*What's happening on the blog next week...
- Giveaway: 2 winners will choose one book from the Delirium trilogy by Lauren Oliver
- Review: Delirium by Lauren Oliver (YA)
- Review: Annabel (Delirium #0.5) AND Hana (Delirium #1.5) AND Raven (Delirium #2.5) by Lauren Oliver (YA)
- Review: Pandemonium (Delirium #2) by Lauren Oliver (YA)
- Review: Requiem (Delirium #3) by Lauren Oliver (YA)
- Waiting On Wednesday #50!!!
- Reading Into Romance Blog Tour: Hooked by Liz Fichera
- Blog Tour: The Fellowship for Alien Detection by Kevin Emerson (Review & Giveaway)
Thank you SO very much for stopping by!!! Please leave a comment and your links below :)
You must pick this one up today!!! Yes, I'm yelling about it :) Darian Wilk is one of the few indie authors that I follow and adore! Her books are the perfect amount of adult chic lit that I love to read! I highly recommend, Reinventing Claire... You can see my review here :)
Reinventing Claire by Darian Wilk is FREE this week (2/25 to 3/1) on Amazon. Get your copy and find out how to enter to win a $20 Amazon Gift Card below.
Reinventing Claire by Darian Wilk
August 20, 2012
SUMMARY
People get divorced,
but that's what happens to other people. That's what Claire thought
anyway, until her husband, Charlie, tells her he wants a divorce.
Claire
has no choice but to take on the title of Divorced Woman, and face the
question she has no idea how to answer. Who is Claire without Charlie?
Her family believes her newly divorced woes can be cured by landing
herself a boyfriend. With her dating dunce cap in hand, Claire stumbles
her way through the foreign territory of online dating.
A
teacher from hell, a softball coach, and a sap later, Claire proclaims
herself the dating idiot she thought she was, and fears she's doomed to
be a lonely, crazy cat lady. But an accidental run-in with an old
acquaintance might change everything. What starts with comparing dating
battle wounds over a cup of coffee, quickly turns into something Claire
had given up on.
As Claire discovers maybe there is love after
Charlie after all, Charlie realizes his mistake. He wants her back, and
he'll do anything to prove it to her. Now Claire must choose who
deserves her heart, and if she's really willing to give it away again.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Darian Wilk was born in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the younger of
two children. While still a toddler her family moved back to their
home state of Michigan, where she still lives today. After high
school Darian tried her hand at college, majoring in Nursing, while
she worked as a Physical Therapy Technician. "I loved my job, but I
still couldn't picture doing it forever," she says now. But before she
finished her degree she became pregnant, and focused her attention on
the challenges of being a single mother to her daughter.
In
2005, Darian married her best friend, Steve, whom she met and became
close friends with several years earlier. In their second year of
marriage, Darian became pregnant with her son. She worked on and off
throughout her twenties as a Home Health Aid to the elderly, but
preferred to stay home and raise her babies.
In 2007, her mom
was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and Darian quit working to tend to
her mom. It was in those three years of taking care of her that Darian
realized how precious, and short, life really is. In her moms last
year of life, she finally had the courage to pursue what her heart
always secretly longed for; becoming a writer. It was then that she
started her debut novel, Love Unfinished, and continues her writing journey today.
This is were we get to 'spotlight' books that we are anxiously waiting to be released! The ones that we are dying to get our hands on and read into the wee hours of the night and, quite possibly, to make our shelves look all pretty too :)
Expected publication date: March 2013 Genre: Adult Contemporary and Romance
SUMMARY
Margie is superwoman, a suburbanite goddess, the one who has it all together. That’s what the neighbors think, at least. But then life happened, and Margie can’t hold all the pieces together anymore.
Her once doting husband wouldn’t even notice her if she became a nudist, she spends more time picking her daughter up from detention then she does soccer practice, and her mother-in-law is almost salivating at her marriage falling apart. While hiding in the bathroom to escape the chaos, Margie realizes something has to give.
By the hand of God, or the world’s largest tube of superglue, Margie is determined to fix her mess of a life. As Margie fumbles through trying to get her husband to fall back in love with her, save her kid from expulsion, and not go crazy in the process, everything she touches ends in failure.
Just as her life is one step away from totally collapsing, someone Margie never expected changes everything in ways she never could have imagined.
Why I'm waiting on Hiding in the Bathroom...
Do I really need to tell you why???
Did you see the main character's name?!?!
I only highlighted it for you a few times ;) hee, hee!
Yuppers, I'm gonna need a few copies of this one :)
PLUS, Darian is an amazing indie author! There are very, very few indie authors that I follow and work with - I can count them all on one hand - and Darian is one that I have loved right from the start and highly recommend!
People get divorced, but that's what happens to other people. That's what Claire thought anyway, until her husband, Charlie, tells her he wants a divorce.
Claire has no choice but to take on the title of Divorced Woman, and face the question she has no idea how to answer. Who is Claire without Charlie? Her family believes her newly divorced woes can be cured by landing herself a boyfriend. With her dating dunce cap in hand, Claire stumbles her way through the foreign territory of online dating.
A teacher from hell, a softball coach, and a sap later, Claire proclaims herself the dating idiot she thought she was, and fears she's doomed to be a lonely, crazy cat lady. But an accidental run-in with an old acquaintance might change everything. What starts with comparing dating battle wounds over a cup of coffee, quickly turns into something Claire had given up on.
As Claire discovers maybe there is love after Charlie after all, Charlie realizes his mistake. He wants her back, and he'll do anything to prove it to her. Now Claire must choose who deserves her heart, and if she's really willing to give it away again.
BOOK TRAILER - Reinventing Claire
MY REVIEW
Darian Wilk has done it again! With her first debut, Love Unfinished, she gave us the unforgettable couple, Emma and James, who had to find each other again to finish their love story. Now, using her authentic writing style, she has written another wonderfully paced story creating more enticing and unforgettable characters.
Claire has just lost her job, and within hours, her "perfect Charlie" decides to inform her that he's been cheating on her and wants a divorce so they could get married. Stunned and speechless, all Claire could think of was that this was 'her Charlie', the love of her life. This was the man and home where she was going to live the rest of her life. 'Her Charlie' was not incapable hurting her like this.
Or was he?
Claire's reaction and denial had my emotions all over the place. I felt like I was going through her breakup and divorce too. I wanted to reach into the book at times and give her a hug and tell her that it will be okay; while at the same time, I wanted to smack some sense into her and tell her to get over it, that she deserved better, etc. What I loved about Claire is that no matter how upset, sad or angry she was, she was never whiny, helpless nor needy. Yes, she had her moments, quite a few of her moments had me laughing out loud. But they were never unrelatable or unrealistic. Claire was so comfortable with her life with Charlie, she didn't know how to be without him to the point that she knew his dislikes and likes but had no clue as to what she preferred. She was lost. We've all been there before and know how shocking it can be when you don't have a crutch to lean on, to hide behind. It was quite refreshing to see Claire grow, learn about herself and become a strong woman. Even during her weakest moment and many mistakes, she always learned from them and became a better independent Claire.
I instantly fell in love with her large, exuberant and well-meaning-overly-loving family. They all reminded me of my own family. There is something so sweet to see grown women still call their father Daddy, it melted my heart every time I read them calling and referring to him like that. Claire's two sisters, Sam and Holly, were the perfect balance for her. Sam is the younger, promiscuous and loud one that never held back how she felt about the situation and encouraged her to start dating again. Meanwhile, Holly, is the older and married-with-children sister that would reign in the situation and encourage Claire not to give up on finding her true love someday.
So Claire takes her sisters advice and starts online dating. And a few disastrous dates later, she's ready to throw in the towel... until Claire bumps into an old friend. Mac. Mac is everything that Claire never had. Is it possible for Claire to trust and love again? Should she even try?
And then she bumps into Charlie. Charlie who is getting divorced and wants her back.
Yes, this is where I started to hold my breath too!
For all of us that have ever lost ourselves, whether in a relationship or elsewhere, Darian Wilk reminds us that it is okay to hope and dream of better things for ourselves. To remind us that we shouldn't lose or mold ourselves into what we think people want us to be. We have every right to take the time to figure things out, hold out for what's best and just be ourselves.
PS, did I mention that there is a character named Margie in this book?!?!
Claire hires an assistant, and her name is Margie! She's mentioned a few times, I got all giddy and had to show everybody since I have never met a Margie in a book before, hee hee!!!
Now you definitely have to read this book too!
And here's your chance to read Darian's first book, Love Unfinished!!!
It's available right now on Amazon until August 24th,
I'm a women's fiction writer, author of Love
Unfinished and Reinventing Claire. I love the challenge and thrill of putting
words onto paper, and forming it into a story. For me, the only thing better
than that are my kids.
On the occasions I'm not engulfed in writing, you'll find me reading a book,
either for fun or for review on my blog, Crazy Lady with a Pen. When I'm not
reading, I'm spending time with my friends and family. Life is too short to
pass those beautiful little moments life has to offer by, I want to soak up
every moment I can.
"Soul mates from the past leave their love unfinished when a tragic accident ends their lives on their wedding day. Yet they are destined to meet again to fulfill that love in new incarnations, leading vastly different lives.
Emma thought she had chosen the right path, but too late does she realize her mistake as her husband reveals the monster behind his smile; morphing their fairytale image with loveless obligation. Trapped in a broken marriage to a powerful, abusive husband, she knows this is not the life she was destined to live. As her hope for love withers, she meets James, her love from a lifetime ago.
Emma cannot deny the love pulling her toward James, but courage to abandon her marriage wavers and unknowingly puts her love on the line. If Emma has any hope of life and love, she must trust the bond with James and be with the man destiny has spent two lifetimes guiding her toward. Are they fated to fulfill their love, or will they once again, leave love unfinished?" ___________________________________
If you are looking for a sweet romance with a touch of 'Lifetime' movie moment, this is the book for you :)
To be honest, I had put off my review for this book for about a month now - I liked the story, the writing was good, it moved along at a very good pace... but I still feel like there was something missing - and I do not know how to put that feeling into typed words here, sigh...
The story starts with sweethearts, Carol and Ted, how they met, fall in love and then die tragically together on their wedding day... Many, many years go by and we meet Emma and James. They meet and there is an instant familiarity and connection to each other. They just know that they are meant to be together. I really love how Wilk was able to create the 'love-at-first' sight for both couples without making it feel like it was impossible or too soon. However, there is a twist to the story that keeps Emma and James from being together - no spoilers here! This is where it gets to be like a 'Lifetime' type of movie for me - I don't mean that in a bad way at all! I liked it very much :) For me, it was a bit predictable, but I don't mind that at all. The supporting characters turned into my favorites too! Emma's best friend, maid and butler - who would have thought that you could love every good character in a book! and hate the one that you're suppose to hate, like a lot, lol!
The only problem that I had was that I really wished that the connection to Emma and James' past lives had been tied into the story a lot more - there were a handful of 'mentions' here and there, but not enough for me, I wanted more of that!
And just when I thought that the story had ended, I noticed that there were too many pages leftover - I actually forgot about Carol and Ted, and why Emma and James wanted to be together... this is the part that I don't know how to explain, I'm just going to leave it that I got too into the main part of the story, and leave it at that. The ending is truly the most sweetest ending I have ever read in a long time!
I enjoyed this and I think that anyone who loves a quick romantic read will enjoy it too :)
"In My Mailbox" is a weekly meme created by The Story Siren -
The idea is to post whatever books you may have received from the week,
whether you purchased them, they were gifted to you, borrowed, etc.
Sometimes I may have too many books to read and post about during the week - this is an opportunity for me to give these books a quick shout-out and also a peek as to 'what is to come' for reviews and posts on my blog within that month (hopefully!)
I have to admit - I read this book already!!! aaaand, I did not expect this book to go the way it did! I really thought that it was going to be more chic lit with some paranormal 'things' thrown in more than anything else, I was so wrong! The main character, Jolie Wilkins, at first seems like your average "plain jane" girl who makes a living off her minimal psychic powers... until she meets Rand - THE warlock. Once this tall, dark, gorgeous man is introduced, the story comes alive and things seem to move pretty fast. We then meet vampires and werewolves, more witches, and we're told that demons, faeries and pixies do exist too! Of course we hear more about Rand and the job he has for Jolie - a job that changes her life forever. This was the perfect book for me to kick off my reads for 2012! It's quick, witty and you can definitely relate to Jolie so much! I really do like all of the characters so far... I am starting book 2 to this series tonight!!!
That was my book week!
I can't wait to see what awesome reads I find this coming week!
WHAT BOOKS DID YOU GET??? Share with me! I'm always looking to add to my TBR list ;)
More reviews to come! and a giveaway too!!!
Stay tune :)
