A Duty to the Dead by Charles Todd

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Summary: A nurse is determined to deliver the message of a man who died in her care.

Bess Crawford is my new favorite character. She's an army nurse for the British in WWI (long before we ever knew there would be a WWII) and she is a tough cookie, having been injured when a nursing boat is damaged and sunk after an encounter with a bomb. While she's recovering, she travels to the family of a man she nursed, one she had begun to care for deeply.

She is coldly received by the family and yet when she delivers the message, she becomes even more concerned. Was Arthur, her wounded soldier, covering up a crime? And is his family covering up a greater one? At every turn, Bess is reminded that she has a duty to the dead, but does Bess also have a duty to the living? This was a surprising mystery and one that perfectly captured the mood and time of the setting as well.

Blind Fury by Lynda La Plante

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Summary: A British detective must enlist the help of a jailed serial rapist to catch another serial rapist.

Another book featuring Detective Anna Travis, my second favorite character after La Plante's Jane Tennyson. When the battered naked body of a woman is found alongside the M1 motorway, it is the 3rd body found as such. Detective Travis is assigned to the case and starts the laborious task of going back through very cold cases.

At times it seems as if they'll never catch a break, but good old fashioned police work, pouring through files, reviewing CCTV and re-interviewing witnesses many times, they finally have a lead. In teh way that Prime Suspect focuses on one man and just wear him down, the same situation happens here. But during one of the many trips to listen to jailed psychopath muse over case files and listen to his creepy insinuations, Anna strikes up a friendship with a young guard there, Ken.

Anna and Ken quickly develop a romance and while Anna still doggedly tries to solve the case, she starts to realize that there might be more to life than police work. Finding the soft center of this hardened police woman was delightful as a reader and the story was dramatic in only Lynda La Plante's way.

Pride and Prescience by Carrie Bebris

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Summary: Just after their marriage, Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy solve a mystery. 

You know by now how much I adore Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. And I'm constantly reading books inspired by or involving the characters. This book, which takes place just after Darcy and Elizabeth get married, is really closest in tone (style, syntax) to P&P.

While there is quite a bit more informality between Darcy and Elizabeth, it gave me a small thrill to see them happily married. Soon after their marriage, Miss Caroline Bingley - yes, the same Caroline Bingley who practically destroyed Jane's chance at happiness in P&P - marries an American. That night, she is seen wandering the street, about to be attacked by footpads. Darcy rescues her, and Elizabbeth and Darcy take the new Mrs. Parrish home. After an incident during riding and a botched suicide attempt, Bingley and Jane and Mr. and Mrs. Hurst (Charles and Caroline's married sister) decide to host Mr. and Mrs. Parrish and a Professor of Religious Artifacts and Mr. Parrish's friend at Netherfield, in an attempt to heal Caroline. Darcy and Elizabeth are loyal, so they accompany everyone to Netherfield and stay with them. The book dragged in the middle, but jumps right into the problems.

Bingley and Caroline are involved in a potentially fatal carriage accident, there's a damaging housefire at Netherfield and a stabbing. Who is the intended victim here? Is it Bingley and his fortune? Caroline Parrish? Darcy? Together, and separately, Elizabeth and Darcy solve the mystery and save the day.

While the writing was not as good as Austen's, I look forward to many more novels featuring Mr. and Mrs. Darcy.

The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids, One Meal at a Time by Laurie David & Kirstin Uhrenholdt

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Summary: Advice and suggestions from celebrities, nutritionists, chefs and parents about how to connect with your children during the dinner hour. 

This book was like the September Issue of Vogue magazine, but for dinner. It's not quite a cohesive book, but a series of short articles, recipes, ideas and games to make eating dinner as a family a goal.

However, it's inspiring and thought-provoking. I loved it. Laurie David, wife of Larry David (Seinfeld co-creator) and environmentalist, hired a chef to cook for her when her work got too involved for her to cook for her kids and still eat together. Their cook Kirstin Uhrenholdt provides many of the recipes but celebrity chefs from Cat Cora to Mark Bittman (currently my new foodie crush) share recipes. Hiring a personal chef is ridiculous to me, but keep in mind they live in Hollywood, where there's often more money than sense. However, if I could afford a personal chef, I would in a heartbeat.

The book talks about meatless Mondays, alternative protein sources and ways to eat better without hurting the earth. There are also game a discussion ideas (my kids eagerly played long), gardening advice, storage advice - really, a little bit of everything; just like a magazine.

What I really wanted, and partially got, were guidelines for how we should act as a family together. Laurie's 10 steps are what I wanted even if Step Five: Everyone Tries Everything led to table pounding, slammed plates and one child in tears.There's also advice from Ellyn Sattler, one of the food experts and someone with whose philosophy I struggle.

I so want my husband to read this book, but he's too busy. (Yes, I do appreciate the irony.) But this advice only reinforces the ways I can practice my beliefs about good citizenship, parenting, and nutrition. My only disappointment was that there was only a casual mention of food allergies and sensitivities, but planning meals when two children have different food issues is difficult even for a nutritionist, and not just a busy mom who loves to read.

Feed by Mira Grant

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Summary: In a future under constant threat from zombies, a blogger journalist and her brother follow a presidential candidate.

I read MT Anderson's Feed instead when I skimmed over my online book's club selection. Oops! When I realized my mistake, I checked the information again. Is this a zombie book? Yes, it is a zombie book, but it's also so much more.

Set in the future (2039), this is ultimately a book about journalism, but with zombies. Georgia Mason and her brother Shaun are the lead bloggers of their site. Shaun is an Irwin, obviously named after Steve Irwin, who died on camera during an adventure. Shaun is reckless, charming and absolutely good at his job. Georgia is a Newsie, one who insists on the truth no matter how much it hurts. I know I'm a blogger myself (you're reading this, right?) but in light of the furor over the news that Aveda will no longer pay bloggers for reviews, I'm naturally skeptical of the journalistic integrity of bloggers. Georgia's fierceness about always telling the truth seems a way to redeem the current blogging environment, which is rife with rumors. Georgia's defensiveness is justified, given the blogosphere in 2011.

But in 2014, a cure for the common cold, when it meets the cure for cancer, turns people into zombies who feed on living flesh.

"No one gets cancer or colds anymore. The only issue is the walking dead."

The United States government has ceded control of Alaska to the walking dead and the book opens with Georgia and Shaun zombie hunting in Santa Cruz, California. The sly humor kept me reading, even though I'm not a horror fan.

Georgia, Shaun, and their partner Buffy are the only bloggers chosen to be part of the presidential press corps following Senator Ryman. He gives them almost complete access and their blog site is gaining popularity. Ratings soar when Georgia and Shaun fight off a zombie attack at one of the Seantor's campaign rallies. Buffy, their technical expert, actually uncovers information that suggests the zombie attack was actually an assassination attempt.

The conspiracy runs deeper and deeper, with tragedy striking in surprising ways. I was racing to finish this, wondering exactly who was behind it all. The book dragged in the middle and there were a few plots holes. But on the whole, I loved this book, despite the zombie theme. I almost wish I was more of a a zombie movie fan, because I'm sure there are references I missed. I'm definitely reading the next book in the series.

Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair by Laurie Perry

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Summary: One woman's memoir of her divorce and eventual recovery.

Just the title alone is fun (and accurate), but the book was a feel-good read, despite being about divorce. Laurie comes home from work, expecting to share a silly story about how her underwear broke at work, and her husband announced he was leaving. Laurie is devastated and is left with an expensive house and her husband's four cats.

Laurie, with the long-distance help of her supportive parents, moves into a smaller house right before Christmas. She spends most of her time drinking wine while the cats circle around her. She goes through many of the stages of grief, anger, bargaining, drinking, isolation, and even tries to give herself bangs, which her hairdresser sternly forbids.

Laurie's patient and supportive friends stick with her through her depression, perhaps longer than I would have. One of them encourages her to try knitting and when Laurie finally leaves the house and ventures into a knitting store, it changes her life. She knits crazy creations for her cats, scarves (in LA!) and lots of sassy knit wear while being nurtured by her local Stitch-n-Bitch group.

Laurie Perry writes with Southern wit, much like Celia Rivenbark, whom I adore. Laurie's sadness and misery is written with such honesty and humor that I was identifying with the author and laughing at the same time. It's not a complex book, you won't get veiled metaphors or run on sentences that go for a page, but you will laugh and you will feel hope.

Not only are the discussion questions at the back of the book helpful and thought provoking, but Laurie provides knitting patterns and pictures of her creations. I've tried knitting and I understand how intense and excited the knitting community gets, but knitting's not for me. I'm also not divorced, and will never have cats.  Despite what we don't have in common, this book was worth breaking my "no divorce memoirs!" vow.

Sloane Sisters by Anna Carey

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Summary: Cate and Andie Sloane's father is dating Stella and Lola Childs' model mother, Emma. New York Chic meets English reserve in a teen fashion novel.

The Brady Bunch meets the Clique series in this fun YA read. Still stunned from their parent's rapid divorce after their father cheated on their mother, Stella and Lola Childs should turn to each other to help navigate their new lives in New York. Their mum, Emma has become the new face of Ralph Lauren and so they have moved from London to New York City.

The girls are surprised when their mother tells them that instead of living in a hotel, they will be living with Emma's new boyfriend, Winston Sloane and his teen daughters Cate and Andie. In fact, their parents are engaged! Looks like they'll all be one big happy family, right?

Cate and Stella seem to get along well at first as they are both interested in fashion, style, trends, and share the same shoe size. But Stella chafes under Cate's bossiness and superiority and can't easily slip into the elite clique at their new school. Cate also won't let Stella into her clique without making Stella jump through extreme hoops and Stella feels lost and angry. She doesn't offer any help to her sister Lola, a band geek who has zero interest in fashion. But Andie desperately wants to be a model and uses her future step-mother's modeling connections as a way to get into the business, despite being very, very short. Lola doesn't realize she's being used until someone suggests that Lola would make a good model and Andie freaks out.

Tensions simmer in a house full of rich teens and pre-teens. Add name dropping,  sibling rivalry, divorce and high fashion and you have a fun YA read. The girl bullying and focus on fashion is reminiscent of the Clique series, but slightly less materialistic.

Death of a Witch (Hamish Macbeth Mysteries) by M. C. Beaton

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Summary: Highland constable Hamish Macbeth solves the murder of a new woman to town, suspected of being a witch and seductress.

I like reading romance novels. But when someone in one of my groups asked for "clean" books with no sex, author M.C. Beaton kept coming up. I had read an Agatha Raisin book, but far, far prefer Hamish Macbeth.

One of the complaints about James Patterson's Alex Cross series is that he has a new relationship nearly every book. Well, the same applies to Hamish Macbeth. Nearly every single woman he encounters seems to want to marry him, and somehow both Hamish and the women cross signals and blow hot and cold alternately.

When a new woman comes to town, Hamish is suspicious. Why would an attractive single woman move to Lochdubh? The women in the village call her a witch and the men are not talking, or talking even less than taciturn Scots already do. Hamish rightly suspects that she's up to something, but is determined to find out exactly what after she is murdered. As Hamish is standing outside waiting for the police squad, the cottage holding the dead body of the suspected witch bursts into flame! Arson? And murder?

When a local woman is later stabbed to death, Hamish is concerned. Who in his small town could be a murderer? And with talk of a roving Highland brothel? The mystery just continues, even as Hamish juggles Priscilla (his wealthy on-and-off again love),  dogged reporter Elsbeth and bright coroner Lesley, all who seem to both be after Hamish and another goodlooking reporter assigned to the story.

The stories, despite always involving a murder, are cozy and fun with quirky characters and whenever I need a quick read, this is where I'll go.

Give It Up!: My Year of Learning to Live Better with Less by Mary Carlomagno

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Summary: A woman gives up one vice or indulgence a month for one year in this memoir.

Mary Carlomagno is literally hit over the head by a box of  her expensive shoes. That's it, she's had enough. She decides to give up one thing she considers indispensable for one month at a time, challenging what she thinks she needs and what she actually needs.

In January, it's alcohol, and she discovers how many of her plans revolve around alcohol and drinking just because others are. She also talks about how uncomfortable it is to be the one person not drinking when everyone else is, and how frequently and quickly the conversation turns bitchy.

Yes, I fully recognize that most of the people who write wacky memoirs do not have kids (A.J. Jacobs may be the exception) so Mary's sacrifices didn't seem that difficult or impractical. Until she helps her boyfriend move in with her during the month when she's not allowed to use any cell phones. She's also able to work out more if she gains weight, or take a freelance job if she needs more money, options not available to a stay-at-home mom.

Her list of indispensable items are somewhat similar to mine (chocolate, coffee, shopping) but others are not. I could give up alcohol and taxis no problem. This was a quick read, and is one of my favorite memoirs. It's thought provoking, light, random and easy to pick up and put down. Read it today.

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

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Summary: An angel-blood teenager fights her destiny and her attraction to a human.

What's your purpose in life? I'm 34 and I'm still figuring it out. But as an angel blood, sixteen-year-old Clara Gardner knows that she must fufill her purpose. It's why she exists. Talk about pressure.

And of top of that, you have high school, prom, college, and a mom who still expects you to get good grades.

Happy and talented California teen Clara is slowly coming into her powers as a Quartarius, a quarter-angel. Her half-angel single mother reluctantly shares details about being an angel, only emphasizing that Clara's purpose, whatever it is, is the most important event of her life (I thought college admission was crucial.).  Together, they identify details in Clara's frequent visions about her purpose. The clues include a forest fire, a license plate, and boy in a black fleece jacket. This leads the entire family (Mom, Clara and younger brother Jeffrey) to up and move to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. (Before you say it, yes, it is reminiscent of Twilight in some spots.)

"Clara, listen to me." Mom leans forward and takes my hands in hers. "You aren't being sent on a mission that you don't have the power to accomplish. You have to find that power inside you somewhere and you have to refine it. ... There is a reason, for all of this."

On Clara's first day of school, she meets her destiny: a handsome football player named Christian, the boy of her dreams - literally. She also slowly befriends two other girls: easygoing, horse-obsessed Wendy, and intense loner Angela. Clara thinks she's finally on her way to her purpose when Christian asks her to prom, until he stands her up at prom to tend to his ex-girlfriend. It's a typical teen angst book for about halfway through.

The book didn't really get great until Clara and Wendy's twin brother, Tucker, start spending their summer after junior year together. With Wendy, Christian and Angela all away for the summer, the two start spending time together alone in the woods. They have a lot of fun together in a wholesome way with underlying sexual tension. The scenes are a thrill to read.

I don't know what to say. This summer hasn't turned out at all the way I planned. I'm not supposed to be standing in the middle of a barn with a blue-eyed cowboy who's looking at me like he's about to kiss me. I shouldn't be wanting him to kiss me.

The romance develops quickly but organically, until one day, Tucker and Clara kiss. This kiss is so magical and intense that Clara starts to glow, her glory showing through and freaking Tucker out a little.

The day of the fire, however, Clara is forced to decide who she must save - Christian; her whole purpose, or Tucker; her love.

This was an enjoyable teen fantasy fiction romance. My biggest complaint though is how the angel wings work with American clothes. Do they rip through the cloth? Do they go around the sleeves? This was never really explained and I wanted to know. The lack of detail was a niggling little worm that kept me from giving this book 5 stars.

Lady Susan by Jane Austen

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Summary: A woman juggles lovers and houses and her reputation. 

I hate stories written as letters (epistolary form) almost as much as I love Jane Austen. Lady Susan is her first novel and I am dying for other Austen lovers to read this so I can discuss it with people.

Is Lady Susan misunderstood? The victim of a vicious rumor mill and a simple misunderstanding based on the jealous actions of a jilted socialite? Or is she a scheming, manipulative gold-digger, breaking hearts just because she can? Yes, all of the above. And does she have a female lover or just a close friend who helps her?

Lady Susan visits her dead husband's relatives at Churchill, likely escaping after a scandal at Langford involving Mr Mainwaring. Depending on whose letter you're reading, Lady Susan had a flirtation, friendship or torrid affair with Mr. Mainwaring, which makes Mrs. Mainwaring unhappy, and flirted with Mr James Martin, who was previously courting Mr. Mainwaring's sister. I tend to believe that Lady Susan is up to no good, but she still remains a sympathetic character to me.  Jane Austen can write unpleasant characters quite well, in that no one in her books is all good or all bad. Emma is the perfect example of this, but so is Mr. Collins, from P&P.

Mr. Vernon is the younger brother of her recently deceased husband (four months!) and has never met his wife Catherine. Lady Susan also objected to the marriage of the younger Mr. Vernon to Catherine, but does her best to smooth things over once she is staying with them. They are eventually joined by Catherine's brother Reginald de Courcy, heir to the de Courcy fortune. Despite rumors and warnings about her, Reginald and Lady Susan start spending time together. When Lady Susan's daughter Frederica runs away from school in London, she joins Lady Susan and the Vernons at Churchill. Then things really get complicated.

I appreciate the writing - Jane Austen really is one of the best authors ever -  even as I didn't like Lady Susan as a person. Read it so you and I can discuss!

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua

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Summary: A memoir of a Chinese mother raising her decidedly American kids.

Read the whole book. Don't just read the excerpts you find online; read the whole book. I found this a funny, touching and encouraging memoir, not an insulting treatise on Western parenting.

Amy Chua is ambitious and driven. So naturally, that applies to her parenting as well. Her first daughter Sophia is a natural at the Suzuki piano lessons she takes and soon becomes a young gifted prodigy. Amy decides that it's not enough for both girls to be good at piano and chooses an instrument for her younger daughter Lulu - the violin.

It's not until she struggles with getting Lulu to practice that the disadvantages of the Tiger Mother or Chinese method of parenting become apparent. With Sophia, Amy could nag, browbeat, threaten and cajole. With Lulu, none of the threats worked. Amy finds herself more and more frustrated even as Lulu becomes an incredibly talented violinist accepted to study with world famous musicians and tutors. The insults fly and the ultimatums become greater and greater.

Amy's a tough cookie, but Lulu is even tougher. Amy rejects the poorly-drawn handwritten birthday cards scribbled for her at the last minute because she's seen their previous work and know that her kids can do much better. It doesn't show the love and respect that Amy deserves when she gets a scrap of paper with no thought put into it. So when Amy is explaining why she has rejected her kids' cards, you get it. She expects the best and knows what her kids are capable of. One day Lulu decides to cut her own hair, as an act of defiance against her mother. I wish that Amy would have let her daughter go around with a self-inflicted raggedy haircut, to let her live with the consequences, but since I couldn't even do that when my own daughter cut her hair, I immediately laughed and understood.

This is ultimately a memoir about love, as Amy's love for her children drive her to push them to be not just good but excellent. She believes in them so strongly that she pushes them until they do actually succeed. That's really what a Tiger Mother does - she believes her children are capable of great things and will help them reach goals that lesser parents would let their kids fall short of. I need to assume the best of my children and not coddle them, and this book brought me more into balance. Some mothers I know never allow their kids to suffer a moment of discomfort, pain or stress. Amy Chua is often the source of stress for her children, but they are leading far richer and deeper lives than my children ever will.

 Once a week, while my own kids were being taken care of by paid teachers, I'd sneak off to the bookstore and read this on my Nook in a Barnes & Noble and laugh out loud about Amy and her parenting tactics. I loved this book, and wish I were more of a Tiger Mother.

The Secrets Sisters Keep by Abby Drake

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Summary: Four sisters are gathered at the 70h birthday of their uncle, after a 20 year separation. 

Uncle Edward is missing, the day before his 70th birthday.

His housekeeper and niece Ellie does NOT need the stress of looking for him, what with all the party-planning and the arrival of her three other sisters in addition to all the out-of-town guests. Beautiful Babe is an middle-aged movie star married to an even older movie star, and both of them are obsessed with their comeback. Amanda is struggling under her mountain of debt and Manhattan lifestyle after just finding out her husband is having an affair. Then we have Carleen. No one speaks of her, but what she did twenty years ago is still affecting people today.

Ellie is responsible for greeting the guests, dealing with her guests and Amanda's family's arrival. Carleen does arrive and after being rejected by both Amanda and Babe (what exactly did Carleen do?) decides to leave again.  Events unfold so quickly that it was almost, but not completely implausible, that things turned out the way they did. Is Carleen stealing from Ellie? Is Edward flying down from a helicopter? Is Edward's long-term lover a murderer? Ellie escapes to the island and finds a noose hanging from a tree! She freaks out, wondering if Uncle Edward is planning to commit suicide.

The book flips back and forth between the girls' childhood and teen years quite well, revealing just enough about Carleen's "crime" to keep me reading, but also uncovering reasons why Edward might decide to go missing. While this book dealt with extreme situations, the reactions and thought processes of each person were explained in such a loving, understanding way that no one character was a true villain or hero. The relationship between the sisters actually seemed the weakest part of the book, but I quite enjoyed the entire book. 

The Girl in the Green Raincoat: A Tess Monaghan Novel by Laura Lippman

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Summary: A pregnant detective on bedrest solves a mystery from her front porch.

This was my first experience with the delightful Tess Monaghan and I'm so happy to meet her. I had read a previous Laura Lippman novel - Life Sentences - and didn't care for it. But Tess Monaghan is prickly, stubborn and thoughtful and I'm planning to start the series from the beginning.

When we meet Tess, she's in the middle of a high-risk (unplanned) pregnancy and is on forced bed rest. She spends her day in bed on her front porch, looking out on her street and sees a woman in a green raincoat walking a greyhound. The girl in the green raincoat is such a fixture in Tess' daily life that when Tess sees the dog running free off his collar, she knows something is wrong.

Tess starts making phone calls and enlisting the help of her friends and discovers that the dog's owner, Carole, is the missing wife of a man who had been married three times before, each marriage ending in death. Aha! Tess thinks and begins a dangerous campaign of uncovering the truth. This is a very short story, but an enjoyable read.

It's silly but one of the things keeping me from rating this five stars is that the book is very specific that the missing woman wears a celery-colored coat and the cover at is a dark green, closer to kelly green. You'd think someone at the publishing company would notice the difference. Yes, I'm particular.

Before kids, my husband and I considered moving to Baltimore, but were discouraged by the fact that the show Homicide: Life on the Streets was based in Baltimore. The mayor of Baltimore at the time was Martin O'Malley, and I'm an O'Malley. Reason enough to move, right?  I'm allergic to she-crab, the most popular dish in all of Baltimore, but after this novel, I absolutely want to visit.

And One Last Thing ... by Molly Harper

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Summary: After humiliating her husband publicly over his affair, an ex-wife learns who she is and what she wants.

Molly Harper is the author of the terribly funny and sassy book about librarian-turned-vampire Jane Jameson. So I picked up her latest book.

Lacey Terwilliger (ridiculous name!) accidentally gets delivered flowers that were meant for her husband's mistress/secretary instead. As revenge, she sends out a scathing e-mail to her husband's client and holiday card list, berating her husband for being spineless and bad in bed. After Lacey becomes late night comic fodder, she retreats to her family cabin, isolated in the woods.

Of course, the isolated cabin is not so isolated, since there's a hunky man next door. After Lacey's few attempts at friendship, the hunk, Monroe, makes it very clear that he is NOT attracted to Lacey. Their mutual antipathy is predictable. Monroe is a mystery writer, holed up for some peace and quiet and to finish his novel. Lacey is miffed and ignores him, and then suddenly he realizes that Lacey is kinda cute. They become "friends with benefits" and Lacey starts writing her own novel, about a woman who wants to kill her husband. It works as therapy, until Lacey gets a job offer to write angry letters for other women. Monroe scolds Lacey for even considering it and that's when Lacey and Monroe have their first big fight.

"You know, maybe it's not that I don't want to be in a relationship, maybe it's that I don't want to be in relationship with you. You're always pushing and judging and trying to make me into the person that- I don't know - is worthy of you? I mean, you wouldn't even talk to me until I proved that I was low-maintenance enough for you. I don't want to be your pet project. I've already tried living with a man whose standards I couldn't meet and I'm not doing it again."

This was actually a sad book about the decline of a marriage. I felt strange laughing in the funny spots, when the death of this marriage didn't really get as much respect as it deserved. But it is well-written with characters that are nuanced and realistic.

Room For Improvement by Stacey Ballis

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Summary: An interior designer finds success as part of a reality show on home improvement.

After reading a series of disappointing books, Room For Improvement was a satisfying chick-lit read, with many of the typical chick-lit elements in place, but with a few refreshing changes.  Instead of being set in New York or Los Angeles, as so many chick-lit novels are, this one was set in Chicago. That alone was appreciated, although I would have liked more scenes where the snow or weather alters their plans, since that is often a factor here in the Midwest.

Lily Allen is a moderately successful interior designer (as opposed to someone struggling) when she is chosen to be on the American version of her favorite BBC reality show Swap/Meet. Two designers and two single guests are chosen to redesign one room in the other single's houses, and then after the reveal, the singles meet and sometimes hook up. This show could launch Lily's career and give her national exposure.

The book opens with Lily escaping after a bad one-night stand with a jerk. The jerk, Ron, says some incredibly sensitive things and then keeps calling Lily. Can't he take a hint? Lily meets her friends and a personal trainer once a week for exercise where they catch up and dish. Hillary is her uber-successful lawyer friend (doesn't every chick-lit book have one of them nowadays?) and there's also a gay friend, except this time, the gay friend is her former roommate Naomi. I was impressed that the gay friend was female instead of male.  Like many chick-lit characters, Lily struggles with her weight, and scarfs down brownies at the show's craft table when she gets her period. In the show, there are carpenters, one a studly annoyance and one a solid friend, two gay stylists, a bimbo presenter and my favorite character, Bob, one of the cameramen. Bob is always asking, "Really with the (crying, sex, fighting, eating... pick your topic), really?" and I would just giggle every time Bob would walk by at some inopportune moment.

I could have done without Lily's Rules. The rules by which a chick-lit character lives or make sense of her life have been done to death (!) and I was disappointed that this creative author used something so cliche, especially when it didn't help or advance the plot any. If anything, Lily's Rules could have been home decorating tips that can apply to real life. Lily's Rule #278: Totally matching is boring; a little contrast makes a more interesting room. See how easy that was? I just made that one up.

Lily's show is a hit and Lily has a steamy romance with one of the guest featured on Swap/Meet. Lily also hooks up with an interim producer on her show and has lots of sex. But she never seems satisfied, always dumping the guy if he likes her too much, and pouting if he doesn't.  The ending is surprising and sweet. I rated this one 4 stars, because it was exactly what I was looking for at the moment.

Killing Bridezilla (Jaine Austen Mysteries) by Laura Levine

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Summary: Author Jaine Austen solves the murder of one of her clients, a woman who tormented her in high school.

I am so excited! I found a new murder mysteries series that I love. Of course, I picked this book up randomly, amused by the title. I never expected to find another series and a character to adore. Jaine Austen is an under-employed free-lance writer living in Los Angeles.  Calling your character Jane Austen - modernized for L.A - cracks me up - and Jaine's narration is sharp and sassy.

Jaine Austen is fat and broke - two qualities that mean she is never quite accepted in L.A. society. Her clothes are sloppy, she eats McDonald's daily and her largest client is Toiletmasters. The two men in her life are Ben & Jerry. So when Jaine is contacted by an old high school classmate for a writing job, Jaine's first instinct is to run, far away. But the $3,000 she is promised would go a long way towards paying bills, so Jaine agrees to "rewrite the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet, but without that bummer ending" as part of Patti's wedding day vows. Jaine somehow finds herself bragging about her rich talented fiancé to her old high school classmates, trying to prove that she is not the loser they think she is. She is tricked into bringing that (imaginary) fiancé to the wedding, leaving her in a bind. Her best friend suggests an escort service.

Well, dear reader, if you think I was about to degrade myself by paying for a date with a guy who was just one step up from a male hooker, all I can say is - you're a very perceptive reader. 

When the bride - Jaine's old high school classmate who has remained a rich bitch - is murdered on her wedding day, Jaine is determined to solve the crime. The suspect list was ever changing and the murderer came as a surprise to me, which made it even more enjoyable.

Jaine's love life is as much of a disaster as her finances, and she goes on one of the worst dates ever. Seriously, you should read this book just so you can cringe at the horror of this date.

The only off-note for me are the e-mails that Jaine gets from her parents. Every few chapters, we read the e-mails that Jaine's parents send her, explaining some nonsense or project Jaine's father is involved in. In this book, he sues the library board over $.18 in late fees. I felt the e-mails were silly, and don't really relate to the current mystery. It's the author's attempt to  make this series even funnier, but personally, I could have done without the extra plot line. I put up with them, because I am devouring this series, but you could skip every e-mail and still enjoy the book. I'm off to read my next one - don't bother me!

The Reckoning (Darkest Powers, Book 3) by Kelley Armstrong

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Summary: Specially gifted magical teens finally escape from the lab who genetically modified their powers. 

The Reckoning is the final book in the series that should have a Twilight-like following. Teens with special powers on the run? Hot teen werewolf? Sign me up! Much better written than the Twilight series, too.

I thought I was picking up the first book in this series, but actually I got the third book and jumped right into supernatural action and romance. Chloe is a necromancer with power to not only raise but also summon, and banish, the dead. Her powers have been altered by the Edison Group, a supernatural evil think tank and laboratory that has been harvesting and modifying children of sorcerers (magical males) and witches (magical females).

Chloe and her friends - Derek, a werewolf; Simon, a sorcerer and Derek's foster brother; and Tori, a powerful adept witch - are hiding in the safe house of Andrew, a former member of the Edison Group, who is now working against the unchecked powers of the Edison Group. Chloe and Simon have always been considered a couple, but Chloe is uncannily aware of Derek, even though he scolds her for risking herself. The sexual tension between Derek and Chloe is perfectly balanced, and they do make a good couple, once Simon gracefully bows out of the picture. Once safe, Andrew brings in a few talented adults to help train the teens in their magical skills area.

Chloe is so powerful that she can raise the dead just by thinking about it. Tori only needs to hear a spell and she knows it. Derek has finally made the transition to full werewolf and only Simon's powers are weak. Once the adults who are supposed to be helping them hide from the Edison Group fully comprehend their powers, they change their minds and agree that the teens should be killed, because that much power, uncontrolled, is dangerous.

The teens are dragged back to the Edison Group, where Tori confronts her witch of a mother and Chloe and Simon are about to be sent to a group home for more training and indoctrination. Chloe uses her power to raise the dead and summons a half-demon who helps her destroy the building. In the ensuing final (?) escape from the Edison Group, Tori's mother and the evil Dr. Davidoff are killed. Chloe and her Aunt Lauren, Simon, Simon's father, Derek and Tori escape and regroup to fight.

This was a well-written, fast-paced supernatural young adult novel. It doesn't hurt that Kelley Armstrong is one of my favorite authors as well.

If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern

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Summary: An unhappy, busy woman meets her nephew's imaginary friend. 

I didn't care for  Cecelia Ahern's The Gift but a friend convinced me to read another book by her.

I'm glad I did. Now I understand much more about Cecelia Ahern's writing style. Maybe it's an Irish thing, but Ahern writes about modern magic. Not the modern magic that Patricia Briggs does, but special situations that might seem real for a moment.

In If You Could See Me Now, Ivan is the adult imaginary friend suddenly assigned to Elizabeth's nephew Luke. And then Ivan becomes assigned to Elizabeth too. Elizabeth is 34 years old, single, and utterly responsible. Every inch of Elizabeth's house is spotless and perfect; nothing out of place, messy or colorful. Elizabeth has adopted her alcoholic sister's son Luke, and is constantly bailing Saoirse (pronounced Sore-shaw) out of jail, paying her rent, buying her food and clothes, loaning her money and helping her again and again despite Saoirse's theft and insults.

Saoirse and her father knew how to pull those strings and so she remained their puppet. As a result, she was alone, raising a child she never wanted, with the love of her life living in America a married man and father of one.

Poor Elizabeth. And the story unfolds in two parts, we see Elizabeth as a young girl, hoping that if she is just good enough, her mother will come back and stay and that her mother will keep her fanciful promises. So as an adult, Elizabeth is very careful to never use her imagination or encourage Luke too, since dreaming only leads to pain.

Elizabeth is furious when Ivan appears to Luke and Elizabeth won't put up with any nonsense. Yet in a few days, Elizabeth meets a nice looking and care-free young man, also named Ivan. We, the readers, know that Ivan is invisible, but Elizabeth never does.  We find Ivan challenging Elizabeth to be silly, choose color, watch falling stars and play with dandelions. Ivan's presence brings joy and laughter to Elizabeth's life, teaching Elizabeth how to open her heart.

As Elizabeth starts to enjoy life, her painful memories start flooding back. She sees the parallels between Saoirse and their mother, and we understand a little more about how little Lizzie became responsible and repressed Elizabeth.

And yet Ivan and Elizabeth start falling in love. Their relationship is a tender precious thing (yet I never felt manipulated as a reader), but we learn that an adult woman could never have a fulfilling relationship with an imaginary man. In trademark Ahern narrative style:

When you drop a glass or a plate to the ground it makes a loud crashing sound. When a window shatters, a table leg breaks, or a picture falls off the wall, it makes a noise. But as for your heart, when that breaks, it's completely silent.

Enjoyable, modern romance and fantasy, and it felt "Irish."

Flirt Club by Cathleen Daly

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I was given a copy of this book by the publisher.

Summary: Middle school girls form a Flirt Club to gain more confidence in talking and flirting with boys. 

When I first noticed the book “Flirt Club,” I wrote: First rule of Flirt Club: Don’t talk about flirt club!”

But in this delightful young adult novel of friendship and angst, the first rule of Flirt Club really is “Don’t talk about flirt club.”

Annie (Bean) and Izzy (Cisco) have been friends forever. But as eighth-graders, their goal this year is not necessarily to get boyfriends, although that is the ultimate goal, but to learn how to flirt and talk to boys.

The entire young adult novel is written in notes or journal entries – a writing gimmick I normally despise – but no other format could so clearly tell the story.

Annie has a crush on Enrique, or at least his gorgeous ear, since that’s the part of his body she can freely gaze at lovingly, since they are lab partners and he frequently checks the microscope in front of her. Annie fully admits she’s a drama geek and is proud of it.

Izzy doesn’t really have a crush, but is secretly convinced she could be one of the popular crowd, since she’s cute and doesn’t have a specialty.

When the girls get chorus parts in the school production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat they become friends with Ariane, Myrna and Lisa. Annie then breaks the first (and only) rule of flirt club and invites them to Flirt Club. The new girls bring a host of new techniques and strategies to Flirt Club. The school-wide musical is a great opportunity to practice their flirting techniques

Throwing food (French fries, good; hamburgers, bad) or paper, winking, and asking leading questions are all fun to practice on boys at the mall. Hair twirling or flipping is also advised. Also, laugh and giggle a lot.

And then Izzy’s practice flirting catches the attention of Michael Maddix, aka the Stone Fox.

This brings me to one of only two complaints I had about the book. It’s unclear in exactly what time period the book takes place. The girls reference The Monkees, and Get Smart, hardly normal fare for a modern teen. I would expect Vampire Diaries or American Idol. Nope, not a mention. And so I thought the book took place in the 80s, when I was in middle school. I then got really into the book, picturing myself as Ariane, and wondering which of my then middle school friends would have been other characters. Cyrus Hammond, he was the Stone Fox of my middle school. So I was later confused when the girls mention cell phones for the first time near the end of the book. To have a book entirely of letters and then not include a single text – which you know the girls would send… it makes me think it was edited by two different people, who had read only the first or last part of the book. The disconnect there was disconcerting.

The second complaint is that Annie gets constipated when she gets nervous and then shares her “movements” or lack thereof with Cisco. Only Annie refers to it as “Elvis has not left the building.” I don’t ever remember talking this much about my bowel movements with anyone at any time in my life. And since there are three plays during the school year, Annie talks about this issue far too frequently for me.

Izzy starts dating Michael Maddix and is expected to hang out at his lunch table with the popular kids. Izzy is torn between her loyalty to her single friends and the delight of having a boyfriend who drags her over to sit with him. Annie is hurt at Izzy’s silence, but is understanding and flexible. We should all be as lucky as Izzy is to have a friend like Annie.


The addition of Ariane, Myrna and Lisa to the book broadened the appeal for me and their notes to Izzy were among the funniest parts. Lisa is blunt and uninspired and her notes made me giggle. I found myself laughing aloud at the antics and the true angst the girls encounter when they get (and possibly lose) boyfriends. Their break-up revenge plan is enviable, as is the response.

I’d normally pass along books, but if I store this one for just 8 short years, I’d gladly give this to my daughter to read.