Everybody's Baby by Lydia Netzer

Title: Everybody's Baby
Author: Lydia Netzer
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: June 3, 2013
ISBN: 9781466867840
Number of Pages: 133
How I Got It: Alison Law PR
Format: Kindle

Goodreads Summary: 

Jenna and Billy are in love.  He's an app developer, a hyper-plugged-in citizen of the internet, with a big Scottish family and winning smile.  She is a yoga teacher, tuned in to the vibes of the spiritual universe, who was abandoned by her mother as an infant and orphaned by her father's recent death.  When they meet, it's electric, and it is no time before they are married and eager to start their own family.  But when they can't get pregnant, Billy devises a plan:  they would raise funds for their in vitro fertilization on Kickstarter, offering donor perks like cutting the cord, naming the baby, and catching the baby when it takes its first steps.

The good news is that they make their fundraising goal, get pregnant and have a baby! The bad news is that their marriage begins to fall apart when they have to deliver on all those perks. It’s hard enough to survive delivering a baby without a performance artist making a documentary of the cord cutting. It’s difficult enough to get baby to sit up and smile for a six month portrait without a local politician taking up half the lens. What does it mean to be owned by the internet? Everybody's Baby explores how relationships grow and fail in public and private life, the hazards of living “in the cloud,” and the nature of love online and off.

My Review:

In our age of crowdfunding and constant technological tethers, boundaries are being crossed, blurred, or fully dismissed every day. We think it's so smart when a cinematograhper offers small parts in their film in exchange for funding but how far is too far. Netzer plays with the possibilities and emotions involved when personal interactions are auctioned off. In Jenna and Billy's desperation to have a baby, they've sold pieces of their family's future memories to strangers in exchange for a child. While Netzer provides laughs and writes logical responses to outlandish situations she also prompts a reader to contemplate their personal ethics and the ever changing worlds of technology, access, ownership, and reproduction.
A great novella, written in a great voice. I definitely recommend this read.

** I was provided with a copy of this work in exchange for an honest review **

What Would Oprah Do by Erin Emerson

Title: What Would Oprah Do?
Author: Erin Emerson
Publisher: King Literary Group
Publication Date: September 15, 2013
ISBN: 9780615880488
Number of Pages: 273
How I Got It: direct from author
Format: paperback

Goodreads Description:

Cate Sanders is a 32-year-old woman living on her own in Atlanta, who’s at a crossroads. After being laid off from her corporate job, she’s determined to find a new career path. To help guide her, she looks to the woman she admires most, Oprah Winfrey. At every new phase she writes a letter to Oprah, knowing in all probability her hero won’t be reading them, but finds hope and inspiration from imagining what Oprah’s words of wisdom would be.

With Amelia Bedelia tendencies and a Chelsea Handler attitude, Cate’s mishaps provide humor, while her relationships give the story depth. Throughout her amusing and heartwarming trials, she searches for the answer to one question. Can she find her purpose in life by pursuing her passion?

My Review:
Cate is hilarious. What a great outlook: "What would Oprah do?" In a premise that hasn't been done before, Cate writes a letter to Oprah at the beginning of each chapter describing what is going on in her life and who hasn't wanted to be adopted by Oprah? While Oprah is inspirational in so many ways, Cate Sanders uses Oprah as a sort of life compass.  When Cate experiences a job loss, she decides she will chase her dreams...cue the funny consequences. The comparison of author Emerson to Chelsea Handler should be dismissed. Any author can be raunchy but it takes smarts to pull off all the funny scenes that Emerson puts Cate in.  A reader will sigh when Cate  says "I don't know when I turned into this person who can't get it together" and cheer her on because she just keeps moving forward. This is a great debut by an author that is sure to bring more chick lit fabulous reads in the future.

** I received this book in exchange for an honest review **

The New Low-Carb Diet Cookbook by Laura Lamont

Title: The New Low-Carb Diet Cookbook
Author: Laura Lamont
Publisher: Watkins Publishing Limited
Publication Date: April 17, 2014
ISBN: 9781848992139
Number of Pages: 160
How I Got It: NetGalley
Format: Kindle

Description:

Low-carb diets work—if the international success of the Dukan and Atkins diets has taught us anything, it’s that. But they’re usually hard to stick to and often unhealthy. Here Laura Lamont, a qualified nutritional therapist who introduced us to the revolutionary “Zero Noodles”, brings us a healthy new take on low-carb dieting. Laura explains how eating a nutritionally sound combination of controlled amounts of complex carbohydrates, protein and “good” fats (in foods such as avocados, salmon and flaxseed) at the right times of day can bring about healthy, long-lasting weight loss. Now there’s no need to deprive yourself of any food group—and you don’t even have to give up bread! Working with clients at her weight-loss clinic, Laura discovered that including protein and healthy fats in every meal helps to boost metabolism, stabilize blood sugar levels and curb cravings, leading to effective weight loss that could see you shedding at least 2 pounds a week. The book includes information on the nutritional science behind the diet, as well as practical charts to help you identify which foods you should be eating, and meal plans. There are more than 75 mouth-watering recipes for breakfasts, lunches, dinners—and even desserts! And each recipe comes with a nutritional analysis. Successfully tried and tested and drawing on the latest scientific research, The New Low-Carb Diet is the 21st-century way to eat well, lose weight and feel healthier than ever.

My Review:

I love to cook and I love to eat. The problem is that I (and some family members) have gained a little too much weight. When I try to make some healthier meals I am usually met with ugly faces and not so nice comments about what is on their plates. The meals I've prepared from the recipes in The New Low-Carb Diet Cookbook have actually been met with interested faces and clean plates. Score! My "meat and potatoes" husband loved the Sesame Beef with Asian Salad and the Spiced Turkey with Goat Cheese Burgers. Some of the recipes even incorporate *gasp* bread. 

This book provides a ton of information on the diet benefits of reducing carbs in your diet as well as recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Even if you aren't doing an entire diet overhaul, incorporating a few of these recipes into your meal rotations will be beneficial to your (and your family's) health. 

** I received this book in exchange for an honest review ** 

The Romanov Sisters by Helen Rappaport

Title: The Romanov Sisters
Author: Helen Rappaport
Publisher: St. Martin's Press 
Publication Date: June 3, 2014
ISBN: 9781250020208
Number of Pages: 492
How I Got It: Brittany Leddy (St.Martin's Marketing)
Format: Hardcover

Inside Front Cover: 

They were the Princess Dianas of their day—perhaps the most photographed and talked about young royals of the early twentieth century. The four captivating Russian Grand Duchesses—Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia Romanov—were much admired for their happy dispositions, their looks, the clothes they wore and their privileged lifestyle.

Over the years, the story of the four Romanov sisters and their tragic end in a basement at Ekaterinburg in 1918 has clouded our view of them, leading to a mass of sentimental and idealized hagiography. With this treasure trove of diaries and letters from the grand duchesses to their friends and family, we learn that they were intelligent, sensitive and perceptive witnesses to the dark turmoil within their immediate family and the ominous approach of the Russian Revolution, the nightmare that would sweep their world away, and them along with it.

The Romanov Sisters sets out to capture the joy as well as the insecurities and poignancy of those young lives against the backdrop of the dying days of late Imperial Russia, World War I and the Russian Revolution. Rappaort aims to present a new and challenging take on the story, drawing extensively on previously unseen or unpublished letters, diaries and archival sources, as well as private collections. It is a book that will surprise people, even aficionados.

My Review: 

This book is full of photos, letters, and every possible piece of information about the Romanov sisters. I can't imagine a more thorough compilation exists. Helen Rappaport brings to life the young duchesses whose fame tends to currently lie in their demise. This dense volume is punctuated with numerous footnotes and a lengthy "Notes" section at the end of the book. This book would be enjoyed by readers interested in this particular time in history but I think it would be especially appreciated by young women scholars who so often are searching for a female perspective during any time in history.

** I received this book in exchange for an honest review **

That Night by Chevy Stevens

Title: That Night
Author: Chevy Stevens
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: June 17, 2014
ISBN: 9781250034601
Number of Pages: 370
How I Got It: Staci Burt (publicist)
Format: Paperback

Publicist Supplied Summary:

“They said she was a murderer. They said she killed her sister. But they lied.” This is the mystery surrounding Chevy Stevens’ upcoming novel, That Night 

Toni Murphy was eighteen when she and her boyfriend, Ryan, were wrongly convicted of the murder of her younger sister. Now she is thirty-four and back in her hometown, working every day to forge and adjust to a new life on the outside. She's doing everything in her power to avoid violating her parole and going back to prison. But nothing is making that easy--not Ryan, who is convinced he can figure out the truth; not her mother, who clearly doubts Toni's innocence; and certainly not the group of women who made Toni's life miserable in high school and may have darker secrets than anyone realizes. Before Toni can truly move on, she must risk everything to find out the truth and clear her name.

My Review:

I think that this novel's release date was absolutely perfect. With season 2 of "Orange is the New Black" releasing just over a week ago, female-prisoner themed stories are buzzing. Inside the prisons the "I'm innocent" pleas are met with eye rolls, snickers, and "We're all innocent" snarky replies from fellow inmates. Author Chevy Stevens did a good job of keeping the true story of what happened "that night" from being figured out until she was ready to play her hand. Her descriptions of Shauna (the best villan I've read in a long time,) Shauna's friends, and the caste system of a small town were spot on. They were so good that they made me quite uncomfortable. After growing up in one of these toxic environments myself, I knew exactly how Toni felt. Stevens provides a believable character with hurt but resiliant Toni by not having Toni perform any cliched missteps (you know, the girl that goes in the shed alone in her underwear without a flashlight in a lightning storm.) I read this book pretty quick and was really hooked by the suspense. I've not read any other works by this author but I will definitely be ready to read her next release.

** I received this book in exchange for an honest review **

The Glass Kitchen by Linda Francis Lee

Title: The Glass Kitchen
Author: Linda Francis Lee
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: June 17, 2014
ISBN: 9780312382278
Number of Pages: 375
How I Got It: Publicist
Format: paperback

Goodreads Summary:

With the glass kitchen, Linda Francis Lee has served up a novel that is about the courage it takes to follow your heart and be yourself. A true recipe for life. 

Portia Cuthcart never intended to leave Texas. Her dream was to run the Glass Kitchen restaurant her grandmother built decades ago. But after a string of betrayals and the loss of her legacy, Portia is determined to start a new life with her sisters in Manhattan . . . and never cook again. But when she moves into a dilapidated brownstone on the Upper West Side, she meets twelve-year-old Ariel and her widowed father Gabriel, a man with his hands full trying to raise two daughters on his own. Soon, a promise made to her sisters forces Portia back into a world of magical food and swirling emotions, where she must confront everything she has been running from. What seems so simple on the surface is anything but when long-held secrets are revealed, rivalries exposed, and the promise of new love stirs to life like chocolate mixing with cream. The Glass Kitchenis a delicious novel, a tempestuous story of a woman washed up on the shores of Manhattan who discovers that a kitchen—like an island—can be a refuge, if only she has the courage to give in to the pull of love, the power of forgiveness, and accept the complications of what it means to be family.

My Review:
Did you love the movies "Practical Magic" and "Hope Floats"? This book had me thinking of them the whole time. Truly a magical read centered around food and family. Portia Cuthcart runs from her Texas home to take refuge in an apartment in New York. The multi-level building previously owned by her aunt was passed down to her and her two sisters. The sisters have sold their levels and now a single father with two young daughters reside above Portia. After one daughter discovers Portia's knack for cooking she convinces her dad to hire Portia to cook for them. Portia is not only a great cook but she has "the knowing." She knows exactly what to cook before she knows why, such as cooking up a batch of soup before someone shows symptoms of a cold. This gift manifested itself when she was younger and cooking at The Glass Kitchen with her grandmother. After trying to ignore her itch to prepare dishes before she knew why, Portia begins to embrace it and helps repair a fractured family as well as her own heart. 
I am recommending this book to everyone. I loved it!!

*** I received this book in exchange for an honest review ***

I Like You Just the Way I Am by Jenny Mollen

Title: I Like You Just the Way I Am
Author: Jenny Mollen
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: June 17, 2014
ISBN: 9781250041685
Number of Pages: 254
How I Got It: from publicist
Format: paperback

Summary: 

By the actress, writer, and one of the funniest women on Twitter, an outrageous, hysterical memoir of acting on impulse, plotting elaborate hoaxes, and refusing to acknowledge boundaries in any form 

Jenny Mollen is an actress and writer living in Los Angeles. She is also a wife, married to a famous guy (which is annoying only because he gets free shit and she doesn't). She doesn’t want much from life. Just to be loved—by everybody: her parents, her dogs, her ex-boyfriends, her ex-boyfriends’ dogs, her husband, her husband’s ex-girlfriends, her husband's ex-girlfriend's new boyfriends, etc. Some people might call that impulse crazy, but isn’t "crazy" really just a word boring people use to describe fun people? (And Jenny is really, really fun, you guys!)

In these pages, you’ll find stories of Jenny at her most genuine, whether it’s stalking her therapist (because he knows everything about her so shouldn’t she get to know everything about him?); throwing a bachelorette party so bad that one of the guests is suspected dead; or answering the eternal question, Would your best friend blow your husband on a car ride to dinner if she didn't know you were hiding in the backseat?

I Like You Just the Way I Am is about not doing the right thing—about indulging your inner crazy-person. It is Jenny when she’s not trying to impress anyone or come across as a responsible, level-headed member of society. With any luck it will make you better acquainted with who youreally are and what you really want. Which, let’s be honest, is most likely someone else’s email password.

My Review:
I like a crazy antics memoir as much as the next person but I feel like all the women are trying to "one up" each other anymore. These crazy acts make me think "maybe I wasn't as wild as I thought" and I'm fine with that. Jenny Mollen tells stories that are hilarious, cringe-worthy, and shocking. I first thought I wasn't going to be able to finish the book because she talks about stalking her current husband's ex girlfriend. As a woman on the other end of this sort of situation, I was thinking "this isn't funny. You have problems. Seriously psychological problems." Mollen admits her insecurities and craziness but also uses it as an identifier. I found that as the book progressed some funnier stories came out. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy Chelsea Handler, Mindy Kaling, maybe Lisa Lampenelli. Mollen is crass and no holds barred. 

The Fever by Megan Abbott

Title: The Fever
Author: Megan Abbott
Publisher: Little, Brown, and Company
Publication Date: June 17, 2014
ISBN: 9780316231053
Number of Pages: 320
How I Got It:  NetGalley
Format: Kindle

NetGalley Description:

The panic unleashed by a mysterious contagion threatens the bonds of family and community in a seemingly idyllic suburban community.

The Nash family is close-knit. Tom is a popular teacher, father of two teens: Eli, a hocky star and girl magnet, and his sister Deenie, a diligent student. Their seeming stability, however, is thrown into chaos when Deenie's best friend is struck by a terrifying, unexplained seizure in class. Rumors of a hazardous outbreak spread through the family, school and community. 

As hysteria and contagion swell, a series of tightly held secrets emerges, threatening to unravel friendships, families and the town's fragile idea of security. 

A chilling story about guilt, family secrets and the lethal power of desire, THE FEVER affirms Megan Abbott's reputation as "one of the most exciting and original voices of her generation."

My Review:

**SPOILER ALERT**     **THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS**

I was very skeptical to read another of Abbott's works because I extremely disliked "Dare Me." I felt the teen girls in that novel were not only acting out in adult ways but the characters were also given a mature mentality that was unbelievable. So when I saw that Abbott was writing about teen girls again, I thought I'd give it a try but didn't hold my hopes too high. This all being said, I enjoyed reading the entire book and didn't get myself worked into quite the state that "Dare Me" got me to (there was a physical throwing of that one.) I liked how Abbott got into the details about how mean girls are to each other, even their supposed friends. I liked that there was focus on how at risk young girls are, even in "safe" communities. I liked the angle of hysteria around the HPV vaccine. I haven't read any other "outbreak/ contagion-themed" books with that puzzle piece so I found that original. I even liked the darkness of the spells and the poisoning. But I'm very particular with a mystery and if you are going to take me on a 300 plus page journey, I need all the ends tied up. And there were two big ones that weren't: 1. Skye. So she just disappears? She's not questioned for supplying Gabby with the poison? 2. All the "other" girls. "Mass Psychogenic Illness" because they were stressed? Wouldn't it have been more feasible if they were all sick because they inhaled the fumes from when Skye burned the plants? All in all, I liked this better than "Dare Me" but it's still only a 3 star from me. 

** I received this book in exchange for an honest review **

The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street by Susan Jane Gilman

Title: The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street
Author: Susan Jane Gilman
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: June 10, 2014
ISBN: 9780446578936
Number of Pages: 512 
How I Got It: NetGalley
Format: Kindle

NetGalley Description: 

In 1913, little Malka Treynovsky flees Russia with her family. Bedazzled by tales of gold and movie stardom, she tricks them into buying tickets for America. Yet no sooner do they land on the squalid Lower East Side of Manhattan, than Malka is crippled and abandoned in the street.

Taken in by a tough-loving Italian ices peddler, she manages to survive through cunning and inventiveness. As she learns the secrets of his trade, she begins to shape her own destiny. She falls in love with a gorgeous, illiterate radical named Albert, and they set off across America in an ice cream truck. Slowly, she transforms herself into Lillian Dunkle, "The Ice Cream Queen" -- doyenne of an empire of ice cream franchises and a celebrated television personality. 

Lillian's rise to fame and fortune spans seventy years and is inextricably linked to the course of American history itself, from Prohibition to the disco days of Studio 54. Yet Lillian Dunkle is nothing like the whimsical motherly persona she crafts for herself in the media. Conniving, profane, and irreverent, she is a supremely complex woman who prefers a good stiff drink to an ice cream cone. And when her past begins to catch up with her, everything she has spent her life building is at stake.

My Review:
Lillian Dunkle is in legal hot water but she still The Ice Cream Queen. And don't you forget it, darlings!

"Ever since my arrest at NBC, and my conviction for tax evasion, it has become open season on Lillian Dunkle. Never mind that the U.S. embassy was bombed in Beirut. Or that President Reagan has announced he's deploying a missile shield in outer space. Some weasel-faced journalists have nothing more important to do, it seems, than to dig up dirt about me."

The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street is much more solid and funny than the "fluffy beach-read" cover suggests. The novel opens with Lillian Dunkle introducing herself to her readers and beginning her first person retelling of her life. By the fifth page, we know Lillian is in some trouble but she is far more annoyed by her current situation than upset by it: "WPIX was only a local station, for God's sake. And we aired at 7:00 A.M on a Sunday--A Sunday! And maybe I had had a few drinks. But darlings, you try hosting a kiddie show for thirteen goddamn years." After arriving in America as Malka Treynovsky Bialystoker, 6 year-old Malka/Lillian and all of her siblings are forced to find work but after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire two years prior, she has a rough time finding a job so she learns to hustle (singing, dancing, and cleaning.) One day, while running around the neighborhood trying to find her father, she is trampled by the Italian Ice man's horse, crushing her leg and leaving her crippled. In a turn of events, the Italian Ice man and his family take Malka home from the hospital and she begins assisting them with making the Italian ices. Malka changes her name to be more American and to more fully integrate herself into her new family. Lillian Dinello works hard and learns everything about the family business, from how to physically crank the machines to profit margins. 
The story progresses through her marriage to Albert Dunkle and her savvy business skills. In an era when women and the drive for success in business did not usually mix, Lillian faces obstacles and each one only makes her stronger. She believes that her hard work makes her superior and says wonderful things like:  "So your eldest brother, Lord Such-and-Such, inherited the family estate, and you, Poor Thing, had to make your fortune in the New World instead? Please. Don't even bother me with that." She is "old school" and definitely makes her opinions known, and like anyone that's had to pull themselves up from the gutter, she has no time for things she considers frivolous and unneccessary such as paperwork:  "Today, if one of our franchises wants to hire a sixteen-year-old to scoop ice cream for a summer, the management is required to provide more information than my entire family was asked to supply at Ellis Island." Which leads to some problems.....
This book is a funny take on what might be behind a headline. When we see something in the news about a rich business person taking a fall, we are rarely sympathetic. Author Susan Jane Gilman lets Lillian show us her side of the story. This book is funny, extremely detailed, and provides a great heroine. 

*** I received this book in exchange for an honest review ***

Marketing the Moon: The Selling of the Apollo Lunar Program by David Meerman Scott, Richard Jurek, Eugene A. Cernan

Title: Marketing the Moon
Author: David Meerman Scott and Richard Jurek
Publisher: MIT Press
Publication Date: February 28, 2014
ISBN: 9780262026963
Number of Pages: 130
How I Got It: NetGalley
Format: Kindle

NetGalley Description: 

In July 1969, ninety-four percent of American televisions were tuned to coverage of Apollo 11’s mission to the moon. How did space exploration, once the purview of rocket scientists, reach a larger audience than My Three Sons? Why did a government program whose standard operating procedure had been secrecy turn its greatest achievement into a communal experience? In Marketing the Moon, David Meerman Scott and Richard Jurek tell the story of one of the most successful marketing and public relations campaigns in history: the selling of the Apollo program.

Primed by science fiction, magazine articles, and appearances by Wernher von Braun on the “Tomorrowland” segments of the Disneyland prime time television show, Americans were a receptive audience for NASA’s pioneering “brand journalism.” Scott and Jurek describe sophisticated efforts by NASA and its many contractors to market the facts about space travel—through press releases, bylined articles, lavishly detailed background materials, and fully produced radio and television features—rather than push an agenda. American astronauts, who signed exclusive agreements withLife magazine, became the heroic and patriotic faces of the program. And there was some judicious product placement: Hasselblad was the “first camera on the moon”; Sony cassette recorders and supplies of Tang were on board the capsule; and astronauts were equipped with the Exer-Genie personal exerciser. Everyone wanted a place on the bandwagon.

Generously illustrated with vintage photographs, artwork, and advertisements, many never published before, Marketing the Moon shows that when Neil Armstrong took that giant leap for mankind, it was a triumph not just for American engineering and rocketry but for American marketing and public relations.

My Review:

Any reference to 1969 in pop culture is quick to show a family gathered around their television watching the moon landing. Little do most people know that there was intense marketing preceding the launch and landing. "Marketing the Moon" is a very detailed account of the space program leading up to (and including ) the Apollo program. Any one interested in the history of the U.S. space program or marketing will love this book. Packed full of detailed facts, "Marketing the Moon" is mind-boggling in the concept that the program had to be "sold" to the American public. For insight into how astronaut's wives became celebrities and Americans warmed from the Cold War to become flag waving spectators, this book will provide you the entire background story.

** I received this book in exchange for an honest review ***

Put 'Em Up! Preserving

Title: The Put 'em Up Preserving Answer Book
Author: Sherri Brooks Vinton
Publisher: Storey Publishing
Publication Date: March 25, 2014
ISBN: 9781612120102
Number of Pages: 255
How I Got It: NetGalley
Format: BlueFire

Description:

Do you have questions about preserving food? Sherri Brooks Vinton has the answers! In this handy Q&A reference, Sherri answers 399 of the most commonly asked questions about canning, pressure canning, refrigeration, freezing, drying, and fermentation, including how to apply these techniques to specific fruits and vegetables. She also addresses setting up your kitchen, choosing the best varieties for your needs, making substitutions, and much more. With this kitchen companion in hand, even complete beginners will soon be putting up the harvest, safely and easily.

My Review:

With the plethora of fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs available in the summer and autumn months, knowledge of proper preservation can prolong your enjoyment of your abundance. In the past, our grandparents would preseve, pickle, and "put up" food for the bleak winter months. Now with all foods available year round at the local grocery, these practices have fallen by the wayside and the traditions are not necessarily passed down through the generations anymore. Sherri Brooks Vinton answers all the questions you could ever have about preserving food safely and efficiently. My first project is going to be strawberry jam. What will you try?

** I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review **

Indie Chick Lit Tours: Unfaithfully Yours: Confessions of a Cheating Bitch by Chrystal Rose

Title: Unfaithfully Yours: Confessions of a Cheating Bitch
Author: Chrystal Rose
Publisher: Xtal Rose
Publication Date: February 13, 2012
ISBN: 9780615580173
Number of Pages: 248 
How I Got It: Indie Chick Lit Book Tour
Format: Paperback

Description: 

Think Tucker Max meets Chelsea Handler-- This is a humorous memoir about the struggle a young woman goes through to remain faithful. Throughout the book she shares relationship advice, do's and don'ts, personal experiences and dating tips.

For Example:

*How to Determine if You're Dating a Mama's Boy

*The Do's and Don'ts of Getting Laid

*The Rules of Being a Mistress or Mister

*And a LOT More!

This is NOT a "How to Cheat Guide" but an honest peek into someone else's life. And since women don't typically admit to cheating, or are pegged for it nearly as often as men--Aren't you a little curious?

My Review:

I did think of Chelsea Handler when I read this book in regards to the sex but the author is truly...a bitch. What a great escapist piece of reading. Chrystal Rose has so many crazy girl's night out drinking stories that I was tired just reading them. She has multiple one-night stands and short term relationships while simultaneously stringing along her boyfriend / fiancé. I've suggested this release to several girlfriends and everyone is loving it. Whether you are in your early 20's like Chrystal and going out to have some escapades of your own, or you have your own memories of your own crazy hijinks, you will enjoy reading about driving home wearing nothing but a thong or waking up and wondering the hell you are. 

** I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review ** 

The Never Never Sisters by L. Alison Heller

Title: The Never Never Sisters
Author: L. Alison Heller
Publisher: NAL trade 
Publication Date: June 3, 2014
ISBN: 9780451416247
Number of Pages: 352
How I Got It: Danielle Caravella at Wunderkind PR
Format: Kindle


NetGalley Description: 

An absorbing, highly entertaining novel about family secrets, The Never Never Sisters introduces you to the strong-willed and big-hearted Reinhardt women, as they reunite one summer in New York. Gifted storyteller L. Alison Heller has written another witty and moving page-turner that will captivate readers and keep them guessing right up until the satisfying end.

Sometimes you just need to get away….

 Marriage counselor Paige Reinhardt is counting down the days to summer, eager to reconnect with her workaholic husband at their cozy rental cottage in the Hamptons. But soon a mysterious crisis at Dave’s work ruins their getaway plans. Paige is still figuring out how to handle the unexplained chill in her marriage when her troubled sister suddenly returns after a two-decade silence. Now, instead of enjoying the lazy summer days along the ocean, Paige is navigating the rocky waters of a forgotten bond with her sister in the sweltering city heat.

 As she attempts to dig deeper into Dave’s work troubles and some long-held family secrets, Paige is shocked to discover how little she knows about the people closest to her. This summer, the self-proclaimed relationship expert will grapple with her biggest challenge yet: Is it worth risking your most precious relationships in order to find yourself?

My Review:

Let me preface my review with a possible format warning. The formatting for my ARC had neon pink numbers throughout the entire text. I suggest getting the sample chapter when this release becomes available to verify that this formatting issue was corrected when the ARC was updated for release to the general public or you may have trouble concentrating on the text. 

Marriage counselor Paige Reinhardt was hoping to spend her summer in the Hamptons but her husband Dave's work has kept them in the city. Now her estranged sister Sloane has contacted her mother and is coming to visit. This novel has enough suspense between what is really going on at Dave's work and what Sloane is really like after all these years to keep the pages flipping. I think this is another good "beach read" in that the banter is funny, the settings are transportive, and book is broken down into lots of chapters (ideal for the ups and downs of getting in the water, reapplying sunscreen, etc.) Author L Alison Heller is a marriage counselor and probably has great stories from her practice, but I liked that she described Paige and Dave's marriage in daily details rather than intense analysis.

** I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review **