Review: Beneath the Glitter by Elle & Blair Fowler

Beneath the Glitter by Elle & Blair Fowler
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (St. Martin's Press)
First published: September 4th, 2012
Source: NetGalley
Format: eARC
Pages: 288

Goodreads Summary:

Welcome to a place where dreams are made. And where nothing—and no one—is ever what it seems.

After their make-up and fashion videos went viral on YouTube, sisters Sophia and Ava London are thrust into the exclusive life of the Los Angeles elite. Here fabulous parties, air kisses, paparazzi and hot guys all come with the scene. Sophia finds herself torn between a gorgeous bartender and a millionaire playboy, and Ava starts dating an A-list actor. But as they’re about to discover, the life they’ve always dreamed of comes with a cost.

Beneath the glitter of the Hollywood social scene lies a world of ruthless ambition, vicious gossip…and betrayal. Someone close to them, someone they trust, is working in the shadows to bring the London sisters falling down. And once the betrayal is complete, Sophia and Ava find themselves knee-deep in a scandal that could take away everything they care about, including the one thing that matters most—each other.

My Rating: 3.5 / 5

First thoughts:

Between the first harbingers of a glamorous life and the everyday-problems all siblings know, Ava and Sophia London are trying to make their dreams come true without losing themselves in the process. While at certain times moving and definitely entertaining, I missed a special something though that would have made me fall in love with Beneath the Glitter. Nonetheless it's an enjoyable read that is perfect for the beach or when you are looking for something light to spend your time with.

More detailed:

As someone who has watched Elle and Blair's videos long before I started to blog about books, it is hard to miss where the inspiration for Beneath the Glitter's plot came from. The similarities between the authors and the fictional sisters are uncanny, which made reading this novel a somewhat weird experience - it almost felt like a non-fictional book.

Nonetheless I enjoyed witnessing Ava and Sophia's journey through the glamorous parts of Los Angeles. While Beneath the Glitter does address some more heavy-hearted topics and shows us the sisters even during complicated times, it rather has a very light feeling to it and never made me worry or feel sad for them.

The love stories are the most important part of Beneath the Glitter, right after the sisters' relationship. We are introduced to a couple of guys that may or may not win both, our and Ava and Sophia's hearts. It becomes quite obvious soon who are supposed to be our favorites and I'm glad that the girls start to listen to their hearts more closely toward the end.

Apropos - the ending. I'm really hoping that this book is just the first in a series, because that (not so) tiny cliffhanger is a little bit mean and makes me want to know more about what happens after the epilogue.

All in all, Beneath the Glitter is not my new favorite read, but I also didn't expect that. It's a fun story about two sisters who'd do anything for each other but have to realize that life might not be as easy as they want it to be. If you're looking for an easy and fast read, be sure to consider reading this one - especially if you're someone who, like me, is easily pulled in by a world of beauty, glamour and gossip.

Challenge(s):

 Debut Author Challenge 2012

YA Contemporary Challenge 2012

Buy this book:

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Have you read Beneath the Glitter? If yes, what did you think about it?

If no, do you plan to read it?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Carina

Chick Lit Review: I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

While I mostly read Young Adult fiction, I love to read a good Chick Lit novel from time to time. I started Chick Lit Time to feature those books on my blog.

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I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella
Publisher: The Dial Press (Random House)
Expected Publication: February 14th, 2012
Source: NetGalley
Format: eARC
Pages: 448

Goodreads Summary:
I've lost it. The only thing in the world I wasn't supposed to lose. My engagement ring. It's been in Magnus's family for three generations. And now, the very same day his parents are coming, I've lost it. The very same day. Do not hyperventilate Poppy. Stay positive!!

Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier. She is about to marry the ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her 'happy ever after' begins to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring but in the panic that followed, she has now lost her phone. As she paces shakily round the hotel foyer she spots an abandoned phone in a bin. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring. Perfect!

Well, perfect except the phone's owner, businessman Sam Roxton doesn't agree. He wants his phone back and doesn't appreciate Poppy reading all his messages and wading into his personal life.

What ensues is a hilarious and unpredictable turn of events as Poppy and Sam increasingly upend each other's lives through emails and text messages. As Poppy juggles wedding preparations, mysterious phone calls and hiding her left hand from Magnus and his parents... she soon realises that she is in for the biggest surprise of her life.

My Rating: 5.0 / 5

First thoughts:

Since I fell in love with Sophie's books about eight years ago and always look forward to her new releases, my expectations for I've Got Your Number were pretty high. But again Sophie Kinsella managed to create a chaotic but very loveable main character, a romantic and cute plot and scenes that made me laugh out loud and not caring about strangers witnessing it. If you enjoy Chick Lit novels, go ahead and pick up books by Sophie Kinsella!

More detailed:

If you haven't read any of Sophie Kinsella's books yet, you're definitely missing out on something great. When I heard about I've Got Your Number, I couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy of this and devour it as soon as possible. And despite my high expectations, I wasn't disappointed and only realized how much I've missed Sophie's writing and wonderful stories.

Her characters are always a little bit chaotic in a very charming way. Poppy is no exception. After having managed to lose her engagement ring - a family heirloom - her journey begins. I love how Sophie Kinsella always manages to make me feel like I know a character after a few pages already. Poppy's voice and way of narration are just as addicting as I hoped them to be.

Of course the love story is very cute. It might be a little bit predictible at certain times, but that's why I love reading these light-hearted Chick Lit novels from time to time - just to distract myself with amusing problems of adorable main characters. This love story definitely made me feel good while reading and I had to laugh out loud and swoon more than just once - even during a coffee break at university.

I could continue telling you about how much I loved this novel, but if you think you might like it, just pick it up and let the book show you how awesome it is. I'm already crossing my fingers for more books by Sophie Kinsella, hoping I won't have to wait too long. I've Got Your Number is a wonderful stand-alone novel that I definitely want to recommend for everyone who needs a light-hearted distraction.

More about Sophie Kinsella:

Homepage | Goodreads
My review for her Shopaholic series
Writing as Madeleine Wickham

Have you read I've Got Your Number? What did you think about it?

Do you plan to read it?

Carina

Chick Lit Time: Click, An Online Love Story by Lisa Becker

While I mostly read Young Adult fiction, I love to read a good Chick Lit novel from time to time. I started Chick Lit Time to feature those books on my blog.

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Click: An Online Love Story by Lisa Becker
Publisher: CreateSpace / Self-Published
Date of Publication: March 29th, 2011
Source: Received from Author
Buy: Kindle / Paperback (US) / Paperback (Intl)
Pages: 284

Goodreads Summary:

Fast approaching her 30th birthday and finding herself not married, not dating, and without even a prospect or a house full of cats, Renee Greene, the heroine of Click: An Online Love Story, reluctantly joins her best guy pal on a journey to find love online in Los Angeles. The story unfolds through a series of emails between Renee and her best friends (anal-compulsive Mark, the overly-judgmental Ashley and the over-sexed Shelley) as well as the gentlemen suitors she meets online. From the guy who starts every story with "My buddies and I were out drinking one night," to the egotistical "B" celebrity looking for someone to stroke his ego, Renee endures her share of hilarious and heinous cyber dates. Fraught with BCC's, FWD's and inadvertent Reply to All's, readers will root for Renee to "click" with the right man. 

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My Rating: 4.0 / 5

What I thought about it:

Click: An Online Love Story was a very entertaining novel about trying to find "the one" and the necessary, but sometimes very annoying date experiences. It was funny, made me laugh a lot and I really loved the characters Lisa Becker created.

This novel is written completely different than anything I've ever read before: e-mails. Instead of being told the story from a certain point of view, we get to witness the e-mails Renee writes to her friends / dates and receives in return. While I was a little bit skeptical in the beginning about this, I completely fell in love with this kind of narration.

The wonderful thing about reading a novel that is a compilation of e-mails was for me that it totally reminds me of my best friends. Just like Renee constantly writes e-mails with Mark, Shelley and Ashley, I love to write e-mails with my friends just to keep updated and stay in contact. And those e-mails were written so well that you could always see what the characters are like - even just with a few words.

I have to admit that the complete story with all the good and not-so-good dates reminded me of Sex and the City, which - coming from me - is a huge compliment. If Carrie and her friends had ever decided to try online-dating, this is what it would be like.

All in all, Click: An Online Love Story is a lovely story that combines the importance of friendship with trying to find the right partner. Fans of Sex and the City, like me, will devour this novel and hope that this is not the last time that we've heard of Renee and her friends.

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Have you read Click: An Online Love Story? What did you think about it?
Carina

Edit:

I just heard that there actually will be a sequel and once Click's Facebook Page has 200 fans, teasers will be revealed.

Chick Lit Time: Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella

While I mostly read Young Adult fiction, I love to read a good Chick Lit novel from time to time. I started Chick Lit Time to feature those books on my blog.

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There are books you like. Books you love. And then there are the books that will always stay with you, books you'll never forget. When I picked up my very first chick-lit novel eight years ago (just because I felt more grown-up than I actually was), I didn't expect it to be the start of a series that I'll always love.

This includes a few spoilers for the series.

Confessions of a Shopaholic was, and still is, a fantastic novel that combines light-heartedness and romance with a slight dose of embarrassment and never failed to make me smile. When you have a main character like Rebecca Bloomwood, the story never gets boring - her problems seem to be waiting for her wherever she is.

The first novel of the series, Confessions of a Shopaholic, is definitely my favorite. We get introduced to Rebecca's world and her problems: She has a job she doesn't really like, no boyfriend and a "very tiny" shopping addiction. And how do you forget that you don't have enough money to pay all the bills? Well, Rebecca does what she loves to do: She just buys a little something to make her smile.

In the second novel of the series, Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, Becky gets the chance to live in New York with her boyfriend Luke. While Luke was only introduced in the first novel (and it took quite a while for Becky to like him), we get to see more of him. 

But, just like for a reader, for Luke it's not very easy to deal with her shopping. New York is a paradise for our little shopaholic and doesn't take long until Rebecca has to deal with the consequences. But just like she did in the first novel, she realizes that she has to get herself out of this mess and does this her typical charme.

I know that, so far, this sounds like a very superficial series. And I have to admit that in certain moments this is true. It appears as if clothes, shoes, make-up - shopping - are the most important things in Rebecca Bloomwood's life. But once you take a closer looks at how she deals with the problems and how important it is to her that her friends and family are feeling good, it's easy to see that other things are still more important to her.

In Shopaholic Ties the Knot, the third novel of the series, Rebecca and Luke are now officially living in New York, she is working at Barney's (finally a job she likes) and to top all of this off, Luke is proposing to her. Now she can finally marry the man of her dreams.

But what happens when suddenly both, her own mother and Luke's mother are planning to seperate weddings? What would you prefer? A huge Plaza wedding with every single dream come true, thanks to the cold Elinor, or rather a small but beautiful wedding at home planned by her own mother, who alwys dreamed to do so?

After all, we are talking about Becky Bloomwood, so everything works out in the end. But of course not without a few embarrassing moments and a lot of fear that everything will go horribly wrong. This is one of the novels where you can really see Becky's character: Yes, she makes mistakes, but in this case it's rather because she doesn't want to hurt anyone. And she does everything she can do to clean up the mess. Of course again with the help of her best friend Suze who you can't help but fall in love with a little bit.

I have to admit that the fourth novel of the series, Shopaholic & Sister, is my least favorite. It's good as well and you get to see even more of Becky's love for her friends and family, but somehow I'm not a fan of the "lost sister found"-storyline.

The amusing thing about this novel is that her half-sister Jessica is Rebecca's complete opposite. She hates shopping, saves her money instead of spending it and doesn't even seem to want a connection with Becky (who is completely enamored with the thought of having a sister).

Again this novel stresses how important it is for Becky that people she cares about like her. Despite the differences between her and Jessica, she doesn't give up and continually tries to make her half-sister see that they could be friends. To do that she doesn't stop at literally life-threatening actions (just let me tell you that Jess likes to climb mountains, Becky... not so much).

At the end of the first novel Becky realizes that she is pregnant and the fifth novel of the series, Shopaholic & Baby, deals with her pregnancy. Just imagine all the clothes and furniture and toys she can buy for the unborn baby!

But the real problem starts to show itself when Becky is adamant that she should go to the obstetrician all the stars go to - Venetia Carter. Too bad that this very pretty doctor actually is Luke's ex-girlfriend and still seems to have a thing for him. The situation gets even worse when Luke starts to behave weirdly and Becky assumes that he has an affair with Venetia.

And again Becky doesn't give up. She's afraid that Luke would leave her for Venetia, but she continues to fight for their marriage - even though her attempts might be a little bit confusing for dear Luke. In the end, everything works out of course and their baby girl Minnie is born. 

But Minnie isn't the sweet, innocent daughter Becky had thought she would be. Just like her mother, Minnie loves to wreak havoc wherever she goes - especially in boutiques and shopping centers which annoys Becky but never fails to make a reader laugh.

While this makes sure you are amused while reading the novel, this story concentrates a lot on working out Becky and Luke's relationship, showing that they can stick together even during "bad times". In Mini Shopaholic we can witness again how important it is to Becky that the people she loves are happy.

All in all, the Shopaholic series is the one series that I can always re-read, no matter how often I have already read those novels. Becky's adventures always make me laugh and I hope that there'll be many more books in this series. Yes, at times it might seem like a little bit superficial, but to be honest: Sometimes you need something that doesn't make you think to much. And if you're able to see what's below the surface, you might fall in love with those books just like I did.

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Have you read the Shopaholic series? What did you think about it?
Carina