One of my favorite things about being a blogger is the amazing opportunities provided to me to connect with my favorite authors. Today I’m excited to share my review on the latest book by Nikki LeClair called ‘Cats, Chaos, and Condo Board Wars’. Read on to find out why I loved the novel and then catch an exclusive guest post written by the author herself!!
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About the Book
Cats, Chaos, and Condo Board Wars by Nikki LeClair
Published: March 20, 2019
Book Blurb: Recovering from an amazing-turned-terrible date, Hilary Brandt lives each day as best she can with her successful event planning career, flamboyant assistant, escape-artist cat, and eccentric roommate.
Most events run smoothly for Hilary, but occasionally, one goes awry and a client turns…evil. Relieved that her boss knows thattype of client, Hilary quickly jumps into her next event, planning two parties for a very handsome executive.
When elections for condo board president come around, Hilary lets her friends and neighbors convince her to run against the by-the-letter, long-sitting president — also known as Hilary’s number one personal critic. As the election campaigns launch, the romance-that-almost-was reappears, a coworker tries to steal a client, and her opponent starts to fight dirty.
Hilary quickly realizes she may just be in over her head, but can she fight fire with fire? Stumble through the awkward encounters with the hot neighbor or swoony client? Fight for a new event when the election begins to meddle with her career? Or is the chaos just too much?
My Review
Oh what a fun book!
Cats, Chaos, and Condo Board Wars is the epitome of the best kind of romantic comedy! Nikki LeClair has done it again by writing a novel you’ll want to pick up and read in one sitting. It’s filled with fuzzy cats, a rocking career, a charismatic assistant, a possible love interest, and a whole lotta chaos thrown into the mix.
I love stories that are written about strong women who aren’t afraid to step up in their careers and kick-ass at everything they do. She may need a bit of convincing from her friends to step up to the plate and battle their condo board president but once she’s in she believes that she can truly make a difference. Hilary’s personality is endearing and I can totally relate to the fact that she not only wants people to like her but that she can’t stand to have people believe false rumors about her. Thus, the informative letters she writes are hilarious and you’ll know what I’m talking about if you go out and read this novel.
One of the important themes of the novel is the idea that things aren’t always how they seem and there’s more to people than what can be seen on the surface. It’s important to take the time to get to know others and you might find logical reasons for seemingly illogical actions of self-preservation. The human mind is complex and it was utterly entertaining getting an inside look at these charismatic characters.
I’m not sure if there will be another to follow and make a series but I sincerely hope there is more to come!
My Rating: 5 /5 Stars
Now moving on to the author guest post….
Why I Choose to Write Chick-lit and Cozy-Mysteries by Nikki LeClair
Huge thank you to Arielle for letting me do this guest post and featuring my new release on her amazing blog. I’m super excited and grateful to her!
Most authors, writers, get asked why they choose to write in the genre they do at some point in time. I get asked a lot, at least once or twice a year, and I always give the same answer because I do believe it to be true. I say something along the lines of, ‘Because the world’s already a nasty enough place and RomComs make people feel better, if only for a few moments. That and, who wouldn’t want to believe in love conquering all?’
See, I’ve always loved romantic comedies but I didn’t actually know what they where until I was 13. I loved Splash! With Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah when I was a kid, even the ‘kissy’ scenes. But I didn’t know that was a romantic comedy. The same with You’ve Got Mail. I had no idea they where RomComs, Chick-Lits, I was 11 at the time of that release. I just knew that watching them made me laugh, roll my eyes, sigh at the cheesy romantic lines, and ultimately make me feel good while watching them. I was in love with that feeling.
It wasn’t until I read Sophie Kinsella’s first Shopalcoholic book at 13, upon its release, that I discovered this was a whole, massive genre! It had a definition, it had rules, it had the cliches!
All of a sudden, I was turning my action-packed fanfictions into swoon worthy RomComs with just enough humour to keep any potential readers (my brother and sister) from gagging.
The love of Cozies came much, much later. My taste had moved from just Chick-Lits, to Graphic Novels, Urban Fantasies, Horror, and Mysteries/Thrillers. I love them all, however Mysteries hold a special place in my heart because I am a massive fan of true crime, ever since I was a teen. Yet the heaviness of those novels gets to me. I can never read more than two in a row without becoming a tad depressed, even if there is a happy ending.
So it was around 2014 that I discovered this wonderful sub-genre, Cozy Mystery, which was kind of flying under the radar at that point in time. A Chick-lit infused with a engaging mystery that never got too heavy sounded perfect. A lot of them are paranormal, some are not. So I started reading, and I started plotting. And I fell in love with the genre. You get the romance, you get the humour, you get the cliches we all know and love, and you get a bit of mystery that can sometimes take the story to new heights.
Though I only have two books out that are classified as Cozies, I do hope to get more out there as time goes on. After all, a little mystery in a Chick-Lit can make things so much more thrilling, don’t you think?
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Interested in reading more and checking out an excerpt of the book? Check out the other blog stops on Nikki’s book tour coordinated by The Letterers Collective below.
Thanks for a hosting a spot on Nikki’s tour! And for the amazing review too!! <3