Amanda Sellet gives us something to say “oui” about...plus a book giveaway

We're pleased to welcome Amanda Sellet to CLC today to celebrate the publication of her latest rom-com, My Best French Wedding. We've featured some of her books in the past and are glad we got a chance to chat with her this time. Her answers to our questions were enjoyable to read and we hope you will like them too. Thanks to St. Martin's Press, we have FIVE copies to give away!

Amanda Sellet is a former journalist and the author of rom-coms for teens and adults, including By the Book, which Booklist described in a starred review as, “impossible to read without laughing out loud.” She loves old movies, baked goods, and embarrassing her teen daughter. Visit Amanda at her website and on Instagram.

Synopsis:

Will it be l’amour the merrier or too haute to handle when rival reporters with a tangled history compete to tell the story of the year at a ritzy destination wedding?

Once upon a time, Walter was Hildy’s favorite person—until he crushed her teenage dreams. A decade later, she has a new beloved: the magazine she built from the ground up. Unfortunately, getting rid of Walter isn’t as easy as shedding her romantic illusions. He’s always around, vying for the juiciest scoops on the elite wedding circuit and provoking her into public displays that don’t scream “mature and sophisticated media maven.”

When Hildy scores exclusive access to the wedding of the season—a week-long parade of luxury in southern France—it’s a chance for her magazine to finally make its mark. Except Walter isn’t sitting at home crying; he’s right there in France, trying to steal Hildy’s story. Again.

Now it’s a head-to-head battle to see whose coverage will make it to print. The problem? Between the champagne and the chateaux, it’s easy to lose sight of the prize. Hildy knows better than to believe in fairy tales, but Walter is doing his best to convince her they could have a part deux.

In this gender-flipped twist on His Girl Friday, Hildy has seven days to prove she is totally over it, living her best life, and definitely not hung up on the past . . . or Walter.

“Sellet is one of the wittiest writers out there.”

―Dahlia Adler, author of Soon by You

“A joyful escape, a loving tribute to a fabulous film, and a perfect fit for armchair travellers who enjoy a lot of push in their push-and-pull love stories, and a lot of “com” in their rom-coms.”

―Jacqueline Firkins, author of The Goode Girls of Maple Lane

“Amanda Sellet is a comic genius.”

―Megan Bannen, author of The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

What is a favorite compliment you've received on your writing?
When I was still working for a newspaper full-time, I wrote a story about one of the top restaurants in Chicago. A few days after it ran, I got a call from the very famous chef’s personal assistant, asking me to hold, and then the chef himself got on the line to thank me. He told me that no one had ever written about his food so well, and since he and his restaurants had been featured in media outlets all over the world, that was thrilling to my early career self. Plus I care deeply about food, so I loved the idea that my words might have been able to bring that sublime meal to life for readers. 

How is Hildy similar to or different from you?

On the surface, Hildy is a bold and confident extrovert who acts first, whereas I am much more likely to lurk in the background making snarky comments and second-guessing myself—though I did give her some of my insecurities to balance the bravado. Nor do I share her economic privilege, to put it mildly; my background is closer to Walter’s in that respect. 

Where Hildy and I align most closely is probably our career ambitions. Writing books is a quieter lifestyle than running a magazine, but both pursuits demand a level of persistence that can appear borderline delusional from the outside. You gotta want it, as my middle brother likes to say. 

If My Best French Wedding was made into a movie, who would you cast in the leading roles?
For Hildy, I’d go with someone curly-haired who has enough of an edge to handle the rapid-fire dialogue, so maybe Zendaya or Odessa A’zion. And for Walter, I think Andrew Garfield has the right slightly shy vibe, and his hair is also on point. 

Which book made you fall in love with reading?
As a very early reader, I couldn’t get enough of Greek mythology and fairy tales and the Arabian Nights, but if we’re talking books in the strictest sense rather than collections of stories it was probably somewhere between The Light Princess by George MacDonald, The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley, whichever Madeleine L’Engle I read first, and Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series. The years between second and fifth grade may have been my peak reading era!  

If your life was a TV series, which celebrity would you want to narrate it?

Emma Thompson would be my first choice, though Tina Fey might be more fitting. 

If we were to visit you right now, what are some places you would take us to see?
The first stop would be my local indie, The Raven Book Store, to meet the majestic resident cats, Sammy and Dean, and do a little shopping. Assuming you aren’t gluten-averse, we would follow that up with a Tour de Beurre, as I have dubbed my self-guided downtown bakery crawl. Bougie donuts, a twice-baked croissant, homemade pie—there are so many options, depending on your tastes (and your tolerance for buttery pastries). Plus we might run into a few local author friends and join them for a beverage and a chat, which is one of my other favorite treats.  

Thanks to Amanda for visiting with us and to St. Martin's Press for sharing her book with our readers.

How to win: Use KingSumo to enter the giveaway. If you have trouble using KingSumo on our blog, enter the giveaway here. If you are still having issues, please contact us.

Giveaway ends August 17th at midnight EST.

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Book Review: Breathing Under Water

By Melissa Amster

The current is threatening to pull them under.

Berry thought she had it figured out—juggling her vice principal role while raising her sixteen-year-old autistic son, Leo. But when a promotion opportunity collides with her family's deepest needs, she must confront whether she's been fighting the wrong battles all along.

McKenna is drowning. Between caring for her grandmother with dementia, losing her swimming scholarship, and facing homelessness, the college student's carefully constructed world is crumbling. Her only lifeline? Teaching swim lessons to children with autism—including Leo.

As these two women's paths converge in the most unexpected way, they discover that sometimes the people who need saving the most are the ones who end up saving you. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

I'm so glad I got an early opportunity to read Breathing Under Water! It was incredibly good throughout and I had a hard time putting it down. I cared a lot about both of the main characters, as well as Leo. 

This was a fast read for me as it was so engaging that I picked it up every chance I had. Even though Berry and I had more in common, I felt more of a kinship with McKenna. I did like Berry, but after a while, I felt like her energy and focus got transferred to Leo. I really liked Leo's connection with McKenna. There was also a Jewish aspect to the story that I appreciated.

There's a lot happening in this story and a good balance of narrative between Berry and McKenna. I don't want to say too much because I worry about spoiling something and I want it to unfold for you naturally. I will admit that I can relate to McKenna's anger, even though I'm not as likely to act on mine in a drastic way. However, I can understand why she'd make the choices she did, even if they weren't always the wisest. 

My only concern was that one aspect of the story didn't have closure and would have liked it to be resolved more.

If you're looking for a heartfelt and thoughtful read, pick this one up. I can't stop recommending it!

Movie casting suggestions:

Berry: Maggie Siff

McKenna: Lizzy Greene

Phil: Eric Dane

Yvonne: Lindsay Sloane

Coach Cat: Morgan Spector

Glory: Lily Tomlin

(Trigger warnings below. May contain spoilers.)

Thanks to Harper Muse for the book in exchange for an honest review.

More by Jacqueline Friedland:

Counting Backwards

He Gets That from Me

That's Not a Thing

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TW: Alzheimers, homelessness, child goes missing, loss of job, marital strife.

Book Review: Destination Funeral

By Sara Steven

When Babe—the complicated, magnetic matriarch of their teenage summers—dies, four estranged friends return to sleepy Mercy Island, a storm-swept stretch of coastal Georgia, summoned by the reading of her will.

Didion arrives at the timeworn pink house to find the friends she never thought she’d see again—along with the tensions, attractions, and unfinished business that once bound them together and broke them apart.

What should be a brief weekend of small talk quickly unravels when they wake up and discover...it’s Saturday. Again. And again. And again.

Trapped in a time loop with no end and no instructions, they’re forced to confront the betrayals, breakups, and buried truths that shattered them all those years ago. Because maybe, just maybe, an endless weekend is exactly what they all need to save their own lives. (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)

Destination Funeral was like the contentious friendship’s version of Groundhog Day. You’ve got Didion, who swore she would never go back to Mercy Island, given the way things ended with not only her mother, Babe, but her friends and once-close sister, Sammie. You’ve got Matt, the happy-go-lucky guy who wants everyone to get along, despite his own detriment. Then there’s Austin, Didion’s ex–who totally wronged her while he worked hard to leave his past behind, and of course, the once-close sister, Sammie, who never wants to grow up. The four used to be inseparable, but now it takes Babe’s death to bring the four together.

And together they will be. What starts off as a quick weekend funeral, turns into the foursome reliving the same day over and over again. Through that, Didion has a chance to work through a lot of the resentment she has towards the people who used to mean the world to her, along with the disconnect she has with Babe. It’s hard not to understand and side with Didion when it comes to her reasons behind the separation. I think the situation that got to me the most is when Didion reflects on Sammie’s horrible ex selling off Didion’s beloved Jeep for money, with no thought to even consult Didion about it. And no one seems to bat an eye. It seemed like there were a lot of scenarios similar to that one, where Didion’s feelings and needs are completely looked over, while everyone coddles Sammie.

It hasn’t been all roses for Sammie, either. Didion learns that–along with finding out what’s been really going on for the others, too. Things haven’t been so happy-go-lucky for Matt, and Austin had to completely shelve the dreams he’d had since childhood. It’s obvious that honesty and transparency was never a driving force before, but through the endless Saturdays they live through, the chance and opportunity for that becomes apparent. The repeat days were cleverly written and a nice touch to the story. 

The biggest relationship to work through is the one Didion had with Babe. All four friends wonder if Babe herself had set some sort of spell over the family home (Birdsong), and maybe she did. I won’t discount that. I think the magic and wonder of childhood that dwelled within the characters might have been the real catalyst, but no matter where it had come from, it was sorely needed. There was strong character evolution for everyone involved, even the deceased, all told in a witty, acerbic way that made me want to keep reading. It was also extremely sweet and touching, making Destination Funeral a much-needed five-star read! 

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the book in exchange for an honest review.

More by Paige Harbison:
The Other Side of Now
Anything to Have You
New Girl

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Spotlight: Tangled Webs

To the outside world, Sage Deverill has it all. In truth, her marriage is a gilded cage.

When Sage flees from her marriage at a crumbling Panamanian estate, she takes her young son to the only place that has ever felt like home: her grandparents’ estate in Newmarket, the beating heart of the racing world in the British countryside. Surrounded by ivy-clad walls, the kindness of her family and the thunder of hooves on the heath, Sage reconnects with the place, people and creatures she loves most.

Riding beneath the wide Suffolk skies, Sage encounters Rafe Dunbarton—an ambitious, intriguing racehorse trainer with a gentle soul. What begins as friendship soon becomes an irresistible pull between two people who never expected to find each other.

But just as Sage rediscovers her freedom, her past returns in a tangle of destruction and lies and she is forced to decide how much she is willing to risk for her future . . . (Synopsis courtesy of Harper Perennial.)

Purchase Tangled Webs

Credit: Oli Tennent

Callie Coles is a British novelist whose love of animals, nature and family life in the countryside infuses her storytelling. Callie balances her life as a mother with her passion for writing and horses, sharing her journey through her Instagram and Substack, where she has a following of over one million. In addition to her work as a novelist, Callie has contributed to various publications and collaborated with several leading British brands. Her writing reflects themes of resilience, connection to the land, and the emotional bonds between people and animals, all set against the vivid backdrop of rural life. Tangled Webs is her first novel and the first installment in the Spinning Silks trilogy.

Visit Callie online:
Substack * Instagram * TikTok * YouTube

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Book Review and Giveaway: The Women in White

Extrasensory perception.

The Gift.

A Sixth Sense.

Or something else….

In 1964, four remarkable young women at a prestigious university became the subjects of parapsychology experiments by a visionary scientist. On the cusp of a historic breakthrough, the women mysteriously vanished and the program was erased from history.

Decades later, Riley Bell, newly divorced and desperate for a fresh start, accepts a caretaker job for an elderly widow named Betty. Riley steps into a home that is frozen in another era - no microwave, television, or cell phones, and Betty has never heard of the internet.

Why has Betty lived in such profound isolation for so many years, and why does she need Riley now? As the story unfolds across two timelines - Betty’s 1960s era of 5 o’clock martinis and high-stakes experiments, and Riley’s quest to uncover the truth about the missing women - old secrets rise to the surface. And the only way to survive is to confront the mystery that has lingered for sixty years. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

Jami Denison:

When I was fifteen, my father and I went to the Edgar Cayce Museum while we were on vacation in Virginia Beach. Edgar Cayce was a self-proclaimed clairvoyant and a founder of the New Age movement, and his museum had stations where people could test their own abilities. For a lark, Dad and I played a game where he picked a card and I tried to guess which card he was holding. I didn’t receive any visions or hear a voice whispering in my ear, but I guessed the majority of the cards. Maybe the museum set it up that way as a joke. In any case, I never heard anything back from them. 

I hadn’t thought about that day for years until I picked up Sarah Pekkanen’s latest novel, The Women In White. Those cards play an important role in the author’s latest thriller.

When Riley Bell takes a job as a caretaker for paraplegic elderly new widow Betty, the connection between them is immediate. It’s like Betty knows things without Riley having to say anything. Even though Riley is bemused by Betty’s life and home—both of which seem stuck in the 1960s—soon the widow trusts her enough to tell stories about her past. And what stories they were.

In 1964, Betty’s husband worked for a parapsychology researcher at Marquis University. When Betty gets all the cards right in the card test, Douglas brings her to Dr. Trimble—a decision that will change many people’s lives forever. 

Trimble brings Betty together with three other women who seem to have cognitive abilities, experimenting on them and strengthening their gifts. But Trimble is a hard task master, and his demands wear them down. After the experiments ended, Betty lost track of her friends.

Now elderly Betty wants to know what happened to them. And as Riley researches the past, it becomes clear that there are still people out there who want to continue what Dr. Trimble started. 

Extra-sensory perception is an intriguing topic, and Pekkanen peppers her book with quotes from real studies on the subject, grounding the narrative in reality. The 1960s sections are filled with women who have no greater purpose than serving their husbands, who smoke and drink during pregnancy because “being calm is good for the baby.” Having been taught that their only purpose is to serve men, Betty and her friends are unable to fight back when Dr. Trimble’s demands become unreasonable and dangerous. Reading how they routinely put their own needs last, even as they were being given tools to grow their abilities, was heartbreaking. 

Riley, Betty, and her friends all come across as earnest, sweet women, and the reader roots for them to strengthen into their own power. Sadly, that does not happen. The present-day sections follow routine thriller plot points, with Riley dealing with her own issues as she closes in on what happened to Betty and her friends. 

In today’s world, where people can bet on the Superbowl coin toss and celebrities’ wedding dates, there are myriad options an author can take when writing a thriller about ESP. I admit I was a little disappointed about the track Pekkanen took. It felt predictable rather than surprising. (On the other hand, maybe it’s just hard to surprise me. The cards, after all.)

Still, Pekkanen deserves applause for introducing an element normally found in fantasy or science fiction and dropping it into female-led suspense. I just wish she’d let her women take their abilities and run. 

Melissa Amster:

I always enjoy a Sarah Pekkanen thriller and I couldn't get enough of her latest, The Women in White. It takes "psychological thriller" to a whole new level. 

I will just say that I was horrified and appalled by what was happening to the women in this novel. There are a lot of twists and turns and Sarah kept me guessing the entire time. I didn't know what to expect. The story was full of mystery and intrigue. I was trying to figure out why Betty still lives a 1960s lifestyle. That aspect made me think of the movie Blast from the Past.

Silas Trimble was horrible. I hated him so much. I wanted to reach into the book and communicate to the women to get away from him as soon as possible! 

One part of the novel felt a bit far fetched to me, but I definitely didn't see it coming either. 

Sarah did a lot of research for this novel and it shows. I found the women's abilities to be fascinating, especially since I've had many psychic moments (enough that one of my friends calls me a witch).

You will find yourself devouring The Women in White if you like a good thriller as much as I do. It is so addictive! Some parts of the story made me think of The Book Club for Troublesome Women, even though they are totally different novels altogether. Having said that, fans of historical fiction who also enjoy thrillers will appreciate this one.

(Trigger warnings below. May contain spoilers.)

Movie casting suggestions:
Betty (1960s): Oona Laurence 
Betty (present): Sally Field
Riley: Margaret Qualley
Kathleen: Isabel May
Ivy: Sadie Laflamme-Snow
Helen: Emma Myers
Dr. Trimble: Paul Dano
Douglas: Robert Capron

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the book in exchange for an honest review. They have one copy to give away!

How to win: Use KingSumo to enter the giveaway. If you have trouble using KingSumo on our blog, enter the giveaway here. If you are still having issues, please contact us.

Giveaway ends August 9th at midnight EST.

More by Sarah Pekkanen:

House of Glass

The Locked Ward

Gone Tonight

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TW: loss of baby, kidnapping, sexual harassment, gambling addiction, paralysis, postpartum depression

Book Review: Murder at Christmas

 

By Sara Steven

Private investigator Dan Armstrong, accompanied by his wife and his canine sidekick, Oscar, are spending the days before Christmas in a luxurious Alpine chalet tucked away in a hidden valley. It should be the perfect escape, except the owner is in fear for his life.

A house full of secrets...

Amid perfect winter wonderland scenery, the more Dan discovers about his host and the other guests, he realises that all is not as it seems. What should be a happy family party is riddled with rancour, mistrust and hatred.

A killer in the snow?

Then the snow falls – fast and heavy – and within moments, someone is dead. Accident, suicide, or murder? As the snow closes in, Dan has to work out if he's looking for a killer, or whether he and Oscar are barking up the wrong tree. (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads.)

Ordinary, Dan is tasked with figuring out whodunnit, but this go around, his goal is to prevent a murder, which was an interesting change of pace for one of my favorite private investigators and his canine sidekick, Oscar! Another difference is the background scenery. While mostly all of this author’s stories takes place in fantastically sunny and warm locales that one can only dream of visiting someday, me included, this go around there is a lot of snow, adding a complex level for Dan when he tries to do some sleuthing. It’s remote and it’s far from modern civilization, the perfect place to commit a crime.

The primary question becomes: did a crime take place? The man he is set to protect becomes a tragic victim, all leads pointing to an accidental death or suicide. True to Dan’s nature, he sets out interrogating the other guests of the chalet, working methodically through his list in order to narrow down and figure out the truth behind the potential transgression. I’ve always appreciated the way Dan operates, showing his skill sets from his days as a former detective. It isn’t easy, and there are plenty of twists and turns along the way when one suspect comes up empty and leads turn into dead ends, making Dan question everything. It helped to keep the reader on the hook, too, never really knowing what was on the other end of Dan’s discoveries.

I say this a lot after reading a book from the Armstrong and Oscar Cozy Mystery series, but Oscar is just the best partner for Dan, hands down! He is such a charismatic canine, always there to assist characters in their time of need, or to do all he can for Dan, whether it’s as a support system or at times, his protector. This go around, there was another dog for Oscar to play with named Winston, who was a sweet addition to the group. There was a pretty important moment involving Winston that really got the story moving forward.

The juxtaposition between the quiet, remote snowy Alpine chalet during a holiday no less, with the jarring events that take place there, really was a nice way to amp up the fear factor and add an element of mystery and suspense. Murder at Christmas was another great addition for Dan and Oscar and this series! 

Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Purchase Links:
Amazon US * Amazon UK

Author bio (in his own words):

I’m a man. And a pretty old man as well. I studied languages at Nottingham University a long time ago and then lived and worked in France and Switzerland before going to work in Italy for seven years. My Italian wife and I then came back to the UK with our little daughter (now long-since grown up) where I ran a big English language school for many years. We now live in a sleepy little village in Devonshire. I’ve been writing almost all my life but it was only 13 years ago that I finally managed to find a publisher who liked my work enough to offer me my first contract.

I started off writing romances but after 28 of them, I knew I wanted to try something different, and so the first of the Armstrong and Oscar cozy mysteries, Murder in Tuscany, was born three years ago. I’ve been having a lot of fun ever since getting to know the dynamic duo (and introducing them to people all over the world). These books are cosy crime [a genre I didn't even know existed when I started writing them). They are murder mysteries, but not gory, over-violent stuff, but stories designed to exercise the brain of the reader and to put a smile on their face. Maybe it’s because there are so many horrible things happening in the world today that I feel I need to do my best to provide something to cheer my readers up. My books provide escapism to some gorgeous locations all over my beloved Italy.

Visit T.A. Williams online:
Website * Facebook * Instagram 

Sign up for his newsletter.

More by T.A. Williams:
Dreaming of Venice
What Happens in Tuscany
When Alice Met Danny

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Book Review: Time Travel for Beginners

By Allyson Bales

*Skip over the synopsis if you want to go in blind like Allyson did.**

On a bustling road in Sydney, Australia, lies a nondescript storefront known simply as the Time Travel Agency. Inside, you’ll be welcomed by the smell of fresh-brewed coffee, a selection of baked goods…and the question, Where in time do you wish to go?

The guidelines are simple: you can go whenever you wish into the past, and there’s no fear of altering the present. Have tea with Jane Austen, scream at a Beatles concert, witness the Olympics in ancient Greece. Perhaps a more personal trip? Visit your long-lost grandmother, recapture the heady days of your youth, return to the idyllic time when your teen was a babbling baby—or watch yourself make the one decision that changed everything.

Is it a hoax? And if it’s real, what’s the catch?

When single mother Anna is offered a job at the agency, she glimpses the possibility of happiness. Meanwhile, Teddy’s a customer hoping to untangle his recently imploded marriage. And Jade, who has a deeply buried secret, despises the agency for offering false hope.

In Jaclyn Moriarty’s incandescent novel, Anna, Teddy, and Jade leap headlong into time, hurtling on a crash course toward one another. At turns entertaining and illuminating, Time Travel for Beginners explores the moments, big and small, that shape our destiny. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

I went into this book blind based completely on the title, because I am a HUGE fan of time travel and magical realism in stories, and the author. I suggest you do the same if you’re a fan of those things too! 

BUT if you can’t, I’ll share a few things with you. 

This is probably one of the more interesting books I’ve read this year. When I wasn’t reading it, I couldn’t wait to be back with the characters. It almost felt like a show I was bingeing but had to stop to do life things and couldn’t wait to get back to it. There are multiple points of view, which is always fun. The story is very character-driven with deep development that is layered, vulnerable, emotional, and quite relatable. Lastly, I couldn’t get to the end fast enough! 

I really, really enjoyed this one and wish there was a Time Travel Agency in real life! 

Thanks to Berkley for the book in exchange for an honest review. Purchase Time Travel for Beginners here.

More by Jaclyn Moriarty:
The Year of Secret Assignments
Gravity is the Thing
A Corner of White

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