Mini Review: Build a Man

I had heard great things about Build A Man by Talli Roland but it took awhile for me to get around to reading it. Now that I have, I can't believe I waited that long! I loved this book!

Here's the synopsis:

The perfect man is out there . . . he just needs a little work.

Slave to the rich, rude and deluded, cosmetic surgery receptionist Serenity Holland longs for the day she's a high-flying tabloid reporter. Unfortunately, every pitch she sends out disappears like her clients' liposuctioned fat, never to be seen again. Then she meets Jeremy Ritchie -- the hang-dog man determined to be Britain's Most Eligible Bachelor by making himself over from head to toe and everything in between -- giving Serenity a story no editor could resist.

With London's biggest tabloid on board and her very own column tracking Jeremy's progress from dud to dude, Serenity is determined to be a success, even going undercover to gain intimate access to Jeremy's life. But when Jeremy's surgery goes drastically wrong and Serenity is ordered to cover all the car-crash goriness, she must decide how far she really will go for her dream job.

Some of you know that I also write reviews for Novel Escapes (and if you didn't before, now you do!) and I was asked to review Construct A Couple, the second book in the Serenity Holland series (my review is here). I really don't like reading the second (or third) book in a series before reading the first so I set out to get myself a copy of book one. Happily, I was successful (thank you Smashwords!) and I dove right into the book.

I loved Serenity. She was funny and just clueless enough to make things amusing but not frustrating. I noted in my review of book two that she reminded me of Becky Bloomwood from the Confessions of a Shopaholic series. Becky drives me crazy so Serenity had all of her best qualities. I liked that Serenity was real and relatable. I liked her so much that I hated that she was dating such a boring guy. Peter was clearly not good for her and I couldn't wait for her to realize that. Does she? Doesn't she? Read the book to find out ;)

Some other quick thoughts: The whole premise of the book was unique without being too crazy. I loved the budding romance between Serenity and Jeremy. Her best friend is a great BFF. I love books set in London.

I did find that I enjoyed Construct A Couple more than Build A Man so if you read this one and can't feel bothered with reading book two, I strongly encourage you to give it a shot! I was so happy that I had book two on my ereader when I was on a train trip and finished book one. I was able to pick up on Serenity's story without any delay. Unfortunately, now I have to wait for Talli Roland to finish the next book in the Serenity series! In the meantime, I'll have to find more of her novels because she's become one of my favourites.

Happy reading :)

Guest Post: Romi Moondi

I'm so excited to welcome author Romi Moondi to Books Etc. today. I reviewed her hilarious and awesome novel Last-Minute Love earlier this week (review is here) as part of a CLP Blog Tour and today she is here with a guest post. Since I knew a little bit about her publishing journey I was curious to find out how it turned out compared to the vision she had in her head. Thanks to Romi for this awesome post!

Hi Kaley, thanks for letting me guest-post here, and I have to say, I love your question!

I guess the best measure of how I thought it would turn out goes back to early 2010, when I’d scored a literary agent in New York for “Year of the Chick.” After sending out all those query letters, dealing with the rejections, and finally securing representation, I could picture the next several years of my author life, and I imagined it going like this:

-Most publishers reject me, but one really loves my book and offers me a deal. The book takes off with the right publisher-aided marketing (ha!), I go to book signings in different cities, my agent sells foreign right in several countries, and I use my riches to write full-time…hooray!

And this is how it actually turned out:

-Publishers liked, or enjoyed, or “insert positive adjective” my book, but they didn’t love it.

-My agent didn’t like my second book, which was a humorous essay parody.

-I liked my essay book anyway, and I’d been hearing so much about Amazon self-publishing that I left my agent. I self-published “The Book of Awful” in spring of 2011.

-I realized how obscure you are as an author if you don’t do any advertising or promotions (crikey). So I started doing some advertising and promotions, by learning about various websites from author message boards.

-In November of 2011, I dusted off “Year of the Chick,” and after another minor re-write (owing to my “fresh writer eyes”), I went ahead and self-published it too.

-After doing a couple of free promotions for “Year of the Chick” and getting some great reviews, I realized there was an audience out there for my book, even if it’s not for everyone.

-In early 2012, I took a week off work (yes, my own vacation since I still have a full-time job!) and wrote the entire first draft for the sequel to “Year of the Chick.” That’s fifty-eight thousand words in six days, and I almost went insane doing it.

-After a gruelling re-write and stressful final edits, the sequel “Last-Minute Love” was released, and it’s been out for three months now. I’ve sold almost 2,000 copies of this book, and almost 4,000 copies across all my titles.

-I still have a full-time job, and I will self-publish another book in my series in 2013 (unless of course a publisher discovers my book on their own, and offers me a wonderful author-friendly contract I can’t pass up).

Okay…whoa, that is NOT how I thought my journey would turn out!

The real-life version has been anything but glamourous, but it’s been the most satisfying journey of my life. Every time a reader emails me to tell me how much they loved the series, or to even “thank me for writing,” (you’re thanking ME for writing? That’s insane!), it reminds me how this ONE special part of the journey I always imagined, the part where I would reach random strangers with my words…that part actually came true.

As for the rest? Well screw it! It’s a brave new world of publishing, one in which, granted, I fully support every writer who gets a literary agent and finds a publisher (let’s make that clear), but also one in which I’m fully independent as an author.

And it feels good :-)

(Thank you Amazon, Kobo, iTunes and Barnes &  Noble for the ability to self-publish!)

Romi

Author Bio:

I am Canadian, and here are some strange personal facts:

-I wore denim-top-to-bottom in high school (there is a direct inverse relationship between how much denim I wore and how few tongues were launched down my throat at school dances...or anywhere in high school at all).
-A homeless lady in New York once told me "You're just a bitch on vacation with no money!"
-I always hated those insufferable couples who would cuddle and make out on the subway...until I became half of one. But now I'm back to being none of one so I hate them again.

The thing I love most in the world is writing. When I first started publishing on Amazon it was my "crazy" humour side ("The Book of Awful," and "NOT Love Poems For Real Life"). Since then, everything has focused on my "Year of the Chick" series, because it's the most important thing to me in the world right now. I guess that would tend to happen, when your writing is inspired by real life, including all the satisfaction and risks that come from that.

My "Year of the Chick" series can be described as "edgy rom-com," which helps me account for the blunt conversations and mortifying family moments in the book ;-).

Book 3 in the "Year of the Chick" series will be written and released in 2013; until then I have some adventures to go on! 

Connect with Romi:

Facebook Author Page

Twitter
Blog

Top Ten Tuesday: Series I Haven't Finished

Top Ten Tuesday is weekly meme created by the lovely folks at The Broke and the Bookish. They created it because they're "particularly fond of lists" and since I also enjoy lists, I've decided to participate in this fun feature. 

This week's list is all about the series that we haven't finished. I'm the kind of person who usually always finishes a series so I didn't know how easy it would be to come up with ten that I hadn't finished. As it turns out, there are a few (yes, ten) that I haven't finished! 

Don't forget to check out their blog for a full list of everyone participating.

In no particular order...

Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien

Yep. Haven't finished this one. I read The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring way back when I was in high school and I haven't really had any desire to finish the other two. Not too sure why as I remember enjoying the books and I usually like fantasy. 

Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan

I'm cheating a bit here as I haven't even technically started this series. This is the same world as in the Percy Jackson series but different characters and, I think, it takes place a few years after the last Percy book. I've been waiting for all of them to be released before diving in because I don't want to wait!

Katie Chandler - Shanna Swendson

I adored Enchanted Inc. and the four books that followed. The last book in the series came out in 2008 and I was so sad as I felt like there was more to come. Cue major excitement when I learned that Much Ado About Magic, the next book in the series, has been released! Can't wait to dive in.

Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis

Yet another fantasy series that I enjoyed but just never got around to finishing. I read the first few when I was in elementary school and then stopped reading them. I'm just now realizing that it may have been due to Harry Potter becoming popular...

Stephanie Plum - Janet Evanovich

Technically I'm just behind one book on this series. And it's not because I dislike it (though they're really not literary masterpieces by any means). It has more to do with the fact that I don't want to buy these books and I haven't gotten around to requesting it from my library nor have I snagged my best friend's mom's copy (a little more difficult now that she's over two hours away from me). I'll get around to it one of these days.

The Mediator - Meg Cabot

This was a series that I really enjoyed when I was in high school. I think I stopped reading them just because I grew out of it. A really enjoyable series though and, if I remember correctly, they've now been rereleased with new (and better) covers so teens now can get into them. Tell your resident teenager to read these ones!

Gossip Girl - Cecily von Ziegesar

This is another series that I grew out of. My sister borrowed the first few from a friend when I was in high school (judging from the release date I would have been in grade 10) and we devoured them during the summer. Then...I just stopped reading them. And no, I haven't watched the TV show.

Georgia Nicholson - Louise Rennison

Oh, Georgia. I freaking loved her when I was in high school. One of my best friend's, her sister, and I read every single one of these books and would often shout out the most ridiculous things because of the series. In fact, I was just at a bachelorette party the other weekend and busted out the phrase "cosmic horn." Obviously we haven't matured in 10 years :) Another series I'd highly recommend to teen girls. Now, to find the last couple of books I never read...

The Princess Diaries - Meg Cabot

Yet another series I got a bit too old for (I know you're never too old to read YA but when the final books in a series come out when you're in university and busy reading textbooks and books geared to your age group these ones kind of fall by the wayside). I love love love the movie and, quite honestly, never loved the books as much. Probably another reason I never finished it, even though I believe my sister owns every book.

The Wolves of Mercy Falls - Maggie Stiefvater

Finally, a series that I didn't finish because I just plain disliked it. Actually, I never even finished the first book, Shiver, that's how much I didn't like it. And I only just found out that the series is called The Wolves of Mercy Falls. How's that for not caring?

Are there any series that you haven't finished? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading :)

CLP Blog Tour: Last-Minute Love

I was incredibly excited when I learned that Romi Moondi was going on tour with Last-Minute Love, the sequel to her novel Year of the Chick (which I reviewed earlier this year). I eagerly signed up for this CLP Blog Tour and I'm so glad I did. I loved this book!

Here's the synopsis:

What's a girl to do when she meets the Internet man of her dreams, he's better than she expected, but he lives an ocean away? And let's not forget her parents,who are trying to lock her up in arranged-marriage doom... 

In this fast-paced story of culture clash and romantic pursuits, there's a big fat Indian wedding, the struggle to keep a long-distance flame alive, and an unexpected mystery man who could set a new course in motion. 

All the while, our heroine abandons what was once an all-consuming man-search, which helps her remember the person she used to be, and the person she hopes to become; the history-loving nerd, the hopeless romantic, and the emerging author with dreams of ditching the corporate rat race. 

This is the book of living in the moment, making the grand gesture, and putting it all on the line. This is when Romi Narindra comes alive...

In my review of Year of the Chick I noted that it took me awhile to get into the story. That was not the case with the sequel. I was immediately reminded of how funny Romi is and how much I adore her sense of humour. I started reading this at the gym and I'm sure I got some strange looks as I was literally laughing out loud. I just couldn't help it! The humour carries on throughout the entire novel, even when things get a little more serious and confusing for our heroine.

I realized after I finished the book that I think I connected with it so much because I felt like I was actually with Romi (the character) through all of her adventures. Romi (the author) did a great job of writing this book to really make sure her readers were fully immersed in her character's life. It was descriptive and really well done.

Even though I loved the book for the humour, there were some more serious moments in the story. I don't want to give much away but I actually found myself tearing up when Romi was discovering that what...er, who...she wanted just wasn't going to work out for her. I was both sad and angry for Romi. I hated that she got treated in such a crappy way.

Last-Minute Love isn't going to be for everyone. Romi has a particular sense of humour (one which includes multiple f-bombs) that isn't going to appeal to all readers. If you don't have delicate sensibilities and if you love a feisty heroine then I definitely recommend Romi Moondi's novels. You don't necessarily have to read Year of the Chick first but it's probably best. I'm so excited that Romi is planning on writing a third novel in this series and will eagerly await more information about the book.

A slight aside: last week I wrote a post about the ten bookish people I'd like to meet in real life. I think I need to add Romi (the real person, not the character, obviously) to that list. If she's as awesome as her fictional alter ego, I definitely want to meet her. Bonus: she's in Toronto (yay Canadian authors!) so it's not totally unreasonable. :)

Overall, I loved Last-Minute Love and I think others would love it as well. It's an amazing book that would be great for any twenty-something female. There's so much more I could say about this book but I think you should buy a copy and make up your own mind :) Make sure you check back on Wednesday when Romi stops by Books Etc. with an awesome guest post!

Guest Post: Lucie Simone

I was fortunate to review Lucie Simone's latest novel Picture Perfect last week as part of a CLP Blog Tour (check out my review here if you missed it). Today, Lucie was kind enough to write a fab post for Books Etc. I hope you all enjoy it! Oh, and try not to feel too jealous... :)

Star Gazing 

By Lucie Simone

One of the great things about living in Los Angeles is that on any given day, you could run into an A list celebrity at the doctor’s office, encounter a cavalcade of cars and police cruisers escorting the president to a party at a movie star’s home in the Hollywood Hills, dine alongside a megawatt pop star at a trendy restaurant, or even rub elbows with a style icon at a posh bar in downtown. It all happens here. All the time.

With so many celebrities roaming the streets of Los Angeles, it’s easy to get caught up in the frenzy and excitement of star gazing. Oohing and aahing over seeing a famous actor at In & Out Burger is all very fun, but after many years in Tinsel Town, I barely even notice them anymore. Well, unless Johnny Depp ever crosses my path. I’m pretty sure I would drop to my knees and propose my undying love. Or throw up. Either way, Johnny would not be pleased about it one bit. Because in Tinsel Town, you gotta keep your cool.

The trick to not geeking out over a celebrity is to simply ignore them. Sure, take a gander. Size ‘em up. See if they really are as attractive in person as on the big screen. (The answer is always yes, or even more so). But gushing over them, squealing with excitement, or making public proclamations of undying love (except in cases of Johnny Depp, of course) is considered to be the height of impropriety. Acknowledging them with anything more than a head bob or a bored, “hey, man” is likely to send them running for cover. For you see, celebrities (I’m not including reality TV stars here – they crave that kind of attention) are like animals in the wild. They’re skittish, and if you try chatting one up while standing in line at Trader Joe’s, they’re going to bolt.

Over the years, I’ve spotted loads of celebrities just out and about, carrying on with their personal business like regular people. Tim Robbins at CVS; Josh Brolin, Eliza Dushku, Meg Ryan, and even Dick Clark at the grocery store; Edward Norton at the mall; Steven Spielberg at the gas station; Arnold Schwarzenneger in a parking lot off Sunset Strip where he very nearly ran me over with his Hummer; Giovanni Ribisi at a French restaurant; Dustin Hoffman at a video store; Vince Vaughn at the farmer’s market; Ben Affleck at The Coffee Bean; Jason Lee at Starbucks; Dave Chappell at a Greek restaurant; and on and on. (And yet, Johnny Depp still eludes me!).

It’s always a little fascinating to see celebs out in public like that. Like a tiger that’s escaped from the zoo. What’s even more interesting is to watch all the regular people slowly realize that there’s a star among them. Heads turn, whispers float. You can feel the buzz of energy rise through the crowd as everyone takes a peek at the tiger on the loose. A quiet hum making its way across a busy restaurant or winding its way through fruit stands at the farmer’s market. But no one, not a soul, ever dares ask for an autograph, a picture, or in any way acknowledges their celebrity status. They aren’t at a red carpet event, after all. They’re just hanging out. Or running errands. Or just, you know, keeping it real. So, like the sign says at the pet store, Keep Your Fingers Out of the Cage!

Recap: Bookstravaganza

This past Tuesday I attended the first ever Bookstravaganza! This excellent bookish event was hosted by Random House of Canada and Chatelaine and was held at the Ritz Carlton in Toronto.

I haven't been able to attend many events like these because I've always been just a little bit too far from Toronto to justify it - about two hours away no matter where I've moved to (and I've lived in a few towns and cities). Since I've decided to start making more of an effort networking-wise with my blog, I decided this would be a really fun event to go to. And I was right!

Me, on the left, and Lindsay

I made plans to meet up with Lindsay (from Turning the Pages) at Union after we both got off our respective GO trains and we made the quick walk over to the Ritz. I had been worrying all day that it was going to pour but the rain held off and we stayed dry, yay!

Admittedly, Lindsay and I were like little kids when we got off the elevator. We were trying to take everything in and we got pretty excited by the sight of the swag bags. Hey, don't try to tell me you don't love free stuff ;) We checked in, got our raffle ticket (I swear the jar was rigged as each of the tickets called weren't even close to ours. Where were the 700-and something tickets?), and said hello to Lindsey from Random House. Being able to meet people, like Lindsey and Lindsay, that I've only interacted with online was definitely one of the highlights of the night.

We made our way further into the lobby and discovered that ladies from Bourjois were there armed with samples of lip gloss. Um, yes please! And this wasn't just any lip gloss. Oh, no. It was lip gloss that adjusts to the wearer's lip colour for a personalised pink!

Crummy quality, sorry. Darn phone. 

Once we were made up, I made sure we made a pit stop at the bar. I could see that there was a special drink made just for this evening called Ms. Chatelaine - and it was delicious! There was also a candy bar which was equally delicious.

We weren't really sure what the event itself would hold so we waited expectantly for the presentation portion of the event to get under way! Various editors for Random House imprints as well as editors for Chatelaine made presentations about new fall books that they've enjoyed. I have to admit, my favourite revelation was learning that Gerry Dee's new book, Teaching: It's Harder Than It Looks, has a chalkboard on the inside covers. A CHALKBOARD!!! Bet you haven't heard of that before.

Random House also debuted six (well done) videos that showcased their new fall books - fiction, mystery, non-fiction, memoir, TV/movie, and lifestyle/food. You can watch all of them on their YouTube channel if you're interested. Authors Annabel Lyon and Shauna Singh Baldwin were present to talk about their new books, The Sweet Girl and The Selector of Souls respectively. I always love hearing authors talk about their work and this evening was no different. There were happy gasps and squeals when we were told that we would all get a copy of each book and would be able to get them signed at the end of the night!

More signed books! 

Alas, the evening had to come to an end at some point. The swag bags were handed out, final goodbyes were said (including a quick hello and goodbye to Michele from Just a Lil' Lost and Brenna from Esther's Ever After), and Lindsay and I made our way back to Union. Another rushed goodbye as I had to run off to catch my train. As I made the trek back home I made the decision to try to and get back to Toronto more often for these kinds of events. We'll see if my wallet approves of that decision... :)

Goodies from the fab swag bag

CLP Blog Tour: Picture Perfect

Welcome to a stop on the Picture Perfect tour hosted by CLP Blog Tours! I was excited to take part in this tour because I had heard so many great things about author Lucie Simone's work. Confession: I've had a copy of her novel Hollywood Ending on my shelf for awhile and I just haven't gotten around to reading it. After reading, and loving!, Picture Perfect I can't wait to read more from Lucie!

Here's the synopsis of Lucie's latest novel:

For Lauren Tate, a high-powered TV producer, sex, lies, and scandal make for a great movie-of-the-week, but when she becomes the target of a smear campaign, even the most salacious of Hollywood’s tales can’t compare to her real life drama. With her soon-to-be-ex-husband leading the effort to sully her reputation, and her former assistant threatening to snatch her hard-earned position at Timeless Television out of her hands, Lauren’s perfectly planned life quickly begins to unravel at the seams.

Clawing her way back to the top of the TV food chain is no easy task, especially in an industry where backstabbing is a sport and gossip is a full time business. But Lauren learns just how cut-throat showbiz can truly be when the hottest scandal in Tinsel Town turns deadly and the Hollywood hunk who’s stolen her heart is missing in action. Can she salvage her career, her reputation, and her love life? Or will Hollywood be the death of her?

By the time I started the book it had been awhile since I had read the synopsis so I couldn't remember a thing about what this novel was about. I was expecting your typical chick lit but what I got was so much more! I loved the mystery aspect to this book. Lauren has to try to clear her name in a murder investigation and it is heartbreaking, tense, and even a little amusing. Lucie does a great job of pushing the limit when it comes to Lauren channelling her inner Nancy Drew. There's a great scene when Lauren and her best friend, Justine, visit the scene of the crime looking for some evidence. If it wasn't so well written it would have been more hokey than entertaining. The mystery part of the novel had tons of twists and turns and Lucie kept me guessing for the entire story. The final outcome was a surprise for me and that was so much better than knowing "whodunit" right from the start.

Lauren is a fabulous character. She thinks she has her life completely sorted out when, suddenly, everything goes to hell. Some women would fall apart. In a way, Lauren does. But she also realizes that she can't fall to pieces if she wants to get past everything. She showed amazing strength while also showing her vulnerable side. I thought it was interesting that Lucie made mention on a few occasions that Lauren uses food, sweets in particular, as a crutch when she's stressed. It was just enough to make me, as the reader, realize that she had little issues and insecurities just like everyone else but it wasn't so much that it took over the rest of the story. I would love to read more about Lauren and find out what happened with her after Picture Perfect ended.

There was a fun and supportive cast of characters surrounding Lauren as well. I loved Justine. I think she and Lauren complimented each other exactly like best friends should. Jack, the new Hollywood It Boy Lauren hooks up with, kept me guessing and I alternated between wondering if he was hiding something or if he was too good to be true. Both Justine and Jack stood by Lauren - in very different ways - as she went through the hardest time of her life.

I started this book on an hour train ride. I was so engrossed in the novel that the trip (both there and back) just flew by. In fact, I almost wished it was longer so I could keep reading! Picture Perfect is well written, sweet, and humorous - even when dealing with a Hollywood murder.  I wholeheartedly recommend Lucie Simone's latest novel to all readers, whether you normally read chick lit or not.

Make sure you check back on Sunday when Lucie stops by with a lovely guest post!

Happy reading :)