Posted on April 26th, 2010 by Chloe
A fallen star. A runaway bride. They’re about to be pitted against each other by a very powerful man. Madison Miller has everything - beautiful, talented and just a little bit naive; she’s the small-town girl who swept to victory on America’s hottest talent show to become the nation’s sweetheart. She’s also head-over-heels in love with the man who’s masterminded her career - the head-spinningly powerful, lethally attractive Beau Silverman. But there’s trouble in paradise… Jess has bolted from her approaching wedding and a dead-end job in London to chase dreams of being a fashion designer in New York. But she’s finding life in the Big Apple tough, until she meets a man who makes her an offer she can’t refuse. It means a taste of a life she’s never had - glamorous parties, paparazzi, haute couture - but at what price? Sweeping from the hotspots of LA to the coolest bars of New York, SPOTLIGHT cuts a gloriously fun swathe through the world of celebrity and glamour, with a page-turning story at its heart.
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Posted in 2010 releases, Book Reviews, Rating: 4/5 | 3 Comments »
Posted on April 26th, 2010 by Chloe
The lovely Rowan Coleman told us about her new short story competition, and we think it is one to share with all our readers in case there is a budding author out there looking for akick start to their writing career! Rowan’s career actually began when she won a short story competition, so she knows what she is talking about, and the prizes are just amazing too. You have to write a story no longer than 1000 words on the subject of starting over, and the entries will all be judged by Rowan Coleman and some fellow published authors.
For more information on the competition, visit Rowan’s blog with more details about the prizes, Rowan’s own journey into being an author, and most importantly - how to enter! Good luck!
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Posted on April 26th, 2010 by Leah
Diane Chamberlain has been compared to the ever fab Jodi Picoult and she had her first book released in the UK last year called The Lost Daughter. 2010 brings three more releases from Diane - The Bay at Midnight was released earlier this year - and the other two are Before The Storm due out on May 21st and Secrets She Left Behind which is out on 20th August 2010. I have The Lost Daughter on my shelf and love the sound of her other releases. Here are the synopsis and covers for both books (first Before the Storm, second Secrets She Left Behind):
Her little boy has been accused of murder. How far will she go to protect him? When the local church is razed to the ground, dozens of trapped children manage to escape - many helped by fifteen-year-old Andy Lockwood. Born with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Andy is more like a little boy than a teenager, but in the eyes of the people he saved, he’s a hero. Laurel lost her baby once through neglect and has spent the rest of her life determined to make up for her mistakes. Yet when suspicion of arson is cast upon Andy, Laurel must ask herself how well she really knows her son - and how far she’ll go to protect him.
Nineteen-year-old Maggie Lockwood spent a year in prison for her part in a fire that cost three lives. The scars carried by the surviving victims - inside and out - are still raw and Maggie’s release from jail does nothing to free her from the guilt. Returning home, Maggie hides herself away, too afraid to see Keith, the boy she grew up with, played with as a child - and recently learnt is her half-brother. Keith nearly lost his life in the fire and the emotional and physical wounds he carries have changed him forever. With childhood innocence gone, Maggie and Keith must learn to come to terms with their new lives, but trying to move forward will have deadly consequences.
Posted in 2010 releases, Book News | 2 Comments »
Posted on April 25th, 2010 by Chloe
In My Mailbox was created by The Story Siren and let’s us show off the books we’ve acquired this week (in the post, from the library, bought). We’ll post the titles of our books and, in brackets, where they’re from and we’ll post the picture below!
Chloe’s Books this week: Moonlighting by Kate Lace (LBD), Hard To Get by Jessica Fox (LBD), Mother of the Bride by Kate Lawson (Avon), Desire by Louise Bagshawe (finished copy), The Tudor Wife by Emily Purdy (Avon), The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand
Because of the volcanic ash cloud, Leah has had no books this week. Stupid ash cloud. Normal IMM should return next week.
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Posted on April 24th, 2010 by Danielle
Thanks to modern reproductive technology-and the gift of her friend Cora’s eggs-Ali Gutierrez is the mother of a fourteen-year-old daughter. Now, yearning for a second child, Ali asks Cora’s permission to use another of the frozen embryos that have been stored away in anticipation of this decision. But Cora has a secret that could not only change Ali’s plans for the future, but tear apart her life right now.
Who among us doesn’t know someone with infertility problems of some sort? Personally, it’s affected every female in my family, including myself. If I were bold enough, I would go as far as to say it’s an epidemic. In some cases and with the help of modern medicine, miracles can happen. People, who would otherwise go without the opportunity to have a family, if they chose to, now are able to. In Between Friends that is exactly the opportunity Cora provides to her best friend Ali and it forever changes both of their lives.
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Posted in 2010 releases, Book Reviews, Rating: 5/5 | 2 Comments »
Posted on April 23rd, 2010 by Chloe
The Churchminster residents are thrilled when a glamorous film crew descends on their quiet village. But with just four months to prepare for the final of the ‘Britain’s Best Village Competition’, the chaotic filming schedule may do more damage than good. Meanwhile Camilla grows suspicious of the attention boyfriend Jed is receiving from the film’s demanding leading lady. And younger sister Calypso has caught the penetrating eye of dashing leading man ‘Rafe Wolfe’. Brim-full with lavish garden parties, illicit affairs, sordid shenanigans and a sneaky bit of sabotage, not to mention a spot of fund-raising with ‘Churchminster’s Got Talent!
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Posted in 2010 releases, Book Reviews, Rating: 4/5 | No Comments »
Posted on April 23rd, 2010 by Leah
I was a huge fan of the Anna McPartlin book I read earlier this year, Pack Up The Moon. So much so that I set out to get all of Anna’s other books. I now have all of them sitting on my shelf, bar her latest release So What If ‘m Broken. So when I was scouting around for new book news I was thrilled to find Penguin would be releasing So What If I’m Broken (aka Alexandra, Gone in the USA) in October 2010 with the new title of The One I Love. I’m not a huge fan of the cover - I prefer the cover for No Way To Say Goodbye - but I’ll still be buying the book. Here’s the synopsis:
Once Jane and Alexandra were inseparable; sharing secrets, stolen booze and big dreams for the future. But when Jane got pregnant at seventeen, they drifted apart.
Seventeen years later, Jane discovers Alexandra has disappeared and she has no choice but to be there for her old friend one more time. With her sister, Elle, and Leslie, a reclusive computer expert, Jane sets about helping Alexandra’s broken-hearted husband to find his wife. But in searching for Alexandra these three women are about to confront themselves. Jane has to figure out how to stop trying to control the world and start caring for herself for a change. Devil-may-care Elle has to recognize the existence of limits. And Leslie must get to grips with a bewildering new desire to live life to the full. As for Alexandra’s husband, Tom, well he just has to figure out what to do if they can’t find his wife. Four fractured people come together accidentally and in one another they find strength, friendship – and even the beginnings of hope . . .
Posted in 2010 releases, Book News | 6 Comments »
Posted on April 23rd, 2010 by Leah
I wasn’t a huge fan of Amy Huberman’s debut novel Hello, Heartbreak and thought it was only OK. I also wasn’t a fan of the cover so I was pleased to come across the new paperback cover which is due out in July (right). It’s tons better, don’t you agree?
Twenty something Izzy is fed up. She has split with boyfriend Cian, the dirty love cheat, and is sick of her job as a dogsbody at film company Lights, Camera, Action. If she was paid to write the script of her so-called life (working title: “Welcome to Dumpsville”) it would definitely not include: baggy tracksuit bottoms and dread locked hair; her flatmate’s ever-present lump of a boyfriend watching everlasting football matches on the living-room TV; ill-advised booty calls; panicky pregnancy tests; and, bumping into Cian and his new squeeze, Brenda, while looking like something the cat spat up. It definitely would include: sleek hair, sleek limbs (come to think of it, more-or-less sleek everything); a Jaffa Cake-eating rabbit called Dermot; a foul-mouthed gran with a heart of gold; Jonathan-absolute-total-ride-Cunningham And, of course…; a girl’s best friend, Gavin. Since real life in Dumpsville is way weirder than anything she could make up, all Izzy can do is take a deep breath and hang in there…
Posted in 2010 releases, Book News, Cover Wars | 1 Comment »
