Book Review: Names My Sisters Call Me

Nancy’s Review of Names My Sisters Call Me by Megan Crane
 

Names My Sisters Call Me is a novel about the dysfunctional relationships between the Cassel sisters. It tells the story of Courtney’s journey as she tries to bring her sisters, Raine and Norah, together after a falling out six years ago. Norah cannot forgive Raine for ruining Norah’s wedding and then running away to California. Courtney still cannot make sense of Raine’s actions either but knows she wants Raine at her own wedding to her fiancé, Lucas. She decides to accompany Lucas on a trip to San Francisco to find Raine and figure out why she never called or kept in touch at all over the years.
 
Courtney is a driven person who is a professional cellist with the Philadelphia Second Symphony Orchestra. She loves Lucas and loves Norah, despite Norah’s controlling behavior and harsh attitude. Even though Courtney’s life is seemingly going well, she has not been able to fill the void that Raine left when she disappeared. Also, she has not been able to forget about her first love, Matt, who left her to follow Raine to California. Courtney must confront the past to mend the present and bring her family back together. Has everything gone too far though? Will these sisters be able to reconnect despite their many differences?

The characters in Names My Sisters Call Me are humorous, engaging individuals. Crane captured the stark personality differences between the Cassel sisters but also incorporated some of their similarities. She did so with wit and charm, creating a dynamic between the sisters that is believable. It is likely that all readers have had an ex-boyfriend like Matt. He is the one who got away, should have gotten away, and needs to stay away for Courtney’s sake. Her relationship with him is confusing and complicated. As she develops her own identity, Courtney’s transformation throughout the book is refreshing and inspiring. Names My Sisters Call Me is worth reading for anyone who has sisters, has family issues, relationship issues, or just wants to dive into a well-written story about different kinds of love.

Crane is also the author of Frenemies, Everyone Else’s Girl, English as a Second Language, and forthcoming I Love the 80s. She contributed to anthologies It’s a Wonderful Lie: 26 Truths About Life in Your Twenties and Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume. She also writes romance novels under the pen name Caitlin Crews. For more information, please visit
http://megancrane.com and http://www.caitlincrews.com.

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Have you read any novels by Megan Crane? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section. Thanks! 

Book Review: Nancy's Theory of Style

Nancy’s Review of Nancy’s Theory of Style by Grace Coopersmith (Marta Acosta)

Nancy Carrington-Chambers is a socialite who moves to her own apartment in San Francisco after separating from her husband, Todd. She dives into her event planning business, Froth, and hires a British assistant named Derek Cathcart. Nancy is attracted to him but assumes that he is gay. She tries to sort out her feelings for Derek and the details of her impending divorce but must confront an even more important situation when her cousin, Birdie, leaves her daughter, Eugenia, with Nancy indefinitely. Nancy, Derek, and Eugenia soon become an unconventional family. Will Nancy be able to leave her new family behind for her old socialite lifestyle? Is Derek really who he says he is? Nancy’s usual controlling attitude must take a back seat when she realizes that there are so many things in her life that she cannot control.

Nancy's Theory of Style is a good effort from Grace Coopersmith, who also writes the Casa Dracula series under her real name, Marta Acosta. However, the characters in this book were difficult to relate to. Nancy is very snobby throughout the book. Coopersmith likely wrote Nancy’s character this way on purpose since she is supposed to be a stuck up socialite. However, her attitude does not transform enough during the course of the book. Without giving too much away, it should also be noted that Derek’s dialogue and tone can be very frustrating to read. Coopersmith does have a purpose for writing Derek’s dialogue this way but it distracts from the story. The relationship between Derek and Nancy is lacking as well. More of a connection between them and further development of their friendship would have been ideal. Coopersmith does have a knack for detail, revealing engaging information about design, architecture, and fashion.

Acosta says she uses a pen name to write romantic comedy "because Grace Coopersmith is always elegant and tasteful, and she never leaves her clothes in a pile on a chair or sings to her dogs. Despite Grace's annoying superiority, she is hilarious and always shows up with a good bottle of wine." To read an interview with Coopersmith, you can go here. You can also learn more about her at http://www.martaacosta.com, read her blog at http://vampirewire.blogspot.com, or follow her on Twitter. The books in the Casa Dracula series include Happy Hour at Casa Dracula, Midnight Brunch at Casa Dracula, The Bride of Casa Dracula, and Haunted Honeymoon.
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Have you read Nancy's Theory of Style of any of the Casa Dracula books? Share your thoughts with us by posting a comment. Thanks!

Book Review: The Opposite of Love

Nancy's Review of The Opposite of Love by Julie Buxbaum

 

Emily Haxby is lost. She decides to end her two-year relationship with her boyfriend Andrew when she thinks he is going to propose. She hates her mind numbing job as an attorney. She has a rocky relationship with her father. And she still harbors grief and guilt over the loss of her mother when she was fourteen. Emily dives into her work to try to ignore her sadness, but it only gets worse. To top it all off, her "favorite person in the world" Grandpa Jack is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Emily can't handle much more. She is still in love with Andrew but he wants to move on. After she finally quits her job, she succumbs to depression and does not leave her couch for days. Her best friend Jessica comes to her rescue and Emily starts seeing a therapist. The Opposite of Love is the story of one woman's journey to overcome loss, confront her inner demons, and learn how to love so that she can truly begin to live.  

 

Buxbaum's debut shows tremendous potential for a successful writing career. She has the ability to draw readers in with compelling characters and raw emotion. Many people will be able to relate to Emily's insecurities. The portrayal of the corporate world is accurate and can apply to many industries. The favoritism and scandal that goes on behind closed doors can happen at any company, making Emily's experiences and decisions even more understandable. Buxbaum writes with such detail, wit, and intensity. The scene in which Emily finds out that Grandpa Jack has wandered away from the retirement home is written with such a sense of urgency that the reader can feel Emily's anxiety as she desperately searches for him. Buxbaum is a writing talent not to be ignored.  

 

The Opposite of Love is a novel representing the darker, deeper side of chick lit. Readers will not enjoy this book if they are only looking for the fun, fashion-centric chick lit. Readers will enjoy this book if they are looking for an in depth portrayal of a woman's transformation from completely lost and grief stricken to better understanding herself and her relationships.

 

Buxbaum is also the author of After You. To learn more about her and her books, you can visit http://www.juliebuxbaum.com. You can also follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

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Have you read The Opposite of Love? Do you want to read it? Comment and let us know. Thanks!

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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Do you want to read Hollywood Ending? Have you already read it? What do you think of it? Post a comment below and let us know. Thanks!

Cruisin’ Down Writer’s Block

Creatively stumped. Ideas halted. Word flow obstructed. Distracted thoughts. There are many ways to describe writer’s block. It can be a lonely feeling of failure and frustration. It’s important to remember that writers are not alone. Every writer goes through this perplexed state of uncertainty at some point. I was thinking about how it is called writer’s block and I started to imagine an actual street where writers could come together as a supportive community, encouraging each other to keep going. So, here is my completely fictional tale of my completely fictional visit to Writer’s Block.

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Cruisin’ Down Writer’s Block
by Nancy

Blink. Blink. Blink. I sat at my computer staring at the cursor blinking over and over again on a completely blank page. My eyes blurred. I tried to avert my gaze and focus on something else in the room. I looked over at my bookshelf and that only made it worse. I had to get out and knew exactly where to go. Writer’s Block. As I turned onto the all too familiar street, I saw other writers who were trying to overcome the same issue that was plaguing me. Author A looked up from the latest issue of Us Weekly and nodded hello. Author B resisted pulling away from iPhone distractions but eventually met my gaze and smiled. I immediately felt better. I drove slowly to take it all in. Author C was furiously eating Corn Pops straight from the box while Author D fumbled with a Rubik's Cube. Authors E and F were engaged in a very competitive game of Scrabble. I stared with concern at Author G who kept yelling, "Norm!" over and over again. I was relieved when I caught a glimpse of a rerun of Cheers being broadcast on a laptop. Further down the road, Author H was doing yoga on the sidewalk while Author I paced back and forth nearby, holding a cup of coffee in each hand. Author J was the resident bartender, mixing drinks for the weary. I saw some authors battling it out in a dance-off, doing moves that I was sure the 70s wanted back. I pulled over, got out of my car, and set up shop on the hood so I could join the block in my own way. "Who wants fresh donuts?" I yelled. "Get ‘em while they’re hot!" I instantly made new friends. Jenny from the Block blared from the stereo at the dance-off. "No matter where I go, I know where I came from…" I vowed to never forget cruisin’ down Writer’s Block because the memory would make the bursts of writing that came with ease even sweeter. I realized that struggles would only make me and every other writer better at the craft. I took a bite of my chocolate cruller and smiled. Don’t be fooled by the chapters that I got, I’m still, I’m still, a writer from the block.
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What is writer's block like for you?