Melissa Senate

It's Labor Day weekend, which for me means lots of juicy reading and lazy enjoyment of these last days of summer. Here's a terrific sounding novel for you about a college-bound young woman who learns some very valuable lessons in and out of class: 

The captivating story of a young woman’s adventures in reinvention and self-discovery

from the author of Adiós to My Old Life  

IT’S NOT ABOUT THE ACCENT

 With her debut novel, Adiós to My Old Life (MTV Books; July 2006), Caridad Ferrer proved her talent for riveting fiction with bicultural teen appeal.  For her encore, she presents the story of a young woman’s quest to reclaim her Latin roots and escape her boring vanilla identity. 

IT’S NOT ABOUT THE ACCENT traces the bold transformation of Caroline Darcy, a college-bound beige-blonde born and bred in small town Hampshire, Ohio, into “Carolina,” a half-Cuban aspiring actress, with striking Havana Brown hair, a caliente wardrobe, a taste for platanos, and a hunger for adventure.  Carolina has no problem dressing, dancing, and talking the part, down to her effortlessly rolled rrrs – even though she’s only one-eighth Cuban.  She owes her attraction to her exotic heritage and her yearning for something… different to Elisa Maribel Teresa de La Natividad Sevilla y Tabares – her Nana Ellie, the great-grandmother she loved, dearly and fiercely, and lost when she was thirteen.  Carolina vividly remembers Nana Ellie’s romantic stories of her encounters with everything from the Eiffel Tower to Russian nobility.  And she regrets missing the chance to unravel the facts from the fantastic tales – and learn more about her Nana’s mysterious, scandalous past.

The story opens at the beginning of Caroline’s Latina rebirth and undergrad career at the University of Southern Ohio for the summer session.  To her thrill and amazement, her Cuban act works like a charm on the opposite sex.  Faster than her first beer buzz, Caroline finds herself becoming more popular and getting increasingly intimate with Erik, a smooth-talking frat guy with gorgeous baby blues.  The only male on campus who doesn’t fall for Carolina’s Latina allure is Peter, the full-blooded son of Cuban immigrants, who hails from Miami.  Despite the danger of being exposed as a fraud, Caroline is drawn to this quiet, serious student – on a strictly friendship basis.  But when Carolina gets in over her head and on the edge of a dangerous situation, Peter is the one who comes to her rescue.  What’s more, he accepts her for who she is – and leads her on a real adventure to discover the truth about Nana Ellie and the very wealthy family she left behind in Cuba.  What Caroline discovers about her ancestors – including one unknown living relative – is more exciting than she ever could have imagined.         

Part mystery, part romance, and all captivating, IT’S NOT ABOUT THE ACCENT affirms Caridad Ferrer as a gifted teller of stories that resonate with young women, both Latina and Anglo.                                                                                                                          

CARIDAD FERRER is a first generation, bilingual Cuban-American, born in Manhattan and raised in Miami.  Her debut novel, Adiós to My Old Life (MTV Books), was named Latinidad’s Top Teen Read for 2006 as well as winning the Romance Writers of America's 2007 RITA® for Best Contemporary Single Title Romance.  Writing as Barbara Ferrer she has also contributed to the anthology, Fifteen Candles: 15 Tales of Taffeta, Hairspray, Drunk Uncles, and Other Quinceañera Stories (Harper Collins/Rayo).  Find her on the web at CaridadFerrer.com and BarbaraFerrer.com.

Barnes&Noble.com Book Clubs is holding a month-long discussion about EVERYTHING I NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT BEING A GIRL I LEARNED FROM JUDY BLUME, an anthology of essays to which I very proudly contributed. I wrote about the crazy summer I turned twelve (1977 in New York City, so think: Son of Sam, the blackout, Elvis permanently leaving the building–okay, that one didn't happen in NYC), and my familly's move from Flushing, Queens to the New Jersey suburbs). Many of the anthology's contributors (including the brilliant Meg Cabot and Megan McCafferty and Alison Pace and the anthology's editor, Jennifer O'Connell) are participating in the discussion and so is, drumroll please: Judy Blume, herself! I've posted a question to her (in the Questions thread) and when and if she answers, I will melt like buttah! I asked who her favorite authors/books were when she was a kid/teenager. 

Here's the scoop from the B&N site: 

Everything I Needed to Know about Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume

For millions of American girls growing up, Judy Blume's awkward, self-conscious characters became surrogates, allies, and comforters in their silent struggles. The 24 essays of Everything I Needed to Know about Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume honor an unconventional mentor who has entertained readers even as she teaches them. In August we are joined by the contributors of Everything I Needed to Know about Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume as we discuss this tribute to one of the most beloved authors of all time. 

And, check out this brand new novel: 

 Okay, not only does this book, FIVE THINGS I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT, look like great summer reading for these last beach days (look, even People says so), debut author Holly Shumas offers a dating q&a–Dear Holly–on her website (I've already gotten some very good tips–did I mention I am newly single and thinking of sticking the big toe into the unfroggy area of the dating pond?)

A People magazine “Great Read” (July 23, 2007)

“Smart, sharply written, and very, very funny. This is a gem of a book.”–Whitney Gaskell, author of She, Myself, and I

“…offer(s) a deep understanding of human nature.  Topical coming-of-age story with a bright, humane heroine.”–Kirkus Reviews

Nora Bishop is living a life of almosts. She’s almost thirty. Almost committed in her relationship. Almost employed. And she’s almost living her life. Stuck in what she terms her meta-life, she’s thinking and questioning everything to the point of self-sabotage. Then a friend asks Nora to rewrite an Internet dating profile, and the woman with the meta-life discovers her métier. As a Cyrano de Bergerac for the lovelorn, she asks her clients to name the five things they can’t live without. But what are hers? To get answers, Nora will have to stop asking questions. And then do the hardest thing of all: Find herself by losing herself…in real life.

I've just ordered it and this one too. 

Happy Tuesday! 

Oh, Tom Cruise! Just look at that face, that profile, that smile! This is the Tom I used to LOVE.  Pre the couch-jumping, which wasn't the problem. I wouldn't mind if someone went on Oprah and jumped up and down about me, after all. Nope, the problem was the I KNOW BEST ABOUT MOTHERHOOD, BROOKE!). Anyway, Jerry Maguire is a terrific movie, and at the end, when Tom spends twenty minutes telling estranged wife Renee Zelweger that she completes him, and she says, "You had me at hello," I am mush everytime! This is one of the reasons why I LOVE the title of Amanda Ashby's debut novel: YOU HAD ME AT HALO

In Amanda Ashby’s YOU HAD ME AT HALO (NAL Trade Paperback Original; $12.95), Holly Evans has just seen her own body laid to rest. If it had been up to her, she wouldn’t have chosen that particular polyester dress for the event. Still, she could live with that (so to speak), if it guaranteed a quick jump to Level 3 of the afterlife, which she hopes will feature both reruns of Friends and reunions with long-lost loved ones.

But Holly has some mortal baggage to unload first, starting with the matter of how she died. Yes, she drowned in her bathtub under suspicious circumstances, but she did not kill herself. Holly had too much to live for, from her recent promotion to taking the next big step in her relationship. Okay, her life had a few loose ends, but whose doesn’t?

Holly's heavenly shrink isn’t buying it. He says she has to return to earth to straighten things out. The thing is, she’ll need to borrow someone’s body to do it—and the body in question belongs to none other than computer geek Vince Murphy. Oh, and although Vince was supposed to have vacated the premises, he apparently never got the memo.

 Now, Holly has forty-eight hours to resolve her issues while sharing arms, legs, and…other things…with a guy she barely noticed while she was alive. But the real surprise is what life has to offer when you have only two days to live it…

 PRAISE!:

 “It’s The Lovely Bones meets Bridget Jones in this fluffy take on what happens after death. It's a fun, witty traipse through the afterlife.” Publisher’s Weekly

 “This book has a delightfully quirky concept that develops into a fun and interesting story. Peopled with a fascinating variety of characters, it also has an intriguing mystery and a charmingly different type of interaction between the hero and heroine. Expect a delightful tale with a wonderfully distinctive ending.” 4 ½ stars Romantic Times Bookclub Magazine.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Amanda Ashby was born in Australia and studied English and Journalism at Queensland University. Since graduation she has worked in sales, marketing and travel before discovering that she was no good at any of them and so decided to turn her attention to writing instead. She is married with two young children and has recently returned from the UK to live in New Zealand.

Visit Amanda's website: www.amandaashby.com

http://amandaashby.blogspot.com

Off to order it from Amazon. YOU HAD ME AT HALO sounds terrific!

Happy Reading, everyone!

August is my favorite month (even though my birthday is smack in the middle of the month and the candles keep piling up!). To me, it's a month of lazy reading, the beach (the water is finally warm here in Maine), and back to school shopping, which will be so much fun this year because my little guy is headed to kindergarten and I have an excuse to go overboard at Old Navy.  

Today I'm off to my favorite town in Maine: Camden (exquisite!), to attend a fundraising party for the Maine Publishers & Writers Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to "promoting the value of literature and art of writing by building a community of publishers, writers and readers within Maine." If you're looking for a gorgeous vacation spot on the coast of Maine, with a bustling, artsy downtown, think Camden. 

What I'm reading: Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock (sister of Elizabeth Gilbert, who wrote Eat Pray Love and The Last American Man (two of my favorite books).  And I can't wait to get my hands on Wednesday Night Witches by Lee Nichols and Through Thick And Thin by Alison Pace. Both are big-time favorite authors of mine (they're also friends, but they would be favorites regardless)! 

Happy August, everyone!