Archive for February, 2011

The ladies of Girl Talk are back, and out for revenge against their former boss James Almond after their unceremonious sacking from their hit day time talk show. Julia is still recuperating from her horrific car crash, and has been shunning the public eye ever since. She’s still determined to make James pay for ruining her life, at whatever cost. Karen King is off the bandwagon when it comes to her diet, and has piled on the pounds once more, convincing herself as well that her husband Dave is having an affair behind her back. Faye Cole is coping with life as a single after husband Mike’s desertion after her lesbian affair with co-presenter Cheryl. Faye is struggling with the demands of baby Daisy, and is turning to something else to get her through the day. Will the 5 women, all out for revenge, make James pay for ruining their careers in one fell swoop? Or is he the one who will get the ultimate revenge?

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Since we are running a giveaway to win a copy of Matt Dunn’s new novel The Accidental Proposal this week, we thought it’d be a good idea to share an author article by Matt with you too! Enjoy!

“I wrote The Accidental Proposal in an attempt to explain why proposing is such a big deal for us men – possibly the biggest deal – and also, I wanted to explore how it might feel to have the tables turned, and to investigate all the insecurities and issues that might go with that.

One of my best friends was actually proposed to – his girlfriend used the less-than-romantic ‘it’s time’ – and perhaps not surprisingly, you could tell he felt extremely awkward about admitting she’d done it. He also felt she’d denied him one of the major life experiences, and I wanted to write about that, and what that might mean to us.

I’m also aware that my friends have generally had very different reasons for proposing, or they’ve each proposed under very different circumstances, and that getting down on one knee is actually a crunch time for any relationship – particularly if you’re not sure (and who ever is?) that she’s going to say ‘yes’. I also wanted to write about the change a relationship goes through when you move from boyfriend and girlfriend to being engaged, and, of course, how you feel as the big day approaches.

The book’s also about infidelity – I try to make all my books ‘about’ something, and that was interesting to write about, particularly because Edward and Dan have such differing viewpoints.

Weddings are quite funny anyway, if you think about them, and I knew I could have a lot of fun with the run-up to Ed and Sam’s – especially with the stag night.

On a personal note, it’s the third time I’ve written about these characters, and it’ll (probably) be the last, so I wanted to give Ed, Sam, and Dan a fitting send-off before leaving them to get on with their lives!”

If you have read any of my previous Penny Smith book reviews, you will know I really am not a fan of her work at all! However, I see Penny has been another chance by her publishers and is back on 9th June with her latest book Summer Holiday. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, and I am wondering whether it’s going to be third time for Penny with this book! Here’s the synopsis:

“Miranda Blake is divorced. At 45, things are starting to head south. She’s toying with the idea of Botox. Toying with the idea of facial surgery. And toying with getting a job or possibly a toy boy. The only block to all those things is her stiff, uppity daughter, 23-year-old Lucy. Pompous, is what Miranda calls her. (Sane, is how Lucy sees it.)

Her friends are trying to set her up with a collection of bankers and company directors… Similar types to her ex-husband, Nigel (Nigel – just saying his name makes her wince) and every new date ends in disaster. So, one summer’s day, Miranda decides to go and help clean out a local canal. She falls for Alex, a dreadlocked eco-warrior. But Lucy does not approve, and sets about sabotaging the relationship. She succeeds…

Miranda, heartbroken, goes on holiday to Spain. But there, things only go from bad to worse – she falls in with a bad crowd, and is soon way out of her depth. What is it they know about Alex and his family? How is the wealthy recluse, and island owner, David Miller involved in their dodgy business activities?

Aboard a glamorous yacht, hosting an award ceremony with former breakfast TV star Katie Fisher, Miranda might be in more trouble than she ever could have imagined. Will Alex get there in time to save her?”

“Imagine you’re thirty-two, married, with two little children and you find out you’re carrying a deadly cancer gene? That was me in August 2005. I discovered I had the gene Brca1, which means a 50% chance of developing ovarian and an 85% chance of developing breast cancer. I had two options - wait for the big bad cancer wolf or have radical surgery. I chose the latter. Over the following year, I had a double mastectomy and both ovaries removed, which reduced my cancer risk to 5%. I was just dressing in my victory dance outfit, when my worst fears were realised. Cancer had struck anyway. Between 2007 and 2010, I battled and slayed cancer six times. This book takes you on my journey during that turbulent time in my life. If you’ve just been diagnosed with cancer, I know you are scared. I was too. But I want you to know you are not alone. More than that, I want you to know that I am still here. The score so far is - Cancer 0 : Emma 6. Even if my cancer returns, I will keep on crusading. I can show you how being positive and a big dollop of black humour can go a very long way towards getting better. So chin up, wig on and don’t forget, your skin can absorb an astonishing amount of make-up on those bad hair days! Love Emma Hannigan”

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Last year, we bought you the news that after many books, Carole Matthews has moved publishers, and she has revealed the look for her brand new cover, and I have to say I absolutely love it, I think it’s one of the prettiest winter covers I’ve seen in a long time! It certainly breaks away from Carole’s older covers, it perhaps isn’t as eye-catching but I still think it’s a gorgeous cover. The book isn’t due out until 27th October 2011 but here’s the synopsis to tease you until then!

“‘How’s your love life Janie?’ For thirty-something hairdresser Janie Johnson, this is the question she dreads. Her single status preoccupies her friends and clients at Cutting Edge and after too many nights in (with Archie, her terrifying cat), a blind date disaster (exiting via the bathroom window is never dignified) and news that her ex is getting married (to his pregnant girlfriend), it’s time for Janie to do something dramatic. It’s time for an adventure! Booking Christmas week off work, Janie decides against a week in Majorca and heads for the sunshine ? to Africa! Her friends think she’s mad to be travelling alone to such an exotic location, and Janie thinks they may very well be right…but then she falls head over heels for tour guide (and fully fledged Maasai Warrior) Dominic. Is this just a holiday fling ? or has Janie found the real thing?”

Recently it seems as if authors are having redesigned covers year after year, instead of sticking to a ‘brand’ cover. So to introduce our new feature Do Judge A Book By Its Cover (where we DO judge books by their covers!), I decided to write an article on my opinion of book covers.

As much as people bleat on about not judging a book by its cover, it’s inevitable that we all do. Maybe it’s true that it should be the story inside we should judge, but personally, I also like a nice pretty cover to add to my shelves, because that’s what I see everytime I look at my shelves. And the fact of the matter is, publishers must see it that way as well, or they wouldn’t constantly change author’s book covers, would they?

But do you know what I like even more than a pretty cover? I like my books to match. I love it when an author has cover that match because it looks amazing on my book shelf and I make it a rule to put as many matching covers together as I can. For example, all four of Paige Toon’s novels match and I get a kick out of how pretty they all look together on my shelf, I truly do. Does that make me superficial? Probably. But I really don’t care. I like it when an author has a ‘brand’ cover and I’m desperate for Simon and Schuster to stick to the theme for Paige’s upcoming novel Baby Be Mine. I’ll be completely gutted if they were to give her a brand new design, and I’ll have my fingers crossed they don’t do that.

I understand that if an author moves to a new publisher it will probably mean a new range of covers, but I can accept that because that’s how it has to go. It’s beyond the authors and publisher control and sometimes it can even be for the better. Melissa Hill was first published in the UK by Arrow and her covers weren’t particularly consistent. Melissa is now published by Hodder. Her books now have a consistent design, with some of her older novels having been re-jacketed. It would be a dream come true for me if they were to re-jacket all of Melissa’s older novels to match her new style, because her publishers seem to have found a niche for Melissa’s cover style.

That’s exactly what it’s about, though, building a brand for an author. And keeping to the same style of covers must go some way to that, so I must admit I get confused when I see certain authors being re-packaged time and time again particularly if there’s no publisher move and if the covers they currently have are perfectly fine. Sheila O’Flanagan’s back catalogue underwent a much-needed redesign 2006/2007 bringing her books up to date. Her books were then brought more up to date with the paperback of Bad Behaviour in 2008 and it seemed Sheila had finally found her brand. Four more books were released under this new design, until the paperback of Stand By Me was due out and guess what? Sheila has been redesigned yet again. The new book cover is stunning, I said as much in my post about it, but it was an unnecessary redesign. The 2008 style jackets were perfect for Sheila’s books and there was no reason at all for them to be redesigned again. I would have given the 2011 redesign to a different author, personally.

It’s not just Sheila, there are many authors that go through numerous cover changes. Chris Manby has had her covers changed a lot and it seems as if her publishers have finally found her look with her two most recent novels. None of my more recent Mike Gayle novels match ditto Rowan Coleman. Kate Harrison’s books all match perfectly. Until her next novel comes out, The Secret Shopper Affair. It’s the third in the Secret Shopper series and for some inexplicable reason, her publishers have given her a new look. I might hate separate books by the same author to not match, but to mismatch a series of books? It makes me want to harm someone. Why have the same covers for two of the three books and then go and change it for the last one? It’s mind-boggling. However there are also many authors whose covers match wonderfully: Jane Costello, Fiona O’Brien, Martina Reilly, Carmen Reid, Lauren Weisberger, Melanie Rose, Cecelia Ahern, Jodi Picoult, Jill Mansell, Dorothy Koomson, Katie Fforde, Lucy Diamond.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t work in publishing, and there could be a perfectly reasonable explanation for Sheila to have yet another cover update, but in my personal opinion I didn’t think it was entirely necessary. I thought they had found the perfect ‘look’ for her, modern and fresh and it was something they could have run with, redesigning her older books again. I just personally believe that more of an effort should be made to keep authors cover similar to each other, because I mustn’t be the only person in the world who likes to have matching book covers. I would say that a lot of people do. There’s nothing nicer than adding a new book to your shelves by your favourite author that matches all of their other books.

Ciara Geraghty’s second novel Becoming Scarlett will finally be released in paperback on the 28th April 2011 and Hodder have changed the cover and I must admit, I’m not thrilled. I love my book covers to match, and despite the fact that I like the new cover for Becoming Scarlett, I would have preferred them to keep the beautiful red one from the hardback.

Meet Scarlett O’Hara - wedding planner extraordinaire – who’s famous for making dreams come true. From scuba-diving ceremonies to flamingos at the reception, her colour-coded checklists make everything look simple. Scarlett’s personal life ran just as smoothly. Until now.

Her dependable boyfriend has moved to Brazil. She’s had to give up her Dublin flat and move back home. And she’s pregnant. Worse still, she doesn’t know who the father of the baby is . . . even though she’s slept with exactly 4 ½ men in her entire 35 years. How will Scarlett cope now all her best laid plans have gone with the wind?

It seems as if Rachel Gibson has left Little Black Dress and is now a published author in her own right! Her first novel with Transworld is entitled Any Man of Mine and is due out on May 12th 2011. Here’s the synopsis:

“Hey, pretty lady, haven’t we met?

Yes, beautiful thirty-something Autumn Haven has definitely met hockey-superstar Sam LeClaire before. Several years ago she had a passionate, Vegas-inspired fling with him involving getting hitched in a Elvis-themed wedding chapel and ending with her waking up in a hotel room: alone, heartbroken… and pregnant.

So these days, reminding her ex-husband that she even exists isn’t high on her to-do list. But they have a child, Conner, and suddenly Sam claims to have grown up, wanting to be more involved with his son. And handsome, drop-dead sexy Sam always gets what he wants. Being a good dad to Conner is one thing, but to her horror, Autumn realises she still finds it practically impossible to be around Sam without falling for his charms once again. And that’s the last thing she wants… isn’t it?”