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Missed Connections: Love, Lost & Found by Sophie Blackall
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company, Inc
Release Date: 22nd September 2011
Rating: 5/5
Source: Purchased, and I’m so glad I did!
Publishers Summary:

Like a message in a bottle, a “missed connection” classified (usually posted on a website) is an attempt however far-fetched, by one stranger to reach another on the strength of a remembered glance, smile, or blue hat. The anonymous messages are hopeful and hopeless, funny and sad. Ms. Blackall, award-winning illustrator of Ruby’s Wish and Big Red Lollipop, has turned some of the most evocative (or hilarious) of them into exquisite paintings.

Missed Connections is a collection of illustrated love stories. There’s “We Shared a Bear Suit.” “If Not for Your Noisy Tambourine.” “Hairy Bearded Swimmer.” Each is told in the shorthand of a “missed connection,” and then illustrated in Chinese ink and watercolor. The paintings are extraordinary: delicate yet full of feeling, each springing from one little detail of the post into a fully imagined world. Each brings the voyeuristic pleasure of watching love at first sight, and the pleasure of watching an artist discover a fresh new way to tell a story. And not all the connections are missed. Hidden in the book are three pieces that conjure up the magic of love found.

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Occasionally I get the opportunity to brag about a friend or two of mine and what’s even better is when that friend also happens to be a fantastic writer! This week the very talented author and blogger, Anne R. Allen announced the release of her newest Chick Lit novel Food of Love. I’ll be reading and reviewing it in the very near future, but I wanted to let everyone know to run out and pick up a copy as soon as you possibly can!

Currently available in eBook format for Kindle in the US & UK for a stunningly low price and soon to be published in paperback from Popcorn Press.

In Anne’s own words, the general sum-up of Food of Love

It’s about the one thing that unites women of all races and backgrounds: the urge to diminish ourselves by dieting. (And the subsequent craving for chocolate.) I added a hot KGB agent, a sexy two-hundred pound rapper girl, a couple of Elvis impersonators and a small nuclear bomb.

Need a little more coaxing? Take a look at this recommendation from a favorite author of ours here at Chick Lit Reviews, Catherine Ryan Hyde:

“Anne Allen never behaves herself in fiction.… If you’re looking for a good time, trust Anne…to provide a fun and funny read.”
—Catherine Ryan Hyde, author of Don’t Let Me Go and Second Hand Heart

Don’t miss out! This is one I’m eagerly looking forward to curling up with on a night when I have a good selection of chocolate nearby!

So, by now I know there are many of you eager to see the new movie based on Karyn Bosnak’s book, What’s Your Number? and I thought that you may also be interested in this little offer from Bookperk:

What’s Your Number? Book + Free Signed Poster From the Upcoming Movie in theaters everywhere 9/30
• Paperback copy of What’s Your Number? by Karyn Bosnak.
• Free Autographed What’s Your Number? movie poster, signed by Anna Faris.
• Free Ground shipping. Offer available in U.S. only.

Yes, you read that correctly! A free autographed poster signed by the star of the movie, Anna Faris, as well as a paperback copy of the book. Not too bad! So, for those of you still in need of a copy I’d definitely recommend picking this one up quickly. The offer is only good until October 4th so pick it up before it’s too late! Still need some convincing? Take a look at the movie trailer one more time…

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: 23rd August 2011
Rating: 5/5
Source: Received from the publisher, thank you!
Publishers Summary:

The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, aster for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating grief, mistrust, and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.

Now eighteen and emancipated from the system, Victoria has nowhere to go and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own. Soon a local florist discovers her talents, and Victoria realizes that she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But a mysterious vendor at the flower market inspires her to question what’s been missing in her life. And when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.

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Being that Stephanie Plum is one of Leah’s all time favorite characters I thought that this new trailer for the movie based on Janet Evanovich’s successful series would be fun to share. One for the Money is due in theaters here in the US in January of 2012 and it looks hilarious! It’s definitely going on my to-see list and I’m also making a note to pick up the book series ASAP!

Take a look and you tell me…will you be watching One for the Money?

I read my first ever Marisa De Los Santos novel earlier this year (Love Walked In) and it was a beautiful read. I really, really enjoyed it and I’m eagerly waiting for some time to read its sequel (Belong To Me). Marisa is back with a new stand-alone novel on October 4th with Falling Together and I must admit, that cover is so beautiful! The blue is just delightful. Here’s what it’s about:

What if saying hello to an old friend meant saying good-bye to life as you know it?

It’s been six years since Pen Calloway watched her best friends walk out of her life. And through the birth of her daughter, the death of her father, and the vicissitudes of single motherhood, she has never stopped missing them.

Pen, Cat, and Will met on their first day of college and formed what seemed like a magical and lifelong bond, only to see their friendship break apart amid the realities of adulthood. When, after years of silence, Cat—the bewitching, charismatic center of their group—e-mails Pen and Will with an urgent request to meet at their college reunion, they can’t refuse. But instead of a happy reconciliation, what awaits is a collision of past and present that sends Pen and Will, with Pen’s five-year-old daughter and Cat’s hostile husband in tow, on a journey across the world.

With her trademark wit, vivid prose, and gift for creating authentic, captivating characters, Marisa de los Santos returns with an emotionally resonant novel about our deepest human connections. As Pen and Will struggle to uncover the truth about Cat, they find more than they bargained for: startling truths about who they were before and who they are now. They must confront the reasons their friendship fell apart and discover how—and if—it can ever fall back together.

Only His by Susan Mallery (Book #6 in Fool’s Gold series)
Release Date: 27th September 2011
Publisher: HQN Books
Rating: 4/5
Source: Received from Netgalley for review.
Amazon Summary:

Wedding bells are ringing in Fool’s Gold, but not for Nevada Hendrix. Her triplet sisters are engaged, and even her mother has a more active love life than she does. Determined to make a fresh start, she applies for her dream job, only to discover that her new boss is her first love. Maybe she could overlook the fact that they’ve seen each other naked, but she’ll never forget the way he broke her heart. Tucker Janack agrees to Nevada’s “business only” ground rules. After all, love is a trap that the construction millionaire has avoided his whole life. But when great business partners turn out to be so much more, every rule gets broken. Will either of them be willing to try again…or will their past get in the way?

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Yesterday I had the wonderful opportunity of reviewing Aftertaste: A Novel in Five Courses by Meredith Mileti and loved it! It has all the things I love about a perfect Chick Lit read: a great story, characters I could relate to, and of course…food and delicious recipes even! Mileti’s debut novel was superb and I couldn’t recommend it more highly.

Now I have the opportunity of giving away one copy of Aftertaste: A Novel in Five Courses by Meredith Mileti thanks to the author herself! Thank you! The giveaway will close on Sunday the 9th of October and is open to US residents with only one entry per household allowed. Good luck!

Mira Rinaldi lives life at a rolling boil. Co-owner of Grappa, a chic New York City trattoria, she has an enviable apartment, a brand-new baby, and a frenzied schedule befitting her success.

Everything changes the night she catches her husband, Jake, “wielding his whisk” with Grappa’s new Mâitress d’. Mira’s fiery response earns her a court-ordered stint in anger management and the beginning of legal and personal predicaments as she battles to save her restaurant and pick up the pieces of her life.

Mira falls back on family and friends in Pittsburgh as she struggles to find a recipe for happiness. But the heat is really on when some surprising developments in New York present her with a high stakes opportunity to win back what she thought she had lost forever. For Mira, cooking isn’t just about delicious flavors and textures, but about the pleasure found in filling others’ needs. And the time has come to decide where her own fulfillment lies—even if the answers are unexpected.