I was super lucky to get an advanced reader copy of this book from the Goodreads 1st Reads giveaway & wow was it ever good! Right from the first paragraph, I was hooked. Beautiful prose sucked me in and the characters became living breathing human beings I cared about and eagerly wanted to get to know. Dealing with subjects like identity, self-purpose & family secrets, this was a story I could really sink my teeth into. Well-crafted with superior writing style, I highly recommend this book to fans of women's fiction authors such as Sue Miller and Laura Dave. I'm definitely looking forward to Gwendolen Gross' next book!
I won this book thanks to Book Sparks PR turning me on to the giveaway Liza was having for new Twitter followers. And I’m so glad I did because I really adored this book! Liza captured perfectly the complexities of love, both familial and romantic, and expressed beautifully how one's personal goals can often become muddied and mutate as one grows up. Beautiful story with lots of charm and a heroine I was rooting for from page one.
Technically, I won this book in 2010, but it was my first, so it deserves a spot on this list. And Margo is a wonderful author whose work I truly admire. And as a resident of Hollywood, I can say with some authority that this book totally captures what real life is like in Tinsel Town. Full of dreams and frustration! I'm actually looking forward to a sequel!
Thanks to a Girlfriends Book Club giveaway, I got my hands on an Advance Reader Copy of this book. I was terribly excited to win because Marilyn was one of the first friends I made in the Twitter-verse and she is a total sweetie! This novel is a great escape for armchair travelers. I've visited many of the places featured in the book and it was fun to see them through another person's eyes. The trip helps Gwen, the main character, develop & evolve as a person, which is how my own travels affected me. The book moves at a leisurely pace, and there's a romantic element that truly leaves you guessing the whole way through the story.
Thanks go to the girls at Chick Lit is Not Dead, and of course, Talli Roland, for this fab free book! Talli is fast taking over the Chick Lit scene with three popular books under her belt and a reputation for writing super funny, fabulous stories. So, I was thrilled to get a copy of her latest release. She was also sweet enough to offer her Christmas novella, Miracle at the Museum of Broken Hearts, as a free download for the holidays, so I snapped that puppy right up, too!
I have Samantha at Chick Lit Plus to thank for the opportunity to read On Folly Beach. I’ve never read any of Karen White’s books, so this author is totally new to me. But judging by all the 4 star reviews on Goodreads, I’m sure to enjoy it!
I won this book as a raffle prize at the East Valley Authors Annual Writing Retreat where I taught my workshop, Yoga for Writers. I read Meg’s Size 12 is Not Fat a couple years back and loved it. She has such a fun writing style that you can’t help but love, so I’m really looking forward to diving into this one!
I was so excited to win this copy of the ever popular Chick Lit author, Emily Giffin, from a giveaway by The Chick Lit Bee. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I haven’t yet read any of Emily’s books. There just isn’t enough time to get to all the books in my TBR list, but I’m pretty sure Emily’s sales are doing just fine without my help. Tee hee!
This book was part of my raffle prize at the East Valley Authors retreat and the main reason I sunk all my raffle tickets in the bag for it! I adore Marian Keyes and have read nearly all of her fiction. So, when I saw this was up for grabs, I had to have it! And, lucky me, I got it!
It’s almost ridiculous that I won this book, perhaps even serendipitous. When I was in seventh grade, my English class read Bram Stoker’s Dracula and I absolutely fell in love with it. Since then, I’d watched practically every Dracula movie ever made and even got on a non-Dracula vampire kick for a bit. But after college, I’d had enough of vampires (no Twi-hard here!); however, when I saw this book had come out, I was instantly drawn to it. Despite having ditched fang fables, Dracula still holds a place in my heart. And thanks to a giveaway hosted by steampunk author, Suzanne Lazear, I now have Dracula on my shelf once again.
Again, thanks go to The Chick Lit Bee for winning this read. I love the recent trend in Chick Lit stories to feature baking and recipes as part of the heroine’s hobbies and/or professions. And who doesn’t love a good cupcake? In fact, it’s probably due to this wave of food-themed books that I’ve started baking more. That, or Food Network. Either way, it’s all good!
So, how about you? Did you win any books in 2011? Which ones?
Happy New Year!
Lucie
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