meant to be – Chick Lit Plus by Samantha March

Author Profile: Karen Stivali

Author Name: Karen Stivali
Website: http://karenstivali.com/
Bio:
Karen Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant for books, movies and fictional British men. When she’s not writing, she can be found cooking extravagant meals and serving them to family and friends. Prior to deciding to write full time Karen worked as a hand drawn animator, a clinical therapist, and held various food-related jobs ranging from waitress to specialty cake maker. Planning elaborate parties and fundraisers takes up what’s left of her time and sanity.
Karen has always been fascinated by the way people relate to one another so she favors books and movies that feature richly detailed characters and their relationships. In her own writing she likes to explore the dynamics between characters and has a tendency to craft romantic love stories filled with sarcasm and sexy details.
Karen has published three erotic romances with Ellora’s Cave: Marry Me (June 2012), Long-Distance Lovers (co-written with Karen Booth, March 2012) and Always You (Passionate Plume First Place Novella Winner, RWA 2012).
Karen’s women’s fiction stories, published with Turquoise Morning Press, include Meant To Be (August 2012) and its sequel Holding On (November 2012). Both full length novels are currently available in e-book and paperback. A prequel to these novels, the short story All I Need, appears in the Foreign Affairs Anthology (August 2012). Another short story, White Wedding, which takes place between Meant To Be and Holding On, will be in an anthology due out in June 2013.
Also coming in 2013 Karen will have two contemporary romances releasing from Samhain Publishing. The first of these, THEN, AGAIN is due out on May 23, 2013. LEAVE THE LIGHTS ON will be out in November/December 2013. A new erotic romance novella will release from Ellora’s Cave in Spring 2013 and JUST IN TIME, a follow-up to Meant To Be and Holding On that will focus on Justine, will release from Turquoise Morning in January 2014.
Connect with Karen!

http://karenstivali.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/karenstivali
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/karenstivali
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5170527.Karen_Stivali
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005KWSFGO
Bio retrieved from CLP Blog Tours

June 5, 2013

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Chick Lit Review

CLP Blog Tours Book Review – Holding On by Karen Stivali

Karen Stivali is on tour now with CLP Blog Tours and Holding On. This is the sequel to Meant to Be, a book I absolutely loved. I was very eager to jump back into the lives of Marienne and Daniel, as they won me over completely in the first book. The couple are happily married, and are both overjoyed when Marienne finds out she is pregnant. A lot happens during her pregnancy, and one large part is Daniel writing a screenplay that gets offered to be produced. The family also moves to a new town when Daniel gets offered a position at Dartmouth, and they meet a neighbor that is a little too friendly towards Marienne. With Daniel traveling due often to the screenplay jealousy starts to spark between the two, especially when Daniel’s manipulating ex-wife reappears back his life. Their marriage is suddenly on shaky ground, and both Marienne and Daniel have to dig deep to understand their love, trust, and partnership to make their marriage work.
I really enjoyed Holding On, maybe not as much as the first book, but I still really liked it. It was so nice to see a couple that really belongs together be together, though there were plenty of rough spots for them. The writing and scenes are very realistic, and I liked that Stivali was able to make me think about my own soon-to-be marriage through her characters and their issues and how they resolve them. The only thing I wasn’t a huge fan of was Marienne and Daniel’s sex life, which can probably make a lot of people feel inadequate. It felt like they were having sex in every third scene which got to be a bit much for me, but overall I really did enjoy this book. I would definitely recommend both Meant to Be and Holding On.
4 stars

February 11, 2013

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CLP Blog Tours

On Tour: Holding On by Karen Stivali

Karen will be on tour February 11-18 with her novel Holding On When you have everything you’ve ever dreamed of, the hard part is Holding…

February 8, 2013

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Chick Lit Review

CLP Blog Tours Review: Meant to Be by Karen Stivali

Karen Stivali is on tour now with CLP Blog Tours and Meant to Be. This is a true romance story, and one that I found difficult to put down. Readers follow the journey of love between neighbors Daniel Gardner and Marienne Valeti – though both are married to other people. What starts as an innocent friendship turns into a tortuous friendship as both Daniel and Marienne realize they are falling for each other. Both remain loyal in their marriages and their friendship only grows stronger throughout the years. But when will the friends get their chance at true love and happiness?
This was a beautifully written story by Stivali, and I’m thrilled to know the sequel, Holding On, is already out. I often don’t enjoy books about infidelity and marriages breaking up because of it (as I am getting married next year) and I almost thought this book would entail that. I’m so happy I was way off course with that thought, because Daniel and Marienne’s marriages did not fail because of them or their friendship. They both remained fiercely loyal to their spouses, which I could appreciate. It was slow torture being able to understand how well the two fit together and how unfit their spouses were for them. There were a lot twists in the book that kept me on my toes, and the ending had me jumping for joy. Very much looking forward to reading Holding On.
[Rating: 4.5]

December 17, 2012

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CLP Blog Tours

On Tour: Meant to Be by Karen Stivali

Karen will be on tour December 10-17 with her novel Meant to Be Sometimes you’re already committed to the wrong person when fate finally brings…

December 4, 2012

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CLP Blog Tours

Future Tour: Holding On by Karen Stivali

Karen will be on tour February 11-18 with her novel Holding On When you have everything you’ve ever dreamed of, the hard part is Holding…

November 19, 2012

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CLP Blog Tours

Blog Tour Sign Up: Holding On by Karen Stivali

When you have everything you’ve ever dreamed of, the hard part is Holding On.

British NYU professor Daniel Gardner thinks life can’t get better than the day his three-year-old stepdaughter, Ella, calls him Daddy for the first time. Then his wife Marienne tells him she’s pregnant. Daniel is thrilled, but worried about Marienne’s health. Not wanting to cause her stress, he turns to writing to calm his nerves. He pens a screenplay, thinking it’s nothing more than a mental health exercise, but when a colleague reads it and hands it to a producer, it turns into a production contract. Daniel accepts the offer and transfers to a teaching position at Dartmouth, hoping that small town living and a shorter commute will simplify his life.

As he attempts to juggle his new responsibilities, he gets an unexpected letter from Roger, the father he never knew. For the first time since they met, Daniel and Marienne are at odds; she wants him to give Roger a chance, but Daniel wants nothing to do with the man he thinks abandoned his mother. As Daniel and Marienne struggle, they must contend with interference from Daniel’s sexy ex-wife, who appears to want him back, and a handsome, all-too-helpful single dad who desires Marienne as more than a play-date pal. They must both confront deep-seated issues with trust and acceptance if they’re going to find a way to make their marriage work and hold on to the love they share.

Special Notes: This book can be read as a standalone novel but it is the sequel to Meant To Be. Holding On is cross genre between contemporary romance and women’s fiction with very strong romantic elements. It has a sensual heat level and deals with adult subject matter.

November 1, 2012

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