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Good-Bye To All That by Margo Candela

I received a copy of Good-Bye To All That in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
When her Hollywood career goes haywire, a young woman must say good-bye to all that . . . or must she?
Raquel Azorian has worked her way from temp to executive assistant and is this close to a promotion to junior marketing exec at Belmore Corporation, the media behemoth she’s devoted herself to. She’s learned to play the Hollywood game—navigate office politics, schmooze the right people, avoid the wrong ones, and maintain a sense of decorum even in the craziest of times. All she needs is for her boss to sign her promotion memo. Instead of putting pen to paper, he suffers a very public meltdown that puts not only his professional future but also Raquel’s on the line.
Getting to the next rung on the Belmore ladder will require every ounce of focus, but that’s not going to be easy. Raquel’s mom has decided to leave her husband and move into Raquel’s apartment, and her older brother seems to be sinking deeper and deeper into depression. Raquel has to keep her job, stop her parents from divorcing, and save her brother. In the chaos of juggling so much, she finally reaches a breaking point: there’s just not enough time for everything or for everyone. She’s going to have to choose—success at work or happiness at home. But then a chance encounter at a bookstore café leads Raquel to start planning her own Hollywood ending . . . on her own terms.
My Review:
I highly enjoy books that are set in LA, and Good-Bye To All That is a fun read filled with cute and quirky characters. Raquel is a smart and determined heroine, who has learned how to play the Hollywood game to get her deserved promotion. She was almost overshadowed by her mother Marlene, who moves in with her while threatening to divorce Raquel’s father, and her sister-in-law Cricket (seriously!) and her barrage of issues. Those characters and a few others bring the funny, but Candela’s writing also shows how a strong female can take control of her life. I recommend!
[Rating: 4]

All At Sea by Heather Wardell

I received a copy of All At Sea in exchange for an honest review. This is Heather Wardell’s tenth novel – what a feat! And I’ve read all ten – what a …feat? 🙂 But she is an author whose books I have highly enjoyed, and I hope she keeps them coming. All At Sea is part of the Toronto series, but these books can be read on their own, they just bring back past characters that you might get a kick out of revisiting if you’ve read the previous novels. The story focuses on Melissa and Owen, who met New Years Eve and were engaged by Valentine’s Day. The month is now March, and they are preparing to get married on a cruise ship. Melissa has her mom with her along with her best friend Wendy and Wendy’s boyfriend Mark. Not the big wedding party she once imagined, but she is fine with it. She also didn’t picture getting married in the chapel of a cruise ship, but she’s fine with it. A big thing she is not fine with – having dated both of Owen’s brothers. Melissa gets a shock when she meets Nicholas and Austin and realizes that she had a fling with Austin and something more serious with Nicolas – and then broke his heart. Owen doesn’t seem to have a problem with the awkwardness, as he’s too busy spending every waking hour in the casino. Melissa wasn’t aware of his love for gambling either, but she’s fine with it. As the cruise ship chugs along, Melissa realizes that she might be making a mistake – and that being “fine” in a marriage just might not be enough.
What a fun and unique read! Finding out you’ve dated both of your fiancé’s brothers – what a hoot! This is a book where I really liked the supporting cast- from the brothers to Wendy and Mark to Nicholas’s girlfriend and even some randoms Melissa met on the ship. The details were very spot-on throughout, and I was invested the whole way through. I have been known to be shocked at some of Wardell’s past endings, and that made me unsure what choice Melissa was going to make at the end, which I enjoyed. The suspense was killing me! All At Sea is a very cute read that also dives deep into relationships and what is takes to make a marriage work, and I highly recommend this book and more from Heather Wardell!
[Rating: 4.5]

Home For Christmas by Cally Taylor

I received a copy of Home For Christmas in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
Beth Prince has always loved fairytales and now, aged twenty-four, she feels like she’s finally on the verge of her own happily ever after. She lives by the seaside, works in the Picturebox – a charming but rundown independent cinema – and has a boyfriend who’s so debonair and charming she can’t believe her luck! There’s just one problem – none of her boyfriends have ever told her they love her and it doesn’t look like Aiden’s going to say it any time soon. Desperate to hear ‘I love you’ for the first time Beth takes matters into her own hands – and instantly wishes she hadn’t. Just when it seems like her luck can’t get any worse, bad news arrives in the devilishly handsome shape of Matt Jones. Matt is the regional director of a multiplex cinema and he’s determined to get his hands on the Picturebox by Christmas. Can Beth keep her job, her man and her home or is her romantic-comedy life about to turn into a disaster movie?
My Review:
This was a charming romantic read, and I loved every minute of it! Beth is a down-to-earth, realistic heroine, and I felt like we could be BFF’s. I highly enjoyed Cally Taylor’s writing style, and will definitely seek more from her. The plot lines that connect Beth and Matt were spot-on, and I didn’t want this book to end. I enjoyed the ambition Beth showed as well, that made her even more likeable to me! I was engrossed in Home For Christmas the whole way through, and this is a 5 star worthy read – and not just a seasonal one!
[Rating: 5]

Blog Tour Sign Up: A State of Jane by Meredith …

Jane Frank is ready to fall in love. It’s been a year since her long term relationship ended and far too long since the last time she was kissed. With the LSAT coming up she needs to find a long term boyfriend (or husband) before acing law school and becoming a partner in her father’s law firm. There’s just one problem: All the guys in New York City are flakes. They seemingly drop off the face of the earth with no warning and no explanation. Should she join her best friend Marissa in singlehood, making cupcakes and watching True Blood? Or should she follow her co-worker Andrew’s advice and turn the game on those who scorned her? As Jane attempts to juggle her own responsibilities and put up with the problems of everyone around her, she starts to realize the dating life isn’t as easy as she originally thought.”

On Tour: Picture Perfect by Lucie Simone

Lucie will be on tour September 17- October 15 with her chick lit novel Picture Perfect For Lauren Tate, a high-powered TV producer, sex, lies,…

To Catch a Bad Guy by Marie Astor

I received a copy of To Catch a Bad Guy in exchange for an honest review.

Summary:
Janet Maple’s stellar career ended with a layoff and her boyfriend of almost five years told her that he wants to be just friends. When she lands a job at one of New York’s premier boutique investment firms, Janet begins to hope that her luck is finally turning for the better. Not only is she happy with her new paycheck, but things also seem to be looking up on the personal front, as the company’s handsome attorney expresses keen interest in Janet. However, her euphoria is short-lived, as Janet soon discovers alarming facts about her new employer’s business tactics. When her boss dismisses her suspicions as groundless, Janet finds herself confiding to a cute IT engineer, Dean Snider. The closer she gets to Dean, the more Janet is tempted to break her rule of not dating co-workers, but what she doesn’t realize is that everything she knows about Dean, including his occupation and even his name, is a lie.

Dennis Walker is a top-notch white collar crime investigator who will stop at nothing to put culprits away. When an opportunity for an undercover assignment at one of New York’s premier boutique broker dealers comes up, Dennis jumps at the chance, adopting a persona of geeky IT engineer, Dean Snider. While he may be an ace at his job, years of experience fail him when Dennis meets Janet Maple and finds himself torn between his professional obligations and his personal desires. Will he have to choose between his feelings and duty, or will he find a way to satisfy both?

My Review:
If it’s one thing I love, it’s a good mystery novel. I thought To Catch a Bad Guy had all the elements of intrigue, and it was hard for me to put this down! I loved Janet Maple. Sometimes she could seem to be a bit of a pushover, especially when it came to Lisa, but she was smart and determined, and made for a great MC. I liked that readers got an insight on multiple characters, but there weren’t too many and too much of their inner thoughts to become overwhelming, a major kudo to Marie Astor. There was a lot of jargon with Janet’s work, like stocks and trades at that sort of thing, which sometimes I got puzzled on, but most of the time I just felt like I was in the story with the characters and it barely tripped me up. A very solid mystery yet romance novel, and I can’t wait for the second one in the series!
[Rating: 4.5]

On Tour: Last Minute Love by Romi Moondi

Romi will be on tour September 17- October 8 with her chick lit novel Last Minute Love What’s a girl to do when she meets…

Too Much Trouble in Paradise by Michelle Betham

I received a copy of Too Much Trouble in Paradise in exchange for an honest review.

Summary:
Molly Parker is a DWAG – a darts wife and girlfriend. Or rather, she’s an ex-DWAG after divorcing Paul “Bad Lad” Parker, a professional darts player and the self-pronounced Geordie pantomime villain of the sport, after catching him aiming more than his arrows in the direction of more than a few very willing glamour models.
So, leaving her life – and her ex-husband – behind in their native North East of England, she moves to the Canarian island of Tenerife with her best friend Fran, putting the past behind her, determined to start a whole new life abroad.
Within months of arriving on the island she finds herself engaged to her Spanish boyfriend Antonio – a handsome Canarian bar owner – and with their whirlwind wedding just weeks away she’s the happiest she’s been in a long time with a great job at a Timeshare complex, fantastic friends, and a lovely little home in a country she’s fallen completely in love with.
But what Molly didn’t bank on was her ex-husband turning up out of the blue declaring his undying love for her and begging her to come back to him – and not just because his darts were suffering! His unannounced arrival turns Molly’s new and seemingly perfect life upside down as she suddenly has to face up to feelings she’d thought were long gone, and make decisions she never thought she’d have to make as her whole world is thrown into total confusion. Does she stay in Tenerife and marry her wonderful, romantic, drop-dead-gorgeous Spanish fiancé? Or does she give the man she’d once loved but who’d treated her so badly another chance? Days in the sun or darts – it’s the choice she has to make. Throw in a Bolton-born lounge singer and a Take That tribute act, a famous TV actor with a reputation as a shameless flirt, and a major darts tournament that throws up more than its fair share of surprises, and all of a sudden Molly Parker’s life really is ‘Too Much Trouble in Paradise’ – a romantic comedy; a story of new beginnings, second chances, sun, sea – and darts!
My Review:
I thought this was super cute and breezy read. I’m not sure if it was the dart-playing ex-husband or the island of Tenerife thing that was going on, but I thought this was a different read than a typical romance, and in an enjoyable way. Fun characters, some hilarious situations, but still a lot of heart mixed in with the storyline. Molly is a fun heroine with a struggle, and I have to admit that I was rooting for her ex a lot, even though Antonio sounded delicious! If you enjoy chick lit with romance, I would recommend this book for you!
[Rating: 4]

On Tour: Finding Lucas by Samantha Stroh Bailey

Samantha will be on tour September 10-October 1 with her novel Finding Lucas Can you ever really go back to the past? On her fifth…