Flawless

"Beauty is only skin deep."

Flawless, another Pretty Little Liars book by Sara Shepard, illustrates how every girl in Rosewood only wishes they could be flawless, one of them being Hanna Marin.

Once Hanna became best friends with Mona, they swore to each other that they would never lose their cool, always look fabulous, and never cry in public. With the way Hanna's life is going, it's a lot harder than it seems. She is forced to work in a burn clinic, and on top of that, Sean hasn't returned any of her phone calls. Hanna's father suddenly wants to spend more time with her. Not to mention A seems to know more about her than she thought...

Spencer's life couldn't get any crazier. Ever since Wren came into her life, things between the Hastings sisters went from bad to extremely worse. Her parents have completely stopped talking to Spencer and have even cancelled all her credit cards. She starts skipping classes and even some of her extracurriculars here and there. The good student record she's worked so hard for starts slipping through her fingers, and A is taunting her all the way...

Emily is more confused than ever. She thought she had it all figured out, but with her ex-boyfriend harassing her, she's too scared to even think. Wanting to return back to her normal life, she accepts the role of captain of the swim team, and she begins avoiding Maya completely. She even forms an unexpected relationship with Toby Cavanaugh, the only other person involved in The Jenna Thing. But nobody else knows about that. Nobody except A...

Aria sees her family falling apart more and more every day. With Ezra out of her life, she has no one to talk to anymore. Her brother, Mike, is even more distraught than she is after they come across their father with another woman in a bar. Things start to look a little brighter when she befriends Sean Ackard, one of the typical Rosewood boys she never thought she'd speak to. Aria confides in him, but still keeps the dreadful secret from her mother, despite A's threats...

All four girls are shaken up since the funeral. It's difficult to try and solve the mystery while preparing for the Foxy dance. They think they have a theory, but are they right?

Flawless is the second novel in the Pretty Little Liars series. More scandals and mysteries evolve as A continues to haunt the girls' every move.

Pretty Little Liars

"Never trust a pretty girl with an ugly secret."

In Pretty Little Liars, by Sara Shepard, the town of Rosewood, Pennsylvania is full of them. Best friends, Alison, Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna were the girls who had it all, including all the secrets. That is, until Ali disappears one night during the traditional beginning-of-the-summer sleepover.

Three years later with no leads on their missing friend, Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna live totally separate lives.

Emily is coerced by her mother to deliver a welcome basket to their new neighbors, the St. Germain's, the ones who moved into Ali's old home. This is when Emily meets Maya St. Germain, who turns her life upside down. Even though she has been with her boyfriend, Ben, for a while, Emily finds herself enjoying Maya's company much more...

Aria is returning to Rosewood from Iceland. Her family moved here a little while after Ali disappeared so Aria's father could do some research on Scandinavian art for a documentary. Aria blossoms and becomes a lot closer to her family. She even forgets about the terrible secret she's keeping from her mother. When she meets a cute new boy in town, things get complicated when she discovers out who Mr. Fitz really is...

Hanna is changed from head to toe, inside and out. As she is no longer "hefty Hanna," she and Mona, her best friend, enjoy their days shoplifting by day and partying at night. When Hanna gets caught by the police for the first time ever, her mom has to get involved. Then things with her boyfriend, Sean, turn sour. Slowly but surely, her life begins spiraling out of control as she resorts to her old ways of losing weight...

Spencer remains her typical competitive self; always trying to gain her parents approval, which is quite difficult with her perfect older sister, Melissa, hanging around. All Spence wants is some respect, independence, and the barn in the backyard to be hers. What she gets comes at a higher price when she starts to have feelings for Melissa's boyfriend Wren...

Only Alison knew all the girls' secrets, but she is gone. The girls are still being haunted by their old memories and ugly secrets by some furtive person named "A".

Pretty Little Liars is a delicious novel full of scandals and, of course, plenty of secrets. The mystery continues to unfold as this is just the first of eight in the series. Get caught up in the liars' torn and twisted worlds and try to uncover the mystery behind "A".

Sophie Kinsella

Most readers recognize the Confessions of a Shopaholic series as novels written by the author, Sophie Kinsella. In reality, however, these books are in fact written by Madeleine Wickham.

Born in London, Wickham began her career as a financial journalist just like Becky Bloomwood in the Shopaholic series. At the age of 24, she wrote her first novel titled The Tennis Party, which was the start of her career as a novelist.

Writing under her new penname, Sophie Kinsella, Wickham submitted to her current publishers, who immediately worked on getting Kinsella's works out into the public. The whole time, her editors never knew that Kinsella was actually already one of the publishers' authors. When her book, Can You Keep a Secret? came out, Wickham finally revealed her own secret.

This author has several novels written as Madeleine Wickham and several more as Sophie Kinsella, but all of them have been great successes written by one single woman. The Shopaholic series even led Wickham to the UK's bestseller list in 2000, and the first two novels were made into a movie.

Madeleine Wickham's penname story just goes to show that some secrets are indeed hard to keep!

http://www.sophiekinsella.co.uk/

Chasing Harry Winston

New York City is the city of love, adventure, and lots of hot, available (and unavailable, but still hot) single men. With glamorous parties full of new people, successful careers, and first-class shopping, what more can a girl need?

Lauren Weisberger's novel, Chasing Harry Winston, portrays all of the above, and more, in the adventures of three best friends chasing big dreams and resolutions in the big apple.

Leigh has always been the sensible, meticulous friend with the perfect career and the perfect man. She's satisfied with her editing career and is just on the verge of her biggest promotion when she meets Jesse Chapman, one of the biggest, most eminent novelists of the book world. She magically becomes the editor for his next book. With this and her caring, sensitive boyfriend, everyone can see that Leigh has it all.

Emmy thought she had it all after being with her idea of a "perfect" man for five years, until he dumps her out of left field for the personal fitness trainer that Emmy bought for him as a gift. How ironic. Struggling with missing her ex and trying to get over being out of a relationship, she takes on a new job offer that allows her the luxury of traveling and testing foods for new culinary ideas.

Adriana is clearly a brilliantly beautiful, Brazilian with the perfect hair, skin, and body girls can only dream of. With her parent's trust fund and their penthouse apartment, Adriana can spoil herself with anything she pleases, without worrying about how much she spends. She especiallly spoils herself when it comes to men, as she can catch and keep any man she wishes with her incredible talent.

After the girls spend a little time in a bar, they realize that not everything in their New York City lives is completely perfect. Emmy and Adriana decide to make a bet by completely switching roles in the case where men are concerned.

Since Leigh is already jet-set with her man, she doesn't feel she quite needs a resolution except to change something significant in her seamlessly organized life, which neither Emmy nor Adriana expect will happen.

As the New Year begins, the girls' resolutions commence, and each is surprised with what she discovers.

Chasing Harry Winston is a page-turner that can't be put down and will entertain, shock, and make its readers laugh along with the characters as they fulfill their crazy resolutions. Definitely a great book to read, this story of friendship and finding a place in the world of NYC, might even make readers want to come up with their own resolutions in the name of love.

Goodnight Nobody

Living in the suburbs with three kids under the age of five, a husband who is never home, and neighbors identical to the stepford wives can't be easy. When you've lived in the city your whole life, fitting in would definitely present a problem, especially when one of the stepford wives is found murdered...

Jennifer Weiner's Goodnight Nobody definitely illustrates the problematic life of Kate Klein when she becomes stuck and sticky in the suburbs by stumbling across a puddle of blood surrounding her neighbor's body.

Kate has never been the type to "have it all," especially when her mother, the professional soprano singer, constantly forces Kate to try her vocal cords. She can never quite measure up.

When she and her best friend, Janie, move into an apartment together, Kate swoons over their handsome next door neighbor. But Kate discovers that he is engaged to a model who has a waist size that is five times smaller than hers.

She settles for the next best man, marries him, and ends up with three children within two years. Before she knows it, she is shipped off to a small Connecticut town where she definitely doesn't fit in. Kate feels like she is nowhere close to being the perfect mother like the ones that surround her every day at the playground, especially like the ideal super mommy, Kitty Cavanaugh.

One day Kitty surprises Kate and invites her over for a play-date. While on the phone, Kitty mentions that the two seem to have a "mutual friend." Without any more details, Kate hikes her kids into the minivan and heads to Kitty's house, only to find herself in the middle of a murder scene.

Desperate to find some answers, Kate begins a full investigation in the search of Kitty's killer, with the help of their skilled mutual friend.

Goodnight Nobody is full of twists and turns in a mysterious and witty, suburbia housewife adventure. This novel is an ideal read for any mother who has ever struggled trying to juggle all things motherly in life. It's also just an enjoyable read for anyone in the mood for some chick lit mystery, with a little romance thrown in the mix, of course.

City Chic

Every girl needs a little boost getting out into the real world. Even mothers and women of all ages can always use some helpful tips on makeup, cooking, and fashion. So where can the average woman find such a handy helper?

In Nina Willdorf's City Chic there is a solution, guide, and tip for every independent, chic woman. Separated into four sections, this helpful book discusses new ideas for every aspect of a woman's life.

The first section is devoted to helping women make some home improvements. Willdorf suggest using light and color to improve and brighten the mood, look, and comfort in the house or apartment. There is an abundance of tips on finding good bargains on furnishing and how to turn antiques into something completely unique. Also included are some ideas on how plants and flowers can improve a home dramatically.

Section two begins with ways to get your daily dose of exercise, without spending a whole lot of cash. In fact, there are plenty of exercises that can be done without even having a gym membership at all. This section discusses the importance of maintaining a natural, healthy head of hair, and how to do it for less. A girl's makeup is important, too, especially when it comes to splurging, replenishing, and multitasking.

Selecting a signature drink is important for any city chic girl, and section three lists the tips on how to do so. Of course some drinks may be pricey, but there are tips on how to save in this area, as well. Food is just as vital and there are plenty of tips and tricks for whipping up some quick meals, weeding out your pantry cupboards, and coupon clipping. Just in case a girl wants to entertain, there is also a whole chapter devoted to it in this section.

Finally, section four is all about clothes, clothes, and more clothes. Willdorf discusses the importance of giving your closet and your clothes a makeover. Here, a girl can find fashion tips, trends, helpful investments, and naturally, how to spot the best sales by shopping without a wallet.

City Chic truly is "the modern girl's guide to living large on less." With guidelines for everything under the sun, this book will come in handy for any woman in any situation, and it won't even cost her a dime.

Lost Hearts in Italy

Isn't Italy home of some of the most romantic cities in the world?

In Lost Hearts in Italy, by Andrea Lee, this just isn't true for Mira Ward and Nick Reiver, the two yound newlyweds who moved to Italy for Nick's financing career.

Mira, being the adventurous woman that she is, was ecstatic to move to her ancient new home, especially with the man she loved more than anything in the world. On her plane ride there, while she dreams of her new life, she meets Zenin, a wealthy, Italian toymaker. Their chat is polite and friendly, but little does Mira know that Zenin sees more than that.

After Mira and Nick are settled into their new home, the old, Italian man, Zenin, begins to call her. Once again, there is more friendly and polite prattle as they discuss the life in Italy. When Zenin finally asks her for lunch and she accepts, things begin to change.

Although nothing is mentioned about a date and nothing sensual about the lunch is said, Mira expects that this is what Zenin wants. Even though she is married, she goes to this lunch with a full knowledge of what she's getting herself into.

After the disastrous lunch date, Mira makes it very clear that she does not want to see him anymore, but when Zenin begins calling her, she is forcefully swept into an improbable affair.

Many months pass and even when Mira and Nick have a little girl of their own, her affair with Zenin continues.

Lost Hearts in Italy, although quite an untraditional romance, is sophisticatedly written in three different perspectives. Full of passion, adultery, and foreign culture, this international triangle of love will have you choosing sides between moral justice and lust.

Desperate Measures

Imagine that you've just met the love of your life. Their looks entrance you, they know you inside and out, and you just can't imagine your life without them now. There is no way your love could get any stronger. Now, with a wedding to plan, your life seems more like a fairy tale every day, and you are that much closer to your happy ending. Except, your lover has become a missing person.

In Desperate Measures, by Fern Michaels, this is what happens to Pete Sorenson.

Pete was a loner all his life. After his parents passed away, he bounced around from foster home to foster home, without ever really having a true family. The only true family he ever came close to was Barney, his best friend when he was just a little boy. Barney promised him that no matter where Pete was in the future, he would come and rescue him when he turned sixteen.

Pete's sixteenth birthday came and went, and there was not a single sign from Barney.

Things aren't so dreadful for long, because Pete's uncle finally finds him, and his life turns right around. He never has to be stuck in a foster home ever again. He finally has a family and is blessed with all the money he could ever need, since his uncle is a very successful lawyer.

He follows in his uncle's footsteps and decides to go to law school, as well. This is when he meets Annie, who quickly becomes his best friend. They mesh so well together and know everything there is to know about each other. They help each other through school and make many fond memories together. Pete even trusts her enough to reveal the story about Barney, which he has never told to anyone.

Later on in life, Pete meets the exotic Maddie and falls head over heels in love. They create an intimate bond when they discover that they were both foster children. Although Annie doesn't believe Maddie is really his type, she is Pete's best friend and supports him all the same. But Annie can't ignore her true feelings.

As Maddie and Pete's relationship evolves, Pete slowly begins to lose touch with Annie. However, just days before the couple's big wedding, Maddie disappears. Desperate to find her, Pete enlists the help of faithful, old friend, Annie. Of course, she can't say no, despite her somewhat negative feelings towards his missing fiance. She would do absolutely anything in her power to make Pete happy, even if it means breaking her own heart.

Desperate Measures is a lovely tale of two best friends striving to find love in the world. This book is a great read for anyone who's ever loved someone, but couldn't let them know, and for anyone who has ever gone above and beyond to please that special someone. Sometimes you need to take desperate measures for the one you love.

Julia London

Being a creative little girl with a big imagination, Julia London was always a lover of books. She grew up reading the classics, including the Nancy Drew series and Pride and Prejudice.

Once she was in her teens, Julia began writing tales where she would go on big adventures and land a handsome hero in the end.

After college she began to live some of those big adventures in real life and even obtained a few jobs working with the government.

Not being happy in the political world, Julia tried making her tales come to life. She was determined to get her stories published as novels. And her determined attitude surely paid off.

Today she is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. She has written more than 20 stories and has even won some awards for a few of them. All of the books she has written are romantic fiction novels where the heroine falls into the arms of her handsome hero, just like she dreamt about when she was younger.

http://www.julialondon.com/

The Last Single Woman in America

Love is never an easy thing to come by. Especially when you are living in LA, where men are suddenly the new women.

Cindy Guidry's The Last Single Woman in America, explores the trials and tribulations of the dating world, and of the world in general.

After getting "fired" from her job, but forbidden to use the dreaded "f" word, Cindy decides to use this to her advantage to define herself. Instead of frantically sending resumes out to all the companies in Cali, like her friend Dylan, she parties at night and indulges in arts and crafts by day.

Cindy wonders if there is any man out there for her. She was raised with the statement "anything you can do I can do better" when it comes to men and women. Now that women are being taught to take care of themselves in the real world, are men even needed anymore? Maybe in Never Never Land...

She meets a really handsome, dirty Viking with a small case of obsessive compulsive disorder. After he gets into a motorcycle accident and injures his leg, Cindy decides to play nurse. But their time together turns sour when the Viking's OCD kicks into high gear, and Cindy bolts out of his place.

When at a bar in Beverly Hills with her friend Donna, Cindy meets The Greek. He actually asks for her phone number, and she finds herself on her first actual date in years.

The Greek was insulted that she didn't want him to pick her up on their first date. He also couldn't believe she asked him what he did for a living. Cindy, being the persistent woman that she is, urged him to talk about himself. At the end of the awkward night, she was presented a videotape of a movie The Greek had written and directed, hoping that she would know the right people to put it on the big screen.

She's been on plenty of dates and has had plenty of boyfriends, but lots of her friends are getting married and having babies, now. And where does that leave her?

With a pesky, irritable feline she's forced to take to the LA Cat Whisperer, a nosy in-your-face neighbor who tells her everything she doesn't want to hear about herself, and a lucky leprechaun for a brother, Cindy feels worse and worse about finding "the one" in her less-than-perfect life.

The Last Single Woman in America is a fiesty collection of essays written by a woman who says what everyone only thinks. Guidry's raw stories leave readers with something to ponder, relate to, and laugh along with. Find out what it's like to be the last single woman in America.

Eat, Pray, Love

Imagine that your whole world is tumbling down. Despite your happy home, happy husband, and happy job, you're completely depressed and distraught. Nothing makes you cheery, and no matter how your day turns out, you're always stuck on the bathroom floor, crying by nighttime. Try as you might, your life doesn't get any happier, neither does your love life. Soon, your husband becomes your ex-husband, you quit your job, and you set out on a journey of self-discovery.

Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love tells this exact story. In her early thirties, Liz leaves everything behind to find herself again in Italy, India, and Indonesia.

First, Liz sets out to live in Italy for four months. She always longed to learn the beautiful Italian language, and what better way to learn than to live there. During her first night in Europe she waits for the tears to come at night, but they never do. She wonders if this was all she needed all along.

With classes at the Leonardo da Vinci Academy of Language Studies, Liz meets many more travelers who have all left their lives to learn the smooth, exquisite Italian language just like her. Although she isn't the most expert traveler in the world, she sure knows how to eat delicious food and make new friends, and that's just what she does in Italy.

Next, she's off to spend four months in an Ashram in India. After discovering the magic of gurus, Liz wants to be more like them and find enlightenment through meditation and prayer. Soon she finds that this is easier said than done.

In order to meditate, one must sit completely still in a dark cave for an hour. Liz, being the busy-body that she is, simply can't do such a motionless task. On top of that, all the seekers of enlightenment must first recite a song that has one too many verses in it. This has to be done every day before meditation, which Liz can't stand, so she lets her mind wander instead.

On the bright side, she's lost all the weight she gained in Italy, since everyone in India eats healthy, light vegetables. While she rides her journey towards enlightenment like a roller coaster, Liz wonders if she'll ever be able to reach God.

Finally, the last stop takes her to live in Indonesia where she hopes to take in some wisdom from the medicine man, Ketut Liyer, and to find balance. She spends her mornings in meditation, her afternoons with Ketut, and her evenings just relaxing in the little cottage she found for herself out in the country.

This is the first time on her journey that she actually allows herself to relax and enjoy the beautiful scenery around her. She ends up meeting Wayan, a Balinese healer, who becomes her best friend in Indonesia. They talk about all kinds of things, including love. Through a friend of Wayan's, Liz is introduced to the lovely Brazilian Felipe.

Eat, Pray, Love is a most ingenious autobiography full of humor, wit, and self-healing. This creatively written book is truly inspiring and describes an incredible journey of rediscovering one's true self. Through lots of eating, praying, and loving, Liz Gilbert finds exactly what she was looking for all along.

Sandcastles

Sandcastles always wash away with the tides, but a family's love is forever.

In Luanne Rice's Sandcastles this is just what is expected from the Sullivan family. Sisters, Regis, Agnes, and Cecilia have never seen love as strong as that shared by their parents, John and Honor Sullivan. Their passion feeds off of each other and creates the innovative painter and sculptor that they are. The girls always thought their family's love would last through anything.

One stormy, fateful day on a trip in Ireland, the Sullivan family is changed dramatically when John is sent to prison over a mishap with one of his sculptures. Six years later, Honor and her daughters are living their lives alone at Star of the Sea Academy in Connecticut under the careful watch of Mother Superior Bernadette Ignatius, John's sister.

All five girls wait patiently for John's return only to find that he will be arriving much sooner than expected. His daughters are excited for their father to come home to them. They can't wait to inform him of everything he missed in their lives while he was away, most importantly about the engagement of his eldest daughter, Regis.

Naturally Regis, Agnes, and Cecilia expect their mother to be just as excited for John's return as they are. They imagine she'll run into their father's arms, just like in all the romantic movies. But for Honor, John's homecoming brings mixed feelings. She doesn't know how to let go of what happened in Ireland, nor does she know how to react to a husband that's been gone for so long.

Although she still loves him, he broke her heart six years ago, and she doesn't believe that it has fully healed. Honor worries about how her daughters will respond to their father that they barely know.

Bernadette is the only one who knows the truth of Honor's feelings, and even through she's ecstatic for the return of her brother, she also worries about her nieces. Things become even more worrisome when secret messages are inscribed in the chapel at Star of the Sea. Faded memories become real, leading to the appearance of an archangel and the disappearance of one of the Sullivan daughers.

Sandcastles is a painstakingly real novel that defines the true love that can only come from a family. It's full of hope, love, and the reassurance that family will always be there through thick and thin, no matter what hardships may come along in life.

What I Did for Love

Glamour, fame, and fortune: the life of a Hollywood star. Everyone knows your name, who your friends are, your films, family members, life story, personal drama...

In What I Did for Love, by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Georgie York leads this exact life. At first everything is certainly glamorous all around, until the paparazzi captures her heartbreaking divorce with one of the top actors in Hollywood and pastes it on the front cover of every popular entertainment magazine.

Georgie began her career as a star on the sitcom "Skip and Scooter", with her loathed costar, Bram Shepard. Everyone on the set catered to Bram and his dreaminess, while Georgie took a back seat and watched his career slowly go up in flames due to alcohol, drugs, and bad influences.

Now, it is Georgie's career that's going up in flames as the world is shown her every raw emotion and open wounds from her devastating divorce. To top it off, every headline on the entertainment magazines highlights some good deed that her ex-husband's new wife is performing to save the world.

Just as she thinks her life can't get any worse, she wakes up in bed with a strange man. This man just so happens to be Bram Shepard, and he just so happens to have their wedding certificate in the pocket of his pants.

Naturally, this scandal would shoot Georgie's career through the roof and most likely make it disappear forever, so she can't do anything but go along with the show, just like the good little actress she is. Luckily Bram agrees to go along, as well, since he's trying to resurrect his acting career from the dead. Plus, Georgie agrees to pay him.

Flames and fire shoot through Bram's house as the not-so-happy newlyweds try to get along for the paparazzi. As the drama unfolds, Georgie begins to see the bad boy in a new light, and Bram concludes that there's nothing wrong with being a goody-goody. But it's all part of the act, right?

What I Did for Love is an excellent novel full of scandal, deceit, and of course, lots of acting. This book brings the Hollywood life into a new light and places an excellent heroine in the spotlight. With humor and many surprise romances, readers will love following the adventures of Georgie York and Bram Shepard.

The Beach House

Nothing can be more relaxing and therapeutic than a few days by the water, sun, and sand.

In The Beach House, by Jane Green, Nan, the sixty-five year old, rambunctious woman who everyone in Nantucket knows of, opens her home to guests wanting a few days of blissful vacation by the beach.

First, there’s Daniel, needing space away from his wife for the summer, who decides to come to Nan’s beach house. He and his wife have spent months with a therapist, struggling with a marriage that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Daniel is quiet and finds it difficult to open up to his wife, especially about his one secret that would tear their family apart forever.

Next comes Daff, a real-estate agent needing some serious alone time with her thoughts and herself after her overwhelming divorce. Her young, teenage daughter struggles so much with the divorce, that Daff actually considers letting her spend some time with her father and his new girlfriend. Although guilty at first, Daff finally is free to just be herself and not have to worry about walking on eggshells in the presence of a teenager.

Finally, Nan is ecstatic to have her son, Michael, come home for the summer. Michael has been so busy as a top jeweler in New York that he barely has time to visit his mother in Nantucket, his home and favorite place in the world. After ending yet another disastrous relationship, he escapes to Nantucket to help his mom with her lovely home on top of the bluff.

Nan is so happy to have her home bustling with people again, that she doesn’t even focus on the money that’s slowly fading away in her bank account and the huge mansions that are being built all around her beach house, taking the place of previous small, beach homes that have always made up Nantucket.

As the group slowly receives their much needed relaxation, some visitors arrive in Nantucket that change the leisure time to anxiety time.

The Beach House is a wonderful beach read that tells the tale of numerous characters who all form a solid connection in the end. This novel looks at many different perspectives that all tie into one destination- finding one’s true self.

Speak

Secrets are not always easy to keep. They can eat away at you and slowly take over your mind, body, and soul until it consumes your every thought and movement. No, secrets are definitely not good to keep. . .

Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak is all about one gigantic secret kept by Melinda Sordino, the quiet, antisocial girl in school.

After a classic, parents-out-of-town summer party, Melinda's world is turned upside down and muted. The party starts to get out of control for her, and all she can think of doing is calling the cops. Unfortunately, everyone at the party shuns her for ruining it, including her very best friends. Melinda becomes the outcast.

Now, it's the first day of high school and instead of having new friends, all Melinda has are some new pencils and notebooks. Not even her old friends speak to her anymore.

Although she doesn't mind being alone, her thoughts haunt her. They take her back to that night at the party where her deep, dark secret still remains.

So when a new girl comes to school and latches herself onto Melinda, she feels a little bit grateful to finally have a friend. But her new friend discovers Melinda's "status" in high school and feels that it's best if they aren't friends after all, for the sake of her reputation, of course. Once again Miss Sordino is alone.

Being alone is not the end of the world, but she needs a way to release her emotions somehow. The secret almost burns through her skin on some days. When the art teacher suggests that she use art to liberate her feelings, Melinda finds this is a fairly good strategy.

But even as she purges her emotions, her secret continues to follow her. . .

Speak is an excellent novel about speaking up for yourself and what you believe is right, even if it's the hardest thing you ever have to do. Exceptionally well written, this book is full of typical high school drama and daunting trauma that is so real, readers actually feel with the leading lady, Melinda. Her story is so memorable and this book is defintely a great read for high school students and anyone else who has ever kept a secret.

The Lucky One

Being a part of the U.S. Marines, you have to face a lot of different, scary, and unforgettable things; a little luck can go a very long way.

In “The Lucky One,” by Nicholas Sparks, Logan Thibault, a U.S. Marine, finds just what he needs to bring him some luck.

When Thibault first finds the photograph of the pretty young woman in the dirt in Iraq, he decides to post it up at his base camp hoping that someone will claim their lost picture. After a few weeks with the picture still hanging up unclaimed, Thibault is struck with an urge to keep the picture for himself, safe in his pocket.

With the photograph safely by his side, he finds himself carrying some newfound luck as well. Not only does he win a few rounds of poker, but he also is miraculously saved from deadly combat.

Once Thibault arrives home, he concludes that the luck he was given in Iraq was no ordinary luck, so he sets out with his dog Zeus to find the woman in his picture.

With a few clues from the writing on the back and the images behind the woman in the photograph, Thibault finds himself in Hampton, North Carolina face to face with his lucky charm.

Elizabeth is her name, and she’s a divorced mother living with her son, Ben, and her Nana. The three of them run a dog kennel, and when Thibault finds her, he has an impulse to apply for a job at the kennel.

Beth and Thibault spend more time together after he starts work, and he is surprised by the way he begins to feel about her. He even becomes closer to Ben, which Beth finds admirable in this new mystery man.

The closer they get, the closer Thibault clings to his secret about the photograph and the reason he came to meet Beth in the first place, but her ex-husband won’t rest till he discovers Thibault’s secret. . .

“The Lucky One,” is another great read by Nicholas Sparks that naturally tugs at the heartstrings. Filled with tender loving moments, and suspenseful edge-of-your-seat surprises, this novel is an excellent read for anyone who has ever fought to find their true destiny and their soul mate.

Jodi Picoult

With beautifully crafted words and uniquely real characters in seventeen skillfully written fiction novels, Jodi Picoult has definitely deserved all her success.

While her journey began at Princeton, where she studied creative writing, she published two short stories in Seventeen magazine. Jodi worked numerous jobs after graduation, ranging from technical writing for a Wall Street brokerage firm to teaching eighth grade students.

Jodi then married Tim Van, whom she met at Princeton, and then preceded to craft, Songs of the Humpback Whale. This first novel was created while she was pregnant with her first child and was only the beginning of her very thriving writing career.

Throughout her years as a novelist, Jodi has won several awards including: the New England Bookseller Award for Fiction, an Alex Award from the Young Adult Library Services Association, the Book Browse Diamond Award, a lifetime achievement award for fiction from the Romance Writers of America, Cosmo’s Fearless Fiction Award 2007, Waterstone’s Author of the Year in the UK, a Vermont Green Mountain Book Award, a Virginia Reader’s Choice Award, the Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award, and a Maryland Black-Eyes Susan Award.

Along with her seventeen novels, she also wrote five issues of Wonder Woman for DC Comics, and her novel My Sister’s Keeper was made into a movie by New Line Cinema. The Pact, Plain Truth, and The Tenth Circle, were also adapted into television movies.

Jodi Picoult knew her desire of writing and followed that dream all through college and beyond. Now look at all she has accomplished. Her story proves that a solid college education can certainly go a long way!

http://www.jodipicoult.com/

Baby Proof

When you find your perfect match, life can’t get any better. You fit so well together that you share most of the same views and ideas of the world. Then naturally you would fall deeply and madly in love, plan a wedding, and then start a family. That’s the way it always works.

In Emily Giffin’s Baby Proof, this is exactly what happened to Claudia Parr. She met her perfect match, Ben, on a blind date, no less. What made him even more perfect was the fact that he shared the same views on children as she did. Neither one of them wanted any.

Two years after Claudia and Ben’s marriage, when they are on a ski trip with their mutual friends, Annie and Ray, Annie announces that she is eight months pregnant. Even though Claudia should be happy for her friends, she can’t help feeling betrayed knowing that they had felt the same way about children, and now, here they are, having a child of their own.

Ben, on the other hand, couldn’t be happier for them. Then he talks to Claudia about having a baby. That throws Claudia for a loop and she asks him if he wants to be her husband more than he wants a baby. The look in his eyes tells her that he really wants a baby. Slowly, their marriage falls apart.

The two go their separate ways in divorce, Ben with his new girlfriend and Claudia with Richard, her boss.

Despite Claudia trying to move on and deal with the fact that Ben has found another woman already, she can’t shake the depression that creeps up on her every once in a while. She knows she still does not want children whatsoever. But she misses her Ben.

Although Richard is handsome, wealthy and perfect in most women’s eyes, to Claudia, he is no Ben, and they will never work out. She can’t help thinking that maybe she made the wrong decision, and she can’t stop worrying about Ben’s new female friend.

Baby Proof is entertaining, heartfelt, and thought-provoking. Emily Giffin’s characters are so realistic and Claudia is the ideal heroine. This novel is definitely appropriate anyone who has ever loved and had to make sacrifices for that love.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Remember: Pants = love. Love your pals. Love yourself.

In The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, by Ann Brashares, four best friends discover that they will be separated all summer long, for the first time, ever. As all four of their mothers were best friends and pregnant at the same time, the girls have been together since before they were born. Carmen, Lena, Tibby, and Bridget are more like sisters than friends.

Naturally the girls promise to write each other while they’re all away, but sometimes letters just aren’t good enough. When Tibby spies some thrift store blue jeans lying unnoticed on Carmen’s dresser, she finds herself drawn to them. Usually Tibby likes unsightly clothes and with Carmen’s backside from the Puerto Rican side of her family, there was no way the pants would fit Tibby’s long legs and narrow hips. But they did.

Lena and Bridget also tried the pants, and the magical pants fit them all. These pants were going to be the thing to keep them together throughout the summer; the summer of the Traveling Pants.

Lena is off with her sister to spend their summer in Greece with their grandparents. She spends her time exploring the beauty of Greece and painting, when she meets Kostos, her grandparent’s neighbors’ grandson. Lena has never been very graceful with boys. Kostos tries to pursue her and even though Lena finds him attractive as well, she doesn’t know how to handle his boyish charm.

Tibby, unfortunately, is stuck at home working every day at Wallman’s. She mopes around every day, thinking about how much fun her friends are having, and then she meets a 12 year old girl named Bailey. She impresses Tibby by wanting to help her create her documentary. Although she is annoyed with Bailey at first, they soon develop an unlikely and unforgettable friendship.

Carmen gets to spend her summer with her father, whom she hasn’t really seen since her parents got a divorce. She is so excited to be with him and spend time with him, until she gets to his house in South Carolina and discovers he has a new house…with a new family. Carmen is so mad that her father kept his second family from her, and she doesn’t like her new step-mother and sister.

Bridget’s summer consists of soccer, soccer, and her cute new crush, Eric, in Baja California. Eric is a tad older than Bridget and happens to be one of the soccer coaches at the camp, but that doesn’t stop her. She spends every minute trying to impress him with her soccer skills and does everything she can to get him to notice her, even if it includes breaking some rules.

Throughout the summer, the four girls write to each other and send the pants to each other. Each time one of the girls has the pants, they become empowered and feel like they can do no wrong. The pants gives each girl a confidence that they’ve never had before, and a summer they’ll never forget.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a funny, friendly, and heartwarming tale of four best friends who share a sisterhood of a lifetime. This novel is definitely for anyone who can laugh endlessly with her girlfriends and understand that some best friends are better than sisters. As the story was turned into a movie, as well, both stories are worth reading and watching.

The Time Traveler's Wife

Imagine that you could travel back in time. With the blink of an eye, you’d be gone from today and back into the days when Barbie’s were on every little girl’s shelf and all the young boys had cooties. Maybe you could have a second chance. Maybe you could change something in your past that you weren’t too fond of. Or maybe you couldn’t control when you time traveled. What if you relived your past over and over again? What if you couldn't stop it from happening? Would you want to leave your loved ones behind?

In Audrey Niffenegger’s book, The Time Traveler’s Wife, the man of Clare Abshire’s dreams is, in fact, a time traveler.

While visiting the Newberry Library, Clare stumbles upon someone she never thought she’d find in a library: Henry DeTamble. She loved him more than life itself and knew he felt the same, but here, standing in front of her, he had no idea who she was. In the present he is 28, and she is 20, but the present Henry has yet to meet his loving Clare.

Clare first meets Henry in a meadow. She is 6 years old, while he is 36. She colors and hums to herself, oblivious to his presence, until she hears someone humming along with her. Thinking it’s her pesky brother, Clare throws her shoe into the woods toward the sound. The voice she hears is not her brother, and she becomes frightened. Henry tells her not to be afraid, and when he uses Clare’s name she’s startled by how he knows her. Instead of running away from this stranger, like a normal 6 year old should, Clare is intrigued by this new time-traveling friend.

Henry continues to visit Clare in the meadow. She even hides a box full of clothes near the woods where he always appears, since he can’t take any belongings with him when he time travels. While Clare wants to know more about the future, Henry only tells her very little. She finds out that in the future, Henry is married and she becomes jealous because, even though she is still a young child, she has become very fond of him.

As Clare becomes older, Henry visits less and less. He stays in the present more with the future Clare. He can’t control when he time travels and where to. It always just happens, and it’s never very pleasant unless he time travels to wherever his sweet Clare is.

While Henry is gone, Clare finds it very difficult to be without him. Although she has many secret rendezvous with him when he is with her, her friends and family begin to wonder why she doesn’t date any boys in school. Clare knows that she can’t tell them the truth, but keeping the secret of Henry only strengthens the love she has for him.

And now, in the present, she has found her Henry again.

The Time Traveler’s Wife is a miraculous novel of love through the ages of time. This novel explores the depth of love, trust, and patience as Henry and Clare battle through the years of his appearing and reappearing. This book and movie will definitely lift its readers’ spirits, make them laugh, swoon, and sometimes even cry. There is no other tale like the one of Henry DeTamble and Clare Abshire. Travel back and forth through time in this one-of-a-kind love story.

Material Girl

You are the Vice President of your dad’s huge and successful company. You handle all the important business deals, flirt with all the big business men, and travel all over the world to see what kind of clients you can gain for the firm. The mansion you live in is big enough for you and ten other people, and your vehicle happens to be the flashiest Mercedes on the block. You’re definitely living the dream with your beauty and your money, and you have the world at your fingertips. What could possibly go wrong?

In Julia London’s Material Girl, Robin Lear has this exact jet-set life. Everything is going perfectly until she discovers that her father has cancer. Robin’s world begins to unravel at once.

Although Aaron Lear, her father and founder of Lear Transport Industries (LTI), has never been the easiest man to get along with, Robin drives down to her family’s ranch to see him.

Aaron requested that all three of his daughters come to the ranch, where he is now staying, to visit with him. He knows now that he was never the father he should have been to his girls, and with his cancer slowly taking his life, he plans to help his daughters with theirs.

Of course, as Aaron has always been quite arrogant, he insults Robin in the worst way possible, demotes her from her VP position at LTI, and makes her abandon the range without a second glance back.

On top of all of that, Robin gets arrested on her way back home, discovers that her office burned down, has to work for her toady ex-boyfriend in packaging, and finds that she is totally infatuated with Jake Manning, her sexy contractor who is no way her type.

Despite all the disastrous things that have been happening to her, Robin still manages to stay her prissy, sassy, and arrogant self. Yet every time she’s around Jake her world shifts ever so slightly. He takes pleasure in the simple things in life, he’s extremely handsome, and he’s not afraid to put Robin in her place. Jake is everything Robin has never had in a man. He sure knows how to distract her and keep her grounded at the same time.

Since Jake is constantly in her presence, as he is renovating Robin’s spacious, empty house, there’s absolutely no way to escape him, but she finds that she doesn’t really want to. . .

Material Girl is an absolutely stunning and riveting book. Each character brings the story to life in the perfect way, and Robin Lear is a remarkable leading lady. This novel proves that money can’t buy you love and opposites attract in the most peculiar ways. Definitely a worthwhile read, this book will thrill its readers, move them to tears, and keep them laughing out loud with the rises and falls of the material girl, Robin Lear.

The Last Song

Imagine that you’ve been shipped to live with your dad for the summer with only your little brother to keep you company. You haven’t spoken to your dad in three years, you’ve lived in the city your whole life and now you’re forced to spend the next three months in North Carolina with no friends to keep you company.

In Nicholas Sparks’ The Last Song, this is how Ronnie Miller, the rebellious city girl, has to spend her summer.

After her parents got a divorce, Ronnie blamed her dad and never spoke to him again. This summer is going to be different, since she has to spend it with him.

What makes it even more miserable is the fact that she’ll be sharing a room with her pesky brother, she’ll have to be an extra careful law-abiding citizen after she shoplifted in the city, and she knows her dad will try everything to get her to play piano again. Since the divorce, she started to act out and break curfews. She also grew to hate the piano, which was once a big part of her life.

As soon as she arrives at her father’s bungalow on the beach she escapes off on her own. Deciding that there’s nothing better to do in the town, she Ronnie makes her way over to the festival by the beach.

While trying to make the best of her summer, she ends up getting knocked down by a preppy-looking volleyball player. Not only does she spill her soda all over herself, but she is forced to buy a Finding Nemo shirt to wear to hide the stains.

Then she meets Blaze, a girl who is almost exactly like Ronnie. She thought she should’ve been really happy to find a new friend, but with Blaze came Marcus, her creepy, sinister boyfriend who finds himself falling all over Ronnie and won’t leave her alone.

Just as Ronnie thinks her up and down summer can’t get any worse, a mishap involving some stolen CDs puts Ronnie right back under the eyes of the court and into a miserable summer yet again. With one bad thing happening after another, Ronnie thinks about how bad her luck really is, and then she runs into Will, the preppy volleyball player.

Surprisingly, Will turns out to be a pretty nice guy, and Ronnie admits, a pretty handsome guy, too. And the more time they spend together, the more she notices how much she really likes him. . .

What she doesn’t know is the fact that when her and Will are alone together, they are never really alone.

The Last Song really gives its readers hope in second chances; second chances in love, family, and a second chance for a better life. This book proves that love of all kinds can be found in the most unlikely places and last forever. Nicholas Sparks has yet again created a wonderful masterpiece about the trials and tests of love. His new novel is quite an inspiration and an excellent read with a little rebellion thrown in along the way. A movie was also inspired by this book and is said to come out in theaters in spring 2010.

Sundays at Tiffany's

Everyone has had an imaginary friend at some point in their life, right? It’s that one special person who knows all your secrets, your hopes and dreams. Your imaginary friend that only you can see and only you know exists.

In Sundays at Tiffany’s by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet, Jane Margaux grew up pretty much on her own. Her mother, Vivienne, was always busy with her Broadway theatre company in New York to pay any attention to her little Jane. But, one secret that she had from her mother was the fact that she was never truly alone. Jane always had Michael.

Michael was Jane’s imaginary friend. He was always there for her, and she could count on him for absolutely anything. Every Sunday Vivienne would take her daughter, and a friend, to the St. Regis, so she could discuss her work and watch over Jane without having to actually be with Jane.

But Michael was always there. Michael always ordered melon balls and lemon sherbet, while Jane had coffee iced cream with hot fudge and smooth whipped cream on top. That’s what they always ate together at the St. Regis while they listened to Vivienne mom rant and rave about the theatre gossip before marching off to see mammoth-sized diamonds at Tiffany’s.

When Jane’s ninth birthday comes around, she discovers that her best friend in the whole world has to leave her. Michael says that imaginary friends are only there to guide their children for a little while until they are on their way to finding their place in the world. Despite Jane’s crying and protesting, Michael has to leave, and she’s once again left alone.

Twenty-three years later, Jane is working with her mother at the production company. She’s very successful at what she does and she even has a modelesque boyfriend now. Jane had created her own play, Thank Heaven, which managed to become a smash hit and win a Tony Award.

Although Michael was no longer in her life, she had Hugh McGrath, who played the role of Michael in Thank Heaven. Jane’s play was based on her long-ago relationship with Michael. Even though she was dating the incredibly handsome Hugh McGrath, it was never the same as what she shared with her imaginary friend, once upon a time.

One day after visiting Tiffany’s, Jane decided to head to the St. Regis and order her coffee ice cream for old times’ sake. What she saw inside gave her the shock of her life. It was Michael. The one person she had been longing to see. He looked exactly the same as she remembered him. She thought it must have been her imagination.

No. It really was Michael. With shaking hands and knees, she built up her courage to go talk to him. Then as quick as that, Michael was back in her life.

They spent more and more time together, just like when Jane was a little girl, only this time she was all grown up and Michael wasn’t imaginary any more. They were both adults and they were together, free to make their own grown-up choices, including choices of love. And the more time they spent together, the more that choice of love grew inside both of them.

There was just one question Michael had to ask himself: If imaginary friends are just for children, why was he suddenly back in Jane’s life?

Sundays at Tiffany’s is a unique look at love almost through a child’s eyes. While James Patterson, the usual thriller writer, took a chance with Gabrielle Charbonnet to write a romance novel, an imaginary friend that turns into a soul mate is definitely an atypical plot. Its uniqueness makes it a great read full of friendship, hope, and the power of love.

Where the Heart Is

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a baby in a Wal-Mart store? Neither did Novalee, but that’s exactly what happened to her.

In Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts, seventeen-year-old Novalee Nation and her boyfriend, Willy Jack Pickens, head off to California to find fame and fortune for themselves and their future baby. When Novalee loses her only pair of sandals through a hole in the bottom of their car, Willy Jack reluctantly pulls into a Wal-Mart so she can relieve her bladder and buy a new pair of shoes.

While Novalee did manage to find a cheap pair of rubber thongs, her change came out to $7.17. Being terrified of the unlucky number seven, she threw the change back at the cashier and ran into the parking lot to find Willy Jack. He was already long gone.

Abandoned at Wal-Mart, she runs into Sister Husband who mistakes Novalee for someone else. Although Novalee has never met Sister Husband before she was very kind to her by giving her a gift basket and an invitation to her house.

Later, she met the photographer, Moses Whitecotton, on a bench inside the Wal-Mart store. Moses gave Novalee some important advice on the value of names, and he told her to give her baby a good name. He even offered to take her baby’s pictures for free if Novalee came back in the future with her newborn.

A little after seven, Novalee met Benny Goodluck, who offered her his lucky buckeye nut for her to make a wish on. Before leaving, he gave her one of his family’s buckeye trees for free.

After a long day at Wal-Mart and meeting many new people, Novalee realized that the store would be closing soon and she had nowhere to go. Before she knew it, the customers and employees were exiting and the lights were going off. She was left completely alone in the Wal-Mart store in Sequoyah, Oklahoma.

With no other choices, Novalee just decides to actually live in Wal-Mart.

For two months, she ate Wal-Mart food, made herself a bed in the middle of the store, and hid every morning so she wouldn’t be seen by the first shift employees. It wasn’t perfect, but living in Wal-Mart actually worked well enough for her.

During her time in Sequoyah she stopped by at the local library where she met Forney Hull who gave her a book about trees. Novalee spent more time at the library with Forney and even visited Sister Husband at her house.

Novalee knew her baby was coming. She should have planned better for her child, but before she knew it, her water broke in Wal-Mart. After all those baby books she read, the time had come and she didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t handle the pain and blacked out.

When Novalee woke up, she was in the hospital with tons of people waiting to see her and her famous Wal-Mart baby. She had been saved, but by who? And now that everyone knew she had lived in Wal-Mart for two months, would she be in trouble? Where was she going to live now?

Where the Heart Is is a down-to-earth, southern comfort novel that is sure to entertain its readers. This book was featured in Oprah’s book club for its wonderful heroine and her remarkable journey. Also turned into a movie, the plot and characters are surprisingly similar. The message in the novel and the movie remain the same and both portray an unforgettable journey with Novalee Nation.

Nora Roberts

You've got to figure out the way a man's brain works, or just run away screaming.

Author Nora Roberts has been surrounded by men her whole life, and she's come to the conclusion that the best thing to do is to put herself in a man's shoes. This is why most of her books are so in-depth when it comes to the male's perspective, which is much appreciated by readers.

Nora started out as a legal secretary in Keedysville, Maryland after school and found that this career wasn't fitting her. A few years later, she had two sons and became a stay-at-home mom.

While at home, Nora experimented here and there with different hobbies and skills until she was actually forced to sit down and write. In 1979 during a February blizzard, she was trapped in her house with her sons and nothing to do. She decided to try her hand in writing.

As her whole family enjoyed reading, Nora was quite a reader herself. She knew some of the tricks of the trade. After several manuscripts and rejections, that one blizzard paid off, and her writing career was born in 1981 with Irish Thoroughbred.

Nora has written 164 New York Times bestsellers and has published about 190 full-length novels. Her books have been published in over 34 countries and more than 400 million copies of her books are floating around in print copy worldwide.

What may have been destruction to some was a blessing to Nora Roberts when she found her niche as a writer during the Chicago Blizzard of 1979. Now she has enough novels to spread out from New York to Los Angeles 18 times!

http://noraroberts.com/

Boy Meets Girl

When boy meets girl, anything’s possible. . .

In Meg Cabot’s novel Boy Meets Girl, Kate Mackenzie is introduced to the man of all men, Mitch Hertzog. Mitch is the brother of Stuart Hertzog, who is engaged to Amy Jenkins, who is Kate’s boss, who hates her guts. Mitch is also the man who gets Kate fired from her job.

It all started when Ida Lopez, the Craft Food Services dessert cart operator for the New York Journal, refused dessert to “the” Stuart Hertzog, legal counsel to the Journal.

Kate has just broken up with her boyfriend of several years and is frantically searching for a new place to live, so she can stop mooching off of her best friend and her husband. While Kate has enough problems in her social life, Amy aka the T.O.D. (Tyrannical Office Despot) has decided to put her in charge of firing Ida. The other employees at the Journal love Ida and her desserts, including Kate.

Much to her dismay, Kate does as she is told and fires Ida. While she is trying to pick up the pieces of her life and continues to ignore her stalker ex, Kate soon discovers that Ida isn’t going to leave peacefully. Ida tries to sue for breach of contract.

This is when Mitch Hertzog and Kate Mackenzie meet, as he is the lawyer representing Kate and Amy. Mitch sets up a conference to interview Kate about the whole dilemma. After the meeting, however, the game changes for Mitch. Not only does he find himself attracted to Kate, but he also finds that Kate is on Ida’s side because she never thought she should have been fired in the first place, and he completely agrees.

Stuart finds out that his brother is doing work on the case behind his back and this work happens to side in favor of Ida instead of against. Then with much deception, Kate is blamed for not completing the proper steps in Ida’s termination, and everything comes tumbling down.

Boy Meets Girl is an awesome chick lit book that’s quite a different and unique read. This novel isn’t your typical chapter-and-paragraph-formed story. Although it has the typical plot structure of other books, this plot unfolds in the form of emails, instant messages, phone conversations, and letters. With much deceitful drama, handsome men, and crazy exes, this book will entertain its readers with many laughs along the way.