Giveaway: You’ve got to be in it to WIN it!

Are you looking for a fun and sassy read to usher in summer?  Look no further because I have just what the doctor ordered! 

Nadine Dajani’s newest novel, Cutting Loose, introduces “three women who are as different as could be–or at least that’s what they think–and the men who’ve turned their lives upside as their paths collide in sizzling, sexy Miami…”

I’ll be reviewing this book on Friday and have one copy to give away.  To be entered in this giveaway, please leave a comment and tell me what YOU do to realax, or ‘cut loose’.  I’ll select a winner with Random.org on Monday, June 8th.  International bloggers welcome!  Good luck!

Review: Time of My Life

Title: Time of My Life

Author: Allison Winn Scotch

Genre: Chick-Lit; 283 pages

Copyright: 2008

Rating: 1.5 Bookmarks

 

I love the cover of this book, the pink and green caught my eye from the shelf at the library, and I was smitten.  The premise seemed pretty straight forward:  Affluent, suburban mom Jillian Westfield comes down with a powerful case of the “What Ifs” after learning her old boyfriend is getting married.

(note to self: Stop reading books just because you like the cover.) 

The last few books I reviewed here were selected solely on the cover art and all left me uninspired*. 

Maybe Time of My Life didn’t speak to me because I married my college sweetheart and we don’t have kids.  I never had a ‘one that got away’ boyfriend and the dynamic of our relationship hasn’t shifted by the addition of children. I don’t wake up each day wondering how I ended up living the Stepford lifestyle because happily for me, I don’t.

When Jillian finds herself magically transported back in time 7 years, able to relive her past, she takes a cab to her home in search of her toddler daughter, Katie.  But Jillian doesn’t live in her McMansion yet. And Katie hasn’t been born because Jillian hasn’t met her husband.

Is this my house? Is it the house of my future?…It seems insane, to come back here…but Katie!  I can’t just leave Katie!  What if she’s here?  What if I’ve fallen down some mind-bending rabbit-hole and this is an LSD trip gone bad?  

Simultaneously, there’s an abandonment sub-plot while the author manages to tackle myriad family and parenting issues along the way. Ultimately Jillian comes to a decision on which life she is destined (and desires) to lead.

The book is a quick read and does have appeal.  If you enjoy mainstream chick-lit, or secretly wish you could rewind a part of your life and get a do-over, you’d probably get a kick out of Time of My Life.

Have you read this book?  If so, what did you think?  Or do you have a ‘One That Got Away’ story for me?  I’d love to hear it…

*For the record, I’m an upbeat and positive person.  I don’t enjoy writing negative reviews and it’s mere coincidence that my first few have been critical.

Are you monogamous?

Hello. My name is Natalie and I’m a literary polygamist.

As you can tell from my sidebar, I keep company with several different reads simultaneously. I hope you won’t think less of me for my wanton ways.

During a typical week, I am in the middle of four different books at school (currently: Of Mice and Men, Great Expectations, A Raisin in the Sun, and The Importance of Being Earnest), a book in my car (Foreign Body), and a book or two at home (American Wife).  I’m a book ho’ and am proud to shout it from the top of my book brothel blog. 

So, do you step out on your books and see others?  Are you able to keep plots and characters straight in your head when your moral compass leads you astray?