Edwina Darke is (almost) 30, flirty and thriving!

We are pleased to introduce Edwina Darke and her debut novel, Three's a Crowd. She's here today to talk about birthdays with us.

Edwina grew up in Sydney and attended Bond University, where she majored in accounting, psychology and journalism. Although she loved her home and family, Edwina had her bags packed, ready to go travelling at the age of 18. Among other adventures, Edwina worked as a ski instructor in Austria, studied the history of fine art in Florence, lived in London and ended up spending the better part of a year living with a friend in Manhattan, New York, the setting for Three's A Crowd. She now lives and works in Sydney. (Bio courtesy of Goodreads.)

You can find Edwina on Facebook and Twitter. While Three's a Crowd is not currently available to US readers, UK readers can purchase it for 99 p.

Synopsis of Three's a Crowd:
Manhattan editor Elan Moore thinks her dreams have come true when she is asked to manage an upcoming celebrity memoir. Not only is her career taking off, but she has amazing friends, the perfect boyfriend and finally she's mastered the art of avoiding her mother. But when her oldest friend Luke comes back into her life, things start to get complicated. To make matters worse, celebrity author Rox Wriothesly has no intention of being managed. Elan soon realises that this 'opportunity' may be the catalyst that brings everything else crashing down around her.

Sex and the City meets The Devil Wears Prada in this smart and funny story of life and love in New York. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon UK.)

When is your birthday?
21 September 1984 – which means this year is the big three-oh.

Do you count down to your birthday?
Not really. I normally keep my birthday quite low key. Do something with family and friends with cake and presents and all the trimmings, but not a blow-out party. Though I’m going to be making an exception to that rule this year.

What animal represents your birth year on the Chinese Zodiac calendar? Do you feel it describes you?
I’m a Rat! Unsurprisingly I wasn’t too thrilled when I found out - it’s arguably the least cute animal of the zodiac. I was hoping for Tiger or Dragon and then found out my animal representative was a plague vector. Such is life. According to Wikipedia, Rats are meant to be ambitious, charming and cunning, which is a bit of a mixed bag as far as good qualities are concerned (going by this description, Francis Urquhart is almost certainly a Rat). I’ve never thought of myself as particularly Machiavellian, but, with fellow Rats ranging from Alexander the Great to William Shakespeare to Katy Perry, it seems like there’s some room for interpretation.

Have you ever been surprised on your birthday?
Not yet!

What significant or insignificant event takes place on your birthday?
My birthday falls on the International Day of Peace (somewhere out there my mother is laughing) and, in a bit of fantasy geek trivia, J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit was published on 21st September 1937.

Where is your favorite place to celebrate your birthday?
Any place, so long as I’ve got family and friends with me. In an ideal world, the place would also serve really good cocktails.

Thanks to Edwina for visiting with us and Penguin Australia for coordinating the interview.

Book Review: The Art Forger

By Jami Deise

My favorite type of art is the written word. In close second would be those “moving pictures” – i.e. TV and movies. As far as the art that’s generally found in museums, I appreciate pretty things, but my knowledge of what’s hanging on those walls or spotlighted on pedestals is limited to “I like those dancers” and “Ohh, nice colors.” But my lack of art education didn’t keep me from thoroughly enjoying B. A. Shapiro’s The Art Forger. In fact, I got a bit of schooling to go along with my entertainment.

Claire Roth, an immensely talented young artist living in Boston, made a huge mistake three years ago, and she’s been paying for it ever since. Rather than showing in galleries and accepting commissions, she’s a painter with Reproductions.com, spending her time copying the great masters. She’s very good at what she does, especially when it comes to Degas.

Enter one Aiden Markel, owner of the famous and successful Markel G. gallery. He wants to host a show for Claire… but first he has a proposition. There’s a famous Degas painting -- “After the Bath” -- that’s been missing since it and several others were stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. Now Markel has it – and an interested buyer willing to pay millions. Markel’s plan is for Claire to forge the painting, Markel to sell the forgery, and then return the original to the museum. After all, it’s not like the painting’s buyer can go complaining to the FBI! After some hesitation, Claire is up for the challenge. But as she prepares to create the forgery, she realizes “After the Bath” is itself a forgery. Should she tell Markel, and risk losing the hefty fee and the chance for her own show, not to mention their burgeoning romance? Or should she keep her mouth shut and reap the benefits?

Claire is not a typical women’s fiction heroine: She knows what she’s doing is wrong, but readers root for her anyway. It’s partly because of the shabby way she’s treated by the art world, and partly due to Markel’s assurance that she’s playing a role in having “After the Bath” returned to the museum. But it’s also because Claire is so intelligent and so hardworking (and she also volunteers with juvenile delinquents) that readers want her to succeed.

While the novel tells the forgery story in present day, it also flashes back in alternate chapters to three years earlier, showing exactly what Claire did to become an outcast in the art community. While Shapiro could have chosen to explain Claire’s back story in a couple of pages, by alternating past and present, she was able to create tension and suspense in places where the current story was a little too smooth. It’s this experience that directly impacts her decision about how to handle the forgery.
Shapiro mixes the roller-coaster plot with a layman’s education on painting and forgery. She takes care to explain even the simplest terms without ever sounding patronizing. The reader feels completely immersed in Claire’s world. I would imagine Bostonians would feel this way even more so, as Shapiro bases the story on a real museum and a real art heist.

Several times during the story, Claire reminds the reader that the best forgeries are still hanging in museums around the world – in fact, there’s speculation that the Mona Lisa in the L’Ouvre might be one of many copies made by someone other than Da Vinci during that time period. Beyond the question of a painting’s authenticity, though, lies a broader theme – that people see what they want to see. That’s why Claire became an outcast in the art world, and why no one before Claire ever suspected that the version of “After the Bath” that hung in the Gardner Museum until 1990 was actually a forgery. Even Claire herself realizes by the end of the book that she is guilty of the same kind of sight.

Flannery O’Connor once said, "The basis of art is truth, both in matter and in mode." Shapiro shows that while truth might be art’s base, that art – like people -- can just as easily tell lies. The Art Forger is a compelling women’s fiction offering, featuring a very specific plot and protagonist rarely seen in the genre. It’s the kind of book you read in one or two sittings, and then immediately pass on to your smartest friend.

Thanks to Algonquin for the book in exchange for an honest review.

What's in the mail

Melissa A:

Ghostwritten by/from Isabel Wolff

Hidden by Catherine McKenzie from Lake Union/New Harvest (Amazon)









Amy:

The Never Never Sisters by L. Alison Heller form Wunderkind PR

Don't Try to Find Me by Holly Brown from HarperCollins

After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid from Atria

Fallen Beauty by Erika Robuck from Penguin



Melissa P:


The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell from Penguin (Berkley)

Guest Book Review: Thirty-Two Going on Spinster

By Lindsay Yocum

Change is a huge fear of Julia Darling's, and is very well the reason she is a (self-proclaimed) spinster. She is 32 and stuck. She lives alone in her parent’s basement, absolutely hates her boring accounting job, loves baking, and is definitely very single.

Julia works as an accounting assistant for Spectraltech, and hates it. It’s dreadfully boring, and you really feel as though you are right there with her, enduring the pain of her work day. The CEO constantly asks Julia to bake for him, and she had one very awkward office hook up that she has to face daily.

There are upsides to her job though. For instance, there’s Brown, she’s Julia’s break buddy. Brown is the ultra-stylish, gossip queen that makes you want to hate and love her at the same time. I admit, I had major girl crush on Brown. There’s also the ever so mysterious and oh so handsome, Jared Moody. At first you want to hate him because he stole the job Julia was convinced would lead her out of Spinsterville. But you can’t. He has this charm about him that makes you mad when the storyline strays away from him.

Julia is in a major swoon over him, and Brown is convinced the feelings are definitely mutual. (As is the reader, you can practically feel the chemistry oozing from the pages of this book.) But, something is wrong. Gossip queen Brown, put her sleuthing skills to the test to try and dig out information on Jared’s past, and came up empty handed. Who really is Jared, and why is he at Spectraltech? After working together on a top secret project for the CEO of Spectraltech, Julia isn’t entirely sure Jared is being honest with her.

In one instant, Julia’s life is forever changed. Is she meant to live a life alone in her parent’s basement for all eternity? Or was this the best thing that could have ever happened to her?

From the moment I opened this book, I knew that I was going to love it. Becky Monson had me laughing from the very beginning. There were times when I could not stop laughing at some of the lines because I could relate so easily to how Julia felt or was thinking. All the characters in the book were so funny, and so realistic. This book is 347 pages and I read it in a couple of hours. I could not put it down. Of all the chick lit books I have read, Thirty-Two Going on Spinster is definitely in my top five favorites. I can’t wait to see what else Becky Monson creates. What an excellent debut novel!

Lindsay Yocum resides in Central California with her firecracker daughter whom she calls Bear and her hilarious husband. She spends her free time enjoying her family, traveling, writing, baking, ruining DIY crafts she finds to do on Pinterest, and running, when she isn't working full time doing Healthcare Administration.

Go-To-Gay: The Icing on the Cake

Introduction by Melissa Amster

Ever since I first saw When Harry Met Sally, the iconic line "I'm gonna be 40...someday!" has always stuck with me. I say it more often as I edge closer than ever to the brink of 40. And it doesn't bother me to reach that milestone age. In fact, I love birthdays! They're an affirmation of life. I'm not even afraid to admit that I'll be 38 in a few months. (However, I don't mind when my kids tell me I'm 30.)


Today, our Go-To-Gay, Wade Rouse is here to talk about birthdays, and more specifically...birthday cake! You'll melt like the ice cream that usually accompanies cake when you read the last part of his essay.

Take it away, Wade...

The Icing on the Cake

As an adult, I used to watch the MTV show, "My Super Sweet 16" with an equal mix of horror and envy.

Lavish birthdays were not a part of my childhood growing up in the 1970s Ozarks. My family wasn't poor by any stretch of the imagination, but we lived more than modestly and any desire for extravagance – be it a pair of Calvin Klein jeans, a pink Izod, a Linda Ronstadt album – was frowned upon.

From one of my Depression-era grandmothers, I always received a dollar for every year I turned on my March birthday. What was exciting at the age of 10, however, was totally lame at the age of 15.

My other grandmother tended to buy me necessary items, like socks or Husky jeans.

But both would bake for me: They would spend hours in the kitchen, creating themed birthday cakes or a tower of iced cupcakes.

As I grew older, I began to realize that what they were baking me was more meaningful than anything they could ever buy and richer than any amount of cash: They were giving me their hearts, their time, their love, themselves.

As I near 50, I don't really recall the games, or clothes they gave me, but I vividly remember the buttercream frosting, the red velvet, the Speed Racer themed birthday cake, the lemon custard-filled cupcakes.

After my grandmothers passed, my birthdays were well celebrated but always had a void. No purchased bakery birthday cake or restaurant cupcake, even topped with burning candles, could fill it.

My first birthday with Gary was filled with presents. Gary loves gifts. If Santa or Cupid ever fell ill, Gary could step in and the world wouldn't even notice.

Gary also loves a bit of extravagance: My favorite (expensive) cologne? Check. That Kenneth Cole jacket? Check.

"It's too much," I said.

"Birthdays are the one day we get to celebrate someone," Gary said, "simply for the miracle of being born and being in our lives."

"I don't know what to say," I replied.

"Wait here," Gary said, getting up from a candlelit table filled with a dinner he had prepared.

A few seconds later, I saw a glow in the kitchen. Gary emerged into the dining room holding a towering cake, its fluffy white icing dotted with candles.

"Where did you get this?" I asked. "It's beautiful."

"I made it," he said. "You know how much I love to bake."

I couldn't help myself: I slid my finger along the side of the cake, scooping a hunk of icing and shoving it into my mouth.

"Buttercream," I sighed.

"Make a wish!" Gary said.

I closed my eyes and then blew out the candles.

"Hope it comes true!" Gary said, slicing the cake and setting a huge slice on my plate.
I took a big bite and closed my eyes again.

It already had.

The writings of bestselling humorist Wade Rouse – called “wise, witty and wicked” by USA Today and the lovechild of Erma Bombeck and David Sedaris – have been featured multiple times on NBC’s Today Show as well as on Chelsea Lately on E! and People.com. His latest memoir, It’s All Relative: Two Families, Three Dogs, 34 Holidays and 50 Boxes of Wine (reviewed here) launched in paperback February 1st from Broadway, and he is creator and editor of the humorous dog anthology, I’m Not the Biggest Bitch in This Relationship: Hilarious, Heartwarming Tales about Man’s Best from America’s Favorite Humorists (NAL). The book features a Foreword by Chelsea Handler’s dog, Chunk, essays by such beloved chick lit authors as Jane Green, and 50 percent of the book’s net royalties go to the Humane Society of the United States. His first memoir, America's Boy, has been re-published by Magnus Books for paperback and Kindle. For more, visit his website, or friend him on Facebook or Twitter.

March is a good month for Samantha (March, that is)....plus a book giveaway

Introduction by Melissa Amster

I personally love the month of March because it marks a bunch  of milestones for me, such as the first time I moved out on my own, when I got engaged, my wedding, and the birth of one of my children. Samantha March loves this month too, as she will be celebrating her birthday soon and she even used it for her last name as an author.

Samantha March is an author, editor, publisher, blogger, and all around book lover. She runs the popular book/women’s lifestyle blog ChickLitPlus, which keeps her bookshelf stocked with the latest reads and up to date on all things health, fitness, fashion, and celebrity related. In 2011 she launched her independent publishing company Marching Ink and has three published novels – Destined to Fail, The Green Ticket and A Questionable Friendship, which was recently published. When she isn’t reading, writing, or blogging, you can find her cheering for the Green Bay Packers. Samantha lives in Iowa with her husband and Vizsla puppy.

Visit Samantha at her website, Facebook and Twitter.

She's here to talk about birthdays and to celebrate both her own, and the birth of her recent novel, she has TWO e-books of A Questionable Friendship for some lucky readers anywhere in the world!

About A Questionable Friendship:
Brynne Ropert and Portland Dolish have been best friends since being paired as roommates in college. Seven years later they are now twenty-five, married, and living in Maine–– but the two women couldn’t be more different. Brynne finds fulfillment in her life as a wife, mother and owner of a small café and bookshop, but is struggling to expand her family. Portland is still coping with her mother’s death during her childhood, and her marriage is unraveling before her eyes. Portland envies her friend’s seemingly stable and easy life while Brynne doesn’t understand the growing distance between them and cannot begin to guess what secret Portland is hiding about her husband and crumbling marriage. While one woman feels shut out, the other enters into a web of lies to protect herself.
A Questionable Friendship explores what really makes someone a true friend, a support system, a sister. How much trust goes into a friendship and when is being a friend not enough? Brynne and Portland’s story will attempt to answer those questions, and show that happily ever after isn’t in the cards for everyone.


Which celebrities do you share your birthday with?
I had to look this one up, but I share a March 23 birthday with Princess Eugenie, Brandon Marshall, Keri Russell, Perez Hilton, and Chaka Khan.

What do you want to do for your next birthday?
This past year has been quite busy for me. My husband and I bought a house in May, got married in September, bought a puppy in November and took our honeymoon to St Lucia in February. So for this birthday since it’s right around the corner, I’m thinking a relaxing night with friends. Maybe karaoke?

What is your astrological sign and do you feel that it describes you?
I am an Aries (also the name of my puppy) and some words that describe an Aries is independent and optimistic, which I think very much describe me. A weakness is inpatient – and that is definitely me! Boiling water kills me.

Do you have any birthday traditions?
When I was still at home my mom would always let us kids pick the meal or restaurant for our birthday, and now my husband and I do the same. I like to take the day after my birthday off as well and either get my nails done or a massage.

Have you ever been surprised on your birthday?
I don’t think so. I’ve never had a surprise party and I don’t think any gift has really shocked me for my birthday.

If you could help one of your characters celebrate their birthday, what would you do with them?
If I could help Brynne celebrate her birthday, it would include a spa day to help her relax since she’s always busy being a business owner, wife and mother, and then a good dinner with some delicious wine. And then I’d give her back to her family because I know she would want to be with them!

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Worldwide. Giveaway ends March 11th at midnight EST.

Book Review: Lost Lake

By Amy Bromberg

Suley, Georgia, is home to Lost Lake Cottages and not much else. Which is why it's the perfect place for newly-widowed Kate and her eccentric eight-year-old daughter Devin to heal. Kate spent one memorable childhood summer at Lost Lake, had her first almost-kiss at Lost Lake, and met a boy named Wes at Lost Lake. It was a place for dreaming. But Kate doesn't believe in dreams anymore, and her Aunt Eby, Lost Lake's owner, wants to sell the place and move on. Lost Lake's magic is gone. As Kate discovers that time has a way of standing still at Lost Lake can she bring the cottages—and her heart—back to life? Because sometimes the things you love have a funny way of turning up again. And sometimes you never even know they were lost . . . until they are found. (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)

I didn’t know that there was going to be some magic in Lost Lake until I started reading it. That made it so much more delicious for me, as I love magical stories and fairy tales. I loved getting lost in Devin’s imagination, especially with the alligator who lives in Lost Lake. I think we all need to learn from children that it’s okay to believe in some magic, and it’s okay to let our imaginations run free every once in a while. Don’t let me mislead you though. There’s romance, a cast of characters that will stay with you well after you put the book down and the setting, Lost Lake, is one of utter delight and charm.

I MUST talk about the cover. It seems that I like many book covers out there. However, this one might have to go down as one of my favorites of all time. It’s one of the things that attracted me to the book in the first place. Once you pick it up and start reading, you’ll see that the cover is really a perfect illustration of the book.

I am ashamed to say that this is the first Sarah Addison Allen book I’ve read. I can tell you that this will be changing very quickly. On my list are definitely Garden Spells (debut), The Sugar Queen, and The Girl Who Chased the Moon.

I’d like to leave you all with the trailer. I actually found it online when I was finished with the book. Hope you enjoy as much as I did.



Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the book in exchange for an honest review. Lost Lake is the March She Reads Book Club Selection.

More by Sarah Addison Allen: