Posts Tagged ‘Claire Allan’

In a fantastic exclusive courtesy of the lovely Claire Allan, Chicklitreviews.com brings you the first look at Claire Allan’s new novel It’s Got To Be Perfect which is due out in September 2010! This is Claire’s fourth book, and if it’s as good as her previous ones, then we’re in for a treat! Here is the great sounding synopsis:

“All Annie Delaney really wants is her happy ever after. A big dress. A big day. A big commitment. She even has a scrap book filled to bursting with ideas for her dream day, her dream home and – of course – her dream man.Only problem is, the current man on her arm isn’t so much of a dream as a nightmare and as for the man currently in her bed… that’s a whole other disaster in the making.With her relationship, and her life, heading into a tailspin Annie realises she has to re-examine just what can make her happy, while trying (and failing) not to make things worse.

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!

** Read our exclusive interview with Claire Allan here **

Rathinch is a small Irish town with a lot of people who aren’t necessarily friends, but Detta is set to change all that with her ‘Single Parents’ group. She wants to get them all talking, and despite their initial reluctance, they soon find themselves making steadfast friends and suprising themselves along the way too.

Niamh has just lost her husband Seán in a car accident, leaving her alone with their young twins… but is it all as it seemed for Niamh and Seán? Ruth was left along when her husband James ran off with a younger woman, leaving her mothering their 3 chilren alone… but Ruth is hiding a devastating secret she won’t let get out. Liam is a single dad as it was his wife who ran off with Ruth’s husband, but the pair don’t talk as Liam wants his wife back. Finally, teen mum Ciara makes up the group and is unsure about hanging out with people her own mum’s age. Ciara is keeping her baby’s daddy a secret but is it for good reason, and will the older adults help her let go of her demons?

Can Detta help these people find friendship and confidence once more? And what is Detta’s secret too?

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Irish author Claire Allan recently caught my eye when I read her second book, Feels Like Maybe. I loved it, and was excited to see that Claire has another book out this month, Jumping In Puddles. Claire was nice enough to grant us an author interview and we chatted about her experience of motherhood, where she gets her ideas and her new book too! Read on…

1. Tell us about your latest book in a sentence.
Feels Like Maybe is all about friendship, babies, infertility, sexy gardeners and feckwit exes.

2. In ‘Feels Like Maybe’, you approach the journey of motherhood from two very different viewpoints. How much did you draw on your own personal experience to write these storylines and characters?
Aoife’s birth scene was scarily like my own first time around - although I did have my husband standing beside me.
I think experiences of motherhood, especially in those early days are universal in a lot of respects. You feel sore, exhausted, paranoid about your appearance and yet a little blissed out by your knew baby. With Beth’s story I spoke to several woman who had experienced or were experiencing fertility problems to make sure I set the tone just right. My first book ‘Rainy Days and Tuesdays’ examines post natal depression - and I did use my own experience to write that.

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Here is Part II. See Part I here.

CATHERINE RYAN HYDE - WHEN I FOUND YOU - 10TH SEPTEMBER

When Nathan McCann discovers a newborn baby boy half buried in the woods, he assumes he’s found a tiny dead body. But then the baby moves and in one remarkable moment, Nathan’s life is changed forever.

The baby is sent to grow up with his grandmother, but Nathan can’t forget him and is compelled to pay her a visit. He asks for one simple promise – that one day she will introduce the boy to Nathan and tell him, ‘This is the man who found you in the woods.’

Years pass and Nathan assumes that the old lady has not kept her promise, until one day an angry, troubled boy arrives on his doorstep with a suitcase…

SANDRA BYRD - PIECE DE RESISTANCE - 15TH SEPTEMBER

Having earned her chef’s hat, Lexi Stuart bids au revoir to her glamorous and deliciously satisfying pastry mentorship outside of Paris and returns to her hometown of Seattle, Washington. There, she finds life unexpectedly complicated.

She’s put in charge of a high-end catering bakery called Bijoux, which should be her dream job, but there’s a catch: She has to make this lavish bakery into a successful business in just a few, short months, which will require more than her ability to make an amazing wedding cake. Stir in a complicated relationship with her French beau Philippe and his daughter, Celine, then add a dash of romance with down-to-earth lawyer Dan, and life suddenly contains more ooh la la than Lexi can handle.

CAROLE MATTHEWS - THAT LOVING FEELING - 17TH SEPTEMBER

Juliet Joyce has been happily married for twenty-five years. But with two grown-up children who treat the house like a hotel, a seventy-year-old mother who’s just moved in and a father who’s announced he’s gay it’s hardly surprising that her relationship with her husband Rick is beginning to suffer.

Juliet’s resigned to the fact that the only romance she’s going to get is from the pages of her library books, so nothing prepares her for the unexpected return of Steven Aubrey. Last seen twenty-six years ago, when he jilted Juliet on their wedding day, he ignites a passion in her that she thought was long gone. But will Steven sweep her off her feet or can Rick remind her of the loving feeling that they’ve lost? There’s only one way to find out..

SUSY MCPHEE - THE RUNAWAY WIFE - 17TH SEPTEMBER

Marion Bishop’s life has fallen apart. Her daughter Hope was killed in a hit-and-run accident six months ago, and now Sam, her beloved husband, has walked out. Left alone with her grief, Marion has begun to contemplate the unthinkable. However, even her suicide plans go awry.

Firstly, she’s all out of pills, and then she’s mugged when she goes out to get more. In fact, it’s the mugging that wakes her up to the fact that she’s perhaps not quite so ready to die as she’d thought: an awkward realisation when you have a knife at your throat. When her mugger’s girlfriend intervenes in the attack, an unlikely friendship blossoms between the two women and Marion begins to contemplate a future. And what of Sam? He may have given up on their marriage but he hasn’t given up on Marion entirely.

ABBY MCDONALD - THE POPULARITY RULES - 24TH SEPTEMBER

Rule 1: All’s fair in love, war and popularity…Kat Elliot is no social butterfly: she’s spent her life rebelling against phony schmoozing - and it’s led her nowhere. Just as she’s ready to give up her dreams and admit defeat, in steps Lauren Anderville. One-time allies against their school bullies, Lauren and Kat had been inseparable. Then one year later Lauren returned from summer camp - blonde, bubbly and suddenly popular, and Kat was left to face the world alone. Lauren finally wants to make amends by teaching

Kat the secret to her success: “The Popularity Rules”. A decades-old rulebook, its secrets transformed Lauren that fateful summer. And so, tempted by Lauren’s promises of glitzy parties and the job she’s always dreamed of, Kat reluctantly submits to a total makeover - only to find that life with the in-crowd might have something going for it after all. But while Lauren has sacrificed everything to get ahead, is Kat really ready to accept that popularity is the only prize that counts?

CLAIRE ALLAN - JUMPING IN PUDDLES - 24TH SEPTEMBER

Jumping in Puddles is the story of 4 different characters – each of then lone parents brought together by the wonderful Detta O’Neill in the small Donegal village of Rathinch.

The book deals with grief, betrayal, domestic violence and friendship – and yet, it’s still a comedy of sorts!

I was sent a copy of Claire Allan’s second book “Feels Like Maybe” by publishers Poolbeg and loved it, so I was thrilled to see Claire has another book coming out in September 2009. Jumping in Puddles is “the story of 4 different characters - each of then lone parents brought together by the wonderful Detta O’Neill in the small Donegal village of Rathinch. The book deals with grief, betrayal, domestic violence and friendship - and yet, it’s still a comedy of sorts!” It sounds like a great read, so look out for it from 24th September.

You can read the first chapter exclusively on Claire’s blog.

** Read our exclusive interview with Claire Allan here **

Aoife is in an on/off relationship with Jake, but things hit the skids permanently when Aoife finds herself unexpectedly pregnant. Jake doesn’t want to know so she is left to deal with the hormones of pregnancy and shocks of birth all alone. She hasn’t even got her mum because they don’t get on, and they’re back home in Ireland while she’s in London.

On the other hand, her best friend Beth and husband Dan have been secretly trying to get pregnant with no success, and they’re devastated. They put on a brave front to Aoife, but inside they’re falling apart. Why can’t Beth just tell her best friend of her woes? Will Aoife and Jake work it out, or is someone special lurking around the corner?

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