Archive for November 5th, 2009

Jools Grand is having a bit of a hard time. Her business has burned to the ground (literally!), she’s got no money whatsoever and is about to become homeless.

To try and save herself from living on the streets Jools comes up with a foolproof plan: she’ll sell herself on Ebay in a marriage of convenience. Trouble is the only bids that Jools gets are from a deranged loner and a gay politician trying to appease his family.

Is this marriage of convenience going to turn out to be more than it’s worth?

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This week’s Author of the Week is the lovely Claire Allan. Claire is another of Ireland’s great Chick-lit authors and came to my attention when I was sent her second novel Feels Like Maybe to review by her publishers, Poolbeg. I adored it, and eagerly awaited the next of Claire’s books, Jumping In Puddles which I read quickly and loved even more than her previous book! Claire has the knack for writing realistic characters that you care about, and stories that are gritty and real, with emotions that you can relate to. Here’s a bit about Claire from her website:

“I’m from Derry in Northern Ireland, which is sometimes known as Londonderry, but let’s not all get political. I work as a reporter for the Derry Journal. I’ve worked there since 1999 and I really enjoy that I get to meet lots of people. share their stories and actually get paid to write for a living! Five years ago I started writing a weekly column called ‘Skirting the Issue’ which made me the first female columnist in the history of the paper. I was and am very proud of that! Apart from writing the majority of my time is spent with my son Joseph who is 5, and our new baby daughter Cara. That’s plenty enough to keep anyone busy!”

Claire doesn’t seem to be well heard of over here in England, so I hope by featuring her as our Author of the Week choice, more people will be tempted to picking up one of her fantastic novels. I haven’t read her debut novel Rainy Days and Tuesdays yet but I will do as soon as I can, and she also has another book coming next year which I await eagerly! I love Claire Allan’s work and think she is definitely a huge talent in the chick-lit market so pick up one of her books if you can!

Eleanor Moran’s debut novel ‘Stick or Twist’ was a very good read, and she now has her second book ready for release! Mr Almost Right is due out on 25th March 2010, and sounds like a brilliant read. Here’s the synopsis:

“What happens when you meet Mr Right, then find out that someone else has got there first? Do you: a) bury your feelings, convince yourself that nothing can ever happen between the two of you and try to move on? Or b) fail miserably to bury your feelings and repeatedly act like an incompetent fool in front of said Mr Right? In Lulu’s case, it’s a bit of both. When she meets Charles, a handsome and sophisticated actor, he seems like the perfect catch – until she finds out about the wife and children. But when Lulu and Charles end up away on location together, sparks fly and suddenly everything gets complicated… Lulu tries to confide in Alice, her twin sister and best friend, but she’s too distracted by her new relationship with gorgeous but rage-filled Richard. When will she learn that sexy bad boys do not make good boyfriends? And for Lulu, can love conquer all, or is she just a walk-on part in the oldest story in the book?”