Review and Excerpt: Deck the Malls with Purple Peacocks by Amy Gettinger

Deck The Malls with Purple Peacocks (Alice Chronicles #2)
By Amy Gettinger

Genre: Chick-lit/ Women’s Fiction/ Sweet Romance
Age category: Adult
Release Date: November 18, 2017

Description:
It’s Christmas in Orange County, California, and the mall is full of purple peacock decorations, large and small. Department store employee Aracely Martinez has a goofy Cuban friend, Quito (who’s awfully cute in his mall Santa suit), distracting her from her night-shift restocking job. But Aracely has a long-held secret, which her supervisor at the store, Jacob Thinnes, is holding over her head to make her do his bidding.

Which is too much bidding.

Enter Aracely’s oldest friends: Alice Chalmers, Georgette Jones and Julie Bowers. The group’s “Venus Warrior” bond from the 2003 production of The Venus Monologues at Garden Beach Community College is still very strong, and these women are ready, willing, and able to kick some butt to help Aracely out of her difficult bind. Join Aracely’s “Three Wise Women” plus her ever-present trickster hunk, Quito, in one adventure after another as they work against the odds to give Aracely a fabulous, nearly impossible Christmas gift: the life of her dreams.

My Review:
Deck the Malls with Purple Peacocks caught my eye due to the festive and quirky title and matching cover.

The story is all about Aracely, whose illegal status has been noted and exploited by her unscrupulous boss. While there was plenty of the lightheartedness I’d hoped for by the packaging, there was a healthy dose of serious issues and an insightful look into what being an illegal immigrant might be like, particularly in today’s world.

It didn’t take me too long to know for sure that this was a sequel, but I felt this one stands alone pretty well. I enjoyed the missions and the banter between the friends in the Venus Warrior group, as well as the result of their benevolent meddling. Quito was adorable and his jokes as groan-worthy as I’m sure they were intended to be. The romance wasn’t as central to the story as I’d thought it would be, but that’s ok. This turned out to be more of a cozy mystery sort of thing with the team of Venus Warriors sleuthing and saving the day together, despite being total amateurs.

Jacob and the other cast of ne’er-do-wells were sinister and manipulative, and I had no trouble rooting against them. I thought it interesting how they could be so awful to Aracely, a good and hardworking person, while thinking of themselves as superior. Their self-righteousness paired with their awful behavior towards Aracely seemed designed to highlight a certain hypocrisy that seems all too realistic in today’s culture.

Overall, a good read. I wish I’d read the earlier book first because I think I’d have gotten more of the references and inside jokes between the characters. Anyhow, I’d recommend this to folks who like a little humor wrapped around a serious topic, middle-aged sleuths running missions to save their young friend, and a happy ending that doesn’t come easily.

I received the review copy of this book from the author via Lola’s Blog Tours. This review was written for my blog, I read too much!

~~~

You can find Deck The Malls with Purple Peacocks on Goodreads

You can buy Deck The Malls with Purple Peacocks here on Amazon


Read on for an excerpt and more information about the author.

Review: Only Tim Sent Flowers by George Kaplan

Only Tim Sent Flowers
by George Kaplan


Description:
Mary Louise, a bookish, redheaded, freckle-faced, eighteen-year-old virgin, who is unaware she has Asperger’s Syndrome, dispenses with Tim, her loving but far too serious and conventional high school boyfriend, then thrusts herself, groin first, into the 1960s sexual revolution, pioneering concepts such as friends with benefits and serial monogamy, while earning two college degrees in statistics. Nicknamed Tookie by her doting father, she engages in often humorous escapades with innumerable unsuitable lovers, whom she seduces with her oral virtuosity. But through it all, the one thing she really wants escapes her—a man who will truly love her, despite her faults, and give her a daughter.


My Review:
Only Tim Sent Flowers reads like a memoir. The main character, Mary Louise, or Tookie, becomes obsessed with experiencing and learning everything about sex.

I actually thought her relationship with her first boyfriend, Tim, was kind of sad. He’s very sweet and respectful, and he loves her, but it isn’t enough for Mary Louise. She loses interest in him when her attempts to get him to be her first fail. I kind of wanted her to get back with him, but the story is true to both her own and Tim’s personalities. He needs more and she wants less, or perhaps just different. It’s just too bad.

Anyway, that set aside, a good chunk of the book is Tookie cycling her way through as many fellows as humanly possible, studying and applying what she learns exuberantly. Some of her actual relationships are pretty interesting side stories, but again, I found them sad. Her sense of accomplishment and self-worth come at a cost I don’t think she realizes. She wants love, but only knows one variable in the formula.

I thought the fact that she has undiagnosed Asperger’s Syndrome added an interesting dynamic. Her behavior and preferences seem over the top until you take that into account. This characteristic is only overtly mentioned in the book’s description and the author’s note at the end, but it defines her.
As for the sexual encounters, well, nothing is left to the imagination. It’s very straightforward and detailed. One is left without a doubt about every one of Tookie’s likes and dislikes, and why. Some of the Asperger’s characteristics seemed to come out in these as well, which I thought showed some pretty good attention to detail. It is definitely meant for adult readers as there is a nearly constant stream of sex and sexual pursuit.

As for the storytelling, it comes across as rather factual and direct, a style typical of memoirs. This book should not be mistaken for a romance.

Overall, I thought this was a really good book, though it can be sad at times. I think the book might appeal to adults who enjoy fictional memoirs.

I received an ARC of this book from the author.


About the Author:
After a career of chasing, and being chased by, spies and assorted thugs across national monuments while being mistaken for Cary Grant, George Kaplan hung up his shoulder holster and used the money to buy a computer to serve as his word processor. Although well versed in writing after-action summaries, Kaplan had no experience with writing fiction, other than his expense reports. Government repercussions about modeling characters after his cohorts and enemies would have been far too risky, so he fabricated a heroine who has qualities he'd seen a few of on each of a number of women he'd rubbed shoulders (and sometimes more) with, during his long career undercover. Kaplan's first novel, Only Tim Sent Flowers, launches his Tookie series about an undiagnosed Aspie girl who perseveres through numerous unexpected adventures.
Author's website https://blackopalbooks.com/george-kaplan/

Other links:
Book Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAHvbJ7MEac
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Only-Tim-Sent-Flowers-Revised/dp/1626947295/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36176303-only-tim-sent-flowers

Cover Reveal: All That Glitters by Tracy Krimmer

Today is the cover reveal for All That Glitters by Tracy Krimmer. This cover reveal is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The cover is designed by K Creative Designs.

All That Glitters (Songs of the Heart #1)
By Tracy Krimmer
Genre: Contemporary Romance / Women’s Fiction
Age category: Adult
Release Date: summer 2017

Blurb:
Country-music star, Dory Walker, never wanted to come back to the small town of Sycamore Bay. But after her fairy-tale life is flipped upside down, and her marriage becomes a casualty, she has no choice.

Harris Malone is a man with few commitments. He keeps a low profile most days while he cares for his young daughter and helps run his dad’s hardware store.

But when he and Dory run into each other at the local gas station, all either can think about is the searing kiss they shared many years ago.

Can a woman who only wants to rekindle her career and a man who enjoys a no-strings attached lifestyle find everlasting love?

You can find All That Glitters on Goodreads

About the Author:
Tracy's love of writing began at nine years old. She wrote stories about aliens at school, machines that did homework for you, and penguins. Now she pens books and short stories about romance. She loves to read a great book, whether it be romance or science fiction, or any genre in between, or pop popcorn and catch up on her favorite TV shows or movies. She's been known to crush a candy or two as well. Her loves include fitness, reading, coffee, dogs, and naps (not in that order), and her dislikes are blue cheese, cold weather, and burpees.

You can find and contact Tracy here:
- Website
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Goodreads
- Amazon
- Instagram
- Newsletter