Let’s Pretend This Never Happened
Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson is $2.99! We’ve reviewed another one of Lawson’s books on the site and her writing comes highly recommended. Lawson has a knack for addressing tough subjects with an approachable, humorous voice. Are you a fan of Lawson’s blog? Have you read any of her books?
When Jenny Lawson was little, all she ever wanted was to fit in. That dream was cut short by her fantastically unbalanced father and a morbidly eccentric childhood. It did, however, open up an opportunity for Lawson to find the humor in the strange shame-spiral that is her life, and we are all the better for it.
In the irreverent Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, Lawson’s long-suffering husband and sweet daughter help her uncover the surprising discovery that the most terribly human moments—the ones we want to pretend never happened—are the very same moments that make us the people we are today. For every intellectual misfit who thought they were the only ones to think the things that Lawson dares to say out loud, this is a poignant and hysterical look at the dark, disturbing, yet wonderful moments of our lives.
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The Secret Bridesmaid by Katy Birchall is $2.99! This is a contemporary romance or perhaps more of fiction with strong romantic elements. Anyway, being a professional bridesmaid sounds like my personal hell.
Matrimony meets mayhem in a modern British romcom about a young woman charged with pulling off the biggest aristocratic wedding of the year––and the misadventures that ensue.
Sophie Breeze is a brilliant bridesmaid. So brilliant, in fact, that she’s made it her full-time job.
As a professional bridesmaid, Sophie is hired by London brides to be their right-hand woman, posing as a friend but working behind the scenes to help plan the perfect wedding and ensure their big day goes off without a hitch. When she’s hired by Lady Victoria Swann––a former model and “It Girl” of 1970’s London; now the Marchioness of Meade––for the society wedding of the year, it should be a chance for Sophie to prove just how talented she is.
Of course, it’s not ideal that the bride, Lady Victoria’s daughter, Cordelia, is an absolute diva and determined to make Sophie’s life a nightmare. It’s also a bit inconvenient that Sophie finds herself drawn to Cordelia’s posh older brother, who is absolutely off limits. But when a rival society wedding is announced for the very same day, things start to get…well, complicated.
Can Sophie pull off the biggest challenge of her career––execute a high-profile gala for four hundred and fifty guests in record time, win over a reluctant bride, and catch the eye of handsome Lord Swann––all while keeping her true identity a secret, and her dignity intact?
Heartwarming and hilarious, The Secret Bridesmaid celebrates the joys (and foibles) of weddings, the nuances of female friendship, and the redeeming power of love in its many unexpected forms.
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Mai Tai’d Up by Alice Clayton is $1.99! This is the fourth book in the Cocktail series. I believe the first few books are connected, but this one has a completely separate couple. Man, I miss Alice Clayton’s writing.
Looking for the perfect mix of smart, sexy, and sassy? Mai Tai’d Up continues New York Times bestselling author Alice Clayton’s Cocktail series, which began with Wallbanger and continued with Rusty Nailed and Screwdrivered.
The gossip mill in the seaside community of Monterey is churning about Chloe Patterson, the newcomer who is starting a sanctuary for rescued pit bulls. It’s rumored that she’s a former beauty queen (true) who ditched her fiancé the morning of their wedding (also true). And that while she’s not looking for a new man, the good-looking local veterinarian has his eye on her. Absolutely, positively true.
When Lucas Campbell isn’t at the family veterinary clinic, he’s paddle boarding in Monterey Bay. Recently single, he’s definitely not in the market for a new relationship, but he still can’t resist taking a second, third, and fourth look at the recent arrival of Miss Golden State.
Neither Lucas nor Chloe has any interest in being tied down. Being tied up, however—now there’s a thought. But are a few Mai Tais, a moonlit night, and the music of Frank Sinatra enough to allow them both to forget their past? Let’s hope Ol’ Blue Eyes knows what he’s doing.
Mix one part tiki, one part kinky, and a splash of old black magic matchmaking, and it’s time to be . . . Mai Tai’d Up.
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My Bare Lady by Piper Sheldon is FREE on Amazon! This is a My Fair Lady/Pygmalion retelling with a stripper heroine. It’s part of Penny Reid’s Smartypants Romance universe.
Suzie Samuels is the only thing standing between Clifford and his life’s work. All he has to do is change everything about her. Perception creates reality and Clifford Rutledge needs the irascible stripper to prove it.
Suzie Samuels is set to prove once and for all she’s more than Short Fuse Suze, stripper for the Black Demons and renowned motorcycle arsonist. If all it takes is hard work, then Suzie knows how to work it hard.
But Suzie’s scandalous spirit tests Clifford’s resolve. And Clifford’s buttoned-up bullying is driving Suzie bonkers.
Can Clifford move past their differences long enough to pull off the impossible task of changing the bare lady into a fair lady?
More importantly, as perceptions shift and priorities change, will he want to?
‘My Bare Lady’ is a full-length contemporary romantic comedy, can be read as a standalone, and is book #1 in the Scorned Women Society series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.
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I hadn’t realized Alice Clayton wasn’t writing anymore. I checked her blog and the last update was in 2017. I feel like there should be a virtual garden that we can visit to remember all of our favorite authors who aren’t writing anymore – like visiting an arboretum or greenhouse, where each no longer publishing author is represented by a tree or a rosebush or some beautiful plant. And we can leave messages of great memories. I guess this sounds kind of like a cemetary, but no one has died, and we just want to share good feelings about the writer and their work.
I kind of love this idea.
One thing, though, Alice Clayton’s ONE MORE ROUND was released in September 2020 on Audible (then in December on kindle) so at least that isn’t quite so long ago and offers some hope that it’s just taking a while for new work rather than that she is no longer writing.
Has anyone read My Bare Lady? I don’t like agreeing with Shaw but I cannot see a Pygmalion story as a romance, which, predictably makes me morbidly curious about it. I would like to have a sense of just how much misogyny I should be braced for.
@Laurel: let’s be sure to include places for Anne Calhoun, Jill Sorenson, Cara McKenna, Ruthie Knox, Laura Florand, and Delphine Dryden. I’m sure there are others deeply-missed writers the Bitchery can identify. I especially lament Anne Calhoun’s absence: not only did it appear that she was setting up another couple for their own romance at the end of TURN ME LOOSE (her last published work, May 2017), but not long after that she abruptly shut down all her social media and went radio silent. At this point, I’ve long since given up expecting a new book from her, but I’d really just like to know that she’s ok.
Add Meredith Duran to the list too. She could break my heart in the best way.
Seconding McKenna and Duran ;______;
Add Jennifer McQuiston. “Summer Is For Lovers” was so good – set in Bath, the heroine is an athlete (swimmer), total summery vibes all the way. I know she quit writing because she couldn’t handle her day job working at the CDC and also all the work that comes with being an author signed to Avon, but I do hope she’ll come back!
And Erin Knightley. I remember really enjoying her novella “Ruined by a Rake”. She wrote several historicals in a short period of time, then switched over and self-pubbed a couple of contemporaries, and that’s it: haven’t heard a peep out of her in 5 years.
According to Ruthie Knox’s twitter, she’s still writing. I think just not under the name Ruthie Knox.
Thirding on Meredith Duran. I just reread Fool Me Twice.
I think Alice Clayton is making her way back. The note for One More Round just says that the previous few years made hard to write the words.
Jack Finney’s lovely “Time and Again” is only $1.99 at Amazon. It’s a time travel story with a romance.
For me,
Laura Florand
Thea Harrison
I believe they are just taking a break, but it’s been a while. Thea did self-publish something during the pandemic but even that was cut short.
LJ Smith, she has gone radio silent a few times. I am no longer mad but I still want to know how the Night World series ends.
@Laurel: Great idea.
Gosh, I also miss Duran. She and Sherry Thomas were in a class by themselves. (Still lots of signature angst in Thomas’s historical mystery series, but I loved those historical romances.)
I’d have to include tons of writers in other genres (mystery, SFF, SFR, UF, etc.) in the tribute garden, too. There are still some I Google on a regular basis after years of silence to see if there’s any word. It’s especially hard if they leave mid-series. Authors don’t owe their readers explanations or discussions of their personal business, but it’s still natural for readers who were heavily invested to want some closure. But, hey, that’s life.
I’ll add in Sarah Mayberry and Linda Winfree…..
I really liked My Bare Lady. It’s the start of my second favourite series to come out of the Smartypants Romance Universe (my favourite is the Cipher Security series by April White).
There is some misogyny, but its challenged, so I don’t think you need to brace too hard. (And I appreciated that it was challenging some of my internal assumptions as well.)
There are some other Smartypants Romance books that are free at the moment – I picked up Heart Smart by Emma Lee Jayne and finished it today. Such delightful snark, plus a grumpy/sunshine pairing.
@Laura: unless she recently announced her retirement (and I missed it—which could easily happen), as of last year, Sarah Mayberry was still writing. Her SWEETHEART (published through Sarina Bowen’s Heart Eyes Press) was one of my favorite books of 2021: a nice romance between a woman and her sister’s ex, and also a sensitive exploration of the toll mental illness takes on the sufferer and their loved ones.
@KWilson Ruthie and Mary Ann Rivers are writing together now as Mae Marvel. I think they currently have stuff out on submission for that pen name?
I’d add Cecilia Grant (A woman awakened) to the Garden of Fond Book Memories.