Review: "I'll Have Who She's Having" by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

Kate has been depressed, her behavior bordering on stalker-ish, since yet another long-term boyfriend broke up with her. Her friends and family attempt to convince her that he wasn't "the one" for her, but she doesn't believe them. Done with her sister's whining and moaning, Kate's younger sister Kelly convinces her to join a volleyball class with her. Feeling that she has no choice but to go along with it, Kate agrees to give the class a chance.

Meanwhile, Kelly's been feeling less than happy about her life as of late. Despite the fact that she is married to a wonderful man, and the mother to an adorable almost one-year-old, Kelly feels unsatisfied. Ever since she became a stay-at-home mom she has felt out of place, and joining the local mother's group, the Hot Ta-Mommies, hasn't convinced her differently.

Both Kate and Kelly set their sights on their gorgeous volleyball coach as the one who is destined to get them out of their respective slumps. As they compete with each other for his affections, and fight towards their individual happy endings, they both begin to realize that they are looking for answers in all the wrong places.

I'll admit that I was apprehensive about reading I'll Have Who She's Having. I recently finished reading Liz and Lisa's latest book, The D Word (my review), and I absolutely loved it, so I was worried that this one wouldn't live up to the same standards. Thankfully, I was wrong. I devoured it in a day. The plot was fresh and often funny, and it made me want to continue to read to see what would happen. I really related to Kelly, the stay-at-home mom, since I work part-time so that I can be home with my three kids. Kelly is not used to being away from the corporate world and feels lost, and on top of that her marriage has become complacent and she's not quite sure if it can be rescued. I couldn't tell from the writing style what was written by Lisa and what was written by Liz because their transitions were seamless. And the ending? Spot on! I really loved it.

I did have one minor problem with I'll Have Who She's Having, but nothing that overshadowed my enjoyment as a whole. The book is written primarily from the alternating viewpoints of the sisters, Kate and Kelly. That really worked for me, especially when we viewed the same situation from two different viewpoints and were able to gain a new perspective of it. However there were a few chapters that were written from a perspective other than Kate or Kelly's, and with the exception of one of those, I didn't find that they particularly fit or contributed anything significant.

After having read and reviewed both I'll Have Who She's Having and The D Word I can recommend both with confidence to those who love chick lit and women's fiction, and who are looking for something new and interesting to read. I'm already looking forward to their next book!

I'll Have Who She's Having has been recently re-released and is currently available at the special price of only $0.99 in a variety of eBook formats. Buy The D Word for $2.99 and I'll Have Who She's Having for $0.99 and you're still spending less than I spend in a day on coffee (yes, I have an addiction). Buy one or both and you can win a ton of fantastic prizes in Liz and Lisa's HUGE ASS giveaway. Thank-you to BookSparks PR for providing me with this review copy.

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Challenges: 2011 100+ Reading Challenge, 2011 E-Book Challenge

Review & Giveaway: "Sisters of the Sari" by Brenda L. Baker

Kiria is the CEO of a successful video game company, but behind her professional demeanor and poised appearance, she hides the secret pain of her past. While vacationing in India, Kiria's wallet is stolen and former slave Santoshi comes to her aid. The two women form an unlikely bond and when Kiria returns to the United States she is unable to get Santoshi and her impoverished circumstances out of her head. When Kiria discovers that she is unable to feel the passion for her job that she once did, she returns to India to create a hostel for impoverished women who have no men to support them.

While building the hostel Santoshi guides Kiria through the surprising ways and culture of India, while Kiria begins to teach Santoshi that there is more to life than she ever thought possible. Despite their very different backgrounds and life experiences the two form an unlikely bond that will teach them both things about themselves.

I love books set in India. I find the culture fascinating and rich in history, and it is so different from our own. In that aspect Sisters of the Sari did not disappoint. It is full of the vivid imagery of India, and not just of the India that you would expect. The story does not touch much on those who are well-off, but rather on those who live day by day, simply doing what they have to do to get by regardless of what that is. We encounter rag pickers and prostitutes, maids and beggars, all hoping for a better tomorrow. I found out after reading the book that the author actually spent some time volunteering in India, and I appreciated the fact that some of this book was based on the insight that she gained while actually living there.

I found our two main characters, Kiria and Santoshi, fascinating. They were so different, but there were threads of their life experiences that bound them together enough for them to form a bond. I was fascinated with Santoshi's past and how that contributed to the person that she is today, and I thought that Kiria's past lent some interesting aspects to the story as well.

Sisters of the Sari is a fast-paced book that offers interesting insight into the Indian culture for the armchair traveler as well as a story about a bond between two very different women for those who prefer women's fiction. With its unexpected yet satisfying ending this is one that I can definitely recommend.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Challenges: 2011 100+ Reading Challenge, South Asian Challenge 2011

To Win:

Would you like to win 1 of 2 copies of Sisters of the Sari? Due to publisher's shipping restrictions this contest is open to US residents only. To enter:

1. *Mandatory Entry* Leave me a comment and let me know that you would like to win. It's that simple! Please include your e-mail address so that I can contact you if you are the winner.

2. *Bonus Entry* Become a follower of this blog through Google Friend Connect and let me know that you now follow. Current followers are eligible as well, just let me know that you are a current follower.

2. *Bonus Entry* Spread the word about this contest in some way. Facebook about it, tweet about it, or post about it in your blog. Just make sure that you leave me a comment to let me know what you did!

The mandatory entry and bonus entries can be combined into one comment if you choose. This contest will run until July 4, 2011 at midnight EST, with winners being contacted after this date. Good luck and thanks for entering!

Review: "The D Word" by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

Spiritual Counselor and mother-of-one Jordan Daniels is navigating the waters of both divorce and single motherhood. She made the decision to leave her husband, Kevin, when she realized that their marriage had grown stale and she became determined to find herself on her own. Months later, Jordan is still frozen in time. She refuses to hang her clothes on her ex-husband's side of the closet despite the fact that Kevin has clearly moved on, and she has done nothing to begin to find herself. If only she could see into her own future...

Meanwhile Elle, a single-and-loving-it woman struggles with her decision to call off her wedding 33 days before it was set to happen. Although she can't pinpoint why the thought of marriage to Chase made her uncomfortable, she knows deep down that it wasn't meant to be. Unfortunately her best friend Taylor, her ex-fiance's sister, is unable to see Elle's side and Elle's guilt continues to mount.

One day, while on assignment for the paper that she works for, Elle meets a handsome man at the dog park, and everything for both Elle and Jordan begins to change.

I just finished this book, as in literally this morning (yes- I'm like every other mother on the planet with not enough time to read!) and I have three words for you: I. Loved. It. I must warn you that I may get a little gushy here, but seriously ladies, this is a must-read for any chick-lit or women's fiction lover. If you didn't know that this book was written by two authors, you wouldn't be able to tell just by reading it. The transitions are seamless and Liz and Lisa's voices blend beautifully. I couldn't tell which part was written by whom purely by the writing alone. I'm not surprised that the authors have been friends for over 20 years.

Another thing that I loved about The D Word was the fact that I truly did not know what was going to happen until I got to the end. In fact, I didn't even really know what I wanted to happen. I was wavering because I liked both of our main characters and wanted them both to have happy endings, but I didn't know if one could have a happy ending without the other. Many times, while reading chick lit, I can predict the ending a mile away and it is so refreshing to read a book that managed to keep me in suspense until the end. Speaking about endings, this one was fantastic. It had me laughing out loud and "aww"ing at the same time!

I can't recommend this one to women's fiction and chick lit lovers highly enough except to tell you that this is a must-read (and it would make a perfect beach book!). The D Word is available in eBook format right now for $2.99 USD through Amazon and a variety of other online retailers. And if you buy it right now (go ahead, I'll wait), you can enter Liz and Lisa's HUGE ASS Giveaway to win a ton of great prizes.

While we're on the topic of Liz and Lisa's books, why don't you check out their 2009 debut novel I'll Have Who She's Having. Not only does it have a fantastic new cover, but it is only $0.99 right now! It doesn't get much better that that! I'll be reviewing this one next week, so keep an eye out here.

Thank-you to Crystal at BookSparks PR for inviting me to participate in this tour. All opinions expressed above are 100% my own.

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Challenges: 2011 100+ Reading Challenge, 2011 E-Book Challenge

Review: "Little Miss Teacher" by Cassandra O'Sullivan Sachar

Candace Turner, a high-school English teacher fresh out of college, isn't entirely prepared for what her first year of teaching will entail. On top of the countless papers to grade, not to mention the students who are wholly uninterested in learning, there's the fact that Candace is starting to experience grown-up life (with all of its growing pains) for herself. When she runs into an old crush, and when she experiences the affections of a fellow teacher, Candace learns that it's not that easy navigating love and life in the 21st century.

Little Miss Teacher tells the story of first-year teacher Candace as she navigates the often difficult halls of the high school that she teaches in. Her story was not short of adventures, both in and outside of school, and Cassandra O'Sullivan Sachar gives us an interesting peek into the life behind a teacher's desk. Sachar balances the more serious moments with some funny and embarrassing moments. The supporting characters, Candace's roommate as well as her fellow teachers, were really interesting and I would have loved to get to know them better.


Little Miss Teacher had the potential to be really interesting to me- a first-year English teacher shares the ups and downs of being an educator while trying to figure out her personal love life- but it unfortunately fell flat for me. I felt that it could have had a tighter plot, I found that Candace often recounted information and scenes not pertinent to the overall story, and I thought that it could have used one more good edit to weed out the unnecessary scenes. Perhaps it didn't work for me personally because Candace is fresh out of college, and just starting to experience life as a grown-up for the first time, and I'm married with three small children, so I've been out of that stage of my life for a while.

Although it didn't work for me personally, this would be an interesting read for anyone interested in coming-of-age stories, or for anyone interested in reading about the experiences and adventures of a first-year teacher. Thank-you to Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours for arranging this tour.

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
Challenges: 2011 100+ Reading Challenge, 2011 E-Book Challenge

Guest Post and Giveaway: "The Wedding Writer" by Susan Schneider

Please join me in welcoming Susan Schneider, author of The Wedding Writer (my review) to The Book Chick today, and be sure to enter to win a copy at the end of this post.

What IS a wedding writer anyway?



Well, I was one for about ten years. On staff at a number of bridal publications in New York, I wrote dozens and dozens of wedding stories. All year round we’d collect wedding photographs from recent brides, choose the ones we liked best, and then I’d interview the bride and get all the details, from how she felt when he popped the question to how she settled on calla lilies and roses for her bouquet. I loved writing wedding stories because they were mini fairy-tales; I never had to stint on the romance! So, when I set out to write my novel, I knew I wanted a wedding writer protagonist: I imagined her as a single working girl (underpaid, of course!), spinning tales of bliss in a humble cubicle.

A wedding story has a beginning, a middle, and an end: First comes the proposal, then the wedding itself (the story’s main character!) and then the happily-ever-after ending. Lucky, the main character in my novel, lands a job in as a wedding writer in the competitive world of wedding publications, and from there sets her sights on the top editorial job. Her own happily-ever-after?  She’s got a ways to go before she lands the tiara…

Work is important to Lucky, as it is to all the women in The Wedding Writer. Nowadays many of us find fulfillment in the workplace, and yet so many crave being a princess for a day. Are the two mutually exclusive? Why does the idea of having a fantasy wedding still draw us so powerfully?  I’m a divorced working woman myself, but one of my earliest memories is of my cousin Ellen in a stiff taffeta wedding gown. Staring up at her, I was transported by her transformation from cousin to… princess!

The trick to being a good wedding writer is to cast a spell. The writer  takes an ordinary girl (say, my cousin Ellen) and her guy and spins a web of their dreams through their own pictures and words. And for that one day reality is suspended—romance rules! Real life is back with us soon enough. So let’s hear it for the wedding writers and every woman who ever dreamed of the perfect white dress and a perfect day. As a wedding writer, I never thought it was too much to ask.

Thank-you so much for visiting today, Susan! Now, if you would like to get your hands on your very own copy of The Wedding Writer, here's how you can win one:

1. *Mandatory Entry* Post in the comments (please leave me your e-mail address or a way for me to contact you) and tell me- what's your funniest wedding memory (it could be from your own wedding, or someone else's)?

2. *Bonus Entry* Become a follower of this blog through Google Friend Connect and let me know in the comments (a separate comment is not required) that you now follow. Current followers are eligible for this bonus entry as well.

3. *Bonus Entry* Spread the word about this contest in some way. Post on your Facebook or blog or Tweet about it, just come back and let me know what you did!

This contest runs until June 27, 2011 and is open to US and Canadian residents only. At the conclusion of this contest I will notify the winner via e-mail, and the winner will have 48 hours to respond. Good luck!

Review: "The Wedding Writer" by Susan Schneider

When you think about a book focused around the lives of four women who work for a wedding magazine you’re thinking frilly beach read, right? Wrong. Well, at least in the case of The Wedding Writer by Susan Schneider. Lucky is a young, single woman with a less-than-desirable past who is determined to claw her way to the top of the chain at Your Wedding magazine. Grace is the formidable woman who has been at the helm of Your Wedding for years, but what she doesn’t forsee is that the magazine will be looking to replace her with younger blood. Sara is one heck of a bridal fashion editor who secretly covets the seemingly perfect lives that her two sisters are leading while she slaves away at the office night after night. Felice is happily married to her artist husband, but she has problems of her own. Her teenaged son remains distant and unreachable to her despite her best efforts. These four women, incredibly different, all long for the same thing: their own happily-ever-after.

Although a little slow to start, The Wedding Writer examines the lives of these four women with surprising depth. We get to know each of the characters quite well as the story progresses and we find that although they seem to have it all together on the outside, they are all fighting their personal demons. The funny thing for me was that although I didn’t particularly like any of these women because their personalities at work were so abrasive, I did hope that each woman would be able to find some resolutions in their personal lives, leading to their own happy endings. And when those happy endings did inevitably come, I was pleased with how everything turned out, and that not everything ended up wrapped up with a tiny bow. I like my endings to leave a little to the imagination, and Schneider certainly delivered in this respect.

Filled with unique and interesting characters, and offering suprising insight into what goes on behind the pages of a wedding magazine, The Wedding Writer is sure to appeal to fans of women's fiction with substance.

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5
Challenges: 2011 100+ Reading Challenge

Review: "Faith" by Jennifer Haigh

It's the spring of 2002 and the Boston papers are filled with horrifying accounts of trusted priests being accused of child molestation. Sheila McGann sees the accounts but thinks little of them, despite the fact that her own brother, Art, is the priest of a suburban parish. When her brother is accused of molesting a child that he has grown quite fond of, Sheila returns to her hometown in an effort to find out the truth behind the accusations, but she isn't expecting to uncover all of the secrets that she does in her quest for answers.

Faith examines a sensitive current issue with the sensitivity and grace that Jennifer Haigh is well known for. Child abuse, specifically by priests, is such a touchy topic and if you were to bring it up at a party, everyone would have a different opinion. I'll admit that it is an issue that I previously have not given a lot of deep thought to, giving it only a passing glance instead, but Faith truly made me think about this problem. It made me think about the children involved, the kinds of lives that priests lead and the training they require, as well as the possibility that some of these priests are being falsely accused.

After I read the last page I realized that Art's story is told from several different and interesting perspectives, most coming from within the same family. We see how the accusation affects Art's devoutly Catholic mother, his non-church-going sister, and his brother, Mike, a man with three sons. We discover how the accusation affects Art himself, and we even get a little perspective into the life of the woman who accuses Art. These widely varied opinions offer a variety of different viewpoints into this single situation. How will Art's mother react to the accusations? How will his brother, a father of boys, react differently? Who will turn against him, and who will remain loyal to the man that they know?

More than just a study of religion and the happenings in the Catholic Church right now, Faith is an observation of one very difficult situation and the various reactions that it elicits in the people who know Art the best. In that way it is an examination of human nature and that makes Faith a must-read for anyone who likes their fiction to be thought-provoking.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Challenges: 2011 100+ Reading Challenge

Review: "The Perfect Hero" by Victoria Connelly

Kay Ashton, romantic and die-hard Jane Austen fan, is devastated when her long-time friend and substitute mother figure passes away. Kay is astonished to find out that she is to receive a sizable inheritance and decides to use the money to quit her boring job and follow her dream instead. She impulsively decides to open a Bed & Breakfast in Lyme Regis and is shocked when the cast of a new production of "Persuasion" knocks on her door, desperate for a place to stay. Kay can't believe that handsome leading man Oli Wade Owen will be staying under her roof, but when he decides to romance her, will she find out that he is the perfect hero? Or will she find out that her leading man is someone else?

I really enjoyed my foray into Jane Austen's world, if only for 368 pages. Lyme Regis, the place where Kay decides to move when she comes into a surprise inheritance, is one of the settings of the Jane Austen novel Persuasion, so it comes as no surprise that the producers of the new version of the Austen classic decide to film there. Connelly describes the area with attention to detail, and she creates fun and quirky characters that aim to entertain. One actress is a diva in the largest sense of the word, another actress is shy and nervous about her first leading role, and the director seems angry at the world, and at the leading man in particular. Add in a shy local producer with a love for Jane Austen novels and there's bound to be enough drama and romance worthy of any Jane Austen production.

Recommended for fans of both Jane Austen novels and chick lit, The Perfect Hero is the perfect read for a lazy summer day.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Challenges: 2011 100+ Reading Challenge

Thank-you to HarperCollins Avon for this review copy.

Review: "A Crowded Marriage" by Catherine Alliot

Artist Imogen Cameron is forced to move out of her beloved London townhouse with husband Alex and son Rufus when the economy goes for a dive and leaves them with not enough money to support themselves. As if it isn't bad enough leaving her best friend and neighbor Kate behind, Imogen, Alex, and Rufus move into Alex's ex-girlfriend's guest cottage in the country. Alex has quite a friendly relationship with Eleanor, his ex, and Imogen can't help but feel that suddenly her marriage has become quite crowded. Add in the prickly local vet and her frequent unpleasant run-ins with him and Imogen can't imagine how things could get any worse. Unfortunately for her, the worst is yet to come.

Given the fact that I am such a huge fan of intelligent, witty, interesting chick lit, I can't understand how I haven't read anything by Catherine Alliot before. I absolutely adored this book. The characters were interesting and unique, the plot entertaining, and I didn't guess the plot twist before it happened. I raced through to the ending because I just couldn't wait to find out what happened. These things combined made for a pleasurable reading experience.

I especially loved the conflict in A Crowded Marriage. I really felt for our sweet and sassy main character, Imogen. I can't imagine having to leave a home that I loved to move into my husband's ex-girlfriend's guest cottage. Here she is, relocated to the middle of nowhere, while doubts about the stability of her marriage surround her. I can't imagine that it would be a very comfortable situation. Imogen and the adjustments that she has to go through are part of what made this book so compulsively readable, but the surprise twist and the ending were fantastic as well.

A Crowded Marriage may be the first book by Catherine Alliot that I have read, but it certainly won't be the last. I was thrilled to see that I had another of her books in my TBR pile and I will be devouring that one, along with any other ones that I can get my hands on, through the summer. A must-read for fans of chick lit.

Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Challenges: 2011 100+ Reading Challenge