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The Look of Love by Jill Egizii
Chick Lit Review

The Look of Love by Jill Egizii

Anna has spent twenty years in a marriage from hell, locked in with Erik because of their children and politics. Erik is a successfully trial attorney with ties to equally successfully politicians, and each time Anna has tried for a divorce, Erik is quick to put an end to it. Anna finally realizes she has no choice but to get away from her tainted marriage for her own safety and the safety of her children, but once they are separated everything begins to fall apart for Anna. Erik starts using his powerful connections with the law to keep Anna away from her children, and using his manipulation skills to deteriorate the once strong bond between a mother and her kids.
The Look of Love by Jill Egizii was a touching story, yet I found it difficult to read at times. The brutal honesty and eyes wide open look at parental alienation, psychological devastation, and manipulation of the justice system was hard to swallow at times. Egizii is an advocate for parental alienation awareness, serving as a board member on a number organizations to educate about the devastating effects, and the knowledge readers can gain from this novel is profound. The story that surrounds love, family, and a mother’s quest of well-being for her children is heart-warming and compelling.
Rating: 4/5

June 30, 2010
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The Journey Home by Michael Baron
Chick Lit Review

The Journey Home by Michael Baron

The Journey Home by Michael Baron is a beautiful story that intertwines the lives of four very different individuals. Joseph, a man in his late thirties, is awoken one day with no recollection of who is, where he is, or why he has no memory of his life. All he knows is that his wife is waiting for him, needs him, and it is up to him to find her. Will, a young boy, becomes his traveling companion, and is wanting to get away from his foster parents. Antoinette is an elderly woman living in assisted care, still grieving the death of her husband who passed six years earlier. Her son, Warren, visits her frequently but is going through his share of struggles. He is in the process of a divorce and has lost his job, so he begins to spend more time with his mother, often cooking her meals that she was once cooked for him. Each character is struggling to find happiness and home, and Baron does an excellent job at transitioning between each of their respective lives and journeys. I didn’t get pulled it right away, it took me a few chapters of getting to know the characters and differentiate between the situations, but once I was able to get past the multiple points of view, I was all in. A definite recommendation.
Rating: 4/5

June 29, 2010
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In My Mailbox: Week of June 27th
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In My Mailbox: Week of June 27th

In My Mailbox: Week of June 27th

Title: Welcome to My Life
Author: Micheline McAllister
Received: From Micheline McAllister
Synopsis: Lights, camera, action! Samantha Kelly is a thirty something personal assistant working in Hollywood, and still looking for the perfect role as an adored girlfriend with a balanced checkbook, good friends, and all the respect she deserves. But somehow, she’s caught in a world where she working fourteen hour days, her boyfriends are cheating, her bosses are completely crazy, and her friends aren’t quite to be trusted. Even worse, as the glamour quotient in her life goes up, her bank account begins to skyrocket down. As she moves from being a personal assistant to becoming an actress, and from boyfriend to boyfriend, she begins to slowly rescript her life. But can she make a fairytale come true and find the life she’s meant to lead? And will that life have the happy ending Sam’s so desperate for? This is a brash and funny account of Hollywood, told by an author who lived through it. Full of insider information about the entertainment world and its denizens, and peppered with a roster of famous names, this is smart and savvy chick lit with a Hollywood pedigree.

Title: Love You, Love Your Work, Let’s Do Lunch!
Author: Micheline McAllister
Received: From Micheline McAllister
Synopsis: Love You, Love Your Work, Letas Do Lunch! is about a talented teleplay writer, Ashling Donovan, who moves from Des Moines to L.A. to live with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, she doesnat have the proper Hollywood connections to get a writing job on a television show, so reluctantly she takes a position as a production assistant. When, unexpectedly, she splits up with her boyfriend, she finds herself looking for a place to live and having to make her own future as a writer. She comes up with a brilliant idea and tells one lie that changes her entire world. Just like that, she is a head writer, creator of a new show, and her own personal assistant. Can this girl from Iowa make a career for herself living a double life and find happiness again?

Title: Tuesday Tells it Slant
Author: Holly Christine
Received: Amanda Parker- BookSparks PR
Synopsis: Tuesday Morning has always been a little… different. She’s kept a diary since 1989 and while researching for her senior seminar paper on Emily Dickinson’s Transcendental tendencies, reads a poem that will change her life. And not just her future. Tuesday changes her past. We all have secrets and skeletons in our closets, but Tuesday has managed to clean hers out with a pen and a diary. Just how precious is our past? And how much has our past created what we are today? How far would you go to forget your past? Tuesday Tells it Slant is a story about the tension between one’s past and personal dreams with a uniquely purposed presentation.

June 28, 2010
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Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin
Chick Lit Review

Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin

I was waiting anxiously to read Emily Giffin’s fifth novel, Heart of the Matter, as I have yet to be disappointed by this talented author. And sure enough, the opening scene is enough to draw me in and start rooting for the characters. The novel is narrated in turn by both Tessa, the wife of pediatric plastic surgeon Nick Russo, and Valerie, mother to Charlie who is burned badly while at a sleepover. Nick starts to dangerously cross the professional line with his patient Charlie and mother Valerie, and Tessa begins to suspect Nick is having an affair. With both women telling their side of the story, it is impossible to be unsympathetic to either, and my heart was literally aching for each family. The emotions this story brought out of me were intense: at one point I actually threw the book away from me I was so distraught and crying! I can fully say that is the first time I have really let me emotions get the best of me during a reading.
It’s no question that Heart of the Matter will be going under my ‘favorites’ section. Giffin fans will be delighted that yet again her past characters are making cameos, as Tessa is the sister to Dex from Something Borrowed. Dex and Rachel appear multiple times throughout the story, and it was great fun meeting up with them again and seeing where they are in their respective lives. Once I got to the last three chapters, there was no chance of putting it down. This layered novel will pull readers in from the beginning, and keep them wanting more after the last page is turned.

June 19, 2010
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Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner
Chick Lit Review

Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner

Jennifer Weiner’s seventh novel, Best Friends Forever, may fool readers into thinking this is some lovey-dovey over the top story about friendship, but don’t fall for that. The story begins with a possible homicide at a ten year high school reunion, when the beautiful Valerie tries seeking revenge on Dan Swansea but possibly goes too far. When Valerie realizes she may need help, she seeks out childhood best friend, Addie Downs, to bail her out of the sticky situation. Addie is shocked to find Valerie on her doorstep, especially after the major falling out the girls had in high school. It doesn’t take much for Valerie to apologize for her previous actions and rope Addie into her off the wall schemes in trying to elude the police, turning this novel into a Thelma and Louise type plot.
I did enjoy reading about how the girls were able to mend a once broken friendship, but at times it was too over the top for me. With a police officer that conveniently falls for Addie after one glance, a harebrained scheme of robbing a bank, and a religious intervention taking place at the end, I found myself shaking my head in disbelief on more than one occasion. But underneath that, the focus on ugly duckling Addie as she struggles with her weight, a slew of disastrous blind dates, and caring for her troubled brother kept me happily occupied during my reading. I think chick lit fans will appreciate the differences in these friends and the backgrounds they have come from, and of course- the underlying romantic plot between Addie and the officer. Best Friends Forever wasn’t my favorite Jennifer Weiner novel, but I still recommend it for a good beach read.
Rating: 4/5

June 18, 2010
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On Folly Beach by Karen White
Chick Lit Review

On Folly Beach by Karen White

Emmy Hamilton is grieving the death of her young husband, Ben, who lost his life serving in Afghanistan. Emmy isn’t sure she will ever be able to move on from the tragedy, but her mother convinces her to seek out Folly Beach, particularly the bookstore Folly’s Finds. Emmy’s love for books and history is strong, and when she receives a box of books from Folly’s Finds, she uncovers what she believes is a love story from the 1940’s during WWII. The letters hidden away between the pages are enough to convince Emmy to move away and try to piece together who exactly the lovers were- and clear up a possible murder that may have been committed in the past.
Once Emmy moves to Folly Beach and begins work at Folly’s Finds, the mysteries from the 1940’s start to piece together. Emmy meets Lulu, whose sister Maggie was the original owner of the bookstore, and possible author of the love letters. Though Lulu is quite tight-lipped about the past, Emmy starts learning more about Lulu, Maggie, and the world they lived in more than sixty years earlier.
On Folly Beach by Karen White is a gripping masterpiece that is really two stories in one. While the book opens with Emmy’s story, the chapters switch between Emmy and Maggie, giving readers an inside look at each woman’s journey to find love and happiness. I have yet to discover another book that kept me up for hours just so I could finish the story and feel the closure of the characters. I will say it took me a few chapters to really get excited about the events that were taking place, but it didn’t take long before I was completely immersed under White’s spell. Prepare for your emotions to run wild when you read On Folly Beach, as the writing is as real as the characters are genuine.

June 15, 2010
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In My Mailbox: Week of June 13th
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In My Mailbox: Week of June 13th

In My Mailbox: Week of June 13, 2010

Title: Crossed Wires
Author: Rosy Thornton
Received: From Rosy Thornton
Synopsis: This is the story of Mina, a girl at a Sheffield call centre, whose next customer in the queue is Peter, and Cambridge geography don, who has crashed his car into a tree stump. Despite their differences, they’ve got a lot in common-both single, both parents, both looking for love. Could it be that they’ve just found it? This is a story about the small joys and tribulations of parenthood, about one-ness and two-ness, about symmetry and coincidence, about the things that separate us and the things that bring us together.

Title: Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker
Author: Marla Martenson
Received: From Marla Martenson
Synopsis: In Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker, Marla takes her readers for a hilarious romp through her days as an L.A. matchmaker and her daily struggles to keep her self-esteem from imploding in a town where looks are everything and money talks. From juggling the demands her out-of-touch clients to trying her best to meet the capricious demands of an insensitive boss to the ups and downs of her own marriage to a Latin husband who doesnt think that she is domestic enough, Marla writes with charm and self-effacement about the universal struggles that all women face in their lives. Readers will laugh, cringe, and cry as they journey with her through outrageous stories about the indignities of dating in Los Angeles, dealing with overblown egos, vicariously hobnobbing with celebrities, and navigating the wannabe-land of Beverly Hills. In a city where perfection is almost a prerequisite, even Marla cant help but run for the Botox every once in a while.

June 13, 2010
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Just Like Me, Only Better by Carol Snow
Chick Lit Review

Just Like Me, Only Better by Carol Snow

Veronica Czaplicki is miserable after her husband leaves her for their older relator. She thought men only strayed to younger and tighter and pastures, but not in her case. Now she is living in Orange County as a single mother to Ben, playing second fiddle to his father and the mega-rich relator he has moved on to. This substitute teacher has a twist of fate interfere one night when she is mistaken as Haley Rush- a young superstar trying to rise to Hollywood fame. When Haley’s manager gets word of Veronica’s uncanny resemblance to his client, he convinces her to stand in for Haley at press events and photo ops, citing Haley is exhausted from her acting and singing demands.
At first Veronica is thrilled- she gets to bank $100/hour just to get dressed up and meet other celebrities- including the hunky Brady Ellis. But Veronica soon learns the downfall of being a celebrity- the nasty comments on the internet about her appearance and being duped by another rising celebrity. Add to the situation that Haley Rush isn’t exhausted she’s just plain crazy, makes Veronica think that her normal life isn’t so bad.
Just Like Me, Only Better by Carol Snow is a fun read for those who enjoy hearing about celebrity shenanigans. What made this book one of my favorites is that is breaks away from the usual patterns. Instead of leaving her for a young cat, Veronica’s husband leaves her for an older woman. And when you think you know exactly what will be the next step or move a character will make, you’re blindsided by something completely different- and usually hilarious. I really enjoyed seeing how the heroine balanced her celebrity life and life as a single, struggling mom. The multiple romances that play out throughout the book are comically funny as well. Highly recommended!

June 10, 2010
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In My Mailbox: Week of June 6th
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In My Mailbox: Week of June 6th

In My Mailbox: Week of June 6, 2010

Title: EyeLeash: A Blog Novel
Author: Jess C Scott
Received: From Jess C Scott
Synopsis: Jade Ashton is a sassy virgin. In her blog, she vents about “fitting in” a superficial world. Suddenly all logic flies out the window when she meets Novan: the former geek, who’s morphed into a delicious songwriter-musician. EyeLeash captures self-discovery in the 2000s, and showcases the intricate drama in two youths’ relentless search for themselves–and what’s really in their hearts.

Title: The Starlet
Author: Mary McNamara
Received: From Regal Literary
Synopsis: It’s a not-so-well-respected rule in Hollywood that what happens on location stays on location. But when a hot young leading man winds up dead in his Rome hotel room, his costar’s life is about to go off the rails in a very public way—even by celeb standards.
At the tender age of twenty-three, Mercy Talbot has won an Oscar, battled addiction, wrecked more than her share of cars, and burned down her house. Her look-alike mother keeps her on a tight leash (and fueled with an endless supply of OxyContin and cocaine) and her producers demand a grueling schedule. By the time she stumbles across Juliette Greyson, a Hollywood insider on a much-needed vacation, Mercy is surrounded by photographers and about to emerge drunk, high, and naked from a public fountain. Whisking her away to an idyllic Tuscan ‘retreat,’ Juliette is about to discover another rule of Hollywood: wherever the starlet may go, the drama will follow.

June 6, 2010
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