Book Review: Love and Chaos by Gemma Burgess

In a story of fashion, friendship, and natural disasters, love does triumph all, really... and a determination to keep trying.

MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine this: You are twenty-three. Crap. YOU ARE TWENTY-THREE! Fresh from the university thinking life is going to get better―the jobs are going to get better now that you have a degree to brag with, IN YOUR FACE EMPLOYERS! Or maybe let’s make your life a lot less shittier by taking away the certificate and making you a dropout with hopes of making it into the fashion world.

Uh-oh. Total screw-up.

Total screw-up, Angie’s life is. In a city that uses its youth like Kleenex and throws them out onto(!) garbage cans, only to give them a little hope to be blown a little by the wind… then swept off fiercely from an old lady’s garden apartment, that’s how much Angie feels about her shitty not-really-that-big apple life. I mean, why wouldn’t you also if your parents are divorcing and do not find you worthy enough to break the news to you, your early life till when you decide to get serious was just you being teen and living out your days carefree only to be taken advantage of by the rich-kid-type boys who for a chance you thought loved you,  a ‘boat’ boy who you just want to keep being friends with but he or you―a teeny, tiny part, albeit―cannot seem to get your head isn’t in the right place for love, fashionistas spitting you out like a strand of hair, giving out coffee to people who wouldn’t bother glazing over the resumes you sent them out with, and making a living off folding clothes!

Really? Wouldn’t the world give you a break? Wouldn’t New York give you a break?

Crying out loud who knew landing a job in fashion (without a degree―but you sure have the good ol’ guy called Talent) could be this hard?

And just when you think your problems aren’t domestic at all, you have a bunch of friend roommates to come home to, who are either going through their own drama or putting you through some!

Angie’s life summed up for your deeeeelight!

MY REVIEW

I loved, loved this book! So you know throughout my review, I would be screaming! ──★

Examination week, people! I loved the whole idea behind this, you know. Friends, New York, Sex and The City, Carrie Diaries, The Desperate Housewives… (no scrap the latter, I’m going off course again). It’s amazing, really. We all dream of taking a bite of the Big Apple and most of us would love it if we have our friends by our side going through the sometimes exciting most times shitty moments, but no, we do not get it that way most of the time… because we haven’t even reeked up enough funds in our glass purses, how much more think of taking on Big City with our friends. Gemma Burgess, with the crises of these twenty-somethings in Brooklyn, nails it on the head for selecting the right material we can yay to and sashay to the next Barnes and Nobles store, or actually get it here. ──★★

Examination week, people! I loved Angie, her voice! Wild, fun, fearless, romantic at heart… really how many twenty-somethings cannot relate to her and keep this list going. For a series description like this, the challenge is to keep each girl unique yet fun-to-read about. Now I haven’t read the first installment on Pia, but I did read the snippet excerpt chapter attached to it and new she was way different from Angie. A thumbs up to Gemma! ──★★★

Examination week, people! Not only Angie, but the other characters made me find it hard to put this down. From Anabel, the overbearing mother who embodies every other thing one of those Real Housewives are. PIa, her own drama with her boyfriend and her take-charge attitude was a thrill to read about. Julia, who was always had our lead girl’s back even when it was far out of reach (perhaps in the Carribean). Coco, the youngish sis of Julia who had the tear ducts of Joan Rivers’ boobs (that’s a big thing! But mind you, not fake). Madeline the on-and-off bitch roommate who just wants to be a friend but doesn’t know how to (control her sarcasm). Gabriel, the super-rich gentleman who for some reason I wanted to be the ‘hero’ in the book. And Sam, oh, Sam. My eyes would have been rolling to the back of my head now if I was smitten by his charms, you ladies would, trust me! It’s a characterization party in here! I loved each and every one of them. ──★★★★

Examination week! And I couldn’t put this book down. Full of so many OMG moments enough to keep me on the edge of my sun lounger (God, I miss summer!). Full of so many uplifting lines and scenes that made me assured that, I might worry so much about my future for if I’d be doing my dream job (writing), that all I need is just one (fucking fantastic) break, and that break would come surely, but I should never give up just like Angie never did. (And surely, after I closed this book it didn’t take an hour for me to receive a call from a CEO to one of the biggest advertising companies in my country I’d emailed my manuscript to, and who knew I’d land a gig as a copywriter! So you should know why this book, Angie and Gemma Burgess would forever be ingrained in my memory!) ──★★★★★

My rating: Five/five stars. 

I loved, loved this book (and I hug the paperback every now and then when no one is looking.)

Love and Chaos by Gemma Burgess can be purchased right below in both paperback and kindle. You could also pick up the first book in the Brooklyn Girls series about Pia (though you do not need to read it to understand this, but I say, STILL GET IT!)

BrookLyn Girls: Pia

I recommend this book to anyone who is in fashion and wants to remind themselves of the insane struggles they went through to get there. Or anyone who’s not in fashion―yet(!) but wants to be uplifted by sensational so relatable literature. Anyone who’s just searching for that dream should also get this book and hold on to it. Guys, this is a new direction to New Adult chick lit that blew me away, and if writers follow this trend, New Adult books would be read more often. So by that, I mean, any woman (or man) who loves their chick lit non-New Adult-like should grab this.  

I could go on gushing about this book till day break. But you’ve all got jobs, you know? And if you still are searching for that job, my advice to you, KEEP CALM AND READ LOVE AND CHAOS.

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads.

Review+ INT Giveaway: The Beauty Game by Michaela Day

One beauty product formula failure and a million girls with skin they’d literally die for. Brilliant. Chic. And so The Devil Wears Prada.

Blurb: The Beauty Game.When talented copywriter Zoe Diamond first enters the plush offices of global beauty empire Visage D'Or she doesn't own a face cream.She thinks uplift is by Wonderbra. And wrinkles are removed with an iron.Soon she's seduced, manipulated and betrayed by charming words, false promises, and the powerful men behind them.She doesn't drink. Lie. Or have sex on the boardroom table.Yet.She learns beauty means pain.Truth means legal lies.And miracle creams make beautiful profits.Drowning in champagne-fuelled corruption and scandal, Zoe fights to keep her job, her reputation and most importantly, the man of her dreams.But will she succeed before The Beauty Game destroys her...?

MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine this: You work as a copy-writer, one of your ads with your copy partner, Hugo, just won an award. You two are in the mood for some celebration, get sozzled in the process and give your boss, Dick, who happens to be a real big dick (not literally), an opportunity to sexually abuse you. Fortunately he doesn’t succeed, you thank your stars, the only mistake is you failed to resign. Now your ad agency, has posted you to another job, which you are very sure was the sole decision of Dickhead. You are going to write copy alright, probably make award-winning one-liners and scripts, but the only thing is, you’ll be writing Beauty copy. Fuck.

Take a scenario when the only beauty you apply on isn’t even lipstick, lip gloss, or even lip balm. Your encounter with Beauty might be the natural beauty you have going on there (think Audrey Hepburn) and there’s no room for eyeliners, eye shadows, consistent teeth flossing, waxing, fake tanning, real tanning. But you are asked to write on Uplift, and surprisingly, you don’t know what Uplift is (because you do not watch Fashion Police or any of the Real Housewives shows). There’s no room for failure, you have got to succeed, else you would go from award-winning to unemployed at Dickhead’s order.

Your introduction to the world of Beauty gives you an opportunity to meet the movers and shakers of the (Beauty) world. From tantrum-loving models, to sloven directors, to pussycat-loving female bosses, colleagues who’d shag anyone to get a promotion and uber-sexy demigod male tycoons that make your skin chill. Suddenly, your live’s a whirlwind between Paris, London, Nairobi, New York. Joggling a (kind of) long-distance relationship with a guy you met on one set, to sleeping with the big, bad evil boss with a sexy accent, preventing Dickhead from getting into your pants, avoiding Hugo――the partner who’s been laid off, resisting the urge to yell at one super-annoying female colleague, spying on a beauty company and wearing the latest Alai, Louboutins and L’Oreal. All in the name of writing copy for a revolutionary product that actually works (in taking lives of people and) giving a million girls in the world skin they’d die for. Really? Where are your morals?

Zoe Diamond’s liveS summed up for your entertainment.

MY REVIEW

I remember clearly the very first time I picked The Devil Wears Prada (sadly, the movie. One of those people who watched it before they read it), the bubbly feeling I had at the premise where different women of different tastes were dressing up for work (sadly again, it wasn’t for the appearance of female skin that gave me this walking-over-the-moon feeling). I had that same feeling when I read the blurb and the very first chapters of this book. I love fashion, beauty, magazines, ads, copy-writing, advertising, so any book based on the following themes win a star from me.──★

Secondly, this book has a storyline, a million readers would die for. Ugly Duckling who knows nothing about grooming is introduced to the big, bad industry of Beauty, and transforms into a Black Swan. It’s relatable, because most of us dream of big, bad jobs in the beauty/fashion industry, most of us would love to steal from the press rack of our dream magazines and most of us just love skin free of Acne, signs of ageing and the like.──★

I love Michaela Day’s style of writing, where she introduces her chapter as a movie scene with cuts and close-ups of girls taking selfies with the Eiffel Tower as background, or a lady strutting on Broadway (close-up on her clack-clacking zebra-print Louboutins), it gave this book somewhat of a racy feel and made me feel anticipated to know which character was chinking glasses with a gorgeous man in some limousine every time I turned a new chapter. Sweet.──★★

This book had characters to die for.  I loved Duchess, the old and idealess boss with her many gay friends and her compassion for our lead girl, Zoe. Bellini, the super-bitchy colleague who’d sleep with anyone to get promotions and negotiate her way with agents to hook high-end famous models for as little as the price of discounted Turkey on Thanksgiving. I loved Laurent, the big, bad, evil, sexy boss whose accent would sure make female readers brave enough to read this non-put-down book at bus stops weak at the knees. Laurent’s foil, Leo, whose mysterious simplicity which would be a turn-on for female readers, is also a drive to keep reading this book.──★★★

This book had so many OMG moments, I hardly kept track at a time, and kept nodding whenever they came. So many surprises, so many deaths, so much suspense that kept me on the edge of my yoga mat, all for the formula of a product that could give skin a million girls would die for.──★★★★

I loved this book. But I wish I loved, loved it. I felt it lacked humor where it could have gone laugh-out-loud funny. And expected a high level of chicness for a book set in the cutthroat advertising/beauty industry where anyone would go lengths for creams that actually work. Don’t get me wrong, it was chic. But on a level of Miley Cyrus and Emma Watson, I’d rate it a Heidi Montag――which isn’t good enough.

My rating: Four/Five Stars.

You can get the Beauty Game here in both kindle and paperback.

Michaela Day is giving away Three signed Paperbacks of Beauty Game. Enter to win.a Rafflecopter giveaway

I recommend this book for anyone who wants to read a book like The Devil Wears Prada, but this time, portrayed in the ever-cunning Beauty industry. Anyone who loves a book set in all the fab places in the world should also pick this. Anyone who wants secrets about the world of the Beauty products should get this. Now, ladies, if you’ve ever wondered what it takes to produce and reformularize all your fave products on the market, the ones you rave about so much and all of a sudden can’t speak bad about when they (kind of) don’t seem to work as they did anymore, get this book! Love, sex and skin a million girls would die for!

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads.

RELATED POST: FIND OUT HOW TO WIN FIVE PAPERPACKS IN ONE RAFFLE IN THIS YEAR'S BLOGIVERSARY.

Review+ INT Giveaway: Cassidy Lane: A Novel by Maria Murnane

Blurb: From the author who brought us the unforgettable Waverly Bryson and the bestselling Perfect on Paper series.

Bestselling author Cassidy Lane walks into her twentieth high school reunion with several novels under her belt, but no date on her arm, and deep down she still feels like the smart girl no one asked to the prom. Then handsome Brandon Forrester confesses his teenage crush, and soon Cassidy finds herself swept up in a modern-day fairytale romance not unlike the tales she spins for a living. While their relationship blossoms, however, the new book she’s writing isn't going as well, and for the first time in her career she considers crafting an ending that doesn't include a proverbial walk into the sunset. Contemplating the simultaneous reversal of her own romantic fortune and that of her protagonist’s is daunting, but maybe it’s time for both her writing and her personal life to take a new path. Or is it?
Filled with Murnane’s trademark wit and optimism, a charming cast of secondary characters, and loads of heart, Cassidy Lane will have you cheering for its heroine down to the very last delightful word.

                                            MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine this: What’s your stance towards high school reunions? Hesitant to attend or eager to show up? The feeling is mixed, for you actually. It’s fun to go see who’s bloated the size of a barnyard, or who became what, and who’s still a bitch. When you are forty, you look out for:

1. Who is recently divorced?

2. Who's had their face done and by whom?

3. Who is close to death, faced by an illness or is aging like a breakup letter received with ire?

Your high school life wasn’t what everyone would wish their high school life would be. You weren’t asked to Prom. You didn’t have the body of a cheerleader. You had crushes on the jocks who didn’t notice you. And even the nerds couldn’t even acknowledge you, because who would like to be a braces-wearing geek anyway? But your best pal wouldn’t let you decide against attending. So you have no option than to face your past, which was much of a blur to everyone else anyway. And hark, you are not only going a successful writer with so many books under your belt, you are going single. There’s a whole look they give to single spinsters at forty in a high school reunion and you would soon find out.

You admit to yourself, you were overreacting a bit. The high school reunion didn’t turn out bad, or great either. The cheerleaders have grown the size of Cindy Crawford’s mole. Jocks that had muscular thighs and legs as long as Lindsay Lohan’s criminal records now have arthritis. Apparently rehabs couldn’t contain the crack junkies. The dorky nerd whose proximity determines the degree of your embarrassment, is still who she is, except she might be a mother of two (equally dorky kids). The school bitch, is still pretty, plastic and divorced. But there’s someone you never noticed, someone whose transformation has taken on a ‘woah’ factor according to everyone. Brandon Forrester.

So what if you get back to New York and everything returns to normal? Your life is as solitary and mundane as ever, being a successful writer and all. Your deadline, as though it isn’t already looming, has been pushed forward. The pressure to produce something that might be your finest to date is daunting. You know reading fan mails are the only perks of your job.  But what if you open your inbox one time, and saw Brandon Forrester, an email from him. With your deadline, you can’t afford to be distracted. It isn’t an option. But what if you reply, and within a twinkling, he does back? Then the messages keep piling, and piling. Can a long distance relationship work, you begin asking yourself. And even if it can, perhaps, can you rewrite your entire high school life and get back the happy ending you missed out on when no one asked you for prom?

Cassidy Lane’s life summed up for your delight!                                        

MY REVIEW

The story-line of this book is a winner. Reunions, forty year olds, life after high school, spinsterhood. Perfect! I mean, who hasn’t wanted to find out what their high school mates have become after over twenty years. Another reason to be nuts for Murnane’s settings.──★

Everyone wants to write full-time these days, a few people have accomplished that. So the appeal this story would hold to all the wannabe full-timers, shouldn’t be debatable. Not only wannabe writers per se, on odd days who wouldn’t wish they had their work right at home. The perks are that perky. The trip to the fridge is short, you have no boss looming around to call on your mistakes, and perhaps no one to monitor if your emails are work-related, no one to tell you when you can leave work and when to actually work at work. To create a character like Cassidy who’s very relatable──on the outside appears very successful, an equation we give to all full-timers, but behind closed doors not really feel like the million-dollar book deal she is, is what would draw in readers to pick this title.──★★

The in-depth view into Cassidy’s life would also win another star from me. The thing about writing what you know really comes into play for Maria Murnane here. It’s an insightful take on what really goes on behind the pastel chick-lit covers. The struggle to stay focused, the editors who keep pushing forward the deadlines, the writers’ workshops you are invited to speak at with the pressure of what to give away and what-not-to-tell, the fear of losing your fans if you ditch the ‘walk into the sunset’ endings for a more realistic one, the fight to stay inspired always around everyone and everywhere. This book puts down the notion that after signing a book deal with a big, big Traditional Publishing house, all is roses. Perhaps the most annoying feature into that aspect of a full-time writer’s life would be the fact that, whatever happens, whatever masterpiece you create, you are always, always going to be among the D-List of celebrities (when even shits like the Jersey Shore cast are proportioning to incredible levels).──★★★

I had some fav characters that made reading this book fun. Danielle and Patti, the kickass friends, were the stars of this book. Brandon Forrester was also one of the characters I constantly looked forward to reading about. I wish like him (and me of course) all men knew women hated mixed signals and men who keep them thinking on their feet for meaning to their words.──★★★★

The humor is subtle. I loved Cassidy’s voice, very insightful, very without-the-fluff (which is basically saying, very forty). And it has been very well established I love Older Women Books.──★★★★★

The suspense in this book is very unsettling. One feature that got me glued to this book. I wanted to find out what would happen, and perhaps test its predictability. But Maria Murnane never made her plot stand out like a skanky see-through top, it was all fed at a read, no prescience by me could figure the turn of events. But thinking of it, that’s just life. A feature about this book that makes it very realistic.  I wished though, it wasn’t that rigid. I wish it was a bit predictable enough for me not to slash one of its stars into a half.──★★★★★★

So my rating: 4.5 stars!

Buy Cassidy Lane, Maria Murnane’s so-true-to-life latest on Amazon in both kindle and paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Cassidy-Lane-Maria-Murnane/dp/1477849947

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cassidy-lane-maria-murnane/1117243364?ean=9781477849941

Three print copies are up for grabs. This is an INTERNATIONAL giveaway. Enter the rafflecopter below. a Rafflecopter giveaway

I recommend this book to anyone who loves their women’s fiction very real. Anyone who wants anything that’s not easy to predict at all. Anyone who loves their Women’s fiction with ample romance to keep them glued. Anyone who has always wondered what goes behind closed doors of very successful authors should also pick up this title.

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads.  

Book Review: Curl Up & Dye by Sharon Sala

You don't need to be a hopeless romantic to fall for this title. Just be a sucker for suspense, brilliant plots and well-crafted characters. And no telling what a blast you would have!

Blurb: Wally Lamb meets Steel Magnolias in this story of LilyAnn Bronte, the Peachy-Keen Queen, which in Blessings, Georgia, was the epitome of success. After losing her fiance in the war in Iraq, her zest for life went into decline while added weight crept on. When a new guy arrives in town, LilyAnn embarks on a quest to remake herself from start to finish only to discover that love was always just right next-door.

Curl Up & Dye tells the story of LilyAnn Bronte whose been mourning for the death of her boyfriend since—wait for it — high-school after his death when he enlisted into the army. Throughout all these years, LilyAnn is emotionally detatched from the world, mourning can do that to someone. As if that could be the only case scenario to lock yourself up within yourself, her dad suffered a heart attack and didn't live to whisper it, her mum has moved on into another state with another husband, everyone in her little Southern town, Blessing, seems to have moved on with their lives. Leaving LilyAnn to the mundane life of work—mourning—work.

Everyone except Mike, best friend and guy-next-door who seems to be keeping a secret for the past eleven years. A secret when let out would shatter the worlds of both LilyAnn's and his.

When T.J Lachlan walks into town with the intention of fixing up a property his uncle bequeathed him in his will, he turns hot cake of the town. Everyone wants a piece of him. At least most of everyone. Including LilyAnn.

Meanwhile, the Curl Up & Dye salon is always open for days you have a bad hair day or just days you feel like a new hairdo. Sit tight and relax to a mix of cool, relaxing conditioner and Blessing's hottest brewed gossip.

I loved, loved this book! So with that, we are all aware I'd be reviewing this book screaming at you to go get it... and stop by your salon to get your hair done!

The storyline was perfect. Southern town, southern girl, southern gossip, Southern cussing (bless your heart), Southern Romance. It's one of those books about change that gives you a whole new perspective to life! Just like getting a new do!—★

You would love this book for the main character, LilyAnn. So relatable, so fun to read about. I mean, most of us have been grief-stricken and we all know on the outside people would be poking fingers at you (from Salons, of course. Probably as you walk by) and wondering why you can't get out of that shack and black habits, but inside you you just know moving on doesn't seem right, there's a daunting side to it. You either don't want to move on because of societal expectations, or can't move on because you don't want to. LilyAnn understands you. Healing comes with time, purpose, change, and when all is in the right sync, you sure would get a new hair-do.—★★

If you are the kind that loves to be kept on the edge of your seat (I don't understand why you would want to take such painful posture), this book should be in your cart! The suspense is highly engulfing, really tucked myself in a location away from my friends at college (and I love my friends!) to finish it all up. The chain of events are just surprising from character to character. And might there be even a psycho on the loose? Find out!—★★★

What you would also love about this book is the Southern Romance. Now maybe that's not the appropriate label to put on it, so I'd call it the Sala romance. Lots of moments to squirm in your seat, scream and blame your hairdresser for pulling too hard.—★★★★

The characters in this book all with their own stories made this multiple-character read thrilling. Rachael Goodhope the (married) neighborhood skunk who wouldn't mind dipping in the sheets of any guy she thinks can't be 'husband number four' but could give a good shagging. To Mike—watch out, he's going to make you swoon (I'm a guy I hated making all those sounds, but if I could help it I wouldn't have)! There was Hank who loved to play dress-up games when his wife was away and purchased makeup LilyAnn kept a secret. Grace and Eddie, Carol and Don, the parents whose introduction brought some entertainment into our lead's life. I would have missed the point of the whole book if I don't especially comment on the Curl Up & Dye Salon, Ruby Dye owner, orchestrates most of the action advising our lead girl and whoever the lead man was! Ruby is that kind of woman who not only pays attention to a customer's hair but her heart. The kind of hairdresser you would unwind to—and that I presume, is what most women loves in a hairdresser and would stay even if they had shitty skills. Not that Ruby had shitty skills! Definitely the star of this title—★★★★★

The humor in this book isn't rib-cracking, but at least it's that book you can take to the salon and read without proving to be a tough bull to your stylist, rocking back and forth and all. I'm sure every stylist's dream would be Sharon Sala's Curl Up & Dye, because sometimes it's just so hard getting a client to relax!

Five stars, people!

Curl Up & Dye, Sharon Sala's thrilling latest, is available on Amazon in both kindle and paperback.

I recommend this for anyone who wants to have a blast, a good book for a fresh new positive change. Anyone who likes their Women's Fiction bordering on suspense and romance. Anyone who wants something that would serve as a reminder for those busily hectic days, "Hey, I need to get to the salon (my hairdresser needs to read this)!"

I am ashamed to make this confession readers, this is my first of Sharon Sala! I'm pretty much sure I can't change that, but I can get all her others.

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads.

Book Review: Forever Fredless by Suzy Turner

Blurb: Kate Robinson has spent the past two decades yearning to find her soul mate, the boy she found and then lost during a family holiday. Shortly after her twenty-eighth birthday, however, she inherits a fortune from an old family friend and becomes something of an overnight celebrity. Can her new-found fame lead her to him after all this time?

Suzy Turner tells the story of Kate Robinson with much detail, passion and the demure glam of an Eve-ish lookalike magazine.

Do you believe in love at first sight? Sometimes, we try to ignore it thinking it's just a myth. But that's just because it hasn't happened to some of us.

Well it did with Kate.

What if we you do meet a guy at twelve? Would it still be love at first sight?

What if this guy disappears right after you two danced to Right Said Fred? What if you name this guy your Fred, look for him through your teens right at the place you met, but all you find are memories... with him?

Now you are all grown up. And haven't had the best of relationships because well, there's always one guy on your mind, Fred. You have the average woman-in-her-late twenties dream job, a columnist in an Eve-lookalike magazine. What if you get bequeathed with a huge inheritance? Now you can actually afford the labels, give money to your dad who ditched your mum for her best friend's daughter, giveaway to charity as your mum leaving a rustic life in Africa does with her soulmate, buy a house and now a good car. Maybe writing a little biography of your life concerning this Fred you've never found and your new inheritance wouldn't hurt, you think. But then the article goes stellar, and your fame is equivalent to that of the Three Idiots*. Paparazzi is on your tail, waiting to grab your every horrible moment, you are on so many shows these days you stopped keeping count and suddenly the tabloid jokes are all on you (and certainly not funny anymore). But then your inbox is flooded with so, so much mails of men claiming to be the Fred. What's a girl hitting her thirties in singledom got to do? Surely scanning these profiles would be tempting.

Especially when your soulmate might just be among the Fred pile!

I dig the storyline. It's timeless. Soulmates, love at first sight. Awesome. Everybody has either experienced it or thought of the prospect. So, —★

This book really has a theme that arouses questions in the mind of the readers. Like the fact that are there really soulmates? Or ones you meet at the tender age of twelve? Really, should a guy you meet at twelve be considered as your soulmate? Or should you live your whole life trying to find that one guy who caught your eye at twelve? All these questions possibly answered at the resolution when our lead attains fulfilment. —★★

>I did find our lead girl very relatable, one whose life you'd actually love to marvel at (all the life on the Fab lane stuff), and sympathize with. Actually love that YA lovers would love this because our lead has a sense of appeal that young adult readers wouldn't fail to acknowledge—★★★

The other cast in this book were OK to read about. But not slamming entertaining. Maybe I did love Lizzie the boss with many cats, and Freddie the ridiculous gay, and our lead's mother.

I really wished I could have loved, loved this book. I really wished the humor was amped! It would have made it terrific and picked up the pace a bit.

But all in all, this was a four star read

Forever Fredless is available on Amazon in both kindle and paperback.

Totally recommend this to anyone who loves a Chicklit that's new aldult-ish. Someone looking for a title with a theme we could all nod to. If you love happy endings, you'd be pleased with this' end note.

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads as well as Amazon.

Book Review: Getting Rooted In New Zealand by Jamie Baywood.

Recounting experiences from a trip to New Zealand, Jamie Baywood pens a novel, brilliantly fast-paced, rich with humor and highly informative. The one book that would make you think again about planning an 'ultimate' escapade.

Blurb: Craving change and lacking logic, at 26, Jamie, a cute and quirky Californian, impulsively moves to New Zealand to avoid dating after reading that the country’s population has 100,000 fewer men. In her journal, she captures a hysterically honest look at herself, her past and her new wonderfully weird world filled with curious characters and slapstick situations in unbelievably bizarre jobs. It takes a zany jaunt to the end of the Earth and a serendipitous meeting with a fellow traveler before Jamie learns what it really means to get rooted.

—————————————

"Your family seems to have a lot of stomach problems.” I said to Gretchen.

“Yeah, my mum has a giant scar on her stomach from waking up during surgery from getting her appendix out, and my brother has been constipated for over eight years.”

“What? Your brother hasn’t pooed for eight years? How’s that possible? How old is he?”

"He’s ten. No, he has pooed. It’s just after he was potty trained when he was two, he only poos in his pants now.”

“That’s not constipation, that’s something else. You should take him to the doctor.”

“We have. He has ADHD. He’s so hyper when he comes over to my house; I just lock him in the bathroom."

"I guess that’s a good place to keep him with his condition."

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This book was fantastic. Nothing short of it. It's fun to know all the penned down had happened. Nothing but the truth. Wriiten in a form of a journal entry, it's so hilarious when you figure this time you've hit rock bottom, sitting on your butt and wondering how you can move on, then all of a sudden jetting away to a place where no one knows you so you could start afresh seems superb, but your destination wasn't as you thought it was and you wound up in a shitty country with a shitty economy with not much to brag about in the 'American Junk Food' department and you are stuck with eating what isn't close to healthy either. You want to move back into your country but you think you can make it all work, "It's cake." you keep telling yourself. The thought of failure drives you on and on even though you share cubicle walls with co-workers who send pics of their dicks taken from various ranges (nothing bothers much when that weiner in concern is ugly and teeny and weenie), and a workplace where no one gets your jokes, a boss whose mouth reeks of the habitat of a dead mouse yet won't stop to consider mouth-spray when they think it's OK yelling at you for something which they are clearly responsible for. Then when you ever think of really leaving, you can't, not because the US universal tax law for work-abroad citizens is the best idea govt over the years implemented, but you have made some very good friends, had the most hilarious experiences, found yourself and most importantly found the most charming man with a thong-dropping Scottish accent. Worse of all, you are not sure what labels to put on this relationship, but you are sure when you stick around, and chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, answers might come soon.

It's Eat. Pray. Love gone Cheat. Pay. Sort of Love. But you would love it for all the laughter it will bring you, the truth that's been lurking on the surface untold (like why everyone hates America when she's in charge of bailing them out of financial woes), and why you should be thankful you are not living another country's dream.

With a heroine you can relate to, (I mean, who hasn't hit rock bottom and felt like escaping? Who hasn't fallen in love in another country/state and fought hard to be with the person? Who hasn't craved Ben and Jerry's being in another country? Who hasn't struggled with confusing foreign accents? And most importantly, who hasn't dealt with words that have totally different/embarrassing meanings elsewhere?) it's fascinating we make such a connection with our lead that whatever emotion she's going through we feel for her. I don't know if it's because it's non-fiction or it's because she was well-written, but even if she's sex-deprived we all relate to her and kinda feel horny too (if my dad appears around the block, I DO NOT OWN THIS BLOG!).

The characters in this book are just so hilarious. From Jamie herself, the heroine who tells jokes you'd want to laugh at and hit your head against something in the process but wouldn't because everyone else in the room is glaring at her. To the paralympics sports promoter who could have been a prospective date except with one teeny problem about Jamie's roommates coming in to carry him onto her bed and allow her have her way with him. Barry, the dickhead who distributes professionally taken pictures of his dick around the office and tries convincing Jamie into escorting him buy a (crotchless) pantyhose. Gretchen the co-worker whose rough childhood (accidents) would get you guffawing. There was Grant, the sweet, sensitive, Scottish boyfriend who you would all envy about Jamie's life (I didn't despite my colorful description). All these characters and so much more I couldn't catch up with made this book one blast of entertaining.

Together we roll with Jamie till she makes that fulfilling decision that would change her life forever. Including her single status.

But while I would give it a five star elsewhere, I have to be honest about its shaky start. Struggled at the opening chapter to get to love, love it. But I did eventually.

So, my rating stands at a 4.5 star.

Jamie Baywood's hilarious travel memoir is available on Amazon in both kindle and Paperback.

I recommend this book to anyone whose ever thought of jetting away at the slightest problem. Anyone who loves crossing borders to find out how people are living (or is coping a more appropriate term?). Anyone overseas who has the feeling other internationals don't like them and judge based on a nationality label. You looking for sweet ooey-gooey love? This is your kinda kindle/paperback. More importantly, anyone who wants to have a fantastic time laughing so hard they beg for a refund when they can't take it anymore.

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads and Amazon.

Book Review: Just Freinds With Benefits by Meredith Schorr

Just Friends With Benefits is so true to life, you will be entertained, shocked and pinning Meredith Schorr on your Must-Read Author vision (Pinterest) board.

So Stephanie Cohen, single paralegal who has a firm hold on her job than her dating life has had her fair share of bad relationships. Including her longest with Paul, best friend now. There’s a good history to it.

Thing is, there was Hille. Back in college, Stephanie had a crush on Hille. Staring At His Back In Class and Watching Him With A Dreamy Gaze Flex His Muscles and all crush. Attending one of his frat house’s parties hoping to score him, she makes an encounter with Paul. The three engage in a conversation where Paul tries to make it all about him and his stupid rendition skills, but Stephanie’s bent on making Hille the centerpiece. Until Hille exits before she could tell him about her crush. So then, Stephanie sticks with Paul for the night. (You know, by ‘stick’, I mean hookup. Wild college days.)

Fast forward ten years, and Stephanie has broken up with Paul, he’s the best friend now. And along with a rowdy crowd of super-best friends which comprise, Hille (single), Jess and Eric (married), Hope and Paul (dating), who fly across the country to hang out, leaving behind their personal professional chaoses. At Hope’s anniversary, Stephanie, with nothing going on for her in the dating department, stares at Hille, the one single person among her friends who is busily typing into his blackberry (of course), wondering if he would have been THE ONE if he hadn’t left the party ten years ago.

To be frank with you all, I did it. The unthinkable. Not reading a blurb before jumping into a story. Such royal treatment is reserved for authors I take on a second time who I know can wow me. And wow did Meredith do.

Was Stephanie amazing, relatable, untwo-dimensional? Of course she was! One thing about Schorr’s books is when you pick them, you know you are reading about her. It’s not all dug up like most authors’. It’s real, it’s her. So saying Stephanie was well-crafted is inhuman. She’s human. You’d find yourself thinking, “What! Stephanie loves Gossip Girl? I love Gossip Girl too!” or “No way! Is Alanis Morissette’s Ironic blaring in the background? Oh, I love that song!” Or “Please tell me she’s not moping over When Harry Met Sally, because that’s my number one Moping Chick-flick (or was, when I was single).” not forgetting, “She loves, Shopaholic and The Devil Wears Prada too! I still have those books!” So relatable, someone you’d feel the strong reader-character attraction every time you pick this title. To be frank, that’s how all Schorr’s books are. Cheers to Kimberly Long from Blogger Girl! ──

The whole Just Friends With Benefits topic should be given a star. It’s the in-thing now and forever. We all have to have a fuck-buddy at some point, but the unique twist of this title gives it a leap over all other chick lit written in this light !

Meredith Schorr hit the jackpot, again. I don’t do this. Comment on one particular character but sometimes some of Meredith’s characters piss me off so much. Like Hannah Marshak from Blogger Girl. Now Craig from Just Friends With Benefits. There’s no one fond of stories with NSAs like I am. But this guy makes the whole thing… Shower After Sex disgusting? Yeah, Shower After Sex disgusting. It’s just so annoying someone can have an NSA and not feel any emotional attachment afterwards. Acting all normal like I Screwed You In The Bathroom Last Night, fair deal. Call me sentimental, or say a ‘duh’ given that’s the whole point of NSAs (on paper, you have to note. A whole different ball game when it’s in practice). But the guy just pisses me off. And I know he would you too. Anyway, such feeling, love or hate is what keeps you sticking to the book, after all it’s the impression the writer wants the character to make on you. But I am not joking, I really did hate Craig. UGH! ──


Speaking of characters, you would love the lot in this book. From Corky(!) and Paul(!) my favorites who delighted me with the humor they brought to this piece. Eric, the big-bro type friend to Stephanie and his wife, Jess. Suzanne, the best friend at Washington insisting on our lead girl’s subscription to Match.com who shed so much light on relationships you’d think you were in an interaction with a professional. Ryan, oh Ryan was the best thing that ever happened to this book. And Stephanie’s overbearing Jewish mum whose talk on Signs He’s The One might be what you need to shape your dating life.

This book wasn’t predictable. Maybe its because I didn’t read the blurb. But you think you have read enough OMGee moments in your lifetime that you might not drop your jaw to anything again, huh? Huh? Oh, you haven’t read Just Friends With Benefits! With one OMG moment that rivals all, you will close the book for hours, thinking “Oh, my God that explains everything!”
This book almost, almost, had a four star from me. Because it was a bit low in the humor department (we all know humor is a big thing for me), and one silly move our lead girl pulled towards the end I could never forgive, the OMG moment that rivals all OMG moments saved it for me.

My rating:

Four-point-five stars.

Just Friends With Benefits, Meredith Schorr’s thrilling debut is available on Amazon in both paperback and kindle.
I recommend this book to anyone who has ever had a fuck buddy or not. Anyone who wants something true to life. Anyone who hasn’t tried out Schorr’s fabulousness yet. And anyone who has friends they’d fly across states to meet (like I don’t). :)

My work not done here. Off to post my review on Goodreads as well as Amazon.