International Chick Lit Month: Jenny Lopez Has a Bad Week by Lindsey Kelk

Over the last year or so Lindsey Kelk has found her way into my heart and become one of my favorite authors. Her fantastic I Heart series has really caught the imagination of Chick Lit lovers all round the world with her protagonist, Angela Clark who moves to New York to start a brand new life. Oh how we have lived vicariously through her life as she lands a plum job on a magazine, nabs a herself a cute hipster boyfriend and travels to exciting cities such as LA and Paris to cover stories. Lindsey has been a very busy lady not only is she working on a new I Heart book she has also written a stand alone title called The Single Girls To-Do List which is released in June and she has also found time to write a spin off of the I Heart series. Jenny Lopez Has a Bad Week is a short digital download which follows Angela's best friend as she struggles to restart her life after moving back to NYC from LA. A native New Yorker, Jenny's dream came true when she landed a cool gig as a stylist in La La Land and where she rubs shoulders with starlets. Also she had Angela for company so the two would explore LA night life and get into all sorts of mischief. However Jenny's luck ran out when she found out that her flat mate was a high class hooker and it was time to head back east.

So she is back in the Big Apple but at her lowest ebb with no job, flat mate or boyfriend so she sets out to rectify this and fast. Pretty soon she has sorted out a viewing with a potential flat mate and has booked two dates with exciting prospects. It looks like the job situation has been sorted when her mate Erin hooks her up with a job to babysit a supermodel. Piece of cake she thinks after all one thing she is good at is is dealing with people, except she finds out that the supermodel is a real handful. It looks like Jenny is going to have a really bad week. We always take the lead protagonist in a book to our hearts but it is often the supporting characters that often steal the show and with the I Heart series, Jenny Lopez with her sassy wit stole the show. After all it was she who got Angela back on her feet when she first landed in NYC and looking fabulous in her designer and vintage outfits. So it is only right that Jenny should get her own spin off book where we get to know the little minx much better. It has been a while since I last read an I Heart title so it was really great to catch up with Jenny and Angela, after all they do lead the most fabulous lives. In a nutshell Jenny Has a Bad Week was short but very very sweet.

Jenny Has a Bad Week is available for FREE on Kindle from amazon for those in the UK till 23rd May so hurry and download your copy. After that it is £1.99. You can also get it at iBookstore, right now it is FREE but I am not sure how long for. Readers outside of the UK can download the Kindle version from amazon here.

I Heart Paris by Lindsey Kelk

So once again we are reunited with our good friend Angela Clark. With best mate Jenny happily settled in LA, our protagonist is dividing her time between her apartment in Manhattan and her boyfriend Alex's place in trendy Williamsburg, Brooklyn. When Alex's rock group gets a gig to play at a festival in Paris which happens to coincide with his big 30, Angela is all psyched to drop everything for a week to attend and play the ever so adoring rock star girlfriend. However, her bosses at Spencer Media, the publishing group that owns the The Look which is the magazine she writes for have other ideas. They want her to pen an article which is sort of the hipster's guide to Paris for Belle magazine which is basically a snooty publication on par with Vogue. The problem is that Belle magazine have other ideas; as far as they are concerned Angela is not Belle material and make that quite clear to her. However, luck is on Angela's side - the MD of the company likes her so she keeps her gig and with it an expenses paid trip to Paris with Alex. She has it all planned out; the day will be spent checking out all the cool spots in Gay Paris and in the evenings she will be hand in hand with Alex strolling down the Champs de Elysee, along the River Seine and sipping wine at one of the many chic cafes. Alas as we have all come to realise, Angela's life does not run smoothly like that.

For a start Alex's stunning Parisian ex girlfriend turns up. Her group is also playing at the festival and it is clear that she is set on getting Alex back. Meanwhile Alex has gone all moody on Angela and after months hassling her to move in with him he drops a bombshell that he has no desire to get married and have kids. Needless to say Angela is mortified and this mini drama combined with losing all her possessions at the airport when her suitcase is blown up as well as a colleague trying to sabotage her career almost sends Angela over the edge. So the thought of jumping on the Eurostar to London to spend time with her childhood friend, Louisa and her family sounds so tempting.

The I Heart books are always a great read and the latest one about Paris is no exception. It shows how all relationships have their weak spots when insecurity sweeps in. We also get more of an idea of Angela's life in London when Louisa turns up in Paris. Those of you who have been following Angela's adventures since the first book will remember that it was Louisa's wedding that Angela ruined after she discovered that her fiance had been doing the dirty with his tennis partner. Well Louisa is now happily married and expecting her first baby but still on hand to offer Angela a strong shoulder when things go belly up. I found I Heart Paris a bit darker than the other books; less emphasis on shopping and more about the complexity of relationships. You do get a great sense of Parisian culture but instead of doing the obvious and focusing on the high life of designer stores and boutiques, we are taken to the hip and cool side of Paris with funky cafes and eclectic shops. Once again Lindsey Kelk pulls it out of the bag. Which brings me to wonder what is next on the cards for I Heart Series. I know that Lindsey has been commissioned to write two more books but I wonder where they will be set? My guess is Sydney and London. 

I Heart Paris is released on Thursday 8th August and it is available to buy on amazon.

I Heart Hollywood by Lindsey Kelk - Review

Los Angeles is one place that I have always been intruiged about but never managed to make it down to. It has a few crass stereotypes like being full of blonde barbie dolls with fake boobs and suntans but there is the goosd stuff. Such as fabulous vintage stores like Decades which Rachel Zoe made popular, wonderful restaurants and a ridiculous amount of places to shop like Rodeo Drive, Beverley Hills, Sunset Boulevard, oh and to top it off all that glorious weather. I was very pleased when Lindsey Kelk's new chapter of the I Heart series was released a few months back which saw our heroine Angela Clark jet off to Hollywood to interview an A-list movie star. So in a matter of eight months Angela has gone from a struggling writer in London who fleed to New York to start a new life and in the process bagging herself a cool hipster bloyfriend, a blog on a glossy mag and a fab bestie in the shape of Jenny Lopez. (You can read all about this in the first book, I Heart New York) Now she is heading to La La land for the assigment of her dreams. A converted New Yorker, Angela is determined to do her job as quickly as possible and get back to her ever so blissful life with boyfriend. Alex. However when she meets movie star, James Jacobs and he seems to take a fancy to her and goes out of his way to sweep her off her feet. He shows her all the wonderful spots of LA and gets her on the VIP list for all the hotest places. Angela finds herself loving this new lifestyle and being drawn to the gorgeous movie star. Then she and James are caught in a very uncompromisimg position leaving her to deal with the wrath of not only Alex but her boss.

As I have not been reading as much as before it took me a while to get into this book. It started very well with Angela settling into the New York winter and spending her time with Jenny and Alex. However from the time Angela got to LA I kind of fell out of love with the book. I know that the I Heart series is about us readers living vicariously through Angela's perfect life but meeting a Hollywood leading man and getting him to fall for you seemed just a little bit too far fetched. However, there is a huge bombshell in the book that really puts things into perspective and really gets the book back on track. I am not going to spoil it for you but trust me I did not see it coming. I really ended up enjoying I Heart Hollywood as it showed the protagonist and her friends moving on and growing as people and I cannot wait to read the follow up I Heart Paris which is due out in September.

You can buy I Heart Hollywood from amazon.

Check out the I Heart Hollywood website here.

Follow Lindsey Kelk on Twitter here.

I Heart Hollywood by Lindsey Kelk

They say that couples who fall for each other do so because they have a strong connection, well this is how it was when I started reading I Heart New York last summer - read the blog post here. The book is about Angela Clark, a 20 something Brit chick who ups sticks to New York when she finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her. She lands a cool gig as a blogger for a glossy mag, meets the man of her dreams and lives blissfully in Brooklyn with her bestie Jenny. I bet you thought that was where the story ended right? Well wrong because hot on the heels of I Heart New York is I Heart Hollywood where we see Angela heading to Hollywood to interview James Jacob, a very hot and successful British actor. Set against a landscape of designer boutiques, chic bars, exclusive clubs and stunning women; Angela finds celebrity life in Tinsel Town a tad pretentious. When she eventually gets to interview James Jacob she is surprised at how down to earth he is. The two strike up a swift friendship with James taking Angela under his wing and showing her different sides to LA. However the media soon get a whiff of James and Angela's friendship and she finds herself in the public eye for all the wrong reasons. This is bad news because sitting back home in New York patiently waiting for her to return is her gorgeous boyfriend, Alex. Will she be able to convince him that the press have the wrong end of the stick?  If I Heart New York is anything to go by then this book is bound to be a real corker. Lindsey Kelk has such a wonderful and engaging writing style that you cannot help but fall in love with her books. So if you like a book with a lot of fun and glamour then this is absolutely for you. Look out for I Heart Paris which will be released in July. 

Giveaway
Those lovely people from Harper Collins have donated FIVE copies of I Heart Hollywood for me to give away to my lucky readers. All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me the name of your favourite book. The first five readers to leave a comment will win a copy of the book. 

I Heart Hollywood is available to buy on amazon now.

Check out the website for I Heart Hollywood.

Follow Lindsey on Twitter.

I Heart New York

Last week I was raving about Sophie Kinsella’s fantastic book trailer for her new title, Twenties Girl which I thought was an innovative way to market books. However yesterday I was sent to the chick lit heaven when I came across I Heart New York in a supermarket. Yes the book is set in my favourite city of all time and it is about a sassy chick lit about a thoroughly modern Millie who shuts up shop and moves to a new city. Angela Clark takes off to New York for fun and adventure after discovering that her boyfriend is cheating on her. She checks into a hotel, quickly makes friends with Jenny who gives her a makeover, starts dating two cute guys and lands a job on a fashion magazine writing a blog about her life. Very Carrie Bradshaw me thinks. What blew me away was the concept of I Heart New York; it is a chick lit come travel guide all in one that sells an aspirational lifestyle in a chic city. You only need to have a look at the website to see this, for instance there is a blog that keeps you up to date with the protagonist, a link to LoveFilms and Angela’s top ten movies set in NYC and a guide to the hip places in the Big Apple.

The idea is that you buy into Angela as a real person and therefore go out and buy the book including the pending sequels; I Heart Hollywood and I Heart Paris. Lindsay, an editor and brand manager at Harper Collins has clearing put her branding experience to good use by using similar brands such as LoveFilm as tie ups. Furthermore there is talk that companies such as Starbucks, WHotels and Bliss are to come on board. While Lynne Drew, Publishing Director for Harpers who signed up Lindsey will draw on her expertise in working with pop titles such as The Devil Wears Prada. When she is not penning mouth watering books, Lindsey also writes a blog called Beauty Mecca which you can check out here.

I Heart New York is out in paperback now. Look out for I Heart Hollywood in January 2010 and I Heart Paris in July 2010.

Check out a short interview with Lindsey Kelk here.

PS: R.I.P Borders on Oxford Street, I have spent many a blissful hour there leafing though magazines and books while waiting for many a late friend. Therefore I was truly saddened to hear that the store will be one of five stores in the UK that are closing. An end of an era I say.