BLURB:
When twenty-seven year old Roxy Rule’s best friend and roommate accepts a glamorous new job overseas, she expects their relationship to continue as it’s always been—carefree and easy—until they share a heart-stopping kiss moments before his departure. Overcome with mixed emotions, she fights the urge to over analyze the situation and resumes back to her normal life in New York City, working for an intolerable boss at a dead end job, creeping further and further away from her own dreams of becoming a professional chef.
While things become more complicated between her and Ollie, Roxy is sure that nothing can come between two lifelong best friends—not even mild jealousy over a thriving career or a silly little kiss that meant nothing. In fact, it was such a meaningless and forgettable kiss that she convinces herself that it’s not even worth mentioning to her fiancé, although it is all she can think about.
Roxy’s already topsy-turvy life only gets more complicated when her sisters Steffi and Izzie suddenly become her roommates. Steffi is six months into a pregnancy she refuses to discuss and Izzie is in the throes of a premature midlife crisis. Roxy tries to take control of her career, her love life and her sisters – but can she really handle it all? And can the Rule family keep it together – or break under the pressure?
EXCERPT:
"See you Monday, Greta," I say, putting the phone down. The promise of a raise has been dangled before me so many times that I feel like a cat swapping at a piece of yarn that's always a bit out of reach. And now I'm fed up of swapping at dead air. As soon as Greta mentions a raise, I know she's already forgotten about it.
When I'm at the office, I can organize and choreograph every minute of Greta's day from her morning coffee to her late-afternoon cup of mint tea but now—when it's my time I need to make good use of—I can't get myself off the couch. There are so many things that need to get done for Ollie's party and I know that, at some point, I made a list. But I can't find it. Still, I'm sure that the list didn't mention anything about taking a nap and sitting in front of the TV with a pint of mint-chocolate-chip ice cream. That's the thing about being a working girl; you miss out on the wonderful world of daytime TV. And then when you get a rare day off, you get sucked in by Boot Camp for Out-of-Control Teens and Paternity Tests Revealed for an hour. Or two. Or more.
By the time four pm rolls around, I am in full panic mode. I still need to clean and decorate the apartment, get out of my ratty pajamas and arrange all the food on platters.
I jump up when the phone rings. I remember to use my stuffy voice again. This pretending-to-be-sick game is quite exhausting.
"Hello?" I croak.
"Darling, you sound sick. Are you ill?"
Ethan. My boyfriend. Fiancé, actually. I go back to my normal voice. "I'm fine. It's a long story. I had to pretend to be sick so Oll-"
"Anyway," he interrupts. "I'm just calling to tell you that I'm headed to a meeting and I'll be late for the party."
"Oh," I say, trying not to sound too disappointed.
"And," he continues, "if the meeting ends late, I might just skip the party altogether."
"But I'm making bacon-wrapped scallops. You love my bacon-wrapped scallops," I whine, as if anyone would ever rearrange their schedule for bacon-wrapped scallops. Well, I would—but that's just the foodie in me. My friend Adam says I only live and breathe for my next meal. That might be a slight exaggeration but I do love to cook and, of course, eat. In fact, I'm hungry right now. What was that recipe I saw someone make on TV this morning? Ravioli with prosciutto and a tomato-basil purée. It looked delicious. I wonder if I should make that for dinner tomorrow. I could serve it with French baguette garlic bread and baby mixed greens with a balsamic dressing and... Wait. I won't have anybody to serve it to tomorrow. I'll be alone.
"Roxy. Roxy? Are you there?"
"Sorry," I say, shaking my head. "Please try to make it, okay? It would mean a lot to me."
"I'll do my best," he sighs. "Roxy?"
"Yes."
"I was planning on telling you later. But I really think you'll be happy about this and I can't wait."
There's a hint of mischief in his voice. What is Ethan up to? We've been having discussions about our wedding lately and the only thing we've agreed on is to stop talking about the wedding because we can't agree on anything—the time, the place, or the guests. Our latest Discussion-That-Turned-Into-An-Argument revolved around napkins clashing with the tablecloths. When I suggested we hire a wedding planner, he'd dismissed the idea right away saying it would be too expensive.
REVIEW RATING: 4 LIGHTNING BOLTS
REVIEW: Humorous and witty, Breaking the Rules takes readers into the life of Roxy, and her crazy cast of friends and family. Roxy is thrown into the midst of tons of chaos, from her best friend leaving to go to a job of a lifetime, changes within herself, and her relationship with her fiance, and so much more. Written with true chick lit style, Cat Lavoie takes us on an adventure that's full of heart, hope, and laughter. Breaking The Rules delivers a story that is bound to steal the hearts of fans that pick up this book. I love Roxy! She's got a great attitude and despite the way life throws curves at her, she takes it in stride and keeps getting back up. This is a fun debut and I can't wait for more from this author, with a great writing style and voice.
Cat Lavoie was born in the small town of Jonquière in Québec, Canada. At the age of nineteen, she packed up her things (mostly books) and moved to the big city of Montreal where she currently lives with her tempestuous cat Abbie—who is both adorable and quite possibly evil.
An incurable Anglophile since her university days where she studied English Literature, she can often be found daydreaming about her next trip to London. Since she’s an expert at the art of procrastination, Cat is easily distracted by cooking and home improvement shows—even though she’s not particularly good at either.
Cat grew up watching soap operas and legal dramas and—had she not decided to be a claims analyst by day and write chick lit by night—she would have probably become a designer suit-wearing lawyer. Or a character on All My Children (which is what she really wanted to be when she was twelve).
Cat is not sure whether she’s a geek or a nerd—and is afraid she might be both. Breaking the Rules is her first novel.
Connect with Cat!
Cat blogs about the writing life and posts adorable pictures of Abbie over at the Catenabi Chronicles. Come say hello at: www.CatLavoie.com and follow @Catenabi on Twitter.
www.CatLavoie.com
http://www.facebook.com/CatLavoieAuthor?ref=stream
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6440914.Cat_Lavoie
https://twitter.com/Catenabi
Barnes & Noble Nook
Sounds like a fun read...love all the characters and what's happening!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the review and the book :)
Thanks for being on the tour!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review - this sounds like a fun book and something I would definitely enjoy reading:)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the review!! :)
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