Friday, May 17, 2013

Review: Nobody's Damsel by E.M. Tippetts


 Chloe has finished her masters degree and taken a job as a forensic scientist back in her home town of Albuquerque, New Mexico, only the press will not leave her alone. They follow her to crime scenes and report on her every move, eager to show that her marriage to Hollywood A-lister, Jason Vanderholt, is on the brink of collapse. Millions of fans who dream of their own celebrity romance with him want this more than anything. This scrutiny comes at a particularly bad time as Chloe's first case is a crime against a child roughly the same age that Chloe was when she survived a homicide attempt.

Now that she sees the case from an adult's perspective, she realizes it's much harder than she ever dreamed. It's even worse for Jason, who is two steps removed from the crime. He must watch and try to support his wife as she battles with past demons and tries to keep up with a nameless suspect who evades identification and capture. Never has Jason been more frustrated with his job, its frivolities, and its lack of connection to the real world. When he storms off the set of his latest movie, the press goes wild with conjecture. Perhaps he never was anything more than a pretty face after all.


Together, Chloe and Jason must find their way past all the popping flashbulbs and through the dark maze of the criminal investigation to discover whether they can balance their professional goals with the demands of a celebrity marriage. The odds are entirely against them.

This is the sequel to Someone Else's Fairytale that I reviewed back in March.  Picking up shortly after the wedding of Chloe and Jason, we find their marriage on shaky ground as Chloe is starting her first day on the job as a forensic scientist and Jason off on location. Finding herself questioning if their marriage is solid, Chloe has to figure out how to juggle her job and marriage to a hot celebrity that cannot move without his actions being plastered all over a tabloid.  I found the continued love story of these two to be as darling as it was in the first book, clearly both of them in love and unsure of how to handle the pressure of the media and the fans that dream of having Jason for themselves.  I did feel that their relationship was the backstory of this particular book, as the crime she was part of the investigative team on took priority.  That particular story I thought was interesting and kept me eagerly turning the pages to find out how it was resolved.  There is a parallel "movie script" running along with the story, which is interesting to see how it eventually weaves into the crime investigation.
I think that the characters are absolutely charming and extremely likable.  Chloe does still carry around a lot of the emotional baggage from the first book that while frustrating, makes her the woman that Jason falls in love with and is willing to fight for. I hope that we will get a third book in this series as I'm anxious to see what the future holds for these two characters. 
**Everyone who leaves a comment on the CLP Blog Tour book page for Nobody's Damsel will be entered to win a $20 Amazon gift card! Anyone who purchases their copy of Nobody's Damsel before May 20 and sends their receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, will get five bonus entries.**  

Author Bio:
E.M. Tippetts grew up in New Mexico and now lives in London, where she raises two boisterous toddlers, designs jewelry, and writes novels. A former attorney, she used to specialize in real estate and estate planning, specifically literary estate planning. She currently has five novels out, Time & Eternity, Paint Me True, Someone Else's Fairytale, Castles on the Sand, and Nobody's Damsel (Fairytale 2).





Connect with E.M.

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Kobo:
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Nobodys-Damsel/book-RA97XdXRV0iimGgEI5zQAg/page1.html?s=pb2YYCnRV0aYXHiq7xC6ow&r=1

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Review: Love In Translation by Sara Palacios

Still reeling from an unexpected breakup, Emily nurses her broken heart by spending time with her best friends and taking one-too-many vodka shots. After one long night, she takes a hard look inside herself and doesn’t like what she sees. She realizes that she has sacrificed too much in her failed relationships from the past and vows to never settle for anything less than almost-perfect again. As she picks up the pieces and regains her confidence, a sexy Spanish chef moves in across the hall and knocks her off her feet. What ensues is an unexpected and tantalizing affair that opens her eyes - and her heart - to a whole new world and leaves her feeling sexier than she has ever felt. Emily finally sees how easy love is supposed to be. Is happily-ever-after actually possible? Just when she starts to think so, she realizes that sometimes life gets more complicated before it gets easier. And complicated is an understatement when Steven (her best and oldest friend in the world) confesses his love for her. Everything spirals out of control as Emily must make a choice between love and friendship, and in doing so, possibly risk it all. LOVE IN TRANSLATION is a modern day love story about following your heart to unexpected places and taking chances in life … because sometimes you will find exactly what you are looking for.

You have to love a book that opens with your heroine "stalking" an ex-boyfriend, tailing him like a pro in her car, and ducking down to avoid being scene.  And ignoring your best friend wanting to know what in the blue blazes you are doing, of course.  That is how we meet Emily, broken-hearted after boyfriend, David, dumps her for another woman. Emily is a fun lead character to get to know.  She is charming, witty, a little naive at times, but always trying to do the right thing for everyone in her life.  I love the friendship that is displayed between her and her two best girlfriends, Deana and Sophie. And while she is blind to the obvious interest that her best male friend, Steven, has in her, there is a great vibe between them.  Add in the spicy hot new neighbor, Andres, and Emily has a busy schedule on her hands.  I love that you were never certain who Emily would pick...I definitely had my favorite and who I was rooting for (and yay, she picked him) but it was obvious that both men would do right by her.

This is the debut novel of Sara Palacios and you would never guess it.  She writes like she has been doing this professionally for years.  She knows what type of story to weave to get the reader completely invested and to hold them there until the book ends and you give a satisfied sigh of contentment. I read this book in one sitting, knowing that I would be dragging at work the next day but not caring. If you want a book full of humor, friendship, and romance, then I highly recommend taking this one for a spin.

You can purchase LOVE IN TRANSLATION here:

Amazon: Print or Kindle
Barnes and Noble: Nook




Author Bio:
 
When she isn’t busy reading or writing, Sara enjoys spending time with family and friends. She is happily married, the owner of two precious doggies and a new mom to a handsome baby boy. Sara is also an avid animal-lover, runner, yoga enthusiast, wannabe vegan, USA soccer fan, foodie and fashion blog-lover and Christian.

Bio: Sara Palacios is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a major in Advertising and a minor in English Literature. It was during her time in college that she really fell in love with the written word and ventured into writing her own stories. In addition to writing, Sara spends a majority of her time reading the works of other authors.  She reads most genres  – but thoroughly enjoys chick-lit, women’s and historical fiction.

Interview with author Sara Palacios

Most people know Sara Palacios as part of the fabulously awesome team at Chick Lit Plus, but she is also a debut author with her wonderful, LOVE IN TRANSLATION, currently out.  (Stay tuned as my review will be posted in a few minutes as well.) Sara graciously took a few minutes out of her busy day (a little guy in her life means she is one busy mommy) to do a quick interview. I hope you enjoy her as much as I do.   Welcome to Michelle's Book Nook, Sara!

Have you always wanted to write?
To be honest, I haven’t always wanted to write. The itch came early on in college and I haven’t been able to contain it since.

What inspired you to write LOVE IN TRANSLATION?
 
I think a little bit of inspiration came from my relationship with my husband. He grew up speaking Spanish and learned English as a second language—although you wouldn’t know it today. I was trying to think of something unique in terms of a love story and then one day a light bulb went off and I thought, “wouldn’t it be really interesting to throw two people into a love story but have a language barrier?” And as the saying goes, the rest is history. J

Who do you most identify with out of all of your characters?
I think there is a little of me in all of them but it really is a very small portion. I actually based a bigger portion of the characters personality quirks after a few friends of mine. But, let’s keep that between us, okay? ;)
What is a typical writing day like for you?
 This is something that I have been struggling with as of late, to be honest. Before my son was born, I was diligent about my writing routine and would right every night before bed and sometimes early in the morning, but that is no longer the case. Now, I write whenever I can. I am in the process of trying to get into a routine but that is definitely easier said than done.

How did you celebrate your publication day?
I went out to dinner with my husband and son. And I smiled. A lot!

Did you cast your characters in your mind or do you use vision boards/Pinterest/pictures to bring them to life?
 I usually cast them in my mind but for Andres, I had a mental image of a combination of a few men. Poor me, right? But, for the new book, I am using Pinterest and movies and songs. For me, music is really, really critical in setting the mood for a scene which is funny, because I am not really a music kind of gal. But, it works for me for right now, so I am going to run with it.

Just for the fun of it:

Dream vacation? New Zealand. Hands down. I would love to see where Lord of the Rings was filmed and I would also love to go skiing there!
Celebrity Crush? Taylor Kitsch. Texas forever, baby!
Guilty Pleasure song? Right now I am a huge fan of Give It All We Got Tonight by George Strait. My new book takes place in the country and I am really digging country music these days.
What is at the top of your bucket list? I don’t really have a bucket list. To be honest, I just want to live each day to its fullest and be the happiest me that I can be. Is that lame? It sounds lame but it’s the truth.

Sara Palacios
Author of LOVE IN TRANSLATION
Bio: Sara Palacios is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a major in Advertising and a minor in English Literature. It was during her time in college that she really fell in love with the written word and ventured into writing her own stories. In addition to writing, Sara spends a majority of her time reading the works of other authors. She reads most genres – but thoroughly enjoys chick-lit, women’s and historical fiction.
When she isn’t busy reading or writing, Sara enjoys spending time with family and friends. She is happily married, the owner of two precious doggies and a new mom to a handsome baby boy. Sara is also an avid animal-lover, runner, yoga enthusiast, wannabe vegan, USA soccer fan, foodie and fashion blog-lover and Christian. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to email her at sararpalacios@gmail.com.