Fresh FIction Box Not To Miss
Fresh Pick | PAMPERED TO DEATH by Laura Levine
Fresh Pick / August 8, 2011

August 2011 On Sale: July 26, 2011 Featuring: Jaine Austen 304 pages ISBN: 0758238479 EAN: 9780758238474 Hardcover $22.00  Add to Wish List Mystery Amateur Sleuth, Mystery Cozy Buy at Amazon.com Our summer mystery picks Pampered To Death by Laura Levine Jaine Austen is looking forward to an indulgent spa getaway— until she learns it’s more about deprivation than relaxation. Between miniscule meals and a deadly brush with fame, surviving this vacation will be no piece of cake… When Jaine’s friend Lance surprises her with a trip to The Haven, an über-luxe health spa on the California coast, she and her feline pal Prozac are eager to hit the road and bask in a week of pampering and pedicures. But upon their arrival, she discovers that this oasis in the hills is merely a fat farm in disguise, complete with celery-juice cocktails, humiliating weigh-ins, and a zero-tolerance position on carbs. And as she gets to know her fellow inmates, she realizes 300-calorie dinners aren’t the craziest thing she’ll be dealing with. Among her bulge-battling companions is Mallory Francis, a B- list movie star with a knack for making frenemies with everyone she meets. When she’s found strangled during a seaweed wrap…

Tawna Fenske | Casting MAKING WAVES
Author Guest / August 8, 2011

I have a confession. OK, I probably have a lot of them. For the sake of this blog post though, we’re focusing on the fact that I’m an utter moron when it comes to movies and television. I lack the attention span for either one, so when I’m asked the inevitable, “which actors and actresses do you imagine playing your characters in the movie version of your book?” I freeze. I was asked to blog about this a few weeks ago at The Debutante Ball, and spent hours browsing online so I wouldn’t look like a complete idiot. I eventually came up with a photo of a younger, curly-haired Meg Ryan and another shot of Pierce Brosnan. It was as close as I could come to my mental picture of my heroine and hero from MAKING WAVES. A friend emailed right away to remark on my choices. “Um, have you actually seen any movies in the last ten years?” Define “seen.” Does falling asleep halfway through count? So my friend helped me assemble a cast list I must grudgingly admit is much better than mine. Here are the ideas… Juli, my plucky, spunky, smart-as-a-whip heroine: Kate Hudson. This actually makes…