Trashionista

Twenties Girl Trailer

Sophie Kinsella's new novel, Twenties Girl, is almost here (eeep!). In the meantime, check out the book trailer.

COMPETITION: Win copies of Rebecca Miller books

Rebecca Miller, author of The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (now a movie starring Robin Wright Penn and Winona Ryder), has penned another book, Personal Velocity.

The vibrantly fresh and lustrous stories in Miller's collection explore the multifaceted lives of women in seven arresting portraits. Modern and diverse, these women of different classes and ages struggle with sexuality, fate, motherhood, infidelity, desperation, and an overriding will to survive. We meet Greta, a cookbook editor who is chosen by Tavi, the hottest writer of his generation, to edit his new book. The book becomes a best-seller and Greta is propelled out of her marriage by her own ambition and success. Other characters include Paula, a pregnant twenty-one-year-old, who is on the run from the horror of a man who was hit by a car and died while walking her home from a nightclub; Delia, an abused working-class wife who goes into hiding with her children; and Louisa, a painter who moves rapidly from one lover to the next, acting out a self-perpetuating drama over which she has no control. Edgy, fearless, and beautifully spare, "Personal Velocity" is a superb collection from one of the best writers in contemporary fiction.

Trashionista has five copies of Personal Velocity and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee to give away. To enter the draw, simply answer the following question:

In the movie adaptation, Keanu Reeves plays Chris, a younger man who forms a relationship with Pippa Lee. Name another film where Keanu Reeves gets involved with an older woman.

Competition is open to UK residents only. Send your answers to the editor (elle.symonds [at] gmail [dot] com) with 'Pippa' as the subject. Good luck!

BOOK NEWS: The Popularity Rules

Abby McDonald, author of teen novel Sophomore Switch, has penned chicklit novel The Popularity Rules which will be released in September. Here's the info...

Rule 1: All's fair in love, war and popularity...Kat Elliot is no social butterfly: she's spent her life rebelling against phony schmoozing - and it's led her nowhere. Just as she's ready to give up her dreams and admit defeat, in steps Lauren Anderville. One-time allies against their school bullies, Lauren and Kat had been inseparable. Then one year later Lauren returned from summer camp - blonde, bubbly and suddenly popular, and Kat was left to face the world alone. Lauren finally wants to make amends by teaching Kat the secret to her success: "The Popularity Rules". A decades-old rulebook, its secrets transformed Lauren that fateful summer. And so, tempted by Lauren's promises of glitzy parties and the job she's always dreamed of, Kat reluctantly submits to a total makeover - only to find that life with the in-crowd might have something going for it after all. But while Lauren has sacrificed everything to get ahead, is Kat really ready to accept that popularity is the only prize that counts?

To know more about Abby, check out her website. Or go here to pre-order The Popularity Rules on Amazon.

BOOK REVIEW: Molly's Millions by Victoria Connelly

Let's face it, we've all wondered what we'd do if we scooped the lottery jackpot. How would you spend your winnings? What would you buy? Would you share it? Victoria Connelly's heroine wants to do exactly that in Molly's Millions, a unique story that hilariously explores the lottery dream.

Florist Molly Bailey wouldn't mind a bit of extra money, just to help her get by. After all, there's nothing she enjoys more than her flowers, and The Bloom Room is her pride and joy. But she's struggling with her finances, and Molly wouldn't mind a few extra pounds for a treat every now and then.

However, all that's about to change when Molly buys a lottery ticket for the first time ever - and scoops four million pounds.

Four. Million. Pounds.

With the misfortune of hailing from a family of Scrooges, Molly doesn't dare let her miserly relatives in on the secret of her new-found riches. After all, what's the point of having money if you can't enjoy it? And what on earth can she do with four million pounds? Kind-hearted Molly is determined to keep just enough for herself, and give the rest away...as soon as possible.

Continue reading "BOOK REVIEW: Molly's Millions by Victoria Connelly"

MOVIE NEWS: The Time Traveler's Wife

The movie adaptation of bestseller The Time Traveler's Wife (by Audrey Niffenegger) is almost here. Here's the official trailer...what do you think?

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Jaishree Misra

Jaishree Misra is the author of Secrets and Lies, a novel about friendship and mystery that's due for release on 25th June. (And trust me, it's going to be one of this summer's most addictive reads!)

Please describe your latest book in 15 words or fewer.
‘Secrets & Lies’ is about four women who share a terrible secret from their schooldays. 

What inspired you to write ‘Secrets & Lies’?
My own girlfriends, and the realization that women are capable of going to great lengths in the name of friendship. It’s a sort of celebration of female friendship, really, but with a dark heart.

Continue reading "AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Jaishree Misra"

June releases from Little Black Dress

Summer's here, in terms of fab summer reads, you can't get much better than the Little Black Dress collection. LBD have two new releases for this month - Girl From Mars by Julie Cohen, and Marisa Heath's Perfect Image...

An edgy, glitzy, addictive romance – be careful what you wish for.

Young, naïve and stunning, Katrina is trying to make it as a model in Paris, sharing a tiny, run-down dorm and only just scraping a living. She’s about to cut her loses and head back to London when she’s spotted one night and asked out by THE ultimate movie heart-throb, actor Dominic Cayley. She knows not to get too excited though – his girlfriends never last longer than a few dates. But when he keeps turning up on her doorstep, whisking her off for super-glam party weekends in Monaco, showering her in expensive jewels and designer clothes, she’s more than happy to be swept off her feet...

Check out Little Black Dress Books for more information and fun.

BOOK NEWS: Air Kisses

Fans of The Devil Wears Prada will enjoy the debut novel from Australian writer and former beauty editor, Zoe Foster. Air Kisses will be released in August and personally? I can't wait. Here's the blurb, courtesy of Alison & Busby...

If the devil wears Prada, then God wears La Mer.

Hannah Atkins - the girl most likely to be sporting unblended foundation, orange wrists or a wobbly trail of liquid eyeliner - has bluffed her way into the position of beauty editor at Gloss magazine. Just as she's carving a path into the shiny world of guerrilla air kisses, achingly hip PR campaigns and goodie-bag overload, she reads about her boyfriend and another girl in the gossip pages of the local rag. Then she gets dumped. By text.

Vowing to claw back some dignity and make her ex regret what he's done, Hannah adopts a manifesto of hardcore rules. Don't become best friends with the scary girls at work. Don't drink fourteen glasses of Moët & Chandon at PR launches. Don't go home with inappropriate men. And certainly don't get all besotted with your best friend's brother.

As her rules start to slip away, Hannah finds herself having to decide on more important things than just the perfect shade of lip gloss . . .

Pre-order your copy at Amazon.

COMPETITION: Win a signed copy of Wedding Babylon

Imogen Edwards-Jones, author of Hotel/Air Babylon, is back - and this time, she's focusing on the wedding industry in Wedding Babylon.

The potential for things to go horribly, horribly wrong is never higher than at a wedding. Wedding Babylon reveals all… the scams which inflate the prices of everything, from flowers to cakes to marquee hire, stories of high jinxes at the altar and disastrous low comedy in the speeches! Everyone loves a good wedding...

Transworld have 30 copies of the book to give away. To be in with a chance of winning, email your worst wedding nightmare, in no more than 100 words, to weddingbabyloncomp@transworld-publishers.co.uk by June 30th.

To order your copy from Amazon, go here.

BOOK NEWS: I'm So Happy for You

What happens when your best friend outshines you in every possible way? I'm So Happy for You, by Lucinda Rosenfeld, is a novel about best friends and will be released in the States on July 29.

What if your best friend, whom you've always counted on to flounder in life and love (making your own modest accomplishments look not so bad), suddenly starts to surpass you in every way?

Wendy's best friend, Daphne, has always been dependably prone to catastrophe. And Wendy has always been there to help. If Daphne veers from suicidal to madly in love, Wendy offers encouragement. But when Daphne is suddenly engaged, pregnant, and decorating a fabulous town house in no time at all, Wendy is...not so happy for her. Caught between wanting to be the best friend she prides herself on being and crippling jealousy of flighty Daphne, Wendy takes things to the extreme, waging a full-scale attack on her best friend-all the while wearing her best, I'm-so-happy-for-you smile-and ends up in way over her head.

Rosenfeld has a knack for exposing the not-always-pretty side of being best friends--in writing that is glittering and diamond-sharp. I'm So Happy for You is a smart, darkly humorous, and uncannily dead-on novel about female friendship.

Pre-order at Amazon.