Book Review - Kiss Like You Mean It by Louise Harwood

Ella Buchan is the make-up artist on the next Hollywood blockbuster and she has been tasked with making up the alarmingly handsome, yet out of control, star’s face. Rory Defoe is the typical Hollywood bad boy – he’s arrogant, rude and selfish – and he has the power and the stupidity to ruin the film before it even gets to the cinema. Ella is tired of meeting people like Rory and she’s forced to spend hours each day pandering to his every need, she certainly doesn’t want to get to know him any better.

But the director of the film has other ideas – Ella is apparently the only one who can save the film from total meltdown and she, more than a little begrudgingly, steps in to ‘save the day’. Can a mere make-up artist really stop the impending disaster and does she really know what she’s let herself in for?

100+ Reading Challenge Update

This is a great challenge that is being hosted by J. Kaye at Home Girl's Book Blog. Basically what you have to do (you guessed it!) is read 100 or more books this year. After a bit of a lull, I've picked up the pace on this reading challenge and have read another four books in the last ten days:



9.   Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by JK Rowling (absolute classic, of course)
10. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling (ditto the above statement!)
11. Home Truths by Freya North (click to see review)
12. Kiss Like You Mean It by Louise Harwood (click to see review)

So if you fancy a bit of a challenge (and it will be noew since we're already almost four months into the year!) then head over and sign up!

Happy reading!

Book Review - Home Truths by Freya North

Freya North is a London based author who writes romantic fiction. She gave up a Ph.D. course in 1991 to write her first novel, much to the consternation of her family and with little success. In 1995 she decided to ‘go for it’ and sent the first three chapters of her book, along with a page of totally invented reviews, to some of the countries top publishers who then entered a bidding war for her work. The rest, as they say is history! Home Truths is North’s 8th novel and it led to Heat magazine commenting that ‘Freya North manages to strike a good balance between drama, comedy and romance, and has penned another winner in Home Truths . . . touching and enjoyable’.

Django McCabe and his three nieces, Pip, Fen and Cat, form a somewhat unconventional family, but one that is fiercely loyal and indescribably close. Until, that is, a stranger comes along to Django’s 75th birthday celebrations and turns their world completely upside down. Throughout their lives and their many ups and downs, the family have been able to rely on each other to help them through, but is this one hurdle too far? Can the family that has been left reeling by a massive revelation ever possibly be the same again?

Book Review - I Heart Hollywood by Lindsey Kelk

‘I Heart Hollywood’ is the second instalment of Lindsey Kelk’s series about Angela Clark. In the previous novel ‘I Heart New York’, Angela had fled her English life after finding her ex-boyfriend in a very compromising position at her best friend’s wedding. Her out-of-character decision found her jobless and friendless in New York.

Fast forward to this story and Angela can’t believe her luck – she has the dream job and a gorgeous boyfriend and all is looking rosy. Then, it seems, her luck is getting even better when her boss sends her to interview the hottest Brit actor around, James Jacobs, in Hollywood. Angela is all set for a fabulous fortnight of shopping, sunbathing and working with the rich and famous and takes her American best friend with her to enjoy the fun. What could possibly go wrong?

It seems ladykiller James Jacobs, whilst charming and charismatic, has a bit of a secret that must be upheld or he’ll face career devastation. He, along with his PR army, will do anything to keep his secret and they don’t care who they take down and Angela finds herself in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Can she possibly save her job, her relationship and her friendship with her best friend all at the same time?

Book Review - The Web by Jonathan Kellerman

Jonathan Kellermen is a criminal psychologist by trade and he has now brought his expertise to the world of thriller writing. He has already established himself as one of the world’s most popular authors with a string of bestselling novels, a smattering of prestigious awards and number of non-fiction works to his name. His most popular series is the one featuring Alex Delaware, of which The Web is the latest instalment.

Alex Delaware and his wife are desperate to escape the violence of Los Angeles and recover from a harrowing ordeal and it seems that the mysterious Dr William Moreland is offering them the perfect solution. Out of the blue he invites them to his tiny Micronesian community, Knife Island, to help him record the masses of information he has gathered from his years of looking after the physical and mental wellbeing of the island’s inhabitants.

Very quickly though, it appears that Knife Island isn’t the perfect piece of paradise that the Delaware’s were hoping for as one of the inhabitants is brutally murdered. Rather reluctantly, Alex is thrown into a grotesque web of intrigue that seems to prove that all, including Moreland himself, is not what it seems.

Twitter-ing Away!

I've joined the world of Twitter today and would absolutely love it if you'd come and follow me!

Book Blogger Hop!

Jenn over at Crazy For Books has started a fun new weekly meme called Book Blogger Hop, which is a fun way of finding like-minded book bloggers that you may have missed.

In her own words:

Every day I seem to find another book blog that I start following. In the spirit of the Friday Follow, I thought it would be cool to do a Book Blog Hop to give us all bookies a chance to connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed!

So, if you'd like to participate, just repost this on your blog, sign MckLinky below, and check out other blogs in MckLinky! Let's connect and make new book bloggy friends!! So, if you consider yourself a book blogger, come join the fun!


Pretty please - Your blog should have content related to books, including, but not limited to book reviews.

So if it sounds like your kind of thing, head over to her page and join!!

It's Better Than Getting An Oscar!

I'm very excited because I've received three new awards this week! I'm new to this game, so it's really nice to know that people have been looking at my blog and enjoying it.

Thanks to A Novel Source and The Fiction Enthusiast for my awards - they are very much appreciated.

Read on to find out which great blogs I've given awards to!

Challenge - 2010 100+ Reading Challenge

I've joined another challenge, hosted by J Kaye at Home Girl's Book Blog. This one is to read (you guessed it) 100 books this year. So far this year I've read:

1. I Heart Hollywood - Lindsey Kelk
2. The Murder of King Tut - James Patterson
3. The Web - Jonathan Kellerman
4. Thinking of You - Jill Mansell
5. Pop Tart - Kira Coplin and Julianne Kaye
6. Millie's Fling - Jill Mansell
7. A Minor Indiscretion - Carole Matthews
8. Black Jack Point - Jeff Abbott

If you want to join in the fun, visit J Kaye's blog - there's a button on the side of my page.

Happy reading!

Book Review - The Murder of King Tut by James Patterson

The world’s best selling thriller writer is back and this time he has opened the ‘ultimate cold case’ – the unsolved death of Tutankhamen. This time writing alongside Martin Dugard, James Patterson is taking his inimitable style of page turning suspense to the mystery that has stumped Egyptologists the world over.

Tutankhamen was thrust onto the throne at a very early age, much to the dismay of many powerful Egyptians at the time, and his reign was a massive controversy from the very beginning. But that controversy became an even bigger one when he suddenly, and inexplicably, died after just nine years at the throne.

The Murder of King Tut is an intriguing and fascinating look at the life and death of the notorious king. The authors flit quickly between modern day America, ancient Egypt and the life of Howard Carter to bring us a completely engrossing true life story. Patterson and Dugard have done their homework and both quite clearly have a real passion for the subject matter which is reflected in their story telling.

Book Review - Black Jack Point by Jeff Abbott

‘They found Texas judge Whit Mosley’s missing friends at Black Jack Point, dead and buried along with relics and bones from a legendary past. Whit opens an inquest into the murders, and is plunge into a shadowy world of ruthless treasure-hunters and double-crossing tycoons – all chasing a long-lost fortune in emeralds and gold.’

This is the premise of Jeff Abbott’s Black Jack Point, a tale which sounds like it’s come from the writer’s of the latest Disney movie, but that has somehow got lost along the way. I wasn’t sold on the idea of pirates and hidden treasure, but I have read and enjoyed several of Abbott’s previous novels (including Panic and Fear) so I thought I’d give this one a go. I’m undecided over it really. The story is full of the page turning twists and turns that you want from a suspense / thriller novel, but it just didn’t grip me quite as much as I wanted it to.

Book Chick City's Thriller Suspense Challenge

I've joined up to the Thriller Suspense Challenge hosted by Book Chick City and I can't wait - I love thrillers and I think I'll probably end up reading more than the 12 in a year that makes the challenge!

Join up using the link!

http://www.bookchickcity.com/2009/05/thriller-suspense-challenge-2010_01.html

Thrillers so far this year:

James Patterson - The Murder of King Tut (Highly recommended)

Jonathan Kellerman - The Web (OK, but not the best)

Jeff Abbott - Black Jack Point (Not as good as his others)

Reviews to follow!

Book Review - Pop Tart by Kira Coplin and Julianne Kaye

Pop Tart is the debut novel from Kira Coplin and Julianne Kaye, two American ladies who have close ties to the glamorous world of celebrity. The former is a contributor to popular magazines and the latter a successful professional make-up artist, so it probably seemed obvious to them that they should write a novel that combined both their skill sets.

The resulting tale is of a young girl, Jackie O’Reilly, who has a short attention span and a big desire to find her calling in life. She drops out of her college course to become a professional make-up artist. After a very lucky break she gets the opportunity to travel with the ‘next big thing’ in the American popular culture scene; teen sensation Brooke Parker.