Books of the Week: February 11th

Thanks for checking out Books of the Week! There are nine of us and we can't keep up with the many review requests we receive, even though we'd love to read everything sent our way. Therefore, we have decided to give some books their time in the spotlight and introduce you to them through this new blog feature. We will be featuring two books a week. We hope you will take the time to check these books out. (Click the titles to find them on Amazon.) If you read them and want to write a guest blogger review for us, please e-mail us and we'll be glad to work with you!

Authors: Please see our current review policy for more information about the Books of the Week feature. We now have a Book Shelf page, and it will eventually be replacing Books of the Week.
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Hearts on the Line
By Marla Martenson

Marla’s day might begin with an email like this: Marla, I hope you don’t plan on charging me for the last two setups—Penny and Lydia. Let me make it crystal clear for you, even 5 pounds overweight is a deal killer.… I won’t waste any more time on another date with a plump gal. Clarence Penny and Lydia are both under 110 pounds—including implants. Marla facetiously refers to the dating service as the Double D—which doesn’t stand for dream date—and often finds herself introducing SHBRs (short fat bald rich guys) to GDGDs (gosh darn gold-diggers) and, despite the odds, countless couples find that Marla has linked their hearts. The exasperating clients stand out, but many are terrific people, and you’ll follow their dating stories with interest, as Marla struggles to work for a boss who requires her to cross ethical lines, pushing Marla to her limits. A tiny spark is all it takes, and Marla goes from being vice-president of a multi-city enterprise to being unemployed—which takes her career in matchmaking to a whole new level, all while staying true to her most authentic self.

Hearts on the Line is $2.99 on Kindle.

Marla Martenson can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

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The Little Book of Heartbreak
By Meghan Laslocky

Forget ice cream, wine, and sappy movies. Journalist Meghan Laslocky advises: Read through the pain. "THE LITTLE BOOK OF HEARTBREAK" is not another self-help book about moving on, but a quirky exploration of all things lovelorn, featuring little known facts about the history, culture, music, art, film and literature of love lost.

The "Little Book of Heartbreak" reveals the entertaining, empowering and sometimes absurd things that happen when love is on its last leg, including:

• How Ernest Hemingway cheated on his wife and then stole her war correspondent job.
• Painter Oskar Kokoschka’s attempt to win back an ex by creating (and then having romantic liaisons with) a life-size replica doll of her.
• Lord Byron’s slick break-up letter to an obsessive lover – signed by his new paramour, to really drive the point home.
• And other tales of ill-fated romances, lover’s quarrels and nasty spats throughout the ages (although whomever Carly Simon speaks of in “You’re So Vain” remains a mystery)

Laslocky also includes suggested sound tracks for every broken-hearted stage, from the“Watching-It-All-Fall-Apart” mix to “It’s-Over-But-I-Still-Think-About-You”songs. Whether read in sections as a break-up slowly elapses or as a way to forget about your dateless Valentine’s Day, The Little Book of Heartbreak is the perfect salve for wounded hearts.

Meghan Laslocky can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

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Falling in Love
By Stephen Bradlee

Sherry Johnson is young, beautiful, bright and athletic. She has everything going for her, except for one thing.
She is addicted to love. Her life is a vicious circle of nightly trysts and morning regrets.
Her addiction got her kicked out of college, cost her the love of her life and has left her in complete despair.
But still Sherry keeps falling in love. And falling. And falling.
Finally, as Sherry struggles to pull herself up from a bottomless abyss, she realizes that she will have to
learn to love the one person she has loathed for most of her life. Herself.
Based on the True Story of a Young Woman's Battle with Sexual Addiction.

Falling in Love is $2.99 on Kindle.

Stephen Bradlee can be found on Facebook and Twitter.