Review: In Need of Therapy by Tracie Banister

In Need of Therapy is a romantic comedy that is as funny as it is sweet.

Pilar Alvarez is a woman trying to establish herself as a professional and her counseling private practice. The problem is her crazy personal life isn’t necessarily making it easy for her. Overbearing mother dead set on marrying her off, irresponsible younger sister always needing help, and persistent ex boyfriend top the list. As if these three weren’t enough, she’s found herself attracted to her hottie patient (think Matthew McConaughey) and the married doctor across the hall. Throw in some financial woes, and Pilar has her hands full to say the least!

The three men in Pilar’s life are Victor, a Latin lover philandering ex trying to win her back with over the top bravado. Mitch, a sexy beach lifeguard that is being treated by Pilar for his commitment issues. And Ford, the smart, successful doctor that recently moved into the office across the hall. The problem is Ford is wearing a wedding ring.

This extensive list of characters make for non-stop laughs, along with every one of Pilar’s terrible blind-dates. In a book that has so many dating woes, an author has to be careful that the heroine doesn’t come off as pathetic. The author has successfully overcome this pigeonhole for her heroine. Even though Pilar is attracted to three male characters, she will be okay without any of them. Pilar is a witty, smart, sexy character, only guilty of flaws that any woman can identify with.

The dialogue between characters flows effortlessly, allowing the comedic timing to shine. The story moves right along at a good pace, never leaving you bored. Cute and clean, this is a book you can read without worry that someone may be reading over your shoulder. If you love romantic comedies, this the book for you.

 

Blog Tour: Champagne Toast

Love is the most possible thing in the word.

It can expand.
It can lift.
It can inspire.
It can hurt.

Evan and Kate fall in love. They lift each other. But as much as Evan tries to inspire Kate, her lack of self confidence is her own undoing. She’s talented, but sadly is too afraid to make the leap and live her dreams. There’s only so much one person can do to persuade another. Kate can’t move happily on to the next stage of her life. Fear and doubt have her frozen in place. How can she keep up and live in Evan’s world? How can she be worthy of him?

Evan has his own faults. He holds Kate’s past against her. She has always cheated on the men she’s been with. He lives with the fear that she will one day do that to him. How can they move forward in their relationship when one partner does not trust the other? Trust is very important. Without trust, it can eat away at everything you’ve built.

Champagne Toast showed me no matter how great your love may be there are just some things that it can’t overcome...or can it? We watch two people fall in love. We see the aftermath of their issues. But can they grow, learn from it, and conquer their insecurities?

I was pleased with the ending. This Chick Lit romance read will frustrate you, anger you, please you and might even make you tear up. My favorite part was the two year’s time that followed their break up. I’m a glutton for punishment, but I actually liked to see how they were not coping with their loss and still longing for the other. I was sickened at the thought of how many women Evan must have been with to console his shattered heart while Kate withdrew within herself. And I loved every minute of it. Their love is still there, but they’re going to have to fight for it, for one another, if they want to reclaim it.

 

Melissa Brown is a hopeless romantic living in the Chicagoland area with her husband and their two children.  Aside from writing, she enjoys reading and baking. She also has a slight obsession with actor Henry Cavill and the TV show New Girl.  This is her second novel.

Email: AuthorMelissaBrown@yahoo.com

Twitter: @LissaLou77

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6457549.Melissa_Brown

Blog: http://melissabrownauthor.blogspot.com/p/about.html

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelissaBrownAuthor

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophia Kinsella

 5 Stars!

This is the story of Rebecca Bloomwood, journalist to a very NON famous magazine about MONEY. Bummer! She likes her life, she lives happy with her roommate Suze (who doesn’t charge her rent since she’s rich) BUT Becky has a TINY problem. Shes a SHOPAHOLIC! What a contradiction right!? 

How many of us have been shopaholics at one point or another in our lives?

(Don’t answer that question).

This book is an absolute WINNER and so delightful you will hardly be able to put it down. If you prefer contemporary or any other genre within romance rather than Chick Lits then this is THE BOOK you must read to make it happen! I guarantee that all your doubts will be solved and you will fall in love with Becky and Luke as I did.

Becky’s character resemble your typical working class dreamy girl with a taste for fashion. Not everybody is a fashionista, but in her world it really doesn’t matter: she has good taste on everybody’s behalf. I believe Sophie Kinsella portrayed a little bit of herself in Becky. She used to be a journalist for a financial magazine way before being a writer and she is a confessed fashionista.

What I can assure you, is that nowhere you will EVER find a character like Becky Bloomwood. She's unique and happy, she daydreams and has realistic problems like everybody and she finds a man (though it takes a while for her to realize it) like no other: Luke Brandon. To me, Luke is everything I want in a man. A successful entrepreneur, gorgeous, with the ideal job in Public Relations (I am Public Relations graduate myself even though I don’t work in the business), with endless connections, business partners, great taste in everything he does and detail oriented. In my opinion, Luke is my absolute ideal guy, but as you read this story you might think Becky doesn't care too much for him. She certainly is not interested in anything but fashion and having enough money to pay for it (that sounds obsessive, but it's not, you'll see).But she falls in love with Luke in such a sweet way it can only make your heart melt.

Take into consideration Becky is CLUELESS and OBLIVIOUS in a cute kinda way, it makes you laugh through the whole story how much Luke throws hints to her that he likes her and she (up to a certain point) doesn't relate it to attraction. Now, this is the British culture and some words might get confusing or could be hard for those who have never read anything in British English. But c’mon! I can't believe nobody has heard a ‘Blimey’ or ‘Telly’ before. And if you put Orlando Bloom’s or Jude Law’s on Luke it makes it even better!.

Many will think, well, Chick Lit's are like, "romance wannabe's". Others will consider this particular book as shallow and meaningless, but no! I can assure you, NO OTHER CHICK LIT has made me laugh, cry, smile, and feel butterflies all at once. Kinsella’s best shot was to make Becky aware of her mistake by not changing her completely. How can you actually love a reformed “shopaholic’? whats the fun in that?. And no, despite of the comments I've heard in the past, you do not change your point of view on shopping nor do you become a shopaholic yourself just because you read this book. DON'T FEAR! Maybe you could even learn a trick or two in finances rather that spend your entire savings account AND laugh out loud in the process.

This book is absolutely worth every penny you will spend on it.