Blog Tour with Kimberly Stuart
There are several things I love about summer: sleeping in, barbeques, sunshine, vacationing, a significant decrease in recycling (no more school papers!) and finally (finally!) having time to sit down with a good book. Kimberly Stuart specializes in one of my favorite genres - romantic comedies. A native of Iowa, Kimberly is a fellow book junkie and library lurker extraordinaire. She's fairly new to the publishing game, but she's certainly making a splash! Her first novel, Balancing Act, released in 2006 by NavPress Publishing, followed by Bottom Line in 2007. I'm thrilled to introduce her new book, Act Two: A Novel in Perfect Pitch. From Amazon.com:New Yorker Sadie Maddox is the toast of the classical music world and the queen of all she surveys in short, she's a bit of a diva. But lately her CD sales are sagging, not to mention parts of her anatomy. Maybe it's time for a change. Something new. A second act. So when her agent suggests she take on a professorship at a small liberal arts college, Sadie decides to give it a go. Ivy-covered walls, worshipful students . . . oh yes, the ivory tower has its appeal. And she needs the money. Except the college is in rural Iowa, and the closest thing to designer clothes is the western wear shop down on Main Street. Sadie's colleagues are intimidated, her students aren't impressed, and she has to live far too close to farm animals. And when Sadie meets Mac, a large animal veterinarian, she assumes they have nothing in common he is, after all, a country music fan. But when the semester ends, Sadie packs up and decamps for the city that never sleeps . . . and finds she can't, either. This laugh-out-loud novel about second chances will have readers cheering as Sadie struggles to find her life's second act.
I fell in love with Sadie from the first moment we met, over a Starbucks Java Chip Frappuccino. Extra whip. Kimberly's use of dialogue hit me square in the middle of my funny bone, and I'm happy to report the occurrence of several genuine LOL moments. Sadie is believable, flawed, issue-laden (no surprise there; if this isn't chick lit, it's pert near close), yet likeable. Even the periphery characters are fun to hang around (they tend to be a bit stand-offish). Without invoking any spoiler alerts, I offer an appreciative nod to Sadie's romantic love interest, even at her (ahem) advanced age. This one's definitely a keeper and I'll just have to tell my friends to get themselves their own copy, I just may re-read mine over another Java Chip . . . . To learn more about Kimberly, her family, and her marvelous reading habits (I really like this girl), check out her website: kimberlystuart.com.
JENN! Thanks so much for your post and your kind words about ACT TWO. It's
lovely to "see" you again and I'm honored you got a kick out of Sadie. Of
course, when combining a summer read with a Java Chip Frapp, extra whip,
who can lose? :)
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information.
