Polly Williams is an "Angel" of Love, plus a book giveaway

Introduction by Gail Allison

**Giveaway is now closed**

Today we introduce Polly Williams and her latest novel "The Angel at No. 33." In 2006, Polly Williams’ debut novel, "The Rise and Fall of a Yummy Mummy" hit the shelves, and she’s written a book a year (!) since. Before becoming a successful author, she studied English Literature and language at Manchester University. After leaving University, her first real job was editing and launching her own fashion magazine (!!). She has also worked for numerous other magazines, including In Style. When she became pregnant, she thought to herself, "I’m going to do it! I’m going to take an early maternity leave and write The Book!"...and then her son arrived six weeks early. Luckily, this turn of events inspired her to write about the myth of the "yummy mummy," which launched her career as an author.

Thanks to Headline we have TEN copies of "The Angel at No. 33" to give away to some lucky readers anywhere in the world.

Visit Polly at her website, Facebook and Twitter pages.


Favorite date in a novel:
One of my recent favourites is the wonderful scene in Jojo Moyes' book, "Me Before You." It's not so much a formal date, but all the more romantic for it. It takes place on holiday in Mauritius during a tropical storm and the electricity between the characters surges too. Brilliantly written. I cried.


Favorite couple from a TV series:
The best couple on TV recently were the Danish prime minister Birgitte Nyborg and husband Philip in the political thriller, Borgen, but only when their marriage was on track! Sadly it all goes horribly down hill during the series, but in the beginning they are this very sexy, domesticated married couple, who keep getting caught by the kids trying to have nookie (as opposed to falling asleep on the sofa or fighting over the remote control.)


Favorite romantic song:
"Harvest Moon" by Neil Young. Makes me cry every time. I referenced it quite a lot in my new novel, "The Angel at No. 33." It is played at the dead heroine's funeral. 'Because I'm still in love with you, I want to see you dance again.' Shivers up the spine stuff.

Most memorable date:
It would have to be with my husband. Soho House, ten years ago. We just clicked. I was pregnant five months later!

Guy you would date from a chick lit novel:
I'd date Ollie from "The Angel at No. 33." He's gorgeous, creative, kind, sexy and being newly widowed, available!

Favorite Valentine's Day memory:
I'm a sucker for flowers. I absolutely love them. And my husband does good flowers. My favourites are cornflowers.

Best movie kiss:
When Harry Met Sally.

Favorite romantic gesture:
A lie in! I have three young - very noisy - children and being brought toast and tea in bed by my husband is my idea of heaven.

Special thanks to Polly for giving us a glimpse into her romantic mind and to Headline for sharing "The Angel at No. 33" with our winners.

How to win "The Angel at No. 33":
Please comment below with your e-mail address. (Please note: Entries without an e-mail address will NOT be counted. You can use AT and DOT to avoid spam. Or provide a link to your facebook page or blog if you can receive messages there.)

Bonus entries (can be listed all in one post):
1. Please tell us: What is your favorite romantic gesture (either experienced or something you'd really like to have happen)?
2. Follow this blog and post a comment saying you are a follower (if you already follow, that's fine too).
3. Post this contest on Facebook or Twitter or in your blog, and leave a comment saying where you've posted it.
4. Join Chick Lit Central on Facebook. Edit settings if you don't want to receive a lot of messages at your e-mail account. Please read our posting guidelines as well. (If you're already a member, let us know that too.)
5. Add a friend to our Facebook group. (Tell us who you added.) Be sure to remind them to edit their settings.

Giveaway ends February 26th at midnight EST. (Don't wait till the Oscar for best picture is announced though!)

C is for Cookie...and Chick Lit :)

We received the "Smart Cookie" blog award from Silvy at Books are my life. I guess we were "smart" to feature her blog this week in "Blogs of the Week." Thanks, Silvy!

Here are the rules:
1) Thank the award giver and add a link to their blog.
2) Share some interesting facts on anything.
3) Pass the award to other "Smart Cookies".

Interesting facts about chick lit:

Origins of the term
"Chick" is an American slang term for a young woman and "lit" is short for "literature". The phrase "chick lit" is analogous to the term chick flick.

The term appeared in print as early as 1988 as college slang for a course titled "female literary tradition." In 1995, Cris Mazza and Jeffrey DeShell used the term as an ironic title for their edited anthology Chick Lit: Postfeminist Fiction. The genre was defined as a type of post-feminist or second-wave feminism that went beyond female-as-victim to include fiction that covered the breadth of female experiences, including love, courtship and gender. The collection emphasized experimental work, including violent, perverse and sexual themes. James Wolcott's 1996 article in The New Yorker, "Hear Me Purr", co-opted the term "chick lit" to proscribe what he called the trend of "girlishness" evident in the writing of female newspaper columnists at that time. Works such as Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary and Candace Bushnell's Sex and the City are examples of such work that helped establish contemporary connotations of the term. The success of Bridget Jones and Sex and the City in book form established chick lit as an important trend in publishing. The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank are regarded as one of the first chick lit works to originate as a novel (actually a collection of stories), though the term "chick lit" was in common use at the time of its publication (1999). Serena Mackesy's The Temp appeared in the same year.

Publishers continue to push the sub-genre because of its viability as a sales tactic. Various other terms have been coined as variant in attempts to attach themselves to the perceived marketability of the work. Publishers Weekly editor Sara Nelson suggested in 2008 that the definition of what's considered to be within the genre of chick lit has become more accomplished and "grown up".

From Ask.com

Here are the nominees:
1. The Review Girl
2. I am a Reader, Not a Writer
3. Chick Lit Advocates
4. Book End Babes
5. The Hungry Bibliophile

Congratulations!!!

Book Review: Stay Tuned

By Melissa Amster

Ever since I started watching "How I Met Your Mother," broadcast journalism has become even more interesting to me. (Robin from HIMYM is an anchorwoman and it's been fun to watch her journey so far, as well as see what happens in a news studio when the cameras are off.) Therefore, when I heard that "Stay Tuned," by Lauren Clark, was all about a news reporter, I was excited to read it. And it definitely helped that the main character's name is Melissa.

Melissa Moore is a producer for WSGA news in Macon, Georgia. Not only is it stressful to chase stories and get the best footage possible, but she also has to deal with a crazy anchorwoman, her mother’s dementia and her husband’s physical and emotional distance. When chaos erupts between the two anchors, Melissa has to step in, which brings on a whole new level of stress to her world, especially when a handsome anchorman is added into the mix. She has to soon decide if she really has what it takes to be in front of the camera instead of behind the scenes.

I enjoyed reading “Stay Tuned.” It was fast-paced and had a lot of action and drama going on. Melissa reminded me of myself and not only because of her name. She was an interesting protagonist and I felt connected to her throughout the story. The supporting characters also added a lot of intrigue to the story and I enjoyed reading about her interactions with them. Ms. Clark added even more to my interest in broadcast journalism, as I enjoyed seeing what went on behind the scenes. It made me want to see “Broadcast News,” (which came out when I was too young to appreciate it). I enjoyed the descriptions she used, as I was easily able to visualize everything going on.

What concerned me was a lack of political correctness. I noticed that Ms. Clark gave some people “dialects,” which could be seen as offensive to those of a similar race or ethnicity that was being portrayed. Sometimes I felt like the chapters ended a bit too abruptly, where I felt there was room to add more to what was happening. I also thought things came together a little too perfectly in the end, even though I was emotionally involved by that point and happy with the outcome of all the events.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading “Stay Tuned.” It was entertaining throughout. I don’t get to use my Kindle for PC as often as I get to pick up an actual book, but this story made my breakfast time more exciting and I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next.

You might also like:

What's in the mail today?

Melissa A:

From St. Martin's Press:



From HarperCollins:



e-books:

Won this from Sárka-Jonae Miller:



It is currently $2.99 for Kindle.

Free V-day promotion from Gemma Halliday:



It is currently $1.49 for Kindle.

From Josie Brown:



It is currently 99 cents for Kindle. You also could try winning it from Josie Brown, as she's giving away free e-books daily between now and Oscars night. Check out her website for more info!

Free deals on Amazon:

Books of the Week-February 16th

Thanks for checking out our newest feature...Books of the Week! There are six of us and we can't keep up with the many review requests we receive, even though we'd love to read everything sent our way. Therefore, we have decided to give some books their time in the spotlight and introduce you to them through this new blog feature. Starting this week, we will feature two books a week. We hope you will take the time to check these books out. (Click the titles to find them on Amazon.) If you read them and want to write a guest blogger review for us, please e-mail us and we'll be glad to work with you!

Authors: We will let you know whether or not we'll be able to review your book upon your request, and hope you'll be interested in this feature as an alternative.

"Girl Meets Boys"
By Louise Gibney

Milton Keynes: A town famous for its roundabouts and concrete cows, but perhaps not for its fertile dating lands. As a single young woman new to the town, Louise signs up to online dating. 'Girl Meets Boys' holds nothing back in detailing her search for Mr Right in all the wrong places.

The illegal immigrant...
A family affair...
A case of mistaken identity...
The offer of a threesome...

An embarrassing and hilarious journey through the perils of dating, 'Girl Meets Boys' gives the reader an unpredictably entertaining and cringe-worthy insight into Louise's search for a boyfriends.

An internet age comedy romance.

You can find Louise Gibney on Facebook and Twitter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"She Tells All"
By Judah Lee Davis

After finding a pair of magic stilettos that transform her into the ultimate hot goddess, she's certain she will get lucky tonight. But in Madison's Miller's quest to find the ultimate hottie, she finds something so unexpected.

As she takes a good, hard look at her life, she relives the past that transformed her into a vainglory vixen and begins to realize that she's gone a little overboard. But when tragedy strikes, she finally learns an important lesson about sleeping with strangers.

"She Tells All" is currently 99 cents for Kindle.

Follow Judah Lee Davis on Facebook and Twitter.

Talking romance with Cooper Lawrence's "friends," plus a book giveaway

**Giveaway is now closed**

Today we introduce debut author Cooper Lawrence and her debut fiction novel, "The Yoga Club."

Cooper Lawrence is an accomplished radio veteran who has been in radio for almost twenty years. Currently she can be heard as part of The Big Show with Scott & Todd on WPLJ in New York.  Before joining WPLJ Cooper had been hosting her own nationally syndicated radio show aptly named The Cooper Lawrence Show.  On TV she was the co-host of the VH1 'Celebreality' show Confessions of a Teen Idol and spent two years as the relationship expert on The Tyra Banks Show.  She has also been a guest on many other shows including CBS’ The Early Show, The Today Show, The O'Reilly Factor, The Insider and Entertainment Tonight.  Cooper has been featured in a slew of print articles, among them being in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, SELF and Family Circle.  Her previous novels include “The Cult of Celebrity: What our Fascination with the Stars Reveals About Us,” “The Cult of Perfection: Making Peace with Your Inner Overachiever,” “The Fixer Upper Man: Turn Mr. Maybe Into Mr. Right,” “Been There, Done That, Kept the Jewelry” and “CosmoGIRL's All About Guys.”  Cooper has a master’s degree in developmental psychology and is working hard to finish her PhD.  She currently lives in Manhattan with her 96 pound puppy Marconi. Cooper is here to introduce us to some new friends from "The Yoga Club" to talk about romance.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster we have TWO copies of "The Yoga Club" to give away to some lucky readers anywhere in the US.

You can visit Cooper at her website, Facebook and Twitter.

I've written so many books about real-world relationships (and celebrity drama), that I thought it would be fun to finally get to tell a story in which all the relationships wind up the way I want. But instead of doing all the talking myself, I thought I'd invite a few friends to help me: meet Coco, CJ, Bailey and Olivia, stars of THE YOGA CLUB! Coco's made her fortune as the inventor and promoter of Butt-B-Gone, the country’s leading cellulite cream; CJ's the out-and-proud son of a Connecticut senator; Bailey's an entertainment reporter who's all too ready to take a personal interest in her stories, wink wink; and Olivia's a single mom with echolalia (a disorder where you compulsively echo unusual sounds around you). Thanks for having all of us, Chick Lit Central!

Favorite chick lit novel couple:
Olivia: This has to be the chick lit classic couple of Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy! Some days when I’m feeling a little awkward, I ask myself, “What would Bridget do?”

Favorite romantic song:
Coco: It’s new, but it’s already shot to the top of my iPod playlist: Gavin DeGraw’s "Not Over You." My husband, Sam, and I were going through a rough patch recently, and I thought it might just be me and the 96-pound puppy going solo after that, but we worked it out and are tighter than ever. I could never be over him!

Favorite place to go on a date:
Olivia: First dates aren’t always easy when you have echolalia, like I do. They’re nerve-wracking enough without worrying that I could burst out into siren noises or a nearby mother’s shouts for her kids! So my perfect place for a date? The Greenwich Public Library!

Best movie kiss:
Bailey: I’m a child of the ‘80s, and as far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t get better than Molly Ringwald kissing Jake on the table at the end of Sixteen Candles. I’m not going to settle down until I find the guy who kisses me like that!

Guy you would date from a chick lit novel:
Coco: My favorite chick lit paramour du jour is Henry from Carol Wolper’s new book, "Anne of Hollywood." I love this book because it’s a retelling of the Anne Boleyn story, but set in the equally sinister world of Hollywood! Anne pursues her Henry with passion and focus, just like I do everything. Plus, I loved "The Cigarette Girl," Wolper’s previous book, so I knew I’d love this one too.

Best TV series kiss:
Coco: I have two (because why limit yourself to one kiss?): The first is when Roseanne kisses Sharon (Mariel Hemingway) on Roseanne. Not necessarily because of how hot the kiss was, but because of the balls it took for Roseanne Barr to get that kiss on the air! I have to respect such aself-made powerful businesswoman. My second favorite kiss might be a cliché, but y’all can bite me: Ross and Rachel finally sharing a kiss on Friends. Phoebe said it best: “He’s her lobster!”

Special thanks to Cooper and her friends for visiting with us today and to Simon and Schuster for sharing "The Yoga Club" with our readers!

How to win "The Yoga Club":
Please comment below with your e-mail address. (Please note: Entries without an e-mail address will NOT be counted. You can use AT and DOT to avoid spam. Or provide a link to your facebook page or blog if you can receive messages there.)


Bonus entries (can be listed all in one post):
1. Please tell us: Who is your favorite couple from a chick lit novel?
2. Follow this blog and post a comment saying you are a follower (if you already follow, that's fine too).
3. Post this contest on Facebook or Twitter or in your blog, and leave a comment saying where you've posted it.
4. Join Chick Lit Central on Facebook. Edit settings if you don't want to receive a lot of messages at your e-mail account. Please read our posting guidelines as well. (If you're already a member, let us know that too.)
5. Add a friend to our Facebook group. (Tell us who you added.) Be sure to remind them to edit their settings.

US only. Giveaway ends February 21st at midnight EST.

Blogs of the week

Our recent feature is "Blogs of the Week." Each week, we feature a reader blog (which was sent to us) and an author blog (which could either be sent to us, or we'd pick one at random). Please check out the blogs we are sharing. We're sure the bloggers would love some friendly comments on their posts or a follow. Important: We are no longer taking submissions for blogs, as we are trying to phase out this feature. Thank you for participating and sharing your blogs with us, as well as visiting the blogs that have been shown here.

Important: We are no longer taking submissions for blogs, as we are trying to phase out this feature. Thank you for participating and sharing your blogs with us, as well as visiting the blogs that have been shown here.

Reader:

Books are my life

Silvy is a book lover,and mother, wife and Latin language teacher. She thinks that books are our friends and she reviews a whole variety of them. She finds that there's nothing more pleasant the smell of freshly brewed coffee and pleasant music while turning the pages of a good book. You can find her on Twitter and Facebook.

Author:

Poppy Taylor, Women's Fiction Author

Poppy Taylor has been writing novels since 2006. As an avid novel reader, she thought she'd have a go at writing one herself. It took her a while but in October 2011, she finished the third draft of her first novel, "If Not Now, Then When?" It ist not yet published, but we look forward to hearing more about it soon!

She has many other works in progress, including four novels and a novella. She often has more than one project on the go at the same time.

Poppy lives in Scotland with her two cats. You can find her on Twitter.