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It’s A Man’s World by Polly Courtney
Chick Lit Review

It’s A Man’s World by Polly Courtney

Sometimes, I come across a book that I’m just not sure what I’ll say in my review. I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate. Some scenes pulled me in, others pushed me away. Sometimes I was laughing out loud, other times I was baffled. And that is precisely what It’s a Man’s World by Polly Courtney did to me. The story revolves around workaholic Alexa Harris as she steps into Banter- the gentleman’s magazine that showcases naked girls. Alexa’s job is to drive up the sales and implement new and fresh ideas so Banter doesn’t go under. She knows she is in for a challenge, switching from working with all women to all men- men who stare at naked women all day and think very little of their new female colleague. Alexa has to juggle her career, love life, and protests that come along with her position and lads’ magazines in general.
So, why am I so confused as to my thoughts on the book? For starters, Alexa is often talked about being a strong female, a trait someone would surely need to work with a bunch of frat-boy men in the Banter setting. Alexa goes from me being strong and putting the guys in their place, to allowing sexual harassment to occur to her and others without saying a word about it. That was a little strange, I felt like I never knew which side of Alexa I was going to get. Then there was her boyfriend, who to me seemed like a decent guy. Until the end of the book where Alexa suddenly realizes how controlling he was- but readers never really see that part of him. I thought that he was a great and decent guy all along, and was actually waiting for them to get back together. Those are just a few of the head scratching moments I had.
On the other hand, there were times were I was really drawn into the story, and wanted to find out what happened next. I enjoyed Alexa’s two best friends and their dramas they were going through. The lone other female that worked at Banter, Selena, was interesting to read about as well. I was never quite sure what she was up to, and it was nice seeing how her story played out at the end. So there were parts that I enjoyed reading as well. Overall, I think most chick lit readers would be able to appreciate the story and the characters that Courtney has come up with. I just felt like I was too back and forth on the book to be able to really get lost in the story.
[Rating: 3.5]

September 26, 2011
4 Comments
In My Mailbox: Week of June 26
Updates

In My Mailbox: Week of June 26

In My Mailbox: Week of June 26, 2011

Title: Take Me Home From the Oscars
Authors: Christine Schwab
Received: From Jessica @ Sky Horse Pub
Synopsis: Christine Schwab has lived a life of Hollywood and New York glamour most people can only dream about. For 20 years she appeared as a fashion and beauty reporter on the nations leading television shows including, Live with Regis & Kelly, Oprah!, The Today Show, Entertainment Tonight and NBC Nightly News. She dined with celebrities, met US Presidents, attended numerous Oscars, Emmys and Golden Globes, published two books and was featured in and wrote for many of the most popular magazines while living a thrilling personal and public life married to a powerful Hollywood executive. But for most of those years, she was hiding a devastating illness that threatened to take over her entire life.

In Take Me Home From the Oscars, Schwab tells for the first time her story of living an amazing life in television while suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Schwab recounts with incredible honesty how on the same day she produced and appeared in a major makeover segment for Live with Regis & Kelly in New York and then raced to Chicago to appear on Oprah!, all while balancing medications to ward off the relentless pain that plagued her on-camera and off. She shares an enchanted evening at the Oscars and the unpredictable arthritis pain that cut it heartbreakingly short. She re-lives being driven to deceive herself and others in a career that demands timeless beauty and youth.

Schwab kept her career alive through determination, deception and hope. In Take Me Home From The Oscars, she takes us behind the scenes in Hollywood and New York, and behind her public persona to the 19-year journey through drug trials and treatment at the UCLA Medical Center. Readers will root for her at every step, and cheer when she ultimately finds remission and her new life’s work as a spokesperson for the National Arthritis Foundation. This is a book of hope for anyone dealing with adversity in their life.

Title: It’s a Man’s World
Author: Polly Courtney
Received: From Charlotte @ Avon Books
Synopsis: But it takes a woman to run it
If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em…
Alexa Harris loves a challenge. So when she’s asked to head up Senate Media’s lads’ mag, Banter, she doesn’t need much persuasion.
But life on the all-male editorial team proves harder than Alexa had imagined – and not just because of her ambitious targets. As Alexa battles with a testosterone-fuelled office, she decides to play the boys at their own game.
As success hits, she’s forced to look at who she has become. Has she forfeited her principles in return for praise from the lads? And what price will there be to pay?
An addictive page turner with a hard-hitting meaning.

Title: The Full Moon Bride
Author: Shobhan Bantwal
Received: From Kensington Press
Synopsis: What makes a marriage-love or compatibility? Passion or pragmatism? Shobhan Bantwal’s compelling new novel explores the fascinating subject of arranged marriage, as a young Indian-American woman navigates the gulf between desire and tradition…
To Soorya Giri, arranged marriages have always seemed absurd. But while her career as an environmental lawyer has flourished, Soorya is still a virgin, living with her parents in suburban New Jersey. She wants to be married. And she is finally ready to do the unthinkable…
Soorya’s first bridal viewings are as awkward as she anticipated. But then she’s introduced to Roger Vadepalli. Self-possessed, intelligent, and charming, Roger is clearly interested in marriage and seems eager to clinch the deal. Attracted to him in spite of her mistrust, Soorya is also drawn into a flirtation with Lou, a widowed colleague who is far from her family’s idea of an acceptable husband.
In choosing between two very different men, Soorya must reconcile her burgeoning independence and her conservative background. And she must decide what matters most to her-not just in a husband, but in a family, a culture, and a life…

Title: Eighteen Acres
Author: Nicolle Wallace
Received: From Kensington Press
Synopsis: Eighteen Acres, a description used by political insiders when referring to the White House complex, follows the first female President of the United States, Charlotte Kramer, and her staff as they take on dangerous threats from abroad and within her very own cabinet.
Charlotte Kramer, the 45th US President, Melanie Kingston, the White House chief of staff, and Dale Smith, a White House correspondent for one of the networks are all working tirelessly on Charlotte’s campaign for re-election. At the very moment when they should have been securing success, though, Kramer’s White House implodes under rumors of her husband’s infidelity and grave errors of judgment on the part of her closest national security advisor. In an upheaval that threatens not only the presidency, but the safety of the American people, Charlotte must fight to regain her footing and protect the the country she has given her life to serving.
Eighteen Acres combines political and family drama into one un-put-downable novel. It is a smart, juicy and fast-paced read that we’re sure fans of commercial women’s fiction will fall in total love with.

June 27, 2011
6 Comments