May I introduce: Tess Woods "Love At First Flight"

 

 

 

What would you risk to be with the love of your life? A family is threatened by an irresistible attraction in this compelling debut that will appeal to fans of Liane Moriarty and Anita Shreve. 

 

 

BLURB:

 Looking back on it now, I can see it was instant. The second we locked eyes. Boom. Just like that. The me I had spent a lifetime perfecting began its disintegration from that moment. And despite the carnage it brought to all our lives, I still don’t regret it.

What would you risk to be with the love of your life? And what if your soul mate is the one who will destroy you?

Mel is living the dream. She’s a successful GP, married to a charming anaesthetist and raising a beautiful family in their plush home in Perth. But when she boards a flight to Melbourne, she meets Matt and her picture perfect Stepford life unravels as she falls in love for the first time ever.

What begins as a flirty conversation between strangers quickly develops into a hot and obsessive affair with disastrous consequences neither Mel nor Matt could have ever seen coming. Mel’s dream life turns into her worst nightmare.

Love at First Flight will take everything you believe about what true love is and spin it on its head.

 

 

Why did you chose to write this love story?

 I've always been inspired by the tragic love story, the story of great love that just can't be. My favourite book 'The Bridges of Madison County' stayed with me years after reading it and played on my mind. Then I read 'Twilight' and out of nowhere I had to write my own book. Before this I had never entertained the idea of writing. But the longing in 'Twilight' and the knowing that the one you love is the one that is dangerous for you resonated with me and I just had to write about that. So with the themes of desire and danger, I wrote a book about a married mother, because I wanted to write of what I know. I wanted to bring the great love story into the world of the typical suburban mum who is chasing after kids, working and running a home. I wanted her to have that Romeo and Juliet moment. So I wrote 'Love at First Flight'.

 

LINKS

http://www.harpercollins.com.au/9781460705414/love-at-first-flight

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EQFIUdq1DM0

 

Tess Woods- Author Bio.

 

Tess Woods is a health professional who lives in Perth, Australia with one husband, two children, one dog and one cat who rules over all of them. Love at First Flight is her first novel. When she isn't working or being a personal assistant to her kids, Tess enjoys reading and all kinds of grannyish pleasures like knitting, baking, drinking tea, watching Downton Abbey and tending to the veggie patch.

 

May I introduce: Carla Caruso "Pretty Famous" #HarperCollins

Pretty Famous

by Carla Caruso

 

 

 

Blurb:

A dark secret from Hollywood’s Golden Age. A possible prince-in-hiding. Astonvale’s about to implode...

Professional organiser Celeste Pretty swore she’d never work with uber-blonde interior designer Imogen Karmel again, but then she’s presented with a project she can’t refuse.

The prestigious Astonvale College is celebrating its centenary and needs the pair to ensure the festivities go off without a hitch.

As Celeste sets to work in a flurry of activity — in between organising her own engagement party — she finds herself blowing away the cobwebs on a sixty-year-old secret.

Meanwhile, Imogen becomes enamoured with a substitute teacher, Hudson Addison, who may or may not be a royal in hiding. And there’s nothing Imogen dreams of more than becoming a princess. Will all be revealed on party night?

 

 

 

 

 

Author bio:

Carla Caruso was born in Adelaide, Australia, and only ‘escaped’ for three years to work as a magazine journalist and stylist in Sydney. Previously, she was a gossip columnist and fashion editor at Adelaide’s daily newspaper, The Advertiser. She has since freelanced for titles including Woman’s Day and Shop Til You Drop. These days, she plays mum to twin lads Alessio and Sebastian with hubby James.

 

Author links:

Visit www.carlacaruso.com.au, her blog www.theunitalianwife.com, ‘Carla Caruso Author’ on Facebook, or @CarlaCaruso79 on Twitter.

 

Buy link:

http://www.harpercollins.com.au/9781460704127/pretty-famous-an-astonvale-novel

 

 

 

 

 

Excerpt:

The path behind the building was narrow, even more weed-ridden, and rubbish-strewn. Like the dark underbelly of Astonvale College. It was obviously a space the school council had forgotten about as they busied themselves with approving new computer labs and design and technology classrooms. That was until the centenary celebrations and a chance to link to Arnold Foxling had rushed the theatre back into their focus. Imogen had only gotten a quarter of the way in when she decided enough was enough. It was time to turn back. Creative inspiration wasn’t about to strike back there anytime soon.

She spun around and screamed blue murder as a shadowy face suddenly filled her vision. Clumsily, she stepped back from the dark stranger, her hip hitting a metal drum. Pain shot through her. A hand gripped her arm before she lost her footing, its owner’s features, all at once, illuminated by a shaft of sunlight.

Oh my. Imogen drew in a sharp breath, immediately forgetting about the throbbing in her hip. The stranger was male. A very attractive male. Really something else, and she’d had her share of chiselled hunks in her time. He had eyes as cobalt-blue as the Mediterranean, cropped light brown hair tinged with blonde, and the perfect shadow of sexy stubble. She couldn’t feel a wedding band against her skin, his fingers still warm on her arm. She was never this lucky. Unless she’d actually fallen, hit her head, and was now hallucinating.

‘Sorry to scare you,’ the stranger said in an accent she couldn’t quite pin down. ‘I wasn’t expecting anyone to be lurking around here.’

He had a hint of laughter in his eyes. She tried to claw back her composure while imagining dirt streaked across her cheek. ‘Neither was I. What’s your excuse for being here?’

Unfortunately, he lost his grasp on her arm to reach for something amid a low bunch of prickly weeds. He held up the found object. A football. ‘Retrieving this. And you?’

Imogen tossed her hair, grateful it didn’t get stuck on an errant metal pole or some such. ‘I’m working on an interior design project for the school.’ She arched an eyebrow. ‘And you look too old to be a student.’

For a moment, he looked down, tossing the ball from one hand to the other. ‘I’m a substitute phys. ed. teacher and, despite the football, coach the Year Elevens’ winning soccer team.’ His eyes met hers again. ‘They call me Mr Addison, but you can call me Hunter.’ Then he bent into a mock bow, despite the limited space. ‘Enchantée.’

Hold the phone. He spoke French? He was a substitute phys. ed. teacher… as in, on loan to the school for an unspecified amount of time? He’d even looked down when he’d said it! And the stubble could be part of a disguise. Plus, if a royal was to pick a phony name, certainly they’d choose one to do with a sport like hunting.

Could… Could the guy in front of her actually be Prince Alexis, in the flesh? Sure he was wearing a tracksuit and sneakers right now, but she could so see him in sash-adorned military attire. A living, breathing prince — who wasn’t school-aged — right across from her mini Georgian-style mansion. Was this fate?

‘And I’m Imogen Karmel.’ Her voice had transformed into a purr. She had to hold herself back from curtseying as she teased, ‘But I don’t mind being called Ms Karmel.’

He raised an eyebrow in question. ‘Ms Karmel?’

‘Yes?’

He leaned in and she forgot to breathe. ‘You’ve got a leaf in your hair.’ Then he reached to pluck it out — the most erotic millisecond she’d ever experienced — before he turned to walk back in the direction he’d come, the football wedged under his arm. Not even a goodbye. Maybe he’d seen in her eyes she’d guessed his little secret? She clattered after him but her heels were a disadvantage.

 

May I introduce: Sara Donovan "Love By Numbers"

 

Love By Numbers

by Sara Donovan

 

Reading Sara's bio, I felt like picking up the phone and tell her my teacher failed me in that English! And I still turned out to be okay. 

Anyway, I love the blurb of "Love By Numbers" and the sound of the story, so my obvious question is:

1 - How did you come up with the idea for "Love by Numbers"?

I read a lot of non-fiction books about neuroscience in my day job which led to a fascination with the ‘brain in love’. I had a personal interest as well. I wanted to figure out how “trustable” attraction was as when I looked back over my romantic history and those of my friends, I could think of times we all got attracted to completely incompatible people.

2 - Your Seven Easy Steps of "How to Fall in Love with (Almost) Anyone" sound easy and scary. We want the truth ... made up or real research? J

Research, believe it or not!

Experiencing peak emotional states, laughing a lot, sharing novel experiences, lowering your inhibitions, touching, eye-gazing and sharing secrets are listed as intimacy increasing activities by well-known scientist Dr Robert Epstein in his article, ‘How Science Can Help You Fall in Love’, (Psychology Today, 2010).

Dr Epstein was so sure there was a technology to falling in love, that he put an ad in Psychology Today for a woman who would be willing to date him exclusively and follow various intimacy exercises for 6 to 12 months. He expected the experiment would end in marriage.

Dr Epstein didn’t marry the woman he chose for the experiment, but he still stands by the theory that you can influence romantic love significantly. As does renowned anthropologist Dr Helen Fisher, whose book, ‘Why We Love? The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love,’ is also one of the main inspirations for the Seven Steps and my book.

3 - A house full of kids (I've counted five!). What's the secret to find the time to write a book?

Waiting for them to grow up (my youngest was 17 when I started writing Love By Numbers), having an addictive personality and having an unbelievably supportive husband who cooked and cleaned and constantly answered my questions about what a ‘guy would say if a woman said……?’ 

4 - Tell us a bit about your current WIP.

I like exploring edgy relationship topics and hopefully making them fun and romantic as well.

This time round, I’m curious to write a story that explores degrees of monogamy – from couples who are co-dependent, to couples who have close friends of the opposite sex, to those who have covert emotional affairs, or even relationships they believe support the primary one. I’m going to set the story among a group of activists living in the bush for a year who are also serialising their experiences as a documentary on the internet.

I’m also contributing a chapter for a non-fiction book called ‘Born To Do This’. It’s about the psychology of creativity.

Thanks so so much for the opportunity Iris! It’s been fun - An absolute delight to have had this small "science lesson in love" ! IB

 

Blurb:

What if there was a scientific 7-step formula that triggered the heart into feeling passion? Would you follow it to have a hot and heavy romance with your available 'nice guy’ bestie?

Set in the glittering lower north shore of Sydney, Love by Numbers follows the story of April, a young successful HR consultant who escapes the boredom of her serious man-drought by fantasising more than she should about her uninterested office crush, Ryan. When April finally gets Ryan to drinks after work one night and he falls for her flirtatious house-mate, April decides to never again trust her instinctual‘man-picker’. Her only solution is to rewire her brain and create passion with the one guy she knows she can trust

 This is a story about how far you can go to control your heart's choices, and what happens when you try.

Author:

My dream job when I was fifteen was scriptwriting for TV or film, only I was a writing wimp. A few bad marks for English essays I thought were great and I pursued a career in science instead of creative writing - determined to never again be evaluated on anything subjective.

It took a few decades of writing non fiction in my day job while living an accidental romantic comedy life before I was willing to manage the uncertainty and give my creative writing dream a go - and I'm so glad I did! Writing Love By Numbers was the most fun I've ever had.

In my day job, I run a small and busy Learning and Development Consultancy, where I write and teach neuroscience, communication and congruent influence programs to very smart and talented clients who constantly teach me.

My greatest blessing is my wonderfully supportive and inspiring family - my personal superhero husband, my two amazing children, three wonderful step children and my love-addicted dog.

https://www.facebook.com/saradonovanbooks
https://twitter.com/sarasbooks

 

 Purchase Links:

http://www.amazon.com.au/Love-Numbers-Sara-Donovan-ebook/dp/B00ID2UX8Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400906762&sr=8-1&keywords=sara+donovan

https://itunes.apple.com/au/book/love-by-numbers/id818753481?mt=11

http://www.harpercollins.com.au/Srch/index.aspx?search=sara%20donovan

 

Excerpt:

How to Fall in Love with (Almost) Anyone in Seven Easy Steps.

Choose an available friend who doesn’t turn you off, and rewire your brains for a hot and heavy romance.

1. Get emotional together while watching a sad movie.

2. Share an adrenaline rush by jumping out of a plane.

3. Show how competent you are at something, but don’t make a big deal of it.

4. Have him bring home food from the hunt — a good restaurant will do.

5. Eye gaze in bed without talking until it doesn’t feel weird.

6. Role-play each other’s primal fantasies within reason and without judgement.

7. Sleep together like stacked spoons.

Repeat the above until love and lust kick in. Then when they do, send your attraction into overdrive by not seeing each other. That’s when things really get cooking.

 

Chapter 1

The trigger that made me do something radical to fix my relationship problems happened a few weeks earlier when I’d broken an unwritten company rule: the ‘don’t show emotion at work’ rule, which really means don’t show female emotions. You could swear, raise your voice, even slam the occasional phone and you’d be seen as strong at Odyssey IT. But get misty-eyed, and you’re a drama queen or worse, weak.

It wasn’t that I found hiding my vulnerability at work difficult. I was great at it. But a couple of unwanted coincidences and I was exposed. Raw. All because of the wrong kind of synchronicity – the kind that orchestrates you away from what you want, instead of the other way around.

 

Review: Rachel Gibson "Simply Irresistible"

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN:  9780380790074

My rating: 3/5

Georgeanne Howard, charm school graduate and Southern belle extraordinaire, leaves her fiancé at the altar when she realizes she just can't marry a man old enough to be her grandfather, no matter how rich he is. John Kowalsky unknowingly helps her escape, and only when it's too late does he realize that he's absconded with his boss's bride. At the height of his hockey career, this bad boy isn't looking to be anybody's savior but his own, no matter how beautiful this angel may be. But a long night stretches ahead of them--a night too sultry to resist temptation.
When Georgeanne and John meet again, she is on her way to becoming Seattle's domestic darling and he is past his hellraising days. But he is shocked to learn that their single unforgettable night in paradise produced a daughter, and he is determined to be part of her life. Georgeanne has loved John since the moment she jumped into his little red Corvette seven years ago, but she doesn't want to risk her heart again. Is he really a changed man? And will he risk the wrath of his boss, and one final chance at glory, to prove that this time his love will be everlasting? (rachelgibson.com)


My thoughts

Another nice summer read, but I have to admit it reminded me A LOT of  Rachel Gibson's "No Man of Mine"

Georgeanne  meets John Kowalsky, a Chinook player when she runs away from her wedding. Although John knows he plays with fire, as the husband-to-be is Virgil Duffy, the owner of the Chinooks, but John can't keep his hands off her - the result, as he finds out seven years later, is a little girl "Lexie".

The characters are okay, but without any depth, yet I loved the moments between father and daughter. That was well done! And the dialogues between Mae and Hugh had some good pinch to them.

Bottom line - if you have read No Man of Mine ... you've read this one. Nothing new.

Also, lots of sudden scene changes confused me at times, so much that I the re-reading was annoying and I put the book aside. But I'm not sure whether that was just me.

Review: Rachel Gibson - It must be Love

Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers

ISBN: 9780380807154

My rating: 3/5

It Must Be Love

Undercover cop Joe Shanahan's bad luck hit bottom the morning he stared up into the face of sexy suspect Gabrielle Breedlove. She'd blown his cover---brought him down with a can of hairspray---and now his new assignment was to pose as her boyfriend. But spending as much time as possible with the utterly irresistible New Age beauty caused unexpected complications. To make matters worse, his matchmaking sisters are picking out china patterns.
Joe's brooding good looks and T-shirt-straining muscles might be easy on the eyes, but how could Gabrielle be attracted to a straight-laced detective who's determined to find evidence to arrest her? Still, he invades her dreams and when they share a transcendent lovemaking experience, Gabrielle knows it must be love.


My thoughts

This was an okay read by Rachel Gibson, a nice "time filler".

Joe Shanahan is an undercover cop, trying to find out who has stolen Mr Hillard's Monet. Suspect is Kevin Carter, Joe's reluctant informer is Gabrielle Breedlove, Kevin's business partner.

The background story was actually quite interesting, but slowed by the constant "inner thoughts" by both main characters, Joe and Gabrielle, as well as their romance. Fair enough, it's a romance novel, but it's still a shame, it could've been much better.

As usual with RG, there's lots of "in detail" sex scenes.

Bottom line, as said before, a nice time filler.


 

Cecelia Ahern - The Time of my Life

Publisher: Harper Collins

ISBN: 9780007350445

My rating: 4/5

Lucy Silchester has an appointment with her life – and she’s going to have to keep it.
Lying on Lucy Silchester’s carpet one day when she returns from work is a gold envelope. Inside is an invitation – to a meeting with Life. Her life. It turns out she's been ignoring it and it needs to meet with her face to face.

It sounds peculiar, but Lucy’s read about this in a magazine. Anyway, she can’t make the date: she’s much too busy despising her job, skipping out on her friends and avoiding her family.

But Lucy’s life isn’t what it seems. Some of the choices she’s made – and stories she’s told – aren’t what they seem either. From the moment she meets the man who introduces himself as her life, her stubborn half-truths are going to be revealed in all their glory – unless Lucy learns to tell the truth about what really matters to her. (CeceliaAhern.ie)

 

 

My thoughts

 

I cannot believe, I'd had the book on my desk for over a year before I started reading, but after the previous Ahern books I'd been a bit hesitant!

Anyway ... beautifully written and thought provoking would be a summary of this review!

 

Lucy, the main character, meets "her life", a grumpy guy who is trying to improve her life. Her life: she's broken up with her partner, lost her job and now lives in a small apartment, growing more and more distant to her family and friends.

 

I didn't really like Lucy that much, although very realistic, I couldn't really warm to her. Yet, I loved "her life". He was funny, witty and had some really good lines.

 

Bottom line, I'd say, this is Cecelia Ahern at her best again. The story makes you think, not only about what you've just read, but your own life, and stays with you well and truly after you've finished the book. I laughed, I blinked away tears - and loved it!