Review: Lisa Marie Takes Off

There definitely seems to be a British obsession going on in the world of chick lit! Either the main character’s love interest is British, or the character herself goes to London. It is the latter in the case of Susan Hubbard’s latest book Lisa Marie Takes Off. (more…)

Review: The Diva’s Guide To Selling Your Soul

This novel explores the unusual topic of selling one’s soul – to the devil. V – the main character, (she isn’t allowed to tell you her real name) was once a size 14 with lumpy thighs, a mediocre life and job, and was miserable. That all changed when V decided to sign her soul over to the devil – in exchange for beauty, powers, wealth and fame. There are different levels of the program (called “the Life Enrichment Program”). Your powers increase with each level. There are some catches, of course. In order to move through the levels, you have to recruit other people into the program. You have to practice apathy at all times, and you must be discreet. (more…)

Review: Little White Lies

If you’ve ever done something wrong with good intentions, you will enjoy this novel.

Natalie has just moved to Notting Hill from a small town, leaving behind a boyfriend who treated her horribly but whom she can’t stop thinking about. She is lonely, having just been in town for a month. She has a job in a high-fashion boutique, but still hasn’t made any friends. So after a month of being lonely, she decides something must be done. The former tenant of her flat, the glamourous-sounding Cressida, keeps getting mail. Since Natalie doesn’t have a forwarding address for her, the mail continues to pile up. And one day Natalie decides to open an invitation, just out of curiosity.

As soon as she opens the letter, things begin happening. She starts making friends at work, finally meets the adorable guy upstairs who always has parties, goes on a blind date, and gets invited to all kinds of parties. Mind you, the people at the parties think she is Cressida. As does her blind date, the handsome Simon Rutherford, whom she might be falling in love with… (more…)

Review: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly Men I’ve Dated

With a name like Rory Egglehoff, you can imagine what kind of “geek” this main heroine is supposed to be portrayed as. And sure enough, she is! Working as an accountant, Rory is currently dating a boring Star Wars geek, and although she herself is a non-boring Star Wars geek, the sparks just aren’t there between them.

However, after Rory runs into an old crush from grade school – the handsome Hunter Chase, her best friend Allison convinces her to go after him. Rory decides to go through with it. The results that ensue are slightly disastrous but entertaining. Rory hides her true vegetarian, Star-wars-convention attending geeky self and begins to win Hunter over. But will it last? Will she succeed in getting the man of her dreams and in the process lose herself? (more…)

Review: Around The World In 80 Dates

I love reading books about traveling and dating – especially when based on a true story. I knew this book fit into both categories and was based on the author’s non-fictional account of how she found her true love.

Around the World in 80 Dates starts off in the UK where Jennifer is fresh from her latest heartbreak, and takes the reader from beginning to end. You will learn how she conceived of her “Around the World in 80 Dates” idea; You will be taken vicariously through each of her sometimes odd but often interesting dates; You’ll see how she ends up meeting “the one”; and much more.

There were definitely some dates that stood out in the book: the handsome, overly confident Frank in Holland; William from Sweden who ended up expecting something from the date that Jennifer wasn’t prepared to give him; the good-looking and enigmatic Olivier from France who didn’t give Jennifer something she wanted; Davide, who was already happily devoted to a dead woman; Garry from Seattle who she meets at the Burning Man Festival in the hot deserts of Nevada; and many more. Through it all Jennifer has to juggle jet lag, constant travel, coordinating future dates, and keeping in touch with the friends and family who want to know what is going on. (more…)

Review: Emily’s Reasons Why Not

Mr. Wrong. We’ve all dated him, and some of us are too good at finding him. Emily Sanders, our main heroine of this novel, seems to have an extraordinarily good nose at picking out the wrong man. So she decides to go to therapy to see what she is doing wrong. Her therapist tells her to make a list of 10 reasons why she thinks it didn’t work out for her past relationships. So she does.

The novel goes back and forth in time, and tells the story of each of Emily’s relationships, while Emily lists the reasons why she thinks it didn’t work out. Each of the stories are really good. When she gets to her most recent relationship, which she is still in at the time of therapy, she begins listing why she knows deep down that the relationship won’t work out either. (more…)

Review: Her Backyard

I was pretty lucky to have gotten an advance copy of this novel early enough that a review blurb was published on the front cover!

Onto the review: If you have ever gotten so involved with your present life and job that you wake up one day and realize that you have become a completely different person than you ever wanted to be, you will be able to identify with this novel.

When the book starts out, Audrey is living in the great city of New York. She has a tiny but tastefully decorated apartment, and a tough, demanding but well-paying job as a business manager, complete with hellish hours and rude boss. Audrey is generally happy, but discontent at her corporate life gnaws at her from time to time. One night, at a company dinner party she is hosting, Audrey discovers that her coworkers think she is cold and kind of mean. Audrey gets pretty upset, knowing this isn’t the life for her. What has she become? And what can she do? Then a phone call from her sister Ava back home in Florida comes through – it turns out their father is very ill, and Audrey needs to fly home immediately. (more…)

Review: Emily Ever After

This is a classic “Single Girl Moves to the Big City” chick lit.

Our main heroine Emily Hinton has made the big move from a sleepy Southern California suburb to Manhattan. She is a church-going girl with morals, and she vows not to drink to much or get involved with the wrong man. Thanks to her generous uncle, she has a new job at a large publishing house. Emily knows immediately that things aren’t going to be quite as she’d imagined. First, her roommate (whom she’d met on the internet) was nothing like she’d hoped. Then she meets the totally eligible and handsome Bennett. He seems to be the last man in Manhattan that goes to church and has morals. They immediately hit it off, but it becomes clear that something isn’t quite right. He seems to keep trying to get her into bed, for one thing, although she’s made it clear that she doesn’t do that before marriage.

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Review: A Little Change Of Face

Meet Scarlett Stein, the heroine of Lauren Baratz-Logsted’s latest novel. She is beautiful and never lacks for meeting men, but she is nearing 40 and still unmarried. Her love of books makes her job as a librarian the perfect career, but there definite downfalls. After catching a nasty case of Chicken pox, Scarlett is confined to her home. At the same time, her jealous friend Pam keeps telling her that she should frumpify herself in order to find the perfect man – so that he will see her personality rather than her looks.

Since Scarlett is still single, she decides maybe Pam has a point. After some pointless arguing, the gorgeous Scarlet Stein becomes the frumpy, unkempt Lettie Shaw. She quits her job at the Danbury Library and goes to a smaller town to start over.

And somehow, despite her frumpiness, she still manages to meet men.

(more…)

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