Title: It’s Begining to Look a Lot Like Chick Lit
an Anthology
Authors:
S.E. Babin, Geralyn Corcillo, Amy Gettinger, Holly Tierney-Bedord, Jax Abbey, Susan Murphy, Tracy Krimmer, Kate O’Keefe, Monique McDonell, Laurie Baxter
Genre: Chick Lit
Tour
Dates: December 18th – 24th, 2016
Blurb
Eleven short and funny holiday stories of women going home for Christmas, stirring up old flames (& finding new ones), baking grandma’s cookies, planning revenge pranks on high school duds, opening Pandora’s Box, racing across the country for love, & kissing cute hunks under the mistletoe. Grab your copy while this limited time collection is still available!
Buy the Book:
Excerpt
from I’m Scheming of a White Christmas
by Kate O’Keeffe
A bit of background: Tilly and her friend Lana have
arrived at a Christmas party in New York City where they have a plan to avenge what
happened to Tilly at the hands of the dreamy Brady McKinnon back in high
school...
I turned
to see Brady approaching us. As part of Point One (Look Devastatingly Hot), with
a sigh of regret, I shrugged my warm winter coat off, shivered, and tried to
look Super Model bored—as though the scene before me wasn’t my idea of
Christmas perfection.
I flicked
my hair the way Lana suggested, trying to look confident and sexy. Thanks to
almost the entire contents of a bottle of hairspray, it barely budged.
Brady had
a big grin on his impossibly handsome face and he was dressed in a pair of
jeans and a bomber jacket, bundled up against the cold.
“Hi,
Tilly! I’m so glad you could make it.”
“Hi,
Brady. Nice...” my eyes drifted down to his flashing bowtie. “... tie.”
He
fingered it self-consciously. “Got to get into the swing of things, right?” His
eyes swept over me. “You look... wow.”
I glanced
down at my short, red sequined dress with the plunging neckline. It showcased
my usually meagre cleavage, which was hoisted up so high by Lana’s industrial
strength padded bra that my chin could almost rest on it. I adjusted my Santa
hat atop my lacquered hair.
There was
an outside chance I may have been a little over dressed right now.
Brady
reached across and, to my utter surprise, pulled me in for a hug. “Thanks so
much for coming. Have you done something different tonight?”
I battered
my false eyelashes at him, the way Lana taught me. No matter how good she said
they made me look it felt like I had a couple of dead, fat caterpillars stuck
to my upper eyelids. I don’t know how those Kardashians did it: it was not a
good feeling.
“Why,
thank you for noticing, Brady,” I responded, my voice low and husky as I
channelled my inner sex goddess—who, incidentally, I’d never met before.
He gave me
a sideways look. “Are you coming down with something? Maybe you should put your
coat on. It’s cold out tonight.”
I cleared
my throat, did my best to suppress a fresh shiver. “No, I’m just... no.
Thanks.” I shot him an I’m-so-sexy-I-can-barely-function look, tossing my
immobile big hair once more. Losing my balance I teetered on my heels, forced
to steady myself with aeroplane arms.
Not quite
the look I was going for.
Brady
watched all this with a hesitant look on his face. “That’s... that’s just
great.” He smiled at Lana beside me, who had been observing our exchange
closely.
“Hi. I’m
Brady.” He extended his hand.
She took
it, shaking it with vigour. “Lana Schwartz. Nice place you’ve got here.”
“Oh, it’s
not mine. It belongs to Tobey Thomas’s parents.” He turned to me, releasing
Lana’s hand. “You remember Tobes, don’t you, Tilly?”
“Sure do!”
I smiled as I imagined seeing Tobey Thomas thrown from the roof terrace to his
certain death below. “It’ll be so great to see him again,” I lied through a
fake smile. I was perkier than Polly Pert at a pep rally.
Brady
sniffed the air, his nose wrinkling. “Do you smell that?”
I moved Chester’s
output behind my back, hoping my body would somehow muffle the stench. “No.
Nothing. What?”
“It smells
a bit like... something died.”
“Really?
Something died, you say?” I squeaked like a mouse. “Do you smell anything,
Lana?”
“Just the
scent of Christmas,” she responded smoothly.
“Okay.”
Brady looked uncertain. “Why don’t you both come with me? I’ll get you a
drink.”
“Here’s a
present.” Lana thrust the bag of chocolate Santas at Brady.
He took
the packet in his hands. “Thank you.”
Lana’s
eyes were trained on him. “It’s chocolate. Homemade. Have one now.”
He let out
a laugh. “I’m not sure chocolate will mix with beer, but I’ll keep them for
later. Thanks.”
Lana
nudged me. “Tell him why he has to eat one now, Tilly.”
I took the
cue, searching my brain for a plausible reason. “Well, Brady... in New
Zealand... we eat chocolate with our beer all the time.”
Yes.
That’s good. Plausible. Reasonable. A total lie, of course.
He shot me
a dubious look. “You do? Doesn’t that make the beer taste bad?”
“Not at
all. In fact, we believe the sweetness of the chocolate enhances the hops in
the beer.”
Where did that come from?
A smile
spread across his face. “Is that so?”
“Yes, yes
it is, Brady. And not only that, we New Zealanders take it as a personal
affront if you don’t eat our chocolate at Christmas time.”
Wow, I was
on a roll!
“Huh. I
didn’t know that. I’ve never been to New—”
Brady
stopped speaking abruptly as Lana snatched the bag of chocolates from his hand
and unwrapped them with haste, dropping the mistletoe and ribbon carelessly to
the floor. “Here.” She thrust the open packet at him. “Eat one, or you’ll
offend Tilly.” She leant in closer to him. “And I know you don’t want to do
that.”
He glanced
at me. I smiled feebly back. Lana sure was a woman on a mission tonight.
“Sure.”
Lana and I
watched intently as he reached into the bag and pulled a chocolate Santa out.
Without putting it in his mouth, he said, “Now, let’s get that drink.”
“But...”
Lana began.
I elbowed
her in the ribs. “Leave it,” I muttered through teeth clasped into a smile. “We
don’t want to be too obvious.”
I really enjoyed this anthology. Some of my favorite authors have a book in it
and some of the books I want more of.
There are 11 short stories in this anthology. These books are quite diverse. There are all different kinds of romances in
this anthology. My favorite was by S.E.
Babin. I have found quite a few new
authors after reading this anthology.
There was revenged turned romance, blackmail, a girl who just couldn’t
seem to stop messing up, friendship turned romance, a reevaluating romance,
work romance, mythology (pandora’s box), and coming home to find romance. Some I liked better than others but that is
how an anthology works. I recommend
these stories and their authors.
I was given this book in return for an honest review.
About the Authors
S.E. Babin is an award-winning author with a passion for writing books with a paranormal twist. Whether it’s romance or mystery, she loves taking the norm and turning it into the extraordinary. Her love of reading turned into a curious exploration to see whether or not she could write her own novel. Beginning with discarded pages of angsty novels and a slightly popular reimagining of Beowulf’s Grendel in her high school English class, Sheryl spent way too much time in the library, killing any chance of her becoming a cheerleader or anything even remotely cool.
First and foremost, Geralyn Corcillo loves reader reviews! In other news…When she was a kid growing up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Geralyn Vivian Ruane Corcillo dreamed of one day becoming the superhero Dyna Girl. So, she did her best and grew up to constantly pick up litter and rescue animals. At home, she loves watching old movies, British mysteries, and the NY Giants. Corcillo lives in a drafty old house in Hollywood with her husband Ron, a guy who’s even cooler than Kip Dynamite.
Amy Gettinger lives in Orange County, California with her husband and her two piteous poodles under the shade of a very noisy old eucalyptus windrow full of crows and wild parrots. When she’s not writing novels, she’s creating Reader’s Theater plays and coaching a local senior group to perform them, complete with big bad wolves, feather boas and tiaras.
Holly Tierney-Bedord lives in Madison, Wisconsin. She is the author of several novels including Coached, Bellamy’s Redemption, and Surviving Valencia. Visit her website at www.hollytierneybedord.com where you can connect to her blogs and subscribe to her newsletter.
A Durham, North Carolina native and graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Jax Abbey bleeds Carolina blue. By day she molds the young, bright minds of the future, but at night you can find her furiously pounding the keyboard as she funnels the zany ideas and quirky characters from her brain to the computer. When Jax isn’t telling preschoolers to keep their hands to themselves or telling her characters to simmer down, she loves to spend time with her significant other, Tyler, and her TinyDog.
Tracy’s love of writing began at nine years old. She wrote stories about aliens at school, machines that did homework for you, and penguins. Now she pens books and short stories about romance. She loves to read a great book, whether it be romance or science fiction, or any genre in between, or pop popcorn and catch up on her favorite TV shows or movies. She’s been known to crush a candy or two as well. Her first romance novel, Pieces of it All, released in May 2014 followed in December with Caching In, a romance mixed with the hobby of geocaching. She also has written several short stories.
Kate O’Keefe – I write funny, sexy, feel-good romantic comedies.
I’ve loved rom coms, romance, and chick lit since I first encountered Bridget Jones as a young, impressionable writer. It really was a match made in chick lit heaven.
I’ve been a teacher and a sales executive, but am now content as a mother and writer, madly scribbling all the ideas I’ve accumulated during my time on this planet we call home.
I live and love in beautiful New Zealand–where my novels are all set–with my wonderful family and my two very scruffy, naughty dogs.
Monique McDonell – I am an Australian author who writes fun, flirty contemporary women’s fiction including chick lit and romance. After many attempts writing books that made me miserable I decided to write books with happy endings and have been loving the journey ever since.
I live on Sydney’s Northern Beaches with my husband and daughter which probably explains why the beach features in so many of my novels and why people describe them as excellent beach reads.
Laurie Baxter has degrees in both puppetry and screenwriting because let’s face it, majoring in English would have been no more useful and way less fun. She loves chocolate, ice cream, chocolate ice cream, dogs, New York City, old movies, modern architecture, all kinds of theater, and music from before she was born. Her eighth grade English teacher told her to become a writer, so she did.
Visit all the Stops on the Tour
December 18th
Hea Romances With A Little Kick - Book Excerpt/Promo
Romantic Reads and Such - Book Excerpt
He Said Books Or Me - Book Promo/Author Guest Post
December 19th
Kristin's Novel Cafe - Book Excerpt/Promo
Hello...Chick Lit - Book Excerpt/Promo
December 20th
ItaPixie's Book Corner - Book Review/Excerpt
Reads and Treats - Book Review
Rae Reads - Book Excerpt/Promo
December 21st
Appletree Books - Book Review
Chick Lit Central - Promo Post
December 22nd
Jena Books - Book Review
Wonderfully Bookish - Book Review
December 23rd
Pretty Little Book Reviews - Book Review
Steamy Book Momma - Book Review
Blog on the run - Book Promo Post
December 24th
Novelgossip - Book Review
Book Lover in Florida - Book Review/Promo
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