Chick Lit Plus by Samantha March

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Double Delicious Cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld
Chick Lit Plus

Double Delicious Cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld

I am no culinary genius. Not by a long shot. When I am looking for a recipe (which isn’t often) I’m googling “fast, easy, few ingredients” in the search engine. My life is extremely hectic and I don’t have a lot of time to spend grocery shopping and cooking meals. When I received the new cookbook from Jessica Seinfeld called Double Delicious! I promised myself to try at least two recipes. The front of the cookbook claimed simple recipes for complicated lives, and healthy recipes on top of that. I try my best to incorporate healthy whenever I can- whole grain noodles here, reduced fat butter there- so I thought this cookbook could possibly turn into my best friend.
No luck. I can’t even find one recipe that I would cook. They all have at least ten ingredients, which to me, is frightening. The steps are complicated, and there weren’t a lot of recipes that I was excited about attempting to make. Plus, many of them needed a vegetable puree. Do you know how long it takes to make a vegetable puree? I did after I looked it up. These recipes are not simple. I didn’t attempt making any of them so I’m not sure on the taste of any of the dishes. But if you are looking for a cookbook with fast and simple recipes, I would not add Double Delicious! to your list.
Rating: 3

February 8, 2011
1 Comment
The Other Boyfriend by Sylvia Massara
Chick Lit Review

The Other Boyfriend by Sylvia Massara

Sarah Jamison is done being patient. She has waited long enough for her lover to finally break up with his girlfriend. Jeffrey has been promising to break up with Moira for ages, but keeps citing business reasons to wait, as Jeffrey and Moira are partners in their network marketing business. Sarah decides to get proactive, enlisting best friend Monica to help devise a plan to break up Jeffrey and Moira for good. Monica thinks adding the dashing Mike Connor to the mix is the right idea. But instead of breaking up Jeffrey and Moira, the plan begins to backfire on Sarah. Along with the help of Sarah’s internet hacker mother, Rosepurple, Sarah finds the true identity of Jeffrey, and realizes her relationship with him was never meant to be.
I wanted to like The Other Boyfriend by Sylvia Massara. But it was hard to. While I thought the plot could have gone a lot of different ways, it turned out to be exhaustingly predicable and one-dimensional. The business that Sarah, Jeffrey, and Moira are in is a big part of the story, but it was never explained. I had no idea what they were doing, and each time business was talked about, I just became confused. And the book should have been run through an editor. I got tired of reading about Mike’s “sea-green eyes” for every description. It was a fast read, but too predictable for me to recommend.
Rating: 2

February 7, 2011
9 Comments
In My Mailbox: Week of February 6th
Updates

In My Mailbox: Week of February 6th

In My Mailbox: Week of February 6th

Title: Lucky Stiff
Author: Deborah Coonts
Received: From Cassie Ammerman @ Tor/Forge
Synopsis: Lucky O’Toole—Head of Customer Relations at The Babylon, premier mega-resort on the Vegas Strip—thinks it’s just another night in Las Vegas. A tractor-trailer has spilled its load of a million honeybees, blocking not only the Strip but the entrance to her hotel… the District Attorney for Clark County—apparently the odd man out of a threesome on the twelfth floor—is hiding in the buff in one of the hotel’s laundry rooms… and Numbers Neidermeyer—one of Vegas’ less-than-savory oddsmakers—is arguing with Las Vegas’ ace private investigator, the Beautiful Jeremy Whitlock.
The next day, Lucky discovers Ms. Neidermeyer was tossed into the shark tank at the Mandalay Bay Resort as a snack for the Tiger Shark. When the police show up at the Babylon with a hastily prepared search warrant, applied for by the District Attorney himself, and Jeremy lands in the hot seat, Lucky realizes her previous night was far from routine.
Amid the chaos of fight weekend, the hiring of an eccentric new French chef, and her madam mother’s intentions to auction off a young woman’s virginity, Lucky is drawn into a deadly game where no one is what they seem, a game that will end only when she discovers who made fish-food out of Numbers Neidermeyer.
Lucky O’Toole and Fabulous Las Vegas—life doesn’t get any better.

Title: Scotland By Starlight
Author: Nancy Volkers
Received: From Nancy Volkers
Synopsis: Cassie Wrentham is on her way to Scotland again… but this time it’s not vacation. She’s moving in with Ralph Macnair, the charismatic Scotsman who stole her heart. But Cassie wouldn’t be Cassie without doubts. Will she find a job in a tight U.K. economy? Would marrying Ralph now be only for convenience’s sake? Will she fit in, make friends, make a life there? Or will it all fall apart? Bursting with a lively cast of characters, all with their own stories and challenges, Scotland By Starlight follows Cassie and Ralph from the new beginnings of their intense relationship to a conclusion like no other.

Title: Know It All
Author: Sarah Mlynowski
Received: From Sarah Mlynowski
Synopsis: From the bestselling author of MILKRUN and ME VS ME comes a story of friendship, flip-flops…and fortune telling.

Shaun’s new roommate, Dee, claims to be a little bit psychic (“Can you be a little bit psychic? Is that like being a little bit pregnant?”) Dee insists that Shaun’s ex-boyfriend Brahm is about to meet and fall in love with someone new. A redhead. At Jeremiah’s. Shaun doesn’t believe in psychics, and even if she did, she’s over Brahm. Definitely over him. But maybe she should head over to Jeremiah’s just in case…

*KNOW IT ALL originally appeared in the collection GIRLS’ NIGHT IN.

February 6, 2011
1 Comment
Challenge:Post Reviews:February
Updates

Challenge:Post Reviews:February

February Challenge Reviews Look back at January Reviews Please note this is not the sign up page. To sign up, click here Only signed up…

February 4, 2011
47 Comments
Interview with Nicky Schmidt
Chick Lit Authors

Interview with Nicky Schmidt

Q: When did you first get serious about writing?

I think I’ve always loved to write, Samantha. I was churning out substandard little stories from a young age. In terms of seriousness, it took until my late twenties to realize I had to commit real time and effort to the process of writing, then a few years more to actually achieve the end product. Hence I call myself the Queen of Procrastination!

Q: What do you find to be the most difficult part of the writing process?

About half way through the final edit of a book – when I just want it to be over, so that I can start the next one. Intriguingly this part of the writing process coincides with a sudden and unexpected increase in weight as well! It’s filling in the small details: all the little bits and pieces that you want to get right for the reader, but take hours of research/checking.

Q: Who are some authors that you look up to?

Too many to name, but if pushed, I worship at the altar of Jodi Picoult, who manages to make producing compelling, timely works look so effortless. I try to read a lot of comedy TV scripts too.

Q: What are you currently reading?

John Berendt’s City of Falling Angels, after noticing someone who reviewed my book on Amazon was reading it.

Q: Your second novel, Marrying Out of Money, will in bookstores in April. Can you tell us about the story in twenty words or less?

Sure – a coffee heiress’s social-climbing mother tries to marry her off to a womanizing aristocrat, with disastrous results.

Q: Are you working on a third novel?

Yes! It’s called Anti-model Agency, and the teaser is: revenge comes in all shapes and sizes!

Q: Where do you find the ideas for your books?

The media and the social climate. I try to find something ubiquitous in our world and turn it on its head.

Q: How did you celebrate your first novel, Naked in Knightsbridge, after it was published?

In true Jools’ style: a couple of dozen boxes of Krispy Kremes and some cheap red wine!

Q: Where would be your dream vacation?

At the moment, somewhere warm with a 24-hour buffet. I’m discerning, aren’t I?

Q: What is your advice for aspiring writers?

The only way to achieve your dreams is to write everyday, then rewrite until you have a brilliant book. No shortcuts, I’m afraid.

February 3, 2011
1 Comment
Something Borrowed Movie Poster
Updates

Something Borrowed Movie Poster

I know everyone is anxiously awaiting the release of Something Borrowed, the movie coming to theaters based on Emily Giffin’s bestselling novel. With actors included Kate Hudson and John Krasinski playing lead roles, who doesn’t want to see it? Thanks to Alicia Leung with Warner Brothers Pictures, she is letting us see the movie poster for Something Borrowed! I love it- do you?

February 3, 2011
4 Comments
GIVEAWAY: Marrying Out of Money by Nicky Schmidt
Updates

GIVEAWAY: Marrying Out of Money by Nicky Schmidt

Following on from her debut novel, Nicky Schmidt’s Marrying out of Money is the story of a coffee shop heiress who is determined not to marry an aristocratic cad in an arranged marriage. In order to extricate herself, she decides to make herself as undesirable as possible, but things go awry when she finds herself falling for a man who repulses her.
I have five eBook copies of Marrying Out of Money to give away! To be entered, just send me an email to Samantha @ chicklitplus . com (no spaces). The five winners will be chosen Tuesday, February 8th. For extra entries, comment on this post, Facebook, or RT on Twitter. Thanks to Sam at Prospera Publishing LTD for sponsoring this giveaway.

February 3, 2011
4 Comments
Author Profile: Heather Gudenkauf
Chick Lit Authors

Author Profile: Heather Gudenkauf

Author Name: Heather Gudenkauf

Website: http://www.heathergudenkauf.com/index.html

Bio: Heather was born in Wagner, South Dakota, the youngest of six children. At one month of age, her family returned to the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota where her father was employed as a guidance counselor and her mother as a school nurse. At the age of three, her family moved to Iowa, where she grew up. Having been born with a profound unilateral hearing impairment (there were many evenings when Heather and her father made a trip to the bus barn to look around the school bus for her hearing aids that she often conveniently would forget on the seat beside her), Heather tended to use books as a retreat, would climb into the toy box that her father’s students from Rosebud made for the family with a pillow, blanket, and flashlight, close the lid, and escape the world around her. Heather became a voracious reader and the seed of becoming a writer was planted.
Heather Gudenkauf graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in elementary education, has spent her career working with students of all ages and is currently a Literacy Coach, an educator who provides curricular and professional development support to teachers.
Currently: Heather lives in Dubuque, Iowa with her husband, three children, and a very spoiled German Shorthaired Pointer named Maxine. In her free time Heather enjoys spending time with her family, reading, hiking, and running. She is currently working on her third novel.

Christmas Titles: The Weight of Silence and These Things Hidden
See my review of These Things Hidden
Bio Retrieved from heathergudenkauf.com

February 2, 2011
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These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf
Chick Lit Review

These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf

These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf gave me chills throughout the entire story. It begins with Allison Glenn, a 21 year old Iowa native who is serving time in prison for a crime that is not immediately known. Allison is about to be released, and will finish out her sentence at a halfway house in her hometown. Once the golden girl of her family, excellent grades, good at sports, a college future in mind, Allison’s family has now shunned her very existence. But the one person Allison is desperate to talk to is her little sister Brynn. Brynn was there that night, she is the only other person who knows what really happened. And when Allison unexpectedly finds a missing puzzle piece from that horrendous night, she needs Brynn more than ever.
This story is deliciously thrilling, covering Allison’s point of view, Brynn’s, and even more characters that add to the mystery. The characters haunted me when I had to stop reading, making this book absolutely impossible to put down for long periods of time. Halfway through the story I thought I had it all figured out, and then another twist would be thrown in, completely catching me off guard. It wasn’t until the very last chapter that the entire mystery is laid out for you, and Gudenkauf did a magnificent job at weaving in so many plot points and keeping the suspense at a high level throughout. These Things Hidden is a mystery, a thriller, but also a beautifully touching story on family, innocence, and the bond of sisters.
[Rating: 5]

February 1, 2011
5 Comments