Stephanie McAfee

What's in Liz & Lisa's Beach bag?

July is finally here! As we get ready to head out on vacation this month, we're stuffing our kindles and beach bags with TONS of fab books.  Because nothing makes us crankier than when we have nothing to read!  Here's what we're excited about this month:

freuds_mistress book coverFreud's Mistress by Karen Mack and Jennifer Kaufman

The Scoop: A page-turning novel inspired by the true-life love affair between Sigmund Freud and his sister-in-law.

It is fin-de-siècle Vienna and Minna Bernays, an overeducated lady’s companion with a sharp, wry wit, is abruptly fired, yet again, from her position. She finds herself out on the street and out of options. In 1895, the city may be aswirl with avant-garde artists and revolutionary ideas, yet a woman’s only hope for security is still marriage. But Minna is unwilling to settle. Out of desperation, she turns to her sister, Martha, for help.

Martha has her own problems—six young children and an absent, disinterested husband who happens to be Sigmund Freud. At this time, Freud is a struggling professor, all but shunned by his peers and under attack for his theories, most of which center around sexual impulses. And while Martha is shocked and repulsed by her husband’s “pornographic” work, Minna is fascinated.
Minna is everything Martha is not—intellectually curious, engaging, and passionate. She and Freud embark on what is at first simply an intellectual courtship, yet something deeper is brewing beneath the surface, something Minna cannot escape.
In this sweeping tale of love, loyalty, and betrayal—between a husband and a wife, between sisters—fact and fiction seamlessly blend together, creating a compelling portrait of an unforgettable woman and her struggle to reconcile her love for her sister with her obsessive desire for her sister’s husband, the mythic father of psychoanalysis.
Our thoughts: Looking for something a little different from your usual fare? Then pick up this beautifully written book.

mandatory-release-amazon-coverMandatory Release by Jess Riley

The Scoop: Recently paralyzed in a car accident, thirty-year-old Graham Finch spends his days trying to rehabilitate a caseload of unruly inmates and his nights on one bad date after another, attempting to rehabilitate his heart—

—until his high school crush Drew Daniels walks through the prison gates one hot summer morning. On the run from a painful past that’s nearly crushed her faith in love, Drew is a new teacher at Lakeside Correctional. Graham, smitten all over again, tries to redirect his unrequited feelings. But when your heart keeps looking back, it's not easy to turn it forward.

Amidst escalating violence at work, Drew is forced to confront her secrets, find a way to forgive old sins, and learn how to listen to her heart and her head when it comes to men. Graham must also learn to make peace with his own past. Together they realize that if you’re going to save yourself, sometimes the best way to do it is by saving someone else first. If only finding their way to one another was easier than working with convicted felons.

Our thoughts: We loved this hilarious read!

HusbandsSecret_frontonly.inddThe Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

The Scoop: Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . . Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.

Acclaimed author Liane Moriarty has written a gripping, thought-provoking novel about how well it is really possible to know our spouses—and, ultimately, ourselves.

Our thoughts: Liane is one of our fave authors, and this one is one of her best--pick it up July 30th!

 

15810888Down and Out in Bugtussle: The Mad Fat Road to Happiness by Stephanie McAfee

The Scoop: When her dream life in Florida with her now-ex-fiancé goes south, so does Ace — she moves back home to Bugtussle, Mississippi, and into her late Gramma Jones' little house. But even though her best friends, Lilly and Chloe, are thrilled that she's returned home, not everything is smooth sailing. Ace wants her job back as art teacher at the high school, but the beautiful Cameron Becker has no plans to relinquish that position. Although Ace wants to run Miss Becker out of town, she accepts a job as a substitute teacher. On top of her job woes, Ace's friends keep setting her up on blind dates when all she really wants is for people to stop meddling in her love life.

In her quest to find inner peace, Ace takes up gardening and discovers old love letters in her grandmother's well-worn gardening book. With her faithful chiweenie, Buster Loo, by her side, Ace is determined to get to the bottom of her Gramma's secret life, all while hoping her own doesn't implode.

Our thoughts: You'll feel anything but down and out while reading this!

 

14838452Table For Seven by Whitney Gaskell

The Scoop: On New Year’s Eve, Fran and Will Parrish host a dinner party, serving their friends a gourmet feast. The night is such a success that the group decides to form a monthly dinner party club. But what starts as an excuse to enjoy the company of fellow foodies ends up having lasting repercussions on each member of the Table for Seven Dinner Party Club.

Fran and Will face the possibility that their comfortable marriage may not be as infallible as they once thought. Audrey has to figure out how to move on and start a new life after the untimely death of her young husband. Perfectionist Jaime suspects that her husband, Mark, might be having an affair. Coop, a flirtatious bachelor who never commits to a third date, is blindsided when he falls in love for the first time. Leland, a widower, is a wise counselor and firm believer that bacon makes everything taste better.

Over the course of a year, against a backdrop of mouthwatering meals, relationships are forged, marriages are tested, and the members of the Table for Seven Dinner Party Club find their lives forever changed.

Our thoughts: Delightful!  Pick up a copy for you vacay today!

Stephanie McAfee's 5 BEST EVERS

Today's guest: Stephanie McAfee Why we love her: Two words: Ace Jones

Her latest: Happily Ever Madder: Misadventures of a Mad Fat Girl

The scoop on it: Diary of a Mad Fat Girl’s plus-sized spitfire Graciela “Ace” Jones returns in a hilarious new adventure from New York Times bestselling author Stephanie McAfee.

Ace has left the tiny Mississippi town of Bugtussle for the palm fronds and mojitos of Pelican Cove, Florida. She’s finally opening her long-dreamed-of art gallery, is kick-starting a life with her fiancé, Mason, and has vowed to leave her straight-talking, sassy ways behind her. From now on, she’s going to be as sweet as sugar. Unfortunately, something comes along to sour her plans.

That something is Mrs. Lenore Kennashaw and her coterie of crones. They’re a bunch of snippy, snarky, and just plain mean ’ol ladies who aren’t quite as smart or rich as they’d like to think they are. But that doesn’t stop them from treating everyone else like second-class citizens. And when Ace inadvertently takes some of the steam from Mrs. Kennashaw’s stride, she becomes their #1 enemy. But with the support of a new group of fabulous friends, as well as her friends from Bugtussle—and her always-faithful chiweenie Buster Loo—Ace will find a way to make it, even if she has to throw some weight around…

Our thoughts: We hope she continues writing about Ace Jones. She's so much fun. (We hear there's another book coming in June..)

Giveaway: FIVE COPIES! Just leave a comment to be entered to win and we'll select the winners after 3pm PST on Monday, November 11.

Fun fact: She self-published her debut novel, Diary of a Mad Fat Girl as an e-book and made the NYT and USA Today bestseller lists where it stayed there for nine weeks straight!

Where you can read more about Stephanie: Twitter, Facebook, her blog and her website

Where you can read more about Ace: Follow her on Twitter.

CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD PRESENTS...STEPHANIE MCAFEE'S 5 BEST EVERS 1. BEST SONG: Roll On by Kid Rock. It’s the official theme song of my life. Plus I have a thing for Kid Rock.

2. BEST BOOK: It’s a tie between The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, and The Bourne Ultimatum. What can I say? I’m a fan of Robert Ludlum.

3. BEST MOVIE: It’s a tie between Ocean’s 11, Ocean’s 12, and Ocean’s 13. What can I say? I’m a fan of that whole entire freakin’ cast.

4. LIFE MOMENT: Well, I have a three year old so, of course, it would be the day he was born. Coming in second would be the day I found out Diary of a Mad Fat Girl (my little rag-tag self-published version) was on the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller Lists.

5. BEST ADVICE: “You might be happy for two months or you might be happy for twenty years. Either way, that’s time you’ll spend being happy.” Relationship advice from my uncle Mike (AKA Dr. Raines) in 2005. I married the guy we were talking about. That was nearly seven years ago and I’m still pretty happy. I guess we can chalk that up as good advice.

Thanks, Stephanie! xoxo, Liz & Lisa