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Archive for the ‘American Saturday’ Category

American Saturdays ‘Not Exactly Chick Lit But…’: Oh No She Didn’t by Clinton Kelly

Posted on Saturday, November 13th, 2010 by Danielle

‘Not Exactly Chick Lit But…’ is a new feature on Chick Lit Reviews highlighting some books that are not exactly Chick Lit (hence the title) but that our Chick Lit readers will probably enjoy! Let me know if there’s a book you would suggest for our new feature!

Our next pick for our new feature is Clinton Kelly’s - Oh No She Didn’t: The Top 100 Style Mistakes Women Make and How to Avoid Them, which is out now! Clinton Kelly is known for his role as the co-host of TLC’s “What Not to Wear” in the United States. Not only does he have incredible taste in clothing, but Kelly is one of the most feisty, playful and good-natured men in fashion. His snarky and fun attitude alone makes me eager to pick up his newest release. Take a look at the synopsis to see if you might like it as well…

Muffin tops. Scrunchies. Suntan hose. Slut shoes. Visible panty line.

Who hasn’t had the unfortunate experience of witnessing—or (gasp!) actually wearing—one of these fashion disasters? The atrocities Clinton Kelly has seen—it’s a surprise he hasn’t gouged out his own eyes. Mom jeans? Fancy fingernails? Tracksuits? In the same straight-talking style that has made TLC’s What Not to Wear a smash hit for eight seasons, the cheeky media personality and author of Freakin’ Fabulous shows women how to outfit themselves with confidence and style as he pokes fun at fashion “don’ts.” From the most obvious faux pas (Texas tuxedos) to borderline offenses (peekaboo boobies), Clinton offers detailed and entertaining critiques of our top one hundred sartorial slip-ups. He turns his keen eye to wardrobe, color, cut, cleanliness, hairstyle, accessories, and even posture. And because he loves you, he presents easy alternatives and practical suggestions for creating fabulous outfits that will make you forget you ever wore socks with clogs.

Clinton also explains how to use trends to your advantage at any age, from deciding which ones work for you to understanding how to wear them to keep your look relevant. Because if you’re not comfortable in the sequined mini, everyone around you will know it.

A delightful mix of hilarious dish and expert fashion advice, Oh No She Didn’t will turn anyone from fashion victim to fashionista in no time.

Posted in 2010 releases, American Saturday, Not Exactly Chick Lit But | No Comments »

American Saturdays Book Review: Second Hand Heart by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Posted on Saturday, November 6th, 2010 by Danielle

Vida is 19 and has never had much of a life. Struggling along with a life-threatening heart condition, her whole life has been one long preparation for death. But suddenly she is presented with a donor heart, and just in time. Now she gets to do something she never imagined she’d have to do: live.

Richard is a 36-year-old man who’s just lost his beloved wife, Lorrie, in a car accident. Still in shock and not even having begun the process of grieving, he is invited to the hospital to meet the young woman who received his wife’s donor heart.

Vida takes one look at Richard and feels she’s loved him all her life. And tells him so. Richard assumes she’s just a foolish young girl. And maybe she is. Or maybe there’s truth behind the theory of cellular memory, and maybe it really is possible for a heart to remember, at least for a time, on its own.

Second Hand Heart is both a story of having to learn to live for the first time, and having to learn to live all over again.

Vida means “Life” in Spanish. Ironic enough, the actual Vida has a life that revolves around death, or at the very least the almost near certainty of it in her near future. When Vida is suddenly given a second chance at the hand of another she does what comes naturally, she seeks out the one her new heart has lost - Richard. It’s Richard’s loss and Vida’s gain that moves them both forward in life, their paths intertwining, but not exactly in the ways you’d expect. Both seeking something just beyond their grasp, but more important than either can comprehend in their current situations. Life.

Obviously I’d be remiss to fail to mention how Second Hand Heart initially drew me in because of its similarities to the popular movie, Return to Me. It’s one of my favorites. But outside of the fact that both the book and the movie have heart transplant patients as the central character and a love story of sorts, they truly are very different. One major difference being that Richard, the husband who lost his wife chooses to remain in open contact with whomever receives his late wife’s organs. This is crucial, because were it not for this very unique interaction between Vida and Richard the story could be completely different. Both are excellent though, mind you.

Vida. Her character was so well developed. Honestly. You could tell from the very beginning she’d had a lot of time to think. She was okay with death, which for most of us is quite the opposite. Once she’s given the opportunity to be free of this daily burden she hardly knows what to do with herself, and it’s evident even in the way she speaks. In the beginning of the story you almost want to shake her, she’s so passive. After a while though I came to realize that was just another way of coping, of helping those around her deal with the death she’s already come to grips with. After her life “begins” she’s like a kindergartener asking a thousand questions, making demands, and always seeming to wander aimlessly but with a purpose. By the end, she finally comes to a certain easiness with her new life and I loved the transformation.

Richard was a completely different situation all together for me. I felt like I could relate so well to him in so many situations. His fear for his wife’s heart now in Vida’s small body and his utter confusion at how to proceed with life. I think so many of us are like this. We live life taking for granted the things we hold most dear, until one day they are just gone. Most of us don’t get the opportunity for long good-byes like Vida thought she had, although I’m not sure it entirely matters. I think what I was reminded of most with Richard was the importance of truly loving those we care for like we may not see them even a few moments later. Make sure we appreciate them, tell them and be mindful of them. Because you never know.

Second Hand Heart was more than a story about a girl who got a second take on life and fell in love because of it. It’s about living and appreciating and loving. Never letting go, but remembering that life stops for no one. Both Vida and Richard had incredible journeys to struggle through, both extremely different in ways and so similar in others. And once they’d realized they needed each other, they were finally able to move forward and live.

Thank you so much to the author, Catherine Ryan Hyde, for providing a copy of her book for review! I’m also giving away a Signed Copy of her other new release, Jumpstart the World at my other site, There’s A Book, and the competition is open internationally! So please stop by!
Stop by The Teen {Book} Scene for more details and other tour stop locations!

Find out how you can “Jumpstart the World”: Five Ways to Jumpstart the World

Posted in 2010 releases, American Saturday, Book Reviews, Rating: 5/5 | 2 Comments »

American Saturdays Book News: Falling Home by Karen White

Posted on Saturday, November 6th, 2010 by Danielle

Just out this week is Karen White’s Falling Home! I saw the cover and then the synopsis and was immediately intrigued. A scandal between sisters, inheritance arguments and all centered around a historic homes. It sounds like a great read! This is one I’m definitely hoping to read in the very near future. Take a look:

In Falling Home, Cassie Madison is pulled away from her fast-track career, her Upper West Side apartment and her metrosexual fiance by the news that her father has suffered a heart attack. He knows he is dying and wants both of his daughters home by his side. Cassie left Walton fifteen years ago with no plans to return after Joe, the man she loved, eloped with her sister Harriet.
Cassie can barely handle being with her sister, let alone Joe. Yet, there is no way she can keep her distance from them, not as her father lay dying and not with Aunt Lucinda, who helped raise the girls after their mother’s death, looking on. News hat the family home has been willed solely to Cassie creates a new rift when she announces her plans to sell the house and its contents as soon as possible. Even long-time family friend Sam Parker, the town’s only physician and an admirer of Cassie since high school, can’t convince her to delay her decision. Soon, Cassie and her inheritance are at the center of the struggle between developers and the preservationists fighting to protect the small town’s sensibility and historic homes.

Posted in American Saturday, Book News | No Comments »

American Saturdays Book Review: Sophomore Switch by Abby McDonald

Posted on Saturday, October 30th, 2010 by Danielle

Take an administrative snafu, a bad breakup, and “The Hot-Tub Incident,” and you’ve got two thoroughly unprepared sophomores on a semester abroad. For American party girl Tasha, an escape to Oxford may be a chance to ditch her fame as a tabloid temptress, but wading Uggs-deep in feminist theory is not her idea of a break. Meanwhile, the British half of the exchange, studious Emily, nurses an aching heart amid the bikinis and beer pong of U.C. Santa Barbara. With an anthropologist’s eye for detail and a true ear for teen-speak, Abby McDonald crafts a funny, fast-paced, poignant look at survival, sisterhood, and the surprising ways we discover our true selves.

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Posted in American Saturday, Book Reviews, Rating: 5/5 | 3 Comments »

American Saturdays Cover Wars: What My Best Friend Did by Lucy Dawson

Posted on Saturday, October 30th, 2010 by Danielle

Lucy Dawson’s novels have been a huge hit her at Chick Lit Reviews. Both of Chloe’s reviews for What My Best Friend Did as well as The One That Got Away were given a 5 out of 5 rating. So, when I saw that What My Best Friend Did was coming to the US I got very very excited. It releases here in America on November 30, 2025! The synopsis makes it seem like there’s more of a mystery involved, which is always fantastic in my opinion, because I love to keep guessing to the very last page. But now you tell me…which cover do you prefer? The US Cover on the left or the UK Cover on the right? I actually think I love the US cover more, and that’s not always the case for me, but you tell me…

Synopsis for What My Best Friend Did:

For Alice, life’s a bit too boringly grown-up lately—weekends at weddings and baby showers; celebrating friends’ transitions to a life she isn’t quite up for yet; and a sweet, stable boyfriend she suspects she’s outgrown. So when she meets Gretchen for the first time, it feels a bit like falling in love. Gretchen, with her air of impulsiveness and intuitive style, is that rarest of treasures: a true friend who knows how to have fun. Plus there’s Gretchen’s gorgeous brother, Bailey, who might turn out to be exactly what Alice needs. Before she knows what’s hit her, Alice’s brilliant new best friend is turning her world upside down—seemingly for the better.

But Gretchen has a dark secret, which, like a time bomb, won’t stay hidden forever. The explosion may teach them both more than they ever wanted to know about how female friendships can go frighteningly wrong.

Posted in American Saturday, Cover Wars | 5 Comments »

American Saturday Book Review: Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker by Marla Martenson

Posted on Saturday, October 23rd, 2010 by Danielle

In Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker, Marla takes her readers for a hilarious romp through her days in an exclusive L.A. matchmaking agency and her daily struggles to keep her self-esteem from imploding in a town where looks are everything and money talks. From juggling the demands her out-of-touch clients and trying her best to meet the capricious demands of an insensitive boss to the ups and downs of her own marriage with a Latin husband who doesn’t think that she is “domestic” enough, Marla writes with charm and self-effacement about the universal struggles that all women face in their lives.

Readers will laugh, cringe, and cry as they journey with her through outrageous stories about the indignities of dating in Los Angeles, dealing with overblown egos, vicariously hobnobbing with celebrities, and navigating the wannabe-land of Beverly Hills. In a land where perfection is almost a prerequisite, even Marla can’t help but run for the Botox every once in a while.

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Posted in 2010 releases, American Saturday, Book Reviews, Rating: 3/5 | No Comments »

American Saturday Book News: The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

Posted on Saturday, October 23rd, 2010 by Danielle

I absolutely adore Sarah Addison Allen, as you all know! And though she’s not strictly “Chick Lit” I’ll still mention her here because I know many of you can appreciate her writing. A few weeks ago I found out from a “friend” that she was wrapping up the writing of her newest novel and then today I discovered the new cover on Amazon! Currently titled The Peach Keeper it’s due out in March 2011 and if the cover is any indication of how delicious the story may be I for one can’t wait! How about you?

Posted in American Saturday, Book News | No Comments »

American Saturday Giveaway: Hook, Line and Sink Him

Posted on Saturday, October 23rd, 2010 by Leah

As Danielle said last week, this week is YOUR chance to win a copy of Hook, Link and Sink Him by Jackie Pilossoph. Danielle loved the book and all you have to do to enter is to fill in the Google form below. I’m afraid the competition is open to US/Canada residents only and will end next Saturday at 12pm (mid-day) GMT.

Anna’s a girl who’s desperate to be a bride. Jeff and Dave are two guys who sprint from long-term commitment. Put them together and the three of them are wildly successful! They’re raking in the cash while helping women HOOK, LINE AND SINK their long time boyfriends into finally taking a walk down the aisle.

Step into the offices of HOOK, LINE AND SINK HIM, where Jeff, Dave and Anna are fantastic at turning bitter, unhappy girlfriends into bridal gown beauties. When it comes to their own love lives, though, it’s an entirely different story. All three are fishing for answers. Anna’s not sure if she’s settling, Dave’s questioning whether his current girlfriend’s right for him, and as for Jeff, he never counted on falling for Anna.

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Posted in American Saturday, Giveaways | 2 Comments »

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Archive for the ‘American Saturday’ Category

American Saturdays ‘Not Exactly Chick Lit But…’: Oh No She Didn’t by Clinton Kelly

American Saturdays Book Review: Second Hand Heart by Catherine Ryan Hyde

American Saturdays Book News: Falling Home by Karen White

American Saturdays Book Review: Sophomore Switch by Abby McDonald

American Saturdays Cover Wars: What My Best Friend Did by Lucy Dawson

American Saturday Book Review: Diary of a Beverly Hills Matchmaker by Marla Martenson

American Saturday Book News: The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

American Saturday Giveaway: Hook, Line and Sink Him

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