Book Review: Don’t Tell the Boss

By Becky Gulc

I am a big fan of the website Novelicious which is great for aspiring writers and I’ve followed Anna Bell’s fantastic weekly column, The Secret Dreamworld of An Aspiring Author, for a couple of years now. When Anna secured a three-book publishing deal I was intrigued to read her work. The first novel of Anna’s I have read is Don’t Tell the Boss which is a follow up to her first book in the series, Don’t Tell the Groom. So what’s it all about?

When newlywed Penny turns her hand to some casual wedding planning she only wants to help other women afford the big day of their dreams.

But taming bridezillas turns out to be a full-time occupation, and what began as a hobby becomes a personal and professional nightmare.

Soon Penny is struggling to keep her day job and prevent her own marriage from collapsing under the strain: tired, stressed and knee-deep in ivory satin, is Penny's life and livelihood hanging by a thread? (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon UK.)

I thought this was a great read, very fitting of the chick lit genre. However, with Penny having just gotten married, it was nice to read a book where the relationship is already secure, even though there are inevitable struggles along the way. Penny is refreshingly passionate about both her day job and her hobbies. There is so much going on with the wedding planning and with Penny’s day job that the relationship with her husband is a relatively small part of the book, for the most part.

There are inevitable twists and turns in the novel. At one point, I didn’t see how Penny was going to pull things off and keep her demanding boss and bridezilla side client happy, but I loved seeing how events unfolded.

I enjoyed Anna’s style of writing and found it very witty, with Penny as a central character being very likeable, and the situations she gets into very comical. One of the best things about Anna’s writing for me is how she makes everything bang up to date, relevant and relatable. Penny runs her own blog with tips on how to organise a wedding on a low budget and each chapter begins with a fitting blog entry. There were numerous cultural references in the novel that just resonated with me and made me feel like Penny is someone I’d have a lot in common with.

It’s probably important to say that you don’t have to have read Don’t Tell the Groom to enjoy this sequel, but by the same token, the references to the past suggest the book would be a great read to start with before going on to this one. I would definitely still go back and read the first book and I’d also definitely read any subsequent follow-ups, Penny is a character I’d happily spend more with.

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

Reader Spotlight: It's a Holli-day

This year, we're doing "Reader Spotlight" posts on a bi-weekly basis. We want to feature readers who have been actively following CLC for a while. We're hoping you can get to know some new friends this way. One of the joys of having CLC is that readers have connected with each other, as a result. That's one of the reasons it was started up in the first place...to bring chick lit fans together from all over the world! We've made some amazing friends because of this blog and we hope you'll get to do so too!

If you'd like to be spotlighted sometime this year, please contact us.

See our previous Reader Spotlight posts.

Note from Melissa A: Holli has been following CLC for a while and I enjoy chatting with her about books. She's really sweet and I've enjoyed learning new and fascinating things about her.

Name: Holli Jackson Guin
Age: 36
Location: West End of Brunswick County, NC

How did you find Chick Lit Central?
I found Chick Lit Central on Facebook.

What are your top FIVE favorite chick lit novels of all time?
1.) Table For Five by Susan Wiggs. I keep a quote from this novel on my refrigerator.
2.) Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah. This was the first book that made me cry while reading it.
3.) The Best of Us by Sarah Pekkanen
4.) All of Sarah Jio's novels. I love her writing style. They're "can't put down"-ers.
5.) My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Picoult.

What do you do when you're not reading?
I'm a mother to my six year-old son, who is in first grade, and a wife to my husband of almost 13 years. I'm also a stay-at-home mom, and a pet parent to two black female labs, who are very humorous, and entertaining, and at times think they're also humans! They love to play in our neighbors pond when they can. I also have three hens. They're pretty much self-sufficient as far as food goes. Daisy, one of the hens, thinks she's a dog too. She wants to come inside my house when the dogs (Josie, & Sophie) come in. Daisy follows us all over the yard, she lets you pick her up & play w/her, she'll eat of of your hand too. I do the usual household chores: cook, clean, and laundry duty. Sometimes I mow the grass outside, too. And I'm also very active in a volunteer ministry group at my place of worship. I like to shop at Goodwill and consignment and thrift stores, and Target, and occasionally Clothes Mentor. You can find me on Facebook. I also have a Twitter account, but I like Facebook better.

Book Review and Giveaway: Step Back in Time

By Melissa Amster

**Giveaway  is now closed**

If you are just getting to know me now, you might not already know that I LOVE novels about time travel. I even wrote a short story about it recently. Shortly after I decided to have a Nostalgia Month theme at CLC, Trafalgar Square Publishing approached me to ask for a review of Step Back in Time by Ali McNamara (which I had already read by then). How perfect is that?!? They even have a copy for a lucky US reader!


How many lifetimes would you travel to find a love that lasts forever? When single career girl Jo-Jo steps onto a zebra crossing and gets hit by a car, she awakes to find herself in 1963. The fashion, the music, her job, even her romantic life: everything is different. And then it happens three more times, and Jo-Jo finds herself living a completely new life in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. The only people she can rely on are Harry and Ellie, two companions from 2013, and George, the owner of a second-hand record store. If she's ever to return from her travels, Jo-Jo must work out why she's jumping through time like this. And if she does make it back, will her old life ever be the same again? (Synopsis adapted from Independent Publishers Group.)

I liked this original take on the concept of time travel. It was almost like Quantum Leap in some ways, where Jo-Jo would end up in someone else's life, even though she was still herself for all intents and purposes. The other three people who show up in each decade seem to know her different personas, as well. The descriptions made people and places easy to visualize at each go-around. And I loved the nostalgic feel Ali McNamara gave off throughout. While I didn't understand some of the British references, I could keep up for the most part. Each decade had a different situation that Jo-Jo needed to deal with, and it was interesting to see if she'd accomplish her goal before being catapulted into a "new" year. The story was engaging and I kept trying to figure out what the connections were each "time." I especially loved the 60s. Ali pulled off the Mad Men feel really well (and I don't even watch that show).

One of my biggest issues with any time travel story is how plausible the actual time travel is. While the consistency of being hit by a car at a zebra crossing each time was helpful to the flow of the story, there were a lot of confusing aspects too. The explanation of time travel just felt too vague for me. This is coming from someone who overanalyzes Back to the Future though. Aside from that, some parts seemed forced, like Ali was trying too hard to make everything connect. The amount of Beatles references became overwhelming at times, as well. Especially since they only made sense to the first two decades she visited. I'm not much of a Beatles fan, so I only picked up on a handful and that still felt like a lot to me. Perhaps Beatles fans will enjoy this aspect, as it's almost like a scavenger hunt.

Naturally, Step Back in Time would be great as a movie. I would love to see how the story is played out on film. Given that each time everyone seems so different in both age and appearance, the only person I could easily cast was Jo-Jo. I'd love to see my current celebrity girl crush, Tatiana Maslany, play her. She has experience playing diverse versions of herself, so this would be a piece of cake. I just wish George Carlin were still alive because he would have been perfect as George.

If you're looking for a nostalgic treat, you've come to the right place.

Thanks to Trafalgar Square Press for sharing the book with our readers.

How to win:
Tell us your favorite Beatles song.

One entry per person.

Entries without contact information (e-mail address, Twitter account, Facebook page, etc.) will NOT be counted (and we do NOT count "Google +" as contact information).

US only. Giveaway ends September 16th at midnight EST.

Tracey Garvis Graves is taking it easy....plus a book giveaway

We're so glad to have Tracey Garvis Graves visiting with us again. She's celebrating Nostalgia Month by talking about her favorite singers and bands from the 70s. While most of us on the CLC team were too little to remember life in the 70s, the music is classic and we're sure even people born in the late 80s will have heard of the songs mentioned today. (Otherwise, watching Glee will help.)

Tracey Garvis Graves is a mother, blogger, wine drinker, and writer. She lives in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa with her husband, two children, and hyper dog Chloe. Tracey is the author of the New York Times bestseller On the Island (reviewed here), its companion novella, Uncharted, and Covet. Her latest novel, Every Time I Think of You (also the title of a 70s song), will be released on September 16th. However, she has TWO copies for some lucky readers anywhere in the world!

You can find Tracey at her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

Here are my top 10 artists/bands from the 70s:

1. Carole King - My mom had the Tapestry album and I used to play it over and over again. My favorite song is "Where You Lead."

2. Carly Simon - To this day, "You're So Vain" is still one of my favorite songs.

3. Joni Mitchell - "Help Me" is my go-to summer song. I can't kick off the season without playing it several times.

4. Elton John - I'm instantly transported to the 70s whenever I hear an Elton John song. He's still one of my all-time favorite artists. I love too many of his songs to have one favorite.

5. REO Speedwagon - You Can Tune a Piano, but You Can't Tuna Fish is my favorite REO album. It contains two songs I'll never get tired of: "Roll with the Changes" and "Time for Me to Fly." I like to listen to them at ear-splitting decibel levels.

6. Fleetwood Mac - One word: Rumours.

7. Queen - My dad introduced me to the album A Night at the Opera (on eight track, no less). Singing along to those songs is one of my favorite childhood memories.

8. Kansas - the song "Dust in the Wind" is like musical Valium to me (in the best possible way). I also love "Point of Know Return" and "Carry On, Wayward Son."

9. Meat Loaf - This is another artist my dad introduced me to in the late 70s. I had no clue back then what that baseball metaphor in "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" was all about.

10. The Eagles - In On the Island, Anna sings along to "Take It Easy" while riding in T.J.'s SUV. However, my favorite Eagles song will always be "One of These Nights."

Synopsis:
Thirty-year-old Daisy DiStefano has two people she holds dear: the grandmother who raised her, and her three-year-old son, Elliott. But when Daisy’s grandmother is killed in a seemingly random act of violence, Daisy must take steps to protect herself and her child.

Despite a thriving career in San Francisco, thirty-six-year-old Brooks McClain has returned home to spend what little time his mother has left before she succumbs to the deadly disease that is ravaging her. The seasoned investigative reporter has taken a position with the local newspaper and been on the job less than twenty-four hours when he’s summoned to cover the death of Pauline Thorpe.

Brooks is all business, but the more time he spends with Daisy DiStefano, the more invested he becomes; there’s something about a single mother, a defenseless child, and an unsolved crime that has stirred Brooks’s protective instincts like nothing ever has before.

And when the unthinkable happens, Brooks will do whatever it takes to clear the name of the woman he’s fallen for and the child he’ll protect at any cost.

Romantic and suspenseful, Every Time I Think of You shows how far two people will go to fight for the ones they love, and the life they’ve always imagined. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

Thanks to Tracey for taking us back and sharing her book with our readers!

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



a Rafflecopter giveaway


Open worldwide. Giveaway ends September 15th at midnight EST. 

Confessions of a Bookaholic has another chance for you to win this book! (US/Canada.)

Spotlight and Giveaway: A Hundred Pieces of Me

A few years ago, a non-fiction book called The 100 Thing Challenge was published. The concept sounded interesting, so when we heard about a fictional take on it, we got right on board. We're excited to tell you about A Hundred Pieces of Me by Lucy Dillon....and Penguin (Berkley) has one copy for a lucky US reader!

National bestselling author of Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts, Lucy Dillon, returns with a delightful, compulsively readable novel about the unexpected gift of certainty—A HUNDRED PIECES OF ME (Berkley Trade Paperback Original; September 2, 2014).

Emotionally unwell from her recent divorce, Gina Bellamy needs a fresh start. In order to do this, she decides to get rid of all of her possessions, except for the one hundred things that mean the absolute most to her.

As Gina lets go of the past, she starts to come to terms with everything that has happened in her life and discovers that moving forward is the only option. And when she makes that choice, that’s when the magic happens.

Photo from Lucy's Facebook page

Lucy Dillon lives in Herefordshire, England with her pair of basset hounds, Bonham and Violet. Her other books can be found here. Visit her online at Facebook and Twitter.

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

a Rafflecopter giveaway


US only. Giveaway ends September 14th at midnight EST.

Book Review: What If You Made It Up?

By Kathryn Hamilton

If you’re lucky, you find a career that you love, and when you achieve your goals, you are fulfilled and happy. Sometimes though, when you achieve that success, you look in the mirror and realize that this is not the person you want to be. Eva Karlsen found herself a part of the latter group. With the guidance and support of her life coach, Eva takes control of her life. Upon discovering her true life passion, she leaves her corporate career and the big city to begin anew in small town Wyoming. Eva’s plan was to keep a low profile while building her new business because behind her success she hides a secret that shames her and makes her feel like a fraud. The residents of Bear having something else in mind though and she encounters the surprises life can bring when you open yourself up to possibilities; what happens if you just make it up?

It is exciting to see so many new and talented authors coming onto the chick lit scene. Kathleen Kolze’s debut novel, What If You Made It Up?, is a welcome addition to my bookshelf. She combines the elements of love, friendship and self-discovery that characterize the genre, while adding a unique adventure and mystery that is unexpected. Ms. Kolze writes in such a way that the reader can easily become immersed in the story.

As a reader, if I have something in common with a character, it causes me to connect with him/her. Eva’s adoration for her Goldens created an affinity for the character from the beginning. Even without this commonality, Eva is a character with whom many readers can identify. For instance, she is ashamed of her past. I did not personally think it was something so awful. However, Ms. Kolze takes care to create three dimensional characters with believable emotions. It is for this reason that readers understand why Eva feels the way she does and want things to work out for her.

What can I say about the secondary characters? They are as charming as the community of Bear. Each and every one of them brings richness to the story. Together they create a circle of friends for Eva that she never knew she needed or wanted. The interconnectedness of the characters reminds me of a Maeve Binchy novel.

I will admit that I was unsure about the involvement of a mystery as a subplot to the main story. In the beginning, I felt that it interrupted the pace of the story. Once the big reveal occurred, I found the novel to flow better and I was able to focus on the characters because I wasn’t trying to figure things out. Having said that, I applaud Ms. Kolze for taking a risk. She has introduced characters and storylines that are not cookie cutter. She is a creative storyteller from whom I look forward to reading more novels.

Thanks to Kathleen Kolze for the book in exchange for an honest review.

What's in the mail

Melissa A:

The Language of Silence by Peggy Webb from Gallery Books

Amy:

The Mill River Recluse and The Mill River Redemption by Darcie Chan from Random House

Kathryn:

To See the Moon Again by Jamie Langston Turner from Penguin

Becky:

The Rose Garden by Marita McKenna from Transworld

The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker from Penguin UK

I Can't Begin to Tell You by Elizabeth Buchan from Penguin UK

Delicious! by Ruth Reichl from Ebury Press

Reflection by Diane Chamberlain from Pan Macmillan

The Mysterious Affair at Castaway House by Stephanie Lam from Penguin UK

What I Love About You by Rachel Gibson from Corgi