Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf

 

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is The Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf (Maybe share your holiday book haul?).

I don't really ask for books for Christmas, so my list today is a combination of the last books I added to my Kindle and the two books I did get! Let's start with those

Christmas: Feasts and Treats by Donna Hay - The Raspberry Swirl Pavlova I made for our family Christmas dinner comes from this book.

Baking Yesteryear: The Best Recipes from the 1900s to the 1980s by B Dylan Hollis - I love the videos that this author makes where he tries out some truly ...interesting... recipes from the past!

Make a Wish by Nicola Marsh - This is a very, very short story which serves as a prequel to a book called Did Not Finish. On the basis of this, Did Not Finish could be a lot of fun.

My So-Called Sex Life by Lauren Blakely - This was a freebie!

Inheritance by Nora Roberts - It's been an age since I read or listened to a Nora Roberts book, so I picked this one up on audio.

The Austrian Bride by Helen Parusel - This is a review book for January.

Foxden Acres by Madalyn Morgan - This was a freebie too. I picked it up because it sounds really interesting.

The Christmas Trip by Sandy Barker - This is a follow up to The Christmas Swap which I read a couple of weeks ago.

Lola & The Man by Elise Darcy - Bought this one for the cover, which is ironic seeing as my Kindle only has a black and white screen.

The Last Phone Booth in Manhattan by Beth Merlin and Danielle Modafferi  - This was my December First Reads choice

Speaking on 1-clicking, did you see that Stuff Your Kindle is on today! Thousands of freebie books. Not that I really need anymore as I can't get around to reading the ones I already have, but I will still be taking a look in case there is anything interesting.

Busted in Bollywood by Nicola Marsh

Shari Jones needs to get a life. Preferably someone else’s.

Single, homeless and jobless, Indo-American Shari agrees to her best friend’s whacky scheme: travel to Mumbai, pose as Amrita, and ditch the fiancé her traditional Indian parents have chosen. Simple. Until she’s mistaken for a famous Bollywood actress, stalked by a Lone Ranger wannabe, courted by an English lord, and busted by the blackmailing fiancé.

Life is less complicated in New York.

Or so she thinks, until the entourage of crazies follows her to the Big Apple and that’s when the fun really begins. Shari deals with a blossoming romance, an addiction to Indian food and her first movie role, while secretly craving another trip to the mystical land responsible for sparking her new lease on life. Returning to her Indian birthplace, she has an epiphany. Maybe the happily-ever-after of her dreams isn’t so far away?

Shari Jones has made a mess of her life. She's lost her boyfriend, her home and her job in one fell swoop, and yes, all those things are connected. So when her best friend Amrita gives her the chance to head to India to impersonate her Shari doesn't have anything to lose. All she has to do is dump the fiance that Amrita's parents have arranged for her to marry and then head back Stateside. Easy. Or not as the case may be.

Shari was born in India to an Indian mother and an American father, but she has lived most of her life in the US. When she arrives in India she is almost overwhelmed by the sights, the sounds, the atmosphere, the food and more. It turns out that the fiance, Rakesh, is really a good guy and a pretty good sport given that he knows that Shari isn't who she is pretending to be almost immediately. He goes along with the charade though in order to protect Shari and Amrita from his overbearing family, but only on the condition that he gets to meet the real Amrita and to find out why he isn't good enough for her.

In addition to having to navigate the perils of Rakesh's mother and sisters there is also the small matter of Rakesh's business partner, Drew, who is instantly suspicious about Shari's intentions and to whom Shari is very attracted.

This was a fun and flirty read, and touched on some interesting issues like prejudice and living life with two cultural identities (this is a subject that I often find interesting because of my son's mixed heritage, especially seeing as his African cultural experiences are very limited). I would suggest that this very nearly sits in the category of chick lit as well as contemporary romance. The voice is first person, the characters are often brand name dropping and for all the being broke, they seem to be able to indulge in wearing and shopping for very expensive clothes and more.

There are small issues - some of the characters are a little two dimensional, and the connection between Drew and Shari is very physical for example - but if you are looking for a fun read which has a different setting to so many of the other contemporary romances that are out there at the moment then this might be the book for you! If nothing else you will be craving Indian food! All the food mentioned in the book sounded exotic and tasty and oh so good!

I should mention in relation to the food that Nicola Marsh is currently doing a blog tour where she shares some of the recipes for food mentioned in the book. I am hoping that there will be something that I can make in amongst those recipes and I will try to do a Weekend Cooking post accordingly.

As long as you go into this book expecting that all the women are beautiful, the men all rich and handsome, a little bit of inane humour and lots of fun, then you will have a good time reading it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Entangled Publishers for the egalley of this book.

Sex, Gossip and Rock'n'roll by Nicola Marsh

In all her time as premier tour manager to Australia's stars, Charli Chambers has never had someone as infuriating—or delectable!—as successful businessman Luca Petrelli along for the ride. He might always be in the gossip columns, but there's no way she's letting him claim VIP status!

But Luca's wicked eyes are just too tempting. In spite of herself, Charli's soon attending after-parties—just for two. She wants to believe this is one duet that's about to go platinum, but in spite of Luca being unprintably good in bed, can she ever get close enough to the real Luca for their fling to be more than just a one-hit wonder?

One of the great things about hanging out on Twitter is that you get the chance to interact with other readers and sometimes authors too. And sometimes that interaction leads you to think that maybe you might try one of the author's books! Of course, the danger is that you won't actually like their book which might be a bit awkward. Nicola Marsh is one of those authors for me. She is a local Melbourne author. We have never met, but occasionally we chat.

This is the first book I have read by Nicola Marsh. I will say that it won't be my last but there are some reservations.

The two main characters are Charli Chambers and Luca Petrelli. Charli is a publicist/tour manager who works for one of the biggest men in the Australian music business - the same man who is Luca Petrelli's estranged grandfather. When Charli is given the job of chaperoning a somewhat faded star through country Victoria she is also told that one of the conditions of the job is that Luca Petrelli comes along as the money man. He is basically in the country for a few weeks and then he will head back to his fabulous lifestyle overseas. Charli is distrusting of Luca - worried that he is going to hurt his grandfather emotionally, and also worried that she might lose control of herself due to the instant attraction that she feels for him.

I liked the idea that the author is trying to come up with new and unusual scenarios around which to build her romance, but I did find myself wondering about the logistics of the kind of tour that was portrayed in the book. Would there be someone along to take care of the financial side? I am not sure. Would there be a huge tour bus? Again I don't know. I guess it was something that you just have to go along with for the sake of the story.

Both Luca and Charli have had difficult backgrounds and therefore have issues that they need to resolve both for themselves and with each other before they can truly commit, but you know that it is going to happen. At times I found the emotional baggage a bit overwhelming - or perhaps overplayed is a better description.

One thing that I did really enjoy about this book was the use of Victorian towns and tourist destinations within the narrative! Towns like Bendigo, Ballarat and Echuca are all places I have visited before for one reason or another, but I was reminded of how fun it can be to be a tourist in your own town so to speaks. After reading this book I was inspired to start looking at maybe going on a day trip which I ended up doing yesterday. I took the train to Bendigo and visited the Chinese Dragon Museum which is mentioned in the book and a couple of other tourist destinations as well.

I also really appreciated that the text still sounded quite Australian. There was only one occasion where I was thrown out of the story because there was a word used that we just wouldn't normally use. There may have been others, but that was the only one that was really jarring for me.

Whilst I get quite annoyed at people who judge readers for reading genre fiction, whichever genre it might be, I must admit that at times I find myself being a bit of snob when it comes to Harlequins/Mills and Boon type category romances. I am not really sure why that is because I have read some really good category romances over the last year or so, and all of them have been by Australian authors like Sarah Mayberry and Marion Lennox. Having said that, over the years I have found that these types of books can be very hit or miss for me. This book was somewhere in the middle. I am intrigued by the sound of Nicola Marsh's next book, Busted in Bollywood, and so will hopefully get to read that one soon after it comes out.

Sunday Salon: Road trip!

Not to long ago I read a book which featured the main characters travelling around a few of the small towns in country Victoria. The book, Sex, Gossip and Rock'n'Roll by Nicola Marsh, reminded me that there are lots of places that aren't too far away that I have been wanting to go to for a long time!

Then, I found out that at the Bendigo Art Gallery they currently have an exhibition on which is called White Wedding Dresses: Two Hundred Years of Wedding Dresses. I knew that one of my friends would be interested in attending, and so a day trip was born! The original plan though was that it was going to be a train trip! My intentions were that the little chef and I would catch the train to Bendigo (a couple of hours away), I would be able to catch up with some of the reading that I am behind on, and would be nice and relaxed at the end of the day. Unfortunately, they decided that this weekend they would replace the trains with buses, and given that I can not read in buses without feeling sick, the day turned into a road trip instead.

I really enjoyed the exhibition (not sure the 13 year old boy was quite so thrilled but what can you do!). There were some absolutely gorgeous gowns on display, some of which had come from the V & A Museum in London and including  a couple of celebrity dresses. There were also some shockers that you would definitely know that the grand kids would be looking at and thinking oh my goodness what were they thinking!  I think one of my favourites was a World War II wedding dress which was made out of upholstery material, because that wasn't rationed, but it was absolutely gorgeous! (If you are interested you can get a glimpse of the exhibition on their Facebook page.)

After a quick, very average lunch, my friend went home and that left the boy and I free to do some exploring that was more suited to his interests! We walked through the gorgeous gardens and went to the Golden Dragon museum, which is all about the influence of the Chinese immigrants who came to the Goldfields during the gold rush in the 1860s. I have also been to a Chinese museum in Ararat which focused more on the life of the Chinese miner, but this one was more about the artifacts, and is home to a couple of Chinese dragons that are used during various celebrations during the year. The Golden Dragon museum was one thing that was specifically mentioned in the book. I hadn't heard of it before! In addition there are also gardens and a temple that are open to all.

After walking back through more gorgeous gardens, and a quick trip to the top of the viewing tower for the boy, it was time to go home, after a stop off at Kmart. It was only when we got home that I realised that I didn't have a single book with me the whole day, well, until I bought one in Kmart.

The boy really enjoyed our day out, and I am pretty sure if I was to say to him that we might move to Bendigo he would be happy enough. He was particularly impressed that they had all the major fast food outlets, including 3 McDonalds that we saw just on the way into town plus an EB Games and two bookstores! After a very rainy start to the day it turned out to be a lovely sunny afternoon, which was just perfect for a day of wandering around finding new places.

We will definitely be visiting Bendigo again. In fact, next year they are having an exhibition about Grace Kelly at the Art Gallery, and so we might just do a day trip to see that, although the boy may choose to stay at home this time!

Currently Reading

I am struggling with reading at the moment because my glasses broke and so I am having to read using my old ones. They are very unstylish, but better than nothing, but my eyes still hurt after a bit.

the books I currently have on the go are Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart, Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman, The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson, Jane Austen Made Me Do It anthology, Foal's Bread by Gillian Mears.

Reading Next

I really need to read Imperial Highness by Evelyn Anthony in the next couple of days. It is an interlibrary loan so I can't extend it but I haven't started it yet.

Cover Reveal: Busted in Bollywood by Nicola Marsh

I am very excited today to be involved in the cover reveal for Nicola Marsh's new book which is being published by Entangled Publishing on December 6!

Nicola is a Melbourne author who I have chatted a bit with on Twitter. I recently read a book by her and loved the way that she used some of the Victorian country towns in her story. I have been following her comments about the writing of this book and now I am looking forward to reading this one! The blurb sounds like it is going to be a fun read.

Shari Jones needs to get a life. Preferably someone else’s.

Single, homeless and jobless, Indo-American Shari agrees to her best friend’s whacky scheme: travel to Mumbai, pose as Amrita, and ditch the fiancé her traditional Indian parents have chosen. Simple. Until she’s mistaken for a famous Bollywood actress, stalked by a Lone Ranger wannabe, courted by an English lord, and busted by the blackmailing fiancé.

Life is less complicated in New York.

Or so she thinks, until the entourage of crazies follows her to the Big Apple and that’s when the fun really begins. Shari deals with a blossoming romance, an addiction to Indian food and her first movie role, while secretly craving another trip to the mystical land responsible for sparking her new lease on life. Returning to her Indian birthplace, she has an epiphany. Maybe the happily-ever-after of her dreams isn’t so far away?

A fab author quote is going to be included where the tagline is, but other than that, this is the cover for the book!

Find out more about Nicola and her books at her blog and website and at Entangled Publishing