31 May 2017

Positively Pippa (Ghost Falls, Book 1)


Synopsis from Goodreads: From author Sarah Hegger comes an exciting new series set in small-town Utah, where secrets don’t keep for long—and love turns up in the most unexpected places.

For Pippa Turner there’s only one place to go when her life self-destructs on national TV—home to Ghost Falls, and her heavily perfumed, overly dramatic, but supremely loving grandmother, Philomene. If anyone will understand how Pippa’s hit makeover show was sabotaged by her vengeful ex, it’s Phi. But she’s not the only one who’s happy to see her—and Pippa can’t help but wonder if Matt Evans, her gorgeous high-school crush turned Phi’s contractor, is game for a steamy close-up…

Matt owes his whole career to Phi and her constant demands to embellish the gothically ridiculous house he built for her. Getting to see red-headed, red-hot Pippa is a bonus, especially now that she’s no longer the troublesome teenager he remembers. He’s willing to stay behind the scenes while she gives her own life a much-needed makeover, but not forever. As far as he’s concerned, their connection is too electric to ignore. And the chance to build something lasting between them—before she can high-tail it back to Hollywood—is going to the top of his to-do list…

Stats for my copy: ARC paperback, Zebra Books, 2017.

How acquired: Won in a Goodreads giveaway.

My thoughts:  Pippa and Matt are both hitting crossroads in their lives. Pippa's man done her wrong, big time, plunging her career into the toilet. She's run home to Ghost Falls and her over the top diva grandmother to lick her wounds. Matt has spent the last seventeen years taking care of everyone else, giving up his dreams for his own future. Now he has an opportunity to break away from the mountain of responsibility that shouldn't have been his to bear in the first place. They're quickly thrown together, thanks to her conniving grandmother, but then it's such a small town they would've crossed paths eventually anyway. Matt's been crushing on Pippa since they were teenagers, and sparks fly between them.

Phi, the diva grandmother, was a hoot. I loved both Pippa and Matt, but maybe Matt a little more. What's not to like? He's good-looking, charming, rugged, can fix anything, and will do just about anything for his family. He's a bit tied to his mother's apron strings, and he could have come across as a mama's boy, but since we get his story told from his point of view we can sympathize with him despite wanting to slap his mother upside the head. And when Pippa finally made a decision about her future, I loved Matt's (unexpected by her) reaction, which just drove home what a wonderful and decent man he is.

The romance between Pippa and Matt seemed to build up slowly, but the story takes place over a short period of time, so they actually fall into bed together pretty quickly. But since they've known half their lives it didn't feel rushed or unnatural like instalove sometimes does.

This was a fun, sweet romance, with a couple of hot scenes, and a side of quirk. And such a cute cover! I'm already looking forward to the next Ghost Falls book, and definitely want to check out the author's other work, especially her Willow Park series.

28 May 2017

Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live

TOM SHALES & JAMES ANDREW MILLER

Synopsis from back cover: In their own words, a galaxy of stars – Mike Myers, Bill Murray, Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Dan Akroyd, Steve Martin, Dana Carvey, Tina Fey, Molly Shannon, Al Franken, Billy Crystal, Chevy Chase, and many others – as well as members of Saturday Night Live's extended family of cast, crew and guests, recall more than a quarter-century's worth of great backstage stories, off-camera gossip, feuds, foibles, drugs, sex, struggles, and calamities. This irresistibly readable book takes us behind the scenes of SNL like no other book ever has.

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Back Bay Books, 2003.

How acquired: Bought.

First Line: Saturday Night Live is more than a television show.

My thoughts:  I stopped watching Saturday Night Live sometime in the 90's. At first I just gradually lost interest, when I was working a lot, sometimes until 1:00 or 1:30 in the morning. Then I made a conscious decision to stop watching because I had young kids and I felt like the show was no longer funny, it was just raunch. But after reading this book I now feel very nostalgic and want to go back and watch from the very beginning.


The book follows the show chronologically, with chapter headings broken into chunks of time, such as “Exordium: 1975-1976” and “Heyday: 1976-1980”. It's an oral history, in that the majority of the book is in the words of the people interviewed, from cast members and writers to agents, producers and executives. And it's all incredibly fascinating. In the chapters from the later years, there were some cast members I'd never heard of, and a lot of cast members who I am familiar with but had not known were in the cast (Julia Louis-Dreyfus!). The book is long, 600 pages not counting the index in the back, and only goes up to the 2002-2003 season. Looking at the different editions on Goodreads, another updated edition was published in 2014, with “over more than 100 pages of new material”, and I would love to find a copy of that edition just to read those additional pages. 

20 May 2017

Nanny Returns (Nanny, Book 2)

EMMA MCLAUGHLIN and NICOLA KRAUS

Synopsis from jacket flap: More than four million readers fell in love with Nan, the smart, spirited, and sympathetic heroine of the #1 New York Times bestseller THE NANNY DIARIES.

Now she's back. After living abroad for twelve years, she and her husband, Ryan, aka H.H., have returned to New York to make a life for themselves. In the midst of getting her new business off the ground and fixing up their fixer-upper, Ryan announces his sudden desire to start a family. His timing simply couldn't be worse.

To compound the mounting construction and marital chaos, her former charge, Grayer X, now sixteen years old, makes a drunken, late-night visit, wanting to know why she abandoned him all those years ago. But how can she explain to Grayer what she still hasn't come to terms with herself? In an attempt to assuage her guilt, yet against every instinct, Nan tries to help Grayer and his younger brother, Stilton, through their parents' brutal divorce, drawing her back into the ever-bizarre life of Mrs. X and her Upper East Side enclave of power and privilege.

After putting miles and years between herself and this world, Nan finds she's once again on the front line of the battle with the couture-clad elite for their children's well-being.

With its whip-smart dialogue and keen observations of modern life, NANNY RETURNS gives a firsthand tour of what happens when a community that chose money over love finds itself with neither. 

Stats for my copy: Hard back, Atria Books, 2009.

How acquired: Bought.

My thoughts:  My daughter recently got a job as a nanny, and I get texts from her on an almost daily basis complaining or ranting about the mother of the kids. I asked her one day if she'd read or seen the movie of THE NANNY DIARIES, because Mrs. X would make her appreciate her employer. Then I remembered I had this sequel on my shelf, so I pulled it out and started reading. It's been awhile since I read the first book (2004 I think), but I fell right into this one without feeling any need to be refreshed on the first book.

It's twelve years later, and Nan and her husband have just moved back to New York after having lived overseas. There are numerous plot points that take off from there. They buy a house that is literally falling down around them (at one point a stairway collapses and they have to use a ladder to get up and down between floors), Nan starts a consulting business and gets a job with a private school that caters to privileged kids and their pretentious parents, they contemplate having children (Ryan wants to, Nan isn't so sure), Nan reconnects with old friends and not quite friends, and then the biggest plot - Grayer X suddenly pops up, embroiling her back into his life for the sake of saving his younger brother from their warring, divorcing parents.


Despite how busy the story is, the plots all weave together seamlessly. The book is written in first person present tense POV, my least favorite tense, but it's done so very well that I didn't mind at all. In fact I actually liked it. The writing is very engaging and the story is mesmerizing. NANNY RETURNS is a fantastic follow up, with a satisfying resolution and providing closure to the first book.

13 May 2017

Can't Buy Me Love


Synopsis from Goodreads: Is it all too good to be true?

When Willow runs into her old university crush, Luke, she’s a new woman with a new look – not to mention a little bit more cash after a rather substantial inheritance. Could she be lucky enough to score a fortune and her dream man at the same time?

Then Willow meets Cal; a computer geek with a slightly odd sense of humour. They get on like a house on fire — although she soon realises that there is far more to her unassuming new friend than meets the eye …

But money doesn’t always bring happiness, and Willow finds herself struggling to know who to trust. Are the new people in her life there because they care – or is there another reason?

Previously released in the US as Reversing Over Liberace. Revised and edited by Choc Lit June 2016.

Stats for my copy: Kindle edition, Choc Lit, 2016.

How acquired: NetGalley.

First Lines: 'My grandfather's left me his nose. It's in a matchbox.'

My thoughts:  Willow and her mates, Jazz and Katie, are hanging out in their local pub one night, when they run into Luke, an old college classmate. In college Willow had a huge crush on Luke, but he never seemed to notice her existence at all. So she's pretty thrown when he's now happy to see her and promptly asks her out. Willow is a fun, self-deprecating narrator. She has lots of siblings who wander in and out of her story, all of whom (including her) seem to be at a stage in life where they are floundering slightly. At first I thought Jazz was going to be the cliche gay best friend that was all the rage for awhile, so I was relieved when that wasn't the case. Instead she has a gay brother, but he was fairly normal and not at all cliche. And then he introduces her to Cal, who she gets to know, before discovering she didn't really know him at all. He was one of my favorite characters. She often refers to him as being weird, but he was weird in a good way.

Willow, despite being in her early thirties, was a little naive in the beginning, letting Luke's attention sweep her off her feet. The plot was a little transparent, although if I hadn't read the synopsis it might've taken me longer to become suspicious. And Willow of course did not read the synopsis, so maybe I should expect it to take her longer to realize something wasn't quite right. There was a nice little, not exactly a plot twist but more a veering of the storyline that I did not see coming, which, while I'm not sure it was completely realistic it was quite satisfying.


Ms. Lovering definitely writes quirky stories. Sometimes too much quirk can come off as campy or over the top, but Ms. Lovering infuses her stories with warmth and humor and characters you'd like to be friends with. A fun read with some amusing banter and wonderful characters.