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In My Mailbox: Week of January 9
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In My Mailbox: Week of January 9

In My Mailbox: Week of January 9, 2011

Title: Millie’s Fling
Author: Jill Mansell
Received: Bought for Amazon Kindle
Synopsis: When Millie Brady saves Orla Hart’s life she doesn’t realise how drastically it will change her own – not least because the boyfriend who was proposing at the time stormed off in a huff. Actually, Millie’s relieved. She’s happy to enjoy a man-free summer in Cornwall. But Orla has other ideas. She’s determined that Millie should meet the man of her dreams. Trouble is, Millie’s taste in men doesn’t tally with Orla’s. The one who really interests her is Hugh Emerson, and he’s the man with whom Orla’s adamant she mustn’t get involved…

Title: Eclipse
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Received: Borrowed from a friend
Synopsis: As Seattle is ravaged by a string of mysterious killings and a malicious vampire continues her quest for revenge, Bella once again finds herself surrounded by danger. In the midst of it all, she is forced to choose between her love for Edward and her friendship with Jacob—knowing that her decision has the potential to ignite the ageless struggle between vampire and werewolf. With her graduation quickly approaching, Bella has one more decision to make: life or death. But which is which?

Title: Stir Until Thoroughly Confused
Author: Heather Wardell
Received: From Heather Wardell
Synopsis: Mary’s given up everything, including an unsatisfying marriage, to become a chef. But the career comes with a side dish: Kegan, her sexy but controlling new boss. They’re soon in a relationship, and in all-too-frequent arguments, and when it becomes clear they can’t work together and be together Mary faces a dilemma: keep her dream job or her dream man?

January 9, 2011
1 Comment
Author Profile: Lucie Simone
Chick Lit Authors

Author Profile: Lucie Simone

Author Name: Lucie Simone

Website: http://www.luciesimone.com/index.html

Bio: Lucie is a girl’s girl. Her novels reflect her love of living in LA, sipping fruity drinks, rubbing elbows with almost-celebrities, and trying to find love. She has also had the luck to travel, seeing the United States from coast to coast and even vacationing around the globe. Lucie lives in Hollywood, and enjoys spending her time in coffee shops and bookstores, often reading a romance novel or working on writing one of her own. She has a degree in journalism and television production, and has worked in both the entertainment and advertising industries. Her blog describes her as an author, a girly girl, a feminist, a yogi, a vegetarian, an animal lover, a bookworm, a film fan, and so much more.
Titles: The Waterdance, A Taste of Italy, and Hollywood Ending.
See my review of A Hollywood Ending
Bio Retrieved from luciesimone.com

January 8, 2011
1 Comment
Author Profile: Sibel Hodge
Chick Lit Authors

Author Profile: Sibel Hodge

Author Name: Sibel Hodge

Website: http://www.sibelhodge.com/

Bio: Sibel has dual British/Turkish Cypriot nationality, and divides her time between Hertfordshire and North Cyprus. She is a trained fitness instructor and sports and massage therapist and writes freelance feature articles on health, fitness, and various lifestyle subjects.
Sibel’s debut novel, Fourteen Days Later, is a romantic comedy and was short listed for the Harry Bowling Prize 2008. Written in a similar style to Catherine Alliott and Marian Keyes, Fourteen Days Later is My Big Fat Greek Wedding meets P.S. I Love You.
The Fashion Police is Sibel’s second novel and was a runner up in the Chapter One Promotions Novel Competition 2010. It is a screwball comedy-mystery, combining murder and mayhem with romance and chick-lit – the first in a series featuring insurance investigator, Amber Fox. Written in a similar style to Janet Evanovich, it is Stephanie Plum meets Bridget Jones.

Currently: Sibel currently is working on the sequel to Fourteen Days Later.
Titles: Fourteen Days Later and The Fashion Police.
Read my interview with Sibel or check out her health and lifestyle blog!
Bio Retrieved from sibelhodge.com

January 6, 2011
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In My Mailbox: January 5th
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In My Mailbox: January 5th

In My Mailbox: Week of January 5th

Title: Twilight
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Received: From a friend
Synopsis: Isabella Swan’s move to Forks, a small, perpetually rainy town in Washington, could have been the most boring move she ever made. But once she meets the mysterious and alluring Edward Cullen, Isabella’s life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. Up until now, Edward has managed to keep his vampire identity a secret in the small community he lives in, but now nobody is safe, especially Isabella, the person Edward holds most dear. The lovers find themselves balanced precariously on the point of a knife — between desire and danger.

Title: A Taste of Magic
Author: Tracy Madison
Received: Bought from AmazonKindle
Synopsis: A young, divorced bakery owner discovers she’s inherited her gypsy ancestress’s fabulous magical powers, but learns that when seeking true love with her hunky new neighbor, a person has to be careful what she cooks up.

Title: New Moon
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Received: From a Friend
Synopsis: Legions of readers entranced by Twilight are hungry for more and they won’t be disappointed. In New Moon, Stephenie Meyer delivers another irresistible combination of romance and suspense with a supernatural twist. The “star-crossed” lovers theme continues as Bella and Edward find themselves facing new obstacles, including a devastating separation, the mysterious appearance of dangerous wolves roaming the forest in Forks, a terrifying threat of revenge from a female vampire and a deliciously sinister encounter with Italy’s reigning royal family of vampires, the Volturi. Passionate, riveting, and full of surprising twists and turns, this vampire love saga is well on its way to literary immortality.

January 6, 2011
4 Comments
Fourteen Days Later by Sibel Hodge
Chick Lit Review

Fourteen Days Later by Sibel Hodge

Helen Grey finds it easier to hide hermit-style after she finds out her boyfriend has been cheating on her. Rather than face the world and all the other cheating males out there, she hides inside and focuses on eating rather than diving into the dating pool. Her best friend, Ayshe, comes up with a fourteen day challenge to boost Helen’s confidence that Helen agrees to try, but doesn’t enjoy the activities such as speed dating and dog walking. All the while, Helen grows closer to Ayshe’s brother Kalem, but knows she can do nothing about her feelings. Kalem has a drop dead girlfriend in the picture, and Helen can’t risk her friendship with Ayshe over a boy. But as the challenge continues, Helen starts to notice changes in her life, and wonders if a fourteen days lifestyle challenge really could work.
Fourteen Days Later is the debut novel from author Sibel Hodge, and while I like the concept behind the story, I didn’t like the story a whole lot. Helen is your typical accident prone heroine, but with some crazy thing happening to her consistently throughout the fourteen days, it starts to become a bit unbelievable after awhile. And within the first chapter I figured out that Helen and Kalem would develop a “thing” but Helen didn’t figure it out until the last couple chapters, which made everything in between seem a bit pointless. The drama and buildup just wasn’t there. I felt the plot was too over the top yet slow at the same time. There were definitely some funny moments where I had to laugh out loud, but this is definitely not a favorite of mine. Perhaps Hodge’s second attempt, The Fashion Police, will fare better.
Rating: 2/5

January 5, 2011
2 Comments
Debut Author Spotlight: Jesi Lea Ryan
Chick Lit Authors

Debut Author Spotlight: Jesi Lea Ryan

Debut Author: Jesi Lea Ryan
Debut Novel: Four Thousand Miles

Jesi and I connected through the great land of Twitter, and she offered to send me a copy of her debut novel, Four Thousand Miles. I gratefully accepted, another book to read and another new author to meet, and Jesi agreed to do a Q&A session with me. After checking out her blog, http://diaryofabibliophile-jesilea.blogspot.com/, I found out we are from the same hometown of Dubuque, Iowa- we even went to the same high school, just during separate years. What a small world! Jesi was really inspiring to chat with, and gave some great insight on why she decided to begin her journey as a writer without an agent. She works with a fabulous publishing company, DCL Publications, and is steadily writing her second novel- which I can’t wait for! Four Thousand Miles was a terrific story filled with romance, uncertainty, and my favorite part- travel! Read a clip of my review:

“Natalie was a terrific heroine, and I supported her when she boarded that plane to London. There were real people with real problems going through the motions and figuring out their lives. And I love that! I think Jesi Lea Ryan did an outstanding job in Four Thousand Miles, and I hope she has more for us soon.”

So please check out Jesi Lea Ryan by checking out her blog or follow her on Facebook or Twitter. You can find your copy of Four Thousand Miles at DCL Publications.

January 4, 2011
1 Comment
Four Thousand Miles by Jesi Lea Ryan
Chick Lit Review

Four Thousand Miles by Jesi Lea Ryan

Natalie Spencer just had to get away. Losing her job was bad enough. Then her self-absorbed mother just informed her that she was pregnant- and the father is a former classmate’s of Natalie’s. And she found out her husband had been leading a double life and an affair under her nose for years. Yes, Natalie Spencer just had to get away. She takes the first flight out of Milwaukee that she can find and ends up in London- only to nearly get mugged in the Tube station. Gavin Ashby comes to Natalie’s rescue, thwarting the mugging attempt and offering her a place to recover at his home. Gavin provides a distraction to Natalie and the crumbling state of her life, and they form a special friendship. But when Natalie realizes she may be falling for Gavin, she doesn’t know if she can give up her life back in the States and stay in London with him. She must decide if she is willing to give love another chance, or if she should just get away.
I really liked Four Thousand Miles, the debut novel from Jesi Lea Ryan. Natalie was a terrific heroine, and I supported her when she boarded that plane to London. Her journey with Gavin was romantic yet tricky. I was never quite sure Natalie was going to realize what a great guy Gavin was, and the ending had me flipping frantically through the pages to see how the relationship turned out. I think one of the main reasons I connected so much with this novel is because it felt very real. Natalie was a real girl living in Milwaukee, struggling with her job and family, and did what I would probably have done- fled. Even the ending that had me guessing felt real, because it wasn’t just a nice and tidy little love story ending. There were real people with real problems going through the motions and figuring out their lives. And I love that! I think Jesi Lea Ryan did an outstanding job in Four Thousand Miles, and I hope she has more for us soon.
Rating: 4.5/5

January 1, 2011
4 Comments
Challenge:Post Reviews:January
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Challenge:Post Reviews:January

January Challenge Reviews Please note this is not the sign up page. To sign up, click HERE Only signed up challengers are eligible to win…

December 31, 2010
58 Comments