Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus – The Real Real – June
Jesse O’Rourke, coffee barista, high school senior, and unwitting reality TV star. Imagine there was never a Laguna Beach, a Newport Harbor, the shimmering Hills. Imagine that your hometown-your school-is the first place XTV descends to set up cameras. Now imagine they’ve trained them on you. When Jesse O’Rourke gets picked for a “documentary” being filmed at her school in the Hamptons she’s tempted to turn down the offer.
But there’s a tuition check attached to being on the show, and Jesse needs the cash so she can be the first in her family to attend college. All she has to do is trade her best friend for the glam clique she’s studiously avoided, her privacy for a 24/7 mike, and her sense of right and wrong for “what sells on camera.” . . . At least there’s one bright spot in the train wreck that is her suddenly public senior year: Jesse’s crush has also made the cast. As the producers manipulate the lives of their “characters” to heighten the drama, and Us Weekly covers become a regular occurrence for Jesse, she must struggle to remember one thing: the difference between real and the real real.
Heather McElhatton – Jennifer Johnson is Sick of Being Single – 1st June
Body conscious, cubicle-working, and love lorn in the Minneapolis suburbs, Jennifer Johnson is your average American woman. So it’s totally understandable when she freaks out after learning her ex-boyfriend is getting married, as is her younger sister, Hailey. To add insult to injury, this means she’ll have to wear an Asian-inspried kimono bridesmaid dress, which shows every curve and dimple plus more. Approaching thirty, single, and still unsatisfied with her career as a copywriter for the family-owned Keller’s department store, like any woman would, Jen begins to obsess about finding a boyfriend, losing weight, and perhaps chasing her dream job. When Brad Keller, heir to the Keller’s business, comes into the picture, it looks like Jen’s luck just might be changing. But, as often is the case, in reality, things are never quite as glossy beneath the surface and life’s decisions aren’t always about following your dream. We’re with Jen every step of the way from her daily struggle to eat or not eat a Cinnabon to her decision to ruin the kimono with Drano, and finally, to her chance to define her ‘happiness’.
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Since November 2009
Meet Ellie. She’s been married to Jack for seven years, has two occasionally-adorable-but-mostly-demanding children and is about to open a café with her friend, Tilda. 
Posted in 2009 Releases, Book Reviews, Rating: 2/5 | 2 Comments »
