Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: lisa-souza

  • SPOTLIGHT on CHATELAINE and Its Hall of Fame Authors – Romance Novels & Romantic Fiction in all its Forms!

    SPOTLIGHT on CHATELAINE and Its Hall of Fame Authors – Romance Novels & Romantic Fiction in all its Forms!

    Chanticleer Book Reviews is seeking today’s best books featuring romantic themes and adventures of the heart, historical love affairs, perhaps a little steamy romance, we will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

    Find out more about the stunning beauty that Dante Rossetti painted, Jane Morris, at the end of this blog post.

     

    Do you have a romance novel or manuscript ready for readers?

    Do you want to see how it stands up to others in its category?

    Then don’t delay! The CHATELAINE Book Awards division is accepting submissions from both recently published and complete manuscripts in romance and romantic fiction. But this year we’ve moved our deadline – to keep you on your toes!

    The new deadline for the Chatelaine Awards is AUGUST 31, 2020! 

    That’s right, the last day for submissions into the 2020 Chatelaine Book Awards is August 31, 2020. So, if you love Piña Coladas – and getting caught in the rain… I mean, if you like writing about those things, and other things having to do with matters of the heart, including these:

    The Chatelaine Awards Categories are:|
    Contemporary Romance
    Historical Romance
    Adventure & Suspense
    Romantic Steamy/Sensual (Not Erotic)
    Inspirational/Restorative

    Send them in today! What are you waiting for?

    Click here for more information and submission form! 

    Don’t Delay! Enter Today! 

    Insiders’ Tip: Other genre divisions of the Chanticleer International Book Awards have romance categories as well. Multiple submissions of the same work to a variety of  CIBA writing competitions divisions are accepted. Check out our divisions here. 

     

     

     

     

    Please join us in congratulating and reading these top works in this diverse range of all reads Chatelaine: Romance, Chick-Lit,  Women’s Fiction, Inspirational, Suspenseful, and, of course, Steamy and Sensual in the
    CHATELAINE HALL of FAME!

    Nicola Slade took home the Chatelaine Grand Prize Ribbon in 2018 for The House at Ladywell.

    Congratulations to the 2018 CHATELAINE Book Awards for Romantic Fiction  First in Category Winners!

     

    Leigh Grant’s MASK OF DREAMS  took home the Chatelaine Grand Prize Ribbon for 2017.

    The First Place Category Winners of the CIBA 2017 CHATELAINE Awards:

     

     

     

     

     

      M.A. Clarke Scott’s The ART of ENCHANTMENT took home the 2016 Chatelaine Grand Prize.

     

    The First Place Category Winners of the CIBA 2016 CHATELAINE Awards:

     

    Nicole Evelina’s DAUGHTER of DESTINY took both the Chatelaine Grand Prize and the OVERALL Grand Prize winner for 2015.


     

    The First Place Category Winners of the CIBA 2015 CHATELAINE Awards:

     

    Janet Shawgo’s FIND ME AGAIN won the 2014 Chatelaine Grand Prize.

    Find Me Again Janet Shawgo

    The First Place Category Winners of the CIBA 2014 CHATELAINE Awards:

    Kate Vale’s CHOICES was awarded the 2013 Chatelaine Grand Prize and took home the OVERALL Grand Prize for best book of the year!

     

    The First Place Category Winners of the CIBA 2013 CHATELAINE Awards:

    • Historical Romance: The Lily and the Lion by Catherine T. Wilson & Catherine A. Wilson
    • Southern Romance: Swamp Secret by Eleanor Tatum
    • Mystery: The Hourglass by Sharon Struth
    • Jane Austen Inspired: Pulse and Prejudice by Colette Saucier
    • Paranormal: Crimson Flames by Ashley Robertson
    • Christian Inspirational Romance: Chasing Charlie by C. M. Newman
    • Restorative: A Path through the Garden by Nancy LaPonzina
    • Classic Bodice Ripper: To Dare the Duke of Dangerfield by Bronwen Evans

     Who will win the CHATELAINE Book Awards Blue Ribbons for 2020?

    The judging rounds will commence in August! Submit your works today!

    The last day for submissions into the 2020 Chatelaine Book Awards is August 31, 2020. Winners will be announced at our CAC21 conference – scheduled for April

    Click here for more information and submission form! 

    Don’t Delay! Enter Today! 

    And remember our Insiders’ Tip: Other genre divisions of the Chanticleer International Book Awards have romance categories as well. Multiple submissions of the same work to a variety of  CIBA writing competitions divisions are accepted. Check it out here!

    A little information about the Chatelaine Book Awards icon:

    Romance Fiction Award

     

    We feel that Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Pre-Raphaelite painting of Jane Morris (muse and wife of William Morris) in a Blue Silk Dress captures the many moods of the Chatelaine division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards.  Jane Morris (nee Jane Burden—little is known about her childhood but that it was poor and deprived) was known for her keen intelligence. William Morris fell in love with her when she sat for him as a model. She was privately tutored to become a gentleman’s wife upon their engagement. It is said that she was the inspiration for George Bernard Shaw’s character Eliza Dolittle of My Fair Lady fame. The Blue Silk Dress was painted in 1868 by Rossetti and it currently resides in the Society for Antiquaries of London.  She was 29 when Rossetti painted it. Rossetti and Jane Morris became closely attached until his death in 1882. To read more about the fascinating Jane Morris, click on this Wikipedia page.

  • Beauty and the Bridesmaid by Lisa Souza – Chick-lit

    Beauty and the Bridesmaid by Lisa Souza – Chick-lit

    Beauty takes a different a form in Lisa Souza’s page-turning debut novel, Beauty and the Bridesmaid.

    Dorothy (Dot) Lindell tags herself as a “relationship black hole.” An overweight software geek with a loser love life whose only wish is to not die a virgin.

    At her cousin’s wedding, displayed in a tightly molded purple-ish taffeta gown, Dot feels she wins the award for the ugliest bridesmaid. To add injury to insult, Dot has lost hope of an amorous hookup since her escort, Kennedy J Kennedy is gay – and the life of the party. But when he offers to trade his image consulting services for her software know-how, Dot checks the box for a complete image overhaul.

    What she doesn’t realize is that her extensive overhaul is bigger, financially and physically and emotionally, than she could ever have imagined. If facial acid applications through a dermatologist aren’t enough, Dot’s personal trainer works her to death. Although it only takes her three and a half months to lose the weight through rigorous exercise program and her spanking-new meal plan, it all pales in comparison to the painful aftermath of plastic surgery.

    As a result of her hard work and her surgeon’s skill, Dot is NOT the same person, anatomically speaking, than before. Changing her moniker to her middle name, Alana (Dot) enters a new world of attraction. Among her many admirers, the first person to ask her on a date is none other than her heart-throb who didn’t know she existed – even though they worked in the same office.

    As told through Dot, Souza’s first person narrative describes a young woman whose involvement as a bridesmaid is less than stellar for several reasons, hideously unflattering dresses near the top of the list. Beauty and the Bridesmaid is a fascinating story that will hit the nerve of women who have ever felt or been told that their physical appearance just isn’t enough.

    Souza’s distinct cast encompasses a wide range of personalities. From the down-and-outers and geeks to the haughty, and those that are purely villainous, Souza has designed much of her figures to function as foils for the main purpose of shaping Dot’s persona. Scenes continually alternate between Dot’s work, home life, friendships, and attendance at weddings as she transforms from an unattractive heavyset woman to a slim drop-dead gorgeous diva. An appealing feature of Dot’s character is her snarky comebacks, which as comedic as they are, function as her defense mechanism. Underneath her callous demeanor is actually a very humble and compassionate side that remains consistent even though she changes outwardly.

    Souza slowly but steadily builds her plot with various elements to keep the story fluid. Aside from cliffhanging chapter endings and scenes replete with copious amounts of unexpected everything, Souza eliminates monotony by sprinkling the storyline with Dot’s therapy appointments, her Barbara Cartland romance reads, and bridal excerpts from Sarah Stein and Lucy Talbot’s The Bridesmaid’s Manual.

    Beauty and the Bridesmaid is a perfect read with broad audience appeal for both Chick Lit and Romance aficionados.

    5 Star Best Book Chanticleer Reviews round silver sticker