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In My Mailbox: Week of February 5

In My Mailbox: Week of February 5

Title: These Girls
Author: Sarah Pekkanen
Received: From Kortney @ Sparkpoint Studio
Synopsis: Family secrets may shape us all, but it’s the rich, complicated layers of friendship that can save us.
Cate, Renee, and Abby have come to New York for very different reasons, and in a bustling city of millions, they are linked together through circumstance and chance.
Cate has just been named the features editor of Gloss, a high-end lifestyle magazine. It’s a professional coup, but her new job comes with more complications than Cate ever anticipated.
Her roommate Renee will do anything to nab the plum job of beauty editor at Gloss. But snide comments about Renee’s weight send her into an emotional tailspin. Soon she is taking black market diet pills—despite the racing heartbeat and trembling hands that signal she’s heading for real danger.
Then there’s Abby, whom they take in as a third roommate. Once a joyful graduate student working as a nanny part time, she abruptly fled a seemingly happy life in the D.C. suburbs. No one knows what shattered Abby—or why she left everything she once loved behind.
Pekkanen’s most compelling, true-to-life novel yet tells the story of three very different women as they navigate the complications of careers and love—and find the lifeline they need in each other.
Title: Diary of a Mad Fat Girl
Author: Stephanie McAfee
Received: From Jessica @ Penguin Group
Synopsis: Graciela “Ace” Jones is mad-mad at her best friend Lilly who cancels their annual trip to Panama City for mysterious reasons; at her boss Catherine for “riding her ass like a fat lady on a Rascal scooter;” at her friend Chloe’s abusive husband; and especially at Mason McKenzie, the love of her life, who has shown up with a marriage proposal three years too late. Ace is never mad, though, at her near-constant companion, an adorable chiweenie dog named Buster Loo.
Ace’s anger begins to dissipate as she takes matters into her own hands to take down Chloe’s philandering husband-and to get to the bottom of a multitude of other scandals plaguing Bugtussle, Mississippi. Then, she starts to realize that maybe Mason deserves a second chance after all.
With a sharp and distinctive voice, Stephanie McAfee delivers a hilarious and fast-paced tale about Ace Jones and her two best friends-thick as thieves and tough as nails-navigating Southern small-town politics and prejudices, finding love, and standing up for each other all the way.
Title: Nine Uses for an Ex-Boyfriend
Author: Sara Manning
Received: From Transworld Publishers
Synopsis: Hope Delafield hasn’t always had an easy life.
She has red hair and a temper to match, as her mother is constantly reminding her. She can’t wear heels, is terrified of heights and being a primary school teacher isn’t exactly the job she dreamed of doing, especially when her class are stuck on the two times table.
At least Hope has Jack, and Jack is the God of boyfriends. He’s sweet, kind, funny, has a killer smile, a cool job on a fashion magazine and he’s pretty (but in a manly way). Hope knew that Jack was The One ever since their first kiss after the Youth Club Disco and thirteen years later, they’re still totally in love. Totally. They’re even officially pre-engaged. And then Hope catches Jack kissing her best friend Susie…
Does true love forgive and forget? Or does it get mad… and get even?

Skipping A Beat by Sarah Pekkanen

Julia and Michael Dunhill are high school sweethearts living the good life. Julia runs a successful party planning business, but Michael is the real bread winner, worth millions thanks to the launch of his company DrinkUp. But when Michael goes into cardiac arrest and his heart stops beating for four minutes and eight seconds until he is revived, something changes between the husband and wife. Julia’s marriage was based on love and commitment in the beginning, but once money got involved, that had changed. Julia and Michael were business partners and sometime lovers, but the fun loving marriage they once had was taken over by business deals and corporate events. Julia had become accustomed to rarely seeing her husband, plastering fake smiles on her face at fancy dinner parties, and going to the opera. Because on the flip side, she had a gorgeous house with heated floors, a brand new car, and a wardrobe to die for. The money seemed to make her dissolving marriage worth it.
But after Michael’s cardiac arrest episode, it seems he wants to change their relationship. He wants to be the old Michael, before he became so rich and famous. He wants to donate his money and the beautiful house with the heated floors and the news cars to charities. But does Julia? Can she handle giving everything up for Michael, after so many years in stale marriage?
Skipping A Beat, the sophomore novel from Sarah Pekkanen, is a masterful piece of writing. I cried multiple times while reading, because my connection with the characters felt so real. This is a modern novel at its best, making the beautiful heroine choose between money and true love. Even though Julia’s character wasn’t likable at all times, she was honest. She made me think. And the ending….well, you’ll just have to read that for yourself! Chick lit fans will fall in love with Pekkanen’s honest and complex writing all over again.
**Note: This novel is available for preorder, and will be released in February 2011.**
Rating:4.5/5

In My Mailbox: Week of October 31

In My Mailbox: Week of October 31st

Title: Skipping A Beat
Author: Sarah Pekkanen
Received: From Sarah Pekkanen
Synopsis: Sarah Pekkanen’s poignant second novel about marriage, forgiveness, and the things that really matter, which will have readers laughing and crying.

Title: Welcome to My World
Author: Miranda Dickinson
Received: From Charlotte Allen @ Avon Publicity
Synopsis: A travel agent who longs to travel. An intrepid explorer who just wants to find a place to call home. And a Big Idea that changes everything!. When Harri Langton finds herself locked in the Ladies’ loo at Stone Langley Village Hall, she has plenty of time to muse on the events leading up to officially The Worst Night of Her Life! Harri is a travel agent with a shameful secret. Despite possessing extensive knowledge of places around the globe, she’s never set foot outside the UK. Few of Harri’s friends understand her longing to see the world – least of all her boyfriend Rob who still hasn’t proposed after seven years of waiting. But when Alex Brannan arrives in town, Harri finds a kindred spirit. A globe-trotting traveller for the past ten years, Alex’s stories light up Harri’s world, and in return she becomes his confidante, sharing the highs and lows of his awful love life. But everything changes when Alex’s aunt suggests her Big Idea – offering Alex up on a plate to the female readership of It’s My Life magazine. How will Alex feel about being sold off as a prize bull? Will Rob ever step up and propose? And will Harri’s dreams of exploration ever become a reality? An enthralling tale for fans of Harriet Evans and Richard Curtis films from a dazzling star in women’s fiction.

Title: Life After Yes
Author: Aidan Donnelley Rowley
Received: From SheKnows Book Club
Synopsis: This is the story of Quinn—born Prudence Quinn O’Malley—a confused young Manhattan attorney who loses her father on that tragic September morning that changed everything. Now, at an existential crossroads in her life, Quinn must confront impossible questions about commitment and career, love and loss. Her idealistic beau desperately wants a wedding, and whisks her away to Paris just to propose. But then Quinn has a dream featuring judges and handcuffs and Nietzsche and Britney . . . and far too many grooms. Suddenly, her future isn’t so clear. Quinn’s world has become a minefield of men—some living, some gone, and traversing it safely is going to take a lot more than numerous glasses of pinot grigio.
Life After Yes is a blisteringly honest, thoroughly modern tale of life and love in chaos, marking the arrival of a truly exciting new voice in contemporary fiction.

Best Debut Novel Nominees

The nominees for Best Novel from a Debut Author:

The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen
I’ll Have Who She’s Having by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke
Reunion by JL Penn
Hook Line and Sink Him by Jackie Pilossoph
Perfect on Paper by Maria Murnane

Please vote for your favorite by commenting below. Everyone who votes is entered to win!

Best Tear Jerker Nominees

The nominees for Best Tear-Jerker Novel:

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah
Promises to Keep by Jane Green
The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen
The Lies We Told by Diane Chamberlain
On Folly Beach by Karen White

Please vote for your favorite by commenting below. Everyone who votes is entered to win!

Chick Lit Plus Awards: Day 3 Nominations

Categories: Best Novel from a Debut Author, Best Novel Written by a Celebrity, Most Intriguing Concept

Prizes: 2 winners will receive Tonya Planks debut novel Swallow
Winners will be announced August 23rd.
Please post below to enter your nominations, or email me directly at Samantha@chicklitplus.com. The top 5 from each category will go on to the final voting process.
Some early nomination votes for these categories include:

The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen- Best Novel from a Debut Author
LA Candy by Lauren Conrad- Best Novel Written by a Celebrity
Tuesday Tells it Slant by Holly Christine- Most Intriguing Concept

Chick Lit Plus Awards: Day 2 Nominations

Categories: Best Villain in a Novel, Best Scandal in a Novel, Best Tear Jerker Novel
Prizes: 2 winners will receive both novels from Micheline McAllister- Welcome To My Life and Love You, Love Your Work, Let’s Do Lunch!
Winners will be announced August 23rd.
Please post below to enter your nominations, or email me directly at Samantha@chicklitplus.com. The top 5 from each category will go on to the final voting process.
Some early nomination votes for these categories include:

Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner- politician’s affair- Best Scandal
I Heart Paris by Lindsey Kelk- Cici- Best Villain
The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen- Best Tear Jerker

Book Giveaway: The Opposite of Me

Time for another book giveaway! Lovely author Sarah Pekkanen has agreed to host a giveaway through Chick Lit Plus, and one lucky winner will receive a copy of her debut novel The Opposite of Me. To get entered, leave a message on this post, comment on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter (be sure to send me a message if you follow me on Twitter so I can enter you)! The winner will be announced on Friday, April 30th. Good luck!

Chick Lit Author Sarah Pekkanen

Sarah Pekkanen was born in New York City, and moved to Bethesda, Maryland as a young girl. From the start, Pekkanen wanted to write, often writing her own stories and poems, and after college she began work as a journalist for Capitol Hill coverage. Before the birth of her children, Pekkanen married and took on jobs as at Gannett New Service/USAToday, covering Capitol Hill, and writing features for the Baltimore Sun. Sarah Pekkanen now stays home full-time with her three sons, Jackson, Will, and Dylan, and her debut novel, The Opposite of Me, was published in 2010.