Rochelle Bilow sweeps us off our feet...plus a book giveaway

Credit: Amelia Marie
Photography

We're excited to have Rochelle Bilow here today to talk about her debut novel, Ruby Spencer's Whisky Year, a swoon-worthy romantic story set in Scotland. Thanks to Berkley Romance, we have one copy to give away!

Rochelle Bilow is a food and romance writer who previously worked as the social media manager at Bon Appétit and Cooking Light magazines. A graduate of The French Culinary Institute, she has also worked as a line cook, a baker, and a wine spokesperson. Her first book, The Call of the Farm, a swoony farming memoir, was published in 2014. Raised in Syracuse, New York, Rochelle now lives in northern Vermont.

Visit Rochelle online:
Website * Twitter * Instagram

Synopsis:
Ruby Spencer is spending one year living in the quaint Scottish town of Thistlecross for three reasons: to write a bestselling cookbook, drink a barrelful of whisky, and to figure out what comes next. She immediately falls in love with the small town and its charming community, and begins to grow closer with Brochan, a certain rugged Scotsman who keeps coming around to repair things at her cottage.

As Ruby learns more about Thistlecross, Brochan, and the town’s tightly held traditions and the highlands way of life, she thinks she may have finally found her place. When she discovers plans to turn a beloved pub into an American chain restaurant, she will have to battle with competing loyalties and decide how much her newfound life means to her.

"Ruby Spencer's Whisky Year is utterly charming. Rochelle Bilow’s evocative writing made me feel like I was in a cozy Scottish cottage right alongside her irrepressible heroine, swooning over the local food, whisky, and strapping bearded handyman. I finished the book, my heart full and my stomach rumbling, then immediately googled 'plane tickets to Scotland'.”
—Laura Hankin, author of A Special Place for Women

"Rochelle Bilow's debut is a transportive delight! The humor and warmth are like a sip of fine single malt, with all the depth and complexity of flavor to make you plan your own escape to Scotland. If you're in search of a love story to make you feel like you've come home, don't miss your chance to fall in love with this book."
—Denise Williams, author of Do You Take This Man

In one sentence, what was the road to publishing like for you?
Circuitous; after my first book—a memoir—was published in 2014, I took an almost 10-year break to focus on food writing.

How is Ruby similar to or different from you?
Although we share career trajectory similarities, she has a different personality. Ruby definitely has a lot more chill than I do; the mere act of moving to a new state last year practically broke me. I admire how brave and bold she is when facing life’s challenges.

If Ruby Spencer’s Whisky Year were made into a movie, who would you cast in the leading roles?
I’d love to see Colin Farrell as Brochan; put a scruffy beard on that man and I’m totally done for. I think Anna Kendrick would totally nail Ruby’s quirkiness.

What is the last book you read that you would recommend?
I just finished Liberation Day by George Saunders. I’ve never read a bad book by him, but this one especially captivated me. It’s full of short stories that prompted me to question everything—and to think critically about power in this complicated era.

If we were to visit you right now, where are some places you would take us to see?
I live in Stowe, which is Vacationland for the skiing crowd. I don’t ski, but I’m a big fan of hiking—this being Vermont, there are about a dozen outside my back door. There’s also a gorgeous wine shop in town, Dedalus. We’d have to swing by there, grab a few bottles and some fancy cheese for a cozy bonfire picnic later on.

What is your favorite thing about Valentine’s Day?
It’s the chocolate. It’s always been the chocolate.

Thanks to Rochelle for chatting with us and Berkley 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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Giveaway ends February 14th at midnight EST.

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Book Review: The House of Eve

By Jami Denison

Intersectionality: the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. (Definition provided by Dictionary.com)

It’s fair to say that any challenging situation for a woman is much harder for a woman of color. While there are many historical fiction novels about white women who got pregnant before Roe v. Wade, there aren’t many books available about what this time period was like for Black women. In her latest novel, The House of Eve, Sadeqa Johnson offers an important look at this traumatic experience through the eyes of two young Black women in the 1950s whose burdens include more than unplanned pregnancy.

In Philadelphia, 15-year-old Ruby Pearsall is determined to become an ophthalmologist in order to cure her grandmother’s glaucoma. The woman practically raised her, since Ruby was born to 15-year-old Inez, who was always more interested in her latest boyfriend than caring for her daughter. And when Inez catches her boyfriend assaulting Ruby, she blames the girl and kicks her out. This starts a series of events which leads Ruby into meeting and falling in love with a Jewish boy bound for college in New York. While Shimmy helps Ruby study and encourages her on her quest to win a college scholarship, Ruby knows their love can’t last.

In Washington, D.C., Eleanor Quarles is a freshman at Howard University working toward her dream of becoming a library archivist when she meets Howard medical student William Pride. William is very well-named—he is the pride of an elite, wealthy light-skinned Black family, and Eleanor is just too dark and country for the likes of them and their friends. 

When both women become unexpectedly pregnant, their separate paths put them on a collision course. Will the women still be able to achieve their dreams, or will these babies permanently derail their hopes?

In many ways, Ruby’s and Eleanor’s stories are familiar. In other ways, they’re unique. In many painful scenes, Ruby is treated like dirt by her mother, her boyfriend’s mother, and strangers on the street. And the prejudice Eleanor endures, while not as horrific as Ruby’s, is shocking nonetheless. Eleanor dreams of going to Howard as a safe place for Black people; there she is judged by other Black people for being too black. Both protagonists are easy to root for, but they are not without flaws, which makes their stories that much more real.

The pacing in The House of Eve is slow, and with the plot points well set up, the writing shines in the character development and relationships. The book will be compared to Brit Bennett’s The Mothers, but some of the soapy twists reminded me of Eileen Goudge’s Garden of Lies.

While I was rooting hard for both Ruby and Eleanor, I did find the ending to be somewhat unrealistic. On the other hand, Johnson ends the book at the perfect point for a sequel. I hope she writes one—both women’s stories deserve to continue.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the book in exchange for an honest review.

More by Sadeqa Johnson:

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Becoming friends with Annie Cathryn...plus a book giveaway

Introduction by Melissa Amster

I am thrilled to introduce you to Annie Cathryn, who is celebrating the publication of her debut novel, The Friendship Breakup. I met Annie through my book publicity job, as she responded to some pitches I had sent her. I then saw that she was releasing her own book and it sounded like the perfect fit for CLC. She and I have the same taste in books and I've enjoyed getting to know her over the past year. She's absolutely lovely and I'm excited for you to meet her! 

The Friendship Breakup is fantastic and I read the entire novel in one day. It was extremely relatable, as I had also been ghosted by a friend in the past. Check out my review. Thanks to Annie, we have one copy for a lucky reader!

Annie Cathryn has always dreamed of becoming an author and lives by the motto, “Creating is Living.” The Friendship Breakup is her debut book baby, born out of love. 

When not writing or reading, she’s organizing her personal library collection by color and discovering delectable chocolate.

She earned a journalism degree and a master’s in communications from Marquette University, and lives in Chicagoland with her husband, daughter, and two fur babies. (Bio courtesy of Amazon.)

Visit Annie online:

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Synopsis:

Fallon Monroe, mother of one, self-help book junkie, and budding chocolatier, has always relied on her mom friends in the Chicago suburbs to get her through the trials of adulthood. So when her bestie Beatrice inexplicably starts ghosting her and takes all their mutual friends with her, Fallon’s left wondering how everything went so wrong. Pushing down a lifetime of insecurities, Fallon doubles down and decides to win them back. First, she hosts an epic Mexican fiesta that goes epically wrong. Then she joins a friendship app but discovers a disturbing secret about one of her new friends.

Just when she’s about to throw in the towel on the whole friendship mess, Fallon reads a recently unearthed letter she’d refused to deal with decades earlier—and reading it forces her to finally face the deep-seated fears she’d desperately tried to bury. Now, looking at her friendships through fresh eyes, she must decide between hanging on and letting go.

Fallon is an instantly likeable heroine—as vulnerable as she is determined—and she’ll have readers eagerly turning the pages as they join her on an emotional journey into the hopes and fears of adulthood. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

“At once heartwarming and humorous, The Friendship Breakup is smart, layered, and captures the all-too-familiar nuances of being a friend, staying a friend, and learning when to let go. Written with emotional depth while capturing our most profound vulnerabilities, Cathryn is an author to watch. A novel with a big heart that will captivate readers.”

—Rochelle Weinstein, USA Today bestselling author of When We Let Go

“In this warm and witty story, Annie Cathryn paints a portrait of a woman who must let go of her preconceived notions of what her life should be like in order to find out who she really is—and become her own best friend.”

—Camille Pagán, national bestselling author of I’m Fine and Neither Are You

"Perfect to read by the beach or pool with your favorite iced coffee (or in those stolen moments in the carpool line), The Friendship Breakup will have you both laughing and savoring the journey like it was one of Fallon’s chocolates. Sharp, witty, and relevant to everyone who has ever outgrown a friend.” 

—Sara Goodman Confino, Amazon bestselling author of She's Up to No Good

In one sentence, what was the road to publishing like for you?
The road to publishing was a long, twisty, sometimes bumpy road that led to a beautiful destination. 

How is Fallon similar to or different from you?
Fallon, like me, is a married mother of one who loves chocolate and self-help books.

If The Friendship Breakup were made into a movie, what songs would be on the soundtrack?
That’s a fun question. There are several songs referenced in the book that would make for an incredible soundtrack including:

•  “I’m Every Woman” Whitney Houston
•  “Watermelon Sugar” Harry Styles 
• “Best of My Love” The Emotions 
• “My Way” Frank Sinatra 
• “Livin’ la Vida Loca” Ricky Martin 
• “Sugar” Maroon 5
• “Ironic” Alanis Morissette 
• “Let it Go” Idina Menzel
• “Roar” Katy Perry

What is the last book you read that you would recommend? 

The Vibrant Years by Sonali Dev follows three generations of strong women who are at different stages in their lives dealing with their exes and on the dating scene. Multiple points of view and alternating chapters devoted to each character makes it a fast, fun read. It’s captivating, heartwarming and hilarious. 

Tell us more about the Soulful Series and how that came about.
I reviewed I Am a Girl From Africa by Elizabeth Nyamayaro on Instagram and she saw it and asked me if I would interview her on Insta Live. After I interviewed her, I realized how much I enjoyed it, so I started Soulful Series to interview other authors who’ve written a memoir or non-fiction motivational book. It’s been a fantastic two years chatting with fascinating and incredible authors. 

Tell us about your longest and/or closest friendship.

That’s definitely my college roommate, Jenn. People often mistake us for sisters, as we look a lot alike. We were roommates second semester of freshman year and sophomore year. Although we didn’t room together junior and senior year, we remained friends and stayed close after graduation. She lives in North Carolina, but we manage to see each other at least twice a year around the holidays. Jenn is the first person I turn to for advice, and we have a similar sense of humor, which always makes for a fun time. 

Thanks to Annie for visiting 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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Giveaway ends February 12th at midnight EST.

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Book Review: The Shortest Years

By Jami Denison

“The days are long, but the years are short.” This pithy reminder to parents of young children--that although daily life can be tedious, those trying days will be over sooner than you think—seems like a title appropriate to literary fiction or poetry that looks at childhood through rose-colored glasses. Instead, The Shortest Years, Kelly Simmons’s eighth novel, is a dark picture of life after the worst happens… and a reminder that sometimes bad things happen to bad people, too.

Melinda runs a group for grieving parents at the local parish in the small Pennsylvania town where she grew up. One evening, she watches enviously as three young mothers bond over the deaths of their daughters. Taylor shocks the group when she makes an angry speech about being blamed for her child’s death; Jonna and Sarah leave with her. Soon, Melinda finds herself stalking the women between her hours at her part-time job at the tire store, watching as they set up tables in parks for their new charity for moms helping other moms. But when Melinda catches Taylor being cruel to a child, will anyone believe her? 

The Shortest Years is written from three points-of-view: Melinda and Sarah’s in the third person, and Jonna’s in first. Jonna is the character readers will identify with the most – a single mother, her ex had already started a new family by the time their pre-teen daughter Nena died. She works at Costco and lives with her mother. She struggles, but blames no one but herself for her problems. Sarah, on the other hand, is a wealthy wife who doesn’t work, and her story about the circumstances of her daughter’s death are genuinely horrifying. But Taylor is the most challenging character of the story, coming across like a Casey Anthony type. As her acting out becomes more and more dramatic, it seems quite possible that she was, in fact, responsible for her daughter’s death.

It’s difficult to make a grieving parent unlikeable, but Simmons has accomplished this. The dynamics and characterizations reminded me of the Showtime series Yellowjackets – off-putting women with complicated friendships put in horrific situations. Melinda strongly reminded me of the show’s Misty character. And both Sarah and Jonna took actions that indirectly contributed to their daughters’ deaths. 

It can be tough to get through a novel when most of the characters are troubling, but Simmons’s prose keeps readers engaged. However, the book is nothing like her previous novel, The Last House Party (reviewed here), and a few juicy set-ups do not pay off; justice is not served for any dead child. Still, I applaud the author for taking on an almost taboo subject and layering on unlikeable characters on top of it. The Shortest Years may not be every reader’s cup of tea, but there’s an audience out there for books like this, and it deserves to be reached. 

Thanks to Kelly Simmons for the book in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: The House Guest

By Jami Denison

If domestic thriller writers are sending a message, that message seems to be: You can’t trust another woman. Despite the fact that women are most in jeopardy from their male partners, in fiction the danger comes from their best friend. Or their nanny. Personal assistant, sister, stepmother, mother-in-law, husband’s new wife. And as thriller readers, we are trained to expect that a husband might eventually be absolved, but the BFF is always up to no good.

In her latest thriller, The House Guest, Hank Phillippi Ryan takes advantage of readers’ expectations to craft a tale filled with unforeseen twists. How dangerous is it to invite a stranger into your home? Maybe not as dangerous as sharing it with a man.

After her wealthy husband leaves her, Alyssa Macallan is left alone on their Boston-area estate. Bill has turned their rich friends against her, and rumors are flying. Even though there’s a legal agreement saying Bill needs to tell her when he’s coming over, Alyssa is convinced that he’s sneaking in, moving items around, and otherwise gaslighting her. When she meets Bree Lorrance in a hotel bar and learns that Bree is hiding from an abusive ex, she impulsively invites Bree to move into her guest house. Bree is a sympathetic ear, and as it turns out, heir to a fortune. As Bree bonds with the lawyer in charge of her inheritance, Alyssa begins to wonder just who these two new people are, and what they really want from her. 

Alyssa is an easy character to root for, and her grief over the sudden end of her marriage is palpable and relatable. Ryan does such a good job establishing Alyssa’s loneliness and confusion that her impulsive invitation to Bree doesn’t seem too misguided. And Bree acquits herself almost immediately, helping Alyssa put an ex-friend in her place in a hilarious scene at a country club. At this point, the action starts to center on Bree, as Alyssa helps her with an online DNA site, tracking down a brother, and other wrinkles. 

In books like these, it’s imperative that tension builds on every page. I wanted to be scared for Alyssa and suspicious of Bree. Instead, Bill continues to be a bad guy, while a lot of action in the middle of the book fails to forward the plot in a meaningful way. (It was nice spending time in Alyssa’s Cape Cod home, though.) Several conversations are repeated a few times as the women wonder what to do about Bill. Ryan has a tendency to abandon scenes before they end, then picking up the action later and explaining what happened rather than showing it. This technique didn’t engage me. 

Things do heat up near the end of the book, as the plot twists one way, then another, then back again. I did like the ending, but by the time I got to it, I wondered if The House Guest might have been better served with Bree as the point-of-view character rather than Alyssa. 

Fans of the Netflix show Dead to Me should especially enjoy The House Guest, as the chemistry between Alyssa and Bree reminded me of the relationship between Judy and Jen. Not every thriller needs to follow typical beats in a prescribed order, and Ryan’s latest values relationships over plot points. And beach days and lobster dinners can be just as much fun. 

Thanks to Tor Publishing Group for the book in exchange for an honest review.

More by Hank Phillippi Ryan:

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Spotlight: The Chemistry of Love

Sariah Wilson's latest rom-com, The Chemistry of Love, released yesterday. We're pleased to feature it today. You can see what Melissa thought of it (and who she'd cast in the movie version) here. Thanks to Kaye Publicity, we have one copy for a lucky reader!

True love requires a little research and development in a funny, heart-racing romance by Sariah Wilson, the bestselling author of The Paid Bridesmaid.

How can Anna Ellis, a geeky, brilliant, and hopelessly smitten cosmetic chemist possibly win over Craig Kimball, the man of her dreams—who also happens to be her boss? The answer is Craig’s empathetic (and handsome) CEO half brother, Marco. The makeup mogul knows Craig for the ridiculously competitive rival he is. Whatever Marco has, Craig wants. That can be Anna, if she’s game to play.

All Anna and Marco have to do is pretend they’re falling in love and let the rumors begin. If the experiment in attraction works, a jealous Craig will swoop in and give Anna her happily ever after—if it weren’t for one hitch in the plan. There’s more to Marco than meets the eye. With every fake date, Anna’s feelings are starting to become dizzyingly real.

Blame it on chemistry. It’s unpredictable, exciting, and occasionally combustible. If Anna and Marco are really falling in love, who are they to argue with science? (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

“Abundant pop culture references and nerdy quips only enhance…This is utterly adorable.” 
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“In this adorable romantic comedy, the fake dating trope is taken to another level with banter and nerdy references Anna and Marco throw around. Adding to the fun, Anna’s grandparents and their pet birds will have readers in stitches. A fresh and fun romance from Wilson.” 
—Library Journal

Credit: JordanBree Photography

A passionate believer in happily-ever-afters, Sariah Wilson and her own soulmate live in Utah with their four children and the two family cats. Her belief in true love has inspired several bestselling rom-coms including CINDER-NANNY, THE PAID BRIDESMAID, ROOMAID and THE SEAT FILLER, as well as such bestselling romance series as End of the Line (THE FRIEND ZONE, JUST A BOYFRIEND); Lovestruck (#STARSTRUCK, #MOONSTRUCK, #AWESTRUCK); Ugly Stepsisters (THE UGLY STEPSISTER STRIKES BACK; PROMPOSAL), Royals of Monterra (ROYAL DATE, ROYAL CHASE, ROYAL GAMES, ROYAL DESIGN).

Visit Sariah online:

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

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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Giveaway ends February 7th at midnight EST.

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Book Review: Anyone but the Billionaire

By Sara Steven

Self-made mogul Chase Moore is a charming hound dog with a hairless cat and a family business to save.

He was fine being the spare to the heir until the family's billion-dollar business threatens to go belly-up.

Now Chase will need more than his rakish good looks to fight his father for control.

Powerhouse marketing guru Campbell King returns to Texas and launches her own company after being chewed up and spat out by the city that never sleeps,

One phone call makes all the difference when a suave and sexy male voice offers her the chance to redeem herself and help him save his swanky Manhattan store.

When the sexy redhead finally runs into her new billionaire boss, they’re both in for a shock.

But there’s no way Campbell is dating the boss. In fact, anyone but the billionaire would be better… (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)

I love the snark factor within Anyone but the Billionaire. The dialogue between Chase and Campbell was incredibly fun and witty, and so, so snarky! Even the inner dialogue provided by both characters kept me on the hook, because it was fun to read and interesting. Nothing staunch. In fact, many of the scenes where Chase is pining for Campbell, or Campbell is thinking of Chase, showcased red-hot images of what they either wanted to do with one another, or how they needed to stop thinking about the things they want to do with one another. It kept the reading experience exciting!

Campbell is like the epitome of the kind of woman I’d love to be someday. She tried to play the game society’s way for far too long, deciding it was time to come into her own and do things her own way, which has paid off tremendously. It’s a trait that Chase finds incredibly attractive, often highlighting on how undeniably sexy it is to witness Campbell in her element, particularly when it comes to dealing with his unruly father. Other people would run and hide in sheer terror, but not Campbell. She takes it all in stride. 

There is an obvious attraction between the characters, and Campbell doesn’t want to make the mistake of falling for the man she’s working for. Even though I could see the hurdles they’d have to face a mile away, so there weren’t many surprises, I still appreciated the storyline and how the two of them deal with trying to navigate the sticky situation they’re in. Chase is trying to save his family’s legacy, and by hiring Campbell, there is the potential for that. But at what cost to his own happiness? There are a lot of crazy dynamics they have to figure out. 

And then there’s the hairless cat. I won’t even go into detail about that–other than to say, you need to read Anyone but the Billionaire and learn more about the cat. There are a ton of punchline jokes involved, and all of them are funny. Really, the whole book is funny, charming, and full of that snarky dialogue that I find engaging. It was worth the read!

Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Purchase Links:
Amazon US * Amazon UK

Sara L. Hudson is a bestselling romantic comedy author of several books including the out-of-this world Space Series featuring the men and women of NASA and their hilarious and panty-melting happily-ever-afters.

She lives in Houston with her two kids and NASA engineer husband and spends most of her time laughing at inappropriate jokes and making social situations awkward.

Visit Sara online:
Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Visit all the stops on Sara's blog tour:

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