Contributor Spotlight: Review of Until the End of Forever

Nancy's Review of Until the End of Forever by Shannon Hart

In Until the End of Forever, Sarah Matthews has recurring nightmares that she is drowning and she can’t figure out why. They have gotten so bad that they are disrupting her life. Sarah has a devoted husband, Rob, and two children, Katie and Josh. She also has a small graphic design company with her sister-in-law, Lucy. Sarah thinks she has it all, but her subconscious tells her otherwise. The nightmares gnaw at her when she is asleep and awake. Her friend, Samantha, is able to tell that she is unhappy and tells her repeatedly to see a therapist, something Sarah refuses to do. When they both have lunch with Rhonda, Sarah’s previous boss, Rhonda presents Sarah with an opportunity to go to Paris for a few weeks to work on coffee table books. Sarah is reluctant to leave her family but realizes that this could be the way to clear her head and finally get past her awful nightmares. After convincing Rob that Paris is exactly what she needs, Sarah leaves everything behind, seeking a change of scenery, new people, relaxation, and a new perspective on her life. However, when she gets there, she wonders if she made the right choice. She worries that her absence is hurting her marriage and her relationships with her kids. She worries that she won’t find any of the answers she is looking for in Paris. But, most of all, she worries that things will never be the same when she returns from her trip.

This book is told from both Sarah’s and Rob’s perspectives. There are a lot of flashbacks throughout the book to the beginning of Sarah’s and Rob’s relationship, detailing what led them to their current situation. They have been inseparable since they met, but their relationship is put to the test when Sarah chooses to go to Paris. The flashbacks provide some necessary background information but the story could have been a bit better with less of them and more action in the present instead. Hart paints an accurate picture of a marriage in a rut. Many people will be able to relate to Sarah’s feelings that her life has become mundane, predictable, and boring. She seeks excitement but isn’t exactly sure how to find it, a common problem for people who get caught up in family life and their careers, forgetting to take time for themselves. Sarah and Rob face a road filled with uncertainty, tragedy, and loss on their way to rediscovering each other and what they want out of life. Until the End of Forever is a quick, thought provoking read. Readers who enjoy Hart’s short stories will definitely enjoy her novel.

Shannon Hart is a contributor here at The Chick Lit Bee. She writes short stories regularly for us. Until the End of Forever is her first novel and she is currently finishing up her second manuscript. Aside from writing, Shannon enjoys reading, shopping, and movie nights with her husband. To learn more visit www.shannon-hart.com and follow Shannon on Twitter.
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Check out the publisher of Until the End of Forever, Black Leaf Publishing. 

Book Review: Rumor Has It

Kelly's Review of Rumor Has It by Jill Mansell

Jill Mansell’s Rumor Has It begins in the same fashion as many novels of this genre. Main character, Tilly Cole, is spurred to make some dramatic life changes after being unexpectedly dumped by her boyfriend. After a visit to see her best friend, Erin, Tilly impulsively accepts a new job as a Girl Friday and moves to a small town outside of London.

Tilly’s employer, Max, is a successful interior designer who has a thirteen-year-old daughter, Lou. Tilly quickly learns that in a small town like Roxborough, gossip and scandals are virtually unavoidable. She also learns about the local heartthrob, Jack, and his playboy status. Tilly heeds Max and Erin’s advice to avoid getting involved with him, but the more she gets to know Jack, the harder it is for her to stay away.

Mansell creates many interwoven story lines, which is somewhat reminiscent of a soap opera. This style lends itself well to the small town setting where everyone knows everyone’s business. Character development seems to be Mansell’s strong suit, as each character has his or her own idiosyncrasies and quirky charm. While the overall tone is light and fun, Mansell addresses some serious issues as well, such as illness, homosexuality, divorce, bullying and grief and loss. Though the book is just over four hundred pages in length, it is a fast-paced page-turner that was difficult to put down.

Mansell lives with her partner and children in Bristol and writes full time. In addition to Rumor Has It, Mansell has written many other books, which have sold over three million copies. Some of her other titles include Take A Chance on Me, Millie's Fling, An Offer You Can't Refuse, Making Your Mind Up, Fast Friends, Good at Games, and Sheer Mischief. To learn more about Mansell and her books, please visit http://www.jillmansell.co.uk and http://twitter.com/JillMansell.
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Book Review: The Love Goddess' Cooking School

Nancy's Review of The Love Goddess' Cooking School by Melissa Senate

In The Love Goddess’ Cooking School, Holly Maguire leaves California after a tough break-up to visit her grandmother, Camilla, on Blue Crab Island in Maine. Shortly after Holly arrives, Camilla passes away, leaving Holly to pick up the pieces and continue her grandmother’s legacy by running her Italian food store and teaching cooking classes. The only problem is that Holly doesn’t know how to cook that well, despite watching her grandmother cook when she was younger. Holly is grief stricken and lacks confidence in her abilities in the kitchen. She must push through her obstacles in order to honor her grandmother. In the process, she meets a group of interesting people who sign up for her first cooking class. One of them is an eleven year old girl named Mia who is determined to learn to cook for her single father, so that he won’t marry his girlfriend who Mia hates. Holly takes Mia under her wing, growing very close to Mia and her dad, Liam, but his girlfriend and an unexpected long-term visit from his ex-wife make everything very complicated. Holly is also determined to start getting catering jobs, so that she can make enough money to keep the business she inherited open. While getting to know the people of Blue Crab Island and reading her grandmother’s diary, Holly discovers secrets from the past and present. She learns more than she ever thought she would about her newfound friends, her family, and most importantly, herself.

Senate writes beautifully from start to finish. She paints an engaging an inviting picture of life on Blue Crab Island and all of its quirky residents. Holly’s shortcomings will be easy for readers to relate to and they will be rooting for her to succeed all the way until the last page. Her relationship with Mia is heartwarming, giving Holly a chance to display her motherly instincts, even though she doesn’t have children of her own yet. The other characters are well developed and will keep readers interested throughout the novel. The drawback of this book is that Holly’s grandmother, Camilla, is not in any of the scenes since she is deceased. Readers learn about her through her diary and Holly’s memories. Camilla seems like such an engaging, wise, and fun woman that it is really a shame that she is not physically present in the story. Understandably, her death is the catalyst for Holly’s journey but, most likely, readers will close the book still wanting to learn more about her. If the story were restructured a bit, perhaps Camilla could have been in a nursing home or in the hospital or had some other reason for needing Holly to take over, that way Holly could have still had an adventure and also spoken to Camilla. But then it would have been a very different book. Overall, The Love Goddess’ Cooking School is an enchanting story that will capture the hearts of foodies and hopeless romantics.
 
Melissa Senate is the author of ten novels in adult fiction and young adult fiction including See Jane Date, The Solomon Sisters Wise Up, Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?, Theodora Twist, The Breakup Club, Love You To Death, Questions to Ask Before Marrying, The Secret of Joy, The Mosts, and The Love Goddess' Cooking School. Check out our interview with her here to learn more about how she started her writing career.

For more information:
Follow Melissa on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MelissaSenate 
Visit her page on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MelissaSenate
Visit her website: http://www.melissasenate.com/
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Book Review: Remember Me?

Nancy’s Review of Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

Lexi Smart has amnesia. When she wakes up in the hospital after a car accident, she thinks it is 2004 when it is actually 2007. She struggles to remember how she went from having the nickname "snaggletooth" and working at a dead-end job to being a successful, wealthy executive with perfect teeth and toned body who is married to a handsome millionaire. Lexi can’t find the pieces to the puzzle that is her life. When she leaves the hospital and returns home with her husband, Eric, she enters a world completely unfamiliar to her. She must adjust to a carb-free diet, a personal shopper, a high-tech loft filled with the most expensive furnishings, a housekeeper, and all new friends.

It is difficult for Lexi to understand how her life changed so drastically. At first, she is appreciative of her glamorous lifestyle but soon discovers that it isn’t all it is cracked up to be. She misses her old friends, chocolate, bread, and most importantly she misses being able to be herself. Eric is controlling and annoying, and despite his best efforts to make Lexi happy, she finds that she is not attracted to him. When she encounters the architect, Jon, who works with Eric and he reveals that she was having an affair with him before she was in the car accident, Lexi is floored. She can’t imagine herself as an unfaithful person, trying to resist Jon’s advances and his stories of their relationship. Everything becomes overwhelming for Lexi and she wonders if she will ever get her memory back or if she will just have to start over again.

Remember Me? is another fun book from Sophie Kinsella. Like her other books, this one is filled with humor, surprises, and quirky characters. While most readers will not be able to relate to an amnesiac, they will be able to relate to Lexi as someone who realizes she needs to make changes in her life. She is a character who desperately wants to be herself and be true to who she is, even if it is not what is expected of her in the glamorous, new world she finds herself in. Kinsella’s book teaches a valuable lesson in that it reminds us to never lose ourselves or lose sight of what is really important while pursuing success. The characters in Remember Me? are well developed and lively, painting an accurate picture of Lexi’s world. This is not Kinsella’s best novel, but it is worth the read for fans of her work and those just discovering her incredible writing talent.

Kinsella is the New York Times bestselling author of the Shopaholic series as well as The Undomestic Goddess, Can You Keep A Secret?, and Twenties Girl. She also writes under her real name Madeleine Wickham. To learn more about Kinsella and her novels, you can visit http://www.sophiekinsella.co.uk and http://www.facebook.com/SophieKinsellaOfficial. 
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Book Review: Elixir

Nancy’s Review of Elixir by Hilary Duff with Elise Allen

In Hilary Duff’s Elixir, Clea Raymond is the seventeen-year-old daughter of a well-known surgeon and a popular politician. At a young age, Clea becomes a photojournalist and travels the world, camera in hand at all times. After her father disappears while on a humanitarian mission in Rio de Janeiro, Clea starts having nightmares that she can’t ignore. She seeks therapy to help her deal with the disappearance of her father, but she is still haunted by her frightening dreams.

While on a trip abroad with her best friend Rayna, Clea gets quite a scare when she thinks Rayna is caught in a building fire in Paris. Luckily, Rayna is okay, so Clea regains her composure enough to take pictures of the enormous blaze. When they return home to Connecticut, Clea views her pictures of the fire and notices a strange young man in the background. She soon finds that he is in the background of all of her photos. She is shocked to see that a stranger accompanied her on her entire trip. The man in the photos literally becomes the man of her dreams as she starts seeing him when she is awake and asleep. Clea can’t get him out of her head or her heart. When she is offered a photo assignment in Rio de Janeiro, she jumps at the chance to go there and delve deeper into her father’s disappearance. Her close friend/guardian Ben accompanies her to Rio where they come face to face with the mysterious man, Sage. Clea learns of Sage’s connection to her father and more about the Elixir of Life that her father was desperate to find prior to his disappearance. Clea soon finds herself in a love triangle as she travels with Sage and Ben to Tokyo in pursuit of the elixir.

Elixir is an exciting adventure that keeps you guessing until the last page. This paranormal love story is intriguing with beautifully written relationships. Readers will want Clea to be with Sage but also wish for more than friendship between Clea and Ben, thus creating the perfect love triangle. Rayna is quirky and supportive, necessary attributes of any engaging best friend character. Anyone who is skeptical of the writing abilities of actress/singer Duff will be pleasantly surprised. She has written a compelling, gripping story that will leave readers wanting more. The good news is that Clea’s story will carry through to a sequel. Elixir is a planned two-book series that may even continue on to more than two books. Clea’s journey is far from over. 

Duff gained popularity with a starring role on Disney’s Lizzie McGuire. From there, she went on to appear in films, TV shows, sell more than thirteen million albums, develop a clothing line for DKNY, and release a bestselling fragrance. She is also actively involved with the charity Blessings in a Backpack and was named the ambassador to the youth of Bogota, Columbia. Elixir is Duff’s first novel, which she wrote with Elise Allen. Allen is a writer of young adult and children’s fiction, as well as television and Internet programs. She blogs every Monday at The Debutante Ball, a group blog for debut authors. Allen’s debut young adult novel, Populazzi, will be released on August 1st.

Reviewer’s Note: I have a few predictions for Elixir, a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. I think it will be extended past two books and will be a three or four-book series. I also think that eventually it will be developed into a TV series that will be produced by Duff.