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On 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…

On Tour: Blank Slate Kate by Heather Wardell

Heather will be on tour January 23-27 with her novel Blank Slate Kate Waking up with a strange man is scary. Realizing you lost fifteen…

Future Tour: Death on Heels by Ellen Byerrum

Ellen will be on tour March 12-April 2 with her novel Death on Heels D.C. style scribe Lacey Smithsonian always swore she would never go…

Princess of Park Avenue by Daniella Brodsky

Daniella Brodsky is on tour with CLP Blog Tours and her re-launch of Princess of Park Avenue. This story follows Brooklyn girl Lorraine Machuchi and her climb to be somebody. As opportunities seem to just fall in her lap, Lorraine suddenly finds herself in Manhattan, staying for free in a posh apartment, coloring hair for the elite, and buying designer clothes. But can you ever really take the Brooklyn out of the girl? The biggest downfall letting Lorraine truly embrace her new life is Tommy. Tommy, the guy that Lorraine can just not get over. Tommy, the guy who can reel Lorraine back in with just a glimpse of his unbuttoned shirt. Can Lorraine really be a Park Avenue Princess if she keeps letting Tommy sneak back into her life?
I kept going back and forth with this story. I loved the idea behind Lorraine and taking a sort of Jenny from the Block type and turning her into a successful woman trolling Park Avenue. Watching Lorraine grow and find her confidence was a lot of fun for me. I also really enjoyed the twists with the Park Avenue Princesses and their devious plans, and the beginning of the chapters was excellent foreshadowing. Some of the characters reminded me of the Jersey Shore cast, but those scenes definitely cracked me up rather than made me want to wash my mouth out like with the TV show. My downfalls came with how long it took Lorraine to break free of Tommy. I was worried right up until the last chapters that she would never figure it out. My other downfall was that the book seemed very long. There were quite a few scenes that could have been snipped to let the story read a bit quicker. Overall though, a fun chick lit story that I’m sure many readers will be able to identify with.
[Rating: 3.5]

In My Mailbox: Week of January 15

In My Mailbox: Week of January 15

Title: Death on Heels
Author: Ellen Byerrum
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: D.C. style scribe Lacey Smithsonian always swore she would never go back—back to Sagebrush, Colorado, that scruffy hard-luck Western boomtown where she’d earned her reporter’s spurs. But then three young women are murdered, their bodies left barefoot on lonely country roads, and the accused is her old boyfriend, Sagebrush rancher Cole Tucker. Lacey cowgirls up and heads out West (in her best cowboy boots) to prove Tucker’s innocence. And perhaps to resolve the last of her old feelings for the man she had loved and left. Naturally, Lacey’s plan doesn’t sit well with her current beau, private investigator Vic Donovan, who has his own history (and game plan) in Sagebrush.

Tucker takes one look at Lacey and kicks over everyone’s game plan: He abducts her in a daring courthouse escape into the badlands of northern Colorado. On the run from the law with her old flame, in stolen vehicles and on horseback, with Vic and the posse in pursuit, Lacey’s world turns upside down. Who can she trust? Tucker or Vic? The law or her own feelings and her reporter’s instincts? Caught between two men, with a vicious killer on her trail, Death on Heels is a whole new—and potentially fatal—frontier for this fashion reporter.

Title: Dogs Have Angels Too
Author: Sarah Cavallaro
Received: From Sarah Cavallaro
Synopsis: In the dog-eat-dog world of recessionary New York City, the irrepressible Miss Pink leads a pack of down-on-their-luck women, who ultimately find hope in the most unlikely of places: an over-crowded animal shelter, where unwanted pets are routinely abandoned to their grim fates. Miss Pink, a former marketing executive and divorcee who’s intermittently homeless herself, makes it her mission to find homes for a growing bevy of cuddly canines. Her “adoption walks” bring her to meet a series of fellow New Yorkers, all of whom are struggling with their own personal and financial crises. In other words, they are all uniquely ripe or recruitment in Miss Pink’s master plan- which she’s devising on the fly, by the seat of her favorite pink pants!

Title: Sarah’s Key
Author: Tatiana De Rosnay
Received: Via SheKnows Book Club
Synopsis: Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by the French police in the Vel’ d’Hiv’ roundup, but not before she locks her younger brother in a cupboard in the family’s apartment, thinking that she will be back within a few hours.
Paris, May 2002: On Vel’ d’Hiv’s 60th anniversary, journalist Julia Jarmond is asked to write an article about this black day in France’s past. Through her contemporary investigation, she stumbles onto a trail of long-hidden family secrets that connect her to Sarah. Julia finds herself compelled to retrace the girl’s ordeal, from that terrible term in the Vel d’Hiv’, to the camps, and beyond. As she probes into Sarah’s past, she begins to question her own place in France, and to reevaluate her marriage and her life.
Tatiana de Rosnay offers us a brilliantly subtle, compelling portrait of France under occupation and reveals the taboos and silence that surround this painful episode.

On Tour: Princess of Park Avenue by Daniella Brodsky

Daniella will be on tour January 16-February 6 with her novel Princess of Park Avenue How far would you go to forget Mr. Wrong? Anyone…

Unscripted by Natalie Aaron and Marla Schwartz

Natalie Aaron and Marla Schwartz are on tour with CLP Blog Tours. Unscripted follows loveable heroine Abby Edwards, who works as a reality TV show producer. Abby has been currently burned in a relationship, and has given up on dating. True love couldn’t possibly be true in the land of LA. Abby throws herself into her work, but friction in her friendship with BFF Zoe throws her world off balance. It doesn’t help that her new boss is deliciously hunky but she can’t decipher his attitude towards her. And then there’s the ex-boyfriend, a screenwriter who has just hit it big with a movie based “loosely” on their relationship. Abby needs to get a handle on her life, and learn that not everything will follow a script. But can she rewrite her own reality for success?
I had so much fun reading Unscripted! Aaron and Schwartz have both worked as producers, and the behind the scenes peeks readers will get are hilarious and border on unbelievable. I absolutely lost it during the scene where the “bachelorette” who submitted her tape as a joke and had no interest in LA went all diva on the workers and decided fame wasn’t something to ignore. The romance between Abby and boss Will was written in a really sweet way. I loved seeing the characters get a second chance ten years later. I didn’t so much like BFF Zoe, she just gave me an ick feeling and I wondered why Abby would put up with that. Strangely, I had a friend that had a lot of Zoe qualities and she tested my patience one too many time. That friendship has since been severed. I was wishing that Abby would see the light with her, but the other two friends were great additions to the cast! Overall, Unscripted is a fast-paced read that chick lit fans must get their hands on! I’m happy to say that Unscripted is my first Favorite of 2012!
[Rating: 4.5]

On Tour: Year of the Chick by Romi Moondi

An awkward family homecoming at Christmas.

A humiliating public weigh-in, with two judging parents as the audience.

The announcement of a deadline for arranged marriage doom.

And that’s just the first two chapters.

In “Year of the Chick,” Romi Narindra must find love before her parents find her a husband. This is a difficult task in a world where self-consciousness is at an all-time high, and dating experience at an all-time low.

Severely lacking in seductive skills and uninspired by her corporate job, Romi turns to what she loves, by writing about her quest to find love on her brand new blog.

From whiskey-breath scum bags to uni-brow creeps and everything in between, Romi and her wingmen come up empty time after time. Just when giving up seems like the thing to do, she meets a fellow writer unexpectedly.

On the Internet.

So will it be arranged marriage doom, or an Internet affair that’s not as creepy as “To Catch a Predator”?

Time will tell in the “year of the chick,” a twelve-month quest to find love….tick-tock.

On Tour: Scotland by Starlight by Nancy Volkers

Nancy will be on tour January 16-February 6 with her novel Scotland by Starlight Cassie Wrentham is on her way to Scotland again… but this…