Lucie Simone

The past couple of weeks have been tough for fans of some TV shows like my favorites, The Good Wife and The Mindy Project. And fair warning, if you aren’t caught up on the shows yet, stop reading right here. Spoilers ahead!

First came the shocking blow to The Good Wife when Will Gardner and Alicia Florrick’s strained relationship came to a sudden and tragic ending with Will’s very untimely death. I, for one, never saw that coming and was absolutely stunned! I sobbed in utter disbelief for a full fifteen minutes after the episode concluded, and I still can’t quite imagine how the show will go on. But I’m hoping that the writers can continue to keep me glued to Alicia’s story, because it really is all about her life as the scandalized wife of a philandering politician, which is more than just her relationship with Will. Although, I will admit that I have been rooting for them to find a way back to each other. Of course, that is usually the “kiss of death” for a TV show, marking the beginning of slow spiral into boredom. With that lack of conflict, sometimes the rest of the storyline can’t sustain interest for long. However, the team behind The Good Wife are so very talented that I think they could have pulled it off. So I’m hoping they can also recover from the loss of Josh Charles, the actor whose decision to leave the show led to Will’s death. I’m going to hang in there for now, and hopefully, I won’t be disappointed!

Second was the incredibly annoying break up between Mindy and Danny on The Mindy Project after months of will they/won’t they moments that teased and tantalized viewers incessantly. And as irritated as I was at Danny’s behavior, I could, sadly, relate to Mindy’s experience. I was in just such a situation a few years ago when a friend I’d known for ten years told me he was in love with me. It blew my mind as I had absolutely no idea he even thought I was remotely girlfriend material. It took me a little time to adjust, but then I decided to go for it. We dated for six weeks, after which (on February 15^th no less), he told me he couldn’t handle being in a relationship. I wanted to strangle him! And watching Danny break Mindy’s heart made me want to punch him straight in the face. I went from thinking he was an adorable curmudgeon to a complete dick in a single instant. But while lamenting about it with an equally obsessed co-worker, she suggested that perhaps they were setting up a storyline for Mindy and Peter to get together. And, of course, she reminded me of the “kiss of death” that keeping Mindy and Danny together could be. So, again, I’m putting my faith in the show’s brilliant writers to keep me glued to Mindy’s travails. 

I know many fans of How I Met Your Mother were very disappointed in the series finale. I didn’t watch that show, so I can’t commiserate there. And of course, Downton Abbey viewers were livid with Matthew’s departure the season prior. What other TV break ups (or hook ups) have had you in shouting matches with your TV lately?

Ciao!
Lucie

I know many fans of How I Met Your Mother were very disappointed in the series finale. I didn’t watch that show, so I can’t commiserate there. And of course, Downton Abbey viewers were livid with Matthew’s departure the season prior. What other TV break ups (or hook ups) have had you in shouting matches with your TV lately?

Ciao!
Lucie


One Fifth Avenue

One Fifth Avenue, the Art Deco beauty towering over one of Manhattan’s oldest and most historically hip neighborhoods, is a one-of-a-kind address, the sort of building you have to earn your way into–one way or another. For the women in Candace Bushnell’s new novel, One Fifth Avenue, this edifice is essential to the lives they’ve carefully established–or hope to establish. From the hedge fund king’s wife to the aging gossip columnist to the free-spirited actress (a recent refugee from L.A.), each person’s game plan for a rich life comes together under the soaring roof of this landmark building.

Acutely observed and mercilessly witty, One Fifth Avenue is a modern-day story of old and new money, that same combustible mix that Edith Wharton mastered in her novels about New York’s Gilded Age and F. Scott Fitzgerald illuminated in his Jazz Age tales. Many decades later, Bushnell’s New Yorkers suffer the same passions as those fictional Manhattanites from eras past: They thirst for power, for social prominence, and for marriages that are successful–at least to the public eye. But Bushnell is an original, and One Fifth Avenue is so fresh that it reads as if sexual politics, real estate theft, and fortunes lost in a day have never happened before.

My Thoughts:

This was the first book I’ve read by Candace Bushnell, and it might be my last. I was a huge fan of the Sex and the City series and films, but unfortunately, that love just couldn’t transfer to One Fifth Avenue. At first, I was quite fascinated by the lives of the (mostly) rich tenants of One Fifth, but I quickly fell out of fascination with them once it was pretty clear they were all absolutely miserable people. There were a couple of characters that weren’t completely manipulative and infuriating, but because the story was told in multiple POV, I didn’t get much opportunity to really connect with them. In fact, there were so many points of view, all accompanied by rampant and irritating head-hopping, that I had trouble forming any sort of real interest in their stories. By the time I got to the last five chapters, I just wanted to get to the end and see how things turned out. I even tried skipping through, but the book is filled with so many crazy plot twists, I found that I couldn’t connect the dots that way. So, I trudged through to “the end,” and when I finally got there, I was pretty unsatisfied. While I think this book could have been marvelous had Ms. Bushnell reigned in the POVs to maybe three at maximum and gave her characters some redeeming qualities, I can’t really recommend it. I did enjoy the opportunity to see how the other half (or one percent) live in Manhattan, but I found the petty bickering and overall “mean girl” attitudes of the characters wore on my nerves quickly. And the lack of having someone to really root for left me indifferent to their fates. But I’m sure there are readers out there who will love exploring the gossip-filled, backstabbing lives of the residents of One Fifth. To each her own!

The Paris Wife

A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.

Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.

Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill-prepared for the hard-drinking and fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris, which hardly values traditional notions of family and monogamy. Surrounded by beautiful women and competing egos, Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history, pouring all the richness and intensity of his life with Hadley and their circle of friends into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises. Hadley, meanwhile, strives to hold on to her sense of self as the demands of life with Ernest grow costly and her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Despite their extraordinary bond, they eventually find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.

A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.

My Thoughts:

I was completely enthralled by Paula McLain’s The Paris Wife. It was beautifully written and utterly captivating, not least because we all know how the story ends. The book offered a peek into the life of legendary author Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, which was fascinating for many reasons. First, getting to walk through Hadley Hemingway’s shoes in Paris (which was not nearly as glamorous as you’d think!) was like taking a trip back through time – a time when society, art, literature, and feminism were all being explored, tested, and turned upside down. Second, as someone who has dealt with a family member suffering from mental illness, I could empathize with Hadley’s burden. Of course, Hemingway’s behavior was not explicitly called “mental illness,” but rather an artist’s temperament, which allowed him to abuse and manipulate not only his wife, but his friends, as well. And third, Hadley is the kind of woman you want to see win. There were so many times I wanted to shake her and drag her away from Hemingway before he completely crushed her spirit, but I reminded myself that she lived in a time and a place where women suffered through infidelity and betrayal as if it were simply part of their wifely duties. But my heart broke for her each time Hemingway would disregard her feelings and his vows. My anger toward him and his selfish behavior grew steadily throughout, and if it hadn’t been for Ms. McLain’s powerful storytelling, I don’t think I could have endured it. But I was far too wrapped up in Hadley’s life to abandon her, and thankfully, McLain’s carefully crafted and lavish storytelling kept me hooked to the end…and beyond. Indeed, it is a story that continues to linger in my thoughts. A must read for fans of women’s fiction and historical fiction.

Bangkok Transit

Bangkok: a sizzling, all-embracing, exotic city where the past and the present intertwine. It’s a place where anything can happen… and anything really does happen. The paths of seven people cross in this metropolis. Seven seekers, for whom this city might be a final destination. Or perhaps it is only the start of a new journey? A successful businessman; a celebrated supermodel; a man who is forever the outsider; a young mother who suddenly loses everything; a talented surgeon, who could not give the woman he loved all that she desired; a brothel’s madam; and a charming young woman adopted at birth. Why these seven? Why did they come to Bangkok now, at the same time? Do chance encounters truly exist?

My Thoughts:

The premise of Bangkok Transit by Eva Fejos was very intriguing, and I am grateful for the chance to read it. It gives readers a peek into the lives of seven different people who come to Bangkok for very different reasons, but each one looking for something or someone to fill an ache in his or her heart. The book is translated into English from Hungarian, and for the most part, the writing was smooth and didn’t feel as if it wasn’t the original language. The author draws several different sketches of life in Bangkok, which mostly made me never want to visit. Getting a glimpse into the lives of the characters and their reasons for escaping to the Thai city was fascinating and even a little haunting. However, because there were so many characters populating so many storylines, I didn’t feel the kind of connection I was hoping for. I was especially interested in one story which was told in two parts: the past and the present. Had the book focused more on that character’s journey, I think I would have loved it. But since each character had so little time on the page, their lives all felt a little shallow, a little under-developed. Actually, I think if this were a film, it would work really well. But when it comes to reading, I really want to get into the characters’ minds, walk in their shoes, feel their pain and their joy. But unfortunately, that didn’t really happen for me here. However, it definitely had a mysterious feel to it that made it hard to put down. So, if you enjoy peeping into the lives of strangers in a strange land, then this book might be for you.

Today I’m thrilled to have author Elisa Lorello on the blog, and I think you’ll love this piece on the secrets to great storytelling! Welcome, Elisa!

An Author Spills Some Secrets by Elisa Lorello

To a love relationship, they’re jagged pieces of Kryptonite. To the writer, they’re nuggets of gold.

A good story thrives on conflict, and secrets both instigate and perpetuate conflict. Whether the protagonist is keeping them or spilling them, finding them or hiding them, secrets keep the pages turning, regardless of the novel’s genre.

The key, of course, is timing—does the story call for the secret to be revealed at the very beginning? The middle? The end? Does one character tell another, or does one character go snooping around to find out? Is the secret revealed piece by piece, or dropped like a bomb? In the sandbox of secrets, the author gets to play.

When I’m writing, my entire work-in-progress is a secret to the reading world. I refuse to reveal even a working title, much less a snippet of dialogue or a teaser of a paragraph, until I’m certain the work will be published (and even then I am stingy with my information). In fact, I’m so secretive even my mother doesn’t know what I’m working on! For me, revealing specifics about a work-in-progress is not unlike constantly opening the oven door while the cookies are baking—keep doing it and they’ll take forever to finish (if you don’t just give up on them altogether and settle for pop tarts instead). It also makes the reader more eager to read the book when (if?) it’s finally published. I am, admittedly, a cruel tease to my readers. (My worst kept secret, of course, is that I’m afraid of letting my readers down. Sometimes this fear is increased by the work-in-progress secrecy; other times it’s assuaged.)

This way of writing also preserves the secrets that constantly poke my characters. My favorite kind of secret is one that a character reveals that even I didn’t see coming. If I’ve just had that Bam! moment, then hopefully my readers will too. Sometimes the readers are clued in on the secret way before the character/s is/are (intentionally; it’s no fun if the reader predicts the outcome on the first page). Other times the readers are in the dark; thus, they get to share in the characters’ frustrations, curiosity, or intrigue, not to mention their surprise, outrage, or delight upon the revelation. (And of course, the juicier the secret, the better!)

Those familiar with Andi and David’s history know they’ve had their share of secrets over the years. In She Has Your Eyes, one surprise becomes the needle that threads a string of secrets between them. You’d think they’d learned their lesson by now. But what has always made Andi and David compelling characters for me is their struggle. Without it, they’d have nothing to learn, and nothing to teach. I care so deeply about them because they evolve as a result of their mistakes.

Sometimes the secret isn’t a withholding of information, but a hiding of feelings. As Andi contemplates whether some secrets are better off kept, David seemingly denies they even exist. The question is, will those secrets unravel the love they worked so hard to weave?

Add She Has Your Eyes to your Goodreads shelf! Follow along with the She Has Your Eyes Tour via Fictionella! Connect with Elisa Lorello at elisalorello.com!

Andi and David have settled happily into Andi’s Northampton home, but David wants more. He wants them to get married. Their discussion is put on hold when Wylie, a fifteen-year-old girl, shows up in their backyard, bearing news that takes David’s mind off the future and sends it spiraling into the past. Reeling from David’s news, Andi receives a startling announcement of her own, one that leads to a relationship with her estranged mother. As Andi and her mother get closer and Wylie weaves her way into their lives, Andi finds solace in an old comfort: her ex-fiancé. With the past threatening to eclipse their future, the timing for a wedding is all wrong. But if Andi knows anything about timing, it’s that there’s no time to waste.

Elisa Lorello was born and raised on Long Island, the youngest of seven children. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and eventually launched a career teaching rhetoric and composition. Elisa spent six years in North Carolina, where she split her time between teaching writing to university students and publishing her own work. She has since returned home to the Northeast. Elisa is the author of Kindle bestselling novels Faking It and Ordinary World, Why I Love Singlehood (co-authored with Sarah Girrell), and Adulation. Faking It, translated in German as Vorgetäuscht, also spent three consecutive weeks at #1 on the German Kindle Bestseller List. When not writing, Elisa is an unapologetic Duran Duran fan, Pop-Tart enthusiast, walker, and coffee shop patron, and she can sing two-part harmony.

The past few weeks have been super busy in my world, but I found time to fit in three great reads. And without further ado, my reviews!

I’ve Got Your Number

Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier. She is about to marry her ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her “happily ever after” begins to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring in a hotel fire drill but in the panic that follows, her phone is stolen. As she paces shakily around the lobby, she spots an abandoned phone in a trash can. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring. Perfect!

Well, perfect except that the phone’s owner, businessman Sam Roxton, doesn’t agree. He wants his phone back and doesn’t appreciate Poppy reading his messages and wading into his personal life.

What ensues is a hilarious and unpredictable turn of events as Poppy and Sam increasingly upend each other’s lives through emails and text messages. As Poppy juggles wedding preparations, mysterious phone calls, and hiding her left hand from Magnus and his parents . . . she soon realizes that she is in for the biggest surprise of her life.

My Thoughts:

It took me a good while to get to reading this one from Sophie Kinsella because I was rather stubbornly avoiding the big bestselling Chick Lit authors in favor of supporting my fellow indie writers. But I’m so glad this one finally made it to the top of my queue! Kinsella is a master at making the predictable, pleasurable. We all know from the start how this book will end, but Kinsella masterfully weaves a story full of surprises and angst and twists and turns so that by the end you are practically begging for that predictable ending to come true. Full of humor, mix ups, and mishaps, this book is a pure joy to read from beginning to end. Quirky characters abound, but I especially adored the relationship between the two main characters as they spar against each other while at the same time slipping into an ease and comfort that only true friendship can bear. But lets not forget the many laugh out loud moments that pepper the story. I found myself smiling throughout the book while I was cheering on our heroine as she continually struggled against the many challenges that befell her. But most of all, I just fell in love with her. And you will too! So, if this tale has been lingering at the bottom of your TBR list, move it to the top and pronto!

Mad About the Boy

Bridget Jones is back!

Great comic writers are as rare as hen’s teeth. And Helen is one of a very select band who have created a character of whom the very thought makes you smile. Bridget Jones’ Diary, charting the life of a 30-something singleton in London in the 1990s was a huge international bestseller, published in 40 countries and selling over 15 million copies worldwide. Its sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, published soon after was also a major international bestseller. Both were made into films starring Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth.

Set in the present, the new novel will explore a different phase in Bridget’s life with an entirely new scenario. As Helen Fielding has said: “If people laugh as much reading it as I am while writing it then we’ll all be very happy.”

My Thoughts:

It has been quite some time since the literary world enjoyed the particularly hilarious antics of one Miss Bridget Jones. And frankly, I think Ms. Fielding fast forwarded time about a decade because I simply could not believe that Bridget was 51! I mean, how can she possibly be older than me? And we all know the backlash she received when news hit that Mark Darcy was dead and Bridget was a widow. This didn’t bother me, though. I think it presented a wonderful opportunity for Bridget to grow and develop as a character. And it was handled well as Fielding explored the loss and its affect on Bridget and her children. However, what I felt was missing were the friendships that Bridget always fell back on to keep her spirits high in the first book. But, for the most part, those were missing from The Edge of Reason, too. However, I felt with Bridget’s widowhood, it would have been the perfect time to bring back the team of kooky characters to whisk her off for fabulous mini-breaks and fun nights out drinking too much and inciting minor riots. I guess what I’m saying is that I missed the old life Bridget led, and perhaps that has more to do with me than with the author’s choices. After all, I am still a single girl living the Hollywood life with my girlfriends and my guy friends as I search for my Mr. Darcy. All in all, however, this was a terrific read and I highly recommend it to Bridget fans and to those few who haven’t read the first 2 books. Bridget is still a girl, er woman, we can cheer and commiserate with. And I, for one, will always hold a place in my heart for the hapless heroine who first introduced me to Chick Lit and changed my life forever.

Crazy Rich Asians

Crazy Rich Asians is the outrageously funny debut novel about three super-rich, pedigreed Chinese families and the gossip, backbiting, and scheming that occurs when the heir to one of the most massive fortunes in Asia brings home his ABC (American-born Chinese) girlfriend to the wedding of the season.

When Rachel Chu agrees to spend the summer in Singapore with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young, she envisions a humble family home, long drives to explore the island, and quality time with the man she might one day marry. What she doesn’t know is that Nick’s family home happens to look like a palace, that she’ll ride in more private planes than cars, and that with one of Asia’s most eligible bachelors on her arm, Rachel might as well have a target on her back. Initiated into a world of dynastic splendor beyond imagination, Rachel meets Astrid, the It Girl of Singapore society; Eddie, whose family practically lives in the pages of the Hong Kong socialite magazines; and Eleanor, Nick’s formidable mother, a woman who has very strong feelings about who her son should–and should not–marry.

Uproarious, addictive, and filled with jaw-dropping opulence, Crazy Rich Asians is an insider’s look at the Asian JetSet; a perfect depiction of the clash between old money and new money; between Overseas Chinese and Mainland Chinese; and a fabulous novel about what it means to be young, in love, and gloriously, crazily rich.

My Thoughts:

This was one of those books that I’d heard so much about that I simply had to read it. And it was, in fact, full of crazy, rich Asians. Thankfully, though, there were also a couple of down-to-earth people leading the action to keep my heart and my head fully engaged in the story. However, the cast of characters was vast, and I had trouble keeping many of them straight. There was also rampant “head-hopping” throughout the book, which often kept me from connecting as closely and deeply with the main characters as I would have liked to. But on the whole, it was an incredibly entertaining book with outrageous people with an equally outrageous amount of money. It offered a glimpse into a world that I probably wouldn’t much enjoy, despite my passion for fashion and all things that sparkle. In a world where haute couture, private jets, and massive real estate holdings is de rigueur, the lack of compassion and empathy for the rest of society left a sour feeling in my stomach – much like it did with Rachel, one of the main characters. Frankly, if not for her and her boyfriend, Nick, along with his cousin, Astrid, I would not have been able to endure the hedonistic, mean girl attitudes that permeated the story. There were times that I empathized with Rachel so much as she struggled to fit into Nick’s world that I truly felt the suffocating pressure and bullying as much as she did. And I can only imagine that had some of the cast been omitted or the head-hopping eliminated, I would have enjoyed it that much more. On the other hand, I think if this were a film, I would be raving about it. It was filled with gorgeous descriptions of amazing places, fashions, and events that it would make for a fabulous cinematic feast along the lines of Baz Luhrmann’s recent The Great Gatsby. So, if someone does decide to adapt this for the big screen, I will be there on opening night!

Today I welcome Hungarian author and publisher Eva Fejos to the blog. My good friend Nancy at Fictionella introduced her book, Bangkok Transit, to me and I was immediately intrigued. I’ve only just started reading it, but you can look forward to a review in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, Eva shares with us her experience as a Hungarian author and publisher. (And btw, isn’t she gorgeous?!)

I Am Living My Dreams by Eva Fejos