Book Club Discussion Questions for My Husband's Wife by Jane Corry

Book club Discussion Questions for My Husband's Wife by Jane Corry

·       The book begins with newlyweds, Ed and Lily, two of the main characters. We find out that Ed proposes to Lily on their second date. Should this have been a red flag for Lily?

·       We find out Ed’s ex girlfriend left him and he needed to get married in order to acquire his trust. Let’s unpack this and the implication it has on his future with new wife, Lily.

·       Lily is a lawyer, who takes on Joe Thomas as a client. Discuss their relationship.

·       Do Ed and Joe have anything in common?

·       Carla is raised by a single Italian mother named Francesca. Lily and Ed watch Carla while she’s at work. Her “work” is really a married man named Larry. Larry had a secret name and a not so secret family. Discuss.

·       Lily's chapters are in the first person and Carla's in the third. Does this make you more sympathetic towards Lily?

·       Lily seems to have a strange relationship with her family. We later find out she had an adopted brother and her issues stem from far more than just his suicide. How do you think their relationship and his death have impacted her life choices?

·       Carla becomes a muse for Ed and he paints her as “The Italian Girl,” awarding him some attention for his work. Did anyone else find their relationship to be borderline inappropriate from day 1?

·       Lily and Ed have a son named Tom, who has some behavioral issues. The issues make Lily think he could be Joe’s son. Lily never finds out if Ed or Joe is the father. Why?

·       Carla comes back from Italy to attend law school after being inspired by Lily. In a way, she seemed to be trying to become her before she became involved with Ed.  Do you think she wants to step into Lily’s life or just thinks being with a married man is acceptable because of her mother’s past relationships?

·       Joe Thomas is a stalkery criminal that Lily has some strange feelings for. Let’s talk about their relationship.

·       Ed is killed. Who did it? What happened?

·       Carla seeks Lily’s help as her lawyer. Lily steps in to take the case of her dead husband’s new wife. Why?

·       Carla was painted again as a child and as an adult. We later find out that Carla’s father, whom she has yearned to know for her whole life saw the painting on the news and ends up getting in touch with Carla’s Nonno and then taking care of her daughter Poppy. In the end, it seems as though her daughter will be getting the father she never had. Being raised by a single mom seemed to be the stem of many of her insecurities throughout the book and also may have given her a “father complex,” which possibly played into her relationship with married man and father, Ed. Discuss this and the end of the book.

Blistex: Allure Beauty Enthusiasts

Allure Beauty Enthusiasts sent me three of the newest Blistex lip products to try out.

I was extremely excited to get these in the mail. My two favorites are the Superfruit Soother chap stick and the Global Blend chap stick. The lip serum is super moisturizing I just don't like to touch the products with my finger. I'd rather smooth on. It will be great for extra chapped lips in the winter cold.

The Global blend lip balm smells incredible and goes on extremely smooth. It leaves your lips smooth and is thinner than a typical chap stick. The scent is a bit like a mango and it goes on like velvet. The pearl powder and jojoba oil make a great mix.

The Superfruit Soother chap stick also has a tropical smell superfruit/berry scent. It is great for a primer or daily chap stick.

I will definitely use all three of these. I am grateful to have received them from Allure Beauty Enthusiasts!

Book Club Questions for A Simple Favor!

Hello readers,

My book club just read A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell and I couldn't find discussion questions anywhere so I made my own.

I wanted to share them with you in case your book club reads this book as well!

Enjoy!

1.The book starts with a blog post from Stephanie on her “mom blog.” What do you think about her blog? What is the purpose? Do you think she has an active audience?

2. Miles and Nicky are friends so Stephanie and Emily become friends.  Was their friendship normal or contrived?

3. Emily asks Stephanie for a “simple favor” which ends up being anything but simple. Discuss this favor and why the author chose to name the book after it. Do you think it was a good idea/book title?

4. Sean and Emily have an interesting marriage. He is British (and in the movie a crazy rich Asian!) She is from Bloomfield Hills, MI. Is this who you would expect to be Emily’s husband? Explain why they go together or don’t.

5. Emily works in PR for Dennis Nylon. Discuss his role in the book and how her position led her to do what she did. After Emily goes missing, Dennis goes on the news with a signature tie to help find Emily and give more press to her case. He also made flyers and sent interns to look for her. Was this helpful or just a way for his brand to get more attention?

6. Stephanie has an unfortunate past. She had an incestuous relationship with her half brother, which led to a child, while she was (with/married?) to Davis. Somebody call Jerry Springer. Let’s discuss.

7. Emily steals Sean’s mom’s ring while in London. This ring plays an important role throughout the book. Discuss why she did this and why the ring is so important to her.

8.  Emily and Stephanie become fast friends. Was their friendship ever real? How did Emily know that Stephanie would play the role she played? Emily refers to Stephanie as “the fish.” Was she just a pawn all along?

9. Sean and Stephanie become involved. Is anyone surprised?

10.  All of this happened for $2mil of insurance money. Emily and Sean seem to both have had great jobs. Why did they do all of this for insurance fraud?

11. Emily has a secret twin. Why did she hide her from her family? And in the end when she kills her to aid in her plan, were you surprised?

12. Discuss the ending of the book. So much happened. Does Emily really get away with all of this in the end?

Review of the Brand New Revlon® Salon 1875W 360° Dual Fast Dry Hair Dryer and Styler

When I saw this new Revlon hair dryer was coming out, I knew I needed to try it. I immediately ordered it from Target, the only retailer to have immediate access to it. I could find zero reviews online but it looks like a flat iron and a hair dryer in one. For a girl with curly hair, this looked like a dream come true. So how does it fare?

I have to admit, my expectations for this hair dryer were high. I should have known better with a $60 price tag, this is would likely not be a game changer. Nevertheless, I took a chance and bought it. I found that the heat from it doesn't feel nearly as hot as previously used blow dryers. Also, because of how the hair goes into the dryer, it doesn't seem like it straightens as well. It does dry the hair but the hair seems to be drying into curls. 

One nice feature is that you can turn the dryer so you can direct the heat out like a normal hair dryer. This may be the best feature. Overall, I wish I could say better things but this doesn't do what I wanted it to do. No use to straighten hair or give yourself a smooth blow out at home.

YSL. I'm green with envy!

I received this product from Influenster to test out the shade of Vert Green. I don't normally use a colour corrector in my everyday beauty routine so I was excited to try this one. Having watched the how to videos on YouTube, I knew this products purpose was to cover redness and blemishes. I was very impressed by the results. I didn't think I had much redness to conceal but after using this product, I definitely saw some results. YSL made this product great to use as well. You push up on the bottom button and the product comes out of the top in the built in brush. After rubbing the product in and using foundation on top, my face looked pretty flawless. 

c. Booth Review!

I had the opportunity to try a c. Booth product via Influenster so I obviously had a hard decision to make...pick just one! My decision was made semi easier because I did have some difficulty finding this product. After a Google search to find out what stores carried this product, I made my way to 2 separate Walgreens and 1 Ulta before I was able to find any c. Booth products. I think tried a random Rite Aid, which had 3 options. Two of them were body lotions and the 3rd was this all over body scrub. I'm always a fan of trying new products so I opted for this one vs. the standard body lotions. I'm glad I did. This scrub smells like the ocean when you open the container. It comes with a plastic top it's so fragrant. The product itself is a gel-like sea salt texture. I really liked the smell and texture. It smells very fresh and clean and it washes off quickly so there is no sticky residue leftover. I'm glad to have found this product because it makes me skin feel extremely soft.

Birchbox purchase!!

I redeemed 400 of my Birchbox points for this fabulous Laura Geller Flawless in a Flash kit! It came in a cute wristlist! Inside was a blush, a foundation, a primer, a mascara and a blush brush! It was a $112 dollar value and it was on the site for $28. I also got an Illume grapefruit oleander candle! I love the way it smells but it is way smaller than I expected from the picture online. Either way, I'm glad I was able to get all of this stuff with just points!

Target Beauty Box!

My Target Beauty Box arrived today. I had no idea it would arrive so quickly! It's pretty epic for a $5 box. I can't lie. In it was a Maybelline Color Elixir Lip Gloss, a L'Oreal Paris Infallible Pro-Spray and Set, which I'm very excited about. I don't currently use a makeup setting spray and I love discovering new products that I need to add to my routine. Also included was a Neutrogena Hydro Boost Gel Cream. This product was about $17 dollars full price so I'm excited to sample it. I also got a TreSemme Extra Hold Hairspray and a SheaMoisture Superfruit 10-in-1 shampoo. It's sulfate free so I will def give it a try. I have seen it in store for $12 dollars. Target also gives you a coupon for $3 off of a $15 beauty purchase. I think this box was a great deal and I will definitely repurchase again!

First ever Walmart Beauty Box Arrived!

Today I got my first ever beauty box from Walmart! This is the spring box and it was $5.00. It's a seasonal box so it's $20 for the whole year. In this box, I received L'oreal shampoo/conditioner samples, John Freida shampoo/conditioner samples, Tresemme Dry Shampoo, Dove Dry Oil, Dial exfoliator, St. Ives face mask, Nivea body lotion, coupons from Covergirl and Nivea and best of all, a Hard Candy lip stain. Definitely worth $5.00! 

Wet n Wild MegaLast Salon Nail Color

Under Your Spell (it's a dark red)

I am a bit of a nail snob and normally don't do my own nails. I usually frequent nail places and use OPI and Essie exclusively. This particular day, I couldn't get a manicure appt until Saturday and didn't want to go to work with chipped nails. I picked up this Wet N Wild polish because I liked the color and figured it would do for 1 day before I got my nails done. I was SHOCKED and surprised by how magnificent this brush was. I've never used a nail polish that was so easy to apply. The brush is really a pro manicurist brush and the polish dried very quickly and evenly. I didn't even need a top coat. I will buy this polish in every color it comes in. What a fantastic deal at $2.00 a piece and it is supposed to last at least 7 days. You can't beat this!

buy it online here

Yves Saint Laurent mascara

I received this YSL volume effect mascara today and I was beyond excited to test it out!

Review of the product:

This YSL Mascara Volume Effet Faux Cils puts my other mascaras to shame. All that hype about Benefit, There're Real mascara... And I was far more impressed by this YSL mascara. It comes in a luxurious, sleek gold tube, with the YSL logo as seen below. The wand is smooth, unlike many voluminizing mascaras. It applies easily and it gives you great lash volume. It also has a very lovely scent that is not too overpowering. It's a triple intensity formula for intense volume, color and care. The brush coats each lash from root to tip and is said to strengthen lashes. I love it! 

I don't know how I can go back to my other mascaras. I will definitely be repurchasing this product! 

*Product courtesy of Influenster!

Evian Giveaway!

Evian has a great giveaway happening now where you can Enter to Win two 5 oz. evian® Facial Sprays ($25 value) Click this link to enter!


Promotion hosted by The Wilkes Group #evianspray