On Tour: High-Heels and Slippers by Ella Slayne
Ella will be on tour November 28-December 19 with her novel High-Heels and Slippers Meet Josie Jenkins, a Brit living in Texas, fan of indulgent…
On Tour: Chosen by Chandra Hoffman
Chandra will be on tour November 28- December 19 with her novel Chosen In the spirit of Jodi Picoult and Anna Quindlen, CHOSENfeatures a young…
Dollars to Donuts by Kathleen Kole
Kathleen Kole is on tour with CLP Blog Tours. April Patterson is starting to seriously question her move to Boxwood Hills. The sleepy little suburban town has her dodging her kooky and overly-nosy neighbors, gives her a mystery involving said neighbors and a dead rodent, and leads her relationship with boyfriend Kevin down an unknown path. The bright side to moving? April gets to spend more time with her sister Jessica. Jessica is needed when the mystery deepens, stalkers become involved, and April and Kevin’s new houseguest begins to entice April.
Dollars to Donuts is Kathleen Kole’s second novel, after Breaking Even. Like the first book, this one was a fast and cute read that kept me happily engaged with the characters as I kept reading. I loved the relationship between April and her sister Jessica. It was warm and humorous and sometimes filled with drama, but a strong bond was always there. The neighbors and all the run-ins April had with them kept me laughing out loud, and the mystery kept me wondering what was really going on in her neighborhood. The only part that threw me off was the relationship between April and houseguest Gerrit. Even though April had been with Kevin for years, moved to a new town with him and lived with him, her attraction to Gerrit seemed to really come from nowhere and develop super fast. There were a few times that April came off really uncaring when it came to Kevin, and that rubbed me the wrong way. But I loved how the ending tied everything together and gave each character a happy ending. Another recommendation!
[Rating: 4]
Blog Tour Sign Up: Blank Slate Kate by Heather Wardell
Heather will be on tour in January with her novel Blank Slate Kate. Please note this will be an eBook tour only. Use the sign…
Diary of a Mummy Misfit by Amanda Egan
Libby Marchant and husband Ned are bound and determined to give their only child, son Max, a prestigious education. They work diligently to be able to get him accepted by Manor House Prep School––whether they truly can afford it or not. Once accepted, Libby realizes that maybe prep school isn’t the best place for her. The other moms are first class snobs, she immediately feels out of place, and the competition between the other mothers is chart-topping. Libby befriends Fenella Hunter-Barnes, a rich mother but who is down to earth at the same time. Libby and Fenella easily become fast friends, and team up against the other parents while trying to survive prep school together.
I had a lot of fun reading Diary of a Mummy Misfit by Amanda Egan. I will say that the British slang sometimes left me baffled. I even tried googling a few of the sentences so I could get the full humor, but eventually had to quit because it happened so often. Other than that, I loved Libby’s character––always slightly off-balanced but a loving wife and mother who is just trying to do the best for her son. The friendship she has with Fenella is hysterical. Egan’s writing it quick and witty, filled with humorous tales and quirky scenarios. A really fun chick lit read that I would recommend!
[Rating: 4]
Future Tour: 5 Stages of Grief by Bethany Ramos
Bethany will be on tour January 23-February 6 with her novel 5 Stages of Grief Danielle thinks that the worst is behind her, but she…
Scorpio Rising by Monique Domovitch
Monique Domovitch is on tour with CLP Blog Tours. Scorpio Rising is set in the 1950’s, and follows the lives of Alex Ivanov and Brigitte Dartois. Alex lives in Brooklyn and is determined be rich and successful after growing up in poverty. Brigitte resides in Paris, and has endured horrific childhood abuse. She tries many times to start over, to find her footing, but new challenges keep appearing and holding her back. The lives of these two different individuals are written with fluidity and ease by Domovitch and I was itching for the two to finally meet. I was hooked on both their stories and curious to see how they would end up. This book is a part of a series, the sequel is titled The Sting of Scorpio, so I knew the cliff-hanger was supposed to happen, but the ending felt a little too rushed for me. The whole book seems to be building on Alex and Brigitte and when they will meet, and I though the last few chapters just went way too fast for me to enjoy. I will be looking forward to the second book though, because the cliff hanger was awesome! Can’t wait to see what happens next….
[Rating: 4]
In My Mailbox: Week of November 20
In My Mailbox: Week of November 20
Title: Downward Dog, Upward Fog
Author: Meryl Davids Landau
Received: From Meryl Davids Landau
Synopsis: Lorna Crawford has a great boyfriend, longtime friends, and a well-paying job as special-events coordinator at a premium ice-cream manufacturer. But, out of sorts and filled with self-doubt, the 33 year old soon realizes that what she really wants is to stay on the spiritual path she keeps diving off of. Lorna jump-starts her efforts at a silent yoga retreat. But after returning from the mountain, she quickly loses her connection in the face of scheming coworkers, judgmental girlfriends, and, especially, her overly critical mother. Lorna also wrestles over her future with her boyfriend, a hot guy who takes her to the hottest places, but who can’t discern a meditation cushion from a toad stool. Reading spiritual books and visiting a channeler and energy healer move Lorna forward, but her confusion remains. Lorna’s seeking is put to the ultimate test when personal tragedy strikes. Will she come to truly understand that living spiritually has little to do with how you pretzel yourself on the yoga mat (although she gets plenty good at that), and everything to do with embracing the twists in everyday life?
Title: Busted in Bollywood
Author: Nicola Marsh
Received: Nicola Marsh
Synopsis: Shari Jones needs to get a life. Preferably someone else’s.
Single, homeless and jobless, Indo-American Shari agrees to her best friend’s whacky scheme: travel to Mumbai, pose as Amrita, and ditch the fiancé her traditional Indian parents have chosen. Simple. Until she’s mistaken for a famous Bollywood actress, stalked by a Lone Ranger wannabe, courted by an English lord, and busted by the blackmailing fiancé.
Life is less complicated in New York.
Or so she thinks, until the entourage of crazies follows her to the Big Apple and that’s when the fun really begins. Shari deals with a blossoming romance, an addiction to Indian food and her first movie role, while secretly craving another trip to the mystical land responsible for sparking her new lease on life. Returning to her Indian birthplace, she has an epiphany. Maybe the happily-ever-after of her dreams isn’t so far away?
Title: What Stays in Vegas
Author: Beth Labonte
Received: From Beth Labonte
Synopsis: Bored administrative assistant, Tessa Golden, is trapped in a life of lousy weather, irritating bosses, and mind-numbing secretarial work. Her dreams of being an artist have rapidly deteriorated into building things out of paperclips while on hold with tech support. To make matters even worse, the love of her life has gone off and married another woman.
So when Tessa is suddenly transferred to the Las Vegas branch of her company – playing wingwoman to her freshly divorced boss, juggling a client-from-hell, and catching the eye of one very eligible coworker – will her life finally be shaken up enough to straighten itself out?
Title: The Bollywood Breakup Agency
Author: Naina Gupta
Received: From Prospera Publishing
Synopsis: When party-loving Neela Solanki rejects yet another loser in the long line of potential suitors who keep turning up in the ‘good’ room, her traditional Indian parents finally take decisive action. Fed up with her persistent refusal to provide them with a son-in-law and grandchild, the Solankis confiscate the phone, car and credit cards they pay for, and give her one last chance to comply before she is kicked out of the house.
Desperate for cash, Neela starts up a secret business breaking up the engagements of those trapped in the unstoppable force that is an Indian marriage arrangement. Add to that an addiction to Indian soap operas, being stalked by the latest loser’s father, a jilted ex and a love interest from an unlikely source, and Neela finds life is about to take a turn she never expected.
On Tour: Scorpio Rising by Monique Domovitch
Monique will be on tour November 21-December 8 with her novel Scorpio Rising If the cost of love was the loss of success, which would…
