Melissa Senate

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!