Tag Archives: chic lit

Three Christmas Wishes by Sheila Roberts-a review

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THREE CHRISTMAS WISHES by Sheila Roberts-a review

Three Christmas Wishes

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 18, 2016

Three friends, three wishes—one Christmas!

Riley Erickson, her pregnant sister, Jo, and their friend Noel are all wishing for the same thing: the perfect man. Or at least men who are perfect for them. Riley’s hasn’t turned out to be too impressive, dumping her for her bridesmaid three weeks before the wedding. Jo’s husband is being perfectly stubborn. And Noel has given up completely.

When the three women visit a shopping-mall Santa on a lark, the guy is full of predictions. Riley’s going to meet her perfect man in a memorable way. Noel is going to get a good man to go with that house she’s trying desperately to buy. And Jo, well, a new man is about to come into her life. What on earth does that mean? She already has her hands full with the one she’s got. As for Riley and Noel, they have some holiday challenges to meet…

But Christmas wishes can come true, as these three women are about to discover. Because in spite of romantic setbacks and derailed dreams, this truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

••••••••••••

REVIEW: THREE CHRISTMAS WISHES by Sheila Roberts is a sweet, romantic stand alone story line perfect for the holidays and warm fuzzy happily ever afters focusing on three friends whose visit to the local mall Santa finds our heroines believing in the jolly old elf and everything he stands for. Three friends; three stories that overlap during the Christmas season.

Soon to be married Riley Erickson is dumped by her fiance weeks before the wedding for one of the attendants in her bridal party; children’s author and artist Noel Bijou discovers that the house she is renting, and secretly hopes to buy has been purchased by a house-flipper who has plans to renovate and resell for a profit; and Riley’s pregnant sister Jo Wilton struggles as a newly single parent while her US Navy husband has plans to reup and extend his time at sea. All three friends battle their loneliness and heartbreak as the Christmas holidays approach but in the end each will find their happily ever after just as Santa had promised.

THREE CHRISTMAS WISHES is a ‘Hallmark’ movie for the mind. Sheila Roberts weaves family, fun, romance and building love into the lives of three women whose emotional and personal strengths come from within and from one another. The premise is clean and heartwarming; the characters are passionate; the romances are only beginning to bloom.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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A Wedding on Primrose Street (Life in Icicle Falls 7) by Sheila Roberts-a review

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A WEDDING ON PRIMROSE STREET (Life in Icicle Falls #7) by Sheila Roberts-a review

A Wedding on Primrose Street

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / The Book Depository / BAM

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 28, 2015

There’s nothing like a wedding!

The joy, the fun, the memories—the stress. As a wedding planner, Anne Richardson has seen mothers of the bride turn into Momzillas, and she’s determined not to do that when it’s her daughter’s turn to get married. But once Laney gets engaged, all bets are off. Anne becomes obsessed with giving Laney the perfect wedding she herself never had. And that wedding needs to be held in Icicle Falls at Primrose Haus, the perfect setting.

Roberta Gilbert, owner of Primrose Haus, has been hosting events at her charming Victorian for thirty years. She’s an expert on weddings, but not on mother-daughter relations. When her daughter, Daphne, comes home and decides to help with the business, the receptions become truly memorable—and not in a good way. Then there’s the added complication of Roberta’s gardener, who seems more interested in Daphne than he is in planting primroses…

Tying the knot is a business that has everyone tied up in knots!

••••••••••••••

REVIEW: A WEDDING ON PRIMROSE STREET is the seventh installment in Sheila Roberts contemporary Life in Icicle Falls romance series focusing on the men and women of Icicle Falls. A WEDDING ON PRIMROSE STREET is a bit of a departure from Sheila’s romance relationships as this particular novel focuses on the relationships between mothers and daughters-the good, the bad, and the heartbreaking disappointments.

Sheila Roberts takes a closer look at two mother-daughter relationships: Anne and Laney Richardson as Laney prepares for her upcoming wedding and Anne, as a profession wedding planner, wants nothing to do with Laney’s choices: and seventy one year old Roberta Gilbert, and her thrice divorced daughter Daphne whose personal life has imploded leaving Roberta to pick up the pieces where Daphne is concerned.

A WEDDING ON PRIMROSE STREET is a bit of a slow build that focuses on mother –daughter relationships using flashbacks, memories, dreams and recollections. Roberta’s own relationship with her mother was strained and virtually non-existent most of her adult life but with it comes the realization that the apple doesn’t fall very far from the proverbial tree. Anne, on the other hand, is a wedding planner whose own wedding dreams were quashed with a hasty wedding without any pomp and ceremony-Anne is unknowingly trying to live vicariously through her own daughter’s wedding and in this Laney begins to put up walls between her mother and herself.

The premise is at times heartbreaking knowing that some mother-daughter relationships are irrevocably destroyed while others are strengthened through understanding and love. The premise may be familiar to many readers whose own relationships are contentious whether it be through wedding planning-momzillas and bridezillas-or through the daily struggles between mother and daughter.

A WEDDING ON PRIMROSE STREET is more of a chic-lit storyline with relateable issues, characters, struggles and dreams. Sheila Roberts writes an encouraging, hopeful and impassioned story where sometimes taking a step back is the only thing keeping the love alive between two people tied together by more than blood. The ending was not unexpected in my opinion, as it was building from the very start.

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy

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#TripleX by Christine Zoldenz and Angelisa Stone-a review

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#TripleX by Christine Zoldenz and Angelisa Stone-a review

Triple X

Amazon.com / KOBO /

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 18, 2015

Does size really matter?

Two women spin a tale of comedy and new beginnings after they wake up and find themselves in a jail cell over 3000 miles away from home. Rehashing their adventure in front of a less-than-sympathetic judge, they give a laugh-out-loud and extremely detailed story of a road trip that finds them in a ton of trouble.

Battling age, weight, and their own personal demons, not only do they discover the open road and a life they misplaced somewhere in their 20s, they also find themselves. From breakups and stealing cars to blurry memories of something that might have happened in New Mexico, these two women will take you on a real journey, full of fun and, well, situations that people only write about and never really do….or do they?

•••••••••••••••

REVIEW: #TRIPLEX is a wonderfully funny storyline that follows two forty something women-wives, mothers, writers, overweight and feeling lost-as they trek across country on their three month journey of enlightenment and realization ending in Vegas where our heroines find themselves in jail with a story to tell. Angelisa and Christine fight the battle of the bulge, issues of self esteem and insecurity, and a desire to once again feel needed and loved. #TRIPLEX is a humorous and entertaining look at self-discovery for two women whose lives have revolved around only family for far too long.

If you are over forty and married with children there are many scenarios that will be familiar, heartbreaking and right on the money.

Told from alternating first person points of view, the storyline follows Angelisa and Christine-two online best friends and writing partners-who have yet to meet in real life. When Christine finds her husband having sex with a much younger and slimmer ‘Malibu Barbie’, she pulls Angelisa onto the road, heading across country where their final destination (three months later) is a writer’s convention in Las Vegas. Along the way, our duo will rediscover their inner child, a slimmer self, and the women they had lost so many years before. There is plenty of author name dropping, a blogger or two, and a series of books and number one best sellers.

Zolendz and Stone combine the mundane with the extraordinary resulting in a hilarious and humorous storyline that will have you both laughing and crying at the same time. There are moments of disillusionment followed by realization that perhaps you are the only one responsible for your own happiness and no one else. From pink unicorns to killer yoga, frat parties and sex clubs, cupcakes and M&Ms, Angelisa and Christine find themselves in laughable situations where in the end two women will find friendship when they needed it the most. Size really doesn’t matter as long as you accept yourself for who you are.

Copy supplied by the author

Reviewed by Sandy

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Pastels and Jingles Bells (Heavenly Bites #1) by Christine Feldman-Blog Tour and Review

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PASTELS and JINGLE BELLS (Heavenly Bites Novella #1) by Christine S. Feldman-Blog Tour and Review

Pastels and Jingle Bells Banner 2

Pastels and Jingle Bells
Heavenly Bites Novella #1
by Christine Feldman
Release Date: November 1, 2013

Pastels and Jingle Bells

.99 cents : Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk/ Barnes and Noble / KOBO /

About the book: Release Date November 1, 2013

Trish Ackerly never expected to cross paths with Ian Rafferty again, but when she spots the former bully of her childhood years through her bakery window, she thinks she may just have been given the best Christmas gift ever: the opportunity to finally give Ian the comeuppance he deserves.

But clearly she does not have a knack for this whole revenge thing, because before she can make good on her plans, Trish gets inadvertently drawn into Ian’s life in an unexpected way that lets her see just how different the man is from the boy he used to be. In fact, much to her astonishment, she actually starts to like the guy.

A lot.

Trouble is, Ian doesn’t know who she really is, and explaining it to him is going to be a little difficult now—which is bad news, because Trish is starting to realize that all she really wants for Christmas this year…is Ian.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

REVIEW: Pastels and Jingle Bells is the first novella in Christine Feldman’s new series of contemporary romance novellas.

The storyline focuses on Trish and the painful memories of being bullied by the now devastatingly handsome and single dad Ian Rafferty. When Ian re-enters Trish’s life, she is prepared for the worse but she will be surprised when the boy that Trish once knew is not the man with whom she is falling in love.

The relationship between Trish and Ian begins as a business arrangement. Ian is a single father whose young daughter is withdrawn and with the Christmas holidays fast approaching he is in desperate need of help. Enter Trish Ackerly, an artist who has an eye for beauty and a woman he does not recognize from their previous history.

As the storyline progresses, so too does the relationship between Trish, Ian and Ian’s daughter who is beginning to come out of her shell with Trish’s help.

Because it is a novella, the storyline is fast paced. The background history between Trish and Ian is revealed when Trish and Ian share memories but some memories of Ian are ones that Trish had never known.

Pastels and Jingle Bells is a sweet, predictable storyline with a HEA. There is no foul language, no violence and no sex. It is a short contemporary novel perfect for the holiday season where two people get a second chance to rekindle a relationship started when one boy pulled the ponytail of a young girl as she walked to school.

Copy supplied by the author.

Reviewed by Sandy

excerpt

 

Pastels and Jingle Bells: Heavenly Bites Novella #1

It was probably inviting the worst kind of karma to be contemplating murder during the holiday season of all times, but that didn’t phase Trish Ackerly in the slightest as she stared through her bakery’s storefront window in shock.

It was him. Ian Rafferty, bane of her junior high school existence. She’d know that face anywhere, despite the changes in it. Sure, he was a couple of feet taller now and certainly broader shouldered, but as he glanced away from the winter scene she had painted on the window only yesterday and at a passing car that whizzed by much too fast on the busy city street, the profile he presented to her confirmed it. Yes, it was him. That same nose, the odd little scar above his eye, the familiar way he quirked his lips…

Her eyes narrowed. Ian Rafferty. That miserable, mean-spirited little—

Then he turned his face back to the window, and Trish gasped and dropped to the floor before he could spot her staring at him.
“What on earth are you doing?” came Nadia’s voice from behind the counter.

Trish huddled behind a tall metal trash can and glanced up through her dark bangs at her startled friend and business partner only to remember belatedly that they had company in the shop, namely wizened little Mrs. Beasley, whose startled eyes blinked at her from behind enormous tortoise-shell spectacles.

Well, there was little help for it now. “That guy,” Trish hissed, jerking one thumb in the direction of the window. “I know him!”

Both Nadia and Mrs. Beasley peered intently through the glass. “Mmm,” said Nadia appreciatively a moment later. “Lucky you, girlfriend.”

“No, not lucky me! That guy made my life a living hell in junior high. He’s a jerk, he’s a bully—“

“He’s coming in here, dear,” Mrs. Beasley interrupted her, with obvious interest in her voice.

With a squeak of alarm, Trish shuffled hastily behind the counter on her hands and knees and hunched into as small and inconspicuous a ball as she could.
Nadia blinked. “Trish, are you out of your—“

“Sh!”

“Oh, you did not just shush me—“

“SHH!” Trish insisted again, knowing full well that she’d pay for it later, and then she pulled her head down into her shoulders as much as her anatomy would allow.

The bell on the door jangled cheerfully then, and a gust of cold air heralded Ian Rafferty’s arrival.

About the Author pink

Christine Feldman

 

 

Christine S. Feldman writes both novels and feature-length screenplays, and she has placed in screenwriting competitions on both coasts.  She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her ballroom-dancing husband and their beagle.

Visit her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ChristineSFeldman or follow her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/FeldmanCS.

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