Chick Lit Plus Blog Tour: Favorable Conditions

I'm getting right back into the swing of things and have a great book to review for you all. Since I've read  Kathleen Kole's  first two novels (Breaking Even reviewed here and Dollars to Donuts reviewed here) I eagerly signed up for the Chick Lit Plus organized blog tour for Kole's latest - Favorable Conditions. I enjoyed her other books but I LOVED this one and I think you will too!

Here's what the novel is all about, courtesy of Goodreads:

Can you imagine being forty-five, your last child has moved on to college and the time is ripe for you to blaze a new trail into your future? Pat Keegan can. Well, except for the tiny detail that all her preconceived notions about how that future was going to shape up are completely out the window.  

Join Pat as she jumps feet first back into the world outside her door, takes on a new business venture, is pursued by a much younger man and has to muddle her way through more emotions that she knew she had - all to finally attain her goal of rediscovering who she is and what she wants from the next phase of her life.

I was actually a little surprised that I ended up loving this novel of Kole's instead of her others. That may sound a little strange but bear with me as I try to explain... Since I'm a twenty-something year old I tend to relate more to characters who are not yet married and don't have kids. That's not to say that I don't like reading about women who are married with older children, because I do, it's just that it's rare for me to love those books and characters. Can you follow that? My point is that I loved reading about Pat even though she's at a totally different stage in her life than I am. 


We meet Pat at a pretty low point in her life. She's newly divorced, her beloved dog passed away not long after the separation, and she now has a very empty nest. We get just enough of a taste of the depressing nature of Pat's situation before Kole smartly and quickly starts to turn things around. A chance encounter with a real estate board results in a new business venture (side note: this is the second book I've in recent months that has a main character who owns a bookstore...is the universe trying to tell me something or do I just want to think that it's telling me something...? :) hehe) and things start to go well from there. Kole even seemed to know precisely the right moment to introduce Ian, the love interest. Their meeting and first few encounters are sweet, funny, and darn near perfect. I loved reading about their romance and learning more about their relationship, bumps and all.


To those of you who have read Kole's other novels - did you catch the fact that some of the characters from those books made cameos? I absolutely loved that. It wasn't too obvious and it adds a little bit of fun for those people who have read Breaking Even and Dollars to Donuts. 


This book had me laughing out loud at numerous parts. One memorable scene involved Pat's college freshman daughter coming home unannounced and finding Pat and Ian in a...well...compromising position. I burst out laughing as I read this part and could not stop. After the giggles subsided I started feeling so bad for all parties - can you imagine that happening to you? Eek. Still, it made for one hilarious scene.


Pat has an amazing support system of friends who are there for her every step of the way. They are not only great friends to her but they are excellent supporting characters for the novel. Gerry and Travis provide tons of comic relief and Pat's best friend Melanie is just amazing. She's the best friend every girl wants - fiercely loyal, lots of fun, and willing to do almost anything to make sure her friend is happy (including buying the world's most adorable kitten). I would love to be part of their group...except for the small issue that I'm about 20 years younger than most of them... :)


Overall, I loved Favorable Conditions. So much so, that I need to look into purchasing a hard copy (I read this on on my Kobo) for my mom because I think she'll love it too. For you readers out there who are like me and in your 20s and think you might not enjoy this one because you won't relate to the main character - give this book a shot. Trust me. You will not be disappointed. 


Happy reading :)

Just Finished: Dollars to Donuts

Calling all donut and chick lit lovers! :) I've just recently finished Dollars to Donuts by the lovely Kathleen Kole. I'd like to thank her for sending along a copy for me to read. I enjoyed Breaking Even (you can read my review  here) so I was looking forward to her newest novel.

Here's the synopsis from Goodreads:

Take one newspaper columnist; move her from the anonymity of her home city to a sleepy, small town; add a dollop of nosey, suspicious and just plain odd neighbors; a dash of mystery in the form of a stained garbage can and a rodent and, finally, a large pinch of unsettling attraction to a virtual stranger and you’ll find yourself with a recipe that imitates April Patterson’s life.

Sound strange? It is.

April Patterson had no idea that when she decided to follow the path of family and love, she would find herself an unwitting player in an eyebrow raising cul-de-sac mystery, grasping for her privacy as she plays “Dodge the Neighbor” and being forced to examine her relationship motives ... all before she had unpacked her last box!

Taking a deep breath, and a large bite into a comforting donut, April consoles herself with the knowledge that it will all work out. It always does ... doesn’t it?

I have to be totally honest and let you all know that I didn't love this one as much as I had hoped. Don't get me wrong, I was still entertained by the hijinks April and her friends got up to but there seemed to be a little something lacking in this one for me. I found that the relationship issue April has was too similar to the one Penny had in Breaking Even. I don't think I would have minded the issues so much (girl is in steady relationship, new and shiny boy comes along, she toys with a potentially bad idea, all is resolved) if it hadn't been so much like what Penny went through. I also found the turmoil and craziness with the neighbours seemed a little too separate from the rest of the novel - didn't quite flow for me.

All that being said, I was still invested in April's life and desperately wanted her to figure out her life. She seemed to be so stuck and I was rooting for her to decide what she should do to make herself happy. While the ending may not have been what I had chosen myself, I still find that it is completely right. I guess that's why Kole is the author and I am not :) Some people  may not appreciate it but I think Kole did what was right for her characters. And I have to brag about the fact that I saw the one part of the ending coming. Yes, I know I'm being vague again but you'll just have to read the book to find out what I'm talking about!

I really loved that April and Jessica, her older sister, were so close. I'm quite close with my own sister so it was great to see a true sibling friendship in a book. It was very realistic which I appreciated. I would love to know more about her life before the start of Dollars to Donuts. Perhaps a prequel? :)

Overall, I enjoyed reading Dollars to Donuts and I think other chick lit lovers would enjoy it as well. In fact, check out the home page for the Chick Lit Plus organized blog tour and you'll see many other reviews as well. This was a fun read and I'm looking forward to what Kathleen Kole comes out with next!

Happy reading :)

Just Finished: "Breaking Even"

Breaking Even by Kathleen Kole was a book I heard about through a Chick Lit Plus organized blog tour. Since I missed out on both those tours, I decided to take matters into my own hands and bought it for my Kobo so I could read it too! (This isn't the first book that I've read because of a tour CLP organized. This was also why I decided to give Click: An Online Love Story a shot. You can read my review of that novel here.) I'm glad I decided to get this book because I really enjoyed it.

Here's the synopsis from Goodreads:

Meet Penelope Whittaker. A sensible, do things the right way, soon-to-be-married accountant. Penelope is engaged to the wonderful, kind and caring Ben Miller ... a man she has known forever. Enter Single Dad. While on a school run, Penelope accidentally locks her keys in her car. A seemingly boring event, until she is offered aid by a very handsome (hubba, hubba) and personable Single Dad. Shaken by the encounter, or, more to the point, shaken by her reaction to the encounter, Penelope tries to put it where it belongs: on a shelf marked "Chance Encounters". Life has different plans.

This was one of those books that had me laughing out loud in some parts and cringing in others. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Cameron (Penny's young nephew) meets Scott (aka Single Dad). Cameron was so incredibly protective and made it clear to Scott that Auntie Pen was with Uncle Ben. Absolutely adorable. I was reading this part at the gym while working out and I'm sure people were looking at me strangely as I giggled at the imagery of a young boy giving a grown man the evil eye.

As for cringing...there were times when I wanted to smack Pen upside the head for being so silly and not listening to her friends. There's a reason the two women, Kris and Renee, were her closest friends - and not just because they're going to be her sisters-in-law. They know Penelope and Ben and can see the potential problems that will come from talking to Single Dad. Unfortunately, Penny can't see these problems and ignores their warnings. She also chooses to bottle up her issues instead of discussing them with Ben. The poor guy is left worrying about what he's done and what's going on with his fiance.

Even though Penelope is toying with the idea of starting an affair with Single Dad (whether she realizes it consciously or not), it is easy to relate to her and understand what she's going through. I found myself rooting for her and Ben and hoping that Kole would give me the ending I really wanted. (And no, I'm not going to tell you what the ending was. Read it yourself to find out!) Her friends are a fantastic support system and a good model for what marriage is really like (I'm assuming as I'm nowhere near marriage myself). I liked that Kris and Renee had their own lives and their stories were woven into Penny's while not overtaking the main plot.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and think many others would too. It's a fun read with great characters. For Kindle readers, you can buy the book here, Kobo users check out the book here, and for all the non-ereader readers a paperback can be purchased too. I think it's worth a buy and when you're done reading Breaking Even you should make sure to check out her Kole's next novel Dollars to Donuts. I'm looking forward to reading it myself!

Happy reading :)