Book Report (with a Makeover Movie Digression)

So I am existing on caffeine today because I stayed up last night finishing Tainted by Brooke Morgan.  It's a well written psychological suspense novel set in Cape Cod. 

Here's the description "In a dazzling tour de force of suspenseful storytelling, first-time novelist Brooke Morgan ingeniously peels away layers of artifice and deception to reveal the fears and uncertainties that live in the hearts of us all."


Here's my input- starts slow, but a couple chapters in you are hooked.  I stowed it in my purse so I could read it at every opportunity.  Also, last night when I finally finished, I slept with the lights on (although I am a huge scaredy cat).  So please read it!

I also recently finished The Overnight Socialite by Bridie Clark, and enjoyed it thoroughly.  If you have read Pygmalion or seen My Fair Lady, then there are no surprises in the story, but it's still a fun read.  Also, I am a huge sucker for makeover stories.  I used to own a copy of "She's All That" on VHS.
Shameful.

Here's the reviews from those whose views are not clouded by an obsession with teen makeover (see Teen Witch, Can't Buy Me Love, She's Out of Control, etc.)
 
From Publishers Weekly
Clark (Because She Can) moves the Pygmalion myth to Manhattan, adds a dash of Thelma and Louise and proves what goes around, comes around to those born to the manor or trailer park. Professor Higgins is recast as suave bachelor Wyatt Hayes IV, the sleekest lion in the pride, who picks down-on-her-luck fashion designer wannabe Lucy Jo Ellis to make over into the toast of the town. The deal is eventually struck—makeover and a shot at well-born fashion contacts for a gentleman's bet that masks a lucrative and career-saving book deal. Along the way, these perfectly matched antagonists battle mean-as-a-snake society snoots and their own misguided ambitions to find happiness and each other. (And, it should be said, the Rain in Spain remix is pretty great: The snow in Gstaad puts Aspen's to shame! the newly svelte and prepped Lucy proclaims.) Yes, of course the ending's no surprise, but the rollicking, smart-aleck fun along the way is worth the price of admission. (Dec.)
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Graydon Carter
“Quite enchanting...It’s Pygmalion in Lilly Pulitzer.”

William Norwich, Vogue
“If Edith Wharton reincarnated in a Marc Jacobs dress with the humor of a Park Avenue Nancy Mitford, that would be Bridie Clark. Hats off to The Overnight Socialite, a distinguished froth of rich social satire and romance.”

Publishers Weekly
“The rollicking, smart-aleck fun along the way is worth the price of admission.”

Jules Asner, author of Whacked
“Bridie Clark made me laugh out loud from the first chapter in this sharp and pitch perfect modern fairy tale.”

Library Journal
“Crisp, funny prose and endearing characters...a fun read for fans of well-written chick lit.”