New Releases: October 2013
Contributor: Allie October is my favorite month. The back-to-school routine has worked itself out and the holiday madness still seems like it’s months away. Don’t…
Book Review: Bargain Fever by Mark Ellwood
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Summary:
Discounts are no longer the exception, they’re the norm. But is that bargain really a bargain?
Paying full price is so passé. A quarter of the population will only open their wallets if something is on sale. Everyone wants a deal, a steal, a hookup with a discount or a way to cut costs. People don’t only want a deep discount, they expect it and won’t settle for anything less.
They’re lucky, then, that almost half of everything sold in America is listed at some kind of promotional price. It’s a seismic shift that has made shoppers more savvy than ever, generating phenomena like extreme couponing, flash sales, and Groupon.
So there’s never been a better time to be a buyer, right? Perhaps. Sellers have developed their own tricks to protect profit margins amid such markdown mania—ones that include secret sales, shifting prices, and shredding perfectly good clothes.
In this playful, deeply researched book, journalist Mark Ellwood takes a trip into this new landscape. He shows how some people are, quite literally, born to be bargain junkies thanks to a quirk of their DNA, and uncovers the sales-driven sleights of hand that sellers employ to hoodwink unsuspecting buyers.
Ellwood takes us from the floor of upscale department store Bergdorf Goodman to the bustling aisles of a Turkish bazaar, from the outlet Disney world of rural Pennsylvania to a town in Florida that can claim to be couponing’s spiritual capital. We meet savvy buyers trying to wring value from every cent—stalking fashion editors’ tweets to learn about sample sales or camping out overnight for a cut-price computer.
Ellwood also uncovers the dark side of discounting: how organized crime steals coupons en masse and how certain boutiques limit discounts to VIPs,
running secret sticker promotions from which the ordinary shopper is excluded.
Bargain Fever is a manual for thriving in this new era, when deal hunting has gone from being a sign of indigence to one of intelligence. There’s never been a better time to be a buyer—at least if you know how the game works.
Review:
I thought this book offered a lot of good insight and explanation of the retail world – even touching on items such as airlines, hotels, and of course – the coupon craze that has birthed reality shows and the popularity of sites such as Groupon and Living Social. Sometimes I paged through quickly, my interest not being kept high enough to really get the background of past retail stores and the like. The sections that did interest me were the ones that pertained to me – Groupon, travel discounts when flying, even hotels. It was interesting to get a predication of the future of these coupon-like sites, and some background on them in general. While I didn’t really take away what I thought I would (firm tips on how to save while shopping) it was a unique take on the Bargain Fever our country seems to have.
Future Tour: The Bitches of Brooklyn by Rosemary Harris
Rosemary will be on tour December 2-23 with her women’s fiction/chick lit novel The Bitches of Brooklyn No zombies. No serial killers. No threat of global…
In My Mailbox: Week of October 13
Title: Casey’s Quest
Author: Tamara Lee Dorris
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: At her father’s death, Casey Anderson discovers she was adopted at age four. Not able to remember anything, she sets out on a quest to discover why her birth mother gave her up and, and why her adopted parent kept it such a secret. She embarks on a dangerous and spiritually enlightening journey that proves to her, nothing is what it seems.
Title: A Medical Affair
Author: Anne McCarthy Strauss
Received: Booktrope Publishing
Synopsis: While under the care of her pulmonologist after a life-threatening asthma attack, Heather Morrison enters into an affair with her doctor. This affair violates the state’s code of conduct and his medical treatment violates the Hippocratic oath. Heather’s life is shattered as a result. After the doctor terminates the relationship, Heather begins research for her own healing, and armed with this information, she initiates a civil lawsuit. Although it is a work of fiction, A Medical Affair was extensively researched. A Medical Affair is a critical book for women who want to make educated decisions regarding their relationships with their doctors.
Title: Obitchuary
Author: Stephanie Hayes
Received: Stephanie Hayes
Synopsis: Penny Perkins, journalist, upstanding citizen, dutiful bridesmaid, just killed her date. Smashed him on the head with a bottle of Misty Mangoberry Merlot.
She is tipsy and panicked. She is wearing a heinous pink bridesmaid dress that makes her irrational. Penny knows she should call the cops and explain her date’s grabby hands, his crazy eyes. She should cry self-defense. She should do a lot of things she doesn’t do.
Things are about to get real complicated for Penny, as her dead date’s life unravels into a mystery the deeper she investigates. Death just happens to be her job.
She’s the newspaper’s obituary writer.
Title: Coming Home For Christmas
Author: Jenny Hale
Received: Bookouture
Synopsis: Coming Home for Christmas is a beautifully observed story about the importance of family, themagic of Christmas, and falling in love one snowflake at a time.
Fans of Trisha Ashley, Susan Wiggs, Carole Matthews and Susan Mallery – and anyone who loves the sound of carols and the twinkling of lights on the Christmas tree – will adore Jenny Hale’s feel-good debut.
Christmas is a time for family… isn’t it?
Allie Richfield loves Christmas, so when she lands a job as House Manager for the amazing Ashford Estate—which includes organizing the Marley family festivities—she is in her element. With a budget bigger than her life savings and a team of staff, how hard can it be?
As one-by-one she meets the Marleys, she’s about to find out…
Allie’s new boss, Robert, might be gorgeous, but he’s also colder than the snow outside and refuses to come home for Christmas. Robert’s playboy brother, Kip, flirts with her relentlessly; and his sister, Sloane, arrives home with baggage—both the divorce-kind and the Louis Vuitton kind. Their ninety-two year old grandmother, Pippa, spends her day grumbling at them all from her mobility scooter.
With Robert intending to sell Ashford, it’s the Marley’s last chance to create some happy memories in their family home—and Allie is determined to make it happen… even if it takes a little Christmas magic! With the festive spirit in full swing, she might even discover a little happiness of her own…
Title: Hunting With Lawn Darts
Author: Geoffrey McKeel
Received: Geoffrey McKeel
Synopsis: Chad Jordan is a nice guy. Just one day removed from a split with his longtime girlfriend, Stephanie, he now must venture back into the obscenely unforgiving world of modern dating. Having spent the last four years sequestered from the single life and with an outlook on courtship that expired about half a century ago, Chad soon finds out that being such a gentle soul, with a preternatural connection to his emotional side, does not necessarily supply him an advantage in finding compatibility. Only the most unlikely of refuges may be guiding his monumental struggle to find that special someone…
Title: The Drake Equation
Author: Heather Walsh
Received: Heather Walsh
Synopsis: She’s a Democrat, he’s a Republican. She spends her days fighting global warming at an environmental non-profit, he makes his living doing PR for Bell Motors and their fleet of SUVs. But as soon as they meet, Emily Crossley and Robert Drake realize they have encountered their intellectual match. You’re never challenged, he tells her.
You’ve surrounded yourself in a cocoon of people who think exactly the same way you do. She hurls the same accusation back at him, and the fiery debates begin.
Despite both of their attempts to derail it, there is no denying that they are falling in love. But their relationship is threatened by political differences, Robert’s excessive work hours, and Emily’s fear of losing her identity as she falls deeper in love.
Can their love survive? The Drake Equation is a tale of modern love and all its complexities.
Future Tour: Miss Kane’s Christmas by Caroline Mickelson
Caroline will be on tour November 18-December 9 with her romantic comedy novella Miss Kane’s Christmas With Christmas only three days away, Carol Claus agrees to…
Pre-Order Zoey & the Moment of Zen by Cat Lavoie
You can now pre-order your copy of Zoey & the Moment of Zen by Cat Lavoie! The Marching Ink title (and Cat’s second) will be on sale…
Blog Tour Sign Up: The Holdout by Laurel Osterkamp
Robin wanted to win The Holdout, a cutthroat reality TV show, so she gave it her all, challenge after challenge. Then she fell for Grant, with his irresistible eyes and heartbreaking life story.
But Grant was only using Robin as they competed for a million dollars. Once home, Robin wants to hide from the humiliation as episodes of The Holdout are aired, and she worries her family was right all along; she’s not a survivor.
Yet she could surprise everyone, and have the last laugh.
Besides, Robin now has jury duty. And as she forges ahead, confronting her demons about bravery, justice, and romance, Robin will come to decide which is more important: the courage to stand alone, or the strength to love again.
Laurel Osterkamp’s award winning novels have been hailed as funny, intelligent, snarky and poignant. She is the author of four novels and two novellas, including the November Surprise series, which, like The Holdout, features the Bricker family. Laurel was recently on a federal jury, and she loves watching Survivor.
Visit her at www.laurelosterkamp.com
Guest Post: Author Hannah Fielding
Thank you to Burning Embers author Hannah Fielding for guest blogging today! Confidence for Writers: Believing in Your Book Idea I’ve wanted to be a writer since…
Future Tour: Tiara Trouble by Lane Buckman
Lane will be on tour October 28-November 18 with her cozy mystery novel Tiara Trouble What happens when Dynasty meets Honey BooBoo, they have a baby,…
