The Green Ticket Turns One!
My second (virtual) child has turned one! Right before Christmas last year, I was giving myself a wonderful gift in publishing my second title, 14…
In My Mailbox: Week of December 1
Title: The Chick Lit Cookbook
Author: Alicia de los Reyes
Received: Alicia de los Reyes
Synopsis: You’ve said it a dozen times before: If only you had the chance, you would write a chick lit novel. But between job, boyfriend, kids, school — life — you just can’t find the time.
The Chick Lit Cookbook: A Guide to Writing Your Novel in 30 Minutes a Day is the solution. This fun, cupcake-themed guide will take you from start to finish of your first draft. In 13 chapters, each with a short exercise that will get you writing now, you will learn how to create the perfect main character, her ideal love interest, a world for her to live in and an adventure that will draw in readers. You will outline your entire first draft — and then you will write it.
The Chick Lit Cookbook is a beginner’s guide to writing funny, snappy, sucks-you-into-the-story prose about modern women, life and love. It is full of tips and techniques, prompts and pep talks that will spark your imagination and inspire you to put pen to paper. The exercises can be done while sitting on the bus, waiting at the doctor’s office, or talking on the phone with your mother-in-law. This book will show you that you can and will write a chick lit novel.
Whether you’ve been wishing for years that you could write chick lit or are a brand-new fan of Bridget Jones and Becky Bloomwood, you owe it to yourself to pick up this guide. The Chick Lit Cookbook will prove to you that writing a novel can be fun and easy — it’s just like baking cupcakes!
Title: A Delicate Bond
Author: JoAnn Hornak
Received: JoAnn Hornak
Synopsis: Natalie is just seventeen days away from getting married when Lisa, her maid of honor and best friend of ten years, sends her a cold
e-mail announcing that she will not be able to come to the wedding. When Natalie discovers the reason behind Lisa’s sudden baffling behavior, their friendship quickly unravels. Natalie cannot believe how selfish Lisa is being, while Lisa thinks Natalie’s standards for friendship are too high. Natalie and Lisa are soon faced with major upheavals in their lives. In the process of working through their problems without the support of one another, Natalie and Lisa are forced to face their deepest fears and failings. Each woman sets off on a journey of self-discovery as they examine what went wrong in their friendship and whether it is possible to be “too honest” with a good friend.
Title: Synchronized Breathing
Author: Tara Ellison
Received: Tara Ellison
Synopsis: Nothing announces the failure of one’s life quite as loudly as having to move back in with your mother at the ripe old age of thirty-five. Unfortunately for Scarlett Spencer, her marriage has recently imploded and she’s headed to Beverly Hills—toddler in tow—to move in with her oversexed mother, CeCe. But maneuvering life back at home isn’t the only challenge . . .
After being a stay-at-home mom, Scarlett wades back into the Hollywood employment pool with hilarious results. Even more terrifying is the prospect of reentering the dating world. She soon learns that balancing motherhood with the unique demands of Hollywood men creates a new twist on the dating dilemma. Tired of dating jerk after jerk, Scarlett goes on a self-imposed “man-diet,” which isn’t easy when her mother is perpetually on a manhunt. But in the quiet of this new man-free existence, Scarlett discovers what is really important in her life.
Synchronized Breathing is a cheeky, light-hearted story about moving on and realizing that mother doesn’t always know best.
Title: Love on a Budget
Author: Norma L Jarrett
Received: Norma L Jarrett
Synopsis: Jake Jiles was always handy with tools. Despite his love for all things do-it-yourself, he went to college and majored in business to fulfill his parents’ dream. He finally got the courage to leave his corporate job and start his “Honey-Do-4-Hire” business. Less than a year in, he’s already exhausted his savings and still living at home with his mother, but he’s determined to birth his franchise. Consumed with his business and fresh off a breakup, he wasn’t in the market for Mrs. Right. But after completing a job on Valentine’s Day, his potential dream girl, Sky showed up. After a brief chat over her car dilemma, he ignored the chemistry and left without her number. But cupid and God had other plans. After a divine connection, the only thing that stood between Jake and Sky, were funds. Will Jake pursue “Love on a Budget” or miss out because the price is too high?
Blog Tour Sign Up: Storm in a B Cup by …
Sophie Molloy has Breast Cancer. She didn’t think it was cancer to begin with, she thought it was another cyst. She also didn’t think it would be the catalyst for a series of life changing events, none of which involved chemotherapy.
Within months of her diagnosis, Sophie loses not only her right breast but her boyfriend of three years, her house and her so-called best friend. Her life goes from great to bad, then ugly, and nothing can make it better, not even the crazy care packages her mother keeps sending from Melbourne.
To make matters worse, Sophie fears she’s developing a crush on the plastic surgeon that will be reconstructing her breast. Dr. Hanson has the bedside manner of an angel and the looks to match. He’s so caring and compassionate, Sophie begins to believe he cares about her in a most non-doctor-patient kind of way. But he doesn’t, of course. He’s merely her doctor. Or does he?
Book Review: Obitchuary by Stephanie Hayes
Reviewer: Samantha I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Summary: Penny Perkins, journalist, upstanding citizen, dutiful bridesmaid, just killed…
Future Tour: Life in Plan B by Jennifer Vessells
Jennifer will be on tour January 20-31 with her chick lit/women’s fiction novel Life in Plan B When twenty-eight year old Haley Simpson, a sales associate…
Book Review: A Slight Change of Plan by Dee Ernst
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
Kate Everett is about to begin her “second act.” She’s been a widow for eight years and thinks it might be time to start looking for someone to share her life with again. She quits her high-pressure job for something that will allow her more leisure time. She gets rid of the huge family home and moves into a fabulous condo that’s smaller and easier to manage. She’s pretty much got the rest of her life figured out. All she has to do is sit back, relax, and let the pieces fall into place.
But her real life never gets the memo. First, her son moves back in with her—along with his girlfriend. Her dream job falls through, leaving her unemployed. Her mother, whom she hadn’t spoken to in years, can no longer live alone and has to move into her basement. And her only daughter is planning the smallest and simplest wedding in the history of all weddings, much to Kate’s dismay.
Kate thinks that she and Jake, her former college love who has reemerged on an online dating site, of all places, can build something real, and that maybe her happy ending is in front of her at last. But the arrival of Edward, her daughter’s future father-in-law, presents Kate with an unexpected choice.
It looks like real happiness may require a slight change of plan.
Review:
I know people say that if you don’t think you can relate to a main character, you might want to a pass on a book. This I don’t agree with. Some of my favorite books have featured mothers and women either much older or younger than me, and I’ve had a fine time reading their stories. A Slight Change of Plan falls into that category. Kate is fifty-five and a widow, with three grown children. I’m twenty-six, recently married, zero kids (unless you count my new puppy). But her story captivated me from the beginning and I eagerly read this book quite quickly. There are plenty of interesting sub-plots – from Kate dealing with her mother, her daughter getting married, her son having a baby – that each chapter felt action-packed, even when the main storyline wasn’t being discussed. A very well-written story, and I would recommend!
4.5 stars
Book Review: Dangled Carat by Hilary Grossman
Reviewer: Terry I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. Dangled Carat is a fun love story about a woman that was…
Novel Spotlight: Merry Chick Lit Celebrate the Season with Six …
BOOK BLURB: Merry Chick Lit Celebrate the Season with Six Sassy Shorts In the spirit of giving, six chick-lit authors “present” a charming collection…
In My Mailbox: Week of November 24
Title: Buried Leads
Author: LynDee Walker
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: When an Armani-clad corpse turns up in the woods, crime reporter Nichelle Clarke smells a scoop. A little digging, and Nichelle uncovers a web of corruption that stretches all the way to Washington, D.C. Politics. Murder. And a dead lobbyist. It’s everything Nichelle’s ever dreamed of.
The cops are playing it close, the feds even closer, and Nichelle’s afraid her boss will assign the story to the political desk any day. Richmond’s new ATF SuperCop makes an arrest before she can say “Louboutin,” but Nichelle’s gut says he’s got the wrong guy.
Her sexy Mafia boss friend warns her off the case, her TV rival is hot on her designer heels, an ambitious copy editor wants her beat, and victims are piling up faster than she can track them down. As Nichelle zeroes in on the truth, it’ll take some fancy footwork to nab this headline before the killer nabs her.
Title: Mounting the Whale
Author: Colleen McCarty
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: The self-made and affluent Pierce family is hurled into a seamy kidnapping plot when they receive a text message from Janine–the most troubled of all the Pierce children.
“Cartel got me, tell mom”
The siblings, drowning in their own problems, are forced to focus on the task at hand: a half-cocked rescue mission that involves a borrowed yacht, a favor from a notorious drug kingpin, and a shocking reunion none of them expected.
When the family decides to sneak into Mexico, mother Cybil is forced to deal with a rival CEO whom she’s developed feelings for in secret. Her only son, Tom, is willing to risk bodily harm to save Janine while his other sisters, Carlyle and Valerie, suspect that the kidnapping is less than legitimate.
The long sea voyage tests the limits of the family’s already frail bonds. Dark secrets of infertility, drugs, gambling and extreme taxidermy begin to float to the surface. But nothing compares to what they begin to learn about their missing sister.
If they’re going to make it out alive, they have to recognize they’re fighting the same battles and facing life’s greatest challenges: love, loneliness, and the struggle to find a place in the world.
Amidst all the chaos, the Pierce family is brought face-to-face with the ugliness of Janine’s addictions, the truth about their mother’s fortune and the most terrifying question of all: Can you really save someone who doesn’t want to be saved?
Title: New Beginnings
Author: Mary Metcalfe
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Workaholic real estate agent Carol Brock can’t seem to find a good man. Her first husband cheated with a law clerk less than half his age. Then she found herself in a string of bad relationships with unscrupulous men, including a con man and art thief, who shredded her professional reputation and strained her relationship with her college-age children. Carol has sworn off men and is determined to reclaim her life and career on her terms. But, when Boston’s most eligible bachelor, restoration specialist Devin Elliott, puts in an offer on a charming Victorian, Carol admits she’s attracted. Devin’s offer unwittingly unleashes a psychopathic rage in an ex-girlfriend that spills into Carol’s life. As she and Devin try to stay one step ahead of violence, Carol must decide whether she’s ready to risk her heart again.
Title: The City Center
Author: Simone Pond
Received: Simone Pond
Synopsis: During the man-made apocalypse in the 21st century, a group of elites killed off a majority of the population. Only two groups of survivors remained––those selected to reside inside the Los Angeles City Center and the rebels, relegated to live on the Outside.
Centuries later, Ava Rhodes is one of five potential successors competing to become the next Queen of the City Center. A week prior to the final competitions she encounters Joseph, a rebel from the Outside, and discovers her utopian home is actually a prison and breeding facility aimed at designing the perfect human. She escapes with Joseph to the Outside world, sending the City Center’s leader, Chief Morray, into an obsessive pursuit for his property.
Along the journey, Ava falls in love with Joseph and discovers an even darker secret about the fate of her people. She must decide whether to stay with Joseph, or save her people from destruction.
Title: The Echoes of Love
Author: Hannah Fielding
Received: Midas PR
Synopsis: Venetia Aston-Montague has escaped to Italy’s most captivating city to work in her godmother’s architect firm, putting a lost love behind her. For the past ten years she has built a fortress around her heart, only to find the walls tumbling down one night of the carnival when she is rescued from masked assailants by an enigmatic stranger, Paolo Barone.
Drawn to the powerfully seductive Paolo, and despite warnings of his Don Juan reputation and rumours that he keeps a mistress, Venetia can’t help being caught up in the smouldering passion that ignites between them.
When she finds herself assigned to a project at his magnificent home deep in the Tuscan countryside, Venetia not only faces a beautiful young rival but also a sinister count and dark forces in the shadows, determined to come between them.
Can Venetia trust that love will triumph, even over her own demons? Or will Paolo’s carefully guarded, devastating secret tear them apart for ever?
Title: Melting Ms Frost
Author : Kat Black
Received: LightBrigrade PR
Synopsis: When Aidan Flynn walks into Cluny’s Restaurant, he can’t take his eyes off his new flame haired boss, Annabel Frost. With his heart set on seducing her, Aidan can think of nothing but getting beneath her cold exterior.
Known as one of the toughest women in the business, Annabel is impervious to Aidan’s many charms, and his sultry-eyed looks and lilting Irish accent do anything but captivate her.
But Aidan knows there’s more to Annabel than meets the eye. And he’s not going to stop until she reveals all…
