Chick Lit Plus by Samantha March

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Birthday Giveaway!
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Birthday Giveaway!

I wanted to do something special to help celebrate my birthday week, and what better way than a giveaway? I have been wanting to host a giveaway to help clear some of my ARC’s from my bookshelf, and this seems like the perfect opportunity. I have six books that are up for grabs, with six different winners!

Second Time Around by Beth Kendrick
The Summer We Read Gatsby by Danielle Ganek
Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner
Call Me Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber
A Chesapeake Shores Christmas by Sherryl Woods
Perfect on Paper by Maria Murnane

To enter:
1. Send an email with your full mailing address to Samantha(at)chicklitplus.com. You will not be entered unless I have this email! When you send the email, please also include if there are specific books you would like to win. Or if you would like a chance at all of them, just say so!
2. Post a comment below and let us know one of your favorite birthday memories.
3. For bonus entries, spread the word! Post this contest on Facebook or Twitter.

That’s it! The contest will close the day after my birthday, on Thursday March 24. Please note that I will be choosing a different winner for each book. This contest is open for US residents only.

March 20, 2011
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Marrying Out of Money by Nicky Schmidt
Chick Lit Review

Marrying Out of Money by Nicky Schmidt

Lou Hubbard doesn’t care about money. So what if her father runs a billion dollar coffee empire and the family can afford to lead a luxurious life? All Lou wants to do is settle down with rock star boyfriend, Hedge, and do something good for the environment. But Lou’s mother is dead set against her daughter’s non-lavish ways. The cunning Victoria sets a plan into motion, determined to have Lou marry Harry Stomeworth, simply to gain an aristocratic title. When Harry’s dreadful mother jumps on the plan, Lou and Harry don’t seem to have much of a choice. But that is where the fun begins, and Lou and Harry join forces to try to get out of marrying.
Marrying Out of Money by Nicky Schmidt, is a sort of “anti-romantic comedy.” The characters were over the top and hilarious, especially the two mothers. But I loved the story behind the Lou and Harry, how the young kids want to marry for love and not just money, stability, or titles. Some of the scenes (especially the ones with Hedge) had me laughing out loud at the absurdity. Along that line, I wished that Schmidt would have cleaned up Hedge’s dialogue just a bit. I understand that she wanted to make a point about how he spoke, but it was hard to focus on what he was saying sometimes because he was always so ridiculous sounding and hard to decipher. But overall I thought this was a really engaging, quirky, chick lit book and I definitely recommend!
[Rating: 4.5]

March 18, 2011
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Debut Authors & Novels- March/April
Chick Lit Review

Debut Authors & Novels- March/April

Debut Authors & Novels- March/April 2011

Title: RSVP
Author: Helen Warner
Available: March 2011
Synopsis: Four women, one wedding and a day to remember – or rather forget . . .
Anna’s world is rocked when she receives an invitation to her ex Toby’s nuptials – Toby was The One, The Love of Her Life, The One That Got Away. Will attending his Big Day finally give her the sense of closure she so desperately craves? Or will it only re-open old wounds?

Clare is Anna’s best friend, the person who was there for her when she and Toby split all those years ago. But little does Clare know that Toby’s wedding day will also change her own life for ever.

Ella is a classic femme fatale. She loves men and leaves them without a backward glance. But the one person who’s never fallen for her charms is Toby. As he prepares to get hitched, is it too late for a last-ditch attempt to win his heart?

Finally, Rachel is the blushing bride-to-be. This should be the happiest day of her life. So how come she feels nothing but a terrible sense of foreboding?

Title: Attachments
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Available: April 2011
Synopsis: It’s 1999 and for the staff of one newspaper office, the internet is still a novelty. By day, two young women, Beth and Jennifer, spend their hours emailing each other, discussing in hilarious detail every aspect of their lives, from love troubles to family dramas. And by night, Lincoln, a shy, lonely IT guy spends his hours reading every exchange. At first their emails offer a welcome diversion, but as Lincoln unwittingly becomes drawn into their lives, the more he reads, the more he finds himself falling for one of them. By the time Lincoln realizes just how head-over-heels he really is, it’s way too late to introduce himself. What would he say to her? ‘Hi, I’m the guy who reads your e-mail – and also, I think I love you’. After a series of close encounters, Lincoln decides it’s time to muster the courage to follow his heart . . . and find out whether there really is such a thing as love before first-sight. Heartwarming, witty and unforgettable, ATTACHMENTS is an irresistible romantic comedy that has it all.

Title: Hollywood Sinners
Author: Victoria Fox
Available: April 2011
Synopsis: POWER Marriage to Hollywood heartthrob Cole Steel secured Lana Falcon a glittering place on the red carpet. But running from a wicked past she has trapped herself in a gilded cage the price of freedom…her soul? REVENGE Kate diLaurentis s career is fading as quickly as her looks… What could be worse than discovering her husband s latest mistress is Hollywood s hottest starlet? Her only option the most shocking revenge. LUST Chloe French s innocent beauty has captured a million hearts, but no one’s warned her of the dangerous, dark temptation of rock star Nate – will lust destroy her? GREED Las Vegas King, Robert St Louis s fairytale wedding to Sin City’s richest heiress is tabloid gold… But scandal circles like a vulture – dirty secrets are about to be exposed! BETRAYAL From the deepest desires come the deadliest deeds…and these four couples are about to pay for their sins…

March 17, 2011
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In My Mailbox: March 16
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In My Mailbox: March 16

In My Mailbox: March 16th

Title: Reinventing Mona
Author: Jennifer Coburn
Received: From Jennifer Coburn
Synopsis: What’s new? Me, for starters… It all began when my job offered me a buyout package. That’s when the realization hit: I’m young, I’m rich (thanks to a hefty inheritance), and I’m boring. Things are gonna change-starting now… Building a better man trap… First things first: Exercise. Carrot juice. Straight hair. Whiter teeth. Clothes that fit. But wait-there’s more. I’m finally ready to take a chance on love with the perfect guy. He’s handsome. He’s smart. He’s reliable. He’s my CPA. Problem is, I’m clueless about winning him over. It’s time to call in an expert. It’s time to call in The Dog. Down, boy. Mike “The Dog” Dougherty is a man’s man. A guy’s guy. Okay, he’s a chauvinist pig, and his sty is “The Dog House,” a testosterone-charged column in Maximum for Him magazine. On one hand, I abhor all he stands for. On the other hand, who better to coach me? So here I am. Learning the complex unspoken language of the American male (Talk, bad. Sex, good.); trying exciting new things (Stripping lessons are empowering. Really.); falling for Mike. Uh oh. But the Mike I’m getting to know is different from The Dog. And the Mona I’m becoming isn’t quite who I expected, either. This whole makeover scheme is getting crazier by the minute. But “crazy” beats “boring”…right?

Title: The Untied Kingdom
Author: Kate Johnson
Received: From Choc Lit
Synopsis: Major Harker is fighting on the losing side of an endless civil war in a third world country. It’s called England.
He’s a man with a lot of problems. His ex-wife has just drafted her little sister into his company. His sworn enemy is looking for a promotion. The general wants him to undertake some ridiculous mission to capture a computer, which Harker vaguely envisions running wild somewhere in West Yorkshire. And some damn idiot has just flown out of nowhere and nearly drowned herself in the Thames.
She claims to be a popstar called Eve. Harker doesn’t know what a popstar is, although he suspects it’s a fancy foreign word for “spy”. Eve knows all about computers, and electricity, and the words to many seditious songs. Eve is dangerous. There’s every possibility she’s mad. And Harker is falling in love with her.

Title: The First Husband
Author: Laura Dave
Received: From Laura Dave
Synopsis: Annie Adams is days away from her thirty-second birthday and thinks she has finally found happiness. She visits the world’s most interesting places for her syndicated travel column and she’s happily cohabitating with her movie director boyfriend Nick in Los Angeles. But when Nick comes home from a meeting with his therapist (aka “futures counselor”) and announces that he’s taking a break from their relationship so he can pursue a woman from his past, the place Annie had come to call home is shattered. Reeling, Annie stumbles into her neighborhood bar and finds Griffin–a grounded, charming chef who seems to be everything Annie didn’t know she was looking for. Within three months, Griffin is Annie’s husband and Annie finds herself trying to restart her life in rural Massachusetts.

March 16, 2011
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In My Mailbox: Week of March 13
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In My Mailbox: Week of March 13

In My Mailbox: Week of March 13, 2011

Title: Crystal Balls
Author: Amanda Brobyn
Received: From Amanda Brobyn
Synopsis: Tina Harding is a successful and ambitious estate agent. All is going according to plan and her painful past as a failed actress has been well and truly buried. Now she’s a down-to-earth and hard-headed businesswoman … Life, however, is full of surprises. While accompanying her more wide- eyed colleague, Chantelle, to a psychic fair, Tina herself falls victim to the lure of the Crystal Ball. She is warned that she must learn to trust her own decisions, and assured that the arrival of her soul mate is imminent. An elated Tina feels she has discovered a shortcut to fulfilment her very own life’s SatNav. Enter the gorgeous sex-on-wheels property-developer Brian Steen, who is very keen indeed to get up close and personal with Tina. But, call it fate, call it karma or just sheer bad luck, their steamy encounters are destined to fizzle out every time. But Brian is a patient man … up to a point … and, with help from Tina’s psychic guides, things are sure to pan out just fine … aren’t they? Crystal Balls … gaze into the unknown …

Title: Looking For Leon
Author: Shirley Benton
Received: From Shirley Benton
Synopsis: Andie hadn’t gambled on meeting the love of her life on a holiday in Las Vegas- but when she meets Leon, love suddenly seems like a bet she can win. That is, until the wheel of fortune steps in and separates them during a fire drill. With next to no info on Leon, Andie finds it impossible to track him down-despite staging a series of publicity stunts to get the media in on the act. Back in Ireland, journalist Andie begins to write a regular newspaper column about her search. Readers love it and a local TV station flies her back to Vegas to take up the hunt for the man she can’t forget. What starts off as a simple low-budget documentary, spirals into a frenzied national media search. With the world’s most ambitious PR agents on board, Andie becomes a heroine for those who are looking for love.

Title: Emily and Einstein
Author: Linda Francis Lee
Received: From Tricia Carr @ Media Muscle
Synopsis: He was a man who didn’t deserve a second chance. But he needed one…
Emily and her husband Sandy Portman seemed to live a gracious if busy life in an old-world, Upper West Side apartment in the famous Dakota building. But one night on the way to meet Emily, Sandy dies in a tragic accident. The funeral isn’t even over before Emily learns she is on the verge of being evicted from their apartment. But worse than the possibility of losing her home, Emily is stunned when she discovers that her marriage was made up of lies.
Suddenly Emily is forced on a journey to find out who her husband really was . . . all the while feeling that somehow he isn’t really gone. Angry, hurt, and sometimes betrayed by loving memories of the man she lost, Emily finds comfort in a scruffy dog named Einstein. But is Einstein’s seemingly odd determination that she save herself enough to make Emily confront her own past? Can he help her find a future—even after she meets a new man?

Title: Tales From the Crib
Author: Jennifer Coburn
Received: From Jennifer Coburn
Synopsis:
Talk about bad timing!

When Lucy Klein gets her positive pregnancy results, she’s overjoyed. She and her husband Jack have been trying to get pregnant for years throughout their rocky marriage. But before she can tell him the big news, Jack has something he needs to announce – he wants a divorce!
Rather than split up, Lucy and Jack decide to live together as friends. This way, they can share expenses and parenting responsibilities. Co-parenting is a fine deal for Jack who is back in the dating scene by Lucy’s third trimester of pregnancy, but is a frustrating one for Lucy who has unfulfilled sexual fantasies about every man from restaurant delivery boys to puppeteers.
Meanwhile, Lucy’s mother is taking over her life. The grand dame of Planet Earth, Anjoli frequently visits her daughter to share her own brand of maternal wisdom.

As Anjoli leaves her Drama Queen bookstore to “help” Lucy with baby Adam, the new grandmother has an affair with baby’s pediatrician, hosts two weddings (including cousin Kimmy’s wedding to herself), and constantly frets about which kind of pie to serve guests. With a cast of family and friends from Lucy’s Jewish aunts to Junior League neighbor, Candace, Tales From the Crib is the story of how one baby can bring people together – so they can drive each other nuts!

March 13, 2011
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Mrs. Mismarriage by Noelle Chua
Chick Lit Review

Mrs. Mismarriage by Noelle Chua

Audrey Lee is one woman who could care less about marriage. She doesn’t believe in fairy tale endings and happily ever after. But when her boyfriend, Paul Chang, gets down on one knee, Audrey can’t say no. The two seem to have the perfect life- him with an MBA, working a successful career in their hometown of Singapore. She, a Harvard literature scholar who starts living the life on an expat wife- which includes never having to cook a meal or clean the house. But is that the life Audrey wanted for herself? The marriage turns rocky when Audrey gets suspicious that Paul may be having an affair. It doesn’t help that he is constantly away for business, seemingly married to his job instead of Audrey. With Audrey’s boredom, coupled with all the men that are suddenly interested in her, the marriage is on a loose thread. Can Audrey and Paul survive their first year as newlyweds?
Mrs. Mismarriage was a very entertaining and down to earth read by Noelle Chua. The main character was easily relatable, and even though I have never been married, I could understand the feelings and the fights that were happening. I especially loved the little marriage facts at the beginning of each chapter. I think Chua did a great job at showing the work two people must put into a marriage. Though what Paul and Audrey went through was extremely difficult, I didn’t feel that Chua was trying to scare readers away from ever getting married. Instead, she showed the love two people have can keep them together, and how to forgive mistakes. This was my first “Asian-lit” book, and I highly enjoyed it and would recommend to others.
[Rating: 4]

March 11, 2011
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Please Don’t Stop the Music by Jane Lovering
Chick Lit Review

Please Don’t Stop the Music by Jane Lovering

Jemima Hutton needs to keep her past a secret. She knows if it gets out, her new friends wouldn’t want anything to do with her. She is determined to build a successful life, and is having good luck with her jewelry making business, until her lucky streak ends. When she meets the reclusive Ben Davies at his guitar shop, she begs him to stock her jewelry, and he agrees. As Jemima and Ben’s friendship grows, Jemima knows Ben is hiding a secret. He used to be a rock star, front man of a popular band and touring all over the world. Why is he now hiding out in a guitar shop, using a different name and pretending to not care about his past? But Ben also knows Jemima is hiding something, and as their friendship grows, the more Jemima becomes terrified her past will come out.
Please Don’t Stop the Music by Jane Lovering was an eye-opening book. My favorite part of this novel is that the main character is so different from what I usually read. Her background is dirty, messy, heart-breaking. I love reading about strong woman, and Jemima captured my attention from the first chapter. The villain in the story plays a large part throughout, and Lovering effectively made me hate her then love her all within a very short amount of time. There was just one scenario in the book that I just could not give credit too, when the mystery father of Jemima’s friend and roommate is announced. I won’t give any spoilers here, but I couldn’t really buy into that story. Other than that, the ending had me crying over the hard lessons the characters learned and the emotional turmoil they were going through, and I could feel the passion in the writing. A definite recommendation from me.
[Rating: 4]

March 9, 2011
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The Boyfriend of the Month Club by Maria Geraci
Chick Lit Review

The Boyfriend of the Month Club by Maria Geraci

Grace O’Bryan is still single, even after dating plenty of bachelors in the Daytona Beach area. During her book club meeting with some of her best girlfriends, Grace has the idea to turn the book club into a boyfriend club. The woman can exchange stories about the men they have dated, warn each other about the bad apples, and hopefully find potential winners through their discussions. But while Grace envisioned just a close group of friends meeting, her friend Ellen takes the club a bit too seriously, and it quickly gets out of hand. Meanwhile, Grace is trying to balance her job working as a manger at the struggling family store, a possibly love interest in her dentist, another possible love interest in Daytona Beach’s own most eligible bachelor, and keeping up with her family dynamics.
The Boyfriend of the Month Club by Maria Geraci is humorous and an interesting read. I enjoyed Grace’s character; I could feel a connection with her and bonded with her story and her search for love. The friendships in the book were excellent- except I did find myself extremely frustrated with the Ellen character often. And I really enjoyed that I wasn’t sure what was going on with Grace’s love life. So often, readers know which guy the girl will end up with, and you just wait to see how it plays out and they come together. But with two characters both in Grace’s line of vision, it made the story that much more interesting and kept my attention. A lighthearted and fun read, I would definitely recommend The Boyfriend of the Month Club to chick lit fans.
Rating: 4

March 7, 2011
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In My Mailbox: Week of March 6
Updates

In My Mailbox: Week of March 6

In My Mailbox: Week of March 6th

Title: Surf, Sea and Sexy Stranger
Author: Heidi Rice
Received: From Doug Miller @ Midas Public Relations
Synopsis: Honed, handsome, and needing the kiss of life! Millionaire entrepreneur Ryan King is mortified: he’s just been pulled from the ocean by a pretty female lifeguard! Why, after months recovering from a horrific motorbike accident, did he get back on his surfboard? For the same reason he wants a hot, wild woman back in his bed – to prove he’s the same man he was before… Maddy is shocked to find that this half-drowned, totally gorgeous surfer has her body humming! She always ends up getting used – maybe this time it’s her turn to do the using? It’s the short, sizzling affair they both need – until their dangerously addictive liaison careers out of control…

Title: Molly Cooper’s Dream Date
Author: Barbara Hannay
Received: From Doug Miller @ Midas Public Relations
Synopsis: Pacific islander Molly Cooper has house-swapped her way into London’s exclusive Chelsea. It’s her dream to explore Britain…and meet a perfect English gentleman!
Patrick Knight is finding Molly’s chatty emails strangely compelling. The onetime city banker thought swapping his London pad for Molly’s idyllic cottage would help him write his first novel—but it’s not quite working out…
What do you do when you realize the on you want is half a world away, living in your home, sleeping in your bed…?

Title: Here, Home, Hope
Author: Kaira Rouda
Received: From Crystal Patriarche @ Book Sparks PR
Synopsis: Kelly Mills Johnson becomes restless in her thirty-ninth year. An appetite for more forces her to take stock of her middling middle-American existence and her neighbors’ seemingly perfect lives. Her marriage to a successful attorney has settled into a comfortable routine, and being the mother of two adorable sons has been rewarding. But Kelly’s own passions lie wasted. She eyes with envy the lives of her two best friends, Kathryn and Charlotte, both beautiful, successful businesswomen who seem to have it all. Kelly takes charge of her life, devising a midlife makeover plan.
From page one, Kelly’s witty reflections, self-deprecating humor, and clever tactics in executing that plan—she places Post-it notes all over her house and car—will have readers laughing out loud. The next instant, however, they might rant right along with Kelly as her commitment to a sullen, anorexic teenager left on her doorstep tries her patience or as she deflects the boozy advances of a divorced neighbor. Readers will need to keep the tissue box handy, too, as Kelly repairs the damage she inflicted on a high school friend; realizes how deeply her husband, Patrick, understands and loves her; and ultimately grows into a woman empowered by her own blend of home and career.

March 6, 2011
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