Book Review and Giveaway: Put a Ring on It

By Melissa Amster

I have been enjoying Beth Kendrick's "Black Dog Bay" novels. They are romantic, sexy, and indulgent. The female friendships are fun to read about as well. So I was thrilled that her latest novel, Put a Ring on It, is also part of this series.

Brighton Smith doesn’t do outrageous. As an insurance actuary, it’s her job to assess risk and avoid bad investments. But when her fiancé calls to confess he’s married someone else on a whim (“I looked at her and I just knew!”), she snaps…

That night, at a local bar, Jake Sorensen—hot, rich, and way out of her league—buys Brighton a cocktail. At midnight, she kisses him. And by dawn, they’re exchanging vows at a drive-through chapel.

Brighton knows Jake is a bad bet, but she doesn’t care. After a lifetime of playing it safe, she’s finally having fun. Until the whirlwind romance gives way to painful reality...and Brighton finds out the truth about why a guy like Jake married a girl like her. With her heart on the line and the odds stacked against them, Brighton must decide whether to cut her losses or take a leap of faith that this love affair is one in a million. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

This story had a fun premise and went in directions I wasn't even expecting. I really liked the chemistry between Jake and Brighton. They played off each other well. And, of course, it was nice to take a trip back to Black Dog Bay and reunite with some old "friends," such as Lila and Summer. There are some spoilers for New Uses for Old Boyfriends (reviewed here), but this book could also be read as a stand-alone, even though you should read all the books in the series because they're THAT much fun! (Start with Cure for the Common Breakup, but first meet Summer in The Week Before the Wedding, which is separate from this series.) I'm hoping there will be even more "Black Dog Bay" novels in the future, so we can learn more about Kira, Jenna, Clea, and possibly some new characters.

I don't really have anything to complain about. The book moved at an easygoing pace and the romantic scenes were HOT. Brighton was an interesting character with many layers to her personality. I would have been okay without some conversations being rehashed a few times, but it wasn't a huge issue in the grand scheme of things. So join me at the Whinery for some chocolate and Cosmopolitans and then kick back with this delicious read!

My movie cast for this novel:
Brighton: Cristin Milioti
Kira: Melissa Rauch
Jake: Chris Hemsworth (I believe Beth was just hinting at this anyway...)

Thanks to Penguin for the book in exchange for an honest review. And thanks to BookSparks for sharing a copy with one lucky US reader!  This is part of their "Girl's Best Friend" blog tour and will be appearing in their 2015 Fall Reading Challenge soon, as well.

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here.

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US only. Giveaway ends November 15th at midnight EST.

What's in the mail...plus a giveaway

Melissa A:

Hard Hats and Doormats by/from
Laura Chapman (e-book)

You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day, won from Shelf Awareness

House Trained by Jackie Bouchard, won from Goodreads

Novelista Girl by/from Meredith Schorr
(e-book)

No Ordinary Life by Suzanne Redfearn from Grand Central Publishing

Nookietown by V.C. Chickering from
St. Martin's Press

Melissa A and Amy:

The Dinner Party by Brenda Janowitz from Goldberg McDuffie

The Word Game by Steena Holmes from
Lake Union

Amy:

My Father's Wives by Mike Greenberg from HarperCollins

Look who Melissa P met!

Melissa P:

Winter Stroll by
Elin Hilderbrand from
Little, Brown

Sara:
The Beasts of Belmont Park by/from Hud Saunders
(e-book)

Becky:

Meet Me in Manhattan by Claudia Carroll from HarperCollins

Dashing Through the Snow by
Debbie Macomber from Arrow

Picnics in Hyde Park by Nikki Moore from Harper Impulse

While I Was Waiting by Georgia Hill from Harper Impulse

What could be in YOUR mail:

Life and Other Near-Death Experiences by Camille Pagán

BookSparks has a copy for a lucky US reader!

Visit Camille at her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

Libby Miller has always been an unwavering optimist—but when her husband drops a bomb on their marriage the same day a doctor delivers devastating news, she realizes her rose-colored glasses have actually been blinding her.

With nothing left to lose, she abandons her life in Chicago for the clear waters and bright beaches of the Caribbean for what might be her last hurrah. Despite her new sunny locale, her plans go awry when she finds that she can’t quite outrun the past or bring herself to face an unknowable future. Every day of tropical bliss may be an invitation to disaster, but with her twin brother on her trail and a new relationship on the horizon, Libby is determined to forget about fate. Will she risk it all to live—and love—a little longer?

From critically acclaimed author Camille Pagán comes a hilarious and hopeful story about a woman choosing between a “perfect” life and actually living. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here.

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US only. Giveaway ends November 11th at midnight EST.

Book Review: Dandelions on the Road

By Sara Steven

Twelve men…one woman…plenty of dandelions. Eva Merida has her life in order. She loves her job at the Furry Friends Rescue League and has a loving, supportive family. But she’s still missing that one special person to stand by her side. When she comes in third place on the local TV version of “The Bachelor,” entitled Accept this Dandelion, she nearly loses all hope for romance. Fortunately, the TV station decides to do a second season of the dating show…and they name Eva as the Bachelorette! With a plethora of dating mishaps recorded for TV, Eva finds herself falling for several men at once…including the show’s host. Will she find love at last or simply embarrass herself in front of the entire city? (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

Brooke Williams has done it again!

As I’d mentioned in my review of Accept this Dandelion, the first book in the "Dandelion" series, I’m a closeted Bachelor and Bachelorette fan. I thrive on the drama and chaos that often happens on the show, which should come as no surprise. Finding love can often be a roller coaster. I could feel the emotional ride that Eva has found herself on, as the new Bachelorette in Dandelions on the Road. There are so many men to choose from!

While Eva searches for her one true love, the contestants and crew from the show travel the midwest, through Nebraska and into Iowa. I recently moved from Nebraska after living there for fourteen years, so reading about their adventures at Mahoney State Park, or spending the day at Adventureland was like journeying back home in a sense. Even if you’ve never been to the midwest, "Dandelions" is so well-written and descriptive, you feel as though you’re right there with Eva and with the various men who are vying for her attention and affection.

Eva finds herself in a conundrum, as so many of us do when we’re seeking love. While she feels herself falling head over heels for a few of the contestants, the show’s host has also found his way into her heart. Only, he hasn’t proven to her that he feels the same, or that he’s even interested. He’s all work, very professional, not someone she can see herself involved with, yet there’s something about him… she can’t get him out of her head! But, she can’t get the other men out of her head, either.

I loved Dandelions on the Road from start to finish, and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun and charming escape. While you’re at it, don’t forget to check out Accept this Dandelion, as well. In the meantime, I’ll be eagerly awaiting the next book in this series, After the Final Dandelion. I can't wait to see what Brooke has in store for us!

Thanks to Brooke Williams for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Hilary Grossman has something to devour...plus a book giveaway

We're pleased to introduce Hilary Grossman. Melissa A has gotten to know her through ChickLitChat HQ on Facebook and is excited to feature her at CLC. Her debut novel, Dangled Carat, came out in 2014 and is still bringing in five-star ratings on Amazon. It's a true story about her journey to marriage. Hilary recently published her sophomore novel, Plan Bea, about a woman who has to help plan her mom's wedding, which turns her world around and makes her question everything she believed about her life. Aside from being an author, Hilary is the Chief Financial Officer of an alcoholic beverage company. 

Visit Hilary at her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

Today, Hilary is here to talk about her favorite sweet treats and share some fun facts along with her answers. She has TWO e-books of Dangled Carat for some lucky readers anywhere in the world! She also has TWO copies of Plan Bea to give away over at Goodreads (worldwide, ends 11/16).

Favorite ice cream flavor:
Tough question! I have so many favorites. If I had to pick one, I’d have to go for cookie dough. But I also love java chip, mint chocolate chip and Heath Bar crunch too (pretty much anything that has chocolate or candy mixed in).

Fun fact – I waitressed at Friendly’s for about eight years. On a daily basis, I made so many ice cream sundaes and cones that ice cream started to repulse me. However after a month after leaving the restaurant, I happily devoured ice cream again.

Go-to candy:
M&M’s - preferably the peanut butter ones! M&M’s bring me back to my childhood. Growing up, I have such fond memories of hanging out in my den, sitting next to my mom on the couch, watching TV and sharing a bag of M&M’s.

Fun fact – I always eat the shells of the M&M’s first – it took many years of practice to master




Favorite book involving dessert/candy?
Thirty-Three Going on Girlfriend by Becky Monson - I especially loved the part where Julia goes on the cake baking show…

Fun Fact – My first answer was Hershey’s Chocolate Lovers Cookbook.

Favorite dessert to bake:
Macadamia nut chocolate chip cookies – I pretty much make a batch ever week in the winter.

Fun Fact – I have been playing around with my recipe to reduce the amount of sugar and carbs in my cookies so I don’t feel so guilty eating so many. I now use two-thirds almond flour one-third regular flour and half the sugar the recipe calls for and the cookies are still sweet and delicious!

Favorite kind of pie:
Truth be told, I’m not a huge pie lover. I don’t like consistency of the fruit nor to I like the syrup. But I do love key lime pie and lemon meringue pies.

Fun Fact – When I was in college I was determined to make a lemon meringue pie. I found a “simple” recipe. And after twenty-five attempts I gave up. Yeah, I am stubborn.

Favorite pairing of salty and sweet:
I LOVE chocolate covered pretzels, especially the pretzel rods that also have candy pieces, like mini M&M’s dipped into the chocolate.

Fun Fact - I had dinner at a friend’s house a couple of weeks ago and she served the most amazing dish that pairs sweet and salty. She made a sweet potato dish topped with crushed pretzel rods and chopped pecans. I struggled not to eat the entire dish – AMAZING!

Thanks to Hilary for chatting with us and for 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. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here.

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Worldwide. Giveaway ends November 10th at midnight EST.

Book Review: The Black Velvet Coat

By Jami Deise

A few years ago, at the recommendation of several readers and writers whom I know through Chick Lit Central, I picked up a copy of Sarah Jio’s Blackberry Winter, even though I was not a fan of historical fiction. After reading that book, I became one – or, at least a fan of a very specific type of historical fiction, a book that links a mystery from the past to a heroine in the present. Jill G. Hall’s fiction debut, The Black Velvet Coat, follows this format, and is a satisfying – although not problem-free – addition to the genre.

In present day San Francisco, struggling artist Anne McFarland buys a black velvet coat from a thrift store and is surprised to find a key and a snowflake pin in its pockets. Touching the key gives her a mystical sense and occasional visions. Going through a fifty-year-old magazine one day, Anne is shocked to see her coat on the shoulders of glamorous young heiress Sylvia Van Dam. The photo shows Sylvia leaving her engagement party with her fiancé Ricardo. Anne is intrigued enough to use the photo in one of her art pieces, and she begins a quest to find out everything she can about the woman, who disappeared shortly after the photo was taken. Sylvia, where are you, she writes on her piece.

In 1963, Sylvia had been a flighty young woman, orphaned at 13 and left a fortune that was overseen by her guardian, Paul, a dashing man not much older than she. But Sylvia doesn’t appreciate Paul, instead seeing him as someone constantly trying to squelch her shopping habit. Rather, she’s drawn to the mysterious dark Ricardo, even though she’s warned again and again of his dangerous reputation and the trouble he left behind in Mexico.

As Anne tries to find out exactly what happened to Sylvia, Sylvia begins to realize she was wrong not to listen to the warnings about Ricardo. But now it might be too late.

Anne and Sylvia are two very different women. While Sylvia is spoiled and foolish, Anne is filled with self-doubt. Sylvia’s early, flighty behavior make her a difficult character to root for in the beginning. And while she does learn from her mistakes, she is rescued more often than she rescues herself. Anne makes a few foolish choices as well, but as they are centered around her art career, they are easier to forgive.

As Anne’s art career and personal circumstances take up a lot of the book, she doesn’t spend as much time exploring the Sylvia mystery as heroines in similar books do. And there’s a bit of a psychic connection with the key, which gives Anne a short cut when it comes to research on Sylvia. There’s also a bit of mysticism in Sylvia’s story line as well. Personally, I felt Hall should either have gone all in with the supernatural element, or left it out completely. The small amount she does include feels like a cheat for her characters.

However, I found the ending to be completely satisfying – more than other books in the genre, which often leave readers wistful.

Despite its weak spots, The Black Velvet Coat is a fine debut, and I look forward to seeing more from author Jill G. Hall and the book’s publisher, She Writes Press.

Thanks to BookSparks for the book in exchange for an honest review. This is part of their 2015 Fall Reading Challenge.

Dana Bate bakes a delicious treat...plus a book giveaway

We're so glad to have Dana Bate back at CLC for a third visit! She recently published her third novel, Too Many Cooks, in the US and to celebrate, Kensington has THREE copies for some lucky readers in the US and/or Canada!

Since Dana's last visit, I had the opportunity to interview her for the Jewish Food Experience. Then the rugelach recipe she shared was selected as a favorite by a local synagogue's sisterhood! She's here today to talk about food as well, and is helping us kick off our "Something Sweet" month!

To learn more about Dana and her books, visit her at her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

Synopsis of Too Many Cooks:
When Kelly Madigan is offered a job abroad right after reading a letter from her late mother urging her to take more risks, she sees it as a sign. Kelly's new ghostwriting assignment means moving to London to work for Natasha Spencer--movie star, lifestyle guru, and wife of a promising English politician. As it turns out, Natasha is also selfish, mercurial, and unwilling to let any actual food past her perfect lips.

Still, in between testing dozens of kale burgers and developing the perfect chocolate mousse, Kelly is having adventures. Some are glamorous; others, like her attraction to her boss's neglected husband, are veering out of control. Kelly knows there's no foolproof recipe for a happy life. But how will she know if she's gone too far in reaching for what she wants? (Courtesy of Amazon.)

Favorite holiday for dessert or candy and favorite dessert or candy from that holiday: 
Thanksgiving...and pie. Any kind of pie. PIE PIE PIE.

Favorite sweet drink: 
Red Jacket strawberry apple juice. Addictive.

Favorite movie involving dessert or candy? 
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory! (Waitress is also a great one. Because...PIE.)

Favorite dessert to have at a restaurant: 
Something warm and fruity with ice cream on top (ex: warm apple crumble with a melty scoop of vanilla ice cream).

Favorite kind of muffin: 
The millet muffin from Metropolitan Bakery in Philadelphia. I love it so much I even worked a version into my second book.

If you could invent a new dessert, what are three must-have ingredients and what would it be called?
For me, a perfect dessert -- the kind of indulgence I dream about -- needs a balance of salty/sweet, creamy/crunchy, and rich/light. There are infinite ingredients that could achieve that balance, but combining toasted/salted nuts, whipped cream, and brown butter with other baking ingredients will almost always result in deliciousness. As for a name...I'm terrible at that kind of thing. Maybe "X-Rated" because it would be that sinfully delicious.

Thanks to Dana for making our mouths water and to Kensington for sharing her latest book with our readers!

~Introduction by Melissa Amster

How to win: Use Rafflecopter to enter the giveaway. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us. If you have trouble using Rafflecopter on our blog, enter the giveaway here.

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US/Canada only. Giveaway ends November 8th at midnight EST.

Book Review: Furiously Happy

By Denise Keliuotis

To begin, a word of warning: Do not, under any circumstances, read this book while sitting in a quiet room surrounded by strangers (i.e., a doctor’s waiting room) unless, of course, you (a) want said strangers to wonder what could possibly be so funny; or (b) you enjoy biting the insides of your cheeks and willing yourself not to snort laugh. Again.

You’re welcome.


Before I ever bought Jenny Lawson’s book, I knew two things: first, it would be funny. Second, it would touch my heart and make me love her even more than I already did. Of course, Furiously Happy did not disappoint.

Like millions of other fans, I found Lawson through her blog, The Bloggess. Lawson’s humor pulled me in (more than once, I made the mistake of reading her blog at work, prompting “what-in-the-world-are-you-laughing-at-in-there” knocks on my office door), but her honesty – her heart – kept me coming back, again and again. In Furiously Happy, Lawson lays her big heart wide open. She details her ongoing and endless struggle to live with the myriad issues that have long plagued her: depression, rheumatoid arthritis, intense social anxiety. Lawson describes moments where her illnesses have literally brought her to her knees. Indeed, Furiously Happy is meant to offer a glimpse into a life lived under the shadow of these diagnoses.

But, at its core, Furiously Happy is about hope. It is about accepting those things Lawson cannot change, while refusing to allow them to destroy who she is at her core: a fighter with one of the most genuine and warped senses of humor you’ll ever find. Through short, often hilarious essays, Lawson shares her tumultuous life with an honesty that is both heartwarming and heart-wrenching. I rode the roller coaster gladly, snort laughing through one chapter, feeling my heart sink in the next.

There is much to love in Furiously Happy. I always enjoy Lawson’s “arguments” with her most patient husband, Victor, and those featured in the book are quite brilliant. But, more than that, I loved Lawson’s insight into how she ticks, what makes her who she is. I even loved her reason for writing Furiously Happy:

I want this book to help people fighting with mental illness, and also those who have friends and family who are affected by it. I want to show people that there can be advantages to being “a bit touched,” as my grandmother put it. I want my daughter to understand what’s wrong with me and what’s right with me. I want to give hope. I want to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony, but without selling any Coca-Cola products.

To say Lawson has a way with words is like saying Julia Child was a decent chef, or Beethoven wrote a few catchy tunes. It simply does not do her justice. Lawson is a masterful writer, a skilled storyteller, a unique character who fearlessly stages and stars in her own stories. With seeming ease, she combines humor and heartache, a feat attempted by many, yet mastered by so few. Lawson leads the pack . . even if that pack is made up of a bunch of metal chickens and taxidermied mice and raccoons, all dressed in tiny suits, marching to the beat of Lawson’s very unique drummer.