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Wallace and Grace and the Cupcake Caper by Heather Alexander and Laura Zarrin

July 24, 2019 by

Source: Public Library
Paperback, 80 pgs.
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Wallace and Grace and the Cupcake Caper by Heather Alexander and Laura Zarrin is a cute chapter book that was easy for my daughter to read to me every night. As we’re trying to keep her on track for reading, this was a great choice since she seems to like animal main characters and mysteries. Wallace is a note taker during the case, and he makes sure that all the clues are captured. Grace is a thinker and puzzle solver. She loves to see all the pieces strewn about and ready for her to put together.

Monty the chipmunk’s cupcake is stolen, and he points the finger at the groundhog, Sal, but Sal insists he didn’t take it. He does admit to eating some of the frosting. As Wallace and Grace follow the clues, readers soon find that some other things are missing from the forest.

Wallace and Grace and the Cupcake Caper by Heather Alexander and Laura Zarrin is a great starter chapter book for early readers that still has enough illustrations to keep kids motivated and engaged. My daughter was excited about getting the next book in the series.

RATING: Quatrain

Filed Under: Bloomsbury, borrowed copy, challenges, children's fiction, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2019, reviews Tagged With: , ,

Guest Post: Writing as a Team Sport by Susan Hamilton

July 23, 2019 by

With 20 enthralling stories by up-and-coming writers from The Writing Bloc, ESCAPE! is an anthology with a theme that appeals to anyone. It examines the urge humans have to leave the circumstances they’re currently in and how that impulse both helps and hurts us.

Please welcome one of the writers, Susan Hamilton:

All you need is a little help from your friends

Think back to when you were in school and you had to work on a group project. Did that memory make you break out in a cold sweat? I bet a lot of you did. Group projects can be hard, frustrating and anxiety-inducing. There are always a few people who aren’t invested, don’t show up for meetings, or miss deadlines.

Now imagine trying to collaboratively write a book with a bunch of authors you’ve never met before.

Impossible, you say? I’m here to tell you its not.

In 2018, indie author Michael Haase, along with five other writers he’d become acquainted with — Cari Dubiel, Becca Spence Dobias, Robert Batten, Jacqui Castle, and Christopher Lee — formed the Writing Bloc (www.writingbloc.com) an online community of writers with the goal of helping indie authors by fostering connection and providing the support necessary to navigate the often overwhelming world of publishing.

I became involved in Writing Bloc not long after it was founded, and shortly after that, the group came up with a new challenge: It was great to have formed an engaged, supportive writers’ community, but how cool would it be for the group put out an anthology of short stories?

The idea of an anthology is nothing new, but Writing Bloc applied its idea of community and collaboration to the project. The plan was simple: Select 20 stories from all of the submissions, and then have all of the writers edit collaboratively.

You heard me correctly — 20 authors, most nearly complete strangers, critiquing each others’ work first in pairs and then as a full group. Every story reviewed and critiqued by each individuals over the course of a few months. And once that was done, the founding members of Writing Bloc would do a final line edit, create the cover, and publish the anthology.

Some of you are having group-project flashbacks, aren’t you? You’re thinking this project was an implosion waiting to happen.

It wasn’t. It didn’t implode — it took off.

All 20 of us — with a few bumps in the road along the way — successfully contributed stories, edited, and published the Writing Bloc’s ESCAPE! anthology. And now we are all helping to market and promote it in our own distinct ways.

I think our success is 100 percent the result of two things. First, the vision and determination of Writing Bloc’s core team. And second, the enthusiasm, generosity, and trust shown by the entire group. We all wanted to see each other succeed; we all wanted the anthology to succeed; and we were willing to put in the work. We were willing to give honest, constructive critiques, and we were all open to receiving those critiques, too. And that can be hard, as any writer knows.

As founder Haase notes in the book’s foreword, “Twenty of us formed a team to write, edit, produce, design and release this book. It was a ton of work but we did it all together as a cooperative. … I have yet to find another compilation constructed quite like this one. We all had a say in the process.”

I was fortunate enough to have had my own story, “Chrysalis,” selected to be included, so I was able to experience the collaboration first-hand. It wasn’t perfect. There were lots of questions, some fits and starts in some areas, and a few technology glitches (Those, I confess, were user error on my part; I have fondly dubbed myself the group’s technological problem child.).

I’ve talked a lot about the creation of the ESCAPE! anthology, so you’re probably wondering by now, what is ESCAPE! all about? I’ll let the book synopsis speak for itself:

ESCAPE! It’s something that we all crave. Life in 2018 is loaded with stress, worry, and regret so, of course, these themes are old friends of the independent writers of the Writing Bloc Cooperative. In the first collection of shorts presented by Writing Bloc Publishing, twenty up-and-coming authors illuminate the varied nuances of ESCAPE! The result is nothing short of pure alchemical gold in the form of the written word.

These twenty gripping tales, running the gamut from science fiction and fantasy to political satire and literary fiction, illustrate the many faces of escape, escaping, and escapism. In a curiously deep look into the human psyche, they examine the urge to leave our present circumstances behind as well as how that instinct both aids and hinders our lives.

The stories in ESCAPE! are eclectic, fascinating, and engaging, and there really is something in there for everyone. I’m proud that my work is included alongside these other writers who not only do I respect but consider them to be colleagues and friends. But what I’m proudest of is having been part of a group effort that could have failed but ended up being a tremendous success because of the dedication, determination, and trust shown by everyone involved.

In fact, we had so much fun creating ESCAPE! we’re doing it again. The process for producing Writing Bloc’s next anthology, DECEPTION! is already underway. It has stories from many writers who debuted in the first anthology, plus some wonderful new voices. The new anthology should be out later this year, so keep an eye out!

Interested in the ESCAPE! Anthology? Look for it on Amazon. Learn more about the Writing Bloc.

About the Author:

Susan K. Hamilton is the award-winning author of epic, dark, and urban fantasy books including “Shadow King,” “Darkstar Rising,” and “The Devil Inside” (releasing 2020). She’s also dipped her toe in the short story pond and had her work included in the ESCAPE! and DECEPTION! anthologies (forthcoming) from Writing Bloc.

Horse-crazy since she was a little girl, she also loves comfy jeans, pizza, great stand-up comedy, and pretty much every furry creature on the planet (except spiders). Susan lives near Boston with her husband and a cat that runs the house like a boss.

Filed Under: guest post Tagged With: , ,

Mailbox Monday #541

July 22, 2019 by

Mailbox Monday has become a tradition in the blogging world, and many of us thank Marcia of The Printed Page for creating it.

It now has it’s own blog where book bloggers can link up their own mailbox posts and share which books they bought or which they received for review from publishers, authors, and more.

Leslie, Martha, and I also will share our picks from everyone’s links in the new feature Books that Caught Our Eye. We hope you’ll join us.

Here’s what I received:

Fizz and the Police Dog Tryouts by Lesley Gibbes and Stephen Michael King, which I purchased for my daughter.

Meet Fizz – a small, white, fluffy dog who longs for adventure in this hilarious and action-packed series for newly confident readers. Fizz heads to the Police Dog Tryouts, determined to become a daring dog detective! He may not look like a police dog, but he’s brave, clever and super-fast. Can he prove that he can do the job?

Ella Diaries: Double Dare You by Meredith Costah and Danielle McDonald, which I purchased for my daughter.

It’s a new school year, and it’s perfect. Until class starts that is, and EVERYTHING goes wrong. Ella can’t believe that her absolutely WORST ENEMY EVER, Peach, is sitting next to her! No matter how far Ella moves her new pencil case across the desk, Peach is IN HER SPACE. Where’s her BFF Zoe? How can this year get ANY WORSE?

The Mysterious World of Cosentino: The Missing Ace by Jack Heath and James Hart, which I purchased for my daughter.

Cosentino’s performances at his run-down old theatre attract the wrong kind of attention when the Ace of Spades dashes through the door begging to be saved from the clutches of the evil two-headed King! When Cosentino is captured he’s thrown into the dungeon at the bottom of the castle, which no one has ever escaped.

What did you receive?

Filed Under: mailbox monday, meme Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Ghettoside by Jill Leovy (audio)

July 17, 2019 by

Source: Purchased
Audible, 13+ hrs.
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Ghettoside by Jill Leovy, narrated by Rebecca Lowman, is a true-crime look at murder in Los Angeles through the lens of one reporter and a case of black-on-black crime that was solved. The murder of a black cop’s son, Bryant Tennelle, by a gang member and a young man trying to fit in and stay on the good side of a gang member is not the case I expected to hear about in this book. With all Leovy’s talk about black-on-black crime and how there is a sort of lawlessness and take-it-in-their-own-hands mentality there, I expected to hear about someone other than the “good” son of a cop who chose to raise his family in the district where he worked as a homicide detective and police officer.

The case does highlight a bit of hero-worship on the part of the author with regard to Detective John Skaggs, who led the investigation. Skaggs is a persistent investigator, and Leovy does mention that his skills have closed many cases, which made me wonder why she focused on the case he helped solve related to the death of a cop’s son. Although it seems she is trying to suggest that the case wasn’t solved effectively because the victim was the son of a police officer, her entire book does the opposite, especially when there is no counterpoint to this case. As a reader, I would like to have seen another case in parallel involving another black man who was not the son of a police officer and how that case unfolded in the department.

The most enlightening part of the narrative is the commentary on how the criminal justice system has devalued the lives of all black men in these communities by failing to invest the time and resources necessary to investigate their murders. In her passages about how departments were merely pushing papers around and closing cases without putting the time in — unlike Skaggs who persistently visited and revisited communities to find evidence and witnesses — it is clear that real police work was not being done and that the officers gave up easily and had too little resources to follow-up on evidence or tips, etc. This is not to say that there were not officers and detectives in those departments who were not dedicated to finding the murderers, but without appropriate resources, the deck can be stacked against them actually closing cases.

Ghettoside by Jill Leovy, narrated by Rebecca Lowman, takes on a large problem in America — black-on-black on crime. The topic is a bit broad, and while she uses one case as an example, it might be the wrong one for her to have used. In the author’s note, it is clear she relied heavily on reports she wrote for news outlets, and she did offer a great many statistics. But what she espouses is a tougher state-based control over enforcement, and I’m not sure that’s the right answer, especially given many cases of bias, policy brutality, and the over enforcement/sentencing of minor crimes involving black men. This book has a lot of discussion points, however, and would be fantastic for book clubs.

RATING: Tercet

Filed Under: audiobooks, challenges, New Authors Challenge, nonfiction, purchased, Read in 2019, reviews Tagged With: , , ,

Pug Pals: Two’s a Crowd by Flora Ahn

July 16, 2019 by

Source: Public Library
Hardcover, 121 pgs.
I am Amazon Affiliate

Pug Pals: Two’s a Crowd by Flora Ahn is a story about accepting change and learning to accept a new situation — and eventually come to enjoy it. Sunny is a pug who is spoiled by her owner, with a billion stuffed toys, run of the house, and lots of love. But when her owner brings her not another new toy but a little sister pug named Rosy, Sunny is less than pleased. She doesn’t like sharing at all, and she’s annoyed by Rosy’s antics all the time. She particularly hates how Rosy is always slobbering all over her ears.

Eventually, Sunny blows up angrily when Rosy loses Sunny’s favorite stuffed bunny. Sunny says some harsh things to Rosy. After cooling off, Sunny has to go out in search of her little sister and her missing stuffed toy.

This summer, my daughter and I have traveled to the library in search of more challenging books to read, so she doesn’t lose her skills over the summer. We’ve read this book together over the last week or so in between summer swim team activities. For the most part, the story was right up her alley with animals and a mystery. There were some harder words for her to sound out, which was good, but also a bit frustrating for her. But overall she enjoyed the adventure with these two pups.

Pug Pals: Two’s a Crowd by Flora Ahn is a good read for early readers looking for a challenge, but who also want some illustrations to help them visualize the story, too. There are about 10 chapters in this book, so we’re gearing up for longer chapter books. We’ll likely seek out book 2 in this series.

RATING: Quatrain

Filed Under: borrowed copy, challenges, children's fiction, New Authors Challenge, Publishers/Publicists, Read in 2019, reviews, Scholastic Tagged With: ,

Mailbox Monday #540

July 15, 2019 by

Mailbox Monday has become a tradition in the blogging world, and many of us thank Marcia of The Printed Page for creating it.

It now has it’s own blog where book bloggers can link up their own mailbox posts and share which books they bought or which they received for review from publishers, authors, and more.

Leslie, Martha, and I also will share our picks from everyone’s links in the new feature Books that Caught Our Eye. We hope you’ll join us.

Here’s what I received:

The Lucases of Lucas Lodge by Clara Benson, an Amazon freebie.

Maria Lucas is quite resigned to never marrying, but when a new family comes to live at Netherfield Park, she suddenly finds herself with not one suitor, but two. As a friend schemes against her and misunderstandings abound, can Maria avoid the unwelcome advances of the man all Meryton expects her to marry, and win the heart of the man she truly loves?

NB: If you’re looking for an Elizabeth and Darcy fix, keep looking, because you won’t find it here! There are no Bennets in this book.

And Something Blue (Main Street Merchants Book 1) by Amelia C. Adam, an Amazon freebie.

Laurie Fletcher, bridal consultant, lives in the small Western tourist town of Aspen Ridge, Colorado, and spends all her time helping others prepare for the most special day of their lives. Logan Reese, a lawyer from nearby Denver, is easily the most irritating man on the planet, and for some reason, he’s made annoying Laurie his mission in life. Will true love ever come Laurie’s way, or is she doomed to watch others get their happily ever after while she sits on the sidelines?

A Very Austen Valentine: Austen Anthologies, Book 2 by a variety of authors, an Amazon freebie.

Six beloved authors deliver romantic Valentine novellas set in Jane Austen’s Regency world. Robin Helm, Laura Hile, Wendi Sotis, and Barbara Cornthwaite, together with Susan Kaye and Mandy Cook, share variations of Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, and Sense and Sensibility, featuring your favorite characters in sequels, adaptations, and spinoffs of Austen’s adored novels.

Experience uplifting romance, laugh-out-loud humor, and poignant regret as these authors deftly tug on your heartstrings this Valentine’s Day.

For The Sake Of Her Happiness: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Marley Fulton, an Amazon freebie.

At that point, their relationship is quite similar to the original; however, one small incident will change things completely.

What should a private man like Fitzwilliam Darcy do with the torment in his heart, if there is not a single living soul he trusted enough to share it? Writing his turmoil in a diary, of course!

But when the haste made him drop the precious possession in the grass and, and someone read it before he realized the loss and returned to claim it, the circumstances changed – for the better.

By the time the relationship slowly improved between our dear couple, most distressing news interrupted Elizabeth’s visit and demanded her presence in town.

What could Darcy do when the woman he loved suddenly left, with no apparent reason? Follow her and do everything for the sake of her happiness – of course!

A Fire Sparkling by Julianne MacLean, an Amazon freebie.

After a crushing betrayal by the man she loves, Gillian Gibbons flees to her family home for a much-needed escape, but when she finds an old photograph of her grandmother in the arms of a Nazi officer, Gillian’s life gets even more complicated. Rattled by the discovery, Gillian attempts to unravel the truth behind the photos, setting her off on an epic journey through the past…

1939. England is on the brink of war as Vivian Hughes falls in love with a handsome British official, but when bombs begin to fall and Vivian’s happy life is destroyed in the blitz, she will do whatever it takes to protect those she loves…

As Gillian learns more about her grandmother’s past, the old photo begins to make more sense. But for every question answered, a new one takes its place. Faced with a truth that is not at all what she expected, Gillian attempts to shine a light not only on the mysteries of her family’s past but also on her own future.

Relative Fortunes (A Julia Kydd Novel Book 1) by Marlowe Benn, an Amazon freebie.

In 1920s New York, the price of a woman’s independence can be exorbitant—even fatal.

In 1924 Manhattan, women’s suffrage is old news. For sophisticated booklover Julia Kydd, life’s too short for politics. With her cropped hair and penchant for independent living, Julia wants only to launch her own new private press. But as a woman, Julia must fight for what’s hers—including the inheritance her estranged half brother, Philip, has challenged, putting her aspirations in jeopardy.

When her friend’s sister, Naomi Rankin, dies suddenly of an apparent suicide, Julia is shocked at the wealthy family’s indifference toward the ardent suffragist’s death. Naomi chose poverty and hardship over a submissive marriage and a husband’s control of her money. Now, her death suggests the struggle was more than she could bear.

Julia, however, is skeptical. Doubtful of her suspicions, Philip proposes a glib wager: if Julia can prove Naomi was in fact murdered, he’ll drop his claims to her wealth. Julia soon discovers Naomi’s life was as turbulent and enigmatic as her death. And as she gets closer to the truth, Julia sees there’s much more at stake than her inheritance…

The Keys for Love: An Austen-Inspired Romance by Wendi Sotis, an Amazon freebie.

In this sweet Pride and Prejudice-inspired romance, William Darcy has finally torn himself away from work to join his sister at their vacation house in the Florida Keys. There, he meets his sister’s new friend, Elizabeth Bennet, the housesitter staying next door.

Miss Darcy’s Christmas (Pride & Prejudice Continues Book 5) by Karen Aminadra, an Amazon freebie.

Two cousins, one aunt, and a suitor – what could possibly go wrong?

Georgiana Darcy’s head is in a spin after being invited to London for the Christmas season.

Thrust into high society, she is overwhelmed by the attention.

Her cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and the dashing Lord Hugh DeVere come to her rescue.

But all is not as it seems. One is goodness himself, while the other has all the appearance of it.

With her head full of love and matrimony, can Georgiana see the gentlemen for who they truly are?

Having dreamt of finding true love, will she accept a match that dazzles on the surface, or dare she strive for a love that fills her heart?

Lady Catherine’s Lover by Margaret Lynette Sharp, an Amazon freebie.

What twists will be revealed that colour the past of the lover of Lady Catherine de Bourgh? Will Darcy’s revelations to Her Ladyship thwart the path of love?

This is a quirky addition to Australian author Margaret Lynette Sharp’s series of JAFF short stories.

The Joy Delivered Duet by Lauren Blakely, which I purchased from Audible.

Experience The Joy Delivered Duet narrated by Sebastian York! This is the first ever audio bundle of the two New York Times best-selling stand-alone novels Nights with Him and Forbidden Nights from number one NYT best-selling author Lauren Blakely….

Nights with Him…

An extremely eligible bachelor in New York, Jack Sullivan is the total package – handsome as hell, rich as sin, and charming as anything. But the powerful and successful sex toy CEO has commitment issues a mile long after the tragic way his relationship with his fiancée ended. He’s looking for a way to erase the pain, and that arrives in the form of Michelle Milo. From her pencil skirts to her high heels, she’s his perfect fantasy, especially since she doesn’t have room for anything more in her life.

When Jack proposes a deal – share her nights with him for 30 days of exquisite pleasure, then they walk away – his proposition sounds blissful. And it is full of bliss and ecstasy, until trouble from the past threatens their present arrangement….

Forbidden Nights…

Sexy hotel CEO Nate Harper has lusted after his good friend Casey Sullivan for a long time, but he won’t act on his intense desire because he knows he’s no good for her. After the kind of hurt his ex inflicted on him, he’s a committed playboy for life, and Casey only wants true love.

All that changes one hot night when she comes to him with a proposition he can’t resist – she wants him to teach her to be submissive in the bedroom. Casey soon learns how very much she likes letting go of control to him. She’s never been more turned on in her life than she is in Nate’s arms. And he’s never been more taken by a woman. The only trouble is as she experiences what it means to let go, he starts to experience what it means to feel again….

What happens when years of desire and lust ignite a passion that can’t be denied?

Safekeeping: Romance, Mystery, and Suspense with a Dash of Austen by Wendi Sotis, an Amazon freebie.

A woman awakens in a hospital room, injured and surrounded by strangers. The car accident is a blur, and her mind is nearly a blank slate.

The name on her driver’s license reads Elizabeth Becket, and she’s enrolled at a local college, but none of this feels right. Her college application claims she’s a writer—are her vivid and frequent nightmares a story conjured up in her imagination or could they be memories of her former life?

The only thing she knows for sure is that an urgent sense of danger casts a shadow over her entire existence.

Irresistibly drawn to Fitz Darcy, the man living next door to her new apartment, her soul longs to trust him. Is he safe to love, or is he part of the frightening events her subconscious is fighting so hard to keep buried?

No Other Recourse: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Emmeline Ashe, an Amazon freebie.

What if Mr. Darcy stumbled upon Miss Elizabeth Bennet… in a brothel?

No Other Recourse is a short novella, a variation on our beloved Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. In the fanfiction tradition, Emmeline Ashe takes a “what if” approach on the classic story, and wonders what would happen if…

What if Jane’s letter arrived to Lambton earlier that fateful morning? When Mr. Darcy arrived, instead of finding a tearful Elizabeth prepared to disclose her family’s troubles, he would instead have found her already departed, with no word or excuse. Our hero would then be wholly ignorant of his beloved’s predicament, and therefore incapable of saving her family and reputation.

What if the Bennet family were then propelled into a series of misfortunes that left our heroine in a most precarious position? Our hero would then have to save her from a disaster of entirely different proportions…

Warning: Some of this story alludes to adult content. While never being precisely breached, the boundaries of innocent propriety are quite vigorously assaulted. Ye be warned.

Christmas at Longbourn (Pride & Prejudice Continues Book 4) by Karen Aminadra, Miranda Stork, Brenda Fiscus, an Amazon freebie.

While their sisters, Jane, Lizzy, and Lydia, married favourably and lived in great style and comfort, Kitty and Mary Bennett remain unmarried and living at Longbourn.

Kitty, recently jilted, and Mary, overlooked wherever she goes, are thrown together and, through their hurt, they begin to see one another in a whole new light.

With the help of the worst winter storms England has ever seen, they are forced to face their flaws and tackle life head-on, for fear that nothing will ever change for them.

Their greatest fear is to end their days unmarried. Yet, this year – with the aid of the ever-deepening snow – they are set to have their best ever Christmas at Longbourn!

What did you receive?

 

 

Filed Under: mailbox monday, meme Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews

July 9, 2019 by

Source: St. Martin’s Press
Paperback, 448 pgs.
I am an Amazon Affiliate

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews is slightly different from the lighter side of her other novels. Drue Campbell’s life is turned upside down with the death of her mother, the reappearance of her estranged father, an accident that takes away the one thing that eases her mind, and the loss of her job — a job she hated. Campbell hasn’t had an idyllic life, but with her mother she was at least grounded. Now, she’s adrift and wary of accepting her father’s help, especially after being estranged for so long.

When she arrives in St. Petersburg, Florida, she is given her inheritance from her father – her grandparents’ cottage on Sunset beach. But the gift is not without its own headaches — a leaky roof, nasty color scheme, and so much more. While clearing out the trash from the previous hoarder tenant and cleaning up the cottage, Drue uncovers a mystery in her own attic. When she heads to the office to work for her father, she also discovers his new wife is her former best friend and there’s a mystery at the law office that needs a second look.

Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews is a complex read of a young woman finding her place in the world after losing so much, but it’s also chock full of murder mysteries that Drue Campbell and you can’t help but dig into.

RATING: Quatrain

Other Reviews:

About the Author:

Mary Kay Andrews graduated from the University of Georgia with a journalism degree in 1976.  She worked as a reporter at a number of papers, and spent 11 years as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution before leaving to write fiction full-time in 1991.  She published ten mystery novels under her own name between 1992 and 2000, and since 2002, she has authored a number of best-selling books as Mary Kay Andrews.

Filed Under: ARC, fiction, Read in 2019, reviews, St. Martin's Press Tagged With: ,

Mailbox Monday #539

July 8, 2019 by

Mailbox Monday has become a tradition in the blogging world, and many of us thank Marcia of The Printed Page for creating it.

It now has it’s own blog where book bloggers can link up their own mailbox posts and share which books they bought or which they received for review from publishers, authors, and more.

Leslie, Martha, and I also will share our picks from everyone’s links in the new feature Books that Caught Our Eye. We hope you’ll join us.

Here’s what I received:

Darcy in Hollywood by Victoria Kincaid for review; check out the giveaway.

Rich and arrogant movie star, William Darcy, was a Hollywood heartthrob until a scandalous incident derailed his career. Now he can only hope that Tom Bennet’s prestigious but low budget indie film will restore his reputation. However, on the first day of filming, he nearly hits Bennet’s daughter, Elizabeth, with his Ferrari, and life will never be the same. Okay, she’s a little sarcastic, but he’s certain she’s concealing a massive crush on him—and it’s growing harder to fight his own attraction….

Elizabeth Bennet has a lot on her plate. She’s applying to medical school and running the studio’s charity project—while hoping her family won’t embarrass her too much. Being Darcy’s on-set personal assistant is infuriating; he’s rude, proud, and difficult. If there’s one thing she dislikes, it’s people who only think about themselves. But then Elizabeth discovers Darcy has been doing a lot of thinking about her.

She might be willing to concede a mutual attraction, but events are conspiring against them and Darcy subject to constant public scrutiny. Can Darcy and Elizabeth have any hope for a happy ending to their Hollywood romance?

What did you receive?

Filed Under: mailbox monday, meme Tagged With: ,

Guest Post & Giveaway: Darcy in Hollywood by Victoria Kincaid

July 2, 2019 by

Let’s give Victoria Kincaid a warm welcome today. She’s been a regular here on the blog, and today we’re sharing a guest post about her latest modern Pride & Prejudice novel, Darcy in Hollywood.

Also, stay tuned for the giveaway below.

About the Book:

Rich and arrogant movie star, William Darcy, was a Hollywood heartthrob until a scandalous incident derailed his career. Now he can only hope that Tom Bennet’s prestigious but low budget indie film will restore his reputation. However, on the first day of filming, he nearly hits Bennet’s daughter, Elizabeth, with his Ferrari, and life will never be the same. Okay, she’s a little sarcastic, but he’s certain she’s concealing a massive crush on him—and it’s growing harder to fight his own attraction….

Elizabeth Bennet has a lot on her plate. She’s applying to medical school and running the studio’s charity project—while hoping her family won’t embarrass her too much. Being Darcy’s on-set personal assistant is infuriating; he’s rude, proud, and difficult. If there’s one thing she dislikes, it’s people who only think about themselves. But then Elizabeth discovers Darcy has been doing a lot of thinking about her.

She might be willing to concede a mutual attraction, but events are conspiring against them and Darcy subject to constant public scrutiny. Can Darcy and Elizabeth have any hope for a happy ending to their Hollywood romance?

Doesn’t this sound intriguing? I can’t wait to read it, especially since Darcy starts off trying to repair his own reputation.

Here’s today’s guest post:

Hi Serena! Thank you for having me as a guest today!

When writing a modern Pride and Prejudice variation, part of the challenge (and the fun) is finding contemporary roles for the Jane Austen characters we know and love. For Darcy in Hollywood, Mr. Bennet became a movie producer who usually makes B movies. This time he’s making a high-quality indie film which will feature a big Hollywood star, William Darcy, who is trying to rehabilitate his career after a scandal. Caroline and Charlie Bingley are co-stars in movie while Elizabeth is a production assistant behind the scenes.

Below is a scene from near the beginning of the book. The cast has just finished reading through the screenplay of the film they’re about to shoot, and Darcy is eager to escape the room. He’s already had a bad day after nearly hitting Elizabeth with his car on the streets of the studio.

Chitchat was simply intolerable. He’d had to endure it when he was new to Hollywood, but now it was better left for people with time to burn and careers to build. Darcy could tell people what he wanted them to do. Small talk was pointless.

Unfortunately, he got trapped by Tom Bennet, listening to the man drone on about the problems he’d encountered with special effects for War of the Worms.

“Worm genitalia aren’t easy to work with. I bet you didn’t even know they have genitals. Well, let me tell you—”

Someone grabbed Darcy by the elbow; he didn’t resist. Charlie made an apologetic face at Tom. “I’m sorry, I need Will for a minute.”

His friend drew him out of the conference room and into the empty corridor. “This better take more than a minute,” Darcy threatened his friend, “or I will tell your sister what really happened with the EZ Bake Oven and the stapler when you were eight.”

Charlie gasped. “You wouldn’t!”

“As long as you don’t make me go back in there and talk about worm genitalia.” Darcy shook his head in disgust. “Sometimes I can’t believe this is my life.”

He stared disconsolately at the scarred surface of the yellowing hallway. If he’d stayed with the French Resistance movie, he could have been filming in the glorious, state-of-the-art Perspective Pictures studio instead of crammed into Worldwide’s lot—the best that Tom and the
other producers could afford to rent.

“Dude, this is a lot of negative energy. We should go somewhere to lighten the mood.”

Charlie snapped his fingers as if a thought had just occurred to him; Darcy wasn’t fooled. “I know! Peter Moore has a nightclub opening tonight. He’d freak if I brought you.” Darcy’s presence at a new nightclub would give it terrific publicity and draw crowds, while being
Darcy’s wingman would give Charlie the pick of the best booze and the hottest women.

“I don’t know.” Darcy didn’t actually enjoy the club scene all that much. “Josh wants me to stay out of the spotlight.”

“C’mon!” Charlie leaned forward so he could whisper in Darcy’s ear. “There will be Victoria’s Secret models.”

All the attention from women had been heady and exciting when Darcy first achieved superstar status. It was easy to believe you were hot stuff when women were falling at your feet, although he hadn’t taken advantage of what was offered nearly as often as everyone believed.
But he’d soon grown weary of the hot-and-cold running women and everything else that came with that scene. He’d tried longer-term relationships, but it hadn’t been much better. Everyone just wanted the glamour and the proximity to fame. They didn’t know Darcy or want to know him.

Nobody had even caught his eye for the longest time. God, that was a depressing thought; he was too young to be that jaded.

Nobody…except Elizabeth Bennet.

Huh.

She did have intriguing eyes. And she hadn’t fallen at his feet—well, tripping didn’t count.

But she was…difficult and sarcastic. Who wanted that? And he couldn’t imagine walking into a film premiere with her on his arm. No, it was just an idle thought.

“C’mon!” Charlie’s shoulder bumped Darcy’s. “You’re too young to stay home at night.”

What else would he do with himself tonight? Play a video game? Nap? Sit alone with his thoughts? Darcy shuddered. “I’ll think about it. Text me the info.”

“You’re slowing down, man,” Charlie said as his thumbs flew over his phone. “Should we get you a prescription for Viagra?” Darcy didn’t rise to the bait, a bit bored with the teasing.

But Charlie wasn’t finished. As a group of chattering actors pushed their way through the conference room door, he pulled Darcy further down the corridor and lowered his voice. “What do you think of the prospects for hooking up?”

It took Darcy a moment to realize his friend was wondering about the women in the cast.

Charlie managed to get involved with at least one woman on every film. He picked them up and dropped them with alarming regularity, and managed it all with such charm that somehow they were never angry at him. Darcy had no idea how he did it.

“I’ll just be happy if I can steer clear of Caroline,” Darcy muttered. Charlie laughed; his sister’s interest in Darcy was a long-running joke. “Who do you have your eye on?”

Charlie discreetly tilted his head toward a group of departing cast members that included Jane Bennet. “Do you think Tom would mind if I made a move on his daughter?”

Darcy snorted. “I don’t think Tom would notice.”

Charlie rubbed his hands together. “I am on it!” He watched Jane disappear around a corner and then turned to Darcy. “What about you? Identified any hot prospects?”

“What am I? A talent scout?” Darcy joked.

Charlie shrugged. “Aren’t we all?”

A couple of years ago, Darcy would have been scanning the conference room for women who might be interested in a night of fun, but today he hadn’t even considered it. “No. I’m keeping it loose on this set. No hooking up with costars.”

“Man, you are always so serious!”

Darcy stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I’m supposed to be rehabilitating my image. I’m not going to ruin it by being a horndog on set.”

“You know that attitude will not keep the chicks away, don’t you?”

Darcy gave his friend a sly smile. “Nothing I can do about that. It’s my natural alpha dog magnetism.”

“Nah, that’s not it. It’s the brooding thing you’ve got going on.”

Darcy’s eyebrows lifted. “Brooding thing? I wasn’t aware I did a brooding thing.”

Charlie waved a hand impatiently. “Oh, c’mon! You were doing it during the table read—all profound and brooding.”

“I was just sitting there.”

“No, definitely brooding, even if it was unintentional. Which is totally unfair.”

“Why?”

“I can’t brood.”

“Sure you can. Anyone can brood if they try hard enough.” Darcy reflected that this had turned into a bizarre conversation.

“Nah. It’s the face. I look like the guy who skateboards all day. Or who only drinks and smokes weed.” That was not an inaccurate description of Charlie’s lifestyle. “With this face, I’m perpetually stuck in ‘mellow boy-next-door’ mode. And next-door boys don’t brood.”

“That’s deep, man. You should put it on a bumper sticker.”

Charlie punched Darcy’s arm. “Asshole! I’m unburdening the deep existential dilemmas of my life, and you’re mocking me. Now you owe me! You owe it to me to come to the club tonight and help me round up some chicks.”

GIVEAWAY:

Leave a comment below and let us know what you think will happen in Darcy in Hollywood.

Up for grabs is 1 ebook of Darcy in Hollywood.

Deadline to enter is July 8, 2019 at 11:59 p.m. EST.

Good Luck!

Filed Under: giveaway, guest post Tagged With: ,

Mailbox Monday #538

July 1, 2019 by

Mailbox Monday has become a tradition in the blogging world, and many of us thank Marcia of The Printed Page for creating it.

It now has it’s own blog where book bloggers can link up their own mailbox posts and share which books they bought or which they received for review from publishers, authors, and more.

Leslie, Martha, and I also will share our picks from everyone’s links in the new feature Books that Caught Our Eye. We hope you’ll join us.

Here’s what I received:

Would you believe an empty mailbox?! I am relieved, honestly.

What did you receive in your mailbox?

Filed Under: mailbox monday, meme