Tuesday Intros -- Falling For You

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.
I know this book will not catch the interest of Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea who sponsors Tuesday Intros each week, but sometimes, I need a fun read that lets me escape to the British seaside where young women make mistakes before they fall in love. Technically, that could be the description for a Jane Austen novel, but instead it's Jill Mansell's latest book Falling For You.
Jill Mansell always manages to pull me into the current of her books. With all the papers I have to grade this week, I need an escape.
Here's the intro:

If she jumped high enough into the air, Maddy Harvey could see the party carrying on without her, blissfully unaware of her absence. Well, she could see in a blurry, abstract kind of way -- the lights in the house, the trees surrounding it, and the outlines of other partygoers either drifting from room to room or dancing manically along to Kylie Minogue (truly a girl for all age groups). 

The intro may not hook you, but it turns out that Maddy had jumped over a wall looking for a place to pee, but she ripped open the book of her jeans and couldn't get back over the wall. She's saved by a man who comes out in the dark, and since she doesn't have her glasses or contacts, she can't tell that he's from the family of the man who killed her sister in a car accident.

Hope you're reading something you enjoy.

Tuesday Intros -- The Unpredictable Consequences of Love

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.
I have a book I'm saving for my trip to France, which is only 10 days away! I had to order Jill Mansell's The Unpredictable Consequences of Love from the UK because it is still not available in the U.S. Mansell is a perfect vacation read, a British chic lit novel. I plan to open it on the plane.

Here's the intro:

In the high-ceilinged drawing room of the Mariscombe House Hotel, Sophie Wells was putting the finishing touches to the setting for the photo shoot.
The original plan, to photograph the Ropers outside and en famille in Marks and Spenceresque summer meadow, had been scuppered by the abysmal weather. The rain had been hammering down all morning and there was no way of postponing the event, as two members of the family were flying back to Australia tomorrow.

But Emma Roper knew exactly what she wanted. On the phone earlier she'd said, "OK, if we can't be outside, we'll have one of those all-white shoots instead. You know, all modern and cool. And we'll all wear white too. It'll be like one of those Boden ads." Delighted with herself and her artistic vision, she'd announced, "So that's sorted. We'll see you at the hotel at three. It'll be great!"

Sounds like Sophie has a job that throws her together with insufferable, posh people. I look forward to digging into it.
I look forward to finding other good book ideas from everyone on Tuesday Intros.

First Paragraph, Tuesday Teaser -- Don't Want to Miss a Thing

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.
This is one of those weeks with the potential for high stress. My youngest graduates from high school on Sunday and we are holding his graduation party on Friday evening. It's a joint party with another friend, but it's at our house, which is why I spent two hours cleaning the refrigerator yesterday. I'm bad at hosting parties. I have a new friend who claims she is going to show up and make me take shots to make me enjoy the party. Where is she the week leading up to the party?

So, I need some totally escapist reading and I know where to turn for that. I'm starting Don't Want To Miss A Thing by Jill Mansell. Here's the intro:

It was almost midnight and Dexter Yates was in bed with his girlfriend when his phone burst into life. Possessed of lightning reflexes, she grabbed it off the bedside table before he could reach it himself.
Honestly, some people were so mistrustful.

Also this week  is Teaser Tuesdays. Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Open to a random page of your current read  and share a teaser sentence from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser.
Here's my teaser from page 23:

"So the first place was too noisy," Alice announced as they drove into Briarwood. "And the second was too...?"
"Wrong in every conceivable way." Dex slowed down as they passed the ivy-clad pub on the left. That was something else he'd have to check out; no point moving into a village with a rubbish pub. 

I know that Mansell's books will sail me away to Great Britain and the characters will get all in a muddle. It's perfect reading for my potentially stressful week.

First Paragraph, Tuesday Teaser -- A Walk in the Park

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph of the current book you are reading.
I love British chic lit and I think Jill Mansell does it better than almost anyone. So for my birthday week, I picked up A Walk in the Park by Mansell. What an escapist retreat for me.
Here's the first paragraph:

"OK. We can see it from here." Lara Carson pulled up at the side of the road, buzzed down the window, and pointed to the valley below. "Se the L-shaped house with the white gates and the green car outside? That's the one."
 Home sweet home. Or maybe not. Eighteen years had passed since she last set foot over the threshold. Who knew what it was like inside now?

 Also this week is Teaser Tuesdays. Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Open to a random page of your current read and share a teaser sentence from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers.
Here's my teaser from page 10:

After school, numb with terror, she had stood in the pharmacy, gazing at the pregnancy testing kits and discovering she couldn't afford to buy one. 

I can't wait to see what you all are reading.

Brit Lit

Today is the first day of a mini-break that I have from teaching. It's a whole week off from one of my colleges -- except for preparing for my next round of classes that start next week.
And, I'm still teaching at the other college.
So, it's not time off, but it's as close as I'm likely to get until Christmas.
I'm taking advantage by diving into some escapist reading. I don't think anyone does escapist reading as well as the Brits.
Sometimes I think I should try my luck in the British market because I share a sense of humor with these authors. My main characters are plucky, often humorous, and bumbling through life while handling deep subjects.
My favorite Brit lit author is Marian Keyes. I love her writing, her characters, her plots. Unfortunately, it has been awhile since I've seen any new books for her. This was the last one I saw released.
Another favorite Brit lit author  is Jill Mansell, although she's a little closer to chick lit with her unmarried characters often figuring out relationships.  I love the settings and her characters are always stumbling into trouble. She's also a prolific writing, so she had a new book come out this spring and another one is scheduled for fall. The one from this spring was a fun read, juggling lots of plots and subplots. Nadia Knows Best is the title, and, in my opinion, the weakest thing about the book was the title.
Just today I finished a book by another Brit lit author, Carole Matthews. I've read other books by her and enjoyed them, like The Chocolate Lover's Club. The book I finished today was With or Without You and it featured "trekking" in Nepal. It kind of made me want to try it, even if I wouldn't have an affair with the trek guide. I enjoyed the book overall, but I felt like it was a little preachy about abortion. Maybe we Americans are more sensitive to the topic since women's reproductive rights are always on the chopping block here in the States. In the book, one character can't get pregnant because of an abortion she had in her early 20s. Since the character is only 34, that meant she had to have had the abortion during the 90s, when medical practices were well established. As long as she had a legal abortion, the odds of it messing up her future reproductive abilities were small, according to the Mayo Clinic website. Another character in the book had an abortion (she was the bad girl) and she told the father she had DNA testing and it was his baby, and that the baby was a girl. I find it hard to believe they'd do DNA testing on a fetus to see who the father was. I think it was just added as an antiabortion message.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not pro-abortion. I dont know anyone who is. I am thankful I never had to make a choice like that, and I work hard to make sure those I love don't put themselves in that position either. Good birth control use can help prevent the abortion dilemma. I just don't want to be preached to about it in a novel.
But the abortion sections were fairly small and didn't affect my overall enjoyment of the book and the characters. I'll have to pay attention to Matthews' books in the future to see if they have preachy issues or not.