University of She

  This painting to the left looks like someone forced Taylor Swift to become a 1980s rapper and now she's mourning her miserable existence. but apparrently it's not. Instead it's nostalgic take on Rock and Roll and the adolescent relationship with it. How we would get dressed up in our bright orange get-ups (for some reason) so we could sit around listening to the artful flow of music. With department stores and coffee shops music is everywhere and it's easy to let it blend into the background. This painting represents a lifestyle -- that all consuming lifestyle that turns us into a slobs. I mean honestly, I know you're wearing sunglasses, but the paper's right in front of you Tay. I give this painting a hard time, but if I had disposable income and a big house with walls that needed filling, this would be first on the docet. Though it is a realist painting it definitely evokes a strong emotion and if anyone asks I can always say it was given to me by my good bu...

Perfect Strangers by Carly Phillips is a brisk romantic novella about that one night stand you just can't let go. As her occupational title intimates, Dr. Alexa Collins is too busy for relationships and prefers interactions of the single-day variety. But what happens when the guys stop seeming like a soulless stereotype and more like the adventure you always needed?  This smooth adventure goes by the name of Luke Thompson and he sweeps Alexa off her feet.  Unfortunately, Alexa has plans. You see when the people of Serendipity, the fictional town the story takes place in, call her the "best doctor we have" with expectations of her taking over the University Hospital eventually, this comes with certain responsibilities. Alexa obviously doesn't have time for anything greater than a fling when it comes to Luke. However, as the story unfolds it becomes clear that maybe running University Hospital isn't  just her plan. With an overbearing father who is the hospital...

  The Book Club Hotel is Women's Fiction done right. The gorgeous pastel-dominant book cover captures the overall light tone accented by real-life issues. One thing I hate in books is multiple main characters with multiple subplots. However, the book club hotel handles this element masterfully as it weaves in and out of each the individual woman's life with effortless agility. Erica, Anna, and Claire are three women at crossroads in their lives: Anna, the homemaker, is feeling anxious and unappreciated with her kids leaving the house and going off to college. Clair the Chef just lost her job and her passion and is not even sure if she wants to cook anymore. Finally Erica, the risk management agent who is married to her job, is about to get her world turned upside down.  In the meantime, the owner of the hotel they decide to have a getaway at has her own problems trying to live up to the ghost of her dead husband who ran the hotel before her. Fittingly the romantic element is m...