Time for some inspiration!

By Melissa Amster

I was recently given the opportunity to write about a woman who inspires me, for a blog called Life in the Married Lane. I wanted to share it here in hopes that you'll also find it inspiring or that it will bring to mind the woman who inspires you most! We'd love to hear about your inspirations, so feel free to read the article and then comment either here or on the post itself.

Here is the article:
She Fills Me with Glee

Thanks for checking it out!

xo, Melissa A

Book Review: From Notting Hill with Love...Actually

By Cindy Roesel

Love, Actually and Notting Hill are two of my favorite films; not only do I own the DVDs, I also have the soundtracks. So imagine my excitement when I was asked if I would review Ali McNamara’s debut novel, From Notting Hill with Love...Actually. YES! YES! YES!

Movie fanatic, Scarlett O’Brien dreams of her life one day being as glamorous and romantic as the movies she worships up on the big screen. Lucky for her, she finds herself housesitting smack in the middle of Notting Hill, one of London’s swankiest neighborhoods, the setting for many British films and the stage for her very own romantic comedy. For one month she leaves behind her dad, job and fiancé, David for the role of her life, but it doesn’t come without its complications.

Immediately Scarlett makes a new circle of BFFs. Oscar, Ursula and Sean can’t help intrigued by this new girl from the country. But an ignored secret brings all of them together in the effort to piece together Scarlett’s past.

A yearning for something that’s lost. Scarlett is a dreamer and a hopeless romantic. If you love romantic comedies, this is your book and Scarlett will be your new favorite character. I had a feeling I was going to love From Notting Hill with Love...Actually, and I was correct. I read it in one sitting. FYI: It’s kind of long – we’re talking 425 pages. So put some time aside for this really enjoyable novel!

At the end of the book, take Scarlett’s Mini Movie Quiz. I don’t want to brag, but I will. I got 10 out of 10 questions correct! Yay!

On a side note, the Love, Actually soundtrack is fabulous for the upcoming winter holidays!

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Catherine McKenzie brings law and order to chick lit, plus a book giveaway

Introduction by 
Kathryn Hamilton

**Giveaway is now closed**

Please welcome my fellow Canadian, author Catherine McKenzie to CLC. She is here on her BIRTHDAY (such an honour for us) to talk TV and also has her latest book to give away! Catherine is celebrating the US release of her third novel Forgotten (reviewed here), which, if the success of her two previous novels is any indication, is bound to be a reader favourite. This down-to-earth author grew up in Montreal, Quebec, where she went to school and continues to live. When she’s not busy creating wonderful, smart stories, Catherine continues her work as a lawyer. With her continuing success, readers are unlikely to forget Catherine McKenzie any time in the near future! Félicitations!

Thanks to HarperCollins for giving away TWO copies of "Forgotten" to some lucky readers in the US or Canada. And for one day only, Catherine has a special birthday giveaway going on at her Facebook page (also US/Canada only). Stop by for a chance to win an awesome prize!

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

Favorite awards show: 
The Golden Globes

TV show you'd love to see a musical episode of:
It's already been done. Buffy, the musical episode. You can't top perfection

If Emma from Forgotten were to play a part on any TV series (now or from the past), which would it be and what kind of character would she play? 
Alicia Florrick from The Good Wife

Since Emma is a lawyer, what is your favorite crime/law TV series:
Currently, The Good Wife

TV show you didn't watch as a kid (because you were too young to appreciate it) but would have watched if it were still around now:
Mmm, tough one. Honestly, nothing comes to mind. Suggestions?
 
Since Emma appears on a talk show, what is your favorite talk show?
The Daily Show

Which TV character can you relate to the most? 
Lorelei Gilmore

Favorite TV show of all time: 
The Wire and The Gilmore Girls. (Sorry, can't pick just one!)

Thanks to Catherine for chatting with us and to HarperCollins for sharing Forgotten with our readers.

How to win Forgotten:
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: Which TV show would you like to see do a musical episode?
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. Follow us on Twitter and/or Pinterest.
6. Add a friend to our Facebook group. (Tell us who you added.) Be sure to remind them to edit their settings.

US/Canada only. Giveaway ends October 28th at midnight EST.

You can also enter to win Forgotten from Chick Lit is Not Dead and Booking with Manic. (Also US/Canada and ending 10/28.)

Book Review: Forgotten

By Melissa Amster

What would you do if you were trapped in another country and couldn't reach anyone, leaving your loved ones to think you were dead or had disappeared off the face of the planet? Do you think it would be easy to step back into your life when you returned, like your disappearance never happened? As one woman is about to find out, it doesn't necessarily work that way.

As a deathbed request from her mother, Emma Tupper goes to Africa for a month, but circumstances beyond her control keep her there for SIX months. When she returns, she's not prepared for all the changes that have taken place....the first being that people think she's dead and the second being that life has been moving on without her. She has to fight for her job and try to reclaim her apartment from the handsome stranger living there. Soon she begins to question what is truly worth fighting for after all.

Seeing that I loved Catherine McKenzie's previous two novels, I went into Forgotten with eager anticipation and high expectations. She definitely did not disappoint! The story was engaging from the very beginning, when she kept us wondering why Emma's mom would be so adamant about her traveling to Africa. Was there a message she was supposed to receive while there, or a lesson to learn? While we get brief glimpses of her time in Africa, they were shared after the fact, so Emma wasn't in that moment anymore. I wish that the beginning of the novel had been all about her time in Africa with more details and then we could experience her shell-shock upon her return even more intensely.

Emma was easy to relate to throughout the story. I felt like I was continuously learning new things about her in each chapter. She was portrayed as tough, but even she had a breaking point. Her way of showing anger or frustration was so extreme sometimes. I liked her relationship with her best friend. They had a strong dynamic and it made me think of my relationship with my best friend. How you can be away from someone for a long time and when you're together again, it's like no time was lost and you could go on talking forever. I also enjoyed her interactions with the other characters in the novel. Everyone felt so real, like they were right in front of my face. The dialogue was realistic and flowed nicely throughout the story. There were points when I'd have to re-read some interactions because I wasn't sure who was taking each part in the conversation, but overall it was easy to follow.

The other thing I wish for this novel (aside from more detail about Africa), was that Emma's home location was specified. I was guessing she lived in Canada because Catherine McKenzie lives there and that would be her frame of reference. However, she mentions towards the beginning, the irony of eating a Chicago hot dog at a London airport. That made me question the location a bit. Then, later in the story, she mentions Kraft Dinner, which is specific to Canada. I feel that location specification is so important to a novel. There's a certain feel and personality of different cities. Chicago is different from New York, which is different from Washington D.C. or Los Angeles. I don't know much in detail about the various cities and provinces in Canada, but I have read novels taking place in Toronto, Ontario, Montreal, etc. and they all gave off different vibes. So knowing if Emma was living in Chicago vs. Toronto would be a major detail for getting the feel of the story. I can't recall if Catherine's other novels didn't include specific locations, but it seemed to nag at me more this time.

Forgotten was another page turner with an interesting and thought provoking topic. I had just come off reading a story about a woman who is wondering where her husband disappeared to and trying to figure out how long to wait before moving on. In contrast, this novel is from the perspective of someone who was declared missing and possibly dead and how they feel about life moving on without them when they return. While things seemed to wrap up a bit too neatly in the end, I couldn't help but want the best for Emma in all areas of her life. However, I won't say anything more as to not spoil all the fun and interesting surprises in store.

Thanks to Catherine McKenzie for the book in exchange for an honest review. Tune in to her interview, where we're giving away some copies to some readers in the US and Canada.

(Top left, US cover; Bottom right, Canadian cover)

Winners of "Dearest Rose"

All good things come in threes, from Rowan's third visit...to three giveaway copies of her book...to 33 comments!

To find our winners, we assigned a number to each entry-including bonus questions (from only the entries with contact info) and asked random.org to choose THREE numbers.

Congrats to:
43-Linda Kish
54-Chanpreet
118-Rhonda

Here is a message from Rowan Coleman:
Thank you so much to everyone who took part in the competition, I really hope the winners enjoy Dearest Rose, and that if you go on the buy the book, you like it too. Do drop by my Facebook or Twitter pages to let me know, I love to hear from readers! Thanks once again to all at Chick Lit Central for having me onboard, its always a pleasure to visit.

All the best,
Rowan.x

Reminder: If you have won a book, you have about 48 hours to claim it by sending your contact information. (You will be e-mailed if you have won, as well.) After that time, a new winner will be picked.

Thanks to everyone for participating and telling us which episode of a TV show made you cry the most. Between Friends coming to an end and a sad moment on Parenthood, amongst others, there's a lot to cry about on TV.
Thanks to Rowan for entertaining us and for her generosity in sharing her latest novel.

Check out our latest giveaways and also enter ones from other blogs and websites on our giveaways page.

Books of the Week - October 22nd

Thanks for checking out our newest feature...Books of the Week! There are nine 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. We will be featuring 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.

That Time of the Month
By Emily Shaffer 

Recently fired and almost broke, thirty-year old Ellie decides to push all distractions aside and form a crash-or-burn plan to save herself and finally pursue her dreams. She gives herself one month to make the near-impossible happen, otherwise she has to leave New York City and move into her niece's toy room.

The plan seems simple but becomes complicated by a nosey best friend, a difficult roommate, a dreamy stranger, and a really bad ring. As the month progresses, Ellie must confront the realization that by deciding to focus on herself, she may have become completely self-centered.

Will she let her own ambitions, insecurities, and assumptions ruin her friendships and get in the way of a possible romance? Ruled by endless lists and fueled by several plates of pie, Ellie's comical thoughts and mishaps drive this story from the office to the coffee shop during a month that will leave her with a broken foot, a great pair of shoes, and a forever changed life.

Emily Shaffer can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

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 Walking With Elephants
By Karen S. Bell

Suze Hall is at a crossroads. Her nemesis at work, Wanda, has been promoted and now will be her boss. Her husband, Bob, is leaving her and the three kids for a six-month sabbatical down under. To top it off, her best friend, Marcia, is missing in action—playing footsie with some new boyfriend!

Adding to this disaster stew, David, the gorgeous hunk who broke her young-girl's heart has coincidentally popped back into her life and has something she desperately needs to keep her job.
Walking with Elephants, a lighthearted slice-of- life story, brings to the table the serious work/family issues facing women today. It explores the modern dichotomy of a workplace that is filled with homemakers who still must cook, clean, carpool on nights and weekends, shop for prom dresses, and "create" the holidays—such as Suze. But it also is filled with women who have the  same drive as men, have no family responsibilities, and will do whatever it takes to get ahead.  So step into the shoes of Suze Hall and commiserate over workplace politics, titillate your sexual fantasies, ride the wave of a working mother, and fall-down laughing.

Walking with Elephants is $2.99 for Kindle.

Karen S. Bell can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Book Review: Little Sister

By Becky Gulc

Little Sister is the tale of two sisters, Kate and Anya. These sisters are polar opposites in many ways but when a common family tragedy unites them, can the family withstand a further tragedy? Whilst Kate is settled down and recently had her first child, Anya, the younger of the two, is always searching for the next adrenaline rush and despite now being in her thirties shows no signs of aspiring for a life of domesticity. When Anya goes missing whilst cave diving in Mexico, it falls to Kate as the emergency contact to ensure the authorities are doing their utmost to find her frustrating, but much-loved, younger sister. Question is, has Anya been in a diving accident or is there something more sinister going on? And why did she go on the diving trip to the middle of nowhere with a man she’d only just met?

I had read and enjoyed a previous novel by Lucy Dawson (His Other Lover) a few years back so I was pleased to be sent this book for review. The blurb and press release captured my attention and I was looking forward to reading a book which sounded full of suspense and intrigue.

I read this book in just over a day and enjoyed it thoroughly. Whilst the blurb might suggest the story will centre on Kate’s viewpoint, we also know Anya’s perspective throughout; we are cleverly drip-fed enough information from the past and present in order for the reader to care about the characters; understand the family dynamics at play and without spoiling the final outcome for Anya. There were several occasions as a reader I thought Anya’s fate lay in one direction only for it to turn on its head, then back again; this kept it interesting. It’s a book that offers suspense and delivers on it, but not to an extreme level, there was definitely room for Lucy to have pushed this further if she’d wished and if I’m being honest, I think I would have liked it to, but just a bit. It’s also a book that says it will stay with you long after you’ve finished it - I agree this is likely to be the case. I definitely thought I was going to have nightmares after I’d read this, at least in terms of claustrophobia. (Thankfully, I didn’t!) There’s also more of a back-story behind this than the present search for Anya.

The only slight niggles I had were with the apparent flippant changing opinions of the sisters on some things– for example, internal dialogue suggesting one feeling towards a love interest one minute then changing it the next, without any movement in the story to suggest sufficiently why. This is only a minor thing though and just something as a reader I wanted to understand more, particularly in terms of Kate’s feelings. Also I would have liked to see Kate’s viewpoint again at the end of the novel once the outcome for Anya is revealed. I felt like we’d been on roller coaster of emotions with her at the beginning of the novel, the helplessness and desperation to locate Anya, but I felt that I didn’t quite get the closure with this character that I wanted at the end. That said though I thought the closing chapters were strong and they did leave you feeling slightly uneasy which sits well with the book it sells itself as being.

All in all I thought this is another strong book from Lucy Dawson and if you like your chick lit with a dose of suspense and also like books that are a bit shorter in length than some others, this is one for you.

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