Alba in bookland

Heiress, P.I. by Amanda Mahan is on SALE for a limited time! Get it today or tomorrow (April 24th and 25th) for only $.99 on Amazon! And to celebrate we are hosting a giveaway of an ecopy of the book!

Heiress, P.I. -- which is currently in the second round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest -- is Veronica Mars meets Gossip Girl...

Buy it here now!

The Blurb

Meet Lucy Hansen. She’s the richest teenager in the world – and possibly the shyest. She doesn’t flash her business to the paparazzi as she’s getting out of limos or send selfies while smoking salvia. No, Lucy hides behind her frizzy bangs, environmental causes and organic hemp-blend sweats. Her one true friend (and secret crush) Holden is the poorest kid in Beverly Hills – and probably the scrappiest. He interns for a famous private investigator, and when he asks Lucy to help him crack a case, her life turns from tame to tabloid, from glum to glam, from private to private eye. And when the trail leads directly to her hotel magnate father, it’s up to Lucy to solve the case by infiltrating Hollywood’s most elite and unwelcoming club: Celebutantes. Teens who are famous for, well… being famous.

Along the way, “LuHan” endures wardrobe malfunctions, fake romances, compromising videos-turned-YouTube hits, unflattering mug shots and – worst of all – a makeover. Now Lucy has to save her father, dodge the paparazzi, and keep her IRL ID on the DL – all while maybe, almost, possibly having her first real kiss.

If you’ve ever read the tabloids and wondered, “What was she thinking?” then HEIRESS, P.I. offers one possible answer.

About the author:

Amanda Mahan's secret mission began in high school when she won a writing competition with an essay about a skydiving trip. The fact that she never actually went skydiving suggested a career in fiction. After graduation, she spent several years writing comedic online games and worked on two NBC sitcoms. She was also the writer and creator of the People's Choice award-winning "Green Mommy" blog.

Amanda is an expert in applying lip balm, a complete failure at doing her own hair, and specializes in baking addictive red velvet cupcakes. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband, two munchkins, and entirely too much glitter.

Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/amandamahan -- @amandamahan
or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HEIRESSPI

GIVEAWAY

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Hello and welcome to the cover reveal of The Breakup Artist by Nichole Severn!

The novella, from Beyond The Page Publishing, is set to release on 23rd April 2014 but Nichole's giving readers a sneak peak of the fab cover and the book's blurb. Full details below . . .

About The Breakup Artist:

'Demi Shepherd is going to jail. As a professional heartbreaker, she’s been charged with the murder of one of her clients. She can’t explain how fifty thousand dollars ended up in her bank account, how her fingerprints were found on the murder weapon and who called in an anonymous tip labeling her as the murderer. Determined to clear her name and find out who uprooted her life, Demi goes on the run and turns to the least likely of allies: the man she believes set her up for murder.

Jack Austin is Demi’s only chance of clearing her name, but as an undercover organized crime agent, whose only goal is to bring down the organization laundering money through one of Vegas’ casinos, he’s not willing to risk his life or career for her. That is until Demi shows her innocence. With former clients and victims on her trail and unknown shooters finding her every step of the way, Demi fights for her life and her damaged heart, but will Jack protect either?'

About Nichole Severn

Originally from Las Vegas, Nevada where she spent most days at her grandmother’s house watching X-Men, Married with Children and The Simpsons, Nichole Severn migrated to the Salt Lake City valley to live life as scandalous romance author. She graduated with a degree in psychology from Utah Valley University, which stemmed from her obsession with serial killers, and received her bachelors in English Literature from Nevada State. Over the years, she’s experimented with selling jewelry, insurance, and clothing, but now she just sells books. The serial killer obsession has toned down...a little. She resides with her very supportive and patient, husband in Utah, where she constantly injures herself running, rock climbing, and snowboarding. Nichole can be contacted through her website at www.nicholesevern.com, email at nichole@nicholesevern.com, Twitter at @nicholesevern or Facebook.

The first thing that I heard about this book is that Don Tillman, the main character, was like a book version of Sheldon Cooper. And as a big fan of the Big Bang Theory, I couldn't resist. Moreover, after finishing Beyond Grace's Rainbow (review here), that left me crying like a baby, I felt like I needed a fun read. After reading it, I can say that it was the perfect choice. The Rosie Project is hilarious.

Don, a professor in Genetics, is quite satisfied with his life. He has everything organised: when to get up, when to work out, when to go shopping and even what to eat every day so he doesn't lose time deciding what to cook and obviously doesn't waste time nor money in his shopping trips. But something is missing: a wife. He wants to find a suitable partner for himself to settle down and have kids in the future. Given that he is not really good with social interactions and that dating has proved not very successful in the past, he decides to start the Wife Project (you quickly realise that he likes quite a lot getting involved in "projects").

With the help of his two friends (yes, he has two friends in total), he creates a questionaire that women have to fill in. This way he will find his perfect match and will avoid not suitable candidates. But then, Rosie barges in his life. She is obviously not a suitable candidate for a wife (smoker, drinker, late-arriver, a barmaid!) but Don finds her immensely interesting. Given that his wife project is not giving results for now, he decides to help her find his biological father. They then start a crazy hilarious search to find the man that had a crazy night with Rosie's mother the day of her graduation: The Father Project (one more project, see?). During this project they get to know each other better and discover that they are having the time of their lifes together. A shame though that Don is not "wired" to feel love...

I really liked this book. It's definitely something different but I am sure that any Chick Lit lover would adore it too. I devoured it in two afternoons and I loved how Rosie appeared in Don's life and make him wonder about everything. She turned his life upside down. Moreover, the book has some hilarious moments (my favourite one was when Don learned to prepare cocktails, I could totally picture him!) that had me laughing out loud. Even with all the scientific and genetic data (I could follow it without any problems, so don't worry), this is sweet cute and heart-warming story. There will be a sequel of this book out on September: The Rosie Effect. I can't wait to read it!

Rating: 4,5

P.S. I have just seen the book trailer and it is the cutest! Check it out:

I have just finished reading the amazing Beyond's Grace Rainbow by Carmel Harrington and I have to admit that I still have some tears rolling down my cheeks. I was actually quite proud of myself because I had managed not to cry for most of the novel. Not because I was not warming to the book (on the contrary, I was totally hooked), but because Carmel writes a surprisingly fun story full of life, love and fighting. But then, I got to the ending and that was it, the floodgates opened and I was a complete mess. What an amazing, poignant, emotional story!

Beyond Grace's Rainbow tells the story of Grace, a single mom who finds out that she has Leukemia. Grace is an amazing character, as Liam defines her in the book, she is beautiful inside and out. She has had a complitcated life but she has grown to become a strong loving woman. But what makes her story so special is her group of friends. They help, protect and confort her in every possible way, showing what true friendship is about, putting a brave face when necessary but also just being there, crying and hugging when there is nothing else to say or to do.

Also key to the story are Liam, Grace's alcoholic exboyfriend, and Jack, their 3-year-old son. Although Liam disappeared of her life before Jack was born, he is back, assuring that he is full recovered and willing to prove to anyone that he is ready to be part of the family again and that he is trustworthy. To get to them though he has to face first the group of friends who are not going to make it easy for him. I have to admit that I didn't like Liam at first, I though that he was full of crap but little by little I warmed to him too. And Jack is the cutest, although he doesn't say a lot, when he says something he says it from his heart and you can see that he is going to grow to become a great man.

Carmel writes about delicate and difficult topics like cancer, but also alcoholism and others (I am not going to say anything else because I don't want to spoilt it, but there are some twist on the story that I didn't expect at all) with such tact and elegance that you have no other option but to get on the rollercoster of emotions that this book is. This story is going to blow you away, is going to make you cry and is going to make you laugh (not a lot of authors can achieve that). And it is going to stay with you. I am quite sure that I'll think of it every time that I see a rainbow.

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