#BookReview: Million Dollar Question by Ellie Campbell
Reviewer: Leah I received a review copy Summary: What can rock your world faster than winning or losing a king’s ransom overnight? Just as a huge…
Book Review: To Catch a Creeper by Ellie Campbell
To Catch a Creeper by Ellie Campbell is the sequel to Looking for La La. Most of the crazy gang from the original story are back. Cathy, after being applauded for the Looking For La La campaign, is now an account executive at a London advertising firm. She’s trying to get her footing as a career woman, while also juggling the care of her family and household. To add to her complications, she’s also agreed to find the “Creeper”/burglar who’s terrorizing the neighborhood. Throw in a pregnant best friend, a depressed and out of work husband, difficult neighbors and a couple of transvestites and you’ve got yourself a unique mystery. Fasten your seatbelts.
This is the third Ellie Campbell book I’ve read in the last year and the author is consistent with her writing style. The book has very interesting characters who at first don’t seem real, yet by the end of the story, you actually begin to relate to them. The plot is very convoluted, but again, at the end of the story, everything falls into place. The dialogue is sharp and witty. All the elements of a good book are there, so I’m not sure why this one didn’t resonate with me like the others. In the first book, Cathy stumbled into the mystery and had a personal stake in the outcome – but this time around, a friend asked Cathy to investigate. Then it seemed as if everyone was involved and although entertaining, it required quite a bit of suspended belief. That said, it’s a fun ride and I do recommend the book to readers who enjoy British humor, zany people and a good mystery.
4 Stars
In My Mailbox: Week of February 24
Title: Dangled Carat
Author: Hilary Grossman
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: to pressure him for marriage, believing that when the time was right, he would propose. But after they had been together for four years, their friends decided to take matters into their own hands, pushing Marc to propose and making Hilary realize how much she really did want to marry the man that she loved. Unfortunately, Marc still wasn’t ready–and their friends’ meddling in the form of a faux engagement party led to a disastrous New Year’s Eve that brought their relationship to an inevitable turning point.
Title: When Girlfriends Take Chances
Author: Savannah Page
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: A novel about exploring love and life’s path, and taking chances along the way.
Emily Saunders has never thought twice about grabbing her passport, rucksack, and camera and trekking across the globe. If there’s an NGO, a study abroad program, or simply the travel itch, Emily’s on the first plane out. Free-spirited, open-minded, and eager to explore, it’s no wonder Emily’s hardly in one spot (or relationship) for long.
For the past year and a half, though, Emily’s found herself planted in her college hometown of Seattle. She’s surrounded by her best friends, has steady work as a photographer and at her friend Sophie’s café, and is certainly kept busy by the wild antics of her BFF Jackie. Life’s enjoyable, but Emily’s looking for something more. She’s ready for a change, for adventure!
But when Emily tells her girlfriends she’s ready for something new she does not expect Operation Blind Date!
Sure, Emily’s single. Sure, she hopes to some day find true love. But being thrown into an insane challenge like this is not exactly the adventure she had in mind! Couldn’t she just travel and focus on her photography? Or volunteer in Africa? Will a string of eligible bachelors lined up by her friends–a shot at finding a real and lasting love–really be that change she’s searching for?
This is a spirited story about seeking adventure while being true to yourself, wherever you are in life. It’s a story about love, risk, and self-discovery. About what happens when girlfriends take chances.
While this New Adult Contemporary Romance is Book #5 in the When Girlfriends collection, it can be read as a stand-alone.
Title: The Baby and the Bride
Author: Laura Barnard
Received: Laura Barnard
Synopsis: Poppy and Jazz’s lives sound perfect on paper. Jazz has a new baby and Poppy’s getting married. But their realities are very different.
Poppy must strive to keep her cool new job with crazy hours, while trying to keep Ryan happy. Before she knows it her wedding has got out of control, thanks to her mother, the runners at work are bullying her, her parents are in financial difficulty and she’s doubting everything and everyone she ever knew.
Meanwhile Jazz is struggling with motherhood, something a credit card won’t fix. Why won’t this baby give her a break? Will Jazz be able to cope before she loses it?
And will Poppy make it down the aisle? Will Ryan even be waiting?
Title: To Catch a Creeper
Author: Ellie Campbell
Received: Ellie Campbell
Synopsis: Cathy is riding high in her brand-new job at a (surprisingly bitchy) top London advertising agency working with best friend Rosa. But when Rosa’s pregnancy goes amiss and enemies sabotage her new career, she finds herself leading a chaotic double life of lies and deception, hiding a shameful secret from all, especially husband Declan who appears in the throes of a nervous breakdown. Meanwhile she’s agreed to unmask the notorious Crouch End Creeper, a burglar terrorizing their neighbourhood. Little does she know that her meddling, assisted by fellow mothers (the Wednesday Once Weeklies) and the Neighbourhood Watch, will lead their dangerous opponent to murder. And that it’s not only the tall elegant transvestite who is placing herself at risk…
Book Review: How To Survive Your Sisters by Ellie Campbell
Reviewer: Allie I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The MacLeod sisters are four very different individuals who…
In My Mailbox: Week of December 15
Title: Something Yellow
Author: Laura Templeton
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: It has been thirteen years since Holly’s nine-year-old sister, Rachel, disappeared without a trace.
It has been thirteen years since Holly left her hometown.
It has been thirteen years since Holly’s first love and high school boyfriend, Houston, was the only suspect.
Now another nine-year-old girl has disappeared.
Holly is back, and so is Houston—never charged and still proclaiming his innocence.
Can she trust him . . . should she trust him?
Title: Sex in the Title
Author: Zack Love
Received: Zack Love
Synopsis: New York City, May 2000. The Internet bubble has burst, and Evan’s boss fires him with an email. The next day, his girlfriend dumps him, also via email. Afraid to check any more emails, Evan desperately seeks a rebound romance but the catastrophes that ensue go from bad to hilariously worse. Fortunately, Evan meets someone whose legendary disasters with females eclipse even his own.
To reverse their fortunes, they recruit their friends into a group of five guys who take on Manhattan in pursuit of dates, sex, and adventure. With musings about life, relationships, and human psychology, this quintessential New York story about the search for happiness follows five men on their comical paths to trouble, self-discovery, and love.
Title: How to Survive Your Sisters
Author: Ellie Campbell
Received: Ellie Campbell
Synopsis: A wonderfully warm and witty debut novel about family secrets and
sibling rivalry.
The four MacLeod sisters are no strangers to sisterly rivalry and with one of
them about to be married, there are bound to be fireworks. Perfectionist
Natalie wants the ‘wedding of the year’. Harassed mother, Milly, just wishes
her bridesmaid’s dress wasn’t the size of a tent. Career-obsessed Avril
secretly moons over a married man and world traveler, Hazel, the youngest,
yearns to be taken seriously. Forced together for the first time in years, and
with an unexpected guest stirring up old resentments, squabbles are inevitable.
But when tragedy strikes things really fly apart – as some shocking skeletons
emerge rattling from the crowded MacLeod closet…
Title: Sugar Spun Sister
Author: Anna Garner
Received: Anna Garner
Synopsis: Life isn’t exactly sweet for Cricket Whittier. Her boss hates her, her work is soul-destroying, and the sexy guy she’s hooking up with doesn’t want to date her. But this girl is far from hopeless. When Cricket’s in the kitchen with her ice cream maker and a few choice ingredients, her troubles slip away as she becomes a delectable dessert-designing powerhouse. She loves it so much, she dreams of opening her own ice cream shop one day.
As it turns out, “one day” just might be closer than she thinks. Propelled by the help and encouragement of her best friends, Lindsay and Nora, Cricket starts making plans to set up shop. Which is easier said than done what with the internal squabbling, the sky-high costs, her parents forecasting failure and her increasingly complicated love life. Despite all these hurdles, will Cricket be able to make her sweet dreams come true?
Book Review: Looking for La La by Ellie Campbell
Reviewer: Allie I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Summary This British Chick Lit story is about Cathy,…
In My Mailbox: Week of September 29
Title: The Bitches of Brooklyn
Author: Rosemary Harris
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: No zombies. No serial killers. No threat of global nuclear warfare. Just life, love, friendships, marriages, work, children, parents, laughs, tears and a fair amount of wine.
Are they really bitches? That depends who you ask…Rachel, Clare, Tina and Jane are four friends awaiting the arrival of a fifth at a secluded Cape Cod bungalow where they spend an all-girls weekend every year since reconnecting at a reunion. But the fifth woman doesn’t show.
Instead she sends a note that reads –
“I’ve run off with one of your men.”
Has she? Is it a prank? Do they run for the phone or try to enjoy the weekend without her? Fast, funny and filled with Harris’ trademark snappy dialogue you’ll recognize friends and maybe a little of yourself as the women are forced to reevaluate their friendships, their marriages and their memories.
Inspired by a classic Hollywood film, The Bitches of Brooklyn is for every woman who’s ever had a best friend and wondered…is she really??
Title: Accused
Author: Lisa Scottoline
Received: Sarah Hall Productions
Synopsis: New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author Lisa Scottoline revolutionized crime fiction when she introduced her all-female law firm of Rosato & Associates, thrilling readers with her twisty, fast-paced plots and capturing their hearts with her cast of strong and relatable female characters. Now Bennie Rosato, Mary DiNunzio, Judy Carrier, and Anne Murphy are back with all cylinders firing in Accused.
Mary Dinuzio has just been promoted to partner and is about to take on her most unusual case yet, brought to the firm by a thirteen-year-old genius with a penchant for beekeeping. Allegra Gardner’s sister Fiona was murdered six years ago, and it seemed like an open-and-shut case: the accused, Lonnie Stall, was seen fleeing the scene; his blood was on Fiona and her blood was on him; most damningly, Lonnie Stall pleaded guilty. But Allegra believes Lonnie is innocent and has been wrongly imprisoned. The Gardner family is one of the most powerful in the country and Allegra’s parents don’t believe in reopening the case, so taking it on is risky. But the Rosato & Associates firm can never resist an underdog. Was justice really served all those years ago? It will take a team of unstoppable female lawyers, plus one thirteen-year-old genius, to find out.
Title: Bargain Fever
Author: Mark Ellwood
Received: Engeleman & Co.
Synopsis: Bargain Fever is the book you need to survive the new world of shopping. Everything is on sale, all the time. Discounts aren’t the exception – they’re the norm, and everyone wants a steal, a deal, a hook-up or a way to cut costs.
Ten years ago, retailers sold just 15-20% of their inventory at some kind of promo price – today, that number is 40-45%. Put simply, sales of sales have more than doubled in a decade. Bargain Fever looks at the seismic changes in shopping over the last decade, and offers a survival guide full of tips to triumph in this new cut-price world.
Title: Render
Author: Stephanie Fleshman
Received: Stephanie Fleshman
Synopsis: Koldan Holdt knows what he wants. The problem is his future was decided the day he was born—a future void of everything he has ever known. Days before summer vacation, Koldan’s grandfather suddenly dies, leaving the consequences that have followed him since he fled his country to fall to Koldan. As Koldan learns about his new fate, he must accept the terms to which he is bound and live without the one person he wants, or remain true to who he is and risk both their lives repeating the choices his grandfather made. Seventeen-year-old Raya Whitney thought she knew Koldan…until a sudden turn of events threatens both their lives. While she is not willing to give up without a fight, she knows it is a deadly game to stay together.
Title: Looking For LaLa
Author: Ellie Campbell
Received: Ellie Campbell
Synopsis: Looking for La La follows the story of Cathy, a bored, unappreciated housewife and mother of two. Her world of school runs, ferrying children here and there, and the occasional nights out with friends is radically transformed by the arrival of a love postcard to her husband. What follows next takes Cathy on a wild ride of suspicion, temptations, marital breakdown and some very dangerous territory.
Title: Going Home Again
Author: Abby Cavenaugh
Received: Abby Cavenaugh
Synopsis: Alyssa Jones’s high school crush probably never knew she existed.
Twenty years later, when the now-famous pop star returns home to coastal North Carolina, Alyssa gets a second chance to make a first impression on Michael.
On sabbatical from his failing marriage, Michael agrees to an interview with Alyssa, a journalist for the local tourist magazine.
When the chemistry between them ignites, Alyssa and Michael are hit with the harsh reality that he isn’t yet free to love her.
With Michael’s wife and son still very much in the picture, can Alyssa hold out until he ends his marriage for good?
Or will she risk it all for a second chance with the one who got away?
GOING HOME AGAIN is contemporary romance novel set in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.
