Book Review: The Divorce Party

Nancy’s Review of The Divorce Party by Laura Dave

How hard should you work to be with the person you love? Laura Dave’s The Divorce Party, published by Penguin Books, follows the stories of Gwyn Huntington and Maggie Mackenzie who ask themselves this question. Gwyn is throwing a party to celebrate her divorce and Maggie is planning to marry Gwyn’s son, Nate. The novel is written from both Gwyn’s and Maggie’s perspectives, alternating by chapter. Both perspectives give readers a clear picture of how the lives of these two women intersect, despite their differences.

Gwyn has been married to Thomas Huntington for nearly thirty-five years. They live wealthy lives in a Victorian home called Hunt Hall in Montauk, New York. Maggie has been dating Nate for eighteen months and they live in Brooklyn, New York in a modest apartment above the restaurant they plan to open together. Nate decides to bring Maggie home to meet his parents for the first time on the day of the divorce party. That same morning, Nate also decides to tell Maggie that his family is wealthy, a fact that he has kept from Maggie throughout their relationship. As a result, Maggie is confused by the news and does not understand why Nate kept his upbringing and his family’s wealth a secret from her. She begins to question their relationship and a chance encounter on the bus to Montauk with one of Nate’s ex-girlfriends leaves Maggie with even more questions. Meanwhile, Gwyn is struggling to let her marriage go. Despite her husband’s lies, which she tells him she believes, she actually knows his real reason for ending their marriage. She knows the secret that he has been hiding from her and their children. As she relives memories of happier times and acknowledges that she has devoted her life to their marriage and to Hunt Hall, she can’t help but wonder what happens next. What will happen after the divorce party?

The Divorce Party questions whether or not you can truly know someone. It is an insightful novel filled with honesty, humor, and charm. The relationships are believable, making it easy to jump into the lives of the characters and feel what they are feeling. This novel also has some unexpected twists that will keep readers absorbed in the story, eagerly wanting to see where each page will take them. The Divorce Party is highly recommended for anyone who has ever been in love.

Laura Dave is also the author of London Is the Best City in America and the forthcoming The First Husband. Her writing has been featured in several publications including The New York Times, Redbook, and Glamour. The film rights for The Divorce Party have been picked up by Universal Studios and the film will be produced by Echo Films, Jennifer Aniston’s production company. For more information about Laura Dave and her novels, please visit her Web site and follow her updates on Twitter.
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What do you think of this review? Have you read/will you read The Divorce Party? Let us know!

Book Review: Italian for Beginners

Nancy’s Review of Italian for Beginners by Kristin Harmel

Italian for Beginners is a fun getaway from author Kristin Harmel, who has written six novels, four for adults and two for teens. Published by 5 Spot, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, Italian For Beginners takes readers on Cat Connelly’s journey as she goes outside of her comfort zone to visit her former lover, Francesco, in Italy. 

Prompted by an embarrassing incident at her sister’s wedding where she is painfully reminded just how single she is, Cat goes to Rome after exchanging emails with Francesco. However, reuniting with him is not what she thought it would be, leaving her stranded. Luckily, Cat meets Karina, a waitress who is willing to help her out and give her a place to stay. Karina and Cat become sources of support and encouragement for each other. Together they form an unlikely friendship and help each other realize what family really means.

The opening wedding scene is far-fetched, but it is worth reading to get to the Italian adventure. Rome is described in vivid detail and it will make readers wish they were on their own getaway in this beautiful city. The references to American popular culture, including nods to the Audrey Hepburn movie Roman Holiday, are clever and amusing. Harmel has the ability to write stories that are entertaining and funny but are also filled with emotion and self-discovery.

For another exciting European escape, be sure to also check out Harmel’s The Art of French Kissing. To learn more about Harmel, you can visit her Web site, become a fan on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter. You can also learn more about the books published by 5 Spot on their Web site.
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What do you think of this review? Do you want to read Italian for Beginners? Have you already read it or read any of Harmel's other novels? Let us know!

The New Triple Threat?

The most common triple threat among celebrities is acting, singing, and dancing. So many celebrities can do it all (JLo, Britney, Justin Timberlake, just to name a few). But there is a slightly different triple threat that seems to be emerging among celebrities and it includes being a chick lit author. Here are some examples of the new trend:

Lauren Conrad - best known for her role on the reality show The Hills on MTV. She is a reality star, a fashion designer, and an author. She writes the L.A. Candy series about friends who move to L.A. and join the cast of a reality show. So original, right?
Nicole Richie - best known as Paris Hilton's former best friend and as daughter of Lionel Richie. She is a reality star, a fashion designer, and an author. Seeing a pattern? She wrote The Truth About Diamonds a few years ago and her new novel Priceless comes out next week. The Truth About Diamonds is about a girl who has a life very similar to Richie's. No surprise there.
Sharon Osbourne - best known as Ozzy's wife and for being on the reality show The Osbournes. She is a reality star, a television personality, and an author. She wrote Revenge, a book about two sisters who are both vying for fame.
Lo Bosworth - another person to come from The Hills. She is a reality star, a blogger, and an author. She wrote The Lo Down, which will be published in January. It is a book of dating advice. Technically, it probably isn't chick lit but it's close. She manages a blog of the same name.
Hilary Duff - best known as Disney's Lizzie McGuire, for various movie roles, and for singing. Hilary Duff is the exception to the new triple threat theory. She is an actress, singer, producer, fashion designer, and author. Oh, and she has perfumes too. Her first book, Elixir, comes out next month. It is about the daughter of a politician who is a photojournalist and has lived her whole life in the spotlight. Similarly, Duff has been in the spotlight since she was a child.

Aside from Bosworth's dating book, the pattern among these novels is that they are all about fame. Write what you know, right? I wonder if these novels really add anything to the genre. Would these celebrities ever have written novels if they weren't famous? Do they write only because they know they can get their books published? Are books just more things for them to sell under their already popular names? I question the intentions of celebrity authors. For them, books seem to be just another product. I think they release books because they can and not because they have always dreamed of being writers. I could be wrong but I'm skeptical of their intentions. What do you think?

Nancy

Reel Influences

Happy Monday! Hope you all had a great weekend. :)

I was organizing my growing movie collection over the weekend and I came across some old favorites that could be the inspiration for today's chick lit. A lot of films are based on books but can books be based on films? I think films, particularly romantic comedies, have definitely inspired the chick lit genre. Some of my favorite movies from the late 80s and 90s are When Harry Met Sally, Now and Then, While You Were Sleeping, It Could Happen to You, Sleepless in Seattle, Never Been Kissed, and My Best Friend's Wedding. The general plots of these films continue to pop up in today's books and films. There's the woman who is trying to get an ex-boyfriend back before he marries someone else, the male/female friendship that never stays just a friendship, the four best friends who grew up together and still need each other years later, the ordinary woman who is down on her luck but meets a man who helps her turn her life around, the woman who must face her past to move forward and find love, the ever popular case of amnesia, and the two characters who are separated by distance but destined to be together somehow. These plots are seen again and again but I think it is really exciting to see a familiar plot done in a unique way with extraordinary dialogue and plenty of twists and turns. Sometimes it feels like these plots are tired and have been done too much. However, I think that is what is so exciting about this genre. There are new authors emerging all the time, updating familiar stories, which ultimately become new stories. It's kind of like the old game Telephone. If you tell someone a story, when they tell it again to someone else, it is always different.

Nancy

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What are your favorite romantic comedies from the 80s and 90s? Which traditional plots have you seen that were given modern makeovers? What do you think about films influencing books? Let us know!

Book Review: The Finishing Touches

Nancy's Review of The Finishing Touches by Hester Browne

Hester Browne has done it again with her fourth novel. The Finishing Touches is another expertly crafted story to come from the New York Times bestselling author of The Little Lady Agency trilogy. Published by Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, The Finishing Touches is a story about finding yourself amidst uncertainties in various aspects of your life. It is a story anyone can relate to.

Betsy Phillimore is the adopted daughter of Lord and Lady Phillimore who operate a finishing school in London. At twenty seven years old, Betsy comes back to the school after the loss of her mother. She finds the school in danger of closing and in desperate need of attention. She sets out to update the curriculum and bring the school back to life because she knows it is what her mother would have wanted. Betsy has always been curious about her birth parents and also decides to look for her birth mother. She feels lost and uncertain of who she truly is because she does not know the background of her biological parents or why they gave her up. Like many chick lit protagonists, Betsy has a lackluster love life that needs as much attention as the finishing school. She secretly desires her best friend Liv’s brother, Jamie, and has had a crush on him since they were kids. She struggles with his playboy lifestyle and the fact that the fantasy of being with him might be better than actually being with him. The students at the finishing school add a lot of fun to this novel. These girls are spoiled but they are trying to find their way in the world just as much as Betsy is, despite coming from wealthy backgrounds. Everyone is trying to figure out where they fit in.

Like Browne’s other novels, the relationships in The Finishing Touches are written incredibly well with believable, fresh dialogue. Browne really knows her characters, conveying them as endearing and witty. Betsy is a lovable protagonist who narrates the novel but it is Jamie who is the bright spot in this story. Browne truly has a knack for developing male characters, as also seen in her other novels. The Finishing Touches is a charming and unique story that is sure to touch readers. The Little Lady Agency trilogy is preferable but The Finishing Touches is a solid effort from Browne as her first departure from the Little Lady stories. The Finishing Touches is another winner among British chick lit.

For more information about The Finishing Touches, check out Simon & Schuster’s Web page for the novel where you can read about how Browne came up with the idea for it. You can also follow updates from Browne on Twitter. Her next novel, Swept Off Her Feet, is set for release in March of next year.
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What do you think of this review? Have you read/will you read The Finishing Touches or any of Browne's other novels? Let us know!