If you think Heaven is all about angels reclining on clouds plucking harps, you might want to think again. In Earthly Pleasures, novelist Karen Neches (who also writes under the name Karin Gillespie) introduces her less-conventional version of what lies beyond the Pearly Gates. Step into her Heaven and you'll find a glowing metropolis ruled by a female Deity who cracks corny jokes in the voice of Bette Midler. Here, souls teleport between work (as greeters, guardian angels, newscasters, etc.), school (where they can enroll in self [soul?]-improvement courses), and play (including cloud art and night clubs, where alcohol exists, but hangovers don't). It's a place where news reports are always positive, zits are nonexistent, and even rebellious angels can't get into too much trouble.

Skye Sebring loves her celestial life. She's got an exciting job as a greeter, a drop-dead gorgeous boyfriend, and an endless supply of Hershey's Kisses. Unlike many of Heaven's other residents, she has no interest in Earthly goings-on. That is, until Ryan Blaine steps into her cubicle. Ryan, the handsome son of a former U.S. president, sets hearts atwitter on both Heaven and Earth. Skye's determined not to be impressed, but he captures her attention when he exclaims, "I thought I'd never see you again" (58). Before he has time to explain, Ryan is zapped back to Earth. Skye shakes off the experience - she's never stepped on the planet, so obviously she and Ryan have never met - but she can't quite erase him from her thoughts. Suddenly, her interest in Earthly matters skyrocket.

A series of odd dreams unsettles Skye almost as much as her confusing encounter with Ryan. Then, to her shock, she receives an assignment to "return" to Earth. With no memories of a previous life, Skye begins questioning everything she thought she knew about herself. Who is she, really? And why does a mega-celebrity like Ryan Blaine recognize her?

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Ryan grieves for his wife, Susan. A recent brain injury has left her scarred and altered. In fact, Ryan feels as if he's living with a complete stranger - one who acts nothing like her old self. Their once vibrant relationship has become "like a gorgeous Oriental rug spread over a layer of dust and crud" (149). He wants to mend it, but the more he lives with Susan, the more he's convinced that something is seriously wrong. Ryan's not the only one who suspects things are not exactly as they seem. Miles away, Caroline Brodie can't believe her comatose roomie is a former prostitute and drug addict with no hope of recovery. She sets out to prove the doctors wrong, vowing to wake the young woman whose innocent face just can't be that of a lowlife druggie. Up above, guardian angels work overtime to help the Earthlings figure out the puzzle that will piece together Ryan Blaine's broken heart. With a little Divine Intervention, a whole lot of lonely hearts just might be able to find hope and love.

I enjoy the idea of a Heaven/Earth love connection; unfortunately, Earthly Pleasures doesn't quite deliver on its charming premise. I think Neches' idea of Heaven is fun, if simplistic and underdeveloped. It's when the action moves down to Earth that it becomes predictable, even cliche. I wouldn't have minded this, really, because the book is meant to be light and playful, but it gets so contrived I can hardly stand it. Plus, the plot meanders all over the place, introducing all kinds of subplots that are never quite wrapped up. Even the ending only concludes things on one plane, and ambiguously at that. I really wanted a final chapter explaining what happens to Heaven's residents, especially Chelsea, Rhianna, and Brock. Without this, the story ends too abruptly, never quite coming full circle.

If you can overlook these flaws, you'll find that Earthly Pleasures provides a sweet, hopeful story about the power of love. Just don't expect anything too heavy - this one is as light and airy as a cloud.

P.S. Did I mention how much I love the cover of Earthly Pleasures? It really is divine.

Grade: B-

Lisa Daily's debut novel Fifteen Minutes of Shame is the kind of book I don't read in public. Its breezy cover screams CHICK LIT as loudly as a siren; I hate to sound like a snob, but this is a genre I'm embarrassed to be seen reading. Why? Well, it's got a reputation for being substanceless fluff, definitely less-than-literary. So, imagine my surprise when I not only liked this book, but actually considered giving it one of my coveted "A" grades. Pick your jaws up off the table now, and read on ...

The story features 31-year-old relationships expert Darby Vaughn. Not only is she a successful writer, public speaker, and radio host, but she's also married to handsome publicist Will Bradley, generally known as The Perfect Husband. Darby and Will have custody of his two kids from his former marriage to "a formerly sane beauty queen" (6). Even though the kids aren't technically hers, Darby takes care of them full-time and cherishes them as her own. She lives in an exclusive gated community, has a close circle of friends (her Dreamgirls) and legions of fans all over the country. Her life is the very definition of "charmed."

When Darby catches her husband at a gas station in Florida at the exact moment he's supposed to be boarding a plane for Atlanta, she panics. When he lies about his location, she gets angry. When a perusal of his locked desk drawer brings forth a handful of suspicious receipts, she gets paranoid. Could Will really be cheating on her? She's written articles and books on cheating men, wouldn't she have recognized the signs? When Will assuages her suspicions with a rational explanation, she is relieved. Feeling guilty for suspecting him, she heads off on her book tour. All is well until Today show host Matt Lauer confronts Darby with the morning's big news - publicist Will Bradley has filed for divorce, dissolving his current marriage so he can reconcile with his first wife, Gigi Bissanti. When the news sinks in, Darby expels her breakfast all over the chrysanthemums on Matt's coffee table. Live. On national television. Right before she passes out.

By the time Darby comes to, her career has taken a serious plunge down the toilet. Images of her puking on Today play out in living color on news programs, YouTube and newspapers everywhere. The public humiliation tortures her, but the real blow comes when she returns home to find her husband, children (she has been their primary caregiver since Gigi abandoned them for a spot on Hollywood's newest reality show), and whole life has up and gone away. The Dreamgirls encircle Darby, plying her with margaritas and creamy comfort foods. When she finally emerges from her grief, she's ready to follow her agent's advice and "mov[e] on with your life as a fun, fabulous, single girl" (126). So, she hires a killer divorce lawyer, starts a couple "fauxmances" with gorgeous playboys, and stars in a career - enlivening reality dating show.

Finally, her life appears to be back on track, but appearances are decieving. Darby soon finds there is a big difference between being successful and being happy. On a night when she's dressed to the nines, she wishes "that someone who cared about me could see me looking this way" (141). Another day filming her reality show just feels "pitiful and empty" (201). She misses her life, especially the kids. Just to make her life more complicated, Darby finds she's attracted to her lawyer. To make matters even worse, Will calls begging her to reconsider their marriage. He offers her the thing she wants most - "her" kids. But, what will happen to her fragile career, not to mention her life, if she breaks her own advice to "Never stay with a cheater! Never!" (240). Darby adores "her" kids, but can she risk staying with a man she will never trust again? Can she shoot her credibility, thereby destroying her career just to be near kids who aren't even hers? And what about the electricity that shoots through her body every time she touches her "killer" lawyer with a heart of gold? Darby has to make some tough decisions in order to reclaim her life, including the most important one - is it even the life she really wants?

Like I said, this is a fluffy book with deeper issues. At its heart, it is a story about success v. happiness, career v. family, and thriving v. surviving. It's about identity ("Without my family, my house, my career, without all the things I've dedicated my life to over the last several years, who the hell am I?" [84]), misconception

I imagined that married bliss looked a lot like a Pottery Barn catalog, complete with shed-free chocolate labs, beach barbecues with a handsome, adoring husband who rakes in $200K and still makes it home in plenty of time for every family event, and two charming, mannerly children who wipe their feet in the mudroom and play together for hours without conflict in the $900 lemonade stand. (16)

and the truly important things in life.

Of course, Fifteen Minutes of Shame is not without its chick lit fluff. There's a laugh-out-loud funny scene with a gay room service waiter, as well as lots of feel-good female bonding. Dating tips are sprinkled throughout the book. There's also plenty of the requisite male-bashing, male-lusting, and male-loving.

Given all this, the thing that surprised me about the book is how well it is written. It's sharp, funny, and actually very heartwarming. Daily writes what she knows; since she's a real-life relationships expert, she knows exactly what life for a fictional relationships expert would be like. This gives the story a realistic feel, even if certain parts seem a little far-fetched. Daily's writing is surprisingly original (even if her plot is not) - Darby's mind "starts whirling, with horrible, panicky thoughts spewing out like Lotto balls" (21), her city is "a town full of social climbers and no ladder" (96), and a party host's decor is "often imitated, always boring" (96).

As for negatives, there aren't that many, really. The characters in Fifteen Minutes of Shame are familiar, some (like Will) border on cliche. As I mentioned before, the book's plot gets a bit far-fetched, while remaining absolutely predictable. There were some irritating scenes, like the one in which Darby decides to start dating publicly (not seriously - just to attract media attention) before her divorce is final, then professes absolute shock when her lawyer reminds her that tramping around could ruin her case. Duh. I also could not understand why Darby works so hard to repair her marriage when she doesn't seem to miss Will at all after the breakup. She laments the loss of the children, but Will? Not so much. There just didn't seem to be much of a spark between them. The book was also filled with references to current events (Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, Brittney Spears' flashing incident) and pop culture (YouTube, Google, Starbucks, etc) which will easily date it (not that I expect it will become a classic, but still ...).

All in all, though, Fifteen Minutes of Shame is a fun, witty romp that actually hits on some serious issues. Despite her somewhat glamorous life, Darby Vaughn is an Everywoman that readers will relate to and sympathize with. Her life makes for fast, entertaining reading that you might actually consider showing in public. If you're at the beach. Under an umbrella. Where no one can see how much you're enjoying chick lit, that most embarrassing of genres.

Grade: B

Samantha "Sammy" Joyce has it all - her own apartment, a loyal pet fish and a respectable job on Capitol Hill. Okay, so she lacks poise and confidence - especially when it comes to interactions with the opposite sex - but she has a darn good life, altogether. She loves working for Robert Gary, junior senator from Ohio and bona fide man of the people. As an analyst, Sammy is a minion, but she feels "like I had a chance to make a positive difference in the world every day." (3) She is so happy with her job, in fact, that she feels guilty when gorgeous Aaron Driver comes on the scene. Aaron works as a speechwriter for Senior Senator John Bramen, a man Sammy classifies as "a jerk by most accounts, but a very successful one." (30) Bramen is, in fact, working exhaustively to win a nomination for the Presidency. Aaron admires his scheming, self-absorbed boss, a fact Sammy is willing to put aside for the moment...at least until she and Aaron are happily married. Surely, she can win him over from the Dark Side after that. When the Gary and Bramen teams form a tentative alliance, Sammy's friends and co-workers warn her not to trust anyone on Bramen's staff. Sammy refuses to listen, insisting that unlike Bramen and the rest of his staff, Aaron can be trusted. As the relationship progresses, however, Sammy begins to have her own doubts. Unfortunately, she can't fully examine them because work is keeping her busier than ever. She's already got a mountain of problems to contend with: An anonymous source from Bramen's camp has been bad-mouthing Gary's people; a reporter is hounding her about a Blackberry message accidentally sent to the wrong people; and Aaron is getting more and more distant. When an unpleasant surprise forces Sammy to see Aaron in a whole new light, her problems go from bad to worse. As she makes herself pick up the pieces of her shattered life, she must face the tough questions: Can she keep up with her increasingly important, but completely overwhelming, job? And will she ever find a man she can trust or is she destined to spend her life alone?

Kristin Gore (yep, she's Al Gore's daughter) tells Sammy's story with just the right amount of wit in her debut novel, Sammy's Hill. Her style is readable and often laugh-out-loud funny. Its setting makes the book a little meatier than your average chick-lit fare (although I'm so politically unaware that any book on the subject seems brainy). Seriously, though, I liked the political bent and thought it added an interesting dimension to the story. I also came to like Sammy Joyce, although I found her character so weird at first that I considered ditching Sammy's Hill completely. By the end of the first chapter, I decided to accept her with all of her neuroses and simply enjoy reading about her crazy, improbable life. She's kind of a female version of Dr. Dorian (Zach Braff's character) on the tv show Scrubs - loveable, but prone to bizarre daydreams and odd trains of thought. Her weird compulsions actually lessen toward the end of the story, which apparently prove her maturation as a character.

The book is really a lot of fun, although somewhat predictable. I have to say, though, that the happy ending seemed fitting and right. I also thought that Gore tried so hard to create a unique, but loveable heroine that she went way over the top, making Sammy Joyce just a little bit too crazy to be real. After all, who would seriously keep a sling around the house so she could practice performing household tasks just in case one of her arms happened to be swallowed by a lion? Like I said, she's a little nuts.

For those of you looking for a "clean read," I'm not sure what to say about this one. It does have love scenes, but they are really not graphic at all. There is plenty of innuendo, and plenty of outright sexual references, although they would probably only garner a PG-13 rating if Sammy's Hill was turned into a movie. As for profanity, there's a little, but not much (the F-word is used once). All in all, it's not that bad, so you'll have to use your own judgment. Despite these flaws, I enjoyed the story immensely.