Review: Playing James by Sarah Mason

Such a cute book. Holly is a reporter, looking for her next big story, when her editor puts her on the "crime beat". She's not terribly excited, but she decides to make the best of it by starting a new series for her paper, where she "shadows" a cop, in a reality-TV-meets-newpaper kind of way. Unfortunately, the cop she's saddled with is James, who might just hate her guts, along with all other journalists, for that matter. Damn him and his piercing green eyes.

Sound like the makings of a genre-hugging chick-lit novel? Of course it does. Holly is adorable, has a tempermental car named Tristan, and meets cute with James, while balancing her life, her inattentive boyfriend, and her crazy, thespian family.

Loved this book because it's so very, very British, and because when James finally declares his love, he reveals his habit of going into his car and smelling Holly's seatbelt at the end of the day. How freaking romantic is that?

We have a Winner!

The winner of the 4-book giveaway is Laurie! You'll be getting an email soon, girl! Happy reading! :)

Chick-Lit Gal Giveaway!!

I need to clean out the bookshelf, so here goes! Leave a comment with your email addy, and I'll pick the lucky winner of four chick-lit classics!

**Two of Sophie Kinsella's best, Can You Keep a Secret and Remember Me?

**Jane Costello's The Nearly-Weds

**Original Cyn by Sue Margolis

Entries accepted until midnight on Wednesday, November 23rd. Good luck! :)

Review: The Nearly-Weds by Jane Costello

What a fantastic read! I love Jane Costello (my first book of hers was My Single Friend), and I had high hopes for The Nearly-Weds. Luckily, I was not disappointed.

Zoe's a British singleton in her late twenties, and is happy with her career as a pre-school teacher. But when she's jilted at the alter by her boyfriend of seven years, she escapes the ensuing drama by taking a job as a nanny in the US.

Single dad Ryan has a sexy ass, two adorable kids, and a huge chip on his shoulder since the death of his wife three years earlier. He's rude, crude and slobby, and spares little time for domestic duties, including spending time with his children.

But Zoe needs her job, so she grits her teeth at Ryan's unreasonable demands, late-night hi-jinks, and lax parenting skills. Zoe eventually finds some nanny friends in the neighborhood, and also finds the nerve to confront Ryan about his boorish behavior. With her help, Ryan begins to turn a new leaf.

A tentative friendship develops between the two, and a mutual attraction eventually leads Zoe into Ryan's bed. There's only one problem--Zoe is still in love with her runaway fiance, Jason. When he reconnects with her, she must decide between her old love and her new boss.

Costello's writing style is engaging, and her characters loveable. The relationships between the main characters develop naturally, and the dialogue is clever and engaging. All in all, a great read!

4/5 stars

Review: Build a Man by Talli Roland

I've never read this author before, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It started as something light and typically chick-lit, and ended up as something more.

Serenity is new in London. She's working as a receptionist in her boyfriend's plastic surgery clinic, but her real goal is to write for a British tabloid. The idea to write an expose on one of the clinic's male patients nabs Serenity a regular column, but she's told to work undercover, and she keeps the column a secret from both the patient and her boyfriend.

As Serenity and Jeremy (the subject of her expose) become close friends, she struggles with the weight of her lies and deception--if Jeremy, or her boyfriend Peter find out, they will both be furious.

About 2/3 of the way through this book, things took a serious turn that I didn't quite expect. However, Roland does a great job of keeping us hooked, and keeping us sympathizing with Serenity, even when her actions are none-too-sympathetic.

Loved the ending, and just read in an author interview that she's working on a sequel, which I will be anxiously awaiting!

4/5 stars

Review: Stupid and Contagious by Caprice Crane

How much do I love this book?

A lot. A whole lot.

Meet Heaven and Brady. Heaven is an underemployed waitress. Brady is a frustrated inventor. They meet each other and it's hate at first site. He thinks she's crazy. She thinks he's retarded.

Of course, they are neither--they are both smart, hip, music lovers. After their initial animosity subsides, they forge a tentative friendship and take a crazy trip to Seattle, to meet the creator of Starbucks and visit Kurt Cobain's grave. Of course, they fall in love.

How they get there made me laugh, and cringe, and tear up at the end.

It's an awesome book--read it. Seriously.



5/5 stars

Review: Something From Tiffany's by Melissa Hill

Okay, so this wasn't the best chick-lit book I've ever read. The dialogue didn't snap, there wasn't enough humor, and the there were two protagonists, which is different. In fact, I will give this story a lot of credit for being different!

Ethan is about to propose to his girlfriend Vanessa, and he and his eight-year-old daughter have gone to Tiffany's to buy her one honker of a ring. Gary, who's running late on Christmas Eve, has also popped into Tiffany's to buy his girlfriend Rachel the cheapest thing he can find--a $150 charm bracelet.

What happens next is pure happenstance--Gary gets run over by a cab on the street, and Ethan stops to render aid. In the shuffle, their bags get mixed. So, by Christmas, we see that Rachel has received the $20k diamond ring, and Vanessa has received the cheap bracelet. What are the two guys to do?

Ethan, of course, goes in search of his ring. Gary decides to let Rachel keep the ring, and marry her. Even though he had no intention of proposing.

Will the boys work it all out? Will the gals be any wiser? Will the course of true love ring true?

There were very few truly likeable characters in this book. Ethan was almost too good. The love story twist at the end seemed a little rushed and forced. As usual, the young child in the equation is wise beyond her years.

A sweet story, but something I'd recommend picking up at the secondhand bookstore.



3.5/5 stars

Review--Can You Keep A Secret, by Sophie Kinsella

I'm a sucker of Sophie Kinsella, although I will say I might be the only chick-lit blogger on the planet who has not read all of the Shopaholic books (I had to quit after the sister one, I was just done).

But "Can You Keep A Secret" is adorable, and is the perfect example of chick-lit at its finest.

Emma's an assistant marketing exec, desperate to make her mark, but spending most of her time serving coffee and typing correspondence. She takes a flight to Glasgow, hits some major turbulence on the way home, and in a "this is the last moment of my life" bout of hysteria, spills every ugly secret she can think of to the perfect stranger sitting beside her.

Little does she know that she will live to tell the tale of this flight, and that she has inadvertently bared her soul to the CEO and owner of Panther Cola, the company for which she works!

Jack (the boss) is intrigued, and he and Emma begin a flirtation becomes something serious. At least until Emma realizes that Jack knows everything about her, and she knows virtually nothing about him. Will they be able to make their relationship work? What secret is Jack hiding? Will Emma ever find a comfortable pair of thong underwear?

Predictable but well-written, I love this book.

4/5 stars (too lazy to even copy the graphic this evening...)

Mini-review of "Jemima J" by Jean Green

I know this has happened to everyone at one point or another, but this is such a tough review to write, because I'm not sure whether I liked this book or not.

Our heroine, Jemima, is an obese reporter at a down-on-its-luck newspaper in a not-so-great area of London. She has bitchy, skinny friends. She pines for her beautiful co-worker Ben, who is nice, but would certainly never see her as anything but a friend, because, you know, she's fat!

But when Jemima gets online and meets a handsome Californian on the Internet, she finds the inner strength to lose the weight and travel to LA to meet him, in the process transforming herself from a miserable duckling to a beautiful swan.

Jemima's a good heroine, with some self-esteem issues, to be sure, but a good head on her shoulders. The turn that the novel takes when Jemima gets to LA is kind of weird, and we don't see a satisfying ending for our girl until the very end. Even then I was left scratching my head. Had our H/h really learned their lessons, about judging a book by its cover? I'm just not sure.

Review--"Scot on the Rocks" by Brenda Janowitz

Brooke is a Manhattan lawyer, invited to her ex-boyfriend's wedding in LA. She's excited about going with her current boyfriend, a Scot by the name of Douglas, until she discovers that Douglas plans on wearing a kilt to the ceremony. Thus begins a series of unfortunate events that culminate in lies, deception, fake Australian accents, and jokes about haggis.

Let me start this review by saying that the plot is thin and outrageous--the characters often unbelievable--the heroine so delusion as to sometimes be gag-inducing--and the ending about as predictable as you can get.

Let me then say that I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK. It is laugh-out-loud funny, and I hardly ever laugh out loud at books. When Brooke says (as an aside to the reader), "Oh, like you've never used Halloween as an excuse to dress like a slut," I was hooked. Hooked, I say!

Apparently there is a sequel to this book called "Jack with a Twist," which I plan on reading soon, because I can't stay away from Brooke and Jack!

Review: "Chasing Daisy" by Paige Toon

Okay, so I'm going to review all of Paige Toon's books on here eventually, because I've loved every one I've read so far. As with the other two Toon books I've read ("Pictures of Lily" and "Lucy in the Sky"), "Chasing Daisy" pits our heroine in the middle of two men--in this case, two Formula 1 race car drivers, Will Trust and Luis Castro. But is this a simple "girl-must-choose-between-two-very-different-men" plot? Ho, ho, ho, no it is NOT! All three of these characters have depth, flaws, and endearing qualities. Life has thrown all of them curve-balls, and they've dealt with them as best they can. But the roller coaster ride Toon takes us on from beginning to end just about ripped my heart out!

There are some plot twists that are expected, and one that is TOTALLY (and I mean TOTALLY!!!!) unexpected (I was reading at about 3 am, and had to go out on the back porch so as not to wake the family, because I was just ranting "No! No! No!"), and the way Daisy grows and sorts out her life in the end is the stuff of true art.

I can't say that I liked this book better than "Lucy" or "Lily" (I have a soft spot for "Lily", as I have a massive crush on Ben), but this one's at least tied with the other two. Be ready to laugh and cry, because this book delves into areas that most chick-lit doesn't begin to touch.

Review: "From Notting Hill With Love...Actually"

Scarlett O'Brien (get it?? get it??) loves the movies. Her life in Stratford-Upon-Avon is a bore, with her conservative, popcorn-machine salesman of a father, and DIY-obsessed fiance. Why can't her life be more like her favorite movies, especially those starring Hollywood's rom-com heroes, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Richard Gere, and Johnny Depp?

When she gets the opportunity to house-sit in the posh, Notting Hill section of London for a month, Scarlett finds some things that are missing in her life--like her long-lost mother, and true love, in the form of her new next-door-neighbor, the adorably named Sean Bond (Sean Connery and James Bond...get it?)

Craziness ensues, and the story flows along at a good pace--the requisite cliches are accounted for: the gay man who befriends Scarlett early on, the new love interest who's been burned before, the circumstances that allow our heroine to grow up a bit and realize what's important in life. There's "top of the Eiffel Tower" angst, a last-minute wedding reprieve, and, of course, more cheesy movie quotes than you can shake a stick at.

Overall, I enjoyed "FNHWL...A". It's stock full of cliches, but it's supposed to be, isn't it? The heroine believes in a world of happily-ever-afters, and of course, she gets one in the end. Scarlett's an enjoyable heroine, Sean's almost too perfect as her new love interest, and the rest of the supporting cast is just there to get us from point A to point B.

I'd recommend picking this one up at a used book store. Not worth full price, but a good afternoon read.

Review-One True Theory of Love by Laura Fitzgerald

Meg Clark is a single mom, and she and 9-year-old Henry don't need, or want, a man in their lives. However, when they meet Ahmed in a local coffee shop, their man-free life changes, and Meg's life becomes infinitely more complicated.

Meg and Ahmed fall for each other, hard and fast. But there are some issues to consider: the reappearance of Meg's long-lost ex, who's never even met Henry; the deteriorating marriage of Meg's parents; Meg's unhappily married sister; and Henry himself, who is becoming more and more interested in having a man in his life, whether if be Ahmed or his real father.

Things I liked about this book--

*Meg, who's smart, and has a wonderful, embrace-life attitude, despite her history of love and loss.

*Meg and Henry's relationship, which is healthy and thankfully drama-free.

*Ahmed, a strong, sexy Iranian who loves both Meg and Henry the way they deserve to be loved.

Things I didn't like about this book--

*Henry way too precocious comments--he's a little too wise for a boy of nine, and some of his words and actions didn't ring true with me.

*Ahmed (I know I listed him in both my like and don't like columns, but tough). He's a little too perfect. He refers to himself repeatedly as "Persian", which is just weird. Rugs are Persian--modern day people are Iranian.

All in all, a good read.

Saturday Silly--Review of "The History Of Lucy's Love Life in 10 1/2 Chapters" by Deborah Wright

Talk about chick-lit silliness--this book is a keeper, although at times I wanted to punch Lucy in the face for being such an idiot!

Lucy's a twenty-something singelton in London, working for a nutty scientist and dating Anthony, her boyfriend of two years. But Lucy's prone to boredom, and she's a bit of a flirt, so when she breaks things off with Anthony, for no real reason other than her apparent inability to recognize what a great guy he is, I almost quit this book. But luckily, I hung in there, because what happens next is a hoot!

Lucy gets fired from her job, but ends up with a crazy time machine that, through a series of cute maneuvers, actually works. Before long, Lucy's joy-riding through time, meeting up with the likes of Byron, Da Vinci, and Casanova. She even takes Anthony (who's now relegated to "best friend" status) on a trip to meet Al Capone, with somewhat disastrous consequences.

Through these trips, though, Lucy realizes that (a) it's time to grow the f&$#* up, and (b) Anthony truly is the love of her life. By the end of the book, we have Lucy taking Don Juan to a modern-day hen night, and Anthony engaged to another woman, but not to worry, everything works out in the end.

Like I said before, Lucy is truly an exasperating character. However, I fell head-over-heels in love with Anthony, and if he wanted Lucy, then I wanted him to have her (even if she might not deserve him).

I recommend THOLLLITAAHC (how's that for an acronym)--it's a crazy ride with a satisfying ending.

Book Review: Pictures of Lily by Paige Toon

I'm slowly falling in love with Paige Toon, and one reason is because of "Pictures of Lily", a great chick-lit standard with just the right amount of romance, humor, and British colloquialisms.

The book begins in 1999, when 15-year-old Lily is uprooted from her life in London by her slutty mom, who tends to use men like hand towels, and runs from location and location in search of Mr. Right. Mr. Right Now is Michael, a middle-aged Australian who lives in Adelaide, has a nineteen-year-old son, and works at a wildlife conservation center. Lily is (understandably) pissed to be there, and pretty much sulks around the house until Michael (who's actually a really nice guy) invites her to join him at work.

While helping out at the conservation center, Lily meets Ben, a 28-year old caretaker of koalas. Lily develops a crush on the older man, and soon the crush becomes something more, as Ben and Lily find a connection that knows no age difference. But Ben's a good boy (of course), and keeps his hands and thoughts to himself. We end the first half of the book with Ben leaving for London, to marry his fiance Charlotte, and Lily heartbroken and alone.

Part two picks up ten years later--Lily's now legal (26, to be exact), living in Sydney, and engaged to "her" Richard, a sweet, good-looking bloke, but let's face it, he's no Ben. Her life's on hold--her love of photography and animals has been abandoned, as they now trigger nothing but painful memories of the past. Of course, Lily runs into Ben at the Sydney Zoo, where he's now working. He's conveniently divorced, and Lily's feelings for him are reignited.

Does Ben still love Lily? Will Richard fight for his fiance? Who will Lily choose? The predictable but still emotionally satisfying ending made my romantic heart melt a little, and even though there was no (I mean, zero, zilch, nada) sex in the book, and I don't usually cotton to that, I was still completely satisfied with this lovely tale.