Director's Cut by Janice Thompson (Book Review)

Title: The Director's Cut (Backstage Pass #3)
Author: Janice Thompson
Publisher: Revell Books


About the book: Tia Morales is used to calling the shots. She's the director of the popular sitcom Stars Collide, and her life on set is calculated and orderly. Well, most of the time. But her life outside the studio is another matter. If only she could get her family to behave as well as her stars do When she starts butting heads with handsome camera operator Jason Harris, it's enough to send a girl over the edge. Will she ever learn to let go and take life--and love--as it comes? 


Full of the humor and crazy family dynamics Janice Thompson fans have come to love, this colorful story gives readers an inside look at Hollywood and a healthy dose of romance.

Available June  2012 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

My Thoughts: I had the opportunity to read the second book in this series last fall (Hello Hollywood!) so wanted to learn what happened with some of the other characters that we met then.  This time we get to take a step into Tia's shoes.  As the director of Stars Collide they are some big shoes to fill!  Between her job, "flipping" her house, and her ongoing family drama she is under a lot of stress. She is beginning to feel some attraction to her head camerman, but as their relationship has previously only been to antagonize each other, she is not sure what she is feeling.

This was a lighthearted romance that moved along quickly and was fun to read.  I really liked Tia and enjoyed the family drama that she was going through (helps to put one's life in perspective at times). This book helps to see when it is important to be in charge and when you need to let go and let God be in charge. 

I haven't had the chance to read the first book in the series, Stars Collide, and may still go back and read it to be able to fill in any missing parts.  I did like that she added a little extra info at the end of the book to tell you what the characters did after the book ended - that was kind of fun!

~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell in exchange for my unbiased review.~

You can connect with the author at her blog Janice Hanna Thompson where she has been blogging with true stories about her career as a director.

The Director's Cut

Publisher/Publication Date: Revell Books, June 2012

ISBN: 9780800733476

296 pages

Hello Hollywood! by Janice Thompson (Book Review)

Title: Hello Hollywood!

Author: Janice Thompson
Publisher: Revell


About the Book: Athena Pappas is the head writer on Stars Collide, one of the most popular sitcoms in television history.  But when Vegas comedian Stephen Cosse is brought in to beef up the show's suddenly sagging ratings, she starts to worry about her job.  Sparks fly as the competition -- and attraction -- between the two writers heats up.  Athena has never had a problem writing the romances of her characters.  So why is her own love life so hard to script?


With humor and a Hollywood-insider viewpoint, Hello, Hollywood! delivers lots of laughs as Athena and Stephen discover that not being in control of the ploy of their lives might just be the best thing that ever happened to them.

My thoughts: This was a very lighthearted book and quick to read.  I believe it is the second in a series, but, as I have not read the first one, feels it reads well as a stand alone also.  I didn't feel as closely connected to these characters though, as I did with her characters in the Weddings by Bella series. 

Athena is the head writer on a sitcom, and even though she is head writer, she doubts her abilities.  When they bring on another writer for a new perspective, it makes her doubt herself even more.  In spite of this, she finds herself attracted to the new writer.  With her low self-esteem though, she doesn't feel he would want anything to do with her.  Though they can write humorous romance for the show, their own romance doesn't follow any script.

The story has a lot of secondary characters that fill out the ensemble, including her cowriters, her family, and even an adopted dog. Though it wasn't one of my favorites, I did enjoy the story and the unobtrusive message of faith that was intertwined.

~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell in exchange for my review.~

Available September 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
Hello, Hollywood!: A Novel (Backstage Pass)
Publisher/Publication Date: Revell, Sept 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3346-9
278 pages

Book Tour: Hello Hollywood by Janice Thompson (Oct 2-8)

Say Hello to Hollywood!

Find out just how funny life can be when you try to script it.

Popular romance author and screenwriter, Janice Thompson, is charming her readers once again with a behind-the-scenes look at life in Hollywood. Her new book, Hello, Hollywood! (ISBN: 978-0-8007-3346-9, $14.99, 288 pages, September) is the second installment in the Backstage Pass series. This time, Thompson takes her readers inside the writer’s room.

At 28, Athena Pappas has a pretty great gig. She’s the head writer of one of the most popular sitcoms in television history, Stars Collide. Yet, something’s still lacking: her love life.

Athena finds nothing wrong with still living at home with her large, wacky Greek family and making her bed with the same Strawberry Shortcake sheets she had as a kid. None of that has prevented Athena from plotting her characters’ romances. So why is her own love life so hard to script?

Athena’s love life gets the shakeup it needs when her boss hires up-and-coming Vegas comedian, Stephen Cosse, to help boost the show’s sagging ratings. Feeling her position as head writer threatened, she starts to doubt her talents, and the fact that Stephen is as good looking as Adonis doesn’t escape Athena’s attention either.

Sparks fly as the competition—and attraction—between the two heats things up. While they struggle to create conflict and comedy for their characters on the page, Athena and Stephen develop a relationship they never would have scripted for themselves and discover that not being in control of the plot of their lives may just be the best thing that’s ever happened.

Hello, Hollywood! delights readers with its charm and humor. Every character will jump off the page and into the readers’ hearts.

Janice Thompson is a seasoned romance author. An expert at pulling the humor from the situations we get ourselves into, Thompson affords an inside look at TV land, drawing on her experiences as a screenwriter. She is the author of the Weddings by Bella series and lives in Texas. To learn more about Janice visit her at: www.janicethompson.com

Available September 2011 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

It Had to Be You by Janice Thompson (Blog Tour and Book Review)

Title: It Had to Be You (Weddings by Bella, Book 3)
Author: Janice Thompson
Publisher: Baker Publishing

From the publisher: Get ready for a double dose of wedding frenzy!


Bella couldn't be happier that two of her long-feuding relatives have finally admitted their love for one another and are getting married. Their forties-style wedding is sure to be a night to remember. But when the Rossi house begins to fill up with family from Italy--and an old mobster from New Jersey--life starts to get complicated. Will a friend from the past drive the happy couple apart once more? And will Bella ever have time to think of her own rapidly approaching wedding amid the chaos?

Full of humor, plenty of Italian passion, and a bit of Texas gumption, It Had to Be You will have you laughing out loud and wiping a tear from your eye.

My thoughts:  I read Fools Rush In, the first book in the series, back in January and loved it.  I was really looking forward to this one and it did not disappoint me!  Bella is still in the wedding planning business, but this time she is planning the wedding of her Uncle Laz to her Aunt Rosa - two people who have fought about everything for years.  They are on their best behaviour for the wedding (or are they?). 

In addition to this wedding, Bella is also trying to plan her wedding to D.J. Neeley - the hunky cowboy she had met in the Fools Rush In.  I didn't get the chance to read Swinging on a Star - book 2 in the series - but it is on my TBR list.  These 2 have been good as stand alone also though.

These are definitely "feel good" books.  I know that when I sit down and pick up one of her books that it is going to pull me into a world full of fun and sometimes wacky characters.  It is full of humor and wit - and filled with Christian values - without being too pushy.  I would highly recommend this one!

Available May 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

~I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell in exchange for my review.~

It Had to Be You
Publisher/Publication Date: Baker, May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0800733445
330 pages

Fools Rush In by Janice Thompson (Book Review)

Title: Fools Rush In
Author: Janice Thompson
Publisher: Revell/Baker

My synopsis/thoughts: Bella Rossi has just taken over the management of her family's wedding planning business. After changing the name to Club Web, she begins advertising themed weddings. Her first such affair is to be a country western theme with yellow roses, cowboy boots and country music.

Problem is, being Italian, Bella doesn't know a lot about country music or cowboy boots! Her brother, who usually runs the soundboard, is in Houston because of his latest love and is not available to deejay the event. Will Bella be able to find a deejay in two weeks?

God must have been listening because Bella overhears a gentleman at her Uncle's pizza parlor talking about a deejay - so she gets his number. Problem is, he is not a deejay, but a D.J., Dwayne Neeley, Jr. - and a drop-dead handsome cowboy at that!

Filled with lively and outrageous characters from both Bella's and D.J.'s families - rounded out with a new neighbor's obnoxious son and a parrot that only seems to know foul-language (not fowl language. . .) that belongs to a mobster - and faith that could move mountains and you have Fools Rush In.

The Rossi family seem like a wonderfully close Italian family that worship Methodist style - while the Neeley's are good old-fashioned independent charismatic. Will the Italians and the Texans be able to share their faith, blend their families and survive the fireworks? Gotta read it to find out!

This is the first book in the Weddings by Bella series and I can't wait for the second book - Swinging on a Star which came out this month!

I had to request this one through my library's interlibrary loan department!

Fools Rush In
Publisher/Publication Date: Revell/Baker, September 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3342-1
330 pages

Teaser Tuesday: 1-12-2010

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:
Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you have given!
Please avoid spoilers!






Determined to prevent my best friend from making a rash mistake - a la Armando style - I made a quick decision to head down to Parma John's. So off I went to the land of low-fat, thin-crust pizza lover's delight -- a land where blue-ribbon barbecue chefs and nearly engaged redheads pondered the what-ifs of ill-fated romance. (p125, Fools Rush In by Janice Thompson)








Fools Rush In
Publisher/Publication Date: Revell, Sept 2009
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3342-1
336 pages

Library Loot: 1-6-2010

I am trying to slow down the books that I check out from the library - but since my daughter has just discovered that she really likes to read - I have actually been spending more time there!

Library Loot is hosted by Eva at A Striped Armchair and Marg at Reading Adventures.

Grave Sight
by Charlaine Harris

I have what you might call a strange job: I find dead people. I can sense the final location of a person who's passed and share their very last moment. The way I see it, I'm providing a service to the dead while bringing some closure to the living -- but I'm used to most people treating me like a blood-sucking leach. . .

Harper and her stepbrother Tolliver are experts at getting in, getting paid, and then getting out of town fast, because the people who hire Harper have a funny habit of not really wanting to know what she has to tell them. At first, the little Ozarks town of Sarne seems like no exception. A teenage girl has gone missing, and Harper knows almost immediately that this girl is dead. But the secrets of her death, and the secrets of the town, are deep enough that even Harper's special ability can't uncover them. With hostility welling up all around them, she and Tolliver would like nothing better than to be on their way. But then another woman is murdered. And the killer's not finished yet. (back cover)

The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club
by Gil McNeil

For every woman who has ever dreamed of starting over, or being a better mother, or just knitting a really nice scarf. . . When her husband dies in a car crash -- not long after announcing he wants a divorce -- Jo Mackenzie packs up her two rowdy boys and moves from London to a dilapidated villa in her seaside hometown. There, she takes over her beloved Gran's knitting shop -- a quaint but out-of-date store in desperate need of a facelift. After a rough beginning, Jo soon finds comfort in a "Stitch and Bitch group: a collection of quirky, lively women who share their stories, and their addiction to cake, with warmth and humor. As Jo starts to get the hang of single parent life in a small town, she relies on her knitting group for support. The women meet every week at the shop on Beach Street and trade gossip and advice as freely as they do a new stitch. But when a new man enters Jo's life, and an A-list actress moves into the local mansion, the knitting club has even more trouble confining the conversation to knit one, purl two. The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club is an uplifting, winning tale about the healing power of friendship and new beginnings. It's a charming novel that will delight all passionate knitters -- and win over befuddled, would-be knitters, too. (inside cover)



Fools Rush In
by Janice Thompson

Bella Rossi may be nearing thirty, but her life is just starting to get interesting. When her Italian-turned-Texan parents hand over the family wedding planning business, Bella is determined not to let them down. She quickly books a "Boot Scoot'n" wedding that would make any Texan proud. There's only one catch--she's a country music numbskull because her family only listens to Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. Where will she find a DJ on such short notice who knows his Alan Jackson from his Keith Urban? When a misunderstanding leads her to the DJ (and man) of her dreams, things start falling into place. But with a family like hers, nothing is guaranteed. Can the perfect Texan wedding survive a pizza-making uncle with mob ties, an aunt who is a lawsuit waiting to happen, and a massive delivery of 80 cowboy boots? And will Bella ever get to plan her own wedding? Book one in the Weddings by Bella series, Fools Rush In is fun, fresh, and full of surprises. Readers will love the flavorful combination of Italian and Tex-Mex, and the hilarity that ensues when cultures clash.