug that she is in possession of until Ben returns back to New York. While attending a pug party at the Met in honor of Daphne, another pug owner/lover and an investor with the museum, Max leads Hope to a fake painting sitting in her office. It looks as though someone has stolen the original, and wants Hope to know about it. The mystery of the stolen painting is the main focus of the book, with scavenger hunt clues, a so-so private detective, and Hope’s co-workers looking at each other suspiciously. Hope it determined to solve the mystery, and hopes to figure out her life at the same time. Will Ben ever come home from Africa? Does she want him, or is she still crushing on her boss, Elliott, who is getting engaged and questioning if Hope is the painting thief?
This is a really cute book, and I always like a little mystery with my chick lit. Hope is a very convincing character, super sweet and genuine, but that is a little lost when it comes down to her personal life. I wish there had been a little more emphasis on her boyfriend, because it was hard to tell if she really loved him or what the deal was there. I kept thinking she was going to get with Elliott because he was talked about so much more than the actual BF. Daphne’s character was super kooky yet really fun to read about. I loved the way the ending worked out with her (no spoilers here) and it gave me a good laugh when I read it. I thought this was a light read that was fun throughout the way, and a great book for dog lovers to pick up. Sometimes I did think the plot was getting a little too out there, but it was still interesting enough to keep me engrossed. I guess this is actually a sequel to Pug Hill, which I didn’t realize until I was almost halfway through the book, and that was because I was doing research on it. If you haven’t read the first one, I wouldn’t worry, I didn’t feel that I was missing anything, but I will definitely grab a copy of Pug Hill to read as well!
[Rating: 4]

September 9, 2011
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Author Profile: Victoria Connelly
Chick Lit Authors

Author Profile: Victoria Connelly

Author Name: Victoria Connelly

Website: http://victoriaconnelly.com/

Bio: Victoria Connelly grew up in Norfolk before attending Worcester University where she studied English Literature. After graduating, she worked her way through a number of jobs before becoming a teacher in North Yorkshire. In 2000, she got married in a medieval castle in the Yorkshire Dales and moved to London.
Although having had articles and short stories published, it was only when Flights of Angels was published that Victoria was able to realise the dream of becoming a professional writer. Bought in a bidding war between five publishers and released as Unter deinem Stern in Germany, the novel was made into a film for television by award-winning Ziegler Film. Her second novel, The Unmasking of Elena Montella (Wenn es dich gibt), was published in 2007 and her third, Three Graces (Wohin mit der Liebe), was published in 2009.

Her first novel to be published in the UK – Molly’s Millions – came out in 2009. She is currently working on a trilogy about Jane Austen addicts. The first, A Weekend with Mr Darcy, was published in the UK by Avon, HarperCollins, and was published in the US by Sourcebooks in July 2011. The second in the trilogy, The Perfect Hero, was published in the UK in April 2011 and will be published in the US as Dreaming of Mr Darcy. The third book, Mr Darcy Forever, will be published in the US in April 2012.

Her next book to be published in the UK will be The Runaway Actress – a romantic comedy about a movie star who swaps Hollywood for the Highlands.

Victoria’s three fantasy rom coms, previously published in Germany, are now available in English on Kindle and other ebook formats.

She lives in London with her artist husband, a springer spaniel and four ex-battery hens.
See my review of The Perfect Hero

Bio Retrieved from victoriaconnelly.com

September 8, 2011
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Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow by Claudia Carroll
Chick Lit Review

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow by Claudia Carroll

Annie and Dan have been the perfect couple for so long. But what happens when the honeymoon is over, the romance starts to wear off, and your husband seems to be married to his job more than you? That’s the way Annie is feeling, and is increasingly unhappy as the lonely days go by. Dan seems to put everyone and everything in front of his wife, so when Annie gets a huge opportunity, she wants, no needs, to take it. Annie is offered a spot on a Broadway show, a huge break for her, but it would mean leaving Dan behind for a whole year in their Irish village of Stickens, and living alone in the Big Apple. When the final straw pushes Annie over the edge, she flees Stickens and lands in New York, ready for a break from her marriage. But will a year apart be good for Annie and Dan? Or will it only lead to the demise of their union?
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow by Claudia Carroll is an enjoyable chick lit read. I really felt Annie’s pain in how often she was put on the back burner by her husband, and was rooting for her to get to New York and be her own person. I liked reading about someone struggling to find their independence, because I can relate to that pretty easily. Annie meets a great cast of characters when she gets to New York, and there is quite the subplot going with a cast mate who has a drug problem. I really didn’t know how this story was going to end. I couldn’t decide if I thought Annie and Dan would get back together, or if Annie would find a new man in New York. That made me more on edge to finish the book quickly and see how everything played out. Overall, I really liked this story, a bit slow at times, but a fun chick lit read that I think will inspire readers to never rely too heavily on a man. I would recommend!
[Rating: 4]

September 7, 2011
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The Whole Package by Cynthia Ellingsen
Chick Lit Review

The Whole Package by Cynthia Ellingsen

Three friends have lost it all. Doris finds out her husband is having an affair, Cheryl lost her fantastic job, and Jackie is poor after her husband passes away and leaves her with debt. When the three high school friends get together once again, now in their forties, they feel like everything is crashing around them. When they get an idea to reclaim their lives, their independence, and their happiness, it comes in the form of an unexpected business venture- a restaurant. But not just any old restaurant- a place where women can come for a delicious meal with a side of a yummy, half-naked waiter. The Whole Package centers on giving women some eye candy, a little show, and great food. But can the friends make their business succeed, or will their restaurant go bust- along with their friendships?
The Whole Package by Cynthia Ellingsen is a heartfelt story that still provides comedic relief. The idea behind the restaurant is a bit silly and out there, but I thought the ending was pitch perfect. The friendship between the three women is complex yet so utterly truthful. Each character well written and developed, and I enjoyed that they were in a different place in their lives. Doris was watching her marriage crumble and struggling to parent her teenage daughter, Jackie was still mourning her husband but having thoughts about her lawyer and late husband’s best friend, and Cheryl is the single gal that can’t seem to commit. I loved reading about all three of them, and was cheering for each woman to succeed. The middle seemed to lag a bit for me, but I definitely recommend The Whole Package. A delightful read from a new author that clearly has a way with the written word.
[Rating: 4.5]

September 7, 2011
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