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Sir Elton John a Father!
Chick Lit Plus

Sir Elton John a Father!

Sir Elton John is now a father! The music icon, 62, and husband David Furnish, 48, welcomed a son, Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John via a surrogate on December 25th. The baby was born in California and weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces. Usmagazine.com was the first to break the news, and released this statement from the couple: “We are overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special moment. Zachary is healthy and doing really well, and we are very proud and happy parents.”
This is the first child for the couple, who married in 2005 after 12 years together.

December 28, 2010
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Natalie Portman Engaged & Pregnant
Chick Lit Plus

Natalie Portman Engaged & Pregnant

Sounds like Natalie Portman had a good holiday season! People.com has confirmed that the Black Swan actress is not only engaged to choreographer Benjamin Millepied, but it also with child. This will be the first child for the couple, who first met on the set of Black Swan. Portman, 29, is due in 2011. No other details were given.

December 28, 2010
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The Bride of Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta
Chick Lit Review

The Bride of Casa Dracula by Marta Acosta

Milagro de los Santos is in for challenge. Now engaged to the undead Oswald Grant, Milagro has the task of planning the vampire nuptials. She hits a wall when she wants to stand firm on some of her American traditions, and the vampire counsel doesn’t take kindly to her requests. They also want her to move out from the house she shares with Oswald, and she has to deal with her smarmy wedding planner from hell on top of that. Milagro starts to think someone is sabotaging her wedding after she is involved in a suspicious car accident, her wedding rings goes missing, and more wedding details go awry. Could it be her deceptive wedding planner? The vampire counsel? Or could someone else- or thing- be behind all the mayhem?
Marta Acosta keeps the funny going in the third novel from the Casa Dracula series. The ending through me for a surprise, but an enjoyable one, and I think chick lit fans will keep loving the world Acosta has built. The Grant family now seems like my own family, and I enjoy watching their lives grow alongside Milagro’s and Oswald’s. If you haven’t picked up the first Casa Dracula novel yet, I would highly recommend buying the whole series- you won’t regret it!
Rating: 4.5/5
See my review for other books in this series:
Happy Hour At Casa Dracula- 4 stars
Midnight Brunch- 5 stars

December 27, 2010
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In My Mailbox: Week of December 26th
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In My Mailbox: Week of December 26th

In My Mailbox: Week of December 26th

Title: These Things Hidden
Author: Heather Gudenkauf
Received: From Judy Zuklie with BookTrib.com
Synopsis: Allison Glenn tried to hide what happened that night…and failed. The consequence? Five years in prison. Now she’s free. But secrets have a way of keeping you caged…When Allison is sent to prison for a heinous crime, she leaves behind her reputation as Linden Falls’ golden girl forever. Her parents deny the existence of their once-perfect child. Her former friends exult in her downfall. Her sister, Brynn, faces the whispered rumours every day in the hallways of their small Iowa high school. It’s Brynn – shy, quiet Brynn – who carries the burden of what really happened that night. All she wants is to forget Allison and the past that haunts her. But then Allison is released, and is more determined than ever to speak with her sister. Now their legacy of secrets is focused on one little boy. And if the truth is revealed, the consequences will be unimaginable for the adoptive mother who loves him, the girl who tried to protect him and the two sisters who hold the key to all that is hidden.

Title: The Other Boyfriend
Author: Sylvia Massara
Received: From Sylvia Massara
Synopsis: Sarah Jamison is on a mission to find a boyfriend for her lover’s partner; and Sarah’s best friend comes to the rescue with an idea so crazy that it just might work. Enter the enigmatic Mike Connor. Sarah hates the man on sight, but her body tells her otherwise. Mike Connor is smug and full of himself; even so, Sarah thinks that with his help she can finally be with the love of her life.

Title: A Scottish Ferry Tale
Author: Nancy Volkers
Received: From Nancy Volkers
Synopsis: Cassie Wrentham goes to Scotland and has her heart broken. She is cynical enough to close the door on true love, but hopeful enough not to lock it. Instead she escapes, to an island off the west coast, where she meets someone who could change her life… if she’d only allow it. Does she? And who is this life-changing person, anyway? Are there dragons? Fairy godmothers? Chocolate cake? What about happily ever after?

December 26, 2010
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Hugh Hefner, 84, Engaged
Chick Lit Plus

Hugh Hefner, 84, Engaged

Who saw this coming? At age 84, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner is engaged. The ladies man, known to have multiple girlfriends, proposed to just one lucky lady, Playmate girlfriend Crystal Harris, 24, on Christmas Eve. Hef announced the news on Twitter: “After the movie tonight, Crystal & I exchanged gifts. I gave Crystal a ring. A truly memorable Christmas Eve. When I gave Crystal the ring, she burst into tears. This is the happiest Christmas weekend in memory.” He later clarified: “Yes, the ring I gave Crystal is an engagement ring. I didn’t mean to make a mystery out of it. A very merry Christmas to all.”
This will be the third marriage for Hef, the first for Harris. No wedding date was announced.

December 26, 2010
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Author Profile: Marta Acosta
Chick Lit Authors

Author Profile: Marta Acosta

Author Name: Marta Acosta

Website: http://www.martaacosta.com/

Bio: Marta is from the San Francisco Bay Area and has degrees in English & American Lit and Creative Writing. Before becoming a published author, Marta worked for non-profits and a theater company, and loved to read books and talk about them. She then became a frequent contributor of home, gardening, and style columns and features for newspapers and magazines. Marta now has published novels under her own name, and also under the name of Grace Coopersmith.
Titles: Happy Hour at Casa Dracula, Midnight Brunch, The Bride of Casa Dracula, and Haunted Honeymoon.
Bio Retrieved from martaacosta.com

http://chicklitplus.com/author-profile-grace-coopersmith/

December 23, 2010
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Household Hazards: Candles
Chick Lit Plus

Household Hazards: Candles

Recently, I have developed an obsession with candles. I have a candle on the stove, on the kitchen table, on the countertops, and in the bedroom. I love lighting one each night and smelling the cinnamon or lavender or whatever scent I have chosen, spread through the house. But after reading an article in October’s edition of Women’s Health magazine, I might need to consider pulling back on my candle lighting.
Women’s Health published an article titled ‘Beat Bad Air Days’ and it featured common household items that can pollute the air inside your house. Candles were number one on the list. Turns out, “paraffin candles emit chemicals that are linked to liver damage, neurological problems, and leukemia (page 76). Say what? Even more- the black soot that is released each time you light that wick, could be damaging your lungs and heart tissue.
So do I throw all my candles away and go for the plastic candles with LED lights to achieve that cozy ambiance? That was one suggestion from Women’s Health, but another was buying soy candles. Soy candles burn at a slower rate and emit less soot than the regular paraffin counterparts. I now have soy candles on my shopping list, and you may want to consider going the healthy-air route too!
Information from: Women’s Health Magazine, October 2010 Edition, by Katherine Bowers/page 76.

December 22, 2010
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New Release: These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf
Chick Lit Review

New Release: These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf

Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Weight of Silence, follows her phenomenally successful debut novel with THESE THINGS HIDDEN (MIRA Books, February 2011, $15.95 U.S./$18.95 CAN.), an equally absorbing dramatic work. In THESE THINGS HIDDEN, Gudenkauf deftly tells the story of three families united by a chilling secret the night two babies are born.

The story begins with a girl named Allison Glenn being released from prison after spending five years there for an unconscionable murder. Without any contact from her parents or her sister, Allison is sent to a halfway house in her hometown. She is determined to reconnect with her sister Brynn and desperate to atone for involving her in what happened that fateful night. Brynn wants nothing to do with her sister and feels that it is she who is still imprisoned — forced to keep hidden the truth of what really happened.

As a precocious sixteen-year-old high school student, Allison seemed to have an ideal life in the town of Linden Falls, Iowa—perfect grades, sports achievements, beauty and popularity. But there were cracks under that flawless exterior. Her parents were relentlessly driving her to perfection and the pressure of meeting unrealistic expectations propelled her into the arms of Christopher Tullia, an unsavory college student who offered her an escape from the demands of her day-to-day existence.

That respite came at a high cost when Allison realized that she was pregnant. Desperate to preserve the illusion of her perfection and future she hid the pregnancy. That facade was shattered when Allison, suddenly in labor, convinced her loving and sensitive younger sister Brynn to help keep her secret.
When the truth is revealed the consequences are unimaginable and change the lives of the families involved forever.

THESE THINGS HIDDEN
Heather Gudenkauf
Mira Publisher
$15.95 U.S./$18.95 CAN.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7783-2879-7
352 Pages

HEATHER GUDENKAUF
Heather Gudenkauf is the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling novel The Weight of Silence. She lives in Iowa with her family. Heather is an advocate of Safe Haven laws that are enacted in most states to provide a safe place for parents or another person who has the parent’s permission to leave an infant at a hospital or health care facility without fear of arrest for abandonment. Visit her website at www.HeatherGudenkauf.com

December 21, 2010
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Midnight Brunch by Marta Acosta
Chick Lit Review

Midnight Brunch by Marta Acosta

Marta Acosta follows up her enjoyable Casa Dracula debut with Midnight Brunch¸ still following the life of heroine Milagro de los Santos. Milagro is the only known human to survive a vampire infection, making her quite popular in the vampire world. But Milagro has eyes only for the dashing Oswald, and now lives with him in the family estate. Milargo is upset when she learns she isn’t allowed to attend the naming ceremony for the new baby in the family, simply because she is not family. Already feeling left out at times around Oswald and his clan, this only angers Milargo further. When Oswald departs on a humanitarian trip, Milagro decides to follow a few leads to understand more about the vampires and their culture. She doesn’t expect to find herself in a desert spa, playing assistant to a celebrity actor, and having her life threatened by quirky vampires who are determined to take over the world.
I know a lot of people say that sequels never stack up to the original, but I loved Midnight Brunch- even more than Happy Hour at Casa Dracula! I knew Milagro and Oswald and their story, and I was happy to see that the action picked up with barely a stitch in time going by. It was like welcoming old friends. Milagro is the same sexy heroine, living on the dangerous side by choice this time, and I liked watching her and Oswald’s relationship grow. I would definitely recommend readers to the Casa Dracula series, even if you aren’t vampire or paranormal fans. I wasn’t, and hadn’t read a paranormal book before Happy Hour, and I’m sure glad I did! Acosta’s writing and the world she created are too good to pass up.
Rating: 5/5

December 20, 2010
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