Chick Lit Lovers’ Labor of Love!
Chick Lit Lovers’ Labor of Love! For four days over the US Labor Day weekend, 7 of your favorite chick lit writers are offering their…
Construct A Couple by Talli Roland
Talli Roland quickly became one of my favorite chick lit writers with her novels such as The Hating Game, Build A Man, and Watching Willow Watts that kept me thoroughly entertained and waiting impatiently for more. Her latest, Construct A Couple, follows Serenity and Jeremy from Build A Man, as the couple tries to get on solid ground after a shaky start to a romance and Jeremy suffering a stroke. Serenity is stoked about her new job at a reputable London magazine…until she finds out that fact-checker doesn’t mean “reporter-in-the-making” it means, well, fact-checker. But when she stumbles upon a lead that could get her out of Death Row (or Fact Check Row, whichever) she can just imagine herself climbing the ranks. But when Serenity discovers that the business she is about to take down is helping fund Jeremy’s charity for stroke victims, her brilliant plan is about to blow up in her face. Can she really run a story that will ruin Jeremy’s chance at running a successful charity? Maybe it would be easier if she could just talk to her boyfriend about what was happening, but after finding out that his ex-girlfriend is the CEO of the company doing the donating, Serenity starts to doubt more than just her story. Is her relationship with Jeremy as stable as she thought, or will that backfire on her as well?
Again – loved the book! It was so fun to catch back up with Serenity, who is just a blast to read about. I also really enjoyed the new character – Lizzie – who worked with Serenity as a fact checker. I thought she really added depth to the plot. It was also nice to get some more insight on Serenity’s best friend Kirsty and her family. Kirsty was having a hard time with husband Tim in the previous book, and a pregnancy shocker had her all sorts of rattled. I was really pleased with how their story turned out. And of course, Jeremy and Serenity’s relationship had me all filled with happiness when I got to the end of the book. Such a cute couple, and hopefully now they will learn to communicate! I believe there is another book in this series, and I will wait (impatiently yet again) for that to be released. If you have yet to read something from Talli Roland – quit reading my review and get on it!
[Rating: 4.5]
Favorite Books of 2011
Samantha’s Favorite Reads of 2011!
As another year comes to an end, a fun thing we book bloggers like to do is look back and crown our favorites of all favorites when it comes to books we read. Throughout 2011, I read and reviewed 143 books, a twenty-two book increase compared to 2010. Not too shabby considering I also published my own novel and started CLP Blog Tours! I can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store for me, but for now, let’s reflect on my Favorites of 2011!
GIVEAWAY: Build a Man by Talli Roland
How far would you go to create the perfect partner? Slave to the rich, rude and deluded, cosmetic surgery receptionist Serenity Holland longs for the…
Build a Man by Talli Roland
Talli Roland is rapidly running up my ladder of favorite authors. I couldn’t wait to read the latest from her, Build a Man, and am grateful she keeps sending copies my way! This story follows Serenity Holland, an American living across the Pond and working as receptionist at her boyfriend’s cosmetic surgery clinic. She really has dreams of being a tabloid reporter, and she is trying desperately to get noticed from a magazine. It is at the clinic that she meets Jeremy Ritchie, a man determined to have a complete transformation. Jeremy wants plastic surgery from head to toe to make over who he has become, and Serenity’s boyfriend Peter is just the man for the job. Serenity catches of the eye of a tabloid with her story about Jeremy––a man so obsessed with plastic surgery––and finally lands a chance to become a real writer! But will going undercover work in Serenity’s favor, or will she watch everything fall apart?
I am happy to put Build a Man on my Favorites List and give it a whopping five stars! Roland has everything right in this story––a sweet but confused heroine, a gripping plot, and lots of laugh along the way. I was invested from the beginning, and had to see how Serenity and Jeremy’s story played out. The only gripe I was about to have was that it ended too quickly––I felt that Serenity and Jeremy were only just beginning when the story came to an end, but then I saw there is a sequel––hurray! If you haven’t read anything yet from Roland, get her on your list!
[Rating: 5]
Mid-Week Mailbox- November 16
In My Mailbox: Mid-Week of November 13
Title: Year of the Chick
Author: Romi Moondi
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: An awkward family homecoming at Christmas.
A humiliating public weigh-in, with two judging parents as the audience.
The announcement of a deadline for arranged marriage doom.
And that’s just the first two chapters.
In “Year of the Chick,” Romi Narindra must find love before her parents find her a husband. This is a difficult task in a world where self-consciousness is at an-all-time high, and dating experience at an all-time low.
Severely lacking in seductive skills and uninspired by her corporate job, Romi turns to what she loves, by writing about her quest to find love on her brand new blog.
From whiskey-breath scum bags to uni-browed creeps and everything in between, Romi and her wingmen come up empty time after time. But hope floats again when she meets a fellow writer unexpectedly.
On the Internet.
So will it be arranged marriage doom, or an Internet affair that’s not as creepy as “To Catch a Predator?”
Time will tell in the “year of the chick,” a twelve-month quest to find love.
Tick-tock.
Title: Here
Author: Denise Grover Swank
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Sixteen year old Julia Phillips buries herself in guilt after killing her best friend Monica in a car accident. Julia awoke in the hospital with a broken leg, a new talent for drawing and false memories of the accident, in which she dies and Monica lives. The doctors attribute this to her head injury, but no one can explain how a bracelet engraved with her name ended up at the scene of the accident. A bracelet no one has ever seen before.
Classmate Evan Whittaker paid Julia no attention before the accident, let alone after. Now suddenly he’s volunteering to tutor her and offering to drive her home. She can’t ignore that his new obsession started after his two-day disappearance last week and that he wears a pendant she’s been drawing for months. When the police show up one night looking for Evan, he begs Julia to run with him, convincing her that Monica is still alive. Julia agrees to go, never guessing where he’s really from.
Title: Build a Man
Author: Talli Roland
Received: From Talli Roland
Synopsis: How far would you go to create the perfect partner?
Slave to the rich, rude and deluded, cosmetic surgery receptionist Serenity Holland longs for the day she’s a high-flying tabloid reporter. Unfortunately, every pitch she sends out disappears like her clients’ liposuctioned fat, never to be seen again. Then she meets Jeremy Ritchie — the hang-dog man determined to be Britain’s Most Eligible Bachelor by making himself over from head to toe and everything in between — giving Serenity a story no editor could resist.
With London’s biggest tabloid on board and her very own column tracking Jeremy’s progress from dud to dude, Serenity is determined to be a success, even going undercover to gain intimate access to Jeremy’s life. But when Jeremy’s surgery goes drastically wrong and Serenity is ordered to cover all the car-crash goriness, she must decide how far she really will go for her dream job.
Title: Stay Tuned
Author: Lauren Clark
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: What happens when a #1 news team becomes the top story instead of reporting it? For TV producer Melissa Moore, crisis management comes with the job. From employee disputes to her high-maintenance boss, there’s not much she hasn’t seen or can’t handle. But no one—including Melissa—expects a fistfight during the ten o’clock news. When sexy-but-crazy Alyssa Andrews lands a punch on her co-anchor’s face, Melissa jumps on set to help. She’s determined that WSGA’s reputation won’t be destroyed on her watch. Both anchors are fired and Melissa agrees to fill in—but not before polishing her look from haircut to heels. While the new Melissa wows WSGA viewers, her personal life starts fraying at the edges. Melissa’s husband is away more than he’s home, leaving cryptic Post-it notes in his wake. Her mother’s antics spiral out of control at the nursing home and a stalker decides Melissa is her next target. What happens next? Stay Tuned to find out…
Title: Blue Straggler
Author: Kathy Lynn Harris
Received: By Laura Pepper Wu
Synopsis: A blue straggler is a star that has an anomalous blue color and appears to be disconnected from those stars that surround it.
But this is not a story about astronomy.
Bailey Miller is “disconnected” from the cluster of her rural south Texas family. She has never quite fit in and now in her early 30s, she finds herself struggling with inner turmoil and a series of bad choices in her life.
