Release Day Blitz - On the Road to Love by Melissa Baldwin

On the Road to Love by Melissa Baldwin

Published by Gemma Halliday Publishing on April 17, 2018

Genres: Romantic Comedy

From bestselling romantic comedy author Melissa Baldwin comes the road trip of a lifetime!

Successful Manhattan accountant Stacy Brown is shocked when her almost perfect life unexpectedly crumbles around her. Blindsided by her husband when he serves her with divorce papers and tossed aside by the women she considered her best friends, devastation and depression hit her hard. But when her mother sends her an old photograph of her and two childhood friends, Candace and Olivia, it fuels a desire in Stacy to find that person she once was. What starts as a chance to reconnect turns into an unforgettable road trip back to her childhood home and an encounter with a man from her past.

Gavin Kingsley, son of Stacy's old piano teacher and former annoying boy next door, sparks something in Stacy that she hasn't felt in a long time…maybe never? Despite her hesitation to jump into a relationship, Stacy can't help being drawn to him as she and her girlfriends take a journey of self-discovery, laughs, tears, and hysterical moments.

Can returning to her past give Stacy everything she's been searching for in her future?

^^^ Click to Enter! ^^^

About Melissa Baldwin

Melissa Baldwin is an avid runner, planner obsessed, and has always had a love for writing. She is a wife, mother, and avid journal keeper who took her creativity to the next level by fulfilling her dream with her debut novel, An Event to Remember…or Forget. Melissa writes about charming, ambitious, and real women and is now a published author of ten Romantic Comedy novels and novellas.

When she isn’t deep in the writing zone, this multi-tasking master organizer is busy spending time with her family, chauffeuring her daughter, traveling, running, indulging in fitness, and taking a Disney Cruise every now and then.

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Single State of Mind by Andi Dorfman

Andi Dorfman, breakout star of ABC’s The Bachelorette and New York Times bestselling author of It’s Not Okay, returns with this new collection of her adventures as a still-single gal surviving and thriving in New York City.

Sharing moments like finding her first New York apartment (the front door broke so she had to use the fire escape), her first dates on “celebrity Tinder” and finally, watching her ex-fiancé propose to another woman on Bachelor in Paradise, Andi Dorfman doesn’t shy away from pulling back the curtain on the life of a reality star who’s returned to reality.

Dorfman’s supremely relatable personality has inspired incredible devotion from her fans, who follow her every move on social media. Filled with a mix of romantic mishaps, city adventures, and, of course, plenty of insider Bachelor details, Andi’s new book is Sex and the City for the reality TV generation.  

My Thoughts

First of all, I love watching the Bachelor franchise (for the most part).  There are a few season's I've skipped but it's so addicting!  I feel I may invest a little too much time and emotion into what happens each and every week.

Now, one thing I have noticed is that the girls on the series do not get a fair shake in comparison to the guys.  They are both on their for the same reason, doing the same sort of things but yet the girls are looked like as sluts so to speak and the guys are looked at as princes.  What's with the double standard?

Which leads me to this book by Andi Dorfman.  Does she talk about guys she's hooked up with?  Yes.  Does she have fun with girlfriend's and go to bars?  Yes.  Now look at the reviews for this book - they slam her (women do) about sleeping around and getting drunk.  First of all guys do it all the time but it's rarely talked about and second they act like she does this all the time.  Come on now?

Lastly, this is a memoir about a reality tv celebrity, did you think it was going to be the next amazing novel of the century?  It's meant to be fun, document her story and make you laugh.  RELAX people!!!

Drink Selection

I would totally pair this book with a cosmopolitan!  Delish!

Rating

Just plan fun, 4 wine glasses (or cosmos) all the way!

About the Author

 She is an American television personality, author, and former ADA from Georgia. She is notable for being a contestant on the eighteenth of The Bachelor, and the lead on tenth season of The Bachelorette. She became famous for walking out on bachelor Juan Pablo Galavis in the ninth episode of The Bachelor. She became the first former attorney to appear as "The Bachelorette". She is the author of the New York Times Bestseller, "It's Not Okay,” and the New York Times Bestseller, “Single State of Mind.”

Link to Purchase

Amazon

Blog Tour Stop - Excerpt from Reuniting Reality by Nikki LeClair

Reuniting Reality by Nikki LeClair

Published by Nikki LeClair on March 20, 2018

Genre: Chick Lit


Excerpt

My body stiffens as we lock eyes. His smile slowly slips off his face when he realizes my aggravated glare isn’t going anywhere. His brown eyes dart to my bags and he gestures at them. “Do you want some help with your bags?”

            “Don’t touch them.” There’s nothing cordial about my tone and I watch Declan sigh slowly before looking back at me.

            “Look, Jules, I know this is—”

            “Don’t call me that. Only my friends call me Jules,” I declare.

            He doesn’t need to know I don’t have any.

            His shoulders slump as he scratches the back of his neck, “fine. I just thought your suitcase may be heavy and you may not be able to lift it into the back of the Jeep.”

            I let out a snarky laugh. “I don’t need your help, with my suitcase, or with anything. So you can get back into your mountain wagon and be on your way.” I swat at him as I walk back to my bags.

            He frowns at me. “You don’t want a ride to the Lodge?”

            I whisper to myself, as I reach my bags. “What I want is your guts splattered on the side of the asphalt...”

            “What?”

            “Nothing. Go away, I don’t need your help. Ever.”

            “Julie, it’s a good thirty minute walk up the mountain.”

            “Maybe for you,” I huff with a laugh as I reach into my open duffle bag and take out my hat. “I see you’ve let yourself get a bit pudgy. I, on the other hand am in perfect shape. As you can see.” I put my hat over my head. “I run marathons now. Even triathlons. This is nothing to me. This is light, tranquil walk.”

            How is he going to know I exercise once a month, if that?

            I zip up my duffle bag and pull the strap over my shoulder. I stand up and shove the bag behind me as I reach down for the handle to my suitcase. He looks amused, and it sends an angry ping throughout my body. “Now if you excuse me, I’ll be on my way.”

            He takes a step towards me. “Don’t be insane. Just get into the jeep. We don’t have to talk to each other.”

            I spin on my heel and give him my back. “I don’t speak traitor.”

            “You're going to walk all the way up there with those boots?” he calls to me.

            I lift my head and pick up my pace. “I said, I don’t speak traitor!”

            My scream rings around the forest.

            That’ll show him.

Starring opposite her best friend in hit reality TV show Daughter of Famous Mothers, Julie Duncan was riding high, clouded with adoring fans and cozily married to an ambitious plastic surgeon. One day, everything changed. Betrayed by not only her husband, but someone she completely trusted, Julie disappeared from that life and left it all behind.

Four years later, Julie’s life is far from brag-able. Living with her sister and scraping by doing D-list gigs, Julie is given an opportunity to fix her pathetic life. The only catch? Spending a week on camera with the people who destroyed her life.

So what’s a girl to do when her back is against the wall?

✓ Create a new, improved version of herself—a version that has moved on and let go the trials of the past. ✓ Invent a hopping new social life and a hot Olympian boyfriend. ✓ Beg forgiveness from her former best friend.

Simple enough until her fake new boyfriend suddenly shows up, her former best friend gives the cold shoulder, her ex-husband is as shady as ever, and butterflies she thought had died long ago begin to flutter alive.

Will Julie be able to keep up her ruse? Or will the cameras catch something she won’t ever be able to escape?

^^^ Click to Enter! ^^^

About Nikki LeClair

Nikki LeClair lives in Canada with her loving husband and their two rambunctious children. When she isn’t ordering her children to behave or begging her Border Terrier to listen to her, she sits behind her lap-top plotting out the next adventure of her new characters. She’s a fan of a good glass of Pinot Noir, and can’t live without her favorite Tea blends.

She enjoys hearing from readers and fans of her work. You can find her on twitter at @NikkiL_Books, and on her Facebook Fanpage Nikki LeClair

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Blog Tour Stop - Excerpt from Messing with Matilda by Cat Lavoie

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Messing With Matilda by Cat Lavoie Published by Cat Lavoie on April 4, 2018 Genres: Chick Lit, Romantic Comedy

Excerpt

 

I stare at the massive cardboard box leaning against my office wall. Evie bought a bookcase at IKEA last month because her collection of art deco books is overflowing into my office, but she hasn’t gotten around to assembling it yet. It’s not a good look for someone who’s supposed to project a clutter-free image. “When are you going to build your bookcase?” I walk over to her desk and sit in the closest chair. “I almost tripped on it earlier.” Falling flat on my face would have surely made Emma’s article more interesting, but I can’t afford an injury right now.

“I think it’s so cute that your mother calls you Tilly,” Evie says, deflecting my question like a pro. “Are you ever going to let me call you Tilly?”

“Not a chance.” Evie and I have had this conversation before, and I know she’s just trying to distract me as I dial my mother’s number for the twentieth time in five minutes. “Why won’t this woman get call waiting?” I ask the heavens when I’m greeted with an aggravating busy signal yet again. I end the call with an angry jab of my finger and a grunt.

Evie fans out a rainbow of paint swatches on the table in front of her. “I’m sure everything is going to be okay.” She gives me a reassuring smile.

I wish I lived in Evie’s world where everything is sunshine and rainbows and you throw caution to the wind like it’s confetti at a wedding. It’s a miracle we’re friends. I’m a realist who knows that things can change in the blink of an eye and disaster is only a phone call away. “You can’t be sure of that,” I say, picking up a swatch of orange paint so bright I’m afraid it might be burning my retinas. “Are you redecorating a color-blind person’s living room? Who would voluntarily put this hideous shade on their walls?” I put the swatch down and try my parents’ number again with no success. Can you still call the operator to make sure someone’s phone is working? Do operators still exist?

“Who else? Mrs. Murray,” Evie says calmly, and it takes me a few seconds to connect the dots.

“Ah, the client who’s going to put your unborn children through college strikes again?”

Evie nods. “Yup. Apparently, the midnight sky theme that she requested for her living room is too dark and I should have known better. So now it’s all about the sunshine orange daydream, whatever that means.”

Even the most cheerful and optimistic person has something that makes them want to hide under the covers—and for Evie that something is Mrs. Murray, a notoriously difficult client who has our office’s number on speed dial.

“I’m so jealous you’re getting featured in a newspaper,” Evie says wistfully. “It’s so exciting, don’t you think?”

I make a face. “It’s the Messina Messenger, Evie. Not the New York Times. A grand total of five people will read it and then it’s going to line Mrs. Merchant’s bird cages.” Truth be told, if my face was going to be splashed across the pages of the New York Times, I wouldn’t be half as nervous. I’m fine with a million strangers reading about me, but the fact that people I grew up with are going to read it makes me want to lose my morning bagel.

As a professional organizer in New York City, Matilda Hart wages war against chaos and clutter on a daily basis for her clients—and she vows to never let it invade her own well-ordered world.

But when her boyfriend decides to deviate from the path she’s been planning for them, Matilda's perfectly structured life begins to crumble. She reluctantly finds herself back in the tiny hometown she fled a lifetime ago—determined to lay low and avoid running into anyone she used to know. So why is she reconnecting with her former best friend and putting up with the bridezilla antics of Amber, her high school nemesis?

When Matilda is tasked with keeping the bride-to-be’s heartbroken ex away from the ceremony, she discovers she has history with the man who’s trying to sabotage the wedding. Matilda quickly realizes that teaming up with cute and quirky—but hopelessly devoted—Silas Flynn could be mutually beneficial. He needs help wooing the woman he considers the love of his life and Matilda can't pass up the chance to finally get back at the meanest of the mean girls by assisting Silas in his attempts to disrupt her wedding.

Will everything go according to plan for this mismatched pair? Or will working so closely together make uptight Matilda and laid-back Silas lose sight of their common goal?

One thing's for sure—things are about to get messy.

^^^ Click to Enter! ^^^

About Cat Lavoie

Cat Lavoie is a chick lit writer from Montreal, Canada. She loves writing fun and quirky romantic comedies and is the author of BREAKING THE RULES, ZOEY & THE MOMENT OF ZEN, PERI IN PROGRESS and MESSING WITH MATILDA.

A fan of all things feline, Cat loves cats and hopes to someday have a house full of them in order to officially become a crazy cat lady. (But one or two cats will do for now.)

If she isn’t reading or writing, Cat enjoys listening to podcasts (mostly comedy and true crime) and watching way too much TV. She fell in love with London many years ago and hopes to go back one day. Cat is currently at work on her next novel.

To connect with Cat and find out more about her books, visit CatLavoie.com and follow @CatLavoieBooks on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

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Blog Tour Stop - Messing with Matilda by Cal Lavoie

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Messing With Matilda by Cat Lavoie Published by Cat Lavoie on April 4, 2018 Genres: Chick Lit, Romantic Comedy

As a professional organizer in New York City, Matilda Hart wages war against chaos and clutter on a daily basis for her clients—and she vows to never let it invade her own well-ordered world.

But when her boyfriend decides to deviate from the path she’s been planning for them, Matilda's perfectly structured life begins to crumble. She reluctantly finds herself back in the tiny hometown she fled a lifetime ago—determined to lay low and avoid running into anyone she used to know. So why is she reconnecting with her former best friend and putting up with the bridezilla antics of Amber, her high school nemesis?

When Matilda is tasked with keeping the bride-to-be’s heartbroken ex away from the ceremony, she discovers she has history with the man who’s trying to sabotage the wedding. Matilda quickly realizes that teaming up with cute and quirky—but hopelessly devoted—Silas Flynn could be mutually beneficial. He needs help wooing the woman he considers the love of his life and Matilda can't pass up the chance to finally get back at the meanest of the mean girls by assisting Silas in his attempts to disrupt her wedding.

Will everything go according to plan for this mismatched pair? Or will working so closely together make uptight Matilda and laid-back Silas lose sight of their common goal?

One thing's for sure—things are about to get messy.

^^^ Click to Enter! ^^^

About Cat Lavoie

Cat Lavoie is a chick lit writer from Montreal, Canada. She loves writing fun and quirky romantic comedies and is the author of BREAKING THE RULES, ZOEY & THE MOMENT OF ZEN, PERI IN PROGRESS and MESSING WITH MATILDA.

A fan of all things feline, Cat loves cats and hopes to someday have a house full of them in order to officially become a crazy cat lady. (But one or two cats will do for now.)

If she isn’t reading or writing, Cat enjoys listening to podcasts (mostly comedy and true crime) and watching way too much TV. She fell in love with London many years ago and hopes to go back one day. Cat is currently at work on her next novel.

To connect with Cat and find out more about her books, visit CatLavoie.com and follow @CatLavoieBooks on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Instagram | Newsletter Signup

Somebody's Daughter by Rochelle B. Weinstein

Emma and Bobby Ross enjoy a charmed life on the shores of Miami Beach. They are a model family with a successful business, an uncomplicated marriage, and two blessedly typical twin daughters, Zoe and Lily. They are established members of a tight-knit community.

Then, on the night of the girls’ fifteenth birthday party, they learn of Zoe’s heartbreaking mistake—a private and humiliating indiscretion that goes viral and thrusts her and her family into the center of a shocking public scandal.

As the family’s core is shattered by disgrace, judgment, and retribution, the fallout takes its toll. But for Emma, the shame runs deeper. Her daughter’s reckless behavior has stirred memories of her own secrets that could break a marriage, a family, and friendships forever.  

My Thoughts

I am speechless after reading this book. 

This book is amazing yet gut wrenching, sad yet uplifting.  It's powerful and tells a story that every parent of teenagers must read.

This is hands down my top book of 2018.  Why?  Because it's a book that needed to be written and is a testament to the times that our children are growing up in.  The digital age is terrifying and never ending and we all need to be aware.

This truly could be somebody's daughter/son, anyone of us.  Every teen has the risk of this type of event changing their lives forever.  No one is immune. 

When I was reading, I thought of my daughter and what I would do if this happened to my family?  What would I do?  How would I react?

Zoe show's courage wise beyond her years but what her parents need to try and teach is forgiveness.  But how can they teach forgiveness if they themselves are unable to forgive?

I recommend and will recommend this book to everyone I know.

Drink Selection

 I will pair this book with Champagne.  I toast Rochelle on an amazing book and can't wait for the next!

Rating

5 wine glasses - amazing!

About this Author

Hi readers and friends! I'm Rochelle Weinstein, and I love to read as much as I love to write. Check out my women's fiction novels, WHERE WE FALL, THE MOURNING AFTER, WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND, and soon-to-be-released SOMEBODY'S DAUGHTER (4/17) or visit my shelf to see what I've been enjoying. If you're an aspiring author, please contact me with any questions you might have regarding the writing process. Happy Reading!

Link to Purchase

Amazon

Before The Fall by Noah Hawley

On a foggy summer night, eleven people—ten privileged, one down-on-his-luck painter—depart Martha's Vineyard on a private jet headed for New York. Sixteen minutes later, the unthinkable happens: the plane plunges into the ocean. The only survivors are the painter Scott Burroughs and a four-year-old boy, who is now the last remaining member of an immensely wealthy and powerful media mogul's family.

Was it by chance that so many influential people perished? Or was something more sinister at work? A storm of media attention brings Scott fame that quickly morphs into notoriety and accusations, and he scrambles to salvage truth from the wreckage. Amid trauma and chaos, the fragile relationship between Scott and the young boy grows and glows at the heart of this stunning novel, raising questions of fate, morality, and the inextricable ties that bind us together.

My Thoughts

Such an amazing read.  I could not put it down!  I read it in less than 4 day (darn work and sleep LOL).

The development of the characters and the details of their lives that lead up to that one fateful night are detailed and draw you in page after page.

There are so many directions that this story could go, each person's story could possibly lead to the fate that was suffered that awful night - from the possibility of infidelity, fraud, money laundering, stalking, kidnapping and just plan fate.  It only takes 16 minutes to change their lives.

Will the only two survivors develop a bond that know one could possibly understand?

I can't recommend this book enough, get a copy today and dive in.

Drink Selection

I'm going with a Martha's Vineyard selection today, Eben Tide. Delish!

1 lime wedge, about 1/6 of a lime, rind removed

1 cucumber round, about 1/4-inch thick, peeled

1 pink grapefruit wedge, about 1/8 of a grape- fruit, rind removed

2 ounces Hendrick’s gin

1/2 ounce St-Germain elderberry liqueur

1/2 ounce simple syrup (see making simple syrups)

3 ounces tonic water

Slice of lime and cucumber spear, for garnish

Rating

5 wine glasses, hands down! LOVE LOVE LOVE!

About the Author

Noah Hawley is an Emmy, Golden Globe, PEN, Critics' Choice, and Peabody Award-winning author, screenwriter, and producer. He has published four novels and penned the script for the feature film Lies and Alibis. He created, executive produced, and served as showrunner for ABC's My Generation and The Unusuals and was a writer and producer on the hit series Bones. Hawley is currently executive producer, writer, and showrunner on FX's award-winning series, Fargo.

Link to Purchase

Amazon