The nominees for Best Novel with the most Intriguing Concept:
The One That I Want by Allison Winn Scotch
Tuesday Tells it Slant by Holly Christine
The Lies We Told by Diane Chamberlain
Espressologist by Kristina Springer
Bulletproof Mascara by Bethany Maines
Please vote for your favorite by commenting below. Everyone who votes is entered to win!
Tilly Farmer believes she has a great life. At 32 years old, she is still living in her hometown of Westlake, is employed as the guidance counselor at the high school, and married to her high school sweetheart. Her mother may have passed away at a young age, and her father is a recovering alcoholic, but Tilly still firmly believes she possess a fantastic life. The only thing she needs now is a baby. Her and her husband, Tyler, have been having trouble conceiving a child of their own, and now their marriage seems a bit rocky. But Tilly is convinced if they could just have a child, everything would be better.
When Tilly runs into an old childhood friend at a fair, things begin to change. Ashley, now a psychic, gives Tilly the gift of “clarity” regarding her future. Tilly begins having flashes of the future, showing her father having a relapse, her husband leaving her for a better job, and her little sister trying to take her own life. These visions frighten her at first, but after some time, Tilly begins to appreciate her new gift, and realizes the major life changes she is now facing.
The One That I Want by Allison Winn Scotch is a beautifully written story about woman whose perfect life begins to unravel faster than she can control. I thought the visions the heroine started receiving actually heightened the story instead of hindering the plot. The “hocus pocus” part makes the story a little less relatable to a real life story, but I enjoy the way the author went about it. As I was reading, I found myself asking a lot of the same questions Tilly was asking herself, and in that sense I think I took away a lot from this story, making The One That I Want be added to my Favorites list.
Rating: 4/5
Author Name: Allison Winn Scotch
Website: http://www.allisonwinn.com/
Bio: Allison Winn Scotch graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Honors History and Concentration in Marketing from the Wharton School of Business. After working in the PR, marketing and internet worlds, she discovered that there’s nothing finer than working for yourself, working from home and getting paid to write full-time. She worked as a freelance magazine scribe for magazines such as Glamour, Self, Shape, Redbook, Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Family Circle, InStyle Weddings, Bride’s, Cooking Light, Parents, American Baby. More currently, Allison primarily focuses on celebrity interviews and profiles.
Titles: The Department of Lost and Found, Time of My Life, The One That I Want.
In My Mailbox: Week of May 30, 2010
Title: The One That I Want
Author: Allison Winn Scott
Received: From Allison Winn Scott
Synopsis: Tilly Farmer is thirty-two years old and has the perfect life she always dreamed of: married to her high school sweetheart, working as a guidance counselor in her hometown, trying for a baby. Perfect. In fact, on the surface you might never know how tough things used to be. At seventeen, Tilly lost her mother to cancer, her father drowned his grief in alcohol, and she played parent to her two younger sisters more often than being a kid herself. Still Tilly never let tragedy overtake her belief that hard work and good cheer could solve any problem. Of course shers”s also spent a lifetime plastering a smile on her face and putting everyone elsers”s problems ahead of her own. But that relentless happiness has served her well-her sisters are grown and content, her dad is ten years sober, and shers”s helping her students achieve all their dreams while she and her husband, Tyler, start a family. A perfect life indeed. Then one sweltering afternoon at the local fair, everything changes. Tilly wanders into the fortune tellerrs”s tent and is greeted by an old childhood friend, now a psychic, who offers her more than just a reading. “Irs”m giving you the gift of clarity,” her friend says. “Itrs”s what I always thought you needed.” And soon enough, Tilly starts seeing things: her father relapsing, staggering out of a bar with his car keys in hand; Tyler uprooting their happy, stable life, a packed U-Haul in their driveway; and even more disturbing, these visions start coming true. Suddenly Tillyrs”s perfect life, so meticulously mapped out, seems to be crumbling around her. And shers”s not sure whatrs”s more frightening: that shers”s begun to see the future or what the future holds . . . As Tilly furiously races to keep up with-and hopefully change-her destiny, she faces the question: Which is the life she wants? The one shers”s carefully nursed for decades, or the one she never considered possible?
Title: Fabulously Fashionable
Author: Holly McQueen
Received: From Holly McQueen
Synopsis: Twenty-eight-year-old Isabel Bookbinder has figured some things out:she’s moved in with her loving lawyer boyfriend, and despite her mother’s adoration of all things matching, she’s finally discovered her true callingfashion design. After all, she knows her Manolos from her Louboutin, her Pucci from her Prada, and she’s always poring over fashion magazines (the celebrity pages of fashion magazines, that is). She’s even landed a position with Nancy Tavistock, editor at top fashion magazine Atelier, and creative muse to hot designer Lucien Black.So learning from the very best, the future’s looking bright for Isabel Bookbinder: Top International Fashion Designer. Within days she’s putting the final touches on her debut collection, has dreamed up a perfume line (Isabelissimo), and is very nearly a friend of John Galliano. Yet nothing ever runs smoothly for Isabel, and fabulously fashionable as her life may be, it soon seems to be spiraling a little out of her control.With her characteristic humor, charm, and tendency to stumble into sticky situations, Isabel Bookbinder is an irresistible heroine you’re sure to fall in love with.
Title: Two Years, No Rain
Author: Shawn Klomparens
Received: From Catherine McKenzie
Synopsis: An earnest journey from heartache to heartthrob and all the emotions along the way; at once an old-fashioned love story and a cautionary tale of self-reinvention. In San Diego County, it hasn’t rained in 580 days. But for weatherman Andy Dunne, everything else is changing fast…Only a few weeks ago, he was a newly divorced, slightly overweight meteorologist for an obscure satellite radio station, hiding his secret love for a colleague, the beautifuland very much marriedHillary Hsing. But nearly overnight, Andy has landed a new gig, flying a magic carpet in a bizarre live-action children’s TV show. So what is affable, basically decent Andy Dunne going to do now that he can do practically anything he wants? With a parade of hot moms begging for his autograph and a family that needs his help more than ever, Andy has a lot of choices. First, though, there’s this thing with Hillary, their heated text messages, a long-awaited forecast for rain and a few other surprises he never saw coming…
Title: Muffins & Mayhem
Author: Suzanne Beecher
Received: From Suzanne Beecher for Review & Giveaway
Synopsis: “While it’s well known that food and stories make for a great combination, Muffins & Mayhem takes their relationship to a whole new level. Brimming over with the stuff of life, this is a book to curl up with and devour.” JOEL BEN IZZY, storyteller and author of The Beggar King and The Secret of HappinessSuzanne Beecher’s happy, loving voice has brought more than 350,000 people to her online book club at DearReader.com, where her daily column offers her candid, thought-provoking reflections on life, inspiring countless readers to look at their “ordinary” lives in a new way. By turns funny and poignant, Suzanne is the reassuring friend across the kitchen table with a refreshing, jaunty attitude about life, even in the face of whatever difficulties it may bring.Suzanne has had her own share of troubles to overcome. Left home alone at an early age, she struggled with difficult and distant parents, dealt with heartbreak, became a hard-working single mom, and overcame two substance addictions and a physical impairment. But along the way, she found comfort in baking and sharing food with her friends and family. She learned to take the good with the bad, and her life is now inspiring proof that faith and persistence are the keys to success.This beautifully written celebration of food, friends, and family will nourish Suzanne’s numerous fans and those who have yet to discover her simple, homespun magic.
Title: The Cougar Club
Author: Susan McBride
Received: From Susan McBride for Review & Giveaway
Synopsis: Meet three women who aren’t about to run and hide just because the world says they should be on the shelf and out of circulation.
Kat
Her life seems perfect until she loses her high-powered advertising job “and” catches her live-in lover in a compromising position–with his “computer”!
Carla
This sexy TV news anchor is in danger of being replaced by a twentysomething blond bimbo. Wasn’t it just yesterday that she was the up-and-coming star?
Elise
A married dermatologist, Elise thinks her plastic surgeon husband is playing doctor with someone else.
Kat firmly believes that aging gracefully isn’t about giving up; it’s about living life with your engine on overdrive. So this unofficial “Cougar Club” quickly learns three things about survival of the fittest in today’s youth-obsessed society: True friendship never dies, the only way to live is real, and you’re never too old to follow your heart.
Title: Jessica Z
Author: Shawn Klomparens
Received: From Catherine McKenzie
Synopsis: Welcome to Jessica’s world…
When Jessica Zorich met a tall, charismatic artist at a San Francisco party, her life had been all about coping: with a baffling and dangerous world, with a mostly inane job, and with a sweet but meandering relationship with her upstairs neighbor. But Josh Hadden doesn’t cope: he’s a man of action, of big visions, and of relationships that span the globe; a man certain of his passions, politics, art, and desire. And what Josh desires most is Jessica—at a time when being desired might be the most desirable thing of all.
In this daring, mesmerizing debut, a novel that brilliantly captures the angst of a generation, Jessica gives herself over to an erotic, reckless relationship with a man guarding deep secrets—and to a perfect storm of lust, doubt, joy, and fear. Now, against her better judgment, she is following Josh into his mystifying life and brilliant, dizzying work—where she will find out how much she has been missing, how far she has yet to go, and what the price of this intoxicating adventure will be.…
Author Allison Winn Scott is offering such a fabulous offer, it’s just too good to be true for aspiring writers. For me personally, I have just finished putting the final touches on the novel I wrote, and am working on my query letter for agents. Thanks to Allison, I now have a sure way that a great agent will actually read my query letter AND the first chapter of my manuscript. How can that be? Allison’s agent, Elisabeth Weed, has offered to read each and every query letter and first chapter for writers that purchase a copy of The One That I Want between now and June 5th. Just send a copy of your receipt to the email address stephanie@weedliterary.com., along with your query letter and first chapter, and have the chance of securing an agent. Even if you aren’t quite ready to turn your manuscript in, you can still purchase the book and let Elisabeth know you need a little more time, and that is no problem. I have yet to hear of an opportunity like this, and even though I already have a copy of The One That I Want, well I’m sure going to purchase another! I have provided the Amazon link below- and please note that all submissions need to be fiction or a memoir- do not submit genre fiction. Good luck to all!
