New Additions To The TBR Pile In September

Quite proud of myself this month that my new additions didn't exceed the number read. :o)


The Pre-Nup by Beth Kendrick

Description: Something borrowed, something blue, something to sign before they say "I do"...

All you need is love? For the residents of swanky Mayfair Estates, a pre-nup is just another item on the wedding to-do checklist --- but three friends get more than they bargained for when they promise to love, cherish ... and sign on the dotted line.

Ellie married her handsome, wealthy Prince Charming when she was young, naive, and willing to sign a one-sided pre-nup in the name of true love. But seven years and one toddler later, her happily-ever-after has come screeching to a halt. If she can't save her marriage, she's determined to save her divorce.

When Jen married Eric, he knew she wasn't head over heels. Still, he insisted that they were perfect together and even bankrolled her blossoming business. But when Jen's career finally takes off, she soon sees that she may lose the husband she loves more than she realized --- and everything else she's worked for.

Up-and-coming attorney Mara is sure her fiance has foriven her for a foolish one-night fling ---until he adds a "cheating clause" to the pre-nup she had demanded. If he really trusts her, why the clause? And if she's really trustworthy, why is she objecting?

As romance collides with real life, three very different women turn to each other for moral support and insights about how to safeguard their most valuable assets: their hearts.



My Three Husbands by Swan Adamson

Description: As wry and witty as a night of cosmopolitans with your best girlfriend, Swan Adamson's debut novel introduces an unforgettable heroine in Venus Gilroy--a woman whose heart is in the right place even if her shoes, her past, and her taste in men are all wrong.

FOR VENUS GILROY, MARRIAGE ISN'T A STATE...

Twenty-five year old Venus Gilroy is hardly the traditional blushing bride. With two starter marriages behind her, several tattoos, hair the color of sherbert, and a job at an adult video store called Phantastic Phantasy, she's a wedding planner's nightmare. It doesn't help that her fiance, Tremaynne, is a penniless "alternative media star" whose claim to fame is three months in a tree as an environmental activist. . .or that her eccentric mother is deep into clown therapy. . .or that her two fathers--her dad and his lover, her "faux pa"--have offered to pay for a luxurious honeymoon at the exclusive Pine Mountain Lodge. There's only one little catch: the dads want to come along. ...

IT'S AN INSTITUTION.

Now, in the wilds of Idaho, where the country's hottest new spa is surrounded by disgruntled locals, wacky paramilitary troups, and eco-warriors, the honeymoon from hell is just beginning. Venus is mistaken for an erotic Icelandic rock star. Tremaynne is up to something mysterious and probably highly illegal. Her Armani-clad dads are determined to transform their punk princess little girl into a card-carrying. Jackie O Club woman. And a gorgeous Italian prince would give anything for one night alone with Venus. As her idyllic escape morphs into a retreat from anything resembling sanity, it's time for Venus to take a stand and confront her biggest fear of all. . .growing up. . .




All Eyes On Her by Poonam Sharma

Description: Revenge is sweet, but sabotage is more entertaining

In this town, nice gets you nowhere...

As a junior associate at the most-sought-after marital mediation and divorce boutique in Beverly Hills, Monica is part mediator, part lawyer, part marriage therapist and all celebrity babysitter. She's so good at her job that she's handling the firm's superstar clients Cameron and Lydia Johnson -- Hollywood It couple -- Camydia. Although things would be easier if the only other female associate would stop sabotaging her career, and if the drama queen she refers to as mother wasn't moving back home!

When the latest Camydia scandal breaks wide open, it's time for Monica to save the day, to don her Prada cape and matching bag, then wreak havoc on her office rival and run circles around the paparazzi.

Everyone's watching to see what Monica will do;... hey, are those claws on that French manicure?

Girls' Night In by Jennifer Weiner, Sophie Kinsella, et al

Girls' Night In by Jennifer Weiner, Sophie Kinsella, et al

My Rating: 10 *'s

Book Description: 21 TALES FROM TODAY's HOTTEST FEMALE WRITERS

In this must-have short-story collection, Jennifer Weiner revisits one of her GOOD IN BED characters (and tells the story from, ahem, HIS point of view), Jill A Davis (GIRLS' POKER NIGHT) offers a darkly humerous take on starting over in New York and working with "the Elizabeths," and Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez (THE DIRTY GIRLS SOCIAL CLUB) muses on how different the words LADY and WOMAN are when paired with CAT.

GIRLS' NIGHT IN features stories about growing up, growing out of, moving out, moving on, falling apart and getting it all together. So turn off your cell phone and curl up on the couch: this is one GIRLS' NIGHT IN you won't want to miss.

* Jennifer Weiner * Sophie Kinsella * Meg Cabot * Jessica Adams * Louise Bagshawe * Emily Barr * Jenny Colgan * Lynda Curnyn * Jill A Davis * Stella Duffy * Lauren Henderson * Lisa Jewell * Marian Keyes * Adele Lang * Chris Manby * Carole Matthews * Anna Maxted * Megan McCafferty * Sarah Mlynowski * Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez * Isabel Wolff

* Edited by Lauren Henderson, Chris Manby and Sarah Mlynowski

Net proceeds to benefit War Child.

My Thoughts: Really enjoyed this collection of short stories from some of the best chick-lit authors on the market. I normally don't like anthologies but found this one to be very entertaining. I'm looking forward to reading the follow-up, GIRL'S NIGHT OUT.

One Silent Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon

One Silent Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon

My Rating: 10 *'s

Description: In the world of the Dark-Hunters, all hell's breaking loose...

Stryker has sent word and is gathering his forces.

While the world carries on unawares, Stryker, who leads an army of demons and vampires, is plotting an all out onslaught against his enemies-which, unfortunately for us, includes the entire human race.

To avenge his sister, Stryker prepares to annihilate the Dark-Hunters. But things go awry when his oldest enemy returns. Enter his ex-wife. Zephyra. Just when he thought nothing could stop him, he's now embroiled in a centuries old war with a shrew who gives new meaning to pain.

My Thoughts: The first surprise of this book was that I could actually feel any empathy whatsoever for Stryker, whom I have felt had no redeeming qualities at all. Throughout this entire series, Stryker has been a royal pain in my reading pleasure and I'm sure all of the Dark-Hunters would agree.

Readers are given a front row seat into the life of Stryker and the woman he loved and eventually betrayed. Though I cannot approve of what Stryker and his Daimons do, I now have a better understanding of what compels them.

It was good to see Nick again and learning more about his origins was quite alot to take in so I'm definitely looking forward to reading his story and I'm still hopeful that he and Ash can make peace. Some new characters that I would like to see in upcoming books as well as some of the recurring ones I still enjoy.

All in all, a great story full of the stuff that the fans of Dark-Hunters love and have come to expect. All that is left is wanting more.

Memory In Death by J.D. Robb

Memory In Death by J.D. Robb

Rating: 10 *'s

Description: The bestselling author of SURVIVOR IN DEATH has Lieutenant Eve Dallas walking a tightrope between her professional duties and her private demons.

Eve Dallas is one tough cop. She's got no problem dealing with a holiday reveler in a red suit who plunges thirty-seven stories and gives new meaning to the term "sidewalk Santa." But when she gets back to the station and Trudy Lombard shows up, it's all Eve can do to hold it together. Instantly, she's thrown back into the past, to the days when she was a vulnerable, traumatized girl -- trapped in foster care with the twisted woman who now sits in front of her, smiling.

Trudy claims she just wanted to see how Eve was doing. But Eve's husband, Roarke, suspects otherwise -- and his suspicions prove correct when Trudy arrives at his office, demanding money in exchange for keeping the ugly details of his wife's childhood a secret. Barely restraining himself, Roarke shows her the door -- and makes it clear that she'd be wise to get out of New York and never bother him or his wife again.

But just a few days later, Trudy's found on the floor of her hotel room, a mess of bruises and blood. A cop to the core, Eve is determined to solve the case, if only for the sake of Trudy's bereaved son. Unfortunately, Eve is not the only one to have suffered at this woman's hands, and she and Roarke will follow a circuitous, dangerous path to find out who turned this victimizer into a victim.

My Thoughts: Wow, what an intense installment. This story brings more of Eve's past into the present when she receives an unexpected and unwanted visit from her foster mother, Trudy Lombard. The reunion is anything but joyous and Trudy's intentions are quickly discovered when she attempts to extort $2 million from Roark in exchange for keeping the details of Eve's past out of the media. Naturally, Roark is unwilling to capitulate to her demands and she leaves. Eve and Roark realize they need to pay Trudy a visit to tell her that they will not pay her demands and discover she has been murdered.

Who else hated Trudy Lombard enough to want her dead? Eve's list of suspects grow as she looks into Trudy's past and every child she fostered becomes a suspect, including Trudy's son, Bobby and his wife.

The identity of the killer came as a complete surprise. I love how this series continues to hold my interest.

New Additions To The TBR Pile in August

The Butcher Of Beverly Hills by Jennifer Colt

Description: Two pairs of private eyes are better than one...

WHO IS KILLING THE RICH SOCIETY WIDOWS OF BEVERLY HILLS?

Meet Kerry and Terry McAfee --- identical twin sisters who have nothing in common save their red hair and California-girl looks. Kerry's the good girl, a straight-A student who won a scholarship to UCLA. Terry's the bad girl, whose appetite for nose candy won her a spot in the slammer. When Terry gets out of jail, the twins decide to open their own business as private investigators --- and soon they're keeping L.A. safe with the help of their trusty sidekicks, a Pomeranian name Paquito and a pug named Muffy.

When wealthy socialite Lenore Richling's twentysomething gold-digging boy toy of a husband absconds with ten thousand dollars' worth of her jewelry, she does what anyone in her position would do: she checks herself in for a plastic surgery shopping spree, then calls the McAfee twins for help. While Lenore recuperates from her face-lift in a luxury hotel, the gals hop on their hot-pink Harley-Davidson and begin investigating a bevy of suspicious characters, including Barbie, a bimbo beauty consultant with buns of steel; Daniel Hattrick, a painkiller-pushing plastic surgeon, and Hugh Binion, a silver-haired, snake-tongued Hollywood attorney. Before they know it, the twins are wading in dead husbands, purloined cash, crotchless panties, mystery pills, and a body count high enough to make even tough cookies like them a little squeamish.

With a razor-sharp wit that brilliantly brings to life L.A.'s most eccentric personalities, The Butcher Of Beverly Hills marks the debut of two of the hottest sleuths since Stephanie Plum --- and delivers a fast-paced, highly original take that will keep you guessing until the very end.



Smashed Squashed Splattered Chewed Chunked And Spewed by Lance Carbuncle

Description: Idjit Galoot has a problem. He escaped from his master's house for a brief romp around town, seeking out easy targets such as bitches in heat, fresh roadkill and unguarded garbage cans. When he returns to his house, the aged basset hound discovers that his master has packed up their belongings and moved to Florida without him. "Smashed, Squashed, Splattered, Chewed, Chunked and Spewed" is the story of Idjit Galoot's ne'er do well owner and his efforts to work his way back to the dog that he loves. Along the way, Idjit's owner encounters Christian terrorists, swamp-dwelling taxidermists, carnies, a b-list poopie-groupie, bluesmen on the run from a trickster deity, and the Florida Skunk Ape.


Confessions Of A Pregnant Princess by Swan Adamson

Description: When Marcello Brunelli --- aka II Principe of one of Italy's oldest and most fabulous families --- declared his love to down-on-her-luck, done-with-men Venus Gilroy, she learned a few eyebrow-raising things about love and life. And now she's willing to share...

PORTLAND, OREGON, REALLY IS A LONG WAY FROM ROME.

When a prince invites you to his place, it's not for take-out Chinese and a DVD. No, Marcello flew me home, a sprawling palace where we could be under the same roof and still a mile away from each other. It was a far cry from my ratty apartment and my usual luck with men. Turns out Marcello wanted me to teach him about slacking while he did his suave Italian best to seduce me...

LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH AND ROYAL ARE KIND OF ... BORING.

Prince or not, Marcello was an everyday workaholic. Well, "everyday" in the "jetting off and meeting with other captains of industry" sense. Which left me noddling around the palazzo with his suspicious adult daughter, his more-royal-than-thou mother ---- and Johnny, his hot-and-hunky chauffeur, as my Vespa-driving tour guide.

THERE'S A CHANCE FAIRY TALES JUST MIGHT COE TRUE ANYWAY...

Romance and Rome match up like a little black dress on a blonde, and it didn't take long for me to fall head over high heels for Marcello --- for real. But sometimes even fairy tales can surprise you...





Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger

Description: The bestselling author of The Devil Wears Prada and Everyone Worth Knowing returns with the story of three best friends who vow to change their entire lives...and change them fast.

Emmy is newly single, and not by choice. She was this close to the ring and the baby she's wanted her whole life when her boyfriend left her for his twenty-three-year-old personal trainer -- whose fees are paid by Emmy. With her plans for the perfect white wedding in the trash, Emmy is now ordering takeout for one. Her friends insist an around-the-world sex-fueled adventure will solve all her problems -- could they be right?

Leigh, a young star in the publishing business, is within striking distance of landing her dream job as senior editor and marrying her dream guy. And to top it all off, she has just purchased her dream apartment. Only when Leigh begins to edit the enfant terrible of the literary world, the brilliant and brooding Jesse Chapman, does she start to notice some cracks in her perfect life...

Adriana is the drop-dead-gorgeous daughter of a famous supermodel. She possesses the kind of feminine wiles made only in Brazil, and she never hesitates to use them. But she's about to turn thirty and -- as her mother keeps reminding her -- she won't have her pick of the men forever. Everyone knows beauty is ephemeral and there's always someone younger and prettier right around the corner. Suddenly she's wondering...does Mother know best?

These three very different girls have been best friends for a decade in the greatest city on earth. As they near thirty, they're looking toward their future...but despite all they've earned -- first-class travel, career promotions, invites to all the right parties, and luxuries small and large -- they're not quite sure they like what they see...

One Saturday night at the Waverly Inn, Adriana and Emmy make a pact: within a single year, each will drastically change her life. Leigh watches from the sidelines, not making any promises, but she'll soon discover she has the most to lose. Their friendship is forever, but everything else is on the table. Three best friends. Two resolutions. One year to pull it off.




Carbs And Cadavers by J.B. Stanley

Description: Except for an extra fifty pounds, former English Lit professor James Henry hasn't got much left to lose. Recently divorced, he's left the university job he loved and returned to his hometown to care for his cranky widowed father. To improve his social life and his waistline, James joins a new supper club for dieters where he meets Lucy Hanover, an attractive woman who works in the sheriff's department and dreams of becoming a deputy someday. When someone mysteriously drops dead in the Sweet Tooth Bakery, James and his fellow dieters find themselves in the midst of a sticky murder investigation. Dodging delectable temptations, savory treats, and bullets, the supper club members must turn up the heat to find the killer.

Notes From The Backseat by Jody Gehrman

Notes From The Backseat by Jody Gehrman

My Rating: 8*'s

Description: Keep your friends close…and the blondes closer.

I thought I knew everything about Gwen Matson. We’ve been best friends since sophomore year at Analy High. I know her to be smart and confident with a retro style that would give Jackie O a run for her money --- albeit a graceful, sweat-free run in kitten heels.

Not once did she ever display a rabid need to record every detail of her existence. But never before had she gone on a weekend road trip with her amazing boyfriend, Coop … and his evil, yoga-toned best friend, Devil Blonde Dannika. Now she’s writing to me like mad.

Not that I’m complaining. I’m in gay Paris (good), meeting my future in-laws (bad), so her tireless scribbling is keeping us both sane.

Usually, a well-thought-out What Would Jackie Do? Helps Gwen pull it together. But this crisis is beyond help. I know Gwen and Coop are meant to be, but can their love withstand Gwen’s psycho jealousy and Dannika’s twisted sabotage.

My Thoughts: Cute and entertaining story about a woman with an antique clothing fetish and major trust issues who is forced to face her insecurities when she goes on a weekend road trip to attend a wedding with her boyfriend and his best friend, who is also a gorgeous, beautiful blonde. Gwen is relegated to the back seat cramped in between two surfboards, where she feels like the proverbial third wheel. She begins journaling her feelings and by the end of the story, she has filled several journals.

I enjoyed how the book is laid out like a journal as letters to her best friend, Marla. The tension between Gwen and Dannika was realistic. It's too bad my back won't allow me to wear kitten heels as I really would love to have the leopard print pair that Gwen favors.