Monday, May 14, 2012

Wendy Chen and Her Liar's Guide

LEAVE A COMMENT WITH YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS, AND YOU MIGHT WIN AN E-BOOK COPY OF WENDY'S LIAR'S GUIDE!

About Wendy Chen:

Wendy Chen has worked at Random House, iVillage, and The Washington Post. Her first novel, Liar's Guide to True Love was written during her frequent (and sometimes severe) bouts of wedding nostalgia. Years after planning her own nuptials, she still gets unduly giddy about attending weddings.

Wendy was a lifelong New Yorker until she decided to try out
suburban life a few years ago. She now lives in Northern Virginia with her family. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

About Wendy's Sweet Romance, Liar's Guide to True Love -

Wedding planner Cassandra Hanley is in the business of making other people's dreams come true. But for some reason, whenever she meets a potential mate of her own, she finds herself telling little (and not so little) white lies. She's not trying to sabotage her relationships on purpose: as a people pleaser, she just naturally tells men what she thinks they want to hear.

When Cassandra meets Nick, she's determined to be herself this time—until she learns he abhors weddings. So she recasts herself as an advertising exec, and now she's scrambling to cover up the lie...with more lies.
Into the tangled web wanders Cassandra's college sweetheart, Kevin. Kevin, the one man who knows the real Cassandra, and loves her anyway. Could he have been The One all along?

Torn between the past and the present, Cassandra is about to learn that you can't plan the perfect life the way you can plan the perfect wedding.

Buy Links:


iTunes: http://tinyurl.com/7lejm5o

And Now, Wendy Has Some Confessing to Do:

Confessions of A Wedding Addict by Wendy Chen

“Sometimes I like to wear my tiara around the house. Is that weird?” My friend looked a little sheepish when she said it, but I got it. Years after I walked down the aisle, I still get nostalgic about my own nuptials. I wore the most beautiful dress I will ever own, and spent over a year planning (admittedly) frivolous details. And I missed it (the dress and the planning). When I was writing my first novel, Liar’s Guide to True Love, I would pick up copies of wedding magazines in the name of “research” – I had to get in the head of my wedding planning protagonist didn’t I? Now my outlet for wedding nostalgia is to devour any means of weddingtainment – flicks, lit, whatever. If I can’t live it, I will read/watch it. Some are better than others, but I have to admit, there are few wedding themed books or movies that I truly dislike. Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order:

·    Bride Wars – Beautiful dresses and Bridezillas. But at the end of the day, two best friends learn what’s most important -- true friendship and love.
·    The Bride Quartet series by Nora Roberts – Not just one or two, but FOUR books centered around a wedding planning company run by four best friends. By THE Nora Roberts, need I say more?
·    My Big Fat Greek Wedding – So smart, so funny, and the best parts aren’t about the wedding at all.
·    Made of Honor – Sometimes men are stupid when it comes to love, and don’t see what’s right in front of them.
·    Wedding announcements and the Vows column in The New York Times – the real deal, and you never know when you’ll recognize someone

Yes, weddings can be ridiculously over the top and expensive, and planning them can make us temporarily insane (Carrie Bradshaw: I wore a bird in my hair). But there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the beginning of someone’s Happily Every After. Admit it, you love a beautiful wedding dress on the cover of a book as much as I do. What’s your favorite weddingtainment?

Please leave a comment with your e-mail address and you might win an e-book from Wendy!

15 comments:

  1. Great post! I enjoyed the movie "Bridesmaids." That toast made me cringe/laugh/cringe/laugh.

    Hope you can keep up with your wedding nostalgia!

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    1. Bridesmaids had some great moments. That bridal shower was so over the top -- perfect wedding satire.

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  2. Welcome to Sweet Not Spicy, Wendy. Liar's Guide looks like a fun book!

    Morgan Mandel
    http://morgansbooklinks.blogspot.com

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  3. Great post, honest and fun. Love reading romance novels and true to life romance stories with realistic conflicts. Weddings are beautiful but also can be stressful, such fun.

    Terri
    terri.forehand@gmail.com

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    1. Thanks, Terri. Romances are among my favorites as well. Surprise, surprise, I'm a sucker for a happy ending.

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  4. Loved the post. And very refreshing that you actually ENJOYED planning your wedding. I'm not married yet but most of my friends who are in the process have become completely stressed out! I've heard good things about that Nora Robert's book. I might have to check it out.

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    1. You know, I think I would get more stressed out if I were planning now. I feel like there are so many more choices and trends toward making every little thing perfect and personalized. It can be dizzying.

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  5. Oh and my email address is dithythekid at hotmail dot com.

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  6. Oh, wedding plans...so glad they are over. We built a house and then started planning the wedding. I swore if I had to make one more decision my eyeballs would burst.

    My Big Fat Greek Wedding is definitely up there on my list, but then I married a Greek guy. I still like to browse through wedding magazines. I have two girls, and I figure, by the time they get married it will cost me a quarter of a million dollars. :)

    Thanks for the chance to win.

    Cheryl

    ccmal(at)charter(dot)net

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    1. You might hope they elope by then. *wink*

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  7. Saw this on Huffington Post after I wrote this. How could I forget The Princess Bride? "Mawwiage..." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/14/wedding-movies_n_1515918.html?ref=weddings

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  8. I LOVE weddings!! Wish I could do mine all over again!!! So much cooler stuff now than there was in 1998! I used to be a wedding florist and also a wedding coordinator. I used to collect wedding movies and books! Some of my movie favs: The Wedding Planner (I so wanted to be JLO in that movie!), Runaway Bride, and Father of the Bride.

    My last book had a wedding in it..just had to do it. Was so fun to write!!!

    haefner919 at yahoo dot com

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  9. Weddings are fun and it sounds like Liar's Guide will be a book I'd really enjoy reading. Thanks for sharing.

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  10. How very entertaining and sweet. Love the whole idea. I've been married....clears throat...and still remember our wedding. Ballerina length dress which was popular in the fifties, Little box hat with veil, etc. Handsome ex-soldier by my side, being in love...Oh, that was wonderful. Bottom line? Neither of us had a clue what we were doing! That's young love.

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