Review: Keeping Score by Jami Deise

                                           

REVIEW BY MY NEWEST REVIEWER ON THE BLOCK, Sandra. A Voracious reader like myself.

Her Synopsis
From the very start of our lives we are in a competition. Right from when the sperm has to struggle , swim fast and be the first to reach the ready egg, till the very last breath , even then we are in a  struggle to be the one who lived longer. Sibling competing for the attention of Parents, to be the best athlete to have the hottest boy in school , get married first and the competition continues.

The single mom with her kid is not exempted from this lifelong Competition. What she does not know is that winning all the time has consequences that comes with it. She finds out the hard way that you can't compete with your friend and have your friend back after the competition.

Shannon a very competitive mother of a nine year old , baseball, soccer and basket ball player. It is undeniable he talent of her son but she gets so sucked up in the competition that she loses her friends in the process.

And what with the hot coach she’s crushing on? And oh, her friends wanting to take her down as much as she wants to take them down (with their children).

Pure evil and brilliantly entertaining.

                                        Her Review
I've read a lot of books about divorced mums, and not all of them are worth reviewing but i rather enjoyed reading this book, maybe because I related to it very well . I mean who wouldn’t? At some point in our lives we’ve all gone through Shannon’s predicament, haven’t we? It’s sometimes even so healthy when we involve our kids too. A family of haters. I know a handful of women who’ve been in this position for a while. Including my mum who’s still rooting for me to shed off some pounds faster before the “neighborhood bitch’s” (who happens to be her ‘friend’, bless her heart) daughter does.──★

Life is very competitive and am a very competitive person by nature so (I would lose weight before that silly girl across my house does with her neighborhood bitch of a mother, and) it was easy for me to relate with Shannon. Keeping score is easy to relate to and am not a single mum.──★★

The characters were lovely and fun to read about. Good characterization on the part of Jami Deise.──★★★
 

The suspense was amazing and I could not help myself i just wanted to read more to know what will happen next, what Shannon would do or say, and that’s pretty cool it kept me at the edge my seat wanting more. Amazing.──★★★★
 

Overall, I loved the book but i wished it had more humor which would have made it outstanding.

My rating: Four stars/five stars.

I recommend this book to all the mothers out there (though I’d hold it off my mum for a while before she gets any ideas she’s destined to marry a coach―my dad has quite a belly).

Jami Deise’s Keeping Score is available on amazon.

Her work not done here. I’d encourage her to join Goodreadsand post it there.

Book Review: The Perfect Match by Katie Fforde

MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine this: You’ve moved to a new town due to a reason you’d rather not think about. You are now an estate agent fairly happy, living with your sixty-year old aunt sipping teas in a garden of roses and all that kind.

You are good at your job, caring and loving. Not shrewd as all estate managers are pictured to be with a pitch fork. All your clients love you. And so does your boss, who you’ve indulged yourself in a two year relationship with. God knows you love him as much as he… loves himself.

So maybe if perhaps your job entails convincing old people out of their houses into retirement homes, or searching for homes for the most indecisive people on earth, or what of the stingy ones with low budgets and big dream houses, and your aunty getting involved with a younger man, or your boyfriend ACCIDENTALLY proposing to you after he’s taken you out.

Enough trouble for you to deal with!

But not when illegal criminal activities come into the picture. And your boyfriend―oops, fiancé is acting suspicious lately. God help him, you might cut his balls if he’s cheating on you!

But we all know of someone who might want to cut your balls. The reason you left your previous job. He’s back. And it seems like he’s pissed at you, for, perhaps, letting his wife abandon him?

MY REVIEW

I liked this book. The storyline was perfect. The whole girl runs away, starts a new life as an estate agent (new), finds a guy who wants her cutting carbs as much as he wants her claiming the necessary documents of a senior citizen’s house (new), aunty in love with a younger guy (new), aunty having to deal with the pain in the arse daughters of younger guy (new), then the old life comes back to cut her balls (new). Cheers to Katie Fforde, and cheers to the complications of life.──★

Told in third-person points of view narrative of Bella and Alice, her aunt, (don’t you just love reading non-gender benders?), I found each of their voices unique and personalities as well. I know writers who’d just jumble them all up that you’d think each character had a split personality of the other. But Katie Fforde handled it well. The younger audience would place their shoes in Bella’s, the thirty-something’s, and root for Alice undergoing the perils of loving a younger man, and vice versa.──★★

The characters in this book were well-crafted besides the mains. From Jane, the sweet old woman who wouldn’t let go of her house for a retirement home, To the Agnews, the indecisive couple who wanted more for less. Mrs. Macey, a cantankerous woman who wanted her house off the market quick yet didn’t consider the damp smell of cat pee was the reason no one might have wanted it. Tina, the take-charge hilarious secretary. Ed Unsworth, the dickhead who’s lived his life outsmarting people out of their homes. Dominic, the George Clooney look-alike who’s out to get our Bella’s balls (not really, and speaking metaphorically). Michael, the super-charming sweet divorcé who has the hots for Alice. Nevil, the fiancé who plans the wedding down to the gown he wants his bride wearing. I loved them all!──★★★

Humor in this book was OK. Throughout I think there were two or three really laugh-out-loud moments and lots of chuckling ones in there. ──★★★★But everyone knows I love my Women’s Fiction (or all other books) utterly hilarious, so I wished this was too.  

So my rating: Four/Five stars.

You can purchase The Perfect Match by Katie Fforde in both Kindle and Paperback (but I believe paperback does it more justice!)

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Perfect-Match-Katie-Fforde/dp/184605656X

I recommend this book to anyone who’s always been a fan of Katie Fforde as she never disappoints in this title too. Anyone who wants to know the ins and outs of an estate agent’s life (so they can finally sympathize with the world’s most shrewd characters). Anyone who enjoys reading books about older women starting all over again in the romance department and seeking some action in their private lives as well. Anyone who wants a good suspenseful book should also read this.

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

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.

Positively Back!!!

So totally back!

Yippee!!!!

Review of Gemma Burgess' Love and Chaos would be hitting the blog in style.

And oh, plus the winners of The Beauty Game by Michaela Day will be announced shortly.

Not forgetting also, our Blogiversary Lineup would be in soon too. Find out my anticipated books to review this year and win some exciting paperbacks.

Good to be back!

Hugs,

Kobby.

Taking A Super-short break.

Hello Everyone,

I am taking a short break till May 18th to focus on my exams.

When I am back, it's more reviews, more giveaways in our Blogiversary celebrations.

My last post below is a review of the chic The Beauty Game by Michaela Day, I leave you with that and a chance to win three signed paperbacks!

So till 18th May, when my Blogiversary Lineup comes up, good bye!

Hugs,

Kobby.

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

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.

Book Review: Three of Us by Cathy Woodman

Three of Us, is a short, inspiring, delectably warm tale of babies, special babies, acceptance and stray pets.

Blurb: The Three of Us is an exclusive short story introducing Zara, the village midwife whose story you can read in Follow Me Home, and bringing us up to date with what's happened to Tessa and Jack from The Village Vet

Tessa and Jack live at the animal sanctuary in Talyton St George. They had been friends for years, but it wasn't until Jack interrupted Tessa's wedding that she discovered his feelings for her were stronger than she ever knew.

Now, a year on, they could not be happier. And when Tessa discovers she's pregnant, it's as if all their dreams have come true.

But a scan shows that there are complications, and suddenly Tessa realises that Jack has always had doubts about having a baby. Supported throughout by Zara, the village midwife, Tessa and Jack have some tough decisions to make. 

However, as the baby's birth draws closer, Tessa and Jack grow further apart. Will he feel differently when the baby is born? Or will having her wonderful child mean losing the man of her dreams?

MY SYNOPSIS

Imagine this: You just tied the knot. You and your husband run an animal shelter. Your responsibilities are, taking care of the stray pets you house in your shelter; making sure they are healthy, clean, well-fed, and if they happen to be a good meal in the bad, bad fox’s diet, you make sure it doesn't have them for dinner. 

Now there’s a baby.

Oh, you might want to go to the hospital regularly for your antenatal, and while you are at it, find out your baby might stand the chance of being labeled special. Your baby has a hole in his heart. Ouch. You are not sure if he might live or die. Or even if he makes it past your womb, would he be, uh, different? This is too much to bear, so you cave in.

Luckily, you husband would be there to help. (Most of the time).

Turns out, who you thought might be your perfect match wants you to euthanize. You can’t tell anyone, even your family, because you are not sure where your loyalty lies. But can you go through this alone? Can you fight off your husband’s claims buying time to convince him you must have this baby? Do you even want to have this baby?

My Review

I loved this book. It had all you needed in a short story. Brilliant. Poignant. And Interesting. We all love chick-lit, that focuses on issues women today face, or the possibility of some serious life-altering circumstance.

I loved that being a follow-up to Cathy Woodman’s Village Vet, it throws light on whether wedding bells at the end of a novel, or at some point in life, mean happily-ever-after. So true-to-life when it portrays marriage as not all glitter and tiara but rocky too. Marriage is not one big, wedding photo with the couple grinning ear-to-ear. It goes beyond the bliss of a wedding, to trials, problems that might steer the marriage into a course of dissolution, but the best marriages yank the steering wheel back to safe ground and progress into bliss again knowing there might be other hurdles to overcome.

I loved the characters. From our lead girl Tessa who handled her crisis well than most women I know would, to Jack the supportive husband you couldn't resist throwing a rock at sometimes, to Aunt Fifi and her blabber mouth, Zara the extremely supportive friend (when Jack had forgotten his responsibilities) and midwife. Oh, for he hadn’t sent a harsh bark my way, I almost forgot Buster, the best companion every chick-lit character must have. (Cats suck, Dogs rock---My campaign to give more chick-lit characters our canine friends than the self-centered milk-draining bitches).  

An amazing ending that leaves you partly fulfilled, partly wanting more. I loved the message of hope this ending carried. Of course in life there are so many unexpected happenings, but where there’s life, there sure is hope.

You can get Three of Us here. If you also want to rewind into discovering what went on before the wedding bells, Village Vet is also here. You can also grab Cathy Woodman’s latest, Follow Me Home, based on the story of Zara the midwife. >

I recommend this book to anyone who wants something short and fulfilling so they could move on to other duties as well. Anyone who wants something true-to-life should pick this. And anyone who’s just a sucker for Cathy Woodman’s inspiring, heart-warming numbers, should grab this.

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