Chick Lit Plus by Samantha March

Latest Youtube Videos

Construct A Couple by Talli Roland
Chick Lit Review

Construct A Couple by Talli Roland

Talli Roland quickly became one of my favorite chick lit writers with her novels such as The Hating Game, Build A Man, and Watching Willow Watts that kept me thoroughly entertained and waiting impatiently for more. Her latest, Construct A Couple, follows Serenity and Jeremy from Build A Man, as the couple tries to get on solid ground after a shaky start to a romance and Jeremy suffering a stroke. Serenity is stoked about her new job at a reputable London magazine…until she finds out that fact-checker doesn’t mean “reporter-in-the-making” it means, well, fact-checker. But when she stumbles upon a lead that could get her out of Death Row (or Fact Check Row, whichever) she can just imagine herself climbing the ranks. But when Serenity discovers that the business she is about to take down is helping fund Jeremy’s charity for stroke victims, her brilliant plan is about to blow up in her face. Can she really run a story that will ruin Jeremy’s chance at running a successful charity? Maybe it would be easier if she could just talk to her boyfriend about what was happening, but after finding out that his ex-girlfriend is the CEO of the company doing the donating, Serenity starts to doubt more than just her story. Is her relationship with Jeremy as stable as she thought, or will that backfire on her as well?
Again – loved the book! It was so fun to catch back up with Serenity, who is just a blast to read about. I also really enjoyed the new character – Lizzie – who worked with Serenity as a fact checker. I thought she really added depth to the plot. It was also nice to get some more insight on Serenity’s best friend Kirsty and her family. Kirsty was having a hard time with husband Tim in the previous book, and a pregnancy shocker had her all sorts of rattled. I was really pleased with how their story turned out. And of course, Jeremy and Serenity’s relationship had me all filled with happiness when I got to the end of the book. Such a cute couple, and hopefully now they will learn to communicate! I believe there is another book in this series, and I will wait (impatiently yet again) for that to be released. If you have yet to read something from Talli Roland – quit reading my review and get on it!
[Rating: 4.5]

July 6, 2012
Leave a comment
Debut Authors & Novels- February/March 2011
Chick Lit Review

Debut Authors & Novels- February/March 2011

Debut Authors & Novels February/March 2011

Title: Faking It
Author: Lotte Daley
Available: February 17th
Synopsis: It’s not you, it’s me. That’s the cowardly text message that Katie receives from Jack, her actor boyfriend of three years, when he dumps her. And things go from bad to worse when photos of Jack canoodling with a famous size-zero actress are splashed across every gossip magazine and tabloid soon after. Just how much humiliation can a girl take? With the paparazzi camped out on her doorstep, Katie decides to preserve what’s left of her dignity. So she agrees to become her PR colleagues’ next project. They will make her over (hair, teeth, clothes, Botox, boobs – the works) and turn her into an instant celebrity in order to win back her ex and show the world that an ordinary girl can rival a beautiful bimbo. But will a new life in the limelight be everything Katie dreamt of? Can she make it in the cut-throat world of the beautiful, rich and famous? Is Jack worth all the hassle or is there someone else out there who might love Katie just the way she is?

Title: What You Don’t Know
Author: Lizzie Enfield
Available: February 2011
Synopsis: You’ve been together for fifteen years. You’ve got two gorgeous kids and a great career. All the boxes are ticked. You wouldn’t be tempted by a plain, slightly balding man called Graham…Would you? When Graham Parks walks into Helen Collins’ life, the last thing she expects is to fall for him. He’s nothing like her handsome, successful husband, Alex. But fifteen years is a long time and Helen can’t help wondering what it would be like to sleep with someone else. Has Alex secretly been thinking the same thing? As harmless flirtation develops into something far more complicated, Helen’s perfect world begins to look shaky. It’s exciting, alluring, all-consuming. But is it worth the risk?

Title: Born Under A Lucky Moon
Author: Dana Precious
Available: February 8th
Synopsis: Born Under a Lucky Moon is the tale of two very important (but distant) years in the lives of Jeannie Thompson and her (embarrassing, crazy) colorful family members to whom “things” just seem to happen. From the Great Lakes of Michigan to Los Angeles and back again, it is a story of surprise marriages, a renegade granny, a sprinkler system cursed by the gods, and myriad other factors Jeannie blames for her full-tilt, out-of-control existence. But it’s also about good surprises—like an unexpected proposal that might just open Jeannie’s eyes to her real place among the people she loves most in the world . . . the same ones she ran far away from to begin with.

Title: Save As Draft
Author: Cavanaugh Lee
Available: February 1st
Synopsis: Sent: Monday, February 14, 2011
From: Izabell
To: Reader
Subject: Save as Draft
Are we Facebook friends yet? I’m the wactress (waitress/actress) turned lawyer who lives her life online. (Don’t we all these days?)
Anyway, I’ve got this problem. . . . There’s this guy. His name’s Peter. He’s my best friend and co-worker, and we just started dating, which is potentially a huge mistake. But, that’s not all. There’s this other guy, Marty. I met him on eHarm, and he ran with the bulls in Spain. I can’t get him off my mind. What a mess. I’d love your advice if you can take a second out of your crazy, high-tech life. Shoot me an e-mail. Or text me. Or BB messenger me.
And friend me if you haven’t already! You can find me on Facebook under Save as Draft.
Izabell

Title: Cougars
Author: Claire Irvin
Available: March 2011
Synopsis: Caroline Walker has it all. At 42, her immaculate looks and toned body are of a woman half her age. She’s a successful entrepreneur, and juggles her career with domestic bliss: wife of City trading sensation Les Walker, and mother to their teenage daughter Rachel. But when Caroline learns that Les has been having an affair, her perfect world falls apart. Caroline is suddenly single – something she hasn’t been in a very long time. With the help of Maryanne, her outgoing and ex-Hollywood starlet friend, Caroline’s life is transformed into a glamorous social whirl as she discovers her missing 20s. And the young men she should have been dating then, too … But is Caroline ready to put the past behind her? And can true love really strike twice.

Title: The Hating Game
Author: Talli Roland
Available: March 2011
Synopsis: When man-eater Mattie Johns agrees to star on a dating game show to save her ailing recruitment business, she’s confident she’ll sail through to the end without letting down the perma-guard she’s perfected from years of her love ’em and leave ’em dating strategy.
After all, what can go wrong with dating a few losers and hanging out long enough to pick up a juicy £200,000 prize? Plenty, Mattie discovers, when it’s revealed that the contestants are four of her very unhappy exes.
Can Mattie confront her past to get the prize money she so desperately needs, or will her exes finally wreak their long-awaited revenge? And what about the ambitious TV producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end.

February 13, 2011
7 Comments
Debut Author Spotlight: Talli Roland
Chick Lit Authors

Debut Author Spotlight: Talli Roland

Debut Author: Talli Roland
Debut Novel: The Hating Game
Talli contacted me via email asking me to give her debut novel a review. After reading the synopsis and learning it was about reality TV dating shows, I had to read it! I am a reality TV junkie, so much so, it’s a little embarrassing. But Talli and I are on the same page there- her blog quotes her as saying if she were “forced to wax anyone’s hairy chest it would have to be Simon Cowell.” I enjoyed reading The Hating Game, and watching the producers do whatever necessary to bring more drama into the dating show. Here is a clip of my four star review:
“The Hating Game by Talli Roland has romance and scandal, along with likeable characters and fast plot points. The reality TV spin calls for some hilarious twists as the producers of the show try to inject more drama among the contestants. I liked the main character and the fact she wasn’t whining and complaining throughout about her love life. Instead she was a tough chick, not letting her ruined romance get in the way of her business and success.”
The Hating Game is currently available as an Ebook only, but the paperback version will be for sale in March of 2011. Be sure to check out Talli’s website or blog for more news from this London author, and to get your copy of The Hating Game.

January 25, 2011
3 Comments
The Hating Game by Talli Roland
Chick Lit Review

The Hating Game by Talli Roland

Mattie Johns can really only be described as a man-eater. She is no nonsense, in control, yet has a sense of vulnerability that is rarely on display. She let herself succumb to love once, and that bit her in the ass. Now she is focused solely on her business and trying not to go bankrupt. All thanks her no good cheating ex-boyfriend, who stole all her clients away from her. When Mattie is tapped to appear on a reality dating show, she thinks it could be her only chance to avoid financial disaster. The money being promised is enough to get through a few dates with some loser guys. But the tables are turned on Mattie when the contestants turn out not to be strangers, but four ex-boyfriends, all with a very different motive to being on the dating show.
The Hating Game by Talli Roland has romance and scandal, along with likeable characters and fast plot points. The reality TV spin calls for some hilarious twists as the producers of the show try to inject more drama among the contestants. I liked the main character and the fact she wasn’t whining and complaining throughout about her love life. Instead she was a tough chick, not letting her ruined romance get in the way of her business and success. My only dislike is that I just read a story similar to this one not that long ago- reality TV contestant set up with a bunch of ex-boyfriends. So it didn’t make this story real original, but it was still funny and entertaining to read.
Rating: 4

January 24, 2011
4 Comments
In My Mailbox: Week of November 21
Updates

In My Mailbox: Week of November 21

In My Mailbox: Week of November 21st

Title: Goodnight Tweetheart
Author: Teresa Medeiros
Received: From Ayelet Gruenspecht/Gallery Books
Synopsis: Abigail Donovan has a lot of stuff she should be doing. Namely writing her next novel. A bestselling author who is still recovering from a near Pulitzer Prize win and the heady success that follows Oprah’s stamp of approval, she is stuck at Chapter Five and losing confidence daily. But when her publicist signs her up for a Twitter account, she’s intrigued. What’s all the fuss? Taken under the wing of one of her Twitter followers, “MarkBaynard”—a quick witted, quick-typing professor on sabbatical—Abby finds it easy to put words out into the world 140 characters at a time. And once she gets a handle on tweets, retweets, direct messages, hashtags, and trends, she starts to feel unblocked in writing and in life. After all, why should she be spending hours in her apartment staring at her TweetDeck and fretting about her stalled career when Mark is out there traveling the world and living? Or is he? Told almost entirely in tweets and DMs, Goodnight Tweetheart is a truly modern take on a classic tale of love and loss—a Griffin and Sabine for the Twitter generation.

Title: The Hating Game
Author: Talli Roland
Received: From Talli Roland
Synopsis: When man-eater Mattie Johns agrees to star on a dating game show to save her ailing recruitment business, she’s confident she’ll sail through to the end without letting down the perma-guard she’s perfected from years of her love ’em and leave ’em dating strategy. After all, what can go wrong with dating a few losers and hanging out long enough to pick up a juicy £200,000 prize? Plenty, Mattie discovers, when it’s revealed that the contestants are four of her very unhappy exes. Can Mattie confront her past to get the prize money she so desperately needs, or will her exes finally wreak their long-awaited revenge? And what about the ambitious TV producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end?

Title: How I Learned to Love the Walrus
Author: Beth Orsoff
Received: From Beth Orsoff
Synopsis: When Los Angeles publicist Sydney Green convinces her boss to let her produce a documentary for the Save the Walrus Foundation, the only one Sydney Green is interested in saving is herself. The walruses are merely a means to improving her career and her love life, and not necessarily in that order. Sydney would’ve killed the project the second she learned she’d be the one having to spend a month in rural Alaska if it had been for any other client. But for rising star and sometimes boyfriend Blake McKinley, no sacrifice is ever too great. Yet a funny thing happens on the way to the Arctic. A gregarious walrus pup, a cantankerous scientist, an Australian sex goddess, a Star Wars obsessed six-year-old, and friends and nemeses both past and present rock Sydney Green’s well-ordered world. Soon Sydney must choose between doing what’s easy and doing what’s right.

November 22, 2010
3 Comments