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Bittersweet by Francine Pascal
Chick Lit Review

Bittersweet by Francine Pascal

I just finished the sixth and final installment of The Sweet Life, the new eSeries from Francine Pascal. Bittersweet wrapped up the tales of Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield and their gang of friends. Pascal offered readers a glimpse into their lives at the age of thirty, and I enjoyed this series. Book six is tying up the loose ends. Readers will find out whether Bruce Patman is guilty or innocent of the charges being pressed against him, whether Jessica and Todd will be able to reunite, and how Lila’s fake pregnancy/real pregnancy works out. While I enjoyed the series, I was a bit confused by the ending of the sixth book. It ended in the cliffhanger fashion I had come to expect from the previous books but…what happens next? Will there be more books to help explain the cliffhanger, carry on the stories, or are readers just supposed to take a gander themselves at what happened? I’m not sure and I’m a bit confused. I was also thrown off by the Liam twist – I can’t say I could tell from the previous books that his tale would end the way it did, and I thought it came out of nowhere and was probably only used for shock value. So while I enjoyed the first five books, the sixth left me a bit unsettled. I wish as readers and loyal fans we could have seen more of a resolution.
[Rating: 3]

August 27, 2012
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Cutting Ties by Francine Pascal
Chick Lit Review

Cutting Ties by Francine Pascal

I am nearly done with The Sweet Life eSeries from Francine Pascal, and just finished the fifth installment. Cutting Ties brings the drama to more of an edge, almost letting readers get the true story on Robin Platt and her accusations against Bruce Patman. The cliffhanger made me very anxious to get the final puzzle piece. I’m still hoping Jessica and Todd can make it work, though I’m really unsure Elizabeth and Bruce will get another shot at love, with the Annie obstacle now. And Lila wasn’t brought up a whole lot in this book, but I’m curious where she will finish out the series with her drama. The one part I really disliked and stood out to me was when the POV turned to Jake – Jessica and Todd’s son. I thought that was really unnecessary, and going from always being in the adult’s minds to suddenly a toddler’s was confusing – and abrupt. But if you loved the Wakefield twins and the rest of the Sweet Valley, you’ll want to read this eSeries!
[Rating: 4]

August 18, 2012
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Secrets and Seductions by Francine Pascal
Chick Lit Review

Secrets and Seductions by Francine Pascal

I just finished the fourth installment in The Sweet Life eSeries from Francine Pascal, Secrets and Seductions. A new development is happening with Bruce’s accuser, and Elizabeth is starting to doubt her creditability. She feels terrible that she was so quick to write Bruce off, and now she can’t even talk to him because he has fled from the States. Jessica is crushed when she finds out from TV that Todd has filed for a divorce. She had high hopes they would somehow reconcile, but she is forced to see that just won’t be happening. And Lila, who had been faking a pregnancy for the TV cameras and her Real Housewives show loses it all when someone goes to the press with her secret. But irony is about to get the best of her…
This installment was pretty short, and I liked that it just focused more on the major characters and what they were dealing with. I’m very curious to see how Bruce’s situation ends up. I can tell something is not right with the accuser, but I just can’t quite piece it all together yet. And Lila’s story! Oh boy, that is intriguing to read about. Will love to find out how it ends and if she is able to come out on top. Two more to go!
[Rating: 4]

August 9, 2012
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Too Many Doubts by Francine Pascal
Chick Lit Review

Too Many Doubts by Francine Pascal

The hot new eSeries Sweet Valley Confidential just keeps getting juicer! In installment 3, Too Many Doubts, Elizabeth is still struggling with the allegations that her boyfriend Bruce Patman assaulted and attempted to rape a young woman at a bar. She even begins to help the alleged victim, knowing she is putting her relationship with Bruce in jeopardy. But she just has too many doubts that Bruce might not be telling the whole truth, and trusts her reporters intuition to help uncover the truth. Jessica is still struggling from her fallout with husband Todd when the were so close to finding a reconciliation, but she is still hanging on to a shred that they will find their back together – until a half naked female answers his door.
With more plot points and scandals (such as Lila Fowler faking a pregnancy for her new reality show!) these installments are so much fun to read! With this book I got the feeling of being rushed a few times, and didn’t like how things would wrap up so neat and tidy – sometimes just a bit too quick to seem real. In this one, for example, the kidnapping of Steven and Aaron’s daughter. I almost think that could have been deleted from the story all together. But as always, this one is ended in a cliffhanger, and I’m quite curious to see how Bruce’s story is going to play out. On to the next….
[Rating: 4]

August 4, 2012
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The Sweet Life eSeries: Books 1 and 2
Chick Lit Review

The Sweet Life eSeries: Books 1 and 2

And Sweet Valley continues! Francine Pascal brought back the Wakefield twins with a vengeance with the release of Sweet Valley Confidential: 10 Years Later in March 2011, and now Jessica, Elizabeth and the gang is back for more! There is a brand-new eSeries being released July 15- August 12, titled The Sweet Life. This six part eSeries will let readers continue to follow the Wakefield’s through their fab 30’s – or is it so fabulous?
Book #1 starts up with Jessica and Todd separated and headed for a divorce. Quite the difference from the end of Sweet Valley Confidential where they are getting married and are blissfully happy. Oh – and they now have a son together as well! After three years of marriage things have turned sour, and it doesn’t look like a happy ending is in the pages for Jessica. At least she has her job to fall back, her beautiful son, and a renowned strength with twin Elizabeth after their massive feud. And she is ready to be there for Elizabeth when her boyfriend, the immensely wealthy Bruce Patman, is caught in a sexual harassment scandal. A cliff-hanger leads us to book # 2, titled Lies and Omissions, and keeps right on going. Jessica is working Bruce’s PR to spin the story that the female intern just wants her fifteen minutes of fame, but Elizabeth has an off-feeling about Bruce’s story. Is her boyfriend telling the truth – or is Robin, the terrified ex-intern who seems genuinely scared of Bruce telling the truth? Elizabeth uses her reporter skills to get the real scoop – but will she like the outcome? Jessica is now trying to fix her marriage with Todd, but will one costly mistake ruin everything? Another cliff-hanger ending has me eager to read the third novella in this eSeries- Too Many Doubts.
[Rating: 4]

July 16, 2012
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Sweet Valley Confidential by Francine Pascal
Chick Lit Review

Sweet Valley Confidential by Francine Pascal

I could not wait to read Sweet Valley Confidential, the new adult novel from writer and creator Francine Pascal. I was a diehard Sweet Valley fan back in the day, reading all the books and eventually watching the shows when they came out. So I was pretty excited to catch up on my favorite twins and their friends, and see how their lives played out. And I was not prepared for what I read….
The story starts off with Elizabeth Wakefield, the shy studious twin in high school, walking into her New York apartment. Readers are instantly aware that some sort of feud is brewing between Elizabeth and twin sister Jessica, the fashionista and selfish one. The sisters are now 27, Elizabeth living in NY and Jessica still in Sweet Valley. Turns out, Elizabeth actually fled to New York because she found out her lovely twin sister stole her fiancé away from her. Yes, Jessica is in love with Todd. And has been since SVU days. Huh? Not what I expected, and sadly, not where I wanted the twins to be in their lives. How could Jessica do such a thing to Elizabeth? And how could Todd possibly be interested in Jessica? Befuddling. So the story goes on to show how the characters got to that point in their lives- Jessica going through two failed marriages, Todd and Elizabeth living together, preparing to get married, how the Jessica/Todd fling got started, friendships that got ruined because of it, etc. I thought it was fun checking in on the other lives- Lila Fowler, who hasn’t changed a bit, Ken Matthews, Winston Egbert, and Bruce Patman to name a few. I liked seeing who ended up with who, what careers they were holding, and how they had grown from high school and college days. But of course, the main chunk of story goes back to the Jessica/Elizabeth/Todd love triangle. It made me sad that a sister would do something so horrible to her own twin and supposed best friend, but the book makes it pretty clear all is fair in love and war. But I hate to say it, it just wasn’t very believable. Jessica’s two failed marriages makes more sense, but not truly madly deeply falling in love with her sister’s future husband. And there were quite a few very obvious mistakes made, such as wrong names and completely omitting people that had pretty big storylines in the past. And I really didn’t get the twist with Steven’s character. That came from left field.
Overall, I thought the book was okay. It was a little disappointing as a Sweet Valley fan to have Pascal choose to make Jessica betray Elizabeth in such a way, and have them fighting throughout the story. And many of the supporting cast characters were changed in such ways that it seemed they weren’t anything like their high school characters. Along with all the errors made, it was tough to be really happy with the book. But it was a bit fun to catch up with old characters, hilarious when Elizabeth talks about orgasms, and I actually gasped when Alice Wakefield dropped the F-bomb. I wish the characters lives would have gone a different direction, but I guess that’s why I’m not the creator. Even with a lot of things that I didn’t like about the book, I will say that I got into the story for what it was, and questioned how it would end. I laughed and wanted to cry for the twins and their now dysfunctional family, and I read with enthusiasm throughout. If you were a diehard Sweet Valley like I was years ago, I would still recommend the book just so you can see how it turns out. But don’t be surprised to find your own mistakes along the way, and wonder why the editors didn’t catch what was missed.
[Rating: 3.5]

June 27, 2011
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In My Mailbox: Week of April 3
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In My Mailbox: Week of April 3

In My Mailbox: Week of April 3rd

Title: The Gin and Chowder Club
Author: Nan Rossiter
Received: From Kensington Books
Synopsis: Set against the beautiful backdrop of Cape Cod, “The Gin & Chowder Club” is an eloquent, tender story of friendship, longing, and the enduring power of love…The friendship between the Coleman and Shepherd families is as old and comfortable as the neighbouring houses they occupy each summer on Cape Cod. Samuel and Sarah Coleman love those warm months by the water; the evenings spent on their porch, enjoying gin and tonics, good conversation and homemade clam chowder. Here they’ve watched their sons, Isaac and Asa, grow into fine young men, and watched, too, as Nate Shepherd, aching with grief at the loss of his first wife, finally found love again with the much younger Noelle. But beyond the surface of these idyllic gatherings, the growing attraction between Noelle and handsome, college-bound Asa threatens to upend everything. In spite of her guilt and misgivings, Noelle is drawn into a reckless secret affair with far-reaching consequences. And over the course of one bittersweet, unforgettable summer, Asa will learn more than he ever expected about love – the joys and heartache it awakens in us, the lengths we’ll go to keep it, and the countless ways it can change our lives forever…

Title: Sweet Valley Confidential
Author: Francine Pascal
Received: From St. Martin’s Press
Synopsis: It’s been ten years since the Wakefield twins graduated from Sweet Valley High, and a lot has happened. For a start, Elizabeth and Jessica have had a falling out of epic proportions, after Jessica committed the ultimate betrayal, and this time it looks like Elizabeth will never be able to forgive her. Suddenly Sweet Valley isn’t big enough for the two of them, so Elizabeth has fled to New York to immerse herself in her lifelong dream of becoming a serious reporter, leaving a guilt-stricken Jessica contemplating the unthinkable: life without her sister. Despite the distance between them, the sisters are never far from each other’s thoughts. Jessica longs for forgiveness, but Elizabeth can’t forget her twin’s duplicity. Uncharacteristically, she decides the only way to heal her broken heart is to get revenge. Always the ‘good’ twin, the one getting her headstrong sister out of trouble, Elizabeth is now about to turn the tables…

Title: Already Home
Author: Susan Mallery
Received: From Eric @ Planned Television Arts
Synopsis: After nearly a decade as a sous-chef in a trendy eatery, Jenna is desperate for a change. She’s supported her ex-husband’s dreams for so long that she can’t even remember her own. Until she sees a for-lease sign near her parents’ home and envisions her very own cooking store.
Her crash course in business is aided by a streetwise store manager and Jenna’s adoptive mother. But just as she’s gaining a foothold in her new life, in walk her birth parents—aging hippies on a quest to reconnect with their firstborn.
Now Jenna must figure out how to reconcile the free-spirited Serenity and Tom with her traditional parents, deal with her feelings for a new love interest and decide what to do about her ex’s latest outrageous request. In the end, Jenna will find that there is no perfect family, only the people we love….

April 3, 2011
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