Review: YOU'RE THE ONE THAT I DON'T WANT by A. Potter ****

How do you know he's The One? Are you getting butterflies just thinking about him? Have you dreamt of marrying him? Do you just know?

When Lucy meets Nate in Venice, she knows instantly he's The One. And, caught up in the whirlwind of first love, they kiss under the Bridge of Sighs at sunset. Which – according to legend – will tie them together forever.
But ten years later, they’ve completely lost contact. That is, until Lucy moves to New York and the legend brings them back together. Again. And again. And again.
But what if Nate isn't The One? How is she going to get rid of him? Because forever could be a very long time ...

A funny, magical romantic comedy about how finding The One doesn't always have to mean happily ever after.

In case you haven't heard yet, I love me some Alexandra Potter! Be Careful What You Wish For is the first book I read by her and I absolutely loved it! I also read Who's That Girl?, which I really enjoyed too, and Me & Mr Darcy, which was less amazing but still very funny. And that's what I love about Ms Potter - her books are just so funny she can easily compete with the likes of Sophie Kinsella and Jenny Colgan, two other great wit lit authors!

Anyway, this book isn't quite my favourite by Ms Potter, but I still really enjoyed reading it! In it we meet Lucy, a 28-year-old English girl who's just moved to New York and works at an art gallery. One day during work she comes Nate again - her true love who she never got over with. They spent a magical summer together in Venice ten years ago and then their long distance relationship didn't really work out. Lucy has had several boyfrinds since, but her heart was still with Nate ... When they meet again, they decide to re-start their relationship. At first everything seems perfect and Lucy is over the moon, but the cracks start to show slowly enough ... But have changed significantly in the past decade and they have a completely different outlook on life now. So they break up, but nonetheless they keep meeting and keeping in touch, due to the fact that they kissed under the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, which tied them together forever. They don't like this one stinking little but so they're forced to try all sorts of hilarious things to keep apart in order to be able to move on ...

That, in a nutshell, was the plot, which I admit wasn't exactly mindblowing and a bit silly at times, but the story flew nicely so it was enjoyable enough, plus it had me laughing a few times so that's always a plus. I found Lucy a tad too stereotypical chick lit heroine and had her ditzy moments, but overall she was incredibly loveable and easy to relate to with all her imperfections. Other than that, the characters and their relationships felt real and I really warmed up to them.

Also, can we talk about the cover, please? I must confess I was very disappointed with this one and I think it's the worst out of Ms Potter's covers. Her other recent UK ones have been positively goooorgeous, but I find this one horrible - there's far too much green and blue going on and I personally can't stand those two colours. Maybe that's why it took me so long to pick this book up - I was so put off by this cover, but luckily it was worth putting up with because the story inside was really cute!

So yeah, don't be put off by the cover (if you're a crazy particular git like me :p) and give this book a try if you're looking for a very, very light and occassionally funny read with a lovely set of characters. If you're not familiar with Ms Potter's books yet, then I suggest starting with Be Careful What You Wish For, which was hands down my favourite by her, but don't dismiss one either - it is a lovely read that will brighten up your day!


overall rating:
plot: 4/5 | writing: 4/5 | characters: 4/5 | cover: 3/5

Review: FALLING IN LOVE WITH ENGLISH BOYS *****

Sixteen-year-old Catherine Vernon has been stranded in London for the summer—no friends, no ex-boyfriend Adam the Scum (good riddance!), and absolutely nothing to do but blog about her misery to her friends back home. Desperate for something—anything—to do in London while her (s)mother’s off researching boring historical things, Cat starts reading the 1815 diary of Katherine Percival her mom gives her—and finds the similarities between their lives to be oddly close. But where Katherine has the whirls of the society, the parties and the gossip over who is engaged to who, Cat’s only got some really excellent English chocolate. Then she meets William Percival—the uber-hot descendant of Katherine—and things start looking up . . .

I fell in love with this book (no pun intended, ha) as soon as I saw the title and the cover, as I, myself, am also a great fan of England and especially of English boys with their absolutely DREAMY accents! So this book and I were meant to be (I mean, how could I ever refuse it?) and I'd be quite devastated if the book was a let down ... But luckily it wasn't and I ended up totally loving it!

The story is narrated by 16-year-old Cat, a present-day teenager who is stuck in London for the summer while her (s)mother works in the BM, and 18-year-old Kat, who is enjoying her first Season in 1815, falling in love for the first time, getting her heartbroken and trying to figure out who her mysterious admirer is ... Cat is given Kat's diary to read and while they are separated by nearly two centuries, their lives are still quite similar in certain ways ...

What I liked most about the book was not so much the story itself (although that was pretty cute), but moreso the characters and their blogs / diaries.
Cat's entries are absolutely hilarious and she's such a loveable character. She just seemed like such a FUN girl to be hanging out with and she was funny even when she was complaining. Such a great character that I really grew to love!
Kat's is a typical prim & proper Regency girl who has just come out to the society and is now looking for her future husband while making a few wrong turns along the way. Her diary entries were fun to read as well (although her flowery language was in great contrast with Cat's), but I must admit I liked Cat's a tad more - probably just because they were so much fun!

Overall, the book was really enjoyable read and while it wasn't mindblowing in any way really, I still can't help giving it 5 stars just because Cat was such an awesome chick and Will was dreamy (for a teenager) and the book takes place in London (my favourite city EVER!) and it was just SO cute! Not a masterpiece, but still has that extra thing that just makes you feel all happy after you've finished it. :)

overall rating:
plot: 4/5 | writing: 5/5 | characters: 5/5 | cover: 5/5

In My Mailbox #67

Ta-daaaaa, here's what I got this week (which was made of SUPER AWESOME in so many ways!):

• HOTHOUSE FLOWER by Lucinda Riley - I've never heard of this book until Dot mentioned it on her blog! I've no idea how I managed to miss it completely, but I ordered it immediately since it sounded fantastic and I'm reading it already and it's really good - so thanks, Dot! :)
• MY LAST DUCHESS by Daisy Goodwin - Funny fact: I've bought this book in hardocover when it came out (proof here), haven't even read it yet and now I've also gone and bought the paperback since the new cover is sooooo pretty and I couldn't resist it! Don't publishers just looove crazy people like me who buy multiple editions of the same books? :p
• ENTANGLED by Cat Clarke - Everyone's been raving about this one for months so I got myself a copy too! Plus the cover's nice and the book sounds intriguing!
• ME vs ME by Sarah Mlynowski - I've been eyeing this book for *aaages* and finally bought it! It sounds really good and I can't wait to read it!
• THE SELF-PRESERVATION by Kate Harrison - Like the main character in this book, I'm a scaredy cat too soooooo I guess this book should be interesting to read, hehehe.
• LIAR by Justine Larbalestier - This finally came out in paperback! I've been wanting to read it for months to see what all the fuss is about and what the big twist is! :)

So that's it for me! I'm quite pleased with my haul this week!
What about you - what did you get? :)

Review: STAR STRUCK by Anne-Marie O'Connor ****

All Catherine wants to do is sing, but a TV show is about to make her a star . . .
Catherine Reilly is 24, single and still lives at home with her dad and two of her sisters. The only thing Catherine’s ever been any good at is singing, but she has no connections, low confidence and isn’t exactly glamorous.
However, when she sees a TV ad for the latest series of Star Maker, the biggest talent show on national television, she decides to enter . . .
Catherine now has the best voice coach in the business, a team of sadistic trainers and stylists and the world’s number one music mogul on her side . . . Can an ordinary girl's dreams really come true?

I've been wanting to read this book ever since it came out nearly two years ago - whoa, time flies ... I'm a fan of rags-to-riches type of stories and this one certainly didn't disappoint!

The star of this book is Catherine, a completely unremarkable girl who has sacrified everything to care for her dad, who is a bit of a hypochondriac and is having a hard time coping with the fact that his wife left him, so Catherine can't help staying at home and looking after him. The only thing she's ever been good at is singing and one day she decided to enter the hit TV show Star Making: Transatlantic ... She attends the auditions, where things go horribly wrong thanks to her kooky dad and her two sisters. She gets through to the next round, but once the audition part is broadcast, her whole family becomes famous - and things can only go downhill from there! Catherine is quite a success on the show, but her life is a mess - her family is involved in a public scandal, she doesn't know who she can trust and she seems to be falling in love for the first time ...

This was such a cute read! I really enjoyed getting a glimpse behind the scenes of a type of shows that are really popular today and how things are run. I can't say that that these descriptions of really shows are accurate as I obviously haven't a clue, but I certainly found those scenes believable and I'm sure reality shows really aren't as 'real' as they're meant to be, but that's no secret anyway.

The characters were great too! Catherine was a great heroine and I liked how she remained grounded despite the so-called transformation (although the sadistic trainers and stylists made an appearance much later than I expected them to) and all the madness that went on around her. She was a fab character, as was her hi-larious family, her love interest and Star herself, of course!

I can't say I was blown away by this book, but it was enjoyable and entertaining enough. Maybe it was a bit slow at times, but overall it was a good read - and a very topical too, with all the madness of reality talent shows! I believe this was the author's debut, but I do hope she writes more books in the future as I'd certainly like to read more by her!

overall rating:
plot: 4/5 | writing: 4/5 | characters: 4/5 | cover: 4/5

In My Mailbox #66

Wowzers, so it appears that I haven't done an IMM in over a month, and that's for mainly for two reasons: 1) I've been busy [yeah, what else is new] and 2) my books have been taking forever to arrive!!! I finally got some, but I still have many, many more on the way and I sure hope they show up soon because this is freaking me oooout!

Anyway, let's focus on the positives, shall we? So here are the books that actually arrived:

VIXEN by Jillian Larkin
FALLING IN LOVE WITH ENGLISH BOYS by Melissa Jensen
FLAWLESS & PERFECT by Sara Shepard
PRIMA DONNA by Karen Swan

And I also got something else, which is not strictly book related, but I can't not share it - lookie!
Why YES, that is indeed the entire collection of Dawson's Creek episodes on DVD!!! I used to love that show like 10 years ago or whenever it was running and I never missed a single episode ... Then I remembered it the other day while watching a hilarious Joshua Jackson clip (Pacey >>>> Dawson, Y/Y?!) and noticed it was only 50 € on Amazon UK so I just ordered it, yaaay! I don't think I'll ever watch the whole thing again, but this collection is just a must-have and I couldn't resist it at that incredible price!

So yeah, that's my haul - what about yours? I can't wait to see!

Have a lovely weekend, darlings! :)

Review: MIDNIGHT GIRLS by Lulu Taylor *****

From the prestigious dormitories of Westfield to the irresistible socialite scene of present-day London: everywhere Allegra McCorquodale goes, scandal follows her. And in Allegra’s shadow are her closest friends since school, the Midnight Girls.
Romily de Lisle: super rich, brilliant and bored. She’s as blessed as Allegra when it comes to looks, but she’s a force to be reckoned with.
And Imogen Heath: pretty, timid and hopelessly drawn to Allegra’s reckless charm. She longs to be a part of the glitzy high-society world where her friends move with such ease.
Once free of the cloistered worlds of school and university, the Midnight Girls face new and different challenges, but they are for ever bonded by a terrible secret they’ve sworn never to break. Bitter rivalries arise as their professional lives soon cross paths. Greed, tragedy and sinister passions threaten their allegiance and each of them stand to lose what they love most ...

Wow, what an amazing bonbuster! A couple of weeks ago, I was in the mood for something glamourous and scandalous so I picked up this book on a whim - then got completely sucked into it and I literally couldn't stop reading! It was the very last book I read in 2010, but it made it straight into the top 5 of my favourite reads of last year!

Despite its massiveness, which might be off-putting at first, there isn't a single dull page in the book. There is a looooot going on, but everything seems to be relevant - like, if that character hadn't done that (which may have seemed random at first), then they wouldn't meet that character and then blah blah. I found the novel really well-structred and for such a long book it really was incredibly thrilling and engrossing.

Plot-wise, this is the story of three rich girls: Allegra, Imogen and Romily - best friends who call themselves the Midnight Girls because they often hold forbidden meetings at midnight at their the exclusive boarding school. One night they're involved in a tragedy and they swear to never tell anyone what really happened. After their school years, Imogen and Allegra enroll into university and Romily becomes a proper socialite, dabbling in this and that. On top of their own story, we also follow Mitch (aka Ted Mitchell), a struggling chef who seems a bit random at first, but plays a very important role later on ...

I don't really want to go into plot details too much because a) I don't even know where to begin, there is SO much going on, and b) I don't want to spoil anything for those who are planning to read this. All I'm saying is that this is a very glamurous read with a lot of super wealthy people, their relationships, sex, drugs, tragedy, revenge etc. There are numerous surprising twists and by the end I felt like I was reading a thriller or something - I was bitting my nails (figuratively speaking) and afraid to read on because the book was becoming so intense! I really liked the ending though and I put the book down with a satisfied sigh.

I absolutely adored being sucked into the lives of the incredibly rich and reading about the amazing lifestyles of these girls (especially Romily's!) was like the ultimate fantasy (minus all the drugs, please). It seems like anything goes in that world and nothing is impossible - the highs and lows are as extreme as they come and Ms Taylor shows both sides very well. It's not all glitz & glamour all the time, but I really truly loved reading about that kind of lifestyle!

I thought the characerization was incredibly well done - I thought the characters were believable and especially the four main ones (the girls and Mitch) have undergone quite a transformation, which, I suppose, is not terribly surprising since they've been through quite a bit: tragedy, rape, robbery, drug addiction, crazy parties, love affairs, backstabbing etc. But nonetheless, I really admirated how the characters evolved and the people they became by the end.

Overall, as you can see, I simply cannot praise this book highly enough as I loved every single minute of it! My boyfriend even said he had never seen me so engrossed in a book, especially when the dramatic conclusion took place and I was terrified to turn the page because I expect terrible things to happen to the characters I grew to love, heh.

I absolutely loved this book and I strongly recommend if you're looking for a great story, set in the world of the incredibly rich. I've read a few bonkbusters in the past, but this has to be my favourite of them all.
I'll be sure to read more by Ms Taylor - I already have a copy of her debut novel Heiresses and I've already pre-ordered her upcoming title Beautiful Creatures, which sounds fantastic and I'll probably devour it as soon as it shows up!

ps: Oh and the cover - gorgeous much?!?! Yeah, I think so!

overall rating:
plot: 5/5 | writing: 5/5 | characters: 5/5 | cover: 5/5

Review: DOWN TO EARTH by Melanie Rose ****

One ordinary day,
one extraordinary experience …

When Michaela Anderson signs up for a parachute jump she gets more than a case of vertigo… Suffering last-minute panic, Michaela’s three colleagues go first. But just as she takes her leap of faith, an almighty gale blows up from nowhere. When she returns to the ground, she finds the airfield deserted, her car gone and the seasons mysteriously changed. Posters nearby proclaim Michaela to have been missing for the last six and a half years…

But Michaela is determined to find out the truth. Was she kidnapped? Is she now suffering amnesia, or has something even more extraordinary occurred? With the help of handsome pilot Matt, Michaela sets out to find the truth. And what she discovers rocks everything she has ever believed in to the core…

A magical tale that will enchant and enthral fans of Cecelia Ahern and Sophie Kinsella.

I've heard so much praise for Melanie Rose that I just had to give her books a try and for some reason I decided to start with this one, I guess mainly because I was intrigued by the mystery at heart. And whoa what a mystery it was! I found most of the book incredibly gripping and I just could not stop reading it as I couldn't wait to find out what happened to Michaela after she jumped from the plane and landed six years in the future ...

As I said, I found the premise oh so engrossing. It's similar to either Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella or What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty, where both main character suffer an accident of some sort and when they come to, years have passed and their lives have changed drastically. These three books have quite a few similarities, but I'd say Down to Earth is the darkest one of them since Michaela actually disappeared during the 'missing' years and this was an actual tragedy that dramatically altered the lives of her closest friends and family ...
So when Alice suddenly reappears after 6 years, she has a LOT to deal with. Her parents' lives have been literally destroyed by their frantic search for their daughter, her once loving boyfriend almost hates her for causing him so much pain, her best friend has hit rock bottom and turned into a completely different person, the pilot who saw her last was suspected of killing her and she can't even prove she's really Michaela Anderson since she was presumed dead years ago.

So yeah, Michaela has an awful lot to come to terms with since her life seems to have changed for the worse in just a few hours, all while trying to figure out what on Earth happened to her and where has she been for the past six years if she hasn't been abducted by aliens, like some people presumed. I found myself racing through the book, hoping that there was a good explanation for the mystery. And was there, you might ask? Well, I'm can't say really since I'm not quite sure what to make of the ending (was it just me or was that a bit confusing?), but I guess it wasn't quite as satisfactory as I had hoped. Part of me knew there couldn't possibly be a good enough and reasonable explanation for Michaela's situation (no idea what though), but I kept hoping I'd be blown away and I wasn't really. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed following this story - the mystery was fantastic and there were quite a few twists and turns along the way too!

I also found myself really connecting to the characters in this book. Their pain was so real to me and I really symphatized with Michaela and her broken mother, her ill boyfriend Calum, his lonely daughter Abbey and others. I like it when books can achieve that - when I don't feel like I'm just observing the characters, but also sharing their pain.

All in all, this was a thrilling and a slightly darker chicklity read with an intriguing premise and a great set of characters! I can definitely understand all the hype surrounding Ms Rose and I'll definitely be reading her other two books too - it's a good thing they're already sitting on my shelf (I bought them as soon as they came out because I simpy couldn't resist the covers - I mean, aren't they GORGEOUS??)!

overall rating:
plot: 4/5 | writing: 4/5 | characters: 4/5 | cover: 4/5

Books I'm looking forward to in 2011!

This post is slightly overdue, seeing how it's 2011 already, but better late than never, right? :) Yeah, so here are some of the upcoming releases that I'm very excited about! Please note that this is just a draft and that the list will be updated (erm, hopefully) as time goes by.

Are you looking forward to any of the books below too? Is there anything you think I should add? :)

JANUARY

CHICK LIT
♥ PRIMA DONNA by Karen Swan (7th)
♥ BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Lulu Taylor (20th)

YA
♥ WISHFUL THINKING by Alexandra Bullen (1st)
♥ IF I COULD FLY by Jill Hucklesby (3rd)
♥ ENTANGLED by Cat Clarke (6th)
♥ OTHER WORDS FOR LOVE by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal (11th)

HISTORICAL
♥ TIMELESS by Alexandra Monir (11th)

******************

FEBRUARY

CHICK LIT
♥ YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY YOU LOVE ME by Sarra Manning (3rd)
♥ FAKING IT by Charlotte Kymberly (17th)
♥ THE OTHER LIFE by Ellen Meister (17th)
♥ CRYTAL BALLS by Amanda Brobyn (26th)

YA
♥ THE LOCKET by Stacey Jay (3rd)

******************

MARCH

CHICK LIT
♥ THIS IS WHERE WE LIVE by Janelle Brown (3rd)
♥ GETTING AWAY WITH IT by Julie Cohen (3rd)
♥ LIZZY HARRISON LOSES CONTROL by Pippa Wright (4th)
♥ TELL IT LIKE IT ISN'T by Elle Symonds (9th)
♥ SWEPT OFF HER FEET by Hester Browne (22nd)

YA
♥ THE LIAR SOCIETY by Lisa & Laura Roecker (1st)
♥ STEEL by Carrie Vaughn (15th)
♥ THE LYING GAME by Sara Shepard (31st)
♥ WAKE UNTO ME by Lisa Cach (31st)

HISTORICAL
♥ THE VESPERTINE by Saundra Mitchell (7th)

******************

APRIL

CHICK LIT
♥ A MOMENT LIKE FOREVER by Martina Reilly (7th)
♥ SING YOU HOME by Jodi Picoult (12th)
♥ MEET ME AT THE CUPCAKE CAFE by Jenny Colgan (14th)
♥ CHASING MR RIGHT by Jane Costello (14th)
♥ BENEATH A STARLET SKY by Amanda Goldberg & Ruthanna Khalighi Hopper (26th)
♥ DESTINY by Louise Bagshawe (28th)

YA
♥ A YEAR WITHOUT AUTUMN by Liz Kessler (7th)
♥ NEVER HAVE I EVER by Sara Shepard (8th)
♥ THE ANTI-PROM by Abby McDonald (12th)

HISTORICAL
♥ THE TIME-TRAVELLING FASHIONISTA by Bianca Turetsky (5th)
♥ THE FITZOSBORNES IN EXILE by Michelle Cooper (5th)
♥ PEARL by Deirdre Purcell (14th)

******************

MAY

CHICK LIT
♥ THE MAKING OF US by Lisa Jewell (12th)
♥ THERE GOES THE BRIDE by Holly McQueen (12th)
♥ SUMMER LOVING by Allie Spencer (26th)
♥ SOMETHING FROM TIFFANY'S by Melissa Hill (26th)
♥ FAME by Tilly Bagshawe (26th)

YA
♥ SAVING JUNE by Hannah Harrington (1st)
♥ KEEP IT SECRET by Eva Gray (1st)
♥ THE ROYAL TREATMENT by Lindsey Leavitt (3rd)
♥ POPULAR by Alissa Grosso (8th)
♥ THE SWEETEST THING by Christina Madelski (10th)
♥ WHAT HAPPENED TO GOODBYE by Sarah Dessen (10th)
♥ BEAUTY QUEENS by Libba Bray (24th)
♥ BETWEEN HERE AND FOREVER by Elizabeth Scott (24th)

HISTORICAL
♥ WRAPPED by Jennifer Bradbury (24th)

******************

JUNE

CHICK LIT
♥ I WISHED FOR YOU by Amy Huberman (9th)
♥ WHAT I DID ON MY HOLIDAYS by Chrissie Manby (9th)
♥ THE ART OF FORGETTING by Camille Noe Pagan (9th)
♥ LOVE, ALWAYS by Harriet Evans (23rd - PB)

YA
♥ MY LIFE UNDECIDED by Jessica Brody (7th)
♥ FORGOTTEN by Cat Patrick (7th)
♥ ONE NIGHT THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING by Lauren Barnholdt (14th - PB)
♥ THE DAY BEFORE by Lisa Schroeder (28th)

HISTORICAL
♥ THE BUTTERFLY CABINET by Bernie McGill (23rd - PB)

******************

JULY

CHICK LIT
♥ CALIFORNIA DREAMING by Belinda Jones (21st)
♥ BABY BE MINE by Paige Toon (21st)

YA
♥ KISS, DATE, LOVE, HATE by Luisa Plaja (7th)
♥ RICHES by Megan Cole (7th)
♥ LOVE STORY by Jennifer Echols (19th)

HISTORICAL
♥ THE JEWEL AND THE KEY by Louise Spiegler (11th)
♥ THE LOST CROWN by Sarah Miller (14th)

******************

AUGUST

CHICK LIT
♥ PINCH ME by Adena Halpern (2nd)
♥ ALWAYS ON MY MIND by Colette Caddle (18th - PB)
♥ WILL YOU STILL LOVE ME TOMORROW? by Claudia Carroll (21st)

YA
♥ POPULAZZI by Elise Allen (1st)
♥ DARK PARTIES by Sara Grant (3rd)

******************

SEPTEMBER

YA
♥ AS I WAKE by Elizabeth Scott (15th)
♥ THE VISION by Jen Nadol (27th)
♥ ALL THESE THINGS I'VE DONE by Gabrielle Zevin (27th)

HISTORICAL
♥ BEAUTIFUL DAYS by Anna Godbersen (20th)

******************

OCTOBER

CHICK LIT
♥ LOVE by Cecelia Ahern (27th)
♥ THE SECRET SHOPPER AFFAIR by Kate Harrison (27th - PB)

******************

DECEMBER

CHICK LIT
♥ CONFESSIONS OF A KARAOKE QUEEN by Ella Kingsley (8th)

My top 10 books of 2010!

Now that 2010 is officially over, I can finally declare my top 10 books of the past year so without further ado, here they are in all their glory ...


1. THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE by Jandy Nelson
This one was simply too stunning for words. I just cannot get over the fact how beautifully written this book was and I loved the little handwritten notes between chapters.

2. MINI SHOPAHOLIC by Sophie Kinsella
Ms Kinsella delivers again! I absolutely adore all her books and this one was no exception - so wonderful and almost TOO hilarious! Long live the Queen of Wit Lit!

3. HELLO, HEARTBREAK by Amy Huberman
This one was a pleasant surprise! I wasn't expecting all that much, but I ended up laughing so much it literally hurt, plus the book made me feel all warm and fuzzy. So cute and incredibly funny!

4. MIDNIGHT GIRLS by Lulu Taylor
I only finished this like a couple of days ago so my review is yet to come, but whooooa this book was just brilliant! A totally gripping bonkbusters with lots of glitz & glamour and twists & turns! Incredibly well-plotted with great character development. It's well over 600 pages, but I honestly couldn't put it down!

5. PERSONALLY, I BLAME MY FAIRY GODMATHER by Claudia Carroll
Such an adorable (both inside & out) read - a fairytale gone backwards in a hilarious fashion! I love Irish chick lit!

6. THE HUNGER GAMES & CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins
I know these were not published in 2010, but I simply cannot not feature them. Totally not my kind of reads, but I was just blown away by how gripping this series was. Granted I felt Mockingjay was a bit of a let down, but the first two installment were just amazing - brutal and crazy, but SO good!

7. THE LIBERATION OF ALICE LOVE by Abby McDonald
Abby writes amazing chick lit and I loved this book, just like The Popularity Rules! Great plot idea and well executed too!

8. SPOTLIGHT by Ilana Fox
Another gripping chick lit book! Loved the cover and the book was simply unputdownable!

9. SWAPPED BY A KISS by Luisa Plaja
Such a cute read about what happens when your crazy wishes really come true - I still smile just thinking about this book, it was so wonderful!

10. THE FINISHING TOUCHES by Hester Browne
I may not be too keen on the idea of finishing schools, but what makes this book so amazing is mostly the writing and the characters, most of whom I grew really fond of. This book was SO much better than I expected and it cracked me up at times!

Even thought I've only read 60+ books (disappointing number, I know!!), it was still quite difficult to narrow it down to just 10, but after some thinking I came up with the list above!

Honourable mentions aka the AWESOME books that nearly made the list (in no particular order):

• Cally Taylor: HEAVEN CAN WAIT
• Muriel Zagha: FINDING MONSIEUR RIGHT
• Kristin Walker: A MATCH MADE IN HIGH SCHOOL
• Ruthanna Hopper and Amanda Goldberg: CELEBUTANTES
• Tara Hyland: DAUGHTERS OF FORTUNE
• Martel Maxwell: SCANDALOUS
• Sarah Webb: THE LOVING KIND
• Liane Moriarty: WHAT ALICE FORGOT
• Jojo Moyes: THE LAST LETTER FROM YOUR LOVER
• Michele Gorman: SINGLE IN THE CITY
• Kate Morton: THE DISTANT HOURS

2010 wasn't a bad year for me as such, but there's always room for improvment so I hope 2011 is even better - speaking of which, look out for my list of exciting 2011 releases, coming soon! :)