Blog Tour: Your Perfect Life by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

• Title:  Your Perfect Life
• Authors:  Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke
• Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
• Published:  June 2014 – Washington Square Press
• Source:  Publisher

Synopsis:  With “a delicious, page-turning premise, and sweet and surprising insights” (New York Times bestselling author Jen Lancaster), Your Perfect Life perfectly illustrates that old adage: Sometimes, you to have to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes to see what’s in her heart. Best friends since childhood, Casey and Rachel couldn’t lead more different lives. While workaholic Casey rubs elbows with celebrities daily as the host of Gossip TV and comes home nightly to an empty apartment, stay-at-home mom Rachel juggles an “oops” baby, two fiery teenagers, and a husband who barely seems the man she fell in love with two decades before. After an argument at their twentieth high school reunion, Casey and Rachel throw back shots to get the night back on track. Instead, they get a life-changing hangover. Waking up in each other’s bodies the next morning, they must figure out how to navigate their altered realities. Rachel is forced to confront the reason she gave up her broadcasting dreams when she got pregnant in college, and Casey finally steps out of the spotlight to face the truth about why she’s alone. And they soon discover that they don’t know themselves—or their best friend—nearly as well as they thought they did. Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke bring humor and heart to every page of this novel that is sure to please fans of In Her Shoes and The Opposite of Me. Your Perfect Life is a story about two very different women, what they didn’t know about each other, and how, by switching lives, they each learn to appreciate their own.  (publisher)

My take:  Casey Lee and Rachel Cole have been best friends since junior high school. When they attend their 20th high school reunion neither is content with the way things are in her own life and think the other has the world by the tail. A mysterious cocktail is served to the two women before they leave the reunion and the next day Casey and Rachel wake up in each other’s body/bed/life. Oh, boy!

Your Perfect Life is an entertaining novel about two women who get a chance to find out if the grass really is greener in the other’s yard. The two find out if the assumptions they’ve fallen into regarding each other are true. They come to a deeper appreciation for what the other has gone through to get to where she is. Maybe they’ll even discover their own lives are pretty good. Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke wrote an entertaining novel filled with great characters. I loved Rachel and Casey and couldn’t wait to find out how they would get their own lives back.

If you’re looking for a fun read this summer you can’t go wrong with Your Perfect Life. I loved every minute of it! Buy a copy for your best friend!

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Praise for YOUR PERFECT LIFE

 “Has all the ingredients that I love in a book…a delicious page-turner.” –Jen Lancaster, New York Times bestselling author  

“I loved this from the very first line (which will go down in history as the funniest, bravest first line ever). Hilarious, honest and truly touching, Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke are two important new voices in women’s fiction who write about life in such a real, relatable way.”  –Sarah Jio, New York Times bestselling author of The Violets of March

“Sassy, heartfelt, and smart, Your Perfect Life is a clever take on switched identities that will make you think hard about the choices you’ve made in your life and what matters most to us all in the end.” –Amy Hatvany, author of Safe with Me

“For every woman who’s ever wondered about the path not taken, Fenton and Steinke mine—with tremendous humor and insight—the mixed blessing of unexpected second chances.” –Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, New York Times bestselling authors

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About the Authors: Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke have been best friends for 25 years and survived junior high, high school and college together. Liz lives in San Diego, CA with her husband and two children. Lisa, a former talk show producer, now lives in Chicago, IL with her husband, daughter and two bonus children. Your Perfect Life is their first novel.

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You can order Your Perfect Life  from:

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Books-A-Million
• IndieBound

Blog Tour: The D Word by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

Title:  The D Word

Authors: Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

Genre:  Chick Lit

From the book description: There are always two sides to the story, especially when it comes to divorce. Jordan Daniels and Elle Ryan thought their lives would become less complicated when they walked away from their respective relationships one year ago. But instead they find themselves vying for a relationship with the same divorced man. In The D Word you’ll walk in the shoes of Jordan and Elle as they discover that sometimes you’re not that different from the person who makes you feel the most insecure.

My thoughts: What struck me first about The D Word is that Jordan and Elle made the decision to leave their relationships and then spent a lot of time second guessing themselves. Jordan thought she was moving on until Kevin, her ex, dates Elle – a woman who is Jordan’s complete opposite. She starts to wonder if maybe they could make it work after all and she certainly doesn’t want another woman taking her place in her young son’s eyes. Jordan pulls out all the stops – even dates a nice guy to make Kevin jealous.

Elle called off her wedding a month before the big day. She lost her fiancé and his sister (Elle’s best friend) in one shot. She’s just trying to move forward and concentrate on her job as a free-lance writer. Elle is covering a singles’ event at a park when she meets Kevin who just happens to be walking his dog through the park but not attending the event. They are immediately attracted to each other and start to date soon after.

Of the two women I found it easy to sympathize more with Elle. Yes she has baggage but for the most part she’s just a nicer person than Jordan who at times is like a grown up ‘mean girl’. She seems to have it all and then wants what isn’t hers anymore. Of course this gives the characters opportunity to grow throughout the novel. Without giving spoilers I was satisfied with how the authors took the two characters down that not-so-straight path of personal growth. I think fans of Chick Lit will enjoy The D Word.

Source:  BookSparks PR

About the authors: Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke have been friends for over twenty years. They both  attended Cal Poly Pomona University and each graduated with a degree in Communication. They co-wrote their previous novel. I’LL HAVE WHO SHE’S HAVING, in 2009. Liz also blogs as the Drama Mama for ModernMom.com while Lisa contributes frequently to Barnes & Noble’s Unabashadly Bookish blog and Mall of America’s Fashion Sense blog. Liz is married with two children, and Lisa is married and gave birth to a daughter in January. Liz resides in Long Beach, California, while Lisa lives in Chicago.

For more information visit www.chicklitisnotdead.com or follow Liz and Lisa on Twitter www.twitter.com/lizandlisa.

I’ll Have Who She’s Having by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

Title:  I’ll Have Who She’s Having

Authors:  Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

Genre:  Chick Lit

My thoughts:  I’ll Have Who She’s Having is a fast-paced and entertaining tale of two sisters who are not happy with the way things are. The story is told alternately by the sisters with the occasional added perspective of a few others – this worked to flesh out more than the two main characters.

About to turn thirty-three, Kate is single and tired of listening to her friends talk about their perfect lives with their husbands and babies. Kelly, two years younger than Kate, is married with one toddler and hasn’t felt remotely attractive for a long time. She loves her husband and little girl but misses her job and interaction with adults. In other words, Kate wants what Kelly has and Kelly would love a little bit of Kate’s life.

Kelly gets Kate to take a volleyball class and then a singing class with her. That’s where the novel takes off. Without giving spoilers I’ll just say sibling rivalry, moral conflicts, and issues of insecurity are major themes that Fenton and Steinke explore as Kate and Kelly struggle to move forward in their lives.

There were times when I laughed out loud but also times when I thought “oh for pete’s sake” in disbelief of the sisters’ actions. That said, the authors did a great job giving each sister her distinct voice. I think fans of Chick Lit will enjoy I’ll Have Who She’s Having.

Source:  BookSparksPR

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Stop back next week for my review of The D Word by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke