Showing posts with label Chick-lit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chick-lit. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 07, 2014

Best Lines From The Dr Pepper Prophecies

Today I'm pleased to have Jennifer Gilby Roberts as Wednesday's Guest. She is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the release of her novel, The Dr Pepper Prophecies, and there are all kinds of fun and prizes to be had. I reviewed the book last October, and I am happy to help her celebrate the anniversary. I thought it was a novel idea - pardon the pun - to celebrate the release date of a book, so I was glad to be invited to the party. No party would be complete without refreshments, so let's all grab a Dr. Pepper and visit with Jennifer.


If you don't want to drink a Dr Pepper, you can have a piece of Dr Pepper cake instead. Or both. (smile)
Image Courtesy of Amy Johnson at her blog She Wears Many Hats where you can find a recipe for the cake.
Hi, Maryann, and thanks for the lovely review you did for my book, and how nice of you to serve us all some Dr Pepper and that amazing cake. 

When I wrote The Dr Pepper Prophecies, what I wanted most was to make people laugh. You can’t always manage that, because everyone has a slightly different sense of humour.  But many reviewers have commented that particularly scenes and lines in the book made them smile and sometimes howl with laughter. So, I think I achieved my goal. 

When Maryann reviewed it, she said, “I wanted to highlight the many funny moments and cute phrasing that made me smile.  Had I done so, I would have highlighted half of the book.”  Even in the more serious bits, some lines have managed to strike a chord with readers.  I’d like to share some of the best lines from the book:

The one most highlighted by readers:
“Chocolate is God’s way of saying sorry to women for giving them men.”
 
The one that captures the essence of the quarter-life crisis:
“I don’t know what I want,' I say despondently.  'I only know that I don’t have it.”

The one that reveals the problem with the chick flick fantasy:
“Sometimes I think how much nicer it would be if my life were a movie.  Although, I’d prefer it to last longer than two hours.”
 
The one about the difficulties of explaining where babies come from:
“A thought occurs to me. ‘I don’t suppose your mother went in for safe sex lectures, did she?’ I ask. I remember my mother trying to explain it to me.  The memory continues to surface no matter how hard I try to suppress it.  She began by explaining that babies start as seeds and every woman had a special place inside her to plant them in – sort of like a grow bag.  It went downhill from there.”

The one that one reviewer felt was deeply philosophical:
“There are too many hills in my life.”

The one Maryann liked the best:
“I've slipped into denial now.  I've always liked denial.  The sky is always blue and there's never a queue at the post office.”

If you’ve already read The Dr Pepper Prophecies, do you have a favourite line?  If you haven’t, read on for a giveaway!
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To celebrate The Dr Pepper Prophecies’ one-year anniversary since publication, Jennifer Gilby Roberts is giving away one paperback and five ebook copies!  Enter on Rafflecopter.  You can also find out about her other great celebration offers, giveaways, and extras on her blog.
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About the Book

25-year-old Mel Parker has a few tiny problems:
·    Her job is terrible
·    She's been dumped yet again
·    Her ex is now her boss
·    Her parents think she's a loser compared to her perfect younger sister
·    All her efforts to improve her life seem doomed to failure
·    Her best friend, Will, is in grave danger of being stolen away by his evil girlfriend
·    There just isn’t enough chocolate in the world to make up for the above.
So what do you do when you've pretty much given up on your own life? Help others, of course!

After all, what's the worst that can happen?
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Buy for Kindle or in paperback on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and other Amazon sites.  The paperback is also available from Barnes & Noble.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Book Review: A New Lu by Laura Castoro

This is a review I did for this book when it first came out in 2005, but the book is still available so I thought I would give it a plug. In preparing two week's worth of blogs in advance before leaving on my vacation, I did not have time to write another review.  I'm scrambling folks. LOL

A New Lu
Laura Castoro 
Publisher: Red Dress Ink (March 1, 2005)  
ISBN-10: 0373895143

Written with wit and wisdom, "A New Lu" makes a grand entrance into the Chick Lit genre with a cast of delightful, well-developed characters and laugh out loud humor and is a delight to read. Shortly before her fiftieth birthday Lu thinks the only difficulty in her life will be adjusting to being divorced, she never dreams she will have to do that while carrying an 'oops' child.

Lu's new boss at "Five-O" magazine has just suggested that Lu do a complete makeover and chronicle it in her monthly column to show readers that you don't have to look fifty even if you are. Lu can't believe it. The vision at "Five-O" has always been about accepting the aging process. She reminds her boss of what Gloria Steinem once said, "This is what fifty looks like."

The insight that the reader gets about this acceptance of who and what we are is an added bonus to a great story populated with delightful characters.

Lu's new boss at "Five-O" magazine has just suggested that Lu do a complete makeover and chronicle it in her monthly column to show readers that you don't have to look fifty even if you are. Lu can't believe it. The vision at "Five-O" has always been about accepting the aging process. She reminds her boss of what Gloria Steinem once said, "This is what fifty looks like."

The insight that the reader gets about this acceptance of who and what we are is an added bonus to a great story. When Lu decides to have the baby, her soon-to-be-married daughter is horrified. What will people think? Her ex-husband can't even say the word 'baby.' The pregnancy news is met with disbelief at work until the boss gets a new idea. Lu can chronicle her late-life pregnancy for the readers of "Five-O." "I want all the juicy details. Every awful twitch. You're prepared to do that?"

Because she needs her job so desperately, Lu agrees.

As the baby grows within her, Lu also grows and changes and realizes many things about herself, past relationships and new relationships. She also makes what appears to be bizarre choices, but as Lu puts it "...if you want rational, don't go to a pregnant woman."

For readers who have enjoyed "Loose Screws" by Karen Templeton and "Inappropriate Men" by Stacey Ballis, "A New Lu" should join those novels on their bookshelves.

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FTC disclaimer: In all fairness, I must say that Laura is a good friend of mine. She is as much mentor as friend and that may influence what I think of her work. However, I don't read and review everything she writes. Just what I truly enjoy and consider the best of what she can do. Not that her other books are less-than. But as with any writer, some work stands above others, and Laura's women's fiction does stand tall.