We're mad about Sally Hepworth...plus a book giveaway

We're thrilled to have Sally Hepworth at CLC today to celebrate the publication of her latest novel, Mad Mabel! Melissa said that this is one of Sally's best and she is excited for you to read it soon. We enjoyed reading her answers to our questions (she's so funny) and we hope you will too. Check out her review. Thanks to St. Martin's Press, we have one copy to give away!

Sally Hepworth is the New York Times bestselling author of nine novels, including The Good Sister and The Soulmate. Drawing on the good, the bad and the downright odd of human behaviour, Sally writes incisively about family, relationships and identity. Her domestic thriller novels are laced with quirky humour, sass and a darkly charming tone. They are available worldwide in English and have been translated into twenty languages. Sally lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her family and one adorable dog.

Visit Sally online:
Website * Facebook * Instagram

Synopsis:

Meet Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick: eighty-one years old, gloriously grumpy, fiercely independent, and never without a hot cup of tea—or a cutting remark. She minds her own business in her quiet Melbourne suburb, until a neighbor turns up dead and the whispers start flying.

Because Elsie hasn’t always been Elsie. Once upon a headline, she was Mad Mabel Waller—Australia’s youngest convicted murderer. But was she really mad, or just misunderstood? Either way, she’s kept her secret buried for decades.

Enter seven-year-old Persephone, a relentless little chatterbox who has just moved in across the road (armed with stickers, questions, and no sense of personal boundaries); Joan, who appears to have it in for Elsie; and a healthy dose of public interest—the cops are sniffing around, and the media is circling like seagulls at a picnic.

So Mabel does what she’s always done best—she takes matters into her own hands.

Is she a cantankerous old lady with a shady past? A cold-blooded killer with arthritis? Or just someone who’s finally ready to tell her side of the story?

Sharp, surprising, and wickedly funny, this is the unforgettable story of a woman who’s spent a lifetime being underestimated—and is about to prove everyone wrong. Again. (Courtesy of Amazon.)

What is a favorite compliment you have received on your writing?

Like most tortured writers, I tend to remember my one-star reviews more than any compliments! There’s one that lives rent-free in my brain and is so hilarious I have to share. It said, ‘So cheesy. And not the good kind like Camembert. The processed, cheap stuff.’ That kept me laughing for days . 

But not to be too self-flagellating, I always love when people say they connect with my characters and find comfort in my books (even though they’re usually about murder).

What is one thing you would tell the debut novelist version of yourself?

Dear Sally, don’t be disheartened by the two audience members at this library event (one who only came for the scones). It’s hard to imagine right now, but one day you’ll fill a room with hundreds of people in multiple cities who love your writing. Tickets will sell so fast that you’ll feel like Taylor Swift. Keep going.

If Mad Mabel were made into a movie, what songs would be on the soundtrack?

"Mad World" by Gary Jules, "Still Mad" by Florence and the Machine, and I’ve always had this vision of Dolly Parton’s "9 to 5" playing in a murder scene! I think it would be hilarious.

What is the last movie you saw that you would recommend?

I’m much more of a TV series gal and I am currently loving How to Get to Heaven From Belfast on Netflix. It’s like Derry Girls meets Bad Sisters and the perfect mix of funny and dark. 

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

I just adore Tina Fey and think she’d be fabulous at narrating my life. 

Thanks to Sally for chatting 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 April 26th at midnight EST.

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Book Review: Into the Blue

By Allyson Bales

“The truth is there’s no such thing as a normal life. There’s just the time you get and how you spend it.”

In the summer of 2000, AJ Graves dreams of writing for Saturday Night Live; instead, she’s stuck working in a video rental store, with slim odds of escaping her small Massachusetts town. Then in walks Noah Drew, the enigmatic and intense scion of the Drew acting dynasty, and her life changes forever. Despite wildly different upbringings, the two forge a deep, cosmic bond, first as friends, then as acting partners—until one day, Noah disappears without a word.

Seven years later, in New York City, AJ is shocked to find herself cast in the same intergalactic TV production as Noah, by then a well-known Hollywood heartthrob. As their on-screen characters grow closer every day, the lines between reality and acting begin to blur. Unable to stay away from each other, AJ and Noah are forced to confront the truth of what happened years ago—and the devastating secret that will send their lives careening apart, even as fate continues to draw them together.

Blending unforgettable characters, explosive chemistry and yearning, and profound emotion, Into the Blue is a journey unlike any other—one that asks: What does it mean to diverge from the script to forge your own story? (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

I don’t even know where to start with this review…

This story is probably one of the more unique love stories I have read but I don’t want to tell you too much because I went into this one blind and I really, really recommend you do the same!

I started this book while I was nursing my daughter on a Friday night.  Being seven months postpartum, I usually nurse her and as soon as she falls asleep I try to get some sleep too but not this Friday night.  I was completely enamored with AJ and Noah from the very beginning and needed to know what happened to them.  These are characters I will definitely remember and as soon as you meet them, you will too.

If that’s not enough to convince you to read this book, here's a few more things I don’t think will ruin the reading experience for you. 

Slow burn.

Comedy shows and SNL skits.

A really, really cute doggy named Bud

Some side characters you are going to love and others that are going to infuriate you

Julian Whelan narrates the audio and I LOVED it! 

That’s it, that’s all you get and I hope you’ll reach out to me once you read it so that we can yap about it together.

I really loved this one, will be a favorite of the year for sure, and look forward to you loving it too!

Thanks to Random House for the book in exchange for an honest review. Purchase your copy here.

Also by Emma Brodie: Songs in Ursa Major

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Book Review: The Take

By Jami Denison

“Take” has many meanings. It’s the opposite of “give.” It’s a person’s share of a business or money left over after expenses. It’s an opportunity. It’s an interpretation of an event. In Hollywood-speak, it’s a different way to approach a known story. That there are so many definitions to the term is the first clue that Kelly Yang’s adult debut novel The Take is a multilayered, meaningful story that goes way beyond its propulsive plot. It’s a look at ambition, aging, sacrifice, feminism, parenting, marriage, friendship, and more. Through the points-of-view of two very different women, Yang captures the contentious dynamic between Gen X and Gen Z.

Feminist producer Ingrid Parker is tired of needing men to greenlight her projects. She’s 53 and she’s made 17 movies, for pete’s sake. But when her doctor tells her she has pre-cancerous cells, Ingrid would do anything to stay healthy. Her husband Kyle offers to use the $3 million settlement he got after getting fired for hiring hookers on the company dime to fund an experimental procedure: Ten blood transfusions from a young donor that would de-age Ingrid by ten years, while taking ten years from the giver. But even with all that money, who would be desperate enough to take that deal?

Former MFA student Maggie Wang is just that desperate. She quit her program when she found out her boyfriend slept with the famous author who told her she needed more life experience before she could write. When Ingrid tells her about the procedure, Maggie jumps. It’s not just for the money, which she’ll use to help her mother get dental surgery and her actress roommate to stop making cams. It’s for the chance to learn from all of Ingrid’s years of Hollywood experience. Maybe Ingrid can even help her get an agent! 

But as Ingrid literally sucks the blood out of Maggie, she also takes her ideas and her words. Ingrid sees it as mentoring, as Maggie “paying her dues” and doing the work in an industry notorious for demanding free labor and not giving second chances. Maggie thinks Ingrid is using her. And worst of all—those ten years that Maggie sold Ingrid? They might have been an underestimation. 

The Take is told from both women’s third-person points-of-view, and they both come across as sympathetic. Despite her reputation, Ingrid has no real power in Hollywood. An early scene shows her marching across a men’s-only golf club course to talk to her studio head, amid shouts of “I didn’t know your husband belonged here.” Her primary goal for the transfusions is to keep Kyle out of younger women’s beds. Her nearly adult children don’t value her. Maggie won’t listen to her advice about how Hollywood works and the best way to get ahead. Ingrid’s faults, however, keep her from being completely sympathetic. Rather than confess to her powerlessness, she lies to and manipulates the younger (often of color) women in her orbit who look to her as a mentor. She lies to Maggie about the real reason she wants the transfusions. And she continues to punish Kyle for his transgressions. 

Maggie starts the book being betrayed by an older woman, but she doesn’t hold that against Ingrid. The child of immigrant parents who worked day and night to keep her fed and clothed, Maggie has trauma from growing up that Ingrid teaches her to channel into her writing. She’s genuinely excited to help Ingrid look younger and to learn from her. But Maggie isn’t willing to wait her turn and play the Hollywood game. She wants money and recognition now. She gets bad advice from friends her age who tell her to use Ingrid’s name to get ahead. When she offers a fresh and exciting take on one of Ingrid’s projects, she thinks she deserves to be the screenwriter, even though she’s never written a screenplay. 

The interplay between the women is fascinating, as both their perspectives seem valid. Ingrid takes Maggie’s idea without giving her credit; isn’t this wrong? Ingrid knows that ideas are a dime a dozen and execution is all that matters. All Maggie has written is a single novella. Can she even write? The transfusions, the spine of the story, are the physical symbol of the relationship between them, but the question of how many years you would give up for how much money is something that extends beyond these two characters. Gen Z sees Gen X as people who wasted years in cold workplaces, sacrificing time with family and friends, only to lose their jobs in middle age. Gen X sees Gen Z as kids who aren’t committed to their careers, aren’t willing to come into the office like adults do, or answer their texts after 6pm. 

The Take resonated with me in an extremely personal way. I’ve been a writer since I was Maggie’s age. I’ve written novels, screenplays, short films. I’ve taken classes, won awards, gotten rejected by some of the biggest names in Hollywood and publishing. Now I’m older than Ingrid. If I had three million, would I spend it to go back ten years? Maybe. No matter your age, the industry always makes you feel like you’re running out of time. There’s always someone with a better take, with more connections, with the idea you’ve been working on for years. You have to finish your project and get it into the right hands before someone beats you to it. Yang’s exploration of these pressures proves that “write what you know” is more than just a pithy saying.  

I saw both women as protagonists, and I was hoping for a happy ending for both of them. But Yang may have intended them to be viewed differently, as she only gives one a bright resolution. Still, as everyone in the industry knows, you’re only as successful as your latest project.

The Take proves the adage: The more specific the characters, the more universal their plights will feel. Ingrid and Maggie resonate with readers of all ages, whether or not they’re also writers. The blood transfusion that will restore or sell youth may not exist, but the question of what we will give up for money is a trade-off that all generations end up grappling with. 

Thanks to Berkley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

More by Kelly Yang (YA titles):
Parachutes
Private Label

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Spotlight and Giveaway: The Book Witch

The Book Witch is Meg Shaffer's latest novel and it is now available for everyone to read. We're excited to feature it here today! Melissa really liked it and will be reviewing soon. You can check out her Bookstagram post in the meantime. Readers who enjoyed The Astral Library (by Kate Quinn) will also appreciate this novel. Thanks to Random House, we have THREE copies to give away!

She can hop into any novel, but she just can’t stay there.

Rainy March is a proud, third-generation Book Witch, sworn to defend works of fiction from all foes real and imaginary. With her magical umbrella and feline familiar, she jumps in and out of novels to fix malicious alterations and rogue heroes like a modern-day magical Nancy Drew.

Book Witches live by a strict code: Real people belong in the real world; fictional characters belong in works of fiction. Do not eat, drink, or sleep inside a fictional world, lest you become part of the story. Falling in love with a fictional character? Don’t even think about it.

Which is why Rainy has been forbidden from seeing the Duke of Chicago, the dashing British detective who stars in her favorite mystery series. If she’s ever caught with him again, she’ll be expelled from her book coven—and forced to give up the magical gifts that are as much a part of her as her own name.

But when her beloved grandfather disappears and a priceless book is stolen, there’s only one person she trusts to help her solve the case: the Duke. Their quest takes them through the worlds of Alice in Wonderland, King Arthur, and other classics that will reveal hidden enemies and long-buried family secrets.

“Meg Shaffer continues to surprise and delight me with each book she writes.”
—Laurie Gilmore, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Pumpkin Spice Café

“Meg Shaffer brought my childhood dreams to life in a gem of a book that is inventive, cozy, and important all at the same time.”
—Samantha Sotto Yambao, author of Water Moon

“A clever and heartfelt adventure . . . This novel captures the giddy, perilous magic of losing yourself in a good story, just like Rainy does. It’s a luminous, wildly imaginative delight that every book lover will cherish.”
—Hayley Gelfuso, author of The Book of Lost Hours

© Chanel Nicole Co.

Meg Shaffer is the USA Today bestselling author of The Lost Story and The Wishing Game, which was a Book of the Month finalist for Book of the Year as well as a Reader’s Digest and Washington Post Best Book of the Year, and has been translated into twenty-three languages. Shaffer holds an MFA in TV and Screenwriting from Stephens College. She lives in Kentucky with her husband and two cats. The cats are not writers.

Visit Meg online:
Website * Facebook * Instagram

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 April 21st at midnight EST.

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Book Review: The Insomniacs

In the city that never sleeps, it’s not always easy to share what’s on your mind with the people who know you best. Huddled in an all-night diner over coffee and pancakes, a lonely middle-aged mom, an injured baseball pro, an elusive retiree, and a young waitress examine the thoughts that plague them in the middle of the night.

Empty-nester Sybil does what she does best: rolls up her sleeves and spearheads the efforts to turn this group of strangers into friends. Aimless after an injury threatens to ruin his career, Zeke finds genuine connection among the unlikely group. Tight-lipped Julian, who’s seemingly adrift in retirement and attempting to rebuild a relationship with his daughter, expands their circle when he takes their cagey diner waitress, Betty, under his wing. Betty, cautious about strangers and uncertain about strokes of good luck, entertains the trio in an attempt to resolve her own problems, which she keeps close to the vest.

Within a few restless months, the group of strangers have become a fragile family. And when one of them goes missing in the dead of night, they’re thrust into a propulsive mystery pulled straight from the true-crime podcasts Sybil obsesses over. Though ill-prepared and unequipped for the job, they begin to piece together the clues left behind. In chasing down answers, they uncover a reason for their friend’s disappearance, and are forced to wrestle with the question of how well you can really know anyone—and once you do, how much are you willing to risk to save them? And in doing so, save yourself? (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

Allyson Bales:

I am a HUGE Allison Winn Scotch fan.  I first fell in love with her writing when I read Time of My Life in 2008 and can still remember where I was and what was going on in my life when I read it.  

I highly suggest you read her whole backlog after you read The Insomniacs.

This story was different from Allison’s typical flavor but I really, really enjoyed it and mark my words, it's going to be a beach read of summer!

The Insomniacs follows a foursome of not-so-sleepy New Yorkers that met on an internet forum and later at an all night diner.  The story is part mystery, part women's fiction, part romance-ish and is so bingy!  I kid you not, I could not turn the pages fast enough to see what happens to these characters!  

I love a character driven story and you really are going to fall in love with them all.  I don’t want to tell you too much about them because well…just go meet them!  BUT, I found myself the most enamored with Sybil and I will be curious who you liked.

This story is perfect for fans of heartfelt characters and easy flowing stories.  I love that you get alternating chapters of all of their points of view that are short and really keep the story engaging!  I really would love to see this one turned into a movie!

Grab this one, you’re in for a real treat!

I also recommend the audio if you can. January LaVoy narrates and I could not stop listening!

Melissa Amster:

Each novel Allison Winn Scotch writes is so different from the next, so I didn't know what to expect from The Insomniacs. I was pleasantly surprised though and had a very hard time putting this novel down. 

I liked the concept of this novel a lot. People bound by their inability to sleep, coming together at an all-night diner and befriending a waitress working the graveyard shift. There's more to the story though and as their friendship moves into other spaces outside of the diner, things get more complex. I don't want to say too much as to not spoil the premise. I was definitely surprised by what happened toward the middle of the story and where things went after that. There was a mystery involved, as well. 

All of the characters were really interesting and I enjoyed getting to know them and seeing them interact. Everyone was just so genuine (even the ones with something to hide) and the dialogue stayed fresh the entire time. I just really wanted to know how things would turn out for them and couldn't stop turning the pages until I got answers...and those were not what I was expecting either. 

Overall, this was just a great story and it has become my favorite of Allison's novels! I can't stop recommending it either.

Side note: I found some small coincidences with Jodi Picoult's upcoming novel, Hollow Bones: The name Eloise is used in both and they have characters who were raised in a similar way. 

(Trigger warnings at the bottom of this post. May include spoilers.)

Movie casting suggestions:

Sybil: Zibby Allen (I had her in mind right away.)
Zeke: Anthony De La Torre
Betty: Maisy Stella
Julian: Jesse L. Martin

Thanks to Berkley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

More by Allison Winn Scotch:

Time of My Life

Between Me and You

The Rewind

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TW: Religious cult. Death of a main character. Infidelity. Household accident involving a lot of blood. Divorce. Being stalked. 

Spotlight and Giveaway: Stranger Things Have Happened

Today we are pleased to celebrate the publication of Kasie West's latest rom-com, Stranger Things Have Happened! This sounds like a fun story and even gives some Shrinking vibes. St. Martin's Publishing Group is giving away five finished copies!

Can fake dating lead to real love? In Kasie West's next sexy adult romcom two people must decide where the lie ends and the chemistry begins.

Sutton knows she needs therapy. After all, she’s managing her newly opened restaurant remotely while taking care of her ungrateful sick mother. Plus, her boyfriend of two years just dumped her over the phone. But does therapy with a handsome stranger, who she has to pretend to be engaged to, in order to help her friend’s struggling relationship count? Probably not. Then why did she just agree to go? Because she’s had a few too many drinks? Because this stranger, Elijah, is smug and annoying and really, really handsome? Because she feels guilty that she abandoned her best friend, Tara, after high school and this might just make up for it? Whatever the reason, she has committed to this unhinged plan.

What the hell is Sutton doing?

Helping Tara prove a point: a good therapist can tell the difference between real love and fake love. That’s what she’s doing. But as they attend their sessions, Sutton and Elijah only seem to be proving one thing—the lines between pretend desire and real desire are very blurry. This true connection forming between them is threatening to unravel everything Sutton thought she knew about family, friendship, and her own heart.

"There’s plenty of fun and laughter to be had along the way, and Sutton proves an endearing heroine. West’s fans will be well pleased." 
―Publishers Weekly

“West’s follow-up to her adult romance debut (We Met Like This) will suit the readers who’ve grown up reading her young adult novels and...readers who enjoy Christina Lauren.” 
―Library Journal

“We’re suckers for fake dating books, and Stranger Things Have Happened by Kasie West approaches the subject in a delightful (and pro-therapy) new way…a steamy adult rom-com that manages to feel fun and romantic while also juggling much headier topics.” 
―Sweety High

Kasie West is the author of more than fifteen (and counting) young adult novels. Her books have been named ALA-YALSA Quick Picks, Junior Library Guild Selections, and ALA-YALSA Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults. Her books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Kasie is also the author of We Met Like This, her adult debut. When she’s not writing, she’s binge-watching television, devouring books, or taking care of her growing collection of houseplants. Kasie lives with her family in central California.

Visit Kasie online:
Website * Facebook * Instagram

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 April 19th at midnight EST.

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Book Review: While You Were Seething

By Sara Steven

Daisy Emmett has been enemies with famous romance author Caleb Miller since they were in college together, and time hasn’t lessened their mutual loathing. So when she agrees to manoeuvre him through a PR disaster of his own making, she knows it’s not going to be easy. She just doesn’t realise how not easy until they somehow end up trapped in the same truck, on an endless road trip from one book tour stop to another, bantering and butting heads along the way.

Then, even more horrifying: people appear to be mistaking her for the woman he dedicates all his books to. The love of his life, his adored beloved―the one who doesn’t actually exist. Now they’re trapped into pretending she does and that Daisy is her, each fake kiss and phoney embrace ratcheting up the tension to the point where enemies suddenly seems a lot closer to lovers than either of them would like.

Or so they’re telling themselves.

But sometimes it’s hard to be sure, when seething turns into something so much more… (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)

Charlotte Stein writes her fictional men the way I like my fictional men: big, burly and grouchy, with soft, gooey insides that only a uniquely written female protagonist can truly discover. Caleb is that big, burly grouchy man, with the same type of personality that Daisy remembers from their college years. He hasn’t changed a bit. Has he? After not seeing each other for years, he’s still as cantankerous as always, even after she’s agreed to help him soften his image.

The book tour they’ve set out on is one disaster after another. There is no comfort for Daisy when she’s with Caleb, particularly with how standoffish he can be. When the general public begins to believe that Daisy is the love of Caleb’s life and the inspiration behind his books, it makes things even more awkward. It’s hard to know for sure if the public’s persona lends into seeing Caleb a little differently as the days and traveling pushes the two characters closer together than either would have anticipated, or maybe Daisy is starting to see the reasons behind Caleb’s tough outer shell. But when he brushes a hand on her, even by accident, or when there is some form of PDA for social media’s benefit, what started out as repulsion begins to die down into something akin to yearning. Daisy is just as shocked by this revelation as anyone would be!

The chapters showcase the current timeframe, with the book tour, and there are also flashbacks provided by Daisy’s point of view of her college experiences with Caleb. It really helped to formulate more of an opinion as to why Caleb is the way he is, and the reader learns that maybe what has been seething really has been longing disguised as seething all along. They’re both quirky characters, which was nice to see–and they both engage in a lot of back and forth banter that felt more like verbal foreplay than anything else. Given some of the scenes within this book, I’d have to say I’m right on the money about that. 

There’s a taming of the beast mentality that is an undercurrent within While You Were Seething, and I was there for it, 100%. But the longer Daisy blends into Caleb’s world, she discovers she’s got a little bit of the beast within her too, and Caleb is more romantic than he’d ever imagined himself to be, even if he’d never admit to it. It was the classic opposites attract, enemies turned potential lovers genre that was a lot of fun to read!

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

More by Charlotte Stein:
When Grumpy Met Sunshine
My Big Fat Fake Marriage
Dealing with a Desperate Demon

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