2012 Favorite Reads: Sara’s Picks
The Tragedy Paper Elizabeth Laban White Jacket Required: A Culinary Coming-of-Age Story Jenna Weber Twelve Months Steven Manchester The Midwife of Hope River: A Novel…
The Tragedy Paper Elizabeth Laban White Jacket Required: A Culinary Coming-of-Age Story Jenna Weber Twelve Months Steven Manchester The Midwife of Hope River: A Novel…
Great Aunt Sophia’s Lessons for Bombshells by Lisa Cach follows Grace Cavanaugh, who is bound and determined to prove that beauty only leads to misery through research for her thesis. She is knee deep in research when she receives a call that her great aunt Sophia is havnig surgery, and that she would love it if Grace could accompany her during her recovery. Despite her misgivings, Grace caves once she realizes that this would be a perfect opportunity to do some much needed research. She arrives in Pebble Beach completely expecting to find a old, lonely and ragged old woman … but instead finds a well aged diva, still ozzing of va-va-voom. Grace realizes that she is the perfect specimen for her thesis but soon may change her train of thought once her great aunt takes her under her wing and completely transforms her into a bombshell, delivering her to test her new skills on two men who are only inches away from becoming her prey. Newly unleashed power threatens everything that Grace has ever stood for and leaves her wondering if she should trust her heart and look for beauty in unexpected places, instead of what is obvious.
I absolutely loved this book! Great- Aunt Sophia’s Lessons for Bombshells is a fabulous and hilarious read filled with lots of wonderful tips and insight on how to keep (or get back) what you’ve been missing in your life. Full of surprises and laughs, I was highly entertained throughout, and especially loved it when naive Grace is pitted against sexy Declan and the always handsome Dr. Andrew. I had a really hard time putting this one down and it was perfect for lounging by the pool. Overall, a really fun read and definitely something different. Loved every second of it.
[Rating: 5/5]
In Samantha’s Mailbox:
Title: The Undiscovered Novelist
Author: Sarah Bridgeton
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Twenty-seven-year-old Jordyn Simmons has almost everything she’s ever wanted—a sexy live-in boyfriend, an adorable son, and a finished novel she plans to publish. The only two things missing from her life are a publisher for her book and a relationship with her estranged mother, Debra. As Jordyn pursues her novelist ambitions, her world collides with Debra’s, and both women are forced to make decisions that will change their lives forever.
Title: This Tangled Thing Called Love
Author: Marie Astor
Received: From Marie Astor
Synopsis: Claire Chatfield has everything a girl could possibly wish for: looks, a promising career, and an engagement ring from one of New York’s most eligible heir-bachelors! Life should be a dream and yet, it does not feel like one… When an enigmatic new neighbor, Alec Brunell, moves into an apartment above from Claire’s, Claire is surprised to find herself wondering whether the choices she has made in her life are worth following through.
In order to secure his place as his father’s successor, David Lawson must settle down with a wife befitting the future head of Lawson Enterprises – and who could fit the prerequisite better than lovely Claire Chatfield? There is just one glitch – David Lawson is in love with another woman.
Alec Brunell has never lacked for women’s attention, but he finds himself at a loss when faced with his downstairs neighbor, Claire Chatfield. Still, her iciness only adds fuel to his fire, as Alec is determined to change Claire’s view of him.
This Tangled Thing Called Love follows the story of four people searching for love – will they have the courage to find it?
Title: Dewitched
Author: EL Sarnoff
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: After serving time for Snow White’s attempted murder, the Evil Queen is about to get a makeover. Just not the kind she expected. Thinking she’s being sent to a luxurious spa that will enable her to restore her beauty and recapture her title, Fairest of All, Jane Yvel instead finds herself at Faraway, a rehab center that caters to fairy-talelanders addicted to evil.
Upon confronting her love-hate relationship with her magic mirror, she is sent back to the world of happily-ever-after. Her goal: to discover the true meaning of beauty. Her assignment: to work for Marcella, a demanding Princess-In-Waiting. Jane finds herself irresistibly drawn to Marcella’s dashing fiancé, Prince Gallant, and his exquisite seven-year old daughter, Calla Rose. Will the Evil Queen who had no heart end up with a heart that’s broken?
Wickedly funny, darkly shocking, and deeply moving, DEWITCHED unravels the Snow White story as we know it and will make you see the evil legend in a new light as she rewrites her life.
Title: The Next Best Thing
Author: Jennifer Weiner
Received: From Emily @ Engelman & Co.
Synopsis: Actors aren’t the only ones trying to make it in Hollywood.…At twenty-three, Ruth Saunders left her childhood home in Massachusetts and headed west with her seventy-year-old grandma in tow, hoping to make it as a screenwriter. Six years later, she hits the jackpot when she gets The Call: the sitcom she wrote, The Next Best Thing, has gotten the green light, and Ruthie’s going to be the showrunner. But her dreams of Hollywood happiness are threatened by demanding actors, number-crunching executives, an unrequited crush on her boss, and her grandmother’s impending nuptials.
Set against the fascinating backdrop of Los Angeles show business culture, with an insider’s ear for writer’s room showdowns and an eye for bad backstage behavior and set politics, Jennifer Weiner’s new novel is a rollicking ride on the Hollywood roller coaster, a heartfelt story about what it’s like for a young woman to love, and lose, in the land where dreams come true.
In Sara’s Mailbox:
Title: Clean Break
Author: David Klein
Received: Lisa @ Booksparkspr
Synopsis: A riveting tale of psychological suspense about a woman who finds herself in an impossible situation. Lured by the hope of a better life for herself and her son, Celeste Vanek must deal with the emotional and physical resistance of her compulsive gambler husband when she asks for a divorce. Though she hopes she is on the verge of making a clean break, her husband demands his family back, and things get violent. Jake Atwood, who witnesses the shocking scene between Celeste and her husband, struggles with his own emotional and ethical issues while attempting to help Celeste escape her marriage. At the same time, Jake is involved with Sara, a married and childless police detective who has a private agenda to pursue when a crime is committed that links all of these characters together and changes their lives forever. With heart-pounding suspense and brilliant psychological insight, CLEAN BREAK will leave readers breathless.
Title: Great Aunt Sophia’s Lessons for Bombshells
Author: Lisa Cach
Received:
Synopsis: Grace Cavanaugh is hell-bent on proving her Women’s Studies dissertation thesis that beauty only leads to misery. And what better research subject than her great-aunt Sophia, a former B-movie star? Now eighty-five and facing surgery, Sophia has asked Grace for company. . . .
Grace imagines a helpless, lonely old woman, forced to turn to a great-niece she barely knows. Instead she finds the aging diva holding court in a Pebble Beach mansion, oozing a bombshell-itude—arthritis and wrinkles be damned—that captivates every male in sight. To Grace’s dismay, her greataunt decides a perfect distraction would be transforming the frumpy feminist into a femme fatale who purrs for her suitors . . . or devours them. She ordains classes in everything from carb cutting to lingerie, culminating in a challenging final exam. The newly svelte Grace must test her wiles—on both devilishly handsome and morally corrupt Declan and sensitive but painfully awkward Dr. Andrew.
Newly unleashed desires—and the discovery of a closely held family secret— threaten the bookworm-turned-babe’s entire feminist upbringing. Her thesis gone sadly awry, Grace wonders if her great-aunt is right: Will trusting her heart lead her to find beauty in the most unexpected places?