Novelicious - The Female Fiction and Chick Lit Blog

Review - My Bollywood Wedding by Rekha Waheed

Maya Malik has proposed to her perfect man Janghir Khan and despite his family’s reservations about having her as a prospective daughter-in-law, she resolves to plan the perfect wedding.

Not only does Maya have to contend with her wealthy family and his extremely wealthy one fighting over the dowries, but also had Janghir’s sister-in-law, Seema who dislikes her intensely and seems to be taking over the wedding arrangements rather than simply assisting Maya with the preparations. Janghir’s cousin Zain, a handsome George Clooney look-alike keeps offering Maya help and when Janghir appears to be distancing himself from Maya, she begins to wonder if she is indeed marrying the right man.

Seema has a way of making Maya feel fat and useless and as time presses on, she begins to realize that the wedding she was hoping for is becoming something of a distant dream. Maya resolves to sort herself out and take the reins back from the scheming Seema and find a way to give Janghir a wedding to be proud of.

Review - Mr Bishop & The Actress by Janet Mullany

What could be more important than a lady’s reputation, especially in 1814? I read the author’s previous book, Improper Relations and enjoyed meeting up with Viscount Shadderly and his family once again.

This time the book is written from the point of view of the new steward in Viscount Shadderly’s household, Harry Bishop and Sophie Wallace, a scandalous actress who’s latest lover has found himself in debt and unable to pay his way.

 

The Viscount Shadderly, or Shad, as he’s known, sends his new steward to settle any debts of his wayward relation and return him to his home. Finding Sophie at a loss and with nothing to her name except for an elaborately carved bed left to her by a previous lover, Harry Bishop is unable to leave without finding temporary accommodation for her. He takes her to his family’s hotel, where she and her bed are ensconced. Then, having enjoyed an unexpected night in Sophie’s bed, he leaves to return to the country and his employers.

LBD Review - Just Say Yes by Phillipa Ashley

REVIEWED BY KIRA SLAUGHTER

When Lucy’s brand-new boyfriend and extremely popular winner of reality TV show Hot Shots, Nick Laurentis, proposes to her live on air she’s stunned- into silence. Every girl loves a romantic gesture, but she’s just not ready for that kind of commitment. With the press hounding her as the one who callously broke Nick’s heart, Lucy flees her London flat to seek refuge in an isolated Cornwall cottage. But if she’s hoping for the simple life she’s in for a shock...

This is the third book of Phillipa Ashley’s I’ve read and I can understand why she won an RNA New Writers award for her first book ‘Decent Exposure’. The stories she writes are fun and light-hearted and the characters even more so.

Just Say Yes focuses on Lucy, a girl who has become a public hate figure for turning down a proposal live on TV. Wanting to get away from everything she goes to Cornwall with her friend Fiona and her dog Hengist. When she realises that she’s not being followed by the paparazzi, she settles into village life and meets the locals, and in particular one very gorgeous local! 

As with all good chick lit you obviously need a male lead, the romantic hero that swoops in and sweeps our main girl off her feet. And as luck would have it this book delivers a hero in the shape of Josh (who in my head resembles Wentworth Miller going by Ashley’s description, which immediately gets my vote!) He’s not a hero as such but he is the owner of four cottages similar to the one our heroine is residing in. They meet each other after a very amusing incident when he catches Lucy coming out of the shower. From then on they continue to bump into each other, and as with her previous books Ashley builds the sexual tension up to such a point that it made me want to scream ‘Just get together, goddammit!’

Review - Just Look At Me Now by Nell Dixon

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

Just Look At Me Now tells us about Tia, a perfectly turned out, glamorous Beauty Editor at the prestigious Platinum magazine. From her sleek brunette hair to her perfectly made up face and enviable figure, no one could suspect that Tia had led anything other than a blessed life.

 Tia has secrets she is determined to hide. Unlike her present self, Tia used to be Barbs, a fat girl, alienated from her peers by her looks and clumsiness, as much as her scholarship status at the private school she attended. She has gone through a lot to give herself the perfect makeover, not only changing everything about the persona she projects, but also giving herself a different name to ensure that no one discovers her secret.

 None of her new friends or colleagues are aware of the embarrassing past Tia has been so determined to forget. She has never confided about the devastating prank Juliet, a beautiful bully, played on her ensuring everyone witnessed her ultimate humiliation including Josh Banks, Tia’s schoolgirl crush and Juliet’s boyfriend. Having distanced herself from her past, Tia is horrified to discover that not only is Juliet being seconded to her magazine, but also that she is to take part in arranging a shoot for the magazine being held at Josh’s state-of-the-art spa.

 When Tia discovers that Juliet is up to her old tricks again, and not only intends getting her claws firmly back into Josh, but also determined to keep Tia firmly in her place, she begins to wonder how long it will be before either her nemesis or Josh discover who she really is, and when they do, what will they do with the information.

 I always know before starting a Nell Dixon book that I’m going to enjoy the story and fall in love with the hero. Just Look At Me Now didn’t disappoint me in any way. Written from both Tia’s and Josh’s point of view, we learn how each character has grown over the intervening years since they last saw each other. How Josh feels he knows her from somewhere, but can’t recollect where, and how Tia is determined to hold her feelings for him in check and distance herself from him despite his obvious attraction to her.

 

Rating: A thoroughly enjoyable 9/10

 VISIT NELL'S WEBSITE

 

LBD News - My Bollywood Wedding by Rekha Waheed

I thoroughly enjoyed Rekha's last book SARIS AND THE CITY, and love the sound of this one. Plus the cover colours are lovely!

This book is released on December 9th 2010 and the blurb reads...

Maya Malik wants a big glamorous Bollywood wedding.

And now Maya has found Jhanghir Khan, her perfect man, it’s time to start the mammoth task of planning it. But fifteen designer wedding boutiques, seven venues, two jet-set dashes to Dubai and Dhaka, and one trip to Tiffany’s later, with interfering aunties on her tail, her enthusiasm is flagging. And with the Maliks and Khans fighting over dowries and every decision related to the 600 strong guest list, Maya questions if it’s all worth it. Most importantly, she starts to doubt if Jhanghir really is Mr Right...

You can buy this novel here!

LBD News - No Ordinary Girl by AM Goldsher

I've yet to read AM Goldsher's books, but the quirky superhero romance concept really appeals to me.

This book is released on the 25th November 2010 and can be bought here.

The blurb reads...

Abbey Bynum never asked for her strange superpowers; she was born with them and man, does she hate them. Only a few family members and her ex-fiancé, the uptight government bureaucrat Murphy Napier, know her secret. But when supervillain Jon Carson appears on the scene under the guise of a brilliant new defence lawyer at her work, Abbey knows she must embrace her ‘weird stuff’ to have any chance of thwarting his plans for world domination. There’s only one person who can assist her: Murphy. He’s had a complete makeover since their split two years ago, but can he help Abbey triumph in her epic superbattle of good versus evil, winning back her trust and her heart in the process?

LBD Review - The Final Hitch by Samantha Scott-Jeffries

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

We previously saw Izzy Mistry in I Do, I Do, I Do where she leaves her job and all that she knows in London, including her boyfriend Harrisson, and moves to Majorca to work as a wedding planner.  The Final Hitch begins with Izzy at her own wedding, but who is she getting married to?

 

Having received two proposals in one night, one from Tomas, the beautifully mannered, quiet son of her employer, Celia and the other from her elusive ex-boyfriend Harrisson, Izzy accepts Harrisson’s proposal and immediately gets caught up in the excitement of being able to plan her own wedding.

 

She buys a rundown house in the mountains where she pictures them both living happily ever after and busily begins organizing the renovations hoping to ensure that their home is ready for them to start their married life in as soon as possible. However, life isn’t that simple and as well as Harrisson having to take jobs back in England and being away more than she would like, Izzy begins to feel that maybe some of the people she’s dealing with aren’t as honest as they could probably be.

 

Celia becomes unwell and despite her best attempts, Izzy ends up spending time with Tomas and starts to wonder if maybe she’s made the wrong choice. Is she destined to marry Harrisson and is he all that he professes to be? Could she be making a terrible mistake not only with the house, but also marrying the wrong man?

 

I enjoyed this novel and the descriptions of Majorca, it’s beautiful landscapes and tasty dishes were beautifully written. I would have liked the book to have included more scenes with Tomas, but have to admit that I was happy with the man Izzy did eventually end up marrying.

 

Rating: 6/10

LBD News - Unlucky in Love by Jessica Fox

This is the fourth novel in the Hen Night Prophecy series and will be released in September of this year!

The blurb reads...

Risk-taker Libby Foster wishes she thought things through more – maybe then she’d avoid being humiliated at work over her reckless romantic attachments. So it’s just as well that she’s swearing herself off men and escaping to a Thai island to work on location casting for a romance-slash-action film. But is she really such a danger to the opposite sex? A series of bizarre events in the serene beach surroundings have Libby fretting, but could it be she’s met her match in Craig, the daredevil martial arts instructor training her cast?

Have any of you read this series? Did you like it?

You can buy this book here

LBD Review - My Sister's Voice by Mary Carter

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR 

Lacey Gears is a twenty-eight-year-old deaf artist with a chronic fear of getting married. She has just discovered, via an anonymous tip-off, that she has a twin sister, who, it turns out, looks almost identical to her. Monica, unaware of Lacey’s existence, can’t understand why her book signing has been abruptly cancelled. She doesn’t recall insulting the bookstore manager, but being a motivational speaker and self-help guru, she continues with her tour, occasionally her boyfriend, and co-writer.

 

Lacey is in love with her supportive, boyfriend, Alan, but knows that when she goes off the rails and attempts to seduce her artist friend, Mike, with whom she shares a studio, Alan is not going to find it easy to forget what he’s seen. When she discovers that her twin can hear, she decides to find out exactly what made her parents decide to keep the hearing twin, whilst choosing to desert her in a home where she had hardly any happy memories of her childhood.

 

As Lacey begins to unearth long-kept family secrets, she opens up old wounds and as events go from bad to worse, she sets in motion situations she could never have imagined.

LBD News - Vintage Magic by Sally Anne Morris

I do love me a blue cover, and this one is just lovely.

Vintage Magic by Sally Anne Morris will be released on 19th August 2010. It sounds like a quintessential LBD book - fun, sassy and just a little bit kooky...

Spirited silk, crafty crepe, lively lace, tricky taffetas and enchanting empire lines... How powerful is the perfect dress?

Her love life in tatters, Rose Taylor decides its time to run away from London and open a vintage dress shop near her sister in Bath. If anyone is able to fully appreciate the life-enhancing power of finding and wearing that one very special dress, it’s Rose, but it seems the tea dresses, ball-gowns and lace in Viva Las Vintage! really do have a life of their own... As she uncovers the secret of the shop's magical powers, Rose realises that she can be transformed into a bewitching goddess, one with not only the power to get back the man she lost but to reach out and grab the life she’s always wanted. Dressing to impress is about to take on a whole new meaning...

You can purchase this book from here!

LBD Review - Perfect Image by Marisa Heath

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

Katrina is a young and inexperienced model, living in a rundown, shared room in Paris whilst trying to make a career as a model. Just when she starts thinking that maybe she should forget all about her aspirations and return home to England to continue with her studying, she meets Dominic Cayley, the handsome, most adored heartthrob in the world. She can’t believe her luck when he asks her out on a date and terrified, but delighted agrees to go out with him.

Through Dominic she meets many interesting and some not so pleasant people. Dominic has many hangers-on, although his older friend, James, who Katrina immediately hits it off with, doesn’t seem to be typical of the type who surround him. Alex, on the other hand makes Katrina feel nervous and she can’t understand why her roommate, Lauren is seeing him.

 

Dominic takes her to Monaco where they spend the weekend on a wealthy heiresses boat. He buys her beautiful clothes, jewellery and they are photographed everywhere. Suddenly everyone wants to know who Katrina is. Her bookings go from zero to impressive and she feels like she’s living in a dream world.

 

Dominic may be the handsomest man she’s ever met, but he’s also arrogant, selfish and shallow and if Katrina isn’t being pushed aside by jealous models, actresses or fans vying to get into bed with her boyfriend, she has to contend with underhand men wanting to get closer to her in an attempt to find out exactly what Dominic finds so fascinating in the beautiful, but shy, naive girl.

LBD Review - Sex Lies and Online Dating by Rachel Gibson

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

Lucy Rothschild has started online dating as research for her latest crime novel. She goes to the coffee shop to meet her latest ‘date’ and can’t help being pleasantly surprised to meet Quinn McIntyre, a handsome, recently widowed plumber. She feels a little sorry for him, and although she’s suspects some of what he says isn’t the truth, she can’t miss how he concentrates so intently on everything she has to say.

 

What she doesn’t know is that Quinn is actually a cop. He’s working undercover in an effort to track down Breathless, a serial killer who meets her victims online only to go back with them to their homes. The killer then entices them into bed, where she handcuffs the victims and suffocates them by placing a plastic bag over their heads.

 

Lucy is unaware that she is a suspect, but having exchanged emails with one of the dead men, as well as going on a ‘date’ with another, the police have her marked down as a definite suspect who should be checked out. Quinn is a professional and determined to find the killer. What he hadn’t expected was that he’d be so attracted to Lucy. It takes all his concentration to remember that the woman who has such an effect on him could also be the person he’s trying to put behind bars and who might possibly be planning to kill him.

Little Black Dress Highlight - Truly Madly Yours by Rachel Gibson

Because there are a mahoosive amount of Little Black Dress books out there, we thought we would bring some of the older (but still fabulous) publications to your attention. This one is a real treat (just check out the amazon reviews for verification!).

Have you ever been crazy in love?

Delaney Shaw is mad – really mad. Arriving in the town of Truly, Idaho, for the reading of her stepfather’s will, her plan was to pay her respects and then leave again as fast as she could. But the will has some unexpected conditions – like the one that says if Delaney wants her three million dollar inheritance she needs to stay put... for a year! Twelve months in Truly will drive her nuts... although not as nuts as she’d be to leave and forfeit the money. So staying put seems like her only choice.

But then there’s the will’s other condition – the one about having nothing to do with sexy, brooding, love-’em-and-leave-’em, Nick Allegrezza. Which is fine by her. Because she’d have to be crazy to want to have anything to do with him anyway. Right...?

Sounds good, no?

You can buy this book here

Find out more about Rachel here (but turn your volume down if you're at work, 'cos it's got sounds and music and stuff, and we don't want you getting into trouble.)

LBD Review - Hard to Get by Jessica Fox

REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR

Charlotte works for the Arts Council and has the misfortune of not only working in the same office as her ex-husband, Richard, but also his girlfriend, Suzie, who happens to be her boss as well as the woman he left her for. Recently Charlotte was told at her sister-in-law Zoe’s hen night that, ‘Love will come through hope alone’.  She can’t see how this prophecy could possibly happen, as she’s single, feels pretty unlovable, and doesn’t imagine her circumstances will be changing any time soon.

Charlotte is sent with Richard on a working trip to Yorkshire to inspect two charities who are in desperate need of funding. The Young Offenders Reform Company is run by Heath, a brooding widower with three stepchildren, who, Charlotte soon learns is devoted to helping the youngsters in his company. The other project The Hope Foundation is run by volunteers who aim to bring arts to children living in rural countryside. Charlotte is hopeless with children and within minutes of arriving at the Hope Foundation has upset the children and is causing chaos. Paul, a single father tries to assure her that she’s not as useless as she thinks, despite what Richard keeps telling her.