In the spirit of supporting other indie authors, I thought I would follow the lead of Maria Romana, who has been putting book reviews on her blog, Contemporary Romance Books. My own reading tastes are fairly varied (although one of my big problems right now is finding time to read!), so there won’t be much of a theme to any reviews I post. The only thing I’m not wildly keen on are ‘chick-lit’ type books. You know, the type that mention about five brand-names in the first two pages and judge people by their clothes and possessions all the time. But I’m not averse to a love story if I’m in the right mood.
Maria’s own book is a mixture of romance and pharmaceutical statistics. Which may not sound like a divinely-arranged combination, but it works really well. The main thread of the plot concerns statistician Josie Natale and her relationship with Nic Remedian. Who is a gorgeous Latino man who drives an Aston Martin and wants to settle down and have babies. If you can get over the suspension of disbelief required to accept that combination of qualities in one human being, then you can settle down and enjoy the book. The romance gets caught up in mystery/thriller territory when a pharmaceutical agency starts interfering with drug trials to discredit their competitors and promote the development of their own products. Throw in a religious cult and the trauma of teenage rape and you’ve got all the ingredients for a story that’s hard to put down.
The book is well-written and rattles along at a good pace. It would make a great beach read (if you weren’t worried about getting sand in your ereader, that is). In some ways I’d class it as escapism (all the main characters are good-looking and rich, for example), but there is more to it than that: certainly enough of a mystery to keep me reading for the last two days.
Until the 31st July it is available for free on Smashwords. After that it will revert to its usual price of $4.77.
Inside Hawley Lodge 
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L.C. Evans said:
This looks like a great read. Like you, I find it tough carving out reading time from my busy schedule.
I picked out this sentence in your review and had to comment: “The only thing I’m not wildly keen on are ‘chick-lit’ type books. You know, the type that mention about five brand-names in the first two pages and judge people by their clothes and possessions all the time.”
I agree that this type of chick lit can quickly become cliched and the heroines are often shallow and immature. I don’t care much for that type of book either. However, recently women’s fiction for more mature women has become popular. These books for older women are also being called chick lit. Also hen lit (yuck) and lady lit. The older women stories focus more on family values and may also include a mystery and/or a romance. They frequently, though not always, are light-hearted and humorous. An author friend just had her book published and the publisher classified it as chick lit, though the heroine is dealing with breast cancer and a divorce and the book is not humorous. Her book, Angels Unaware, does have a happy ending. A couple of years ago I doubt her publisher would have labeled it chick lit.
A. J. Braithwaite said:
You’re right – it’s not a straightforward classification, and might do more harm than good in some cases. ‘Hen lit’? Really? Yes, very yuck!