BOOK REVIEW - TALES FROM THE CRIB

By Jami Deise

Associate Reviewer at Chick Lit Central

How far would you go to ensure your child’s happiness and well-being? Quit a job you loved? Move across the country? Would you stay with a man who just asked for a divorce so your baby – still a zygote at this point – would have two parents in the same house?

In Jennifer Coburn’s Tales from the Crib – re-released after originally being published in 2006 – writer Lucy Klein can’t wait to tell her husband Jack that she’s pregnant. But before she can get the words out, Jack asks for a divorce.  And while Lucy’s news changes Jack’s mind, it’s not in the way Lucy hopes. Rather than splitting up, Jack proposes he and Lucy live together as friends so they can co-parent their baby. And Lucy, still in love with her husband despite their rocky marriage, agrees.

Lucy, 39, has already had several miscarriages and had to terminate a pregnancy in its 8th month when the baby was found to have defects incompatible with life. So it’s not surprising that she’s willing to do anything to hold on to this baby, even if that means living with a man that no longer wants her.

Jack jumps into their new relationship with ease. Soon he’s calling Lucy “kiddo” and dating other women. Lucy, meanwhile, has to suffer all the indignities of pregnancy, and then some. Not only does she get the weight gain and the digestive issues, she also comes down with Bell’s Palsy. And maybe it’s hormones or maybe the hope that the baby might bring them together, but Lucy is still deeply in love with her husband. So it’s really hard listening to him have sex with someone else in their house.

 

Tales from the Crib has the breezy, tangential tone of a memoir. Lucy seems very real and is an easy character to root for. She’s self-deprecating and tries to find the humor in every situation. Jack could have been written as a complete asshole, but in Coburn’s writing he comes across as a reasonable human being doing things that most women would consider the “justifiable” part in “justifiable homicide.” The supporting characters in Lucy’s life – mother Anjoli, cousin Kimmy, best friend Zoe and other relatives and moms – provide comic relief while never seeming unbelievable.

Coburn has a knack for taking situations that all mothers have been through – such as breastfeeding problems – and people we’ve all dealt with – like the La Leche League breastfeeding fanatics – and making the circumstances and the characters both unique and universal. And she makes the very unique character – the really nice woman dating Jack; the neurotic cousin marrying herself – seem realistic when it might have been easier to go for the cliché. 

The novel does have a few minor flaws. Tonewise, I thought it was a little uneven. It’s written in first person point of view, and I found the quick way Lucy described her previous pregnancy issues and her eagerness to make a joke to be inconsistent with the material. However, as the novel progressed, Lucy is forced to deal with her habit of using humor to suppress her emotions, so the uneven tone is actually a good reflection of the protagonist’s coping mechanism.  The novel is generally fast paced, although its energy lags somewhat about three-fourths of the way through. And there’s a whopping deux-en-machina at the end, which to me seemed unnecessary, as there was already a plot point that could have produced the same result.

Still, these are tiny flaws in a very good novel. The most telling fact is that I found myself reading Tales from the Crib while Modern Family blared from my TV. If Lucy and Jack can trump Claire and Phil, that’s really saying something.

The 2012 edition ended with a hint at a sequel. Coburn wrapped things up so nicely, I’m surprised she had material for another book. But I’m anxious to read it. 

Jami Deise recently moved to St. Petersburg, FL after living her whole life in Maryland. After writing and trying to sell screenplays for the past ten years, she recently completed and self-published her first novel,Keeping Score (mom lit!). Now that her son Alex is headed off to college, Jami will have plenty of time for reading, writing, watching TV, and blogging. She’s on Facebook andTwitter.

LYING TO MEET YOU - COVER REVEAL

Lying To Meet You By Anna Garner

Does being in a relationship make you a hot commodity in the eyes of would-be suitors?

Chloe Lane is about to find out. When her childhood pal, Ethan Webster, asks her to play the part of his girlfriend in order to test this theory, she reluctantly agrees. As a work-crazed fashion designer, boutique owner and soon-to-be reality show judge, Chloe has no time for a real boyfriend, but being part of a faux pair will do just fine. Not that she has any intention of trying to attract someone else.

Opportunity unexpectedly knocks when Chloe meets fellow reality judge, William Shannon. Super successful and super sexy, this high-powered entrepreneur inspires Chloe to test Ethan’s theory herself. Now, on top of keeping her fashion business productive, carving out a new role as a television personality, maintaining a fake relationship and attempting to lay the groundwork for a future relationship, she’s lying to William, lying to her friends, lying to her family and quite possibly lying to herself. Will Chloe be able to keep it all together, or are things about to explode?

Q&A With The author

When did you know you wanted to become an author?

I've wanted to be an author for such a long time, I can't even remember! It was probably not long after I learned how to read and write. I wrote my first "book" at age seven. A little picture book called BIG and small where I compare the size of things. For example: "My dad's hat is big. Mine is only little."

Would you classify your books as chick lit?  And is this your favorite genre to read?

I would classify Lying to Meet You as chick lit, for sure, but the other books (Fashioning a Romance, Unmasking Maya and The Karmic Connection) I call them chick lit/romance hybrids. They're like category romances in terms of size, plot and structure, but they're told in a chick lit voice, and I spent a lot of time with secondary characters--a big no-no in standard romance!

As far as what I read, I most love chick lit (Sophie Kinsella is my favorite author) but I've recently gotten on a huge crime-fiction kick! I might try to write one someday... Maybe.

Where did you come up with the premise for the book?

I noticed it in real life--the concept that people in relationships seem to be more attractive to the opposite sex. I wondered why that was, came up with a few theories and then decided that this would make a great plot for a book. It all came together really organically, which was nice. :-)

Describe your book in three words.

Fun, Frothy, Fashion.

(I love alliteration!)

What can your readers expect next from you?

I've just finished the first draft in a trilogy about three friends in San Francisco who decide to open an ice cream shop. It's pretty rough right now, but I hope to get it smoothed out and cleaned up by December or January and release it then. The series will be called Sweet Dreams, which is the name of their shop, and the first book is called Cricket's Creations. Cricket is the protagonist of the first book. She's got hippie parents. I had such a fun time writing the scenes her family was in!

Born and raised in the Midwest, Anna Garner's adventurous spirit kicked in after graduating from high school, and she's since lived in Boston, NYC and London. For several years, Anna worked in fashion--first as a journalist and then as a shopkeeper, and for a while she dabbled in design. Although chick lit was her first love, Anna started writing quirky romances, and her first one, Fashioning a Romance, was published in May 2012 under the name of Libby Mercer. This was followed by two more quirky romances: Unmasking Maya and The Karmic Connection. Since Lying to Meet You is written in old school chick lit style and isn't a clear cut love story, Anna decided to publish it under her real name. She currently lives in San Francisco and spends most of her time cranking out more stories.

http://libby-mercer.blogspot.com/

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAnnaGarner

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18211375-lying-to-meet-you?ac=1

Tasty Tour for KISSING MY OLD LIFE AU REVOIR by Eliza Watson & Giveaway

Event planner Samantha Hunter is prepared for a few challenges when escorting a group of good ole boy beer distributors to Paris, the city of haute cuisine and fine wines. However, she doesn’t foresee being passed up for a promotion because she is too professional and doesn’t knock back beers with her clients. Her focus soon switches from landing the well-deserved promotion to finding her free-spirited sister, who lives in Paris and has disappeared, leaving behind family secrets to be uncovered. A sexy puppeteer helps Samantha search for clues to her sister’s whereabouts and teaches her to embrace her inner child. And a funeral-crashing psychic demonstrates the importance of living life to the fullest. It takes Samantha’s life spiraling out of control for her to finally get a life.

Link to Follow the Tour: http://tastybooktours.blogspot.com/2013/05/now-booking-tasty-review-tour-for_21.html

Eliza’s first attempt at creative writing was in fourth grade. She and her friends were huge Charlie's Angels fans and she would sit in her bedroom at night writing scripts for them to act out at recess the following day. She was Kelly Garrett. The journey from fourth grade script writer to published author wasn't an easy one, but it was always an adventure and the final destination was well worth it.

When she’s not traveling for her job as an event planner, or tracing her ancestry roots through Ireland, she’s at home in Wisconsin working on her next novel, bouncing ideas off her husband Mark, and her cats Quigley and Frankie.

Author Links

www.elizawatson.com

http://www.goodreads.com/ElizaWatson

https://www.facebook.com/ElizaWatsonAuthor

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BOOK REVIEW - PEDIGREE MUM

By Becky Gulc

Associate Reviewer at Chick Lit Central

Last year I really enjoyed Fiona Gibson’s The Great Escape so I was very pleased when her latest novel, Pedigree Mum, arrived in the post. Fiona’s novels have great covers and they are instantly appealing.

Pedigree Mum is about Kerry and Rob Tambini, a happily married couple with two young children who are about to make the move from a life in London to a coastal town. That is, until Rob makes a huge mistake on a work night out by cheating on Kerry with his younger colleague.  The book follows both Kerry and Rob in the aftermath of this. Kerry is trying to adapt to a new life on the coast with her children when she doesn’t know anyone and every other family seems so perfect. Rob is dealing with the consequences of his actions back in London, which are a lot more stressful than he ever bargained for.

This book had all the ingredients for a great book that were executed so well, it was really enjoyable from start to finish. It was emotional, humorous and suspenseful. A really strong point for me was that I actually liked both of the main characters a great deal, when we meet the family they seem so happy that it just leaves what happens as a bit dumbfounding. As the viewpoints switch between characters you get a real sense of empathy, despite Rob doing what he did you just can’t help but like him, he messed up and he knows it, dare I say I even ended up feeling sorry for him?

Kerry is also a very likeable character and you feel her struggle to adapt to her new life whilst trying to keep things normal for the children. I enjoyed Kerry’s adventures in her new home, her dates with the locals and her adventures with Buddy the mischievous dog who she adopts to appease the children. These elements added a lot of humour and suspense to the novel. I literally didn’t know who Kerry would end up with at the end of the novel as there were three different eligible contenders throughout the novel; it was quite refreshing that they could all have been a good match for Kerry for different reasons.

My only slight negative point is that I thought the dog would play a more prominent role in the book based on the title and blurb. Yes Buddy was in the book quite a bit but not as much as I expected, I kept thinking his part would get bigger the more I read on it but it always felt quite marginal. I also felt the ending was quite abrupt when a couple of pages before the end you just didn’t know how things were going to turn out still, but maybe I just wasn’t ready for it to end or thought/hoped there would be a different outcome! I would love to see the characters reappear in another novel, especially as the ending left me with some questions unanswered about how things would develop based on the reveal at the very end. More!

This is a great book that I would wholeheartedly recommend.

Becky Gulc lives in York, England. When she's doesn't have her head in a book, she works as a Social Researcher (anything to do with children and families). Becky is undertaking creative writing courses and aspires to be a fully fledged writer too, one day... she was proud to be a finalist in the Novelicious Undiscovered writing competition this year, her first writing competition entry! You can find her on Facebook and Twitter if you would like to get to know her better. 

  

BOOK REVIEW - GIRLS NO MORE

By Jami Deise

Associate Reviewer at Chick Lit Central (our sister blog)

The news out of Washington these days never seems good. Either we’re going over a fiscal cliff, or we’re hitting a debt ceiling, or some Congressman’s been caught with his pants down. No matter what the issue is, one side is always pointing fingers at the other and calling their opponents liars. Oh, wouldn’t it be nice to go back to a simpler time, maybe the 1970s, when the news in Washington was all … Oh. Never mind.

Caryl Rivers’ Girls No More is a reminder that no matter how bad things look on C-SPAN, at least the National Guard isn’t killing college students. Taking place in Washington, D.C. in the early 1970s, the novel is a scrapbook of the issues of that day: Vietnam, the Black Panthers, the War on Poverty, women in the workplace, anti-semiticism, sexism and racism. The story centers around four main characters: Congressional widow Kitty Cohen, a Pamela Harriman-type; high school best friends Peggy Morrison and Constance Masters, both working the newspaper trade as a Pulitzer-Prize winning correspondent and gossip columnist, respectively; and Father Sean McCaffrey, Peggy’s high school sweetheart and an advocate for the poor who populate his parish. All four characters tell their stories through their own points-of-view. Kitty, in love with a Representative running for Senate, struggles to do what’s best for her man as well as his campaign. Constance must deal with the jealousy of her Navy husband and their sons when she takes up an exciting new career. And Peggy and Sean fight their feelings for each other.

Although the book is called Girls No More, I found Sean to be, far and away, the most compelling character. While the three women all seemed similar enough that I found myself checking back pages to remember who was whom, Sean’s story – his feelings for Peggy, his fight against a highway that would destroy his poor community, his advocacy for peace – was so personal, detailed and emotional that the character popped in a way that the three women did not.

The novel is seeped in detail not only of the time period, but of the geography of Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland. Having grown up in the area, I found that attention to those details particularly interesting, and it really helped ground the book within its setting and time period. It’s almost “Mad Men,” if the show took place in D.C. in the early 70s.

While all four main characters have interesting stories, I did find the book to be a bit longer than necessary. The extra length may be due to the characters’ habits of long conversations full of inside jokes and repeating information already known to the characters, as well as overly long explanations on the author’s part. It also lacks the structure of a formal plot, which in many cases can lead to a feeling of aimlessness. However, Rivers avoids this by sticking closely to a real-life timeline, and the lack of structure allows the characters to proceed in an unpredictable manner.

Two things confused me: the title, which I thought was too general, and the time period, which is almost always “book-ended” by present-day events in order to give context to a story that happened a long time ago. When I went on Amazon to do a little research, I discovered that the book was originally published in 1987 under the title Girls Forever Brave and True, and it’s the sequel to Virgins, which came out in 1984 and was also re-issued this year. While I think it’s important that a period piece not feel dated, and that the “book-end” structure can help with this, these publication details are worth mentioning.

Girls No More has a lot to offer for readers who are interested in Washington, D.C., the early 1970s, or Catholic guilt. I enjoyed the trip down memory lane – or Wisconsin Avenue, to be more precise – and plan on reading Virgins as well. 

Jami Deise recently moved to St. Petersburg, FL after living her whole life in Maryland. After writing and trying to sell screenplays for the past ten years, she recently completed and self-published her first novel,Keeping Score (mom lit!). Now that her son Alex is headed off to college, Jami will have plenty of time for reading, writing, watching TV, and blogging. She’s on Facebook andTwitter.

IZZY'S COLD FEET BY SARAH LOUISE SMITH

One bride to be. Three ex-boyfriends.

Izzy is engaged to Greg, who is everything a girl could want.

The trouble is – all she can think about is the men she loved before she met him: sexy Ewan, the first love of her life; dependable Jason, who loved her more than she deserved; and irresistible Dexter, who broke her heart…

Then there’s the fact that her sister has been missing since Izzy was twelve. After such a traumatic childhood all Izzy wants is a normal, happy, settled life, but love is never simple.

In the week leading up to her wedding day, Izzy is forced to ask herself who she loves the most. And, given the choice, who would she want to spend her life with?

Q&A With the Author:

When did you know you wanted to become an author?

I've been writing stories since before I can remember, but it wasn't until my early twenties that I considered actually attempting to write a whole novel and get it published. It then took me almost ten years to commit to it and make it become a reality! 

 

Would you classify your books as chick lit?  And is this your favorite genre to read?

Yes, I would and yes it is. I enjoy lots of genres but chick lit is the one I read the most. I enjoy a feel-good story with a few twists! So I suppose that it's natural I should write in the same genre.

 

Where did you come up with the premise for Izzy’s Cold Feet?

A few years ago, while lazing by a pool in southern France, I somehow came up with an idea of a story about a girl who's sibling had gone missing. I thought about how that might affect her as an adult, how it might alter her decisions, feelings and desires. It took me a while to put those thoughts into a novel and build on it, so it was a few years worth of thoughts in the making!

 

Describe your book in three words.

Tough question! Here goes: Love. Passion. Doubt.

 

What can your readers expect next from you?  

I've started writing my third novel but I'm only a few chapters in. It's chick lit again but a totally different story. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

A special thanks to Sarah Louise Smith for stopping by Book Mama Blog to chat!  

Sarah Louise Smith lives in Milton Keynes, UK, with her husband, two cute cats and a loopy golden retriever. She has an extremely lovely step-daughter and spends most of her free time writing, reading, cooking, and taking long walks.

She’s the author of two chick-lit novels: Amy & Zach and Izzy’s Cold Feet, both published by Crooked Cat. Read Sarah’s blog at: www.sarahlouisesmith.com.

Sarah’s website/blog: www.sarahlouisesmith.com

You can purchase the paperback or e-versions from all the usual online book sellers.

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Izzys-Cold-Sarah-Louise-Smith/dp/1909841005/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373108590&sr=8-1&keywords=Izzy%27s+cold+feet

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Izzys-Cold-Sarah-Louise-Smith/dp/1909841005/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373108773&sr=8-1&keywords=izzy%27s+cold+feet

Sarah Twitter: https://twitter.com/SarahSmith16

Sarah Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahlouisesmithauthor

Where to find my first novel, Amy & Zach

(read more about it: http://sarahlouisesmith.com/my-books/amy-and-zach/)

Amazon UK:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Amy-Zach-ebook/dp/B00AWUAFO4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370267630&sr=8-1&keywords=amy+%26+zach

Amazon US:

http://www.amazon.com/Amy-Zach-ebook/dp/B00AWUAFO4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370267775&sr=8-1&keywords=amy+%26+zach

SUMMER ROMANCE BOOK BLOG HOP & GIVEAWAY

Book Mama Blog is giving away a
$10 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway - Open Internationally
Hope on over to the other blogs participating (listed below).  Each will have their own giveaway!

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