Sophie Kinsella’s Wedding Night

Sophie Kinsella’s latest book, Wedding Night, may not be quite up to the high standards set by Madeleine Wickham (the author’s real name under which she writes about intelligent heroines with sometimes questionable morals), but it’s still a chick-lit book that’s worth reading. Quick and easy and deliciously enjoyable, it’s like an indulgent chocolate praline after a kale salad with mung beans and tofu.

The story follows two sisters, Fliss and Lottie, on their way to a happily-ever-after. Lottie is the slightly ditzy one who wants to get married – and if the boyfriend of the last few years won’t take the hint, she’ll settle for her 15-years-ago-summer-fling who comes back to her life. Fliss is the bitter divorced one who desperately wants to prevent her younger sister from the perils of an inappropriate marriage.

If the plot sounds a bit meh at this point, rest assured you’re in good hands. The author’s writing skill would make even the action of watching paint dry fun and amusing and highly desirable (a bit like Tom Sawyer and his fence-painting chore). So sit back, enjoy the sunshine of a fictional Greek island, and ponder on the wisdom of every going back to a place where you were once young and happy. And just before you get too nostalgic and philosophical, enjoy the non-sugary happy ending.

She wants to be in the top 5....

Yvonne Walus would like to see OPERATION: GENOCIDE on the Stairway Press bestseller list in November. Buy OPERATION: GENOCIDE between now and the end of November 2013 and:

• e-mail her on yve@xtra.co.nz with the title "Bought OPERATION: GENOCIDE" to get a free copy of her collection of murder mystery stories, SHORT OF CRIME;
• she will also send you a free copy of her SF collection, SEX LIES AND HERE BE DRAGONS;
• and she will send you a $5 Amazon gift voucher;
• if the sales reach 100 she will send one lucky reader a $100 Amazon voucher.

If you buy more than one copy (OPERATION: GENOCIDE makes a great Christmas present), your name will be entered in the $100 draw for every copy you purchase. And of course you will receive a $5 Amazon voucher for every copy you buy.

This offer is valid for the paperback version as well as the Kindle version. If you do the math:

• the Kindle copy of OPERATION: GENOCIDE is $7.95
• the two free books you'll get add up to $1.98
• and you get a $5 gift voucher
• so OPERATION: GENOCIDE will only cost you 97 cents in Kindle.

If you buy the paperback, which is only $14.84, it'll actually only cost you $7.86 - less than the Kindle version.

Makes sense, doesn't it? Oh, the link is here.

Still a better love story....

The proper care and feeding of marriage....

How's this for romance: marriage is not the happily-ever-after. Not unless you work on it. Not unless you shed what you believe is feminism (but isn;t really). Not unless you read this book. It might make you angry. It might make you cry. But ultimately, it'll make you think.

Gone Girl - So Not A Romance

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is an anti-romance. It shows you the unhappily-ever-after. Part mystery, part suspense, this book is a real page turner. You probably won't like the hero much. Or the heroine. And yet their story will continue to fascinate.

Give it a go.

What’s the most romantic holiday destination?

Paris. I’m sure everyone will think of Paris first. But is Paris as romantic as its reputation? In my experience, Paris is dirty and crowded and way overpriced. 

I’d choose any Greek island over Paris, though of all the Greek islands put together, Naxos is my very top pick. Naxos, with its grey-green olive groves, white walls and impossibly see-through-blue sea. Naxos is where I travel in my mind for an ultra-romantic fantasy.

Where do you go?

Do all romance books have to end in a committed relationship?

Do all romance books have to end in a committed relationship, such as marriage or living together or going steady? Not when it's romantic suspense, according to Yvonne Walus, whose internationall thriller, OPERATION GENOCIDE was released by Stairway Press earlier this week.

An inhuman agenda…In 1982, Annette Pretorius lives a life of privilege afforded to those of European descent in South Africa, but when her husband is murdered, she discovers a shattering secret: he’d been commissioned by the whites-only South African government to develop a lethal virus aimed at controlling the growth of the black population–already oppressed under the cruel system of apartheid.

A clandestine organization…The murder came with a warning to Annette from a secretive organization: keep our secrets or you too will die. Captain Trevor Watson, Annette’s former boyfriend, is appointed to lead the investigation. Watson’s loyalty is tested as the evidence stacks against his high school sweetheart.

And the killing isn’t over yet…When the investigation points in a terrifying direction, Annette and Watson face a wrenching choice: protect those they love or sacrifice all to save innocents from racial extermination.