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Blog Tour Sign Up: Favorable Conditions by Kathleen Kole
CLP Blog Tours

Blog Tour Sign Up: Favorable Conditions by Kathleen Kole

Can you imagine being forty-five, your last child has moved on to college and the time is ripe for you to blaze a new trail into your future? Pat Keegan can. Well, except for the tiny detail that all her preconceived notions about how that future was going to shape up are completely out the window.

Join Pat as she jumps feet first back into the world outside her door, takes on a new business venture, is pursued by a much younger man and has to muddle her way through more emotions than she knew she had – all to finally attain her goal of rediscovering who she is and what she wants from the next phase of her life.

December 29, 2011
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Dollars to Donuts by Kathleen Kole
Chick Lit Review

Dollars to Donuts by Kathleen Kole

Kathleen Kole is on tour with CLP Blog Tours. April Patterson is starting to seriously question her move to Boxwood Hills. The sleepy little suburban town has her dodging her kooky and overly-nosy neighbors, gives her a mystery involving said neighbors and a dead rodent, and leads her relationship with boyfriend Kevin down an unknown path. The bright side to moving? April gets to spend more time with her sister Jessica. Jessica is needed when the mystery deepens, stalkers become involved, and April and Kevin’s new houseguest begins to entice April.
Dollars to Donuts is Kathleen Kole’s second novel, after Breaking Even. Like the first book, this one was a fast and cute read that kept me happily engaged with the characters as I kept reading. I loved the relationship between April and her sister Jessica. It was warm and humorous and sometimes filled with drama, but a strong bond was always there. The neighbors and all the run-ins April had with them kept me laughing out loud, and the mystery kept me wondering what was really going on in her neighborhood. The only part that threw me off was the relationship between April and houseguest Gerrit. Even though April had been with Kevin for years, moved to a new town with him and lived with him, her attraction to Gerrit seemed to really come from nowhere and develop super fast. There were a few times that April came off really uncaring when it came to Kevin, and that rubbed me the wrong way. But I loved how the ending tied everything together and gave each character a happy ending. Another recommendation!
[Rating: 4]

November 25, 2011
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Interview with Kathleen Kole
Chick Lit Authors

Interview with Kathleen Kole

First I’d like to say “thank you!” to Samantha for hosting my blog tour and having me here as a guest on Chick Lit Plus. …

November 15, 2011
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On Tour: Dollars to Donuts by Kathleen Kole
CLP Blog Tours

On Tour: Dollars to Donuts by Kathleen Kole

Kathleen in on tour with Dollars to Donuts from November 7-28. Take one newspaper columnist; move her from the anonymity of her home city to…

November 7, 2011
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Future Tour: Dollars to Donuts by Kathleen Kole
CLP Blog Tours

Future Tour: Dollars to Donuts by Kathleen Kole

Kathleen will be on tour November 7-28 with her novel Dollars to Donuts Take one newspaper columnist; move her from the anonymity of her home…

September 12, 2011
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In My Mailbox: Week of September 4
Chick Lit Plus

In My Mailbox: Week of September 4

In My Mailbox: Week of September 4th

Title: Live Out Loud
Author: Heather Wardell
Received: From Heather Wardell
Synopsis: Songwriter Amy wants to honor her late best friend by starting the support center for teenage girls they’d planned when they were just girls themselves. When her song becomes an internet sensation she sees how to get the money she needs, but soon realizes she adores her new pop star career. She must choose: create the center she needed herself as a teen or truly become Misty Will, pop princess.

Title: Dollars to Donuts
Author: Kathleen Kole
Received: From Kathleen Kole via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Take one newspaper columnist; move her from the anonymity of her home city to a sleepy, small town; add a dollop of nosey, suspicious and just plain odd neighbors; a dash of mystery in the form of a stained garbage can and a rodent and, finally, a large pinch of unsettling attraction to a virtual stranger and you’ll find yourself with a recipe that imitates April Patterson’s life.
Sound strange? It is.
April Patterson had no idea that when she decided to follow the path of family and love, she would find herself an unwitting player in an eyebrow raising cul-de-sac mystery, grasping for her privacy as she plays “Dodge the Neighbor” and being forced to examine her relationship motives … all before she had unpacked her last box!
Taking a deep breath, and a large bite into a comforting donut, April consoles herself with the knowledge that it will all work out. It always does … doesn’t it?

Title: A Slot Machine Ate My Midlife Crisis
Author: Irene Woodbury
Received: From Irene Woodbury via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: This darkly funny novel describes Wendy Sinclair’s spin-crazy life in Las Vegas after she impulsively decides to not return to Houston following a bizarre girls’ weekend in 2005.
The confused, unhappy 45-year-old newlywed soon rents a ramshackle apartment in a building filled with misfits; wallows in a blur of spas, malls and buffets, and, ultimately, becomes a designer of cocktail waitress uniforms and an Ann-Margret impersonator in a casino show with Elvis.
She also hangs with some pretty colorful characters. Paula’s her bold, brassy glamazon BFF who’s looser than a Casino Royale slot. Maxine’s her saucy former-Tropicana-showgirl boss. Paige and Serena are two twenty-something blackjack dealers she shops, gambles, and clubs up a storm with. Major crushes on a hunky pilot and sexy former rock star are also part of the mix.
And then there are the phone fights with Roger, Wendy’s workaholic husband waiting impatiently in Houston. Their clashes are louder and more raucous than a hot craps table at Caesar’s! Does she go back to him, or does her midlife crisis become a midlife makeover?

September 4, 2011
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Kathleen Kole Blog Tour Sign Up
CLP Blog Tours

Kathleen Kole Blog Tour Sign Up

Kathleen Kole will be on tour with Dollars to Donuts in November, and I am signing up bloggers to participate! The book will be available…

August 22, 2011
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Author Profile: Kathleen Kole
Chick Lit Authors

Author Profile: Kathleen Kole

Author Name: Kathleen Kole

Website: http://kathleenkole.com/

Bio: Born in Edmonton AB, Kathleen began storytelling in grade school. She has many fond memories of passing summer afternoons, out on the swings in her backyard, creating tales that entertained her neighborhood friends.

When she finally decided to venture from her backyard, Kathleen pursued a career in storytelling. She graduated from college with a Diploma in Radio and Television Arts and traveled the path of freelance writing for numerous local newspapers.

Many years later, too many to talk about without seeming rude and nosey, Kathleen has channeled her imagination to the pages of her novels. She hopes that you enjoy her tales and encourages you to feel free to read her stories on the swing set in your own backyard.

Kathleen has traveled from Edmonton, to a new backyard with a lovely mountain view. She spends time there with her beloved husband, adored son and silly dog. They let her tell them stories and always laugh in all of the correct places. She’s lucky, and she knows it.
Titles: Breaking Even
See my review of Breaking Even
Bio Retrieved from kathleenkole.com

August 13, 2011
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Breaking Even by Kathleen Kole
Chick Lit Review

Breaking Even by Kathleen Kole

Penelope Whittaker is as sensible as they come. Working as an accountant, soon to be married to another accountant, the loving Ben Miller who she has dated for years. Everything in Penelope’s life is stable and consistent. Until she meets Scott Harrison. After a chance encounter (and locking her keys in her car) Scott comes to Penelope’s rescue. And from there, her predictable life starts to spin out of control. Penelope is taken by Scott’s good looks, his devotion to his son, and his ease when chatting with her. Penelope keeps finding reasons to take her soon to be sister-in-law’s children to school, just to run into Scott. Those meetings turn into a coffee date, then lunch, then dinner. Before she realizes what is happening, Penelope is spending more time thinking about Scott than her fiancé, and fighting with Ben almost every chance she gets. Is Ben really the one for her? Or is life about to give Penelope a chance to break away from her good girl image?
Kathleen Kole is on tour with CLP Blog Tours and her latest novel Breaking Even. I was really intrigued by the story. Penelope’s character is very likeable, even though she is doing something extremely un-likeable- possibly embarking on an affair. But this is life, and that does happen. It was refreshing not to read another story about how horrible the man is and how he cheats, etc, etc. Kole really dives in her heroine’s story and why she feels the pull of another man, with a perfectly respectable fiancé waiting at home for her. I was never quite sure how the story was going to end, or which road Penelope would choose, which kept me invested throughout. And I thought there were some good smaller plot points with Ben’s brothers and their wives and how they deal with their marriages that was interesting to read about. There were times where the writing felt just a bit stiff, but overall I really enjoyed the book and thought it was a quick and interesting read. I will definitely be looking for more from Kathleen Kole.
[Rating: 4]

June 17, 2011
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