Ms America and the Offing on Oahu - Book Review

Ms America and the Offing on Oahu by Diana Dempsey. 5 out of 5 stars

This book caught me off guard. I wasn't really sure what I was expecting, but it was a murder mystery mixed with chick lit characters and a Miss Congeniality setting with a Nancy Drew feel.

It starts out with the Ms America pageant, a beauty pageant for married women, which was refreshing in that they were alot more mature than most beauty queen book characters. Ms Ohio Happy Pennington is the last to see Ms California alive. During the broadcast, right before they announce the winner, Ms California tumbles over dead. The Honolulu PD lists Happy as one of their suspects. So, what can she do? Investigate on her own, with her roommate and Ms Congeniality trailing along to help.

I enjoyed this book. As an avid fan of Nancy Drew when I was a kid, I found the beauty contestant trio who were hacking computers, sneaking into mail rooms, interviewing suspects and breaking into hotel rooms to be a lovely look back at Nancy, George and Bess. The book had moments of humour, although I did not find it as laugh out loud funny as some of the official reviews claimed. The characters were both likeable and unlikeable but always realistic. Unlike Mary Higgins Clark books, where I can always guess the 'bad guy' about 3/4 of the way in, I was pleasently surprised by the who-dun-it in this book.

I'd recommend this book. It didn't keep me up at night turning pages, but it was fun. I will definitely have to check out what else this author has written.

PS - If chick lit without the murder mystery feel is more your cup of tea, try Tanned, where we have a major Justin Bieber-like celebrity trying to hide her identity from the love of her life while dealing with a cheating ex-boyfriend, a psychotic manager and meeting (among other famous faces) Ellen Degeneres, Nick Lachey, Kim Kardashian, Ryan Seacrest and David Letterman  in the process. :) xox

Life Plans

Did you ever look at your life when you were, say, fifteen, and make out a life plan of how everything would be?

How did things turn out for you? Did you get the life your fifteen-year-old self imagined?

Me?

I didn't get married in the place of my dreams. Nor did I go to Argentina on my honeymoon and ride around on a moterbike (shout-out to Motorcycle Diaries, which I totally wanted for my life). I went to Banff.

When money was tight a year and a half into marriage, I passed on getting my Master's Degree, saying I would get it the next year when we were out of debt. That was a year and a half ago.

I didn't teach English in Mexico for a year.

I didn't do a semester abroad in Spain.

I served as a volunteer missionary in the States. Utah and Florida. Not exactly what I had in mind when I submitted my application. My brother went to Russia. I was hoping for Spain. Or Chile. Actually, anywhere outside North America, to be honest.

I didn't marry my first crush the way I was sure I would.

I didn't live in New York with my sister after we graduated from university.

I didn't get an amazing job where I was making a difference, dressed to the nines every day, high heels and super important.

I didn't stay 128 lbs and keep a bikini-ready body. My waist is no longer 25" and I now have stretch marks that I'm pretty sure won't fade the way my doctor keeps reassuring me they will.

And, when my little sister got married before I expected and my brother planned to get married in a very different place I expected, meaning I wouldn't get to actually be at either? Not in the plan either.

Things turned out quite different.

But I did marry a wonderful man who treats me like a queen.

I do have an adorable baby who is gurgling and kicking on the floor right now, and a lovely puppy who is lying beside him.

I got a book published with another on the way.

I learned a second language fluently, despite never getting the opportunity to live in a Spanish-speaking country.

Life didn't turn out at all like I thought.

But maybe that's not a bad thing.

It's just letting go of those old dreams that's hard.

'Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy - Book Review

'Scuse Me While I Kill This Guy by Leslie Langtry earns a nice, fat 4 out of 5 stars.

Overall, it is an entertaining book with no basis in reality. To really enjoy it, you need to suspend all disbelief, which isn't that hard considering most books require this in some degree.

 

Gin Bombay is a single mother who hasn't had a date since her husband passed away. She's funny, irreverant and loves her pug puppy. Oh, plus she's an assassin. Gin actually comes from a line of career killers stretching back to ancient Greece, and, as part of this legacy, had no choice but to become one as well when she turned five. Yup. Five.

Anyhoo, her whole family shares her career with her, which leads them all to being very untrusting of one another. If my grandmother could kill a man with her bare hands, I suppose I'd have trust issues too.

Gin meets a new guy, a studly Aussie bodyguard. Things get complicated when she has to kill his client. And then introduce her daughter into the art of killing.

It's a fun book. A fast read that had me intruiged from the start. However, I did find that Gin's jokes and comments were all very one-sided... everything was assassination. It was funny at times, but also got old after a while. It was, as I mentioned, very unbelievable as far as story line and characters, kind of like a Marvel comicbook. That, however, also made it a fun escape from reality.

More comic/humour than chicklit, despite the token romance with the Aussie, I did enjoy it and recommend it to those with a warped sense of humour and an open mind. :)

xox

PS - If chicklit is more up your alley, you should try Tanned, a fun look at a celebrity trying to hide her identity from the love of her life while dealing with a cheating ex-boyfriend and a psychotic manager and meeting (among other famous faces) Ellen Degeneres in the process. :)

Eye Candy - Book Review

Eye Candy by Tera Lynn Childs is a pretty great book! I give it 4.5 stars out of 5.

Lydia Vanderwalk is a candy obsessed woman, who found out her fiance was cheating on her. Probably. She never actually confronted him, but for the past two years has been hiding from relationships and drowning her sorrows in more candy. Thank goodness she has a fast metabolism.

Anyway, she enlists the help of her best friend, a model talent agent, who sets her up with Phelps, a male model who definitely has more going for him than what initially meets the eye. She creates Phelps into her non-existent boyfriend in hopes of furthering her career and getting people off her back about dating. But then her ex comes back into her life, her feelings for her rent-a-boyfriend become much stronger, and career opportunities jump out of nowhere.

I loved this book! I was hooked from the first few pages and read it all in one night. It was funny, fresh and believable. However, the ending was pretty brutal... it was a choose your own ending. You know, turn to page xx if you want her to end up with boy number one. Turn to page yy if you want her to end up with boy number two. No book should be like that. It needs a definite, rock solid ending. Period. Because she definitely needed to end up with Phelps. No room for anything else. :)

My only other complaint with the book was a few of the phrases that Lydia would use. As a candy obsessed woman, she would exclaim "Hot Tamales" and nicknamed people after various candies, like Jawbreaker. It just seemed a little forced. I'm pretty much a chocolate-holic and even I don't go around calling people Hershey Kisses or Peppermint Patties or other chocolate names. That part was strange for me.

Anyhoo... take away the endings (plural) and the over the top exclamations, and you have a really entertaining book! Chick lit at it's finest.

If you haven't read this book, you should check it out on Amazon... it's a free kindle ebook right now, so get it while you can. (And, this author also has several other books out there, that, from their descriptions, sound pretty fun too. I'll have to read them when I get the chance!)

Finally, if you haven't read my newly released novel, Tanned, Toned and Totally Faking It, you should check it out as well. Romcom fans will enjoy it as a fast, humourous read.

Cheers!

Bachelorette Thoughts

Just a few thoughts on last night's episode of The Bachelorette...

• First date with Ryan...  Ryan seemed head over heels for Em, but you could tell she was over him before they'd even gotten half way on the date. Loved that she made him run errands with her... and baking cookies was cute, even if he did look a little femmy in that apron.
 
• How awkward woud that be to a) be on a first date with a guy you barely know, b) have half of Charlotte show up to see you on the date, screaming, taking pics etc, and c) to have to climb onto a tiny square stage in the middle of this crowd and dance with this guy? No wonder their conversation consisted of "I'm so glad I'm here" and "I know, right?"

• Emily's 'mom clothes' are impressive. Mine are sweats (jeans if I'm in a dress up mood), a t-shirt and runners. Without socks if laundry hasn't been done. Her's looked runway ready. You go, girl.
 
• I think Emily owns more makeup than a Sephora store. Or Kim Kardashian.
 
• The muppets were cool... I especially enjoyed Statler and Chris Harrison heckling in the balcony. (Statler: "Hey, that wasn't half bad." Harrison: "It was ALL bad!")  And the guys didn't do nearly as brutal as I thought they would. lol

• Love that Jef was playing hard to get. He looks 12, but I still like him. Loved when Em gave him the rose and he was all cool about it instead of gushing like most of the guys do. :)

• The whole Kalon vs Doug thing was weird. And... unless Kalon was saying a bunch of stuff off camera, Doug totally over reacted. I mean, he kind of did put being a dad on hold... not many dads can pack up and leave for six weeks. You know. Anyhoo... Kalon seems like a diva, but Doug definitely went down a few notches in my books too. Temper much? Especially when the reason Em and Brad Womack broke up was because of his 'temper'. Good luck with that, Doug. But, honestly, man-cat-fights are pretty darn entertaining...

• Love that she sent Joe home on their date and watched the fireworks by herself. Loved it.

• Still like Arie. Mainly for how articulate and sincere he is... wait, who am I kidding? He's eye candy, pure and simple.

• Stevie looks like a guy from Jersey Shore. And he's from New Jersey! I love how Jersey keeps getting such a bad rap by having so many duds from there show up on TV. Find he looks a bit like a rodent... or maybe it's just the way he kept name calling Diva Kalon.

Anyway, that's about it from this episode. What did you think?

And, if you're now in the mood for more love triangles.... check out my novel on Amazon. :)