Much Ado About You by Samantha Young (bookstore wish fulfillment and more)

Title: Much Ado About You
Author: Samantha Young
Publication: Berkley, trade paperback, 2021
Genre: Chick Lit
Setting: Present-day Chicago and England

Description: Evie is humiliated and fed up with the dating scene in Chicago and equally infuriated by the sexism at work where she has done her boss’ job for years without credit or a promotion.

Bookshelf Traveling - August 15

Time for another round of Bookshelf Traveling in Insane Times which is being hosted by Judith at Reader in the Wilderness.   The idea is to share one of your neglected bookshelves or perhaps a new pile of books.    

Christmas on the Island (Book Review)

Title: Christmas on the Island

Author: Jenny Colgan

Publication: William Morrow, trade paperback, October 2018

Genre: Fiction

Plot: On the remote Scottish island of Mure, winter is stark, windy, and icy—yet the Christmas season is warm and festive . . .

It’s a time for getting cozy in front of a fire and spending time in the one pub on the island with the people you love—unless, of course, you’ve accidentally gotten pregnant by your ex-boss, and don’t know how to tell him. In the season for peace and good cheer, will Flora find the nerve to reveal the truth to her nearest and dearest? Will handsome but troubled future-father Joel think she’s the bearer of glad tidings—or is this Christmas going to be as bleak as the Highlands in midwinter? 

Christmas Camp (Book Review)

Title: Christmas Camp
Author: Karen Schaler
Publication: William Morrow, trade paperback, 2018
Genre: Fiction/Romance

Plot: Haley Hanson is an up and coming brand strategist at Bergman Advertising, and is about to bring in a huge client, Tyler Toys, which should deliver her the partnership she craves. Instead, her boss sends her to Christmas Camp, a feel good week at a quaint country inn where he hopes Haley will learn the true meaning of Christmas. After she returns, he’ll let Haley compete with jovial Tom for the right to pitch the business to Tyler Toys (which is complete unfair, as Haley did all the finagling to get the meeting in the first place; maybe she has a discrimination lawsuit).

The Baby Plan (Book Review)

Title: The Baby Plan
Author: Kate Rorick
Publication: William Morrow, paperback, 2018
Genre: Fiction/Chick Lit

Taking a quick break from blogging about my trip to England with my mother to review a book that fits into the chick lit genre, despite being about three women who become pregnant. . .

Plot:   Meet three appealing mothers-to-be!

Nathalie Kneller: Nathalie's plan: to announce her pregnancy now that she's finally made it past twelve weeks! But just as she's about to deliver (so to speak) the big news to her family, her scene-stealing sister barfs all over the Thanksgiving centerpiece. Yup, Lyndi's pregnant too, swiping the spotlight once more…

Lyndi Kneller: Lyndi's plan: finally get her life together! She's got a new apartment, new promotion, new boyfriend. What she didn't count on-a new baby! She can barely afford her rent, much less a state-of-the-art stroller…

Sophia Nunez: Sophia's plan: Once she gets her daughter Maisey off to college, she'll finally be able to enjoy life as make-up artist to one of Hollywood's biggest stars, and girlfriend to one of rock's hottest musicians. But after 18 years she discovers the stork is once again on its way…
Now these women are about to jump headlong into the world of modern day pregnancy. It's a world of over the top gender reveal parties (with tacky cakes and fireworks); where every morsel you eat is scrutinized and discussed; where baby names are crowd-sourced and sonograms are Facebook-shared. And where nothing goes as planned…

Audience: I was reminded of Watermelon by Marian Keyes and books by Sophie Kinsella. In fact, I was sometimes startled to realize the book was set in Southern California and not London!

The Gerbera Daisies Lyndi likes to arrange 

My Impressions: This was a fun and pleasant airplane read for me about three appealing women. While most of my friends have finished their pregnancy adventures, I have certainly lived through it vicariously, with the baby-shower-giving scars to show for it! I certainly understood Nathalie's angst at waiting so long to be pregnant and getting upstaged by her careless sister, even if I wanted her to soften her attitude to disorganized and confused Lyndi. I also enjoyed how the author wove the third pregnant woman, Sophia, and her daughter Maisey into the narrative by creating relationships for them with other characters. All of the men in the story were flawed - or should we say human - with the possible exception of Nathalie's father (and while he saddled her with a stepmother, Kathy was annoying but not at all evil) but each of the women characters was depicted with sensitivity, and even Nathalie's over the top decorating obsession seemed sympathetically portrayed.

I was eager to read this book when I heard it was by the author of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, which several friends had recommended to me and which has been on my mental TBR for ages. I definitely think it would be a fun shower gift for a pregnant friend!

Purchase Links: IndieBound *  Barnes & Noble  * Amazon *  Harper Collins

Source: I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and TLC Book Tours for review purposes. You can visit other stops on the tour below and read other reviews as well:

Tuesday, March 20th: A Chick Who Reads

Wednesday, March 21st: Novel Gossip

Thursday, March 22nd: West Metro Mommy

Thursday, March 22nd: Tina Says…

Friday, March 23rd: Time 2 Read

Monday, March 26th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Tuesday, March 27th: Instagram: @Novelmombooks

Thursday, March 29th: A Bookish Way of Life

Tuesday, April 3rd: Ms. Nose in a Book

Wednesday, April 4th: Stranded in Chaos

Thursday, April 5th: Instagram: @jackiereadsbooks

Wednesday, April 11th: Sweet Southern Home

Thursday, April 12th: Books and Bindings

Friday, April 13th: Not in Jersey

The Wild Woman's Guide to Traveling the World (Book Review)

Title: The Wild Woman’s Guide to Traveling the World
Author: Kristin Rockaway
Publication: Trade Paperback, Center Street/Hachette Publishing, 2017
Genre: Fiction

Plot: Sophie is a busy IT consultant, used to leaving New York for weeks at a time to work for various clients, savoring the frequent flyer miles she earns to satisfy her wanderlust. When she meets Carson in Hong Kong, she is immediately attracted to a man who is her opposite – a carefree artist who isn’t interested in a traditional career but has been traveling around the world. Sophie thinks it’s a once in a lifetime fling and throws herself into it, ignoring the emails piling up from her boss and skipping an important meeting. When it’s time to part, she heads back to NYC where she is punished for her vacation inattention by being stuck preparing for audits with a lazy coworker. She misses Carson but his lack of ambition bothered her. Sophie is conflicted between her commitment to the tedious job that she has worked hard to get but doesn’t enjoy and her fear that leaving would make her a failure. It takes losing Carson to make Sophie realize he was right to challenge her to take risks and she can use her inner “wild woman” to find fulfillment – and that perhaps he is not gone for good . . .

The Hating Game (Book Review)

Title: The Hating Game
Author: Sally Thorne
Publication: William Morrow, trade paperback, 2016
Genre: Fiction

Plot: When two publishing companies merge, the co-CEOs manage to hide their hostility and disdain for each other but their executive assistants do not. Wildly competitive and sniping at each other all day, Lucy Hutton is emotional and passionate about the industry while her counterpart Josh Templeton is a disciplined numbers guy. Once a coveted new management position is created and both decide to apply their “hating game” becomes even more intense. But after Lucy and Josh get to know each other outside the office, she wonders if she really hates him - and vice versa . . .

Audience: This is chick lit with dimension and reminded me of books by Kathleen Gilles Seidel and Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

What I liked: I loved The Hating Game from the first page. Hasn’t everyone had a rival at work who, accurately or not, you suspected of watching and sabotaging your every move? Lucy is warm and funny, obsessive about documenting each offense made by Josh, with whom she shares an office (and somehow notices the shade of every shirt he wears as well). She gives him a hard time and he promptly responds to every snide comment; their banter is pretty entertaining. Josh appears to be a genuine villain until, following a corporate game of paintball (ugh, I had to do laser tag once and that was bad enough), Lucy gets sick and he refuses to abandon to her to her misery. Although the reader certainly wants them to get together, I liked that there were genuine obstacles, including not just their work rivalry but complicated family situations to deal with. Both Lucy and Josh are appealing characters (I liked him before Lucy admitted she did) and author Thorne provides some good supporting characters to distract from the fact that the outcome is never in doubt.
ate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 What I disliked: A small quibble but Bexley & Gamin is not a very convincing publishing company, and Lucy and Josh seem overqualified to be executive assistants, yet not sufficiently experienced to become Chief Operating Officer.

Source: I received a copy of this charming debut novel from TLC Book Tours in return for an honest review. I really enjoyed The Hating Game and can’t wait to see what this talented Australian author writes next.  Follow her on Twitter for news.

The Great Christmas Knit-Off (Book Review)

Title: The Great Christmas Knit-Off
Author: Alexandra Brown

Publication: William Morrow, trade paperback, October 2015

Genre: Chick Lit

 

Plot: Stood up at the altar by her fiancee and in disgrace at work, Sybil and her dog impulsively jump on a train to visit her best friend Cher, now running a pub in the picturesque village of Tindledale, somewhere in England. Expecting a quick weekend visit, Sybs woefully underpacks and winds up staggering miserably through the snow without boots.  Luckily, despite her misery, she is warmhearted and makes friends easily with the quirky inhabitants who feed her, clothe her, and – in the case of the local doctor, whose name is [clue] Darcy - romance her. However, the fun part of the story is when Sybs, an obsessive knitter, helps the twittery owner of a yarn shop revitalize her store and pay off all her bills by enlisting all the villagers in a massive knit-off making hideous holiday sweaters in large numbers.    

Audience: Fans of light English romantic fiction; authors such as Katie Fforde, Sophie Kinsella, Carole Matthews.

Tag Line:  When life unravels, it's time to knit . . .

What I liked: I enjoy a novel with a Christmas setting (although it was chiefly the snow and ice that gave this book its December atmosphere), and this is definitely a feel good story with an appealing heroine and village setting, lots of engaging characters, enough gossipy back-story to help the reader keep everyone straight, and the obligatory happy ending.  Although not much of a knitter myself, it was fun to read the descriptions of Hettie’s House of Haberdashery, and I will look forward to another trip to Tindledale (at first I misread as Tinderdale which would likely have been a very different type of book).

Points for the charming map of the village, and I hope the grumpy bookstore owner gets his own story as the series continues!

What I disliked: I am still perplexed about the message Sybs found in her newspaper: “Give me a try.  X.”  It was later explained as a shopping recommendation which does not make much sense.

Source: I received a copy of this book from TLC Book Tours in return for an honest review. This review is the last stop on the tour but you can read other reviews of the book by clicking here. Recommended for those who enjoy a chick lit version of Cranford!

Knitting:  If you want to see some pretty knitting, visit my friend Leah's blog.

Bergdorf Blondes (Book Review)

Title: Bergdorf Blondes (10th Anniversary Edition)
Author: Plum Sykes
Publication Information:  Harper Collins Trade Paperback, 2014 (originally published 2004)
Genre: Chick Lit

Plot:  This is a satirical look at the beautiful people of New York City, specifically a nameless heroine and her friend, Julie Bergdorf (supposedly the heiress to the department store where I could barely afford to buy Laura Mercier cosmetics), 20-somethings who spend their time partying and wearing designer clothing.  When it seems like everyone they know is getting engaged and glowing attractively, she and Julie decide they too need to find eligible husbands and the rest of the book is about their misadventures as they try out various men as I would try out a new purse.  It is no surprise who the nameless heroine ends up with but it is amazing the poor choices she makes along the way.   It is hard to believe anyone who went to Princeton, even fictionally, could be quite so dimwitted.

What I liked:  The book is entertaining, if implausible; in fact, it is not meant to be taken seriously.  This glimpse of the idle Manhattan rich was a quick read for a hot summer day, and I liked the new packaging.   However, I think it would be more fun to read all day than to party with these heroines!

What I disliked: I enjoy well done chick lit but found this book very silly and predictable, albeit funny at times.  I did not care for all the (admittedly admiring) references to Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and at first wondered if the book had been written before her death (it had not).  This gave it a dated feel.   And unless you are Daphne DuMaurier, please give your heroine a name, if just for the sake of the reviewer!

Source:  I received Bergdorf Blondes from the TLC Book Tours and urge you to stop by the tour to learn more about Plum Sykes and another of her books, The Debutante Divorcee.   Here are some recent stops:

Wednesday, September 3rd: Reading in Black & White – The Debutante Divorcee

Thursday, September 4th: booknerd – The Debutante Divorcee

Monday, September 8th: Mom in Love With Fiction – Bergdorf Blondes

Sykes was a Vogue editor who moved to NYC so presumably was acquainted with the sort of people in this book.  Most of the people I worked with in book publishing had too much work to go out every night, although there were a few blonde women at Wiley who were hung over every morning...

Early Decision (Book Review)

Title: Early Decision
Author: Lacy Crawford

Publication Information:  William Morrow, Trade Paperback, 2014 (originally published 2013)

Genre: Fiction

Plot: Anne Arlington is the brilliant young woman who advises (mostly) affluent high school seniors on the perfect essay that will make the difference in their college applications.  But while Anne is gifted at helping an inarticulate student find his or her voice (and thus the way to an admissions officer’s heart), she lacks confidence in every aspect of her life – career, boyfriend, and dealing with neighbors and parents.  Distracted by parents zealous on behalf of their privileged children, when will she be able to figure out the key to her own success?

Audience: Fans of chick lit; parents of high school seniors; anyone who remembers procrastinating about college applications

What I liked:  I could not put the book down, although as an alumni interviewer for Harvard myself, there was not much in it that was new to me.  I have often heard that a great essay can make the difference for an applicant, and I enjoyed how this story was told by looking at several different (and surprisingly appealing) applicants in a combination of narrative and essays.  It was extremely funny while simultaneously convincing and at times horrifying.  I am not sure I have met any parents as dreadful as those in this book but I have seen lots of people lose all sense of proportion during their children’s application process.   And in NYC where I used to live the competition begins with preschool admissions, long before college! 

What I disliked: I didn’t understand why Anne was so ashamed of her job, given that admissions consultants can be well paid and successful, and she was clearly very skilled.  Nor did I understand the appeal of her boyfriend, so wondered why she put up with him so long.  She suffered from working at home and not having any friends her own age except former grad school acquaintances.  I got depressed reading about her depression, and was impatient for her to come to her senses. 

Source:  I received Early Decision from the TLC BookTours and recommend it as a fun read.  Click here to buy a copy.   I also urge you to stop by the tour to learn more about the author and see what other reviewers had to say about this book.   

Northanger Abbey (Book Review)

Title: Northanger Abbey
Author: Val McDermid

Publication Information: Harper Collins, Hardcover, 2014

Genre: Fiction

Setting: 21st century Scotland

Plot:  Giddy teenager Cat Morland, a minister’s daughter, is invited to accompany affluent and generous neighbors, the Allens, to Edinburgh for the Festival.  Homeschooled and naive, Cat has spent more time obsessing over Twilight than preparing for a career. 

The Idea of Him (Book Review)

Title: The Idea of Him
Author: Holly Peterson

Publication Information: William Morrow, Trade Paperback, April 2014

Genre: Fiction verging on Chick Lit

Setting: 21st century NYC

Plot: Chick lit used to refer to a genre of fiction involving sprightly single women experiencing the travails of love and a usually not too demanding career, surrounded by friends and family (in that order).  The genre expanded (perhaps as that first group of Bridget Jones readers aged, or perhaps because the industry needed some fresh plots) to include busy working women, with bland or troubled marriages, facing some kind of challenge, sometimes with the spouse.  Points/extra credit if the book is set in a vibrant city like New York or London, though I am partial to the quaint village backdrop which is a favorite of British authors such as Katie Fforde.

Forgotten (Book Review)

Title: Forgotten
Author: Catherine McKenzie

Publication Information: HarperCollins, trade paper, 2012

Genre: Fiction, Chick Lit

Plot: Recovering from her mother’s death, Emma Tupper, an overworked litigator, goes on the African vacation her mother always longed for and is trapped for six months without access to the real world.  When she comes home, everyone has assumed she was dead, including her employer and boyfriend.  Worst of all, the employer takes it as an affront that she has returned from the dead and has to be coaxed to take her back while the boyfriend chose Emma’s law firm nemesis as his next girlfriend.  In this poignant but sometimes funny book, Emma is forced to deal with her sorrow and decide what kind of life she wants to create with her second chance.

What I liked: Admit it, haven’t you always wondered what would happen if you disappeared for an unspecified amount of time?  Would your family and friends sufficiently mourn you?   Here, Emma’s loyal friend Stephanie is the only person who refused to believe she could have perished and – worst of all – Emma’s enemy Sophie snagged Emma’s boyfriend Craig (who, admittedly, didn’t wait a decent amount of time to move on and showed very poor judgment in allowing himself to be snagged). Sophie has also been Emma’s rival in her attempt to make partner (at a law firm even more inhuman than the ones I have worked at). The only person who seems to offer a comforting shoulder is the photographer who moved into Emma’s apartment, Dominic, and he has issues that prevent him from being more than a rebound relationship…  Lots of people tell Emma this is a meant-to-be opportunity to rewrite her life (I can see why she is annoyed) but she is the only one who can decide what she wants to keep from her old life and where she needs to start fresh.

I enjoyed the minor characters in this book, particularly Emma’s friend Stephanie, her secretary Jenny and her law firm pals, the Initial Brigade.  They provided much needed warmth and humor to offset Emma’s isolation.  This is the third book by McKenzie I have read – each very different but all very enjoyable.

What I disliked:  There was an overwhelming sadness to this book relating to the heroine’s loss of her mother and her uncertainty about her career and personal choices.  While understandable, I felt that the uplifting finish was a long time coming.   I didn’t enjoy the flashbacks to the six months she spent stranded in an isolated village in Africa, although clearly these were essential to her recognition of how she wanted to live her life after her return.  Also, I didn’t see quite why the law firm was so unpleasant to Emma.  Even if they had reassigned all her cases (not unreasonable), she had been there a number of years doing good work.  Even if they were still mad at her for going on an extended vacation it shouldn’t have been so difficult to get her staffed up again.  However, this gave her more incentive to fight to regain her old status.   Also, couldn’t Emma’s friend have rescued her possessions before the landlord dumped them all?  Reminder to self: must draft a will.

Source:  I heard about McKenzie’s book Arranged in a review by an Anne of Green Gables fan back when her work was only available in Canada, and tried unsuccessfully to find it when I was visiting my brother in Montreal two years ago (eventually buying it online).  I am glad her books are now readily available in the US and I recommend them.

Query:  I read another book about an Emma Tupper long ago: Emma Tupper's Diary by Peter Dickinson.  I found his novels memorable but unnerving (especially Eva) and never reread any but I wonder if Catherine McKenzie was paying tribute to that heroine the way she paid tribute to Anne Blythe in Arranged?