2010: #102 – All He Ever Wanted (Anita Shreve)

In the wake of such acclaimed #1 bestsellers as The Pilot’s Wife, The Last Time They Met, and Sea Glass, Anita Shreve gives us a brilliant new novel about love, jealousy, and loss. It is the story of a man whose obsession with a young woman begins when he meets her fleetingly–as he helps her escape from a fire in a restaurant–and culminates in a marriage doomed by secrets and betrayal. Written with the intelligence and grace that are Anita Shreve’s hallmarks, this gripping tale is peopled by unforgettable characters as real as the emotions that bring them together.

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2010: #101 – Hollywood is Like High School With Money (Zoey Dean)

Twenty-four-year old Taylor Henning has just landed her dream job as an assistant at a major movie studio. But when her catty coworkers trick her into almost getting fired, she realizes that the old saying “Hollywood is like school with money” just may be true. The thing is, Taylor wasn’t exactly a social butterfly in high school-how is she supposed to do any better the second time around?

That’s when she meets her boss’s popular sixteen-year-old daughter Quinn, and has an epiphany: maybe this teenager can teach her how to use her queen bee tactics to succeed in the Hollywood popularity contest. Quinn comes up with a plan to teach Taylor one lesson a week-everything from “Fake it ’til you make it” to “It’s *never* your fault”–and soon Taylor finds herself winning the war against rival assistant Kylie. Until, that is, she’s directed to steal Kylie’s boyfriend, and something happens that’s not in the game plan: Taylor falls for the guy. Now she must do the impossible– harness her inner mean girl while staying true to herself.

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2010: Challenges – Finish That Series Challenge Completed

The Finish That Series Challenge, hosted by Royal Reviews, wasn’t too difficult.  The most difficult part is deciding what counts as a finished series!  The first and third books on my list were easy — they were already declared trilogies.  I wasn’t sure whether to count the Sookie Stackhouse book, because I’m sure there will be more.  But, I worked hard to catch up with

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