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.