7 Holiday questions for Samantha March

Ebook week continues with the fabulous Samantha March of Chick Lit Plus. She's here to dish on her new book, THE GREEN TICKET and answer some of our "hard-hitting" holiday questions! Featured eBook: The Green Ticket by Samantha March

Cost:$3.99

Giveaway: TWO copies! Leave a comment and we’ll choose a winner after 3pm on December 23rd.

The scoop: College junior Alex Abrams scores her dream job at the ripe age of twenty – manager to a successful salon and spa. Thrilled to finally have a real adult job, Alex enthusiastically jumps into the world of schedules, conference calls, and getting a massage when interviewing prospective employees. What she doesn’t expect are the very grown-up issues that comes with a demanding boss. Kevin Dohlman quickly becomes Alex’s worse nightmare – covering up his affairs, dealing with his enormous ego, and trying to protect her female staff from him becomes a full-time job in its own right. Alex has also befriended Kevin’s wife and co-owner, Dani, and is trying to keep Kevin’s secrets hidden from her. The situation only worsens when Kevin starts paying Alex off to make sure she keeps her insider knowledge to herself.

While struggling to keep her wits and stay happy with her new grown-up job, Alex is juggling college courses, a new love interest, and keeping up with her close group of girlfriends. When her roommate and best friend Lila gets offered an opportunity to move to Los Angeles and sign with an agent, Alex realizes her life truly is changing, and everyone around her – including herself --is growing up. Knowing she is faced with some hard decisions ahead, Alex struggles with keeping her job at Blissful. But does she really want to throw away what she dreamed of as a career – or will the secret-keeping for Kevin become too much to handle? The Green Ticket is a story about morals versus money, and how one young woman navigates the shaky line between the two.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...7 HOLIDAY QUESTIONS FOR SAMANTHA MARCH

1. Who do you think will most want to receive THE GREEN TICKET as a gift this year?

Hmm, now I’m trying to decide if you mean my book or...money! Since the big Powerball was just drawn the other night, that seems to still be the only thing on everyone’s mind – including my own! Seriously – what would one do with 500 MILLION dollars?! Back to the question – for the book I’d say my mom, for the money – probably Lindsay Lohan. I hear she’s having trouble paying her taxes. Darn shame.

2. What books are you giving as gifts this year?

Quite a few! To name some : THE GREEN TICKET (obvs!) BREAKING THE RULES by Cat Lavoie (fab!) DOGS HAVE ANGELS TOO by Sarah Cavallaro (so sweet!) and DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW by Joanna Trollope (for my mom!).

3. What's the next book you'll curl up by the fire with?

PASS THE HOT STUFF by Dana Page

4. Scrooge or The Grinch?

The Grinch!

5. Peppermint martini or hot cocoa?

Hot cocoa – with plenty of marshmallows!

6. Home Alone or Miracle on 34th Street?

Home Alone!

7. What's the #1 thing you're looking forward to in 2013?

My wedding :)

Congrats, Samantha! xoxo, Liz & Lisa

eBook Week: Malena Lott's Something New

Featured eBook: Something New by Malena Lott Cost:$3.99

Giveaway: TWO copies!  Leave a comment and we'll choose a winner after 3pm on December 23rd.

The scoop: Three generations of women. Four secrets. One stage.

When matriarch Maeve Apple receives a letter in the mail that Princess & the Pauper is being remade, she believes she's 25 again and ready to relive her stardom. Meanwhile, her daughter, Bess, is dealing with Maeve's dementia, her own divorce and planning her youngest daughter's wedding, on the Luxe Weddings reality show. Bess' eldest daughter, Kelly, has a secret of her own that could threaten her chance at love again. Curvy Gwen, the youngest, may be the star of Luxe Weddings, but she finds her heart belongs on the stage, attracted by the lights and her co-star, as they search for Maeve's long-lost pauper and the biggest secret of all.

eBook Week: Amber Myer's The Swimmer's Assistant

Featured eBook: The Swimmer's Assistant by Amber Myers Cost: .99!  WOW.  How can you NOT buy a copy?

Giveaway: TWO copies!  Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win a copy.  We'll choose the winners after 3pm on December 23rd.

The scoop: Meet Jane Williams. She doesn’t understand the popularity of Twilight, can’t walk properly in high heels, struggles to speak Starbucks (venti what?), and nearly drowned in the toilet when she was a baby.

Meet Brian Parker. He’s a star swimmer with a temper and has just hired Jane to be his assistant as he trains for the London Olympics.

Enter the problem. Jane has developed feelings for Brian which is ridiculous because he has a dog who hates her, he chews with his mouth open, and has a perfect Twilight-obsessed girlfriend named Vanessa who plays Cinderella at Disneyland. Surely her crush can’t amount to anything. Or can it? There was that time when they nearly kissed…..

eBook Week: True Vines by Diana Strinati Baur

Featured eBook: True Vines by Diana Strinati Baur Cost: $9.99

Giveway: ONE copy!  Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win.  We'll choose a winner after 3pm on December 23rd.

The scoop: After the sudden death of her Italian winemaker husband, Meryl Michelli flees to her small hometown in Pennsylvania, looking to slam the door on heartache and trudge forward. But it's never that simple, especially when old family ties have been strained by years of geographic and emotional distance. A chance encounter with a childhood friend brings back a betrayal she could never put to rest, and readjusting to life in the States in upper mid-life wears her thin in ways she never could have imagined. But it's only when she completely falls apart that Meryl comes to understand that the key to the future lies in understanding the meaning of the past.

True Vines traverses the lush, manicured rows of northern Italy's majestic wine country and the winding path of Pennsylvania's Delaware River as Meryl seeks to reconcile her past and her present. Saying goodbye to one existence allows Meryl to swing the door open to another as she weaves a new, uniquely beautiful tapestry that transports her to exactly the place in this short, sacred life she is meant to be.

eBook Week! Lauren Baratz-Logsted's Pursuing The Times

Welcome to eBook week!  We'll be showcasing fun eBooks each day for you to download and read in between your last-minute shopping.  And, duh, of course, we'll be doing some giveaways also!  Enjoy!

Today's featured eBook: Pursuing The Times by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Cost: Only $4.99 at Amazon!

Giveaway: TWO eCopies! Leave a comment here and we'll choose a winner on December 23rd after 3pm PST.

The Scoop: All that popular Chick-Lit author Mercury Lauren wants is to have one of her books reviewed by the New York Times Book Review - just one - and she'll do almost anything to get it. In this contemporary romantic comedy, with a nod toward Pride and Prejudice she crosses swords and hearts with the Editor-in-Chief of the NYTBR in a madcap adventure that takes her from her home in Westport to a yoga retreat to a golf course in Florida. Will she get what she wants and will she finally be happy if she does? Only one thing's for certain: nothing will stop her from Pursuing the Times.

Kaira Rouda's 5 BEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOLIDAYS

Today's guest: Kaira Rouda Why we love her: She writes from the heart! We love that.

Her latest: Here, Home, Hope and All the Difference

The scoop on Here Home Hope: Kelly Johnson becomes restless in her thirty-ninth year. An appetite for more forces her to take stock of her middling middle-American existence and her neighbors' seemingly perfect lives. Her marriage to a successful attorney has settled into a comfortable routine, and being the mother of two adorable sons has been rewarding. But Kelly's own passions lie wasted. She eyes with envy the lives of her two best friends, Kathryn and Charlotte, both beautiful, successful businesswomen who seem to have it all. Kelly takes charge of her life, devising a midlife makeover plan.

From page one, Kelly's witty reflections, self-deprecating humor, and clever tactics in executing that plan--she places Post-it notes all over her house and car--will have readers laughing out loud. The next instant, however, they might rant right along with Kelly as her commitment to a sullen, anorexic teenager left on her doorstep tries her patience or as she deflects the boozy advances of a divorced neighbor. Readers will need to keep the tissue box handy, too, as Kelly repairs the damage she inflicted on a high school friend; realizes how deeply her husband, Patrick, understands and loves her; and ultimately grows into a woman empowered by her own blend of home and career.

Award-winning Here, Home, Hope will surely appeal to readers of chick lit and other women's fiction titles who are ready to transition into something new in their own life.

The scoop on All the Difference: From the bestselling author of HERE, HOME, HOPE, comes a novel of suspense and choices, with a nod to the best of Susan Isaacs's tales of suburban murder. Once again, everything isn't what it seems in the suburb of Grandville. ALL THE DIFFERENCE is the story of three Grandville women whose lives become entangled by the choices they make and how, ultimately, one of them turns to murder to achieve her goals. Roommates Laura and Angie couldn't be more different. Laura is a local celebrity, the television anchor who is motivated to move out of small-time media markets and on to the big time, no matter the cost. Meanwhile, Angie, a luckless waitress, spends her time waiting for Mr. Right to save her from temporary jobs and a life spent making bad choices. On the other side of town, Ellen abandons her life as a successful fundraiser for that of an isolated housewife in the country estate she shares with her husband, whose affairs become increasingly hard to ignore. When the city’s gossip columnist, Maddie, and restaurant reviewer, Dixon, become involved in the story, the unlikely duo stir up more than they intended. With her signature mix of compassion and wit, Kaira Rouda once again takes readers on an entertaining journey into the heart of women’s lives in suburbia, this time with a dose of suspense.

Our thoughts: Both of these highly entertaining books are only .99 from now through December 31st. It's a no-brainer!

Giveaway:Two copies of Here, Home, Hope and two copies of All the Difference. Just leave a comment and be entered to win. We'll randomly select the winners on Sunday, December 16 after 3pm PST.

Fun fact: Another GIVEAWAY ALERT!! Are you feeling Naughty or Nice? Doesn’t matter, with this giveaway, you could win a prize to make both sides happy!

To have a little fun with the holidays, Kaira “asked” a leading lady from each of her two novels what she would pick for a Holiday giveaway prize.  Kelly, the protagonist of HERE, HOME, HOPE, is represented by the “Nice” gifts.  Ellen, one of the stars of ALL THE DIFFERENCE, made the special “Naughty” selections. To win this amazing prize, please visit Kaira’s Facebook author page or her website’s blog and sign up. The giveaway is open to US and Canada residents. Good luck!

Wait, there’s more!

As a special holiday gift for everyone, HERE, HOME, HOPE and ALL THE DIFFERENCE are 99 cents for your eReader now through December 31^st so if you haven’t had a chance to read both of Kaira’s novels, now you can!

Where you can read more about Kaira: Facebook, Twitter and her website

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...KAIRA ROUDA'S 5 BEST THINGS ABOUT THE HOLIDAYS

Thank you so much Liz and Lisa! I was thrilled to be asked to write about my five favorite things about the holidays! I’m a proudly expressive Christmas celebrator, and I look forward to this month with the glee of a child. Why? Well, I’ll try to keep it to five reasons:

1. Cards. I love to receive Christmas/Holiday cards. It fills me with such happiness when the mail arrives and in it I see festive return labels, red ink addresses and funky, fun-sized envelopes. Every year, since my first child was born and continuing to today (actually last weekend), we make it a family tradition to take photos and come up with themes. Now that the kids are 21, 19, 18 and 16, it’s tougher to be original. We’ve pumped out 20 years of fairly clever, heartfelt cards, if I do say so myself. This year I considered doing Six Shades of Gray….but the kids weren’t too sure about that. (Nothing naughty, simply all six of us wearing different shades of gray!) Instead, I’m working on a different theme and hope to have them in the mail soon. I also hope, even though we’ve moved several times in the past few years, that I’ll be blessed by a burgeoning mailbox!

2. Decorations. I counted 27 green and red plastic tubs in our storage unit just before my husband and I began to cart them out to our car to take home. This year, I’m using about a third of our stash to decorate. When we lived in the Midwest, we had a bigger house. That’s just how it is. Ohio house = 27-tubs to decorate. California house = 9 tubs. My favorite element of the decorations is the Christmas tree itself, and of the ornaments adorning it, my favorites are the ones the kids made through the years. I love opening the ornament boxes and pulling out memories. It’s such a magical feeling. I try to get the tree decorated early, so I can bask in the glow of its lights and memories all December.

3. Good cheer. People are happier. Truly. Ok, not people are miserable at hot, overcrowded malls, but aside from that, the holidays make folks merry and bright. There are more toasts, more parties, more sparkles on women’s dresses and in their eyes. Sure, we’re all extra busy and more exhausted, but somehow, that doesn’t negate the smiles and wishes of “Happy Holidays”. What could be better? Remind yourself if you’re in a grumpy mood to fake it until you feel it. And if you see a grump headed your way, give him a smile. My favorite saying: A smile confuses an approaching frown. It works!

4. Lights. We are so lucky to live in Laguna Beach, a resort town that goes all out to celebrate the season. Santa’s Beach House opens in the village the first Friday of December and a big party celebrates his arrival. Stores and restaurants stay open late and the happy energy is tangible. I love the bee lights decorating almost every tree and store front. The entire village looks like a postcard of the perfect Christmas town, minus the snow, thank goodness!

5. Time together with our family’s traditions. The best thing about the holidays is the luxury of time with my family. We have such a blast – playing board games, sharing meals, opening gifts, telling stories, hugging, teasing each other. Well, you know. It just doesn’t get any better than that.

I know you have your own list of favorite things about the holidays! Remember, even with the bustle, to stop and appreciate the moments.  In the end, those special memories are truly the gift of the season.

Thanks, Kaira!

xoxo, Liz & Lisa

Lisa's Favorite books of 2012

Echoing what Liz said yesterday, there have been so many awesome books this year. In fact, let's have a round of applause for the fabulous novels and memoirs we were so lucky to devour! But because there was such a long list of exciting reads, selecting only a handful of my favorites was so not easy. (It made the past two weeks of dealing with my sick toddler waking up at all hours suddenly seem like a cinch).  So here goes...

And hey, we want to hear what books you LOVED in 2012.  Don’t forget to leave a comment and let us know!

1. The Song Remains the Same by Allison Winn Scotch I instantly fell in love with Nell, who loses her memory after being one of two survivors of a horrific plane crash.  She must then attempt to navigate the stories that her loved ones are telling her about herself and her past--stories that aren't exactly adding up.  Nell not only must figure out who she was, but who she is going to be as she moves forward. The Song Remains The Same (coming out in paperback on December 31 with this fabulous new cover) is my fave from Allison thus far, a sparkling page-turner that I was not able to put down.

2. Blackberry Winter by Sarah Jio  This is not only one of my favorite books of the year, but it's also my favorite Sarah Jio book so far (she's written two others). It's a powerful and emotional story of two women who've never met, but are connected in unimaginable ways. In 1933, single mother Vera Ray loses her son the night of late-season snowstorm in Seattle--a cold-weather phenomenon called Blackberry Winter. Almost eighty years later, Seattle Herald reporter, Claire Aldridge, is assigned to cover a similar snowstorm that hits in May and learns of the unsolved abduction of Vera's son. She vows to find out what happened... Warning: Once you pick it up, will not be able to put this New York Times bestseller down. As you turn the pages, it's one unexpected twist after another right up until the shocking ending. (PS: Jio's upcoming novel, The Last Camellia, is out May 28, 2013. I cannot wait to read it!)

3. Jeneration X by Jen Lancaster This is hands down, Lancaster's funniest memoir yet. Not to mention the most hilarious book I read this year. (And yes, I'm more than a little in love with her sense of humor!) From the full title of her book alone,  Jeneration X: One Reluctant Adult's Attempt to Unarrest Her Arrested Development; Or, Why It's Never Too Late for Her Dumb Ass to Learn Why Froot Loops Are Not for Dinner, you know it's going to be a highly-entertaining page-turner. But it's the comedic tales she shares that suck you in for a wild ride as you hungrily devour chapter after chapter of her witty moments. This book appeals to all, but in particular the Gen Xer (ahem, me!), who will laugh and relate as Lancaster explores what it means to finally decide to grow up — sort of. I particularly enjoyed the stories about perimenopause and a home waxing kit. (PS: I've already read Jen's upcoming novel, Here I Go Again, out January 29, 2013, and it's fabulous!)

4. These Girls by Sarah Pekkanen Ah, Sarah Pekkanen. Where do I begin? Her books always top my favorite lists because she is such a brilliant writer. I swear she can give you the full picture of who a character is in just a few words. That's talent! So not surprisingly, what I love most about These Girls are the three main characters, roommates Cate, Renee and Abby. Cate has just been promoted to the editor of a fashion magazine but quickly realizes her new job comes with as many problems as perks. Renee, who is vying for a promotion of her own at the same magazine, turns to a bottle of diet pills after she overhears snide comments about her weight. And Abby is their newest roommate who is tight-lipped about what caused her to flee her nanny job in the suburbs. And as these girls help each other bring their truths to light and overcome their personal battles, I was reminded of the power of female friendships.  (PS: I've just finished Sarah's next book, The Best of Us, coming out April 9, 2013, and she nailed it--uh gain.)

5. Outside the Lines by Amy Hatvany This is one of the most moving and thought-provoking books I read this year. Hatvany is a beautiful writer and proves her skill, once again, at tackling tough subjects. In Outside the Lines, Eden searches for her father who left her two decades before, when she was just 10 years old.  After a series of failed romances and health scare from her mother, she knows it's time to face the emotions she's had bottled up all this time. Her journey to find her father, who she isn't even sure wants to be found, had me on the edge of my seat as I flipped the pages wondering how the story would end. (PS:My next read will be is Amy's upcoming book, A Heart Like Mine, out on March 19, 2013! The buzz? It's sensational!)

Man Candy bonus pick!

The 500 by Matthew Quirk (Because we read great books by men too!) This book is a complete departure from the novels I usually gravitate toward.  In the vein of John Grisham's The Firm, I was gripped from page one and felt more like I was watching an action movie than reading a story (in a good way). Mike Ford lands his dream job at Washington's most powerful consulting firm which turns out to be a world filled with lies, cheating and stealing. While rubbing shoulders with "the 500," the group of elite men and women who really run Washington, Ford is expected to join in on the fun. But even though he comes from a world of con men, he isn't sure he's cut out for the job. Can't wait to find out what's up next for this debut author.

xoxo, Lisa

Liz's Favorite books of 2012

There were a ton of great books in 2012.  So many, in fact, that Lisa and I had hard time narrowing them down, not to mention the fact we had a good ol' girlfight over who got which ones! (She'll share her 2012 faves tomorrow...) Besides the bestselling authors we already know are wonderful, I also chose three debuts that you may not have heard of.  Because who doesn't love discovering a fab new author?!

The books listed here are the ones that I couldn't put down, that I couldn't wait to get back to, that had characters that I was thinking about(and in some cases dreaming about!) long after I was finished.  These books were my favorite of the year. And girlfrin', I read a lot!

And hey-we want to hear what books you LOVED in 2012.  Don't forget to leave a comment and let us know!

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...LIZ'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2012

1. Ten Girls to Watch by Charity Shumway Not gonna lie--Shumway had me from page one with her fresh and dynamic narrative.  This could have been just another story about a girl trying to make it in the Big Apple, but she made it an engaging page turner about Dawn. When she's tasked to track down the past winners of Charm Magazine's Ten Girls To Watch, she ends up discovering a few things about herself through the exceptional women she's researching. And don't even get me started on how she got the job in the first place! (her ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend gets her the gig...) Do yourself a favor and pick up this lovely debut!

2.  Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn So, I almost didn't put this one on the list.  Not because it wasn't effing fantastic(because it was!), but because it's already received so much press this year and topped so many "best of" lists.  But, there was just NO WAY I could skip highlighting this haunting tale about two of the most effed up people you will ever meet.  Gone Girl, which is about a woman who goes missing on her five year wedding anniversary, is absolutely brilliant.  I couldn't get the book out of my head for days after finishing(and even had a few nutty dreams about it...) If you haven't read it yet, you need to RUN, not walk to your nearest bookstore and pick up a copy. Seriously.

3. I Have Iraq In My Shoe by Gretchen Berg Attention, my fellow SATC fans.  You are going to love the sh*t out of this memoir! When Gretchen, a shoe-loving fashionista gets a job teaching English in Iraq to pay off her mounting credit card debt, she has no idea what she's in for. Berg had me cheering her on as she navigated a completely new culture that didn't seem to wear deodorant or appreciate her keen sense of style. SO smartly written and freakin' hilarious, I promise that you'll fall in love with Gretchen on page one. Sometimes, memoirs can lose their steam in the middle, but I Have Iraq in My Shoe had me engaged from beginning to end.

4. Point, Click, Love by Molly Shapiro Another fresh debut! I loved the sparkling narrative in this novel about four Midwestern friends who are each trying (and in some cases failing) to navigate the online and social networking world.  Kate's realizing that online dating might not be all it's cracked up to be. Anne is stalking her possible sperm donor. (long story!) Maxine obsesses over celebrity gossip to distract her from the cracks in her marriage. And Claudia resents the hell out of how much time her husband spends on Facebook. What makes this book special? The way Shapiro weaves their stories beautifully with her sharp writing.  I couldn't put it down!

5.  The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner Oh, how I loved this book! When Ruth(who headed to LA six years prior with her sassy grandmother in tow) hits the Hollywood lottery and gets the green light on the show she's written, she can't wait to become the next Shonda Grimes.  But when the reality of how things really get done in Tinseltown sets in, she realizes that she may be in over her head. And did I mention she has a huge freakin' crush on her boss? I loved the insider details Weiner included, having just come off her own Hollywood story. This story leaped off the page and I raced to the end.  For me, this was my favorite of hers since Good in Bed. (Which, for the record is on the short list for my ALL-TIME fave books!)

YA Bonus Pick!

Audrey's Guide to Witchcraft by Jody Gehrman  I was on a business trip when I opened this book on my iPad.  THREE hours later, I had the run the battery down devouring this charming tale about Audrey, a witch-in-training who has to get it together when her mother goes missing under mysterious circumstances.  Audrey has her own teenage problems to deal with as she attempts to get her powers up to speed before everything is destroyed by someone from her mother's past.  Fun, light and absolutely addicting, I can't wait for the next book in this series!

xo, Liz

Josie Brown's 5 BEST EVERS

Our guest today: Josie Brown Why we love her: She is one sassy lady!

Her latest: Totlandia: The Onesies

The Scoop: The Pacific Heights Moms & Tots Club is the most exclusive children’s playgroup in all of San Francisco. For the city’s ultra-competitive elite, the club’s ten annual spots are the ultimate parenting prize.

But not everyone is PHM&TC material. The club’s founder, Bettina Connaught Cross, adheres to strict membership rules: Moms only. No single parents or working mothers allowed. Membership is an arduous commitment. And there’s no room in the club for scandal, bad behavior, or imperfection…from tots or their moms.

In a world of power and prestige, no one has more than Bettina. And as every mom in Pacific Heights knows, you simply cannot cross her. But this year’s admissions process is more rigorous than ever, pitting prospective members against each other to prove their mettle.

But four of the six candidates vying for the remaining four slots have a secret that would knock them out of the running. Jade is a former stripper and porn actress, who has been absent for most of her son’s life. Jillian’s husband cleaned out their joint accounts and left her for his pregnant assistant. Ally never even had a husband—just a sperm donor—and she’s hiding a high-ranking corporate job. And Lorna fears that her son may have special needs… just the excuse her sister-in-law, Bettina, needs to deny her entry to the club.

Can these hopeful moms keep up appearances long enough to outlast the competition? Or will their chances—and their private lives—go up in flames?

Our thoughts: The perfect gift for your favorite Mom this holiday season!

Giveaway: FIVE eCopies! Leave a comment and we'll choose winners on Sunday, December 9th after 3pm.

Fun Fact: Josie's novel, Secrets Lives of Husbands and Wives, has been optioned by NBC!

Where you can read more about Josie: Her website, Facebook or Twitter.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...JOSIE BROWN'S 5 BEST EVERS

1. BEST SONG: I’m very old school! “If I Fell” from the Beatles and “Stop in the Name of Love” from the Supremes. Both are about heartache, and so singable, right?

2. BEST BOOK: Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. I read it thirteen times, before I reached the age of sixteen. Part of my devotion has to do with the fact that its author is from my home town of Atlanta. (FYI: as is Kathryn Stockett, who wrote The Help, and I assume will inspire new generations of writers and readers.)

The scope of this saga of unrequited love – over a generation, and through a major war – seemed to me to be the ultimate love story. Frankly, it still does. Nothing comes close!  The heroine, Scarlett O’Hara, envisions herself in love with a man who is promised to another, and never really showed her anything other than flirtatious lust. Only in the last chapter does she realize she has just lost the love of her ideal mate: Rhett Butler, who loves her, despite the tests of time, place and circumstance, which strip away all the gentility in which she was born and bred.

Again, unrequited love.

3. BEST MOVIE: Down and Out in Beverly Hills, with Richard Dreyfus, Bette Midler, and Nick Nolte.

I love the first because of its sly humor and perfect dialogue, and a great plot. An upheaval takes place in the Beverly Hills mansion of a wealthy family when  a homeless man, trying to commit suicide in their pool, is saved by the Dave Whiteman, the owner of the mansion. Despite being a giving father and successful businessman, Dave feel s he’s taken for granted by his wife, and ignored by his children: a daughter who he worries is anorexic, and a son who is in the closet. Every member of the family wants to believe that the bum from the pool has some wisdom to dispense. Not. Finding out the truth is part of the fun.

4. BEST MOMENT: When I delivered my first child: my son.  Pregnancy is an experience. Motherhood is a whole other life. It is a great journey, and a wonderful challenge, to have someone dependent on you for the first twelve years of their lives, then grow away from you, only to realize your love and faith in them won’t be matched by anyone else…until they find their soul mate.

5. BEST ADVICE: For everyone, it is to open your mind, and your heart. Those who close themselves off to new people, new places, new experiences, and of course new ideas. Life is a journey.  Enjoy every step of the way.

Thanks, Josie! xoxo, L&L

The Giving Challenge

Liz here. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling especially thankful this year. I made a leap of faith and didn't fall on my ass.  My publishing dreams are on the cusp of coming true--with my best friend!  My family is healthy.  And we've got fabulous readers like y'all who swing by and tell us what's on your mind. Really, I couldn't ask for more. I'm a true believer that the more you give, the more you'll get back. Maybe that's why that I can't pass the person holding the sign on the side of the road without offering something--I've probably unknowingly bought more crack than anyone I know, but hey, my intentions are always good.

Each holiday, the adults in my family donate money rather than exchange gifts.  This year, we adopted a family through a fantastic foundation called Megan's Wings.  They help out families who have a child with cancer--gifts for the children, gas cards to drive to the treatments, etc. And as we perused the aisles of Target shopping for this Spiderman-loving four year old who was battling cancer, all the things that I thought I just had to have didn't seem so important anymore.  I would have bought the whole store for that little guy and his mom if I could. That feeling of giving back was better than any gift I could open. (Unless it was that big ass Louis Vuitton bag I've been eying for several years, that would feel really rad too...Mike Fenton, are you listening?!)

But please, don't think I'm getting on my giving high horse.  I can be just as selfish as the next person--I literally had an out-of-body experience the last time I stepped into Anthropologie. (Why does all their stuff have to be so...soft? and quirky? and perfect?!) But I'm trying, really trying, to push myself to give more than I think I can each year. And to push my kids to do the same thing. Because as much as I'd love for them to grow up to be superstar athletes that work part time as rocket scientists(in the off season, of course), the most important thing I want them to learn is to be kind.

Are y'all up for a challenge? Do one good deed this holiday season--maybe it's adopting a family, or maybe something simple like buying Starbucks for the person behind you in line. Maybe you offered to help someone carry groceries to their car or dropped off some toys to your local home for foster children. Do ONE good deed and come back and tell me about it here.

Once you come back and let me know what you've done(and if it's a charity, share that too so others can discover them!), and I'll enter you to win one of FOUR $25 Amazon gift cards. Oh, and tell your friends too! Let's make this a movement.  And if anyone can do that, it's a bunch of Type-A beyotches like us.

I'll choose the winners in a random drawing on January 1st after 10am. That means you have ALL MONTH to get your shit together and do something nice.  I know you can do it.

Ready...Set...GO DO GOOD!

xoxo, Liz

Tammara Webber's 5 BEST EVERS

Today's guest: Tammara Webber Why we love her: She nails this "new adult" genre perfectly but will still appeal to a wide audience of readers.

Her latest: Easy

The scoop on it:  A girl who believes trust can be misplaced, promises are made to be broken, and loyalty is an illusion. A boy who believes truth is relative, lies can mask unbearable pain, and guilt is eternal. Will what they find in each other validate their conclusions, or disprove them all?

When Jacqueline follows her longtime boyfriend to the college of his choice, the last thing she expects is a breakup two months into sophomore year. After two weeks in shock, she wakes up to her new reality: she's single, attending a state university instead of a music conservatory, ignored by her former circle of friends, and failing a class for the first time in her life.

Leaving a party alone, Jacqueline is assaulted by her ex's frat brother. Rescued by a stranger who seems to be in the right place at the right time, she wants nothing more than to forget the attack and that night--but her savior, Lucas, sits on the back row of her econ class, sketching in a notebook and staring at her. Her friends nominate him to be the perfect rebound.

When her attacker turns stalker, Jacqueline has a choice: crumple in defeat or learn to fight back. Lucas remains protective, but he's hiding secrets of his own. Suddenly appearances are everything, and knowing who to trust is anything but easy.

Our thoughts: Her characters are sympathetic and the love story in will resonate with women of all ages.

Fun fact: She originally self published Easy as an ebook and it spent several weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Then Penguin snapped it up and released it in paperback.

Giveaway: FIVE copies!  Just leave a comment and be entered to win. We'll select the winners this Sunday after 3pm PST.

Where you can read more about Tammara: Her website, Facebook and Twitter.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...TAMMARA WEBBER'S 5 BEST EVERS

1. BEST BOOK: In my late twenties, I vowed to read every classic novel I could swallow. Some went down more easily than others, of course; Dostoevsky nearly killed me. But every Jane Austen novel was a treat, and Pride and Prejudice was the best of them all. My husband commented, “That’s probably been used to death, though,” and I agreed that undoubtedly, it had – for good reason. For thousands of readers over two centuries (fun fact: the birth date of P&P was January 28, 1813), this story has embodied the quintessential romance, and Darcy has been the definitive brooding hero – a beta guy with an alpha center, which for all of his superiority or reserve will not stay put in the presence of one particular girl.

2. BEST MOVIE: The most-lauded Norah Ephron/Meg Ryan pairings are When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle. These are both wonderful films, but for me, it’s You’ve Got Mail. My fondness for it traces back to the Darcy appeal – the guy who cannot help but be enchanted with the last person he should find fascinating. I don’t care how dated it is (A dial-up modem! With sound! Almost quaint?) or what the flaws are, I love this movie. I tear up and sigh every single time when he says, “…how about some coffee or, you know, drinks or dinner or a movie… for as long as we both shall live?”

3. BEST SONG: I’m not musical – in the sense that I’ve never been able to create music, but the compositions of others often affect me profoundly. It’s difficult to narrow to one song, because different songs fit different moods, but I connect to Alanis Morissette’s That I Would Be Good at such a deep level that I don’t have to be in the mood for it – it will pull me into the mood. When the album came out, almost fifteen years ago, I was having a tough time personally. Lots of internal questions and anxiety about who I was and what I was meant to do. Lots of self-doubt. This song didn’t answer those concerns – but it helped me define the fears that caused them. I started writing again that year.

4. BEST ADVICE: Indirect advice, in the form of a quote: “You’re never too old to be what you might have been.” (George Eliot) Mary Anne Evans didn’t let her age or gender stop her from reinventing herself as a novelist in the middle of the nineteenth century. Using a male nom de plume – George Eliot – she published her first novel the year she turned forty. I took her advice as though it was meant for me, and I’m always happy to pass it on to anyone who needs it.

5. BEST LIFE MOMENT: This has to be my husband’s and my first kiss, because it was the most spontaneously romantic thing that ever happened to me. Paul and I had been friends for a year. We were close friends – the type who hug goodbye when parting. Except this one time, we hugged, heads turned simultaneously, mouths lined up, and for no reason and with no warning – we were kissing. I don’t mean like “peck” and then “Oh, jeez, heh-heh, what was that?” I mean flat-out full-body-contact, “I will have you right here! Oh wait. It’s daylight and we’re in public. Ahem.” We were 16 and 17, and at school. He was my ex-boyfriend’s best friend. The first thing he said after was, “Why’d we do that?” Still clinging to him (because my legs were jelly, and also I was too mortified to look him in the eye), I mumbled, “I don’t know.” Little did we know the metamorphic shift our lives took with that one impulsive lip-lock – though given our ages at the time, that’s just as well. We celebrate the date every year.  (Want to read the full story of this romantic first kiss?  Head over to Tammara’s blog here.)

Thanks, Tammara! xoxo, Liz & Lisa

Sere Prince Halverson's 5 BEST EVERS

Today's guest: Sere Prince Halverson Why we love her: She's a beautiful writer who inspires us to up our game.

Her latest: The Underside of Joy (Now available in paperback!)

The scoop on it: To Ella Beene, happiness means living in the Northern California river town of Elbow, California, with her husband Joe and his two young children. But one summer day Joe drowns, leaving Ella alone with Annie and Zach—until his ex-wife, Paige, shows up at the funeral. For three years, Ella believed that Paige had selfishly abandoned her family. Yet—as the custody fight between mother and stepmother ensues—Ella realizes there may be more to the story than Joe ever revealed.

The Underside of Joy is not a fairy-tale version of step-motherhood, pitting good against evil, but a captivating story of two women who both claim to be the mother of the same two children.

Our thoughts: A riveting debut novel that kept us guessing all the way until the end.

Giveaway: FIVE copies. Just leave a comment to be entered. We'll select the winners this Sunday after 3pm PST.

Fun fact: Contest alert! Win a picnic for your bookclub! Just contact Sere by January 7th. Click here for the deets!

Where you can read more about Sere: Facebook, her blog and her website. 

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...SERE PRINCE HALVERSON'S 5 BEST EVERS

BEST SONG: I know you all understand this: I have hundreds of favorite songs. So on this day, at this moment, I’ll say that my favorite song is…(drawing from a hat)…”2000 Miles” by The Pretenders. Reminds me of a road trip to Washington with my sons.

BEST BOOK: Same caveat as above. Today, my best book is The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Or maybe Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Or maybe…

BEST MOVIE: I also have many favorite movies, but my all-time favorite, the one I’ve seen a bazillion times and never get tired of, the one that makes me break out in song and break out in tears (yes, watching it with me is an experience in of itself) is The Sound of Music. It was the first movie I ever saw. I was four years old. I remember getting dressed up for a special night with my parents while my little sister stayed home with the babysitter. I remember a red velvet curtain and sitting between my parents in big plush seats. And I remember crying at the end, saying, “I want to go with Maria and the kids.” Ha! That must have made my parents feel great. I love this movie so much that it even worked its way into The Underside of Joy.

BEST MOMENT: I’m not just saying this because it’s the expected answer: The moment I became a mother. I was in a traditional hospital with a traditional doctor, but he asked me, right before my son was born (though I didn’t know if he was a son or a daughter at the time), if I wanted to help deliver him. I reached down and pulled him onto my stomach. I looked down into his squished, pure angel face and fell in love. I said, “Hello sweet baby. You’re so beautiful, but are you a boy or a girl?” Because I’d delivered him, the doctor hadn’t held him up and declared, “It’s a boy!” We had to turn him over and check for the evidence ourselves.

BEST ADVICE: “You can have it all. You just can’t have it all at once.” This came from a dear family friend who’s like a very cool aunt and wise big sister wrapped up into one. Sully grew up in the fifties and early sixties and was considered “a career woman” who married later. She gave me this advice in the mid-nineties. I’d married young and had a couple of little kids at that time and was sort of floundering in my career and going through a divorce.

But I know lots of women who have great careers and marriages while their kids are little. It’s not just about that. It’s about the ins and outs and ups and downs, the phases of life, and how there’s always something challenging or missing and there’s always something miraculous going on too. She was advising me to not miss the miraculous while pining for the missing piece. Because the missing piece could very well show up later down the road, but the miracle at hand will soon only be a memory.

It goes something like this: The kids fill my life and heart to overflowing but I have no me time. I have tons of me time but I miss the kids. The bank account is fine but the relationship is not. The relationship is wonderful but work is not. The house is a mess and everyone’s coming over. The house is clean! Hey, where is everybody? The childhood dream finally comes true. But my dad doesn’t live to see it happen.

But when I look at the whole sprawling miraculous picture? It’s all there. My dad is there, big as life itself. And so are his grandkids, in all their different glorious ages, and me in all mine.

Liz and Lisa, thanks so much for having me on your wonderful blog. So appreciated!

Thank YOU! xoxo, Liz & Lisa

Sarah Pekkanen's Beginning Again

Y'all know how much we love Sarah P, right? And not just because she was the very first author we interviewed on CLIND. We just love her insightful, sweet and heartfelt novels, not to mention the fact that's she's a ridiculously kind and generous person.  And know what else we love?  The fabulous novellas that she gives us in-between--because girlfrin' knows we can't wait until 2013 for The Best of Us! (Which, btw, is her best yet, you are going to L-O-V-E it!)

So obviously, we're totally stoked that her latest novella, Beginning Again is out TOMORROW.

Here's the scoop on it: Things have always gone perfectly for Corrine Brown—until now. She’s separated from her husband of less than three years, and going solo to her baby sister’s wedding in Minnesota. As happy as she is for Ilsa, the weekend is long and lonely, and she’s eager to get back to her life in LA…until she realizes that her life, as she’s known it, is over. Forced to reinvent herself just when she thought was finally settled, Corrine soon learns that sometimes, the most rewarding adventures are the ones that we least expect.

A continuation of the original short e-stories All Is Bright and Love, Accidentally, but told from the point of view of a new character, Beginning Again is a heartfelt take on what happens when one happily ever after fades—and another begins.

Sounds juicy!  And the best part?  IT'S ONLY .99! Yes, you heard that right.  Less than that big ol' bag of popcorn your kids always bug you for while at Target!  So go grab a copy.  Now.  Don't make us beg--we promise you'll be happy you did.

xoxo, L&L

Top 5 Sweet Valley High moments with giveaway!

We don't know about you, but we were freakin' obsessed with Sweet Vally High back in the day.  Carrying our tattered copies everywhere, we LOVED those damn Wakefield twins, even if Jessica was a total bitchface and Elizabeth was the biggest effing goody two shoes we'd ever laid eyes on. For us, SVH defined a time of our lives. So to celebrate our great love for the series, we thought we'd highlight our TOP FIVE best SVH moments.  And we'd love to hear yours too!  And guess what?  SVH books 1-12 are now available as Ebook and we are giving away FIVE Ecopies of the entire series!  Click here to grab a copy of your favorite!

LIZ & LISA'S TOP FIVE SVH MOMENTS:

1. Playing With Fire: Oh, Jessica!  Of course you want to hook up with rich bad boy Bruce Patman!  We get it, we would have loved to cruise around in his Porshe too. But, when she gets all clingy with him and starts ditching cheerleading practice, Elizabeth goes all Cheaters and catches him with some slutty redhead at the pizza place. Oh, well. It was fun while it lasted.

2.  All Night Long-  Jessica really likes those bad boys!  This time it's Scott, the college boy (check out his super cool stache on the old school cover above).  She heads out to a party with him and doesn't return!  ALL NIGHT LONG!  What a slutbag!  Well, actually, he wanted to feel her up and she wasn't having it and then he passed out so she couldn't get home.  When she doesn't return, Elizabeth pretends to be Jessica so Jessica can get a decent score on a test for once--totally pissing off her goody goody other half, Todd Wilkens! The Drama!

3. Kidnapped! We were on the edge of our seat when creepy Carl the orderly kidnaps Liz from her candy striper job(that's what she gets for doing all those good deeds!).  He really brutalizes her by forcing her to eat frozen pancakes.  Then she escapes, thank GOD!  Because who would run The Oracle if Crazy Carl had killed her?

4. Rags to Riches When it's revealed that Roger Barrett, former school poor kid, is actually wealthy Bruce Patman's cousin, OF COURSE Jessica wants a piece of that .  The only problem?  His longtime girlfriend, Olivia, who didn't give a sh*t that Roger didn't drive a Porsche for the past fifteen books.  So, Jessica starts kissing Mrs. Patman's ass so Roger will choose her to be his date at the fancy country club dance in his honor.  But thankfully. Roger realizes that Jessica is a money hungry B before it's too late and sticks with his girl, Olivia.

5. The New Jessica- People keep mistaking Jessica for Liz.  SHOCKING!  I mean, they are identical twins, right?  So Jessica dyes her hair black and starts speaking in a British accent and hits on Liz's new boyfriend about 3.2 seconds after they break up.  Then Elizabeth beats black-haired British accented Jessica out for a modeling job, so Jessica dyes her hair BACK to blond and tries to impersonate Liz.  Then the modeling people realize there are TWO of them and they get to model together, as twins.  Because horrible behavior like that should always pay off, right?

What are YOUR fave moments?  Leave a comment and be entered to win a copy of THE ENTIRE E-SERIES. Seriously!  We have five to give away!  We'll choose the winners after Sunday, December 2nd at 3pm PST.  Good luck!

Lisa Genova's 5 BEST EVERS

Today's guest: Lisa Genova Her latest: Love Anthony

Why we love it: She writes about autism beautifully. And her heartwarming novel reminds us of what's important: family.

The scoop on it: I’m always hearing about how my brain doesn’t work right. . . . But it doesn’t feel broken to me.

Olivia Donatelli’s dream of a “normal” life shattered when her son, Anthony, was diagnosed with autism at age three. Understanding the world from his perspective felt bewildering, nearly impossible. He didn’t speak. He hated to be touched. He almost never made eye contact. And just as Olivia was starting to realize that happiness and autism could coexist, Anthony died.Now she’s alone in a cottage on Nantucket, separated from her husband, desperate to understand the meaning of her son’s short life, when a chance encounter with another woman facing her own loss brings Anthony alive again for Olivia in a most unexpected way.Beth Ellis’s entire life changed with a simple note: “I’m sleeping with Jimmy.”

Fourteen years of marriage. Three beautiful daughters. Yet even before her husband’s affair, she had never felt so alone. Heartbroken, she finds the pieces of the vivacious, creative person she used to be packed away in a box in her attic. For the first time in years, she uncaps her pen, takes a deep breath, and begins to write. The young but exuberant voice that emerges onto the page is a balm to the turmoil within her, a new beginning, and an astonishing bridge back to herself.In a piercing story about motherhood, autism, and love, New York Times bestselling author Lisa Genova offers us two unforgettable women on the verge of change and the irrepressible young boy whose unique wisdom helps them both find the courage to move on.

Our thoughts: Lisa Genova is a beautiful writer. You will love this book!

Giveaway: FIVE copies! Just leave a comment and be entered to win. We'll randomly select the winners this Sunday after 3pm PST.

Fun fact: Watch Lisa talk about Love Anthony here.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...LISA GENOVA'S 5 BEST EVERS

BEST SONG: There are way too many!  Anything by Paul Simon and Ani DiFranco. My recent favorite song is “Stars and Meteors” by Sarah Swain.

BEST MOVIE: My favorite movie is probably Before Sunset starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, directed by Richard Linklater.  It’s about regret and love and real connection.  The dialogue is incredibly smart, it’s gorgeously shot, and the acting blows me away.  Many of the scenes are done in one long shot (from the perspective of one camera without cutting away) which gives the film an immediacy and intimacy that I love.

BEST BOOK: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks.  This was the book that initially inspired my passion for neuroscience.  I went on to earn a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard 10 years after I first read this book.  The neurological conditions and diseases presented in this collection of true stories are fascinating, but what hit me the most with Dr. Sack’s writing was the compassion and humanity contained within his descriptions of each patient. He says, “In examining disease, we gain wisdom about anatomy and physiology and biology.  In examining the person with disease, we gain wisdom about life.”  This singular quote has guided every book I’ve written so far.

BEST LIFE MOMENT: The day I met my husband.  I was instantly attracted to him, but what I remember most is a peace that settled over me.  I actually felt these words--he is part of whatever was next for you.  I felt chills—and butterflies.

BEST PIECE OF ADVICE: After my first marriage fell apart, I was a divorced, unemployed single mother (my daughter was 3).  I should’ve gone back to work as a strategy consultant for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Or even back to brain research.  I’d loved my job (I quit when my daughter was born to be home with her), I was good at it, it paid well, and it came with health benefits.  It was the responsible, sane decision.  But, along with the heartbreak of the divorce came the idea that this was an opportunity to start over, that I was facing the possibility of something new.  I’d started asking myself questions:  What do I want my life to look like now?  Why do I have to go back to my old job?  If I could do anything I wanted to do, what would that be?

I was sitting in my aunt’s living room with two of my five aunts when I asked this question aloud for the first time:

“Should I go back to work, or should I write a novel instead?”

Without hesitating, they both said, “Write the novel!”

Best advice of my life.  And of course, if we generalize, the advice is this:  Go for your dreams!  Do it now!

Thank you, Aunt Laurie and Aunt Mary!

And thank you, Lisa! xoxo, Liz & Lisa

Lee Adam's 5 BEST EVERS

Our guest today: Lee Adams Why we love her: Her writing makes us smile!

Her latest: Strawberry Wine

The scoop: Ten years have passed since Tanya Smith's last summer at Laurel Lake-the summer of Marie. Today Tanya is a confident, successful music promoter-a far cry from the naïve seventeen-year-old who showed up at the lake full of rosy notions of first love, lifelong friendships, and evenings spent sipping strawberry wine on the shore. That September changed everything, and as far as Tanya is concerned, there's no going back. That is, until a mysterious phone call from Marie's lawyer brings Tanya face to face with the past. Suddenly she finds herself returning to Laurel Lake and to everything she left behind there. Will the dark secret that haunts the lake break her heart all over again? Or will Marie's legacy be the key that unlocks the future Tanya gave up on ten long years ago?

Our thoughts: You'll be thankful for this one!

Giveaway: FIVE copies!  Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win.  We'll choose a winner after November 25th after 3pm PST.

Fun fact: Lee writes about living organ donation in her book Strawberry Wine.  In July of 2007, Lee donated her kidney to her sister’s husband.  She has since become an advocate for organ donation as a means to save lives.  Both Lee and her brother-in-law are doing well.

Where you can read more about Lee: Her website and Facebook.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...LEE ADAM'S 5 BEST EVERS

1. BEST SONG:  This is hard because I work in the music industry and love country music.  Especially Willie Nelson!  However, my husband and my “song” for the last 23+ years has been “American Pie” by Don McLean.  We were on our honeymoon in St. Croix in 1989 and had joined a group of 8 people also vacationing at our resort.  We’d had a bit too many rum punches and were singing crazy songs and someone yelled “American Pie” but none of us could remember how it started.  We were loudly trying to figure it out when a 60+ year old woman turned around and stated rather adamantly “A LONG LONG TIME AGO.”  That started a week long ordeal of making every guitar player in St. Croix play “American Pie.”  Now whenever we hear it, my husband and I call each other and crank it up.  Aside from that, the song is a beautiful way to honor the untimely loss of three talented men, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper, who contributed so much in such a short period of time.  To this day I don’t understand all the lyrics, but I truly love the song!  I had the pleasure of working a tribute project on Buddy Holly called Not Fade Away on Decca Records.  It further enhanced my appreciation of his music and talent.

2. BEST BOOK: Torn between two and not sure I can choose just one.  As an avid reader, some books stay with you.  Two books that have stayed with me are Ken Follett’s “Pillars of the Earth” and Jodi Picoult’s “The Pact.”

“Pillars of the Earth” is about the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England. It is set in the middle of the 12th century, primarily during the Anarchy.  This sounds so incredibly boring and every time I tell someone about the book I realize how awful it sounds.  However, Follett does an amazing job of character building and you become incredibly invested in them. You root for their love stories, for their strength, their tenacity, and their resolve to overcome adversity in a very difficult time in history.  I had convinced a guy to read it and he emailed me complaining, tongue in cheek, that it was a chick book because of all the love stories. As a reader, there is nothing more powerful then when a writer makes you feel like the characters are your family and friends, and you grieve the end of the book.  I was very happy, a decade later, to read his sequel!

Jodi Picoult’s “The Pact” has haunted me since I read it many years ago.  It’s the story of young, teenage love.  It is the scariest kind of love because you aren’t prepared for it, don’t know how to negotiate it, and every part of it feels like the best or worst moment ever.  You are too young to realize that “this too shall pass” and you are either the happiest you have ever been, or in pain that you believe will never go away.  Picoult negotiates through a devastating tragedy that comes from a teenage love story and makes us realize that we need to pay attention to our children as they experience their first crush, their first love, their first sexual encounter.  It’s a haunting novel, like so many of hers are.

3. BEST MOVIE: One of my all-time favorite “go-to movies” to get me through a bad day is “Love Actually.”  I love the British humor, but most importantly, I enjoy the multiple love stories.  The opening starts with Hugh Grant’s monologue as the movie shows everyday people greeting each other at London’s Heathrow airport.  I think it’s one of the most eloquent statements on love I’ve ever heard in a movie, especially a comedy.  Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinions starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion love actually is all around.  And this is why Chick Lit will never die!  Love doesn’t need to be dignified, or include famous people, or only pretty people.  Love is all around us, and who doesn’t enjoy a good love story!?

4. BEST MOMENT: It’s so hard to choose one!  I was honored to be at the births of my niece and nephew.  My wedding day certainly comes to mind. The day I accepted Christ.  But a life altering day for me was July 11, 2007 when I walked into the University Of Maryland Medical Center (perhaps with some Xanax still coursing through my veins) and donated my left kidney to my brother-in-law.  My reason for doing it was not just to save his life, but to give my 5 year old niece and 8 year old nephew a chance to grow up knowing their dad.  That day changed my life for the better and I knew I’d never be the same.

5. BEST ADVICE: Well, my mom always told me to never put anything in writing that I didn’t want read in court.  And I still feel its excellent advice!  But going deeper…find something that you are passionate about, and then find a way to serve other people with that passion.  Whether it’s feeding the hungry; curing a disease; caring for children or the elderly; or writing a book.  When you follow your passion, and put it to work helping others, it’s a win-win situation and you can’t go wrong.  A passion not followed is a dream not followed.  And it’s never too late to follow your dreams.

Thanks Lee! xoxo, L&L

Beth Orsoff's 5 BEST EVERS

Our guest today: Beth Orsoff Why we love her: She's one sassy girl!

Her latest: Vlad All Over

The scoop: Gwen Andersen loves being a schoolteacher, but she isn’t exactly raking in the big bucks. With her bank account shrinking by the minute, she needs a well-paying summer job if she’s going to hold onto the childhood home she inherited from her parents. So when the father of one of her students asks her to fill in as his au pair for the summer, she knows she should be thrilled. Alexander Romanescu is loaded, and Gwen adores his daughter Isabella. Plus, they’re planning to spend the vacation at their ancestral estate—in Romania!

And yet Gwen can’t shake the nagging feeling that saying yes to this man could lead to more than she bargained for. She knows so little about him—and the idea of spending six weeks in the land of Dracula and Vlad the Impaler is more than a little creepy. But the legends of Romania will be the least of her concerns if she doesn’t make some money…fast. And so Gwen says yes: yes to the job, yes to a European excursion…and yes to a summer that will change her path forever.

Our thoughts: Fun, fun, FUN!

Giveaway: FIVE copies! Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win. We'll choose a winner after 3pm PST on November 25th.

Fun Fact: See her "best life moment" below!

Where to read more about Beth: Her website or Facebook.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...BETH ORSOFF'S 5 BEST EVERS

1. BEST SONG:  I’m going to have to step out of character here and cheat a little bit on this one (and I’m generally a play-by-the-rules kind of gal, so this really is out of character for me).  I can’t choose one song, but I can tell you that one thing my husband and I love to do is watch those “Top 100” shows on VH1.  My favorite would have to be “Top 100 Songs of the 80s” because (dating myself here) that encompasses my high school and college years and I often associate those songs with a memory.  Now if you asked me to immediately name all the songs I couldn’t name more than a few without looking up the list on the internet, but when I’m watching the show I only have to hear a few bars before I immediately recognize the song and starting singing along (yeah, I’m one of those—that’s why these shows are best watched in the privacy of one’s living room).  “100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s” is a good one too because then you get to find out what happened to the artists as well.  Occasionally it’s something terrible and then I feel really awful for the person, but more often than not they’re either still working in the music business, often in another capacity, or they’ve made a good life for themselves doing something else.  Then I get to satisfy my curiosity and take a walk down memory lane.

2. BEST MOVIE:  This is a really tough one for me because I’m a huge movie fan.  In fact, I can never use “favorite movie” as my security question because I can’t trust myself to remember which one I picked that day (identity thieves take note).  But if you held a gun to my head and forced me to choose it would have to be “When Harry Met Sally.”  I not only love, love, love this movie, but it’s also the first movie my husband and I ever watched together, which was many, many years before we married—but that’s a whole other story!  I love “When Harry Met Sally” so much that I watch it every year on either New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.  And every year it makes me crave Mallomars (I’m not sure I agree with Harry that they’re the greatest cookie of all time, but they’re definitely in the Top Three).  This movie is so fabulous that I can quote every line of dialogue.  Seriously.  If you’ve never seen this film, correct this injustice immediately.

3. BEST BOOK:  Another one of those impossible to choose only one questions.  Because I love reading and writing chick lit I have to pick “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” which is not only hysterically funny, but is also partially responsible for my trying my hand at chick lit in the first place.  But I also love “Gone with the Wind” (book and movie).  Normally I will always read the book before I see the movie because once I’ve seen the movie I don’t have the patience to go back and read the book since I already know the whole story.  Not so with “Gone With the Wind.”  That book is amazing.  “Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm . . .”  Is that not a great first line?  I think so.  And then there’s “Beach Music” by Pat Conroy—so lyrical.  I listened to this one as an audiobook and sometimes the words were so beautiful I had to rewind and listen to them again.  And “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.”  I listened to this one as an audiobook too and one day while driving to work I got caught in construction traffic and it took me an extra hour to get to the office.  Normally I would’ve been flipping out, but that morning I couldn’t have cared less because it meant I had an extra hour to read that extraordinary book.  Really, it’s impossible to choose just one.

4. BEST PIECE OF ADVICE:  Stop caring what other people think.  Admittedly this is a hard one.  But if you can pull it off, if you can truly let go of other people’s expectations and opinions and pre-conceived notions about who you are and what you do and how you should be living your life, it’s possible to be a much happier person.

5. BEST LIFE MOMENT:  I’ll let you all in on a little secret:  I’m eight months pregnant with my first child.  So I’m kind of hoping my best life memory is yet to come.

Congrats Beth! xoxo, L&L

Click to win signed books by Sarah Jio, Jane Porter and Anita Hughes!

Helloooooo CLINDers!

We hope 2012 has been treating you well.  We can't begin to tell you how excited we are for 2013-we'll be doing lots of new and exciting things in anticipation of The Toast, as well interviewing a ton of kick-ass authors.  And you know what that means-- a sh*tload of giveaways!

We know many of you come to us through our Facebook page.  However, recently, Facebook has changed some policies and wants pages like ours to PAY them to ensure our posts make it into your FB feed!  This isn't a hoax. (Trust us, we wish it was!)

Wondering why you saw this post come through your feed? We gave in and paid them this one time, and we feel so dirty about it.  *hangs head in shame*

But never fear, there is a way you can make sure you get our notifications in your feed.  And if you're kind enough to do that, we'll make sure not to post a bunch of BS stuff into it, mmmmkay?

To ensure CLIND is in your FB feed:

1. Go to CLIND's Facebook page.

2. Click on the box that says "Liked"

3. Make sure  "Show in news feed" and "Get notifications" have checks next to them.  If they don't, click them.

4. Come back and leave a comment here and let us know you did it. You'll be entered to win a SIGNED copy of either Sarah Jio's Blackberry Winter, Anita Hughes' Monarch Beach or Jane Porter's The Good Woman. We have one copy of each and we will choose winners next Sunday, November 25th after 3pm PST.

Sooo freakin' easy, right?

Thanks so much for helping us out.  We just want to make sure you're in the know, because we have some cool sh*t coming up in 2013, including a COMPLETE website makeover.  Don't miss out, yo!

xoxo, L&L

Rachel Bertsche's 5 BEST EVERS

Today's guest: Rachel Bertsche Why we love her: She's hilarious!

Her memoir: MWF Seeking BFF

The scoop on it: When Rachel Bertsche first moves to Chicago, she’s thrilled to finally share a zip code, let alone an apartment, with her boyfriend. But shortly after getting married, Bertsche realizes that her new life is missing one thing: friends. Sure, she has plenty of BFFs—in New York and San Francisco and Boston and Washington, D.C. Still, in her adopted hometown, there’s no one to call at the last minute for girl talk over brunch or a reality-TV marathon over a bottle of wine. Taking matters into her own hands, Bertsche develops a plan: She’ll go on fifty-two friend-dates, one per week for a year, in hopes of meeting her new Best Friend Forever.

In her thought-provoking, uproarious memoir, Bertsche blends the story of her girl-dates (whom she meets everywhere from improv class to friend rental websites) with the latest social research to examine how difficult—and hilariously awkward—it is to make new friends as an adult. In a time when women will happily announce they need a man but are embarrassed to admit they need a BFF, Bertsche uncovers the reality that no matter how great your love life is, you’ve gotta have friends.

Our thoughts: Lisa went through the same thing when she moved to Chicago to be with her boyfriend (now husband). And Lisa also went on a lot of "woman dates" in search of a new "local" BFF. You will love this book about trying to make friends later in life. It's not easy!

Giveaway: FIVE COPIES! Just leave a comment and be entered to win. We'll pick the winners after 3pm PST on Sunday, November 18th.

Fun fact: She's worked for O, The Oprah Magazine and has written for tons of publications including Marie Claire. Oh and there's also the bit about her piece on vibrators that made it onto Howard Stern. But you'll have to ask her about that!

Where you can read more about Rachel: Twitter, Facebook, her blog and her website.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...RACHEL BERTSCHE'S 5 BEST EVERS

1. BEST BOOK: The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. I read it in a high school English class and was so struck by it that it became my go-to answer to this question. I recently re-read it to be sure it still deserves the title of Favorite Book Ever, and it does. I’m not someone who usually loves war stories, but The Things They Carried is ultimately about story-telling in general, and it’s so beautiful. (Need to mention my other, second place, favorite books ever: Little Women, Harry Potter—the whole series—Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, A Prayer for Owen Meany and Zeitoun.)

2. BEST SONG: My husband and I were recently in a cab and the radio was playing and every other song that came on I said, “This is my favorite song!” I said it often enough that I actually heard the cab driver laugh at me.  My iTunes is a mixture of pop music, Broadway showtunes, country and Glee covers. I know, it’s kind of embarrassing. There are some old classics in there too, but I’m the one who is too shy to use her ipod as the playlist when there is a party because I have no cool indie tastes. I’ve usually not even heard of anyone labeled “cool” or “indie.”  I can say that my favorite album of all time is Paul Simon’s Graceland. (Counting Crow’s August and Everything After and Lauryn Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill get honorable mentions). And my favorite radio station is Sirius radio’s “90s on 9.” Duh.

3. BEST MOVIE: Oh gosh. So many, again.  For a long time my answer was My Cousin Vinny.  I can quote pretty much the whole thing (“No! The defense is wrong!” I love Maria Tomei.) Lately every time Knocked Up is on TV (a lot) I can’t turn it off. Or School of Rock. But I think today, overall, my favorite movie is Spellbound, a brilliant and hilarious and touching documentary about kids in the national spelling bee.

4. BEST LIFE MOMENT: This is such a cliché answer, but it’s true: My wedding. My husband and I met in college and the combination of getting to marry him after being together for eight years and having almost all the people I love most in the world in one room…that’s kind of the best ever.

5. BEST PIECE OF ADVICE: Don’t wish your life away. My grandfather used to say it to my mom, my mom told me, and I recently passed it on to my Little Brother (not biological, but through Big Brothers Big Sisters, an amazing mentoring program). I heard my Little Bro say it recently—I think he forgot I was the one who mentioned that advice in the first place—and I realized what an important  and sticky lesson it is. I’m always waiting for the next thing, getting frustrated that time won’t pass faster so I can get to another milestone. That’s no way to live. My Little Brother, who is 11, is always saying “I wish I was 16 so I could drive” or “I wish I was 18 so I could vote” and all I can think is how great it would be to be 11 again! So, yeah. Don’t wish your life away.

Thanks, Rachel! xoxo, Liz & Lisa

Heather McElhatton's 5 BEST EVERS

Today's guest: Heather McElhatton Why we love her: We first fell for her when we read her novel, Pretty Little Mistakes and have been fans ever since

Her latest: Jennifer Johnson is Sick of Being Married

The scoop on it: Sometimes tying the knot just means getting strangled

Not too long ago, Jennifer Johnson was stuck in a cubicle, lovelorn and addicted to Cinnabon frosting. Now she's married to her Prince Charming—the handsome, wealthy son of a midwestern department-store magnate. But the grass on this too-manicured other side is not as green as she'd thought.

After a honeymoon from hell at a gated Christian resort in the Virgin Islands—bought and paid for by the in-laws and complete with alcohol-free drinks, curfews, and Satan-free yoga—Jennifer is beginning to have her doubts about the whole "happily-ever-after" thing. Soon she finds herself organizing Valentine's Day abstinence dances with her mother-in-law's church committee and dining with the ladies of the country club, who have their own theories about how to hold on to their men.

Is this really all there is to married life?

Our thoughts: A LOL story to which we can all relate!

Giveaway: FIVE copies! Just leave a comment to be entered to win. Winners will be selected after 3pm PST on Sunday, November 18th.

Fun fact: Her first novel, Pretty Little Mistakes is an adult choose-your-own-adventure!

Where you can read more about Heather: Twitter, Facebook and her website.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...HEATHER MCELHATTON'S 5 BEST EVERS

1. BEST SONG: "Don't Rain on My Parade" by Barbara Streisand. Fabulous song from the movie, “Hello Dolly.” I listen to it anytime I'm mad at someone or I’m just down.

2. BEST MOVIE: "Auntie Mame." It's a 1950's movie starring Rosalind Russell and it's about a wildly wonderful woman who 's strong, smart, inventive and excels at living life on her own terms and inb her own very original way, her motto: "Life is a banquet and some poor suckers are starving to death!"

3. BEST BOOK: My father’s thesaurus. A red leather-bound edition of March’s Thesaurus, published in 1925. The soft pages are filled with handwritten notes, poem fragments and even a partial grocery list. I love this book because inside resides all books. All books that were ever or ever will be written. All you have to do is string the pearls and the pearly-words are all lined up like soldiers waiting to be called to duty. The book is filled with lovely memories, besides my fathers notes and my own are artifacts of old. Pressed in between the cotton paper pages are faded flower petals, paper bookmarks, old notecards, ripped theater stubs and there’s a large moth in there that  I killed one night when it persisted in fluttering on the page I was trying to read. I killed him by flomping the heavy  book shut. (NOTE: I didn’t want to kill the moth. At all. I turned off the lights, opened the window, and asked it to leave several times, shooing it away with my hands but in the end my deadline won the battle, I had to get my pages finished and I needed the thesaurus to do this. I always use it when I’m writing, I lug it around with me everywhere. So the moth had to go. I felt very sorry afterwards and decided I would leave him there pressed between the pages, as a memorial bookmark. Later I wrote, “I did not want to kill this moth....” in the margins beside is decimated corpse. Interestingly, his brief life ended in between “Protocol” and “Proverb.”)

4. BEST PIECE OF ADVICE: My father told me “Always carry a knife, always have plenty of cash on hand and always wear sturdy shoes that you can run in.”  I’ve followed this advice all my adult life, to the letter. Another favorite piece of advice came from my mother, who said: “Honey, it takes two people to write a book. One to write it and one to shoot him when it’s done.”   Unfortunately, I have not followed this advice very often, opting instead to struggle with ending my novels in my own time, rather than allow a shadowy doppleganger to explode my head and shoot me with a book-ending-bullet. I will admit though, at times it might’ve been helpful. Lastly, my friend Lilly Cardenas supplied me with a real gem last year. She told me:  “You want it? You got it. Go get it.”

5. BEST LIFE MOMENT: The moment I received that first phone call from Harpercollins and I was told that they wanted to publish my book....that was an amazing moment. I was at Ikea shopping for a Wok, which I’d found and was carrying around with me as I wandered, completely lost, through an endless menagerie of room displays....complete living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens...all decorated to resemble actual rooms in real houses, the sets detailed and complete with open magazines on the coffee tables, shoes lined up in closets, an apple and gleaming paring knife resting on a wooden slicing board in the kitchen.  I was just wondering if a person could hide and live in Ikea undetected, using the various room displays to eat, sleep and read in.... when my phone rang and a lovely voice on the other end said, “Heather McElhatton? This is Alison Callahan at Harpercollins. I have to tell you I’m in love with your book and I want to publish it, but first I need to know if you’re willing to write more of them.”

What? I stood there speechless, holding my Wok as the world whipped around me. I couldn’t hear the woman on the other end of the phone anymore...I was having a mini-seizure/heart attack/muscle cramp/orgasm-spasm and could no longer hear, think or speak. Then someone bumped into me and I snapped out of my daze. I hurried into a nearby office set with a large executive desk, a rolling wingback chair, several green bankers lamps and a wrap-around wall of bookcases, filled with empty books. (Irony!) I commandeered the room as if I was actually in my office at home and  quickly pushed an end table next in front of the executive office’s door, so no one could come in.  I sat down at the desk and said, “Alison? Could you repeat what you just said? I couldn’t quite hear you...”

Thanks, Heather! xoxo, Liz & Lisa