THE OPTIKAL ILLUSION by Rachel Halliburton

June 5, 2018

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A novel set in England in the 18th century with world shattering events such as the French Revolution and the beginnings of the Napoleonic era playing out as background. The center of the story are happenings that occurred to the British Royal Academy and involve a scandal Halliburton researched that actually did occur.

The year was 1797 and Benjamin West, an American artist living in London, is approached by a father-daughter duo. They are attempting to interest him in buying a manuscript authored by the great painterc Titian. The piece was indicated to be an outline and description of Titian’s use of colors which allowed him to paint in the commanding style he did. Colors mixed for paintings in those days were generally proprietary to the individual artist with only a small quantity available for purchase from known suppliers.

West was also going through a down period in his paintings leading him to meet with Ann Jemima and her father to see if what they had could help him in breaking out of the doldrums. The Provis duo advised that their grandfather had left the manuscript to his family and they were able to do as they wished with it.

The novel represents a very sound idea and background for an attractive story. The research done in order to set up the late 18th century is well done. Unfortunately, Halliburton allows the characters to continually get involved in long drawn out conversations rather than action to move the story forward. It becomes too easy for the reader to lose interest in what is going on. The well researched material going into the novel gets lost when subjected to the conversations that merely allude to the actions occurring.

This is Halliburton’s first novel and it definitely shows an ability to get the research that would showcase any era. It would be easy for her to attract readers by simply keeping talk to a minimum and showing forward motion via action.

6/18 Paul Lane

THE OPTIKAL ILLUSION by Rachel Halliburton. The Overlook Press (June 5, 2018). ISBN 978-1468316292.  352p.

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HIGH SEASON by Judy Blundell

June 4, 2018

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From the publisher:

“A shimmering story of art, money, and celebrity, The High Season is wicked summer fun.”—Helen Simonson, New York Times bestselling author of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand

The Hamptons hath no fury like a woman scorned.

No matter what the world throws her way, at least Ruthie Beamish has the house. Lovingly renovated, located by the sea in a quiet Long Island village, the house is her nest egg—the retirement account shared with her ex-husband, Mike, and the college fund for their teenage daughter, Jem. The catch? To afford the house, Ruthie must let it go during the best part of the year.

It’s Memorial Day weekend and Ruthie has packed up their belongings for what Jem calls “the summer bummer”: the family’s annual exodus to make way for renters. This year, the Hamptons set has arrived. The widow of a blue-chip artist, Adeline Clay is elegant, connected, and accompanied by a “gorgeous satellite” stepson. But soon Adeline demonstrates an uncanny ability to help herself to Ruthie’s life—her house, her friends, even her husband (okay, ex-husband, but still). And after her job as the director of a local museum is threatened, Ruthie finally decides to fight back.

Meanwhile, away from the watchful eyes of her parents, Jem is tasting independence at her first summer job, but soon finds herself growing up too fast. One of Ruthie’s employees, a master of self-invention named Doe, infiltrates the inner circle of an eccentric billionaire and his wayward daughter. With a coterie of social climbers and Ruthie’s old flame thrown into the mix, the entire town finds itself on the verge of tumultuous change. By the end of one unhinged, unforgettable summer, nothing will be the same.

In a novel packed with indelible characters, crackling wit, and upstairs/downstairs drama, Judy Blundell emerges as a voice for all seasons—a wry and original storyteller who knows how the most disruptive events in our lives can twist endings into new beginnings.

There has been a lot of buzz about this book so I was interested, plus it’s set in the Hamptons where I have spent a bit of time. It is an interesting story, the characters are fairly well drawn, too, especially Ruthie, the main character, but I didn’t necessarily relate to any of them. Ruthie was the most sympathetic but she often acted out in ways I didn’t understand.

Judging a book by its cover is usually not a good idea and that is the case here. It looks like the typical summer beach read and while it is set in a summer resort area, it is much deeper than the usual beach reads. It was everything the publisher promised and a good, thought provoking read.

6/18 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

HIGH SEASON by Judy Blundell. Random House (May 22, 2018). ISBN 978-0525508717.  416p.

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DON’T CALL ME CUPCAKE by Tara Sheets

June 3, 2018

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The Holloway Girls, Book 1

This was one of those times when I absolutely judged a book by its cover and went for it. It was a serendipitous find in the library and the book reads as cute and delicious as the cover looks. And it’s a debut novel, and I always love finding a new author!

While not paranormal exactly, because I don’t do those, this book is a touch magical so if you think that is not your thing, maybe try this and see if you like it. It’s a quick read with a good story filled with interesting, quirky characters (my favorite kind.)

Emma Holloway lives in her ancestral, somewhat broken down and enchanted family home in a tiny town near Seattle. She owns a bakery called Fairy Cakes, where she makes special cupcakes – they fulfill wishes to those who need them. Not individual, I wish I would win the lotto kinds of wishes, but more general, happy good wishes. Love. Sweet dreams. Sweet success. And she accidentally sells three success cupcakes to a gorgeous newcomer who, it turns out, is building a bakery right down the road.

Emma’s business is very seasonal and she is barely holding on. Hunter Kane is a real estate mogul who is trying to buy up most of the seaside to build a high end restaurant and bakery. But he needs to get involved in the small town politics to get what he wants. And there he and Emma get to work together on the big summer kickoff.

The chemistry is lightning hot between Hunter and Emma but can they work out their differences in the name of true love? No worries, this is a romance after all.

This book is as light and sweet and fluffy as cotton candy, but a bit more emotionally satisfying. I spent a very enjoyable afternoon reading it and I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.

6/18 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

DON’T CALL ME CUPCAKE by Tara Sheets. Zebra Shout (April 24, 2018). ISBN 978-1420146264.  304p.

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MATCHMAKING FOR BEGINNERS by Maddie Dawson

June 2, 2018
matchmaking for beginners

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If there’s anything worse than being left at the altar, Marnie MacGraw experiences it first hand after she talks her panicky groom into marrying her, but he still leaves her two weeks later. The only one who isn’t surprised is Blix, her fiancé’s eccentric aunt who feels a kinship with Marnie. They are both matchmakers with an other-worldly gift, but Blix is dying.

Marnie moves on, gets engaged to her former high school boyfriend in Georgia, then gets the shocking news that Blix has died, leaving Marnie her Brooklyn brownstone and causing family grief on both sides. Off to Brooklyn she goes, where she meets Blix’s friends and tenants, including the man Blix thinks she belongs with.

Dawson (The Survivor’s Guide to Family Happiness) makes Brooklyn feel like a lovely small town, but it’s the sweetness of the characters and the sprinkling of magical realism throughout that makes this a charming read. For fans of What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty or The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender. ©Library Journal, 2018.

6/18 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

MATCHMAKING FOR BEGINNERS by Maddie Dawson. Lake Union Publishing (June 1, 2018). ISBN 978-1503900684.  370p.

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Win the June ’18 bookshelf of signed thrillers!

June 1, 2018

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Welcome to the June bookshelf of signed thrillers! Lots of terrific books to win this month. More books may be added throughout the month, so check back often.

To enter, go to the Win Books page.

Best of luck!

THE DEATH OF MRS. WESTAWAY by Ruth Ware: From the New York Times bestselling author of In a Dark, Dark Wood! After erroneously receiving a mysterious letter about a large inheritance, Hal attends the deceased’s funeral and realizes that something is very, very wrong.

THE MOSCOW OFFENSIVE by Dale Brown: When the President of Russia secretly buys an air freight company to transport dangerous cargo to the United States, Brad McLanahan and the heroes of the Iron Wolf Squadron join forces with the new Alliance of Free Nations in Eastern Europe to stop the imminent attack.

ISLAND OF THE MAD by Laurie R. King: When a friend’s mentally unstable aunt goes missing along with a cache of jewels, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes follow leads to a 1925 Venice shaped by Mussolini’s Blackshirts, the gilded Lido set and the music of Cole Porter.

A STEEP PRICE by Robert Dugoni: Investigating the brutal murder of a young woman who had resisted an arranged marriage in favor of an education, Seattle homicide detective Tracy Crosswhite navigates work dynamics that are placing her career and her life on the line

BUM DEAL by Paul Levine: Second-string linebacker turned disillusioned defense attorney Jake Lassiter finally switches teams. Appointed special prosecutor in a high-profile murder case, he vows to take down a prominent surgeon accused of killing his wife. There’s just one problem…or maybe three: no evidence, no witness, and no body.

IN THE HUSH OF THE NIGHT by Raymond Benson:   Special Agent Annie Marino investigates a human trafficking ring and finds herself in the Michigan forest with an escaped Russian woman and her neighbor, who has a relative suspected of being in the ring, as they are pursued by the ring’s murderous leaders.

THE CHATEAU by Tiffany Reisz: As the Jack-of-All-Wicked Trades for a secretive French military intelligence agency, Kingsley Boissonneault has done it all—spied, lied, and killed under orders. But his latest assignment is quite out of the ordinary. His commanding officer’s nephew has disappeared inside a sex cult, where women reign and men are their willing slaves. Or are they? It’s Kingsley’s job to find out.

THE FAIRFAX INCIDENT by Terrence McCauley: In 1933 New York City, private detective Charlie Doherty, hired by a wealthy widow to investigate her husband’s mysterious death, comes face to face with some of the most evil men in the world during his quest to find the truth.

HOW IT HAPPENED by Michael Koryta: After a troubled teen, no stranger to the law, admits to her involvement in a brutal murder, Rob Barrett, an FBI investigator and interrogator stakes his reputation on her confession only to have the information she provided prove false.

You can win autographed copies of these books! If you are new to the site, each month I run a contest in conjunction with the International Thriller Writers organization. We put together a list of books from debut authors to bestsellers, so you can win some of your favorites and find some new favorites.

What makes this contest really special is that all of the books (except eBooks) are signed by the author! Books with multiple authors will be signed by at least one of the authors.

Penguin Random House books for giveaway were provided by the publisher. #PRHpartner

Don’t forget, if you subscribe to the newsletter or follow this blog, you get an extra entry into every contest you enter. Check out the Win Books page for more information on all these books and how to enter this month’s contest.

Thanks for reading, and good luck!

 

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Celeste Ng | What I’m Reading

May 31, 2018

Celeste Ng is one of my favorite authors – she’s only written two novels, Little Fires Everywhere (2017) and Everything I Never Told You (2014) but both books are fantastic! So of course I’m dying to know what she is reading.

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ALL NIGHT WITH THE COWBOY by Soraya Lane

May 30, 2018

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A River Ranch Novel, Book 2

Tanner Ford is a hot cowboy with a penchant for a very dangerous sport; bull riding. He has been on top of the sport for years, and is thrilled when he draws the toughest bull for his ride. From reading several cowboy romances, I have learned that you get more points for the toughest bulls, you can’t win on an easy ride, and it’s a matter of luck and the draw.

Tanner is in his glory until he gets thrown, trampled and gored. He survives but has a lot of rehab ahead of him because he is determined to get back on the bull. Yes, he’s already one of the biggest money winners in the sport, not to mention he comes from a very wealthy ranching family, but it’s what he loves. So when his sister tells him she’s arranged for the best physical therapist for him, he’s really happy. And then she tells him that the woman was going on vacation to Fiji but she’s agreed to work with him as long as he goes there. Not only does he go there, he upgrades her hotel and they fly there on the family’s private jet.

There’s only one fly in the ointment and that is the physical therapist herself – it’s Lauren Lewis, Tanner’s high school girlfriend and love of his life. She unexpectedly broke up with him right before leaving for college and he’s never gotten over it. But he knows he needs the help so off they go.

The cowboy has to shed his jeans and boots and try to keep his hands off Lauren – their chemistry is as hot as it was in high school and he’s not the only one who thinks so. Finally, they decide to give in to it and have a Fiji fling, ending things when they return home. But what kind of romance would that be?

The descriptions of Fiji made me want to get on the next plane, until they had some Florida hurricane type weather. I’ll just stay here for that, thank you very much. I liked these characters and their past brought a lot of tension to the story in a very good way. This was a fun, sexy read and I really enjoyed it.

5/18 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

ALL NIGHT WITH THE COWBOY by Soraya Lane. St. Martin’s Paperbacks (May 29, 2018). ISBN: 978-1250131034. 304p.

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The Great American Read

May 29, 2018

PBS rules! A two-hour television special about books? Who thinks of something like this? Only PBS. Not only a TV special, but several more episodes to follow in the fall.

What’s it all about? America gets to vote on their favorite novel!

A preliminary poll resulted in a list of 100 books. Now you can join an online book club,  share your story about which novel has had the biggest impact on your life and take a quiz to see how many of the 100 you have read (I’ve read 62, not as many as I would have thought!)

Much to my surprise, the list of books is in alphabetical order by title. The librarian in me found that odd, so I searched around and found that you can also sort it by author – except it is by the author’s FIRST name. That is so not helpful! (Obviously, a librarian was not involved in this process.)

So I created my own lists. The entire list alphabetical by author’s last name; then I created other lists breaking out fiction, science fiction & fantasy, young adult, children’s and Spanish. That is how my library does it, but your mileage may vary, etc. For instance, on the PBS special, the host, Meredith Vieira, noted that about 25% of the titles on the list were science fiction or fantasy. At my library, less than 10% are filed that way, most are in Fiction because they are considered classics or they are in Young Adult (like The Hunger Games & the Twilight books.) The Harry Potter books are the only books that straddle two specific lists, both YA and children’s, because at my library, they are shelved in both. And because I am a librarian and we love to spread good information far and wide, I’m sharing my lists here.

Great American Read Library List (complete list, alphabetical by author’s LAST name!)

AUTHOR TITLE
1 Achebe  Things Fall Apart
2 Adams  The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy
3 Adichie  Americanah
4 Alcott  Little Women
5 Anaya  Bless Me, Ultima
6 Andrews  Flowers In The Attic
7 Asimov  Foundation (series)
8 Atwood  The Handmaid’s Tale
9 Auel  Clan of the Cave Bear
10 Austen  Pride and Prejudice
11 Baldwin  Another Country
12 Brontë, Charlotte  Jane Eyre
13 Brontë, Emily  Wuthering Heights
14 Brown  The Da Vinci Code
15 Bunyan  The Pilgrim’s Progress
16 Carroll  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
17 Cervantes  Don Quixote
18 Christie  And Then There Were None
19 Clancy  The Hunt For Red October
20 Cline  Ready Player One
21 Coelho  The Alchemist
22 Collins  The Hunger Games (series)
23 Conrad  Heart Of Darkness
24 Crichton  Jurassic Park
25 Díaz  The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao
26 Dickens  Great Expectations
27 Dostoyevsky  Crime and Punishment
28 du Maurier  Rebecca
29 Dumas  The Count of Monte Cristo
30 Ellison  Invisible Man
31 Fitzgerald  The Great Gatsby
32 Flynn  Gone Girl
33 Follett  The Pillars of The Earth
34 Gabaldon  Outlander (series)
35 Gallegos  Doña Bárbára
36 García Márquez  One Hundred Years of Solitude
37 Golden  Memoirs of a Geisha
38 Green  Looking for Alaska
39 Haddon  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
40 Heller  Catch-22
41 Hemingway  The Sun Also Rises
42 Herbert  Dune
43 Hesse  Siddhartha
44 Hinton  The Outsiders
45 Hunt  Mind Invaders
46 Hurston  Their Eyes Were Watching God
47 Irving  A Prayer For Owen Meany
48 James  Fifty Shades Of Grey (series)
49 Jordan  The Wheel of Time (series)
50 King  The Stand
51 Knowles  A Separate Peace
52 Koontz  Watchers
53 LaHaye  Left Behind (series)
54 Lee  To Kill a Mockingbird
55 Lewis  The Chronicles of Narnia (series)
56 London  The Call Of The Wild
57 Lowry  The Giver
58 Martin  Game of Thrones (series)
59 Maupin  Tales of The City (series)
60 McCammon  Swan Song
61 McMurtry  Lonesome Dove
62 Melville  Moby-Dick
63 Meyer  The Twilight Saga (series)
64 Mitchell  Gone with the Wind
65 Montgomery  Anne of Green Gables
66 Morrison  Beloved
67 Orwell 1984
68 Patterson  Alex Cross Mysteries (series)
69 Paulsen  Hatchet (series)
70 Peretti  This Present Darkness
71 Puzo  The Godfather
72 Rand  Atlas Shrugged
73 Rawls  Where the Red Fern Grows
74 Reynolds  Ghost
75 Robinson  Gilead
76 Rowling  Harry Potter (series)
77 Saint-Exupéry  The Little Prince
78 Salinger  The Catcher in the Rye
79 Sebold  The Lovely Bones
80 Shelley  Frankenstein
81 Smith, Betty  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
82 Smith, Zadie  White Teeth
83 Souljah  Coldest Winter Ever
84 Sparks  The Notebook
85 Steinbeck  The Grapes of Wrath
86 Stockett  The Help
87 Swift  Gulliver’s Travels
88 Tan  The Joy Luck Club
89 Tolkien  The Lord of the Rings (series)
90 Tolstoy  War and Peace
91 Toole  A Confederacy of Dunces
92 Twain  The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
93 Vonnegut  The Sirens Of Titan
94 Walker  The Color Purple
95 Weir  The Martian
96 White  Charlotte’s Web
97 Whitehead  The Intuitionist
98 Wilde  The Picture of Dorian Gray
99 Young  The Shack
100 Zusak  The Book Thief

 

 

Great American Read Library List (Fiction list, alphabetical by author)

AUTHOR TITLE
Achebe  Things Fall Apart
Adichie  Americanah
Alcott  Little Women
Anaya  Bless Me, Ultima
Andrews  Flowers In The Attic
Atwood  The Handmaid’s Tale
Auel  Clan of the Cave Bear
Austen  Pride and Prejudice
Baldwin  Another Country
Brontë, Charlotte  Jane Eyre
Brontë, Emily  Wuthering Heights
Brown  The Da Vinci Code
Bunyan  The Pilgrim’s Progress
Cervantes  Don Quixote
Christie  And Then There Were None
Clancy  The Hunt For Red October
Cline  Ready Player One
Coelho  The Alchemist
Conrad  Heart Of Darkness
Crichton  Jurassic Park
Díaz  The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao
Dickens  Great Expectations
Dostoyevsky  Crime and Punishment
du Maurier  Rebecca
Dumas  The Count of Monte Cristo
Ellison  Invisible Man
Fitzgerald  The Great Gatsby
Flynn  Gone Girl
Follett  The Pillars of The Earth
Gabaldon  Outlander (series)
García Márquez  One Hundred Years of Solitude
Golden  Memoirs of a Geisha
Haddon  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Heller  Catch-22
Hemingway  The Sun Also Rises
Hesse  Siddhartha
Hurston  Their Eyes Were Watching God
Irving  A Prayer For Owen Meany
James  Fifty Shades Of Grey (series)
King  The Stand
Knowles  A Separate Peace
Koontz  Watchers
LaHaye  Left Behind (series)
Lee  To Kill a Mockingbird
London  The Call Of The Wild
Maupin  Tales of The City (series)
McCammon  Swan Song
McMurtry  Lonesome Dove
Melville  Moby-Dick
Mitchell  Gone with the Wind
Montgomery  Anne of Green Gables
Morrison  Beloved
Orwell 1984
Patterson  Alex Cross Mysteries (series)
Peretti  This Present Darkness
Puzo  The Godfather
Rand  Atlas Shrugged
Robinson  Gilead
Salinger  The Catcher in the Rye
Sebold  The Lovely Bones
Shelley  Frankenstein
Smith, Betty  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Smith, Zadie  White Teeth
Souljah  Coldest Winter Ever
Sparks  The Notebook
Steinbeck  The Grapes of Wrath
Stockett  The Help
Swift  Gulliver’s Travels
Tan  The Joy Luck Club
Tolstoy  War and Peace
Tolstoy  War and Peace
Toole  A Confederacy of Dunces
Toole  A Confederacy of Dunces
Twain  The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Vonnegut  The Sirens Of Titan
Walker  The Color Purple
Whitehead  The Intuitionist
Wilde  The Picture of Dorian Gray
Young  The Shack

 

Great American Read Library List (Sci Fi & Fantasy list, alphabetical by author)

AUTHOR TITLE
Adams  The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy
Asimov  Foundation (series)
Herbert  Dune
Hunt  Mind Invaders
Jordan  The Wheel of Time (series)
Martin  Game of Thrones (series)
Tolkien  The Lord of the Rings (series)
Weir  The Martian

 

Great American Read Library List (Young Adult list, alphabetical by author)

AUTHOR TITLE
Collins  The Hunger Games (series)
Green  Looking for Alaska
Hinton  The Outsiders
Lowry  The Giver
Meyer  The Twilight Saga (series)
Reynolds  Ghost
Rowling  Harry Potter (series)
Zusak  The Book Thief

 

Great American Read Library List (Children’s list, alphabetical by author)

AUTHOR TITLE
Carroll  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Paulsen  Hatchet (series)
Rawls  Where the Red Fern Grows
Rowling  Harry Potter (series)
Saint-Exupéry  The Little Prince
White  Charlotte’s Web

 

Great American Read Library List (Spanish book)

Gallegos  Doña Bárbára

 

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THE DEATH OF MRS. WESTAWAY by Ruth Ware

May 29, 2018

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Harriet (Hal) is a young girl that has reached the end of her tether. Her mother was killed in an auto accident. There is very little money to support herself except for one thing. Hal’s mother had a small business on a pier dedicated to fun and games for the public. She told fortunes, in particular reading of Tarot cards, for people believing in those things.

When her mother was killed Hal had no recourse other than to take over the business and dedicate herself to the Tarot cards. She owes money all over the place and has even gotten herself into the clutches of a loan shark who has threatened her with violence if she doesn’t pay a now very inflated sum of money.

A mysterious letter inexplicably is sent to her with the notice that she has received a substantial inheritance. Looking at the data on the letter Hal feels that she has no choice but to use her people skills acquired via the Tarot readings to try and collect the inheritance which she knows is not hers. She soon finds herself at the funeral of the woman who has apparently made the bequest to her and immediately feels that there is something very wrong with everything – the inheritance, the other people present who think that she is part of their family. But her decision is made – Continue!

Ware provides the reader with a mesmorizing feeling of continued suspense throughout the novel; a feeling that keeps one glued to the pages. The characters are done very well, and Hal herself becomes a person that one roots for and entertains the hope that in spite of committing what would be a major crime she will come out ahead and utilize what is happening to her as a method of bringing herself out of the situation she is in moving forward in her life. Certainly Ruth Ware is a force in the world of literature with her books being sought out by an expanding group of followers.

5/18 Paul Lane

THE DEATH OF MRS. WESTAWAY by Ruth Ware. Gallery/Scout Press (May 29, 2018). ISBN  978-1501156212.  384p.

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AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Louise Pentlandd

May 28, 2018

I am so excited to be part of the blog tour for WILDE LIKE ME by Louise Pentland! A huge bestseller across the pond and now taking the U.S. by storm!

THE NUMBER 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER!
Fans of Sophie Kinsella and Lindsey Kelk will love Wilde Like Me!

‘Warm and engaging’ Sophie Kinsella

 ‘Hilarious, moving and extremely well written’ Style Magazine

Click book cover to purchase

“One of this year’s hottest beach reads” MTV.com

You’ll never forget the day you meet Robin Wilde…

Single mum Robin Wilde adores her six-year-old daughter and loves her job as a make-up artist’s assistant. She has a wonderful best friend and an auntie who is bonkers, yes, but loves her to the moon and back.

But Robin has a secret. Behind the mask she carefully applies every day, things just feel … grey. And lonely.  She struggles to fit in with the school mum crew. Online dating is totally despair-inducing, and she worries every day about raising her little girl with self-confidence, courage and joy.

Take a peek…here is a short excerpt!

‘I resisted this for too long,’ I think as I step out of my black cab, bubbling with excitement. After a long call and an intense exchange of messages I’d finally agreed to meet him. He invited me to a rather exclusive bar at the top of the OXO Tower, one of London’s most iconic buildings on the River Thames with wrap-around views of the city from its terrace and, apparently, cocktails to die for. I was secretly pleased that the job I’d assisted Natalie, my boss, on today – make-up for a shoot in a trendy loft studio in Shoreditch – had finished early. With an entire afternoon to spare, I’d taken the time to pamper myself and really enjoy getting ready for this night.

Stepping onto the pavement and gliding down the pathway to the riverfront, I feel like a peacock parading its feathers. As I approach the red-brick old factory building, I catch my reflection in the gleaming windows. For the first time in a bloody long time, I feel beautiful. I’ve always thought that my 5′ 6″ frame, conker-brown hair and brown eyes were the dullest of all the potential ‘beauty stats’. They’re not exactly exotic or outstanding, are they? And they’re certainly not hailed as the epitome of perfection in the magazines, but today something feels special. My eyes seem softer and my hair bouncier, as I glimpse myself walking along with my head held high. I don’t think, ‘slummy mummy’ but, instead, ‘lovely woman, out on a special date’. Feeling this worthwhile makes me stand a little taller and, oh my God, am I sashaying my bum about?

Happily, my make-up looks sultry and glowing. I’ve gone all out on the contour and highlight, but managed to pull it back before I gave my face actual corners (I still don’t regret that luxury make-up binge last month), and I’m in love with my outfit. I’m wearing a knee-skimming black layered lace skirt that I picked up for pennies in a tuckedaway vintage shop. In between the light layers of lace and tulle are tiny stars embroidered with gold thread. You can barely see them until the street lights catch them, and then they look like the night sky swirling past. I’ve tucked a deep V wrap top into the satin waistband and paired it with black-patent heels passed down from my best friend’s sister, Piper, before she moved away. If I were deep-down ballsy enough to ask a stranger to take a full-length picture, I’d put it on Instagram with an #OOTD (Outfit Of The Day, for those not as obsessed with social media as I am) and pretend to be a blogger.

Taking a deep breath and reminding myself of everything I am, I pull open the grand glass door, walk confidently to the lift and push the ‘up’ button.

It’s going to be perfect.

 It’s going to be everything I want it to be.

SPEND YOUR EVENINGS WITH ROBIN WILDE AND FALL IN LOVE WITH THIS YEAR’S HOTTEST DEBUT! Can’t wait to read more Robin Wilde? Pre-order the sequel,  Wilde About the Girl. It will be out August 9!

About the Author

  • Louise Pentland has 2.6 million YouTube followers, 2.3 million Twitter followers and 2.4 million Instagram followers
  • Hers is one of the fastest growing international social talent platforms.
  • Louise is the fresh voice contemporary women’s fiction has been waiting for. She is sharp, funny, a natural storyteller and
  • completely relatable

Award-winning lifestyle and beauty blogger, fashion designer and number one bestselling author Louise Pentland had long dreamed of publishing her first novel. Her dream came true in June 2017 when Wilde Like Me was published in hardback by Zaffre.

As well as a hugely popular YouTuber, Louise is a UN Global Ambassador for Gender Equality,  was shortlisted for 2016’s Glamour Woman of The Year and recently won InStyle ‘Best High-Street Fashion YouTuber’ and the Shorty Award for ‘Best YouTube Guru’.  In 2016, she released her second collection for fashion retailer SIMPLY BE (sizes 10-32) and her second LOUISE LIVE UK tour was a sell-out this summer. Her non-fiction book Life With A Sprinkle of Glitter hit the Sunday Times number one bestseller slot in summer 2015.

Join the conversation: #WILDELIKEME

https://www.youtube.com/user/Sprinkleofglitter

Twitter: @LouisePentland

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