Perry Gonzales is not like the other people who attend the prestigious school of St Marks. She is Latina, on a scholarship, and from a single-parent family. She dreams of one day going to university to study journalism. After school, the super-smart Perry is the go-to girl for those needing tutoring and as a result she ends up teaching a whole bunch of pretentious spoilt rich kids. During her tutoring experiences she decides to write her college essay in the format of the seven deadly sins with each client portraying one of the sins. Seven Deadlies was a fast-paced book that will have readers not wanting to put it down. What I loved most was the twist I did not see coming at
the very end of the novel. It made me go WOW. (PP)
Hannah Bernal is head over heels in love with her husband John and they have a gorgeous daughter named Ellie. But then tragedy strikes when John passes away and Hannah is left to pick up the pieces. It's not easy though as Hannah is about to discover that being a widow
and a grieving one at that isn't the cool thing to be in LA. Thank
goodness though that she has the support of her three friends who have been dubbed "The Grief Team". There's Aimee - an aspiring actress
who is still looking for her big break in Hollywood, Jay - her gay best
friend and Chloe - a single mother who runs a mommy blog. Then a
strange visitor appears in Hannah's house and soon her life takes a spirited turn. This story will have you both laughing and tearing up. (PP)
When rich and ambitious heir Jackson Power gets caught on camera with his
latest mistress, Lara - the day after his 25th wedding anniversary -
wife Cynthia decides to end the marriage. With her daughter Vivienne on her
side, and plans to drag out the divorce for a year or two, Cynthia is no easy woman to deal with. This marks the start of the divorce games, as both
parties try to strategise and outmanoeuvre each other, like in a game of chess. Jackson even takes an active role in engaging bartender Adrian to seduce his wife, so that he has a chance of retaining more of the estate. A fast-paced and hilarious read about a divided power couple trying to retain the upper hand. (XT)
Gracie Pollock is dumped by her movie studio executive husband just before their 10th wedding anniversary ('I've been Cruised,' she says) and finds herself living the Hollywood nightmare of being a starter wife. As a social pariah, she and her three-year-old daughter, Jaden, move into a friend's beachside Malibu home where she befriends a different set of characters, including the hunky but homeless Sam who saves her from drowning and her ex-husband's boss.
Do you remember the early 90s movie Clueless that made every young girl want to move to Beverly Hills to act and dress like Cher and the gang? Well, meet Clarissa and the Star Chamber clan, in Maneater. These women are not in high school, although with the way that they act, you would never guess they were in their 30s, but they do have their own Beverly Hills ditzy girl lingo, like opting to say the phrase, "heart attack" when an attractive woman walks in who supposedly gives other women heart palpitations in a fit of jealousy.
This group of wannabe superstars constantly argue with one another and talk about each other behind their backs. Clarissa, who seems to be the leader of the pack, is a woman who thinks she has it all, but in reality is nothing but an immature, annoying and ignorant woman who knocks off a couple of years whenever she tells anyone her age to make herself feel better and looks to her bartender for career advice. She flares up over the smallest of things, runs away from all of her troubles and makes a mess out of every situation she is involved in. For a main character, she is a bit hard to relate to and even harder to like. Overall, this story has a lot of random twists and turns which makes this story interesting but causes you to question what exactly is happening and why. (CC)
