Despite its male protagonist, I think women are more likely to enjoy Ruth Clampett’s Animate Me than men. The author tried to offer a man’s perspective, but it still feels very chick lit-y to me – which is no bad thing, just surprising. In any case, it’s a cute story for the most part about […]

If you like a little paranormal activity, some shady businessmen, and a murder or two mixed in with your love stories, Lani Diane Rich’s Crazy in Love might be right up your alley.

It’s a cute premise, but the accidents in Tara Mills’s Accidents Make the Heart Grow Fonder cross the line into ridiculous more than once. Then, inexplicably, there’s a long stretch of injury-free dating, and then more accidents. Other than that, and the fact that I found Jackson’s interest in Sabrina somewhat farfetched, it was a […]

Elly in Bloom, by Colleen Oakes, is the floweriest book I’ve ever read. I know I’ve read other chick lit featuring florists, but this one describes flowers and bouquets and wedding arrangements in exquisite-verging-on-excruciating detail. It’s kind of fun, but it gets a bit tedious.

While it’s not quite a Harlequin romance novel, the fairly graphic descriptions in Perfect for You make it a bit steamier than run-of-the-mill chick lit – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I liked the story a lot, I cared about all the characters, and I enjoyed the various subplots. As for negatives, the sabotage […]

If you’re looking for a quick, cute read, J.W. Bull’s Pickin’ Tomatoes might be just the thing. The protagonist manages to get a job writing a column about cooking, though she is neither a chef nor a writer. So of course she has to learn to do both, and fast. Some of the cooking disasters […]

Part love story, part family drama, Stephanie Haddad’s Love Regifted doesn’t really manage to pull off either one. The story about the new love interest was fine, but the old one was absurd (see spoilers, below). And pretty much everything related to the mysterious phone call was both obvious (I knew immediately what was going […]