Review: 'A State of Jane' by Meredith Schorr (2017)

It’s more about finding yourself than finding a man.
Jane Frank is ready to fall in love. It’s been a year since her first and only relationship ended and far too long since the last time she was kissed. With the LSAT coming up, she needs to find a boyfriend (or husband) before acing law school and becoming a partner at her father’s firm. There’s just one problem: all the guys in New York City are flakes. Interested one day and gone the next, they seemingly drop off the face of the earth with no warning and no explanation. 
In her misguided belief that life doesn’t really start until you get married and have kids, Jane jumps from one extreme to the next trying to force a happily ever after until she breaks. Will she ever find her path, and can she do it without alienating her friends and family and risking her career in the process?
I’m willing to give every book that’s part of the Henery Press Chick Lit Collection a fair chance; they know what great novels are and sometimes you just need a good chick lit read to relax with…! Last year I was introduced to author Meredith Schorr; I loved her Blogger Girl series, so when I saw that Henery Press was re-releasing her novel ‘A State of Jane’, I knew this was a review copy I couldn’t possibly say ‘no’ to. Luckily, my NetGalley request was approved and I honestly couldn’t wait to sit down with this Meredith Schorr read. The book was actually released before ‘Blogger Girl’ and I was curious to check out some of the author’s earlier work and hoped I would end up enjoying it!
Twenty-something Jane Frank is single and willing to at least try to mingle. After ending her long-term relationship with her high school sweetheart Bob, Jane needed a year to herself but now she is ready to find her Prince Charming. However, it doesn’t take long for Jane to realise that finding an attractive and nice single guy in New York City is like looking for a needle in a pretty big haystack. With her LSAT exam, and with that also her future, coming up quite quickly, Jane has more than enough to keep her busy, especially as she starts on her very own dating adventure. But will she be able to find that one guy that will make her heart beat faster, or should she perhaps have held on a bit tighter to the great guy she used to have….? 
Just like many other female readers I really enjoy stories focusing on what it is like to a single twenty-something in our modern day and age. ‘A State of Jane’ is a novel that tackles that particular topic in an entertaining way, and pays attention to that enormous pressure to find your soulmate, get married, and live happily ever after. Leading lady Jane is determined to find the right guy for her, but the search is not as easy and straightforward as she initially expects. Next to her search for romance, Jane is also dealing with her future; she is planning to take the LSAT exam, but is that really her calling? Her friends and family all seem to have an opinion on her life and what’s going on in it, but Jane is the only one that can eventually figure it out, and I really enjoyed joining her on this trip.
It was easy to like Jane at the start of the novel and I loved seeing her dating different guys, trying to find ‘the One.’ However, I have to say that as the novel progressed, Jane seemed to become more and more self-absorbed and I found it quite challenging to continue to like her and feel for her, which was too bad. However, I do understand what the author tried to do with the story, and I definitely still enjoyed it and am sure other chick lit fans will as well. Yet, I do believe that Meredith Schorr’s writing has only gotten better over the years, so if you are looking for your next chick lit read, first contemplate picking up ‘Blogger Girl’ instead. All in all, though, ‘A State of Jane’ is an enjoyable and fun novel with a relatable heroine at its core; a book that has managed to turn me into an actual Meredith Schorr, if I wasn’t one already….!

Rating:8,5/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: ' Novelista Girl' by Meredith Schorr (2016)

Kim runs the most popular chick lit book blog on the web, loves playing house with her sexy lawyer boyfriend, Nicholas, and is finally pursuing her lifelong dream to become a published author. At first glance, her life is five-pink-champagne-flutes worthy. 
But is there more to the story than meets the eye?
After hearing the phrase “chick lit is dead” more times than she’s read Bridget Jones's Diary, Kim is driven to desperate measures, seeking advice from up-and-coming chick lit author, Hannah Marshak, her high school nemesis and resident “mean girl.” As if Kim doesn't have enough on her plate balancing her secretarial duties with her blog Pastel Is the New Black, shrugging off the growing pile of agent rejections, and keeping her best friend from turning green over Kim’s budding friendship with Hannah, Nicholas is so blinded by his career ambitions, he doesn't see that their home sweet home could use more than a dash of sugar. 
This is the year when all of Kim's dreams—professional and romantic—are supposed to come true, but will the story have a happily ever after, or will Kim end up unpublished and all alone?
A few months ago I got the chance to read and review my first Meredith Schorr novel, 'Blogger Girl' (click here to read my review). 'Blogger Girl' really is chick lit at its best, so it's no real surprise I ended up loving the novel and was excited to check out more of Meredith's writing. Luckily, Meredith had seen my review and provided me with a review copy of 'Novelista Girl', the sequel to 'Blogger Girl' (a big thanks to you, Meredith!). I was really looking forward to once again joining Kim and her friends and colleagues, especially since this time, as the title of the novel already suggests, we would focus more on Kim's aspirations to become an author, something which I couldn't wait to read more about!
Twenty-something Kimberley Long is at a good place in her life. She's running her own popular chick lit book blog while busy focusing on making her dream to have her first novel published come true, and she's loving the relationship she has with her handsome lawyer boyfriend Nicholas. After a few rejections from publishers regarding her novel, though, Kim realises she might need the help of her former high school enemy and successful author Hannah Marshak. With her seemingly unsuccessful attempts at getting her novel sold, problems in paradise because of Nicholas' focus on only his career, and a jealous best friend, Kim has more than enough on her plate. Question is, will she be able to keep all her balls in the air and hold on to what is really important to her...?
I already wrote down Meredith Schorr's name on my list of chick lit authors to look out for when I finished her novel 'Blogger Girl' earlier this year, and after having read 'Novelista Girl' it has been confirmed that she definitely deserves to be on that list! This book is the sequel to 'Blogger Girl' and I loved revisiting main character Kim and her family and friends and discovering what was going on in their lives. In this novel the focus lies mainly on Kim and her aspirations of having her first book published and her relationship with Nicholas. I already warmed to Kim in the first part of the series and it was easy to once again root for her; she's a relatable (I just love the fact that she's a book blogger) and fun chick lit heroine and I just really enjoyed reading about her life.
While the novel can be read as a stand-alone, I personally liked the fact that I already knew the characters and their background stories before I started reading. The story is well-paced and has several different things going on at the same time, so it held my attention throughout the length of the novel. If I am completely honest I do think 'Novelista Girl' isn't as fantastic as I thought 'Blogger Girl' was, but it is still some pretty great chick lit and a novel I thoroughly enjoyed from the first to the last word! 'Novelista Girl' is a wonderfully well-written, engaging and entertaining sequel in the Blogger Girl series and proof that Meredith Schorr is a name to keep an eye out for within the world of chick lit; I really can't wait to read more of her work and recommend her to other chick lit fans, because her novels really deserve all the readers they can get!

Rating:9,5/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads

Thanks to the author for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Review: 'Blogger Girl' by Meredith Schorr (2013)

What happens when your high school nemesis becomes the shining star in a universe you pretty much saved? Book blogger Kimberly Long is about to find out. 
A chick lit enthusiast since the first time she read “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” Kim, with her blog, “Pastel is the New Black,” has worked tirelessly by night to keep the genre alive, and help squash the claim that “chick lit is dead” once and for all. Not bad for a woman who by day ekes out a meager living as a pretty, and pretty-much-nameless, legal secretary in a Manhattan law firm. While Kim’s day job holds no passion for her, the handsome (and shaving-challenged) associate down the hall is another story.
Yet another story is that Hannah Marshak, one of her most-hated high school classmates, has now popped onto the chick lit scene with a hot new book that’s turning heads—and pages—across the land. It’s also popped into Kim’s inbox - for review. With their ten-year high school reunion drawing near, Kim’s coming close to combustion over the hype about Hannah’s book. And as everyone around her seems to be moving on and up, she begins to question whether being a “blogger girl” makes the grade in her off-line life.
There's no book genre I love more than chick lit and I'm not afraid to say it. I love books that make me smile, make me laugh, make me swoon, and generally make me feel better. There's already enough misery in the world, so I love nothing more than picking up a book that will make me forget about everything for a while and just focus on something else. I've got a review of a great chick lit novel to share today, namely Meredith Schorr's 2013 release 'Blogger Girl.' I was contacted by Meredith herself several weeks ago and was really excited to check out her book, specifically because of the title and description which both, unsurprisingly, really spoke to me!
Twenty-something Kimberley Long works as a legal secretary in a Manhattan law firm, a job she enjoys, but her real passion is books, chick lit in particular. Her book blog 'Pastel is the New Black' has a lot of followers and Kim spends as much time as she can into reading and reviewing. As a blogger it's important to try and stay objective, but this becomes a bit tricky for Kim when she is asked to review a debut novel by new author Hannah Marshak, who also happens to be Kim's number 1 enemy from her high school years. With her full-time job, her blog, a ten-year school reunion coming up and a crush on a colleague, Kim definitely has enough to deal with...
Being a chick lit book blogger myself, I already had a good feeling I was going to enjoy 'Blogger Girl', but I was pleasantly surprised by the amazingness of this novel! It truly is a fantastic chick lit read; a book I didn't want to put down and thoroughly enjoyed reading. One of the absolute strengths of the book is that it really has everything I look for in a chick lit novel: a relatable and likeable heroine, wonderful secondary characters, a good setting, enough different story lines to focus on, a lovely dose of romance, and a well-paced and comfortable writing style. And the cherry on the cake is, of course, the fact that the novel has a personal touch for me since it focuses on a twenty-something who has a full-time job but whose true passion lies with her chick lit blog, which is basically a description of my own life!
Kim, the main character in this book, is a great leading lady; she's easy to relate to, funny, and just really likeable. There's a good collection of secondary characters as well, such as Kim's best friend Bridget, her hunky colleague Nicholas, and her high school enemy Hannah. I basically loved everything about this novel, except for its book cover. I think this book deserves a great chick lit cover that will straight away attract readers, because even though we say we don't, many readers still more easily pick up books with a cover they like and this book definitely deserves a gorgeous cover. Overall, 'Blogger Girl' is a simply amazing and captivating read which I enjoyed from start to finish and can't recommend enough to any chick lit fans out there. I am already a big fan of Meredith Schorr's work and can't wait to pick up the sequel to this book, 'Novelista Girl'!

Rating:10/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads

Thanks to the author for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.