Book Review: Hollywood Ending

Nancy’s Review of Hollywood Ending by Lucie Simone

Trina Stewart lives and works in Hollywood but her life is anything but glamorous. She is an English as a Second Language teacher who is waiting for her big break into the production side of the entertainment industry. Her luck begins to change for the better when a gorgeous guy from New Zealand moves into the apartment above hers. But Trina quickly learns that Matiu is only in Hollywood for a short period of time while he takes a scene design class and then he is going back to NZ. It becomes difficult for both of them to deny their obvious attraction to each other despite his looming departure. Lucie Simone’s Hollywood Ending is a novel about finding true love in a city that has a reputation for being the home to many failed relationships.

Matiu is head over heels for Trina from the start but he tries to deny it, even going so far as to reject her advances out of fear that he’ll lose focus on his career if he pursues a relationship with her. Matiu really begins to chase Trina after she spots him at a Hollywood nightclub surrounded by other women and leaves out of jealousy. He must prove to her that he is not "that guy," that it was all a misunderstanding, and that he really does like her. Unfortunately, he’s too late and she has moved on to dating Blake, an aspiring actor. Trina falls hard for Blake while Matiu desperately tries to win her over. It is a typical love triangle that even involves a physical altercation in public between Matiu and Blake. Needless to say, Trina is conflicted and looks to her friend Juliet for much needed advice. Which guy will Trina choose? What about her career? Will Trina get her own happy Hollywood ending?

Trina is an engaging character who will keep readers interested throughout the novel. Matiu seems like a genuine, good guy but his efforts to win Trina over get a bit desperate and pathetic. It is all in the name of love though, so readers will most likely forgive him. Juliet is a fun best friend character who tells it like it is to Trina. After all, what are best friends for? Readers will appreciate her honesty amidst all of the drama. Hollywood Ending is much racier than most chick lit. It is a story that will be enjoyable for fans of both steamy romance novels and chick lit.
 

Lucie Simone is the author of short story A Taste of Italy and novella The Waterdance. Hollywood Ending is her debut novel and was published by her own independent press Simon and Fig. She also has four book projects in the works and a blog. Lucie will be stopping by on Friday as part of her book blog tour to discuss the process of starting her own press. Stay tuned! In the meantime, you can follow Lucie on Twitter to learn more about her and her upcoming projects. 

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Book Review: The One That I Want

Elise’s Review of The One That I Want by Allison Winn Scotch

Tilly Farmer thinks she has the perfect life. She is married, has a great job, and is trying for a baby. She is blissfully happy, or so she thinks. But, when she is given the chance to look into her future she suddenly realizes that her life might not end up turning out the way she has always planned. Tilly is left to discover the true meaning of happiness, and ends up learning that “Happiness is what you choose, what you follow, not what follows you.”

Throughout the story Tilly uncovers secrets about her husband, her family, and her friends and learns that she doesn’t know anyone as well as she thinks she does. While Tilly isn’t always a likable protagonist, she evolves throughout the novel and gains clarity about herself and others that helps mold her into a stronger, and more admirable woman. Scotch carefully depicts the excitement, frustration, and despair that Tilly experiences as she uncovers the true colors of herself and those around her.

Allison Winn Scotch has contributed freelance articles to many magazines, including InStyle, Glamour, Self, Shape, Parents, and American Baby, and is also the author of The Department of Lost and Found and Time of My Life: A Novel. For more information about the author and her books, you can visit her website http://www.allisonwinn.com or follow her on Twitter http://twitter.com/aswinn. To learn more about other books published by Random House, you can visit http://www.randomhouse.com.  

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Book Review: Good Enough To Eat

Elise’s Review of Good Enough to Eat by Stacey Ballis

Is it possible to make food that tastes amazing and is also good for you? Melanie Hoffman, the protagonist of Good Enough to Eat, thinks it is, and she lost 145 pounds by learning how to make and eat healthy and delicious food. Unfortunately, while she was busy losing weight and starting a healthy-food café, her husband of nine years decided to leave her for her overweight girlfriend. Distraught and betrayed, Melanie makes some major life changes, gets a new roommate, and learns a little bit about herself in the process.

Good Enough to Eat is a story about friendship, family, understanding love, difficult choices, and, of course, food. Stacey Ballis starts each chapter with a memory or story about food that was important in Melanie’s life and ties it in throughout the chapter. She even includes her healthy and not-so-healthy recipes at the end of the book. This book is an enjoyable, quick read for anyone who likes to cook (or wants to learn) or anyone who just loves food. By the end of the book, you’ll want to head right over to your kitchen and make some of Susan’s Banana Cake with Chocolate Frosting or some decadent mashed potatoes. 

Stacey Ballis is also the author of Inappropriate Men, Sleeping Over, Room for Improvement, and Spinster Sisters. For more information about Stacey or Good Enough to Eat you can visit her website at http://www.staceyballis.com, visit her blog at http://www.thepolymathchronicles.blogspot.com, or follow her on Twitter (@staceyballis). 

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Book Review: Magnolia Wednesdays

Nancy's Review of Magnolia Wednesdays by Wendy Wax

Wendy Wax's Magnolia Wednesdays tells the story of Vivien, a forty-one year old investigative journalist, and Melanie, Vivien's widowed sister who owns a ballroom dance studio. When Vivien loses her job and finds out she is pregnant, she decides to leave New York to stay with Melanie in the suburbs of Atlanta. She takes a low paying job with the Weekly Encounter to write a column called Postcards from Suburbia under a pseudonym. Vivien does not tell Melanie that she is pregnant, writing a negative column about suburban life, or that she is investigating the case of Melanie's deceased husband. Vivien struggles to keep these secrets while she becomes more and more involved in Melanie's life and the lives of Melanie's teenage children, Shelby and Trip. The story also focuses on two of Melanie's dance students, Ruth and Angela. 

  

Magnolia Wednesdays is an enjoyable read. It is great to read a book that depicts a group of women bonding and supporting each other rather than backstabbing. Even though there is some conflict between Ruth and Vivien, they all become a close group of friends. It is also nice to see the range in age of the female characters. The author wrote genuine dialogue from Shelby to Ruth, despite the vast age difference. It is fun reading how Vivien becomes such an important part of Melanie's life again and how much they really need each other. However, when the story is told from Angela's point of view, it becomes boring. She is not as necessary as the other main characters. Also, the lack of more scenes with Stone, the father of Vivien's child, is disappointing. He seems like a fun character and a really genuine guy, so other readers will most likely wish for more of him. Since the point-of-view changes mid-scene in some chapters, there are some minor issues with the flow, making it confusing to follow at times. Despite these issues, there are a lot of great aspects to this book. Readers will enjoy the friendships between very different women who discover that they have more in common than they initially thought.

 

Wendy Wax is also the author of 7 Days and 7 Nights, Leave It to Cleavage, Hostile Makeover, Single in Suburbia, and The Accidental Bestseller. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and two sons. To learn more about Wendy and her books, please visit http://www.authorwendywax.com. 

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Book Review: Georgia's Kitchen

Kelly's Review of Georgia's Kitchen by Jenny Nelson

Author Jenny Nelson’s debut novel Georgia’s Kitchen is a gourmand and chick lit lover’s dream come true. Set in both NYC and Tuscany, Italy, the reader follows Georgia Gray on her journey to find love, courage to follow her passion and most importantly, herself.

At thirty-three years old, Georgia is head chef at one of New York City’s swankiest eateries and fiancé to Glenn, a successful lawyer. All of a sudden, her world comes crashing down around her when a slanderous restaurant review costs Georgia her job and Glenn unexpectedly calls off the wedding. With a ruined reputation and a broken heart, Georgia decides to escape from the city and spend the summer in Tuscany cooking for her former mentor.

Endless amounts of cheese, wine, and her new Italian lover, Gianni, revive Georgia and quickly have her feeling like herself again. After a fairytale summer, she is faced with the decision to take the opportunity of a lifetime or return to NYC and follow her dream – to open her own restaurant.

Nelson navigates the culinary world with such ease, one would guess she studied at Le Cordon Bleu in a former life. Her descriptions of ingredients and entrees are so deliciously detailed that you can almost taste them.

Georgia’s Kitchen tackles a number of issues to which nearly every twenty and thirty-something woman can relate. Georgia asks herself “When will I find The One?” “If I do find him, will I still be young enough to have children?” “Do I even want children?” “Should I have started a family rather than focus on my career?” Georgia’s struggle to separate societal and familial expectations from what she really wants out of life is a familiar predicament for the modern woman.

Nelson has worked as a web editor and producer for companies such as iVillage, Vogue.com and Style.com. She now lives with her husband, twin daughters and dog in Millbrook, NY and Manhattan.

Visit http://www.jennynelsonauthor.com/ for more information about Nelson and the latest news on her upcoming work.
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