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Book of the Month: Lace
“Which one of you bitches is my mother?”
Four elegant, successful, and sophisticated women in their forties are called to New York’s Pierre Hotel to meet Lili — a beautiful, young, and notoriously temperamental Hollywood movie star. None of the women knows exactly why she is there; each has a reason to hate Lili and each of them is astonished to see the others.They are old friends who share a guilty secret and who have for years been doing their best to keep that secret quiet. Their lives are changed forever, however, when Lili suddenly confronts them. When the women refuse to answer her, Lili proceeds to travel around the world through the playgrounds of the rich and famous, seeking to answer the question that has obsessed and almost destroyed her.
From Paris to London, from the boardroom to the bedroom, Lace takes the reader into the rarified world of five unforgettable women who are as beautiful, as complex and as strong as. . .lace.This is like a soap opera! That’s the sentence that had run through my mind throughout the novel. Well technically, I thought it was like a Lifetime movie, but a soap opera is far more accurate. Exotic locales, luxurious 80s excess, and so much drama as it describes in minute detail every piece of clothing, meal, furniture, and distinctive characters that surround the women.
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Roz Demir is Not the One Review
Ros will do whatever it takes to get the guy. At least… she thinks she will.
Sixteen-year-old Ros is a go-getter. When she wants something, she makes sure she gets it.
But a lingering rumor (and maybe some ambivalence about her half-Turkish heritage) has kept Ros from achieving the kind of reputation she deserves. So, after years of plotting her big comeback, she just needs one thing: a hot, adoring guy on her arm at junior year homecoming. And when she meets charming new classmate Aydın at the Pine Bay resort over the summer, she thinks she’s found The One.
It doesn’t work, though. And things get messy when Ros’s plan ends up hurting the only friend she has left… poor, sweet, forgiving Eleanor. This has happened before—things tend to get messy with Ros around—and it’s getting harder for her to ignore the pattern of hurt feelings. Plus, it seems like Ros and Aydın aren’t really meant to be. What kind of a plan results in everyone ending up unhappy? Not a very good one.
A not-quite rom com starring a bold, outspoken antiheroine, this Turkish-American Romeo and Juliet remix is refreshingly snarky. Witty, whip-smart dialogue plays with the complexities of multicultural identity and female friendships, from Ros’s very first screw-up to her unconventional happy ending.
Ros is quite unlikable, I have to get that out of the way. But I applaud Brittan for going the antiheroine route and sticking with it. Oftentimes, “difficult” female characters don’t seem to earn the moniker because their difficulties are just snarkiness or rightfully pushing against an ignorant world. Here, Ros is actually unlikable and tough to root for.
Ros feels a lot, and when she feels angered or wronged, she lashes out at the person. Sometimes her revenge is disproportionate to the slight, and then she holds a grudge about it, projecting it on the other person as being the overly hostile one that won’t let go.
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J.C. Peterson Interview
J.C. Peterson is the YA and adult rom-com author for bookish readers. Her novels include Being Mary Bennet, and Lola, At Last. She graciously took the time to answer my questions about Pitch Wars, P7P and what she has coming next. Enjoy!
1. You got your start with PitchWars, what did the mentor program entail?
PitchWars was such a wonderful, gratifying experience. I had taken a break from all writing after I had my younger son and applied to PitchWars on a whim, so when I was accepted into the mentorship program, I went from zero writing to living and breathing fiction in a heartbeat.
PitchWars involved deep developmental edits with my mentors, Carrie S. Allen and Sabrina Lotfi (who are literal angels). They were so thoughtful and insightful about my work and really helped me bring the novel up a level. It was hard, but so much fun at the same time!
It helped that Carrie and Sabrina were endlessly encouraging and were always there to hype me up. PitchWars ended in the big pitch event with agents, which was stressful. But from that, I signed with my agent Amy Bishop-Wycisk and we sold my debut novel Being Mary Bennet just a couple months later.
2. Best advice you got from your mentors?
Carrie and Sabrina were so talented at helping me see the bigger picture in my writing. I don’t want to say that I’m all vibes, but I tend to be very voice-y in my writing; they helped me keep that voice while also making sure every scene moved the plot forward. I think I really developed my skills in tension and pacing because of them.
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Cool find: Riverdale High
So I think most everyone knows these ‘New Look” stories that briefly lit up the Archie scene in the early 2000s. Very controversial when they came. Fans derided the art as ugly or unnatural, but since they didn’t replace the ‘house style’, the vitriol faded and the readers accepted each exciting new look event for what it was.
The picture above shows 5 of the 7 stories, one for each of the main gang members and well, that’s the end of that. Interesting ‘mini events’ that showed a new style and some new characters and stories.
Until last week, I was on the Archie Comics reddit page and someone posted looking for an old novel series that Archie put out. Someone enterprising found it, and Holy Goodreads, the plots for the Riverdale High series are exactly the same as the New Look stories.
Riverdale High was a 8 book series written by prolific children’s author, Michael Pellowski in 1990.
Book 2: Bad News Boyfriend- Veronica’s relationship with a despicable new student jeopardizes her friendships with her other friends.
Book 3: One Last Date with Archie-When Mr. Andrews accepts a job promotion, his family–including Archie–will have to move away from Riverdale. How can Betty and Veronica face the possibility of just one last date with Archie ? 8 black-and-white line drawings.
Book 4: It’s First Love, Jughead Jones-Food is the only love of forever-hungry Jughead Jones–until he meets up with sports star Melanie Marks. Jughead’s friends don’t kid him about hating girls anymore because Jughead’s in love, at last!
Book 5: The Big Break-Up-After dating Big Moose Mason for years, Midge Klump gets tired of the way Moose takes her for granted and goes out with Reggie. The couple splits up, and Archie and his pals scheme to bring them back together.
Book 7: Tour Troubles and Betty Cooper, Baseball Star-Archie and his band go on tour, and Betty joins the baseball team.
Sound familiar?
Now, the Riverdale High series does have 3 books that have no corresponding New Look comic or any comic. And the New Look stories of My Father’s Betrayal, and A Funny Kind of Love don’t seem to have any corresponding stories to the book series.
Until I went on ebay and found Class Clown whose back cover has the same plot as A Funny Kind of Love straight down to Reggie dating a braniac, Bernadette Brownlee, and My Father, the Enemy which looks like My Father’s Betrayal. Also on ebay it reveals it’s a 10, book series, not 8.
Then there’s added confusion that Goodreads says there’s a book called Rich Girls Don’t Have to Worry while the rest of the internet says such a book doesn’t exist. But ebay does have a book that isn’t mentioned on goodreads, Is That Arabella? which seems to be the missing #9.
But it’s interesting because the New Look series was advertised as all new look, all new stories by Melanie J. Morgan. So, is it a coincidence? I doubt it, the plots sound too similar (unless the way they play out is wildly different in Pellowski’s work. Yes I’m now tempted to see if there’s any copies on ebay). Did they bank on no one remembering the series since it came out over a decade ago? Possibly?
It apparently lasted longer than the Betty and Veronica xoxo trilogy that also came out in 2010. They just don’t do well with prose novels.
Here’s the goodreads link and decide if the similarities are too much to ignore-https://www.goodreads.com/series/269550-riverdale-high
What do you think? Comment below.
#archiecomics, #badboytrouble, #bookseries, #breakupblues, #comics, #goodbyeforever, #graphicnovels, #it’sfirstlovejugheadjones, #melaniejmorgan, #michaelpellowski, #newlook, #nobaseballforbetty, #onelastdatewitharchie, #rachelreads&reviews, #riverdalehigh, #thebigbreakup, #thematchmakers, #tourtroublesandbettycooperbaseballstar -
Hailey Alcaraz Interview
Hailey Alcaraz is the author of Up in Flames and the upcoming Rosa by Any Other Name. She graciously took the time to answer my questions and talk about her love for retellings, the impact of the Chicano Civil Rights Movement and more about her upcoming work. Enjoy!
1. Let’s start simple, what were some of your literary inspirations when you were young?
My mom is actually an author; her name is Erin Quinn, and she published her first book shortly after I was born. Growing up with a writer, I always saw writing a book as something that I could do. I knew it took a lot of work (my mom raised us, worked full time, took college courses and wrote several books throughout my childhood; to this day, I don’t understand how she did it!), but it always seemed like a realistic, attainable thing. Not to mention, she always encouraged me, helped me revise my work, and exposed me to a variety of books and writing opportunities. The example she set for me was beyond inspiring.
2. You’ve mentioned that Gone with the Wind, in particular, inspired Up in Flames, how did that come about?
Retellings are one of my absolute favorite genres (I’ve been a fan ever since Lion King came out in the 90’s). Gone with the Wind is also a complicated favorite of mine. I loved so many of the characters and the history and the complex portrayal of love — but obviously, it’s a problematic book and the criticisms of it are more than valid. But I spent a lot of time puzzling over what a modern Scarlett O’Hara would like. In the book, she has some traces of feminism (albeit, white feminism) but I’ve always wanted her to take it a step further: to acknowledge her privilege and the errors in her ways and do so much better.
So Up in Flames is my version of that. A stubborn, resilient young woman of privilege who has her world turned upside down and becomes a revolutionary in her own way on the path to recovery. I hesitate to call it a true retelling because Gone with the Wind is so flawed and has so many harmful messages, but critiquing and modernizing many of the themes and tropes in that book was definitely how my story started.
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Keala Kendall Interview
Keala Kendall is the upcoming author of How Far I’ll Go and No One Gets Left Behind in the Twisted Tale series. A hapa Native Hawaiian writer of descent, she is also the co-founder of Pacific Islanders in Publishing and works to increase the PI-diasphora representation in literature. She graciously took the time to answer my questions about her upcoming work, thoughts on horror and what else is in store. Enjoy!
1. When did you begin to write? Do you remember your first story?
I feel like I’ve always been writing, so it’s hard to pinpoint when I started. But when I was eight, I posted an Inuyasha fanfic online which is the first story I shared publicly. One of my brothers is a famous fanfic writer, so he inspired me and was very encouraging as he helped me post it.
2. While there’s a call for diversity in literature these days and an audience for these stories, what was it like in the beginning for you to break into this industry to share your stories focusing on your heritage?
I was in school when We Need Diverse Books began, so I was lucky enough to benefit as a reader. However, the percentage of stories that are authored by Pacific Islanders, or that even feature Pacific Islander protagonists, has always been historically low. I didn’t get to see myself reflected in stories and that was mirrored in my early work. One of the first stories I wrote was about a white girl in Massachusetts which is a place that I’ve never been to. But unlike Hawaii, Massachusetts seemed like the woodsy sort of place where fairytales did happen. Growing up, most of the stories that were set in Hawaii that I saw were about its location as a beachfront paradise which didn’t resonate with me.
Unfortunately, even when I started to write stories that featured my Hawaiian heritage, I found it difficult to convince publishing professionals that the Hawaiian characters I wrote were accurately Hawaiian enough. At the time, I was writing sci-fi, so these characters existed in worlds that did not include the set dressing of Hawaii even though the themes they were embroiled in reflected modern Hawaiian issues that interested me.
It wasn’t until I wrote my Hawaiian characters in Hawaii that those characters were deemed Hawaiian enough by non-Hawaiians. I am excited about the desire for diversity in publishing, but diversity should also reflect a diverse set of experiences. Hawaiians exist outside of Hawaii and there are Pacific Islander writers who want to imagine worlds that show Pasifika futures—not just our past.
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History Mystery P2
The second half of the series gets a little bit darker. The mysteries involve dangerous individuals whose actions are not explained away as a misunderstanding or bitterness. Often there is real hate or greed motivating them, and they have the weapons to back them up if others get in their way. There is more exploration of darker subjects like war, PTSD and indigenous genocide and the girls have to realize that the world is not always a fair or just place. Thus the second half of the series is always one I look forward to when I reread it. It has so many good books.
(more…)#alisonhart, #americangirl, #barbarasteiner, #betrayalatcrosscreek, #circleoffire, #dangeratthewildwestshow, #dangstersatthegrandatlantic, #elizabethmcdavidjones, #enemyinthefort, #evelyncoleman, #ghostlightongraveyardshoal, #historicalfiction, #historymystery, #kathleenernst, #kathrynreiss, #middlegrade, #mysteryatchilkootpass, #mysteryonskullisland, #pleasantcompany, #rachelreads&reviews, #riddleoftheprariebride, #sarahmastersbuckey, #scholastic, #thestrangecaseofbabyh, #whistlerinthedark -
History Mystery P1
I have discussed this a little bit in my historical fiction pages but as I’m rereading this for the first time in years, I thought I’d go a little more in-depth with my thoughts.
For those that are not in the know, History Mystery was a 1997 spin-off of Pleasant Company’s very popular American Girl collection of books. While American Girl has six books dedicated to each girl in a specific time period within the 7-9 age range, History Mystery was for middle readers who wanted more excitment in their historical tales.
22 tales in the series, each book was a stand-alone, and the historical periods were more varied. The end of the Wild West, the San Francisco Earthquake, War of 1812, you get the idea. The twelve-year old protagonists tend to come from more perilous circumstances and must contend with gamblers on the run and the deceit of adults around them with their wits and skills.
So here are my random thoughts on the first half of the series.
(more…)#eleanorae.tate, #elizabethmcdavidjones, #evelyncoleman, #historymystery, #hollyhughes, #hoofbeatsofdanger, #katherineayers, #kathleenernst, #meganmcdonald, #middlegrade, #mysteryatthedarktower, #rachelreads&reviews, #sarahmastersbuckey, #scholastic, #secretsof26thstreet, #shadowsintheglasshouse, #smuggler’streasure, #theminstrel’smelody, #thenightflyers, #troubleatfortlapointe, #undercopp’shill, #voicesatwhisperbend, #watcherinpineywoods -
Reading Goals 2025
I’m beginning this year with my feel-good favorite by Steve Kluger, My Most Excellent Year. This is the tenth year in a row I’ve read it and just the sort of comfort-reading one needs when faced with so much uncertainty in the world.
This year I truly mean it when I say I want to cut back on the reading. I really hope to get a job this year and I also have to buckle down and write my thesis. To aid me, I’m avoiding the biggest temptation-the library. Instead I will focus on all the historical fictions in my house-American Girl and its spin offs, Dear America, Dear Canada etc.
I won’t be reading all 35 Dear America books in 17 days like last time, that was a baaaad idea. Even if it was kind of a cool skill to type half-blind because of the eye strain, it’s not worth it.
I won’t let myself know of any more new releases. I’ll also be muting the bookstagram accounts I follow to ensure this.
That is I won’t get into any new books this year. In the historical romance section, they’re releasing conclusions of four series I adore.
Herrera’s The Tropical Rebel Gets Her Duke is one I’ve been waiting for over a year!!! And I have just one more month to go! It will be taking a little longer for de la Rosa’s end of The Luna Sisters with Gabriela and the Gentleman coming in August. Same with Peckham finally telling Elena’s story after several years absence with The Rogue I Ravished tentively planned for October. Grossman will also be releasing her next book in the Once Upon a Eastend series this year too with Seduce Me in Secret.
In the contemporary romance section, there is more in story with Daria finishing the Primas of Power with Along Came Amor. Ryan is breaking out with the third book in the Skyland series, Can’t Get Enough in May. I plan to stay ontop of Kim-Lam’s next release in March, Something Cheeky which features a little more showmanship so I’m excited. Just as excited for Sutanto’s Worth Fighting For from the Meant to Be series, a contemporary romance based on Mulan and Shang! Yay, they need more love. Nava is also coming out with her next indigenous romance with Love is a War Song in July.
In the YA vein, I have to read Stone’s conclusion to her Dear Martin series, Dear Manny coming out in March. As well as the new releases from Lee coming in Aug, The Cuffing Game which is another retelling of P&P as well as Chao’s X Marks the Spot that came out yesterday. I may also read Delia Adhler’s YA backlog of Home Field Advantage, and Cool for Summer in preparation for her May relase of Come As You Are. But that’s it, only six.
As for Disney, I still need to catch up five books like Queen’s Council, Sword in Slumber, and the new releases like The Wishless Ones, and How Far I’ll Go but those don’t come out for awhile. I certainly can’t miss Bemused, it’s a fantasy fiction based on the Muses from Hercules. How can I not?
The one catch is I may have to actually buy the Be Prepared Twisted Tale instead of getting it from the interlibrary loan because it only released in Australia. So annoying, and just doesn’t make sense marketing wise. They just released that Mufasa movie, why are they only releasing a Lion King book in the UK and Australia? Do they think the US won’t like it or something? Just weird and a missed marketing opportunity for all eyes on the new movie to also be diverted to the shelves.
Finally, I have my eye on for the newest Clique book by Lisi Harrison and Ellen Marlow. Yes, the Clique is back a decade later and we’ll see how the Pretty Committee has succeeded or failed in their adult lives! Just yes!! I knew, I knew in my heart that the Clique would come out in the era of sequels and reboots and I hope it comes out this year! Now if, Secrets of My Hollywood Life would come to the sequel game, my reading life would be complete.
I also hope to read the new Gargoyles comics. I meant to do it last year but Dynamite kept pushing back the release date so who knows if that will hold up. I mean I interviewed Jake Freidman about Disney Afternoon: The Making of a Television Renaissance release two years ago, and it’s still being pushed back to late 2025. What’s the hold-up?
Finally, there’s the book club which we’ll be starting with Shirley Conran’s immense 80s novel of excess and luxury, Lace, which starts with the infamous opening line-“Which one of you bitches is my mother?” Dramatic, right?
So I probably won’t be posting as much but there will be some new things in store. Not to mention I plan to revamp this website a little to something nicer to look at. Fingers crossed, I’ll be able to do that without accidentally deleting all my hard work.
Have a happy new year!
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Rachel Reads & Reviews 