Love in an Elevator: A Romantic Comedy Anthology - by Aven Ellis, Beth Labonte, Whitney Dineen, Becky Monson, Rich Amooi, Geralyn Corcillo, Lindy Dale and Dee Ernst

Original Cover

My own copy

The blurb:

Laugh, swoon, and escape with this romantic comedy anthology!

Will an elevator ride change her life? In HOLD THE LIFT by Aven Ellis, Sierra Crawford ends up meeting sexy British hockey player Jude Parker after their elevator sticks. Sierra finds herself getting to know Jude—and she likes what she sees. But he wouldn’t be interested in a food-obsessed assistant editor right? Sierra knows she’s quirky—her fondness of Magic 8 Balls is proof of that—so there’s no way he could look her way. Or can he?

In DOWN, THEN UP by Beth Labonte, Lauren Oswald never expected to see her college love, Jamie, again. Not after the way things ended. She certainly doesn’t expect to see him ten years later at a bachelorette party in Vegas, waiting inside a hotel elevator. Slightly older. Different haircut. No wedding ring. Same eyes. As the pair embark on a late night errand, Lauren is flooded with memories of how Jamie became the one that got away—and she realizes that this one night could be their last chance to make things right.

In GOING UP? by Whitney Dineen, Fiona Kitchen had a dream when she moved to New York and it wasn’t taking a job as an elevator operator in a posh, West Side, apartment building. She also didn’t expect to meet a hot handyman, a Columbian drug lord and a notorious mob boss and then fall for one of them in a big way. Life in the Big Apple isn’t quite turning out the way she planned, but who said that was a bad thing?

In Becky Monson’s TAKING A CHANCE, Liza Parker has a fear of heights, crowds and small spaces. So what’s a girl like her doing on a crowded elevator going to the top of the Empire State Building? Freaking out, that’s what she’s doing. Enter Jay Sanders, a tourist who thinks he might be able to help Liza face her fears, but she has to be willing to spend the day with a complete stranger. Maybe taking a chance on Jay is just what Liza needs.

In HAPPY TO BE STUCK WITH YOU by Rich Amooi, Becca has had an office crush on Daniel—Mr. Delicious—for over a year. Getting stuck in an elevator with him was the last thing she expected. If only she can control her claustrophobia. To make matters worse, they're also stuck with an eighty-year-old man who has a weak bladder, and a penchant for playing cupid. But life is unpredictable. Sometimes, getting stuck is the best thing that can happen.

Computer genius Maisy Potter crosses an ocean to take her dream vacation at an English country estate … where the winsome Mark Prebys works below stairs. With him, Maisy discovers a carefree happiness she's never known. But will the troubles dogging her from back home, a secret or two whispered behind the parlour curtains, and misunderstandings to beat the band extinguish the magic they think they've found in each other? And if not, what happens when Maisy's enchanting holiday ends? Find out in UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS … AND THE LIFT IN BETWEEN by Geralyn Corcillo.

In THE ONLY WAY IS UP by Lindy Dale, Meet Bailey Burns: hottest thing on the literary circuit. And the most reluctant. After fainting in a lift and regaining consciousness to find herself kissing a stranger, Bailey thinks her week can’t get much worse. But it can. Much worse. Bailey is about to be proposed to by a crazed fan wearing a vampire costume. She’s about to discover she’s in relationship with the guy she kissed. Not only that, but said guy happens to be her new PR manager. Oh dear!

In OUT OF ORDER, by Dee Ernst, Grace has sworn off good-looking men.

My Opinion:

Love in an Elevator is a Romantic Comedy Anthology with a collection of eight short stories written by some wonderful authors.

An anthology like this is a great way to discover new authors. I started reading it, because I love Aven Ellis and her stories. Some authors I heard of talking to other bloggers and seeing their reviews and again some of these authors I have never heard of.

I have to say that sometimes short stories tend to be a bit too short, but here it wasn’t the case. I felt like they all had a great length and it’s fab that the all have the same topic with the elevator. It makes this anthology a lovely closed circle with lots of different elements.

Now. Let’s talk about the individual stories, starting with Hold the Lift by Aven Ellis. This story includes a hockey player and when this is the case I’m always over the moon. Sierra meets him in the elevator of their apartment building and when the elevator, or should I say lift is stuck, they get to spend some time together. Sierra embarrasses herself pretty fast, but Jude takes it easy and they get to know each other. Their conversation is easy, free and full of sparks. I really like following it. Aven has this gift of creating amazing atmospheres between the characters and she did it her as well. Of curse there also have to be one or another misunderstanding in this story, which made it all even more exciting. Even though the story is quite short, the characters are wonderfully lined out and the storyline has a great flow, I was hooked immediately and loved every part of this short story. 5/5

DOWN, THEN UP by Beth Labonte follows the story of Lauren Oswald, who is in Vegas for her sister’s hen do. As the only sober one she is sent to get some donuts. The same goes for Jamie, he is the groom’s cousin and the men are in Vegas too. Jamie is not only the groom’s cousin though, no he is also her college love and of course she bumps into him in the elevator. They talk and catch up and their old feelings seem to come back…

This is a really fast-paced and exciting read and I loved getting to know the characters and their past. It kind of moved a bit too fast for me, but I still really enjoyed it. Beth’s writing is fun and vivid and oh well did I mention Las Vegas?! Always a great location. 4/5

The third story in this anthology is Going Up? By Whitney Dineen. It tells the story of Fiona Kitchen, who has moved to New York and dreams of running her own massage studio. To earn money for that she works as an elevator operator in a posh apartment building. That’s where she meets Jeremy and also some other people. Hidden behind it all is a bit of a mystery actually, but that didn’t really come a cross for me. The connections between the characters and some parts of the storyline sadly didn’t make any sense to me at all. It’s a fun read, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I hope for. 3.5/5

Becky Monson’s Taking a Chance is a wonderful story. Liza is afraid of heights and is trying to go on top of the Empire State Building. Seeing that she struggles, Jay is there to help and takes her on a little journey around New York, to help her with her fear. These two characters hit it off immediately and it’s actually really sweet to see what Jay does for her. They talk about their present and past and have a fab time together. I have to say, yes it’s a bit unrealistic with the timings and the places they go, but nevertheless it’s a cute and sweet story, written in a really vivid and bubbly way. I was in New York in April, so it was great to read about all these fab places again. Becky also plays around with names and that in a really great way with a deeper meaning. 4.5/5

On we go with Happy to be Stuck with You by Rich Amooi. Becca has a crush on Daniel, but he is leaving the company and isn’t he gay?! On the way up to his goodbye party they get stuck in the elevator, the problem?! She is claustrophobic! A kiss seems to distract her and what kind of kiss. The confusion about thinking he’s gay and then him paying no attention to her during the party is there. But they get another chance and sparks definitely fly!!! A cute story! 4/5

UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS … AND THE LIFT IN BETWEEN by Geralyn Corcillo is the story of Maisy Potter who goes on a vacation across the pond. She falls in love with the English countryside and also meets Mark. They hit it off immediately, but he is hiding something from her. I know it’s a short story, but things moved really quickly and weren’t really explained and it was hard to grip for me. The writing is vivid and exciting, I really liked that. 3/5

THE ONLY WAY IS UP by Lindy Dale follows Bailey Burns is an author, who kisses a stranger after fainting in an elevator. That stranger is much more though. Him announcing that they are in a relationship (PR thing) makes things more complicated. This is the only story I felt that it was too short, I want to know what happens next. I really liked the two characters and I think they are really cute together. This is a fun, entertaining and sweet read. 4.5/5

Last but not least, we have OUT OF ORDER by Dee Ernst. Grace has sworn off men and she is also a writer, afraid to be published. When she is dog sitting for her aunt, she meets Seth. They get to know each other and a relationship builds. It gets more interesting when Grace finds out he’s an author as well. A wonderfully written story with great characters and a gripping storyline, loved it. 4.5/5

So all in all I’d like to give this anthology 4 out 5 stars. It’s a great mixture of stories and authors. Every author brings something different to it and the mixture of styles is awesome.

My Rating:

Goodreads - Amazon UK - Amazon US

Simona Hits LONDON!!! (Again 😉)

At the end of July, I made a little trip to London with my mum. We try to go on a city trip every year and since we both love London; the choice was pretty obvious. Surprisingly I didn’t attend a book event this time. I wanted to meet some of my lovely blogging friends, but time didn’t allow it and somehow the timing was a bit off. Next time anyway ;).

We flew to City Airport Thursday morning and arrived at the hotel at around 10.30 am, which allowed us to still enjoy the whole day. We quickly unpacked, freshened up and then hit the streets of London. The first stop took us tot he Palace Theatre, where Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is performed. Of course I had to take a picture ;). We then picked up the tickets for Book of Mormon in the evening and went to Covent Garden. The shops around there are awesome, so of course we spent time there. Then we decided to have lunch at LuDurée in Covent Garden, because I just love their omelette. The omelette was fab, but the rest oft he experience was not. My mum got really old salad, it was yellow and had spots all over, then they gave us fries we didn’t order, the actual food took forever to arrive and the service was lousy. They didn’t even say sorry. When we payed (I almost expected them to put the fries on the bill as well, they didn’t), he came back and said we didn’t give enough money, but we did. Then he found it by the till on the floor. Unbelievable!!! We had to beauty/fashion bloggers sitting next to us. My god, so typical bloggers, only taking pictures! They didn’t even talk to each other or eat the food in the right order, a bit over the top for me to be honest.

Well, anyway. We continued the shopping afterwards. Back at the hotel, I enjoyed my Starbucks coffee and then got ready for the show in the evening. We had dinner at the Rosso Pomodoro at Seven Dials and then headed to the Prince of Wales theatre. The Book of Mormon was AWESOME!!! Check out my musical review later this month.

After breakfast on Friday we walked to Trafalgar Square and then along the Mall to the Buckingham Palace. We booked Fashioning a Reign 90 Years of Style from The Queen's Wardrobe. So we were able to see about 130 dress the queen has worn and also get into Buckingham Palace. WE WERE IN THERE!!!! Actually there, where guest arrive, where she greets them, where she eats dinner with them etc. It was very overwhelming. Ando mg these dress, very unique and special. It’s funny how they all look not really fashionable, but on her they look great. In the end we were also able to walk through the gardens oft he palace.

Our next stop was Harrods and the chicken in the food halls. I just love having lunch there. We then also went tot he fashion labs and the gift shop. After hitting Topshop across the street, we took a taxi back to Soho, got the tickets for Aladdin and then went to Foyles, my paradise. Back at the hotel it was coffee time again and getting ready. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant close tot he theatre and then went to see the show. It was FAB!!! These colours and effects are amazing, read more in my musical review, coming soon...

Hello Saturday and hello Regent Street! This street is awesome for shopping!!! A little stop took us to Starbucks, where I played around with the Harry Potter filters on Snapchat ;). After finishing Regent Street, we went to Carnaby Street. Lunch took us to this amazing Tapas place called Dehesa, we had avocado bruschetta with rocket salad and tomatoes and artichokes with beans and a pea salad. SO DELICIOUS!!!! Of course we the walked through Carnaby Street and hit some shops, before going back to the hotel and getting ready for another show. This time we took a taxi to the show, but getting a taxi was not easy at all, because of Ride London, so many roads were closed. We still made it on time to the Menier Chocolate Factory (I saw “Assassins” there 1 ½ years ago). After dinner there, we went into the theatre, it’s really small and what they did with the stage is great. This was an “Into the Woods” in a very different way, but GREAT! More of course in my musical review.

Sunday was the last day already. It took us down to the Thames and the London Eye, where we just enjoyed the sunshine. Then we went to Waterstones. No I didn’t buy Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, because I pre-ordered it online J. I bought some other books though. We also stopped quickly at the Picture Galley and then did the rest of Covent Garden, Sven Dials, before having a late lunch at Jamie’s Italian. Then it was time to say goodbye and go to the airport. I went a little crazy in duty free ;). The best thing about the flight was the view onto London from the plane! JUST FAB!!!

Tips for city trips to Italy and traveling in Italy in general

As a child my family took me to Italy every year and also now we are goung to Como or other cities practically every year. Here are some tips that should help you, when you go to this country.

The journey down there is always a bit of a hassle, only when you're driving though. If you can fly, go ahead. The traffic at the Gotthard tunnel is really long, especially in summer, so you either get up really early and drive through the tunnel or you drive over the pass.

Generally it's good to arrive early in an Italian city, because the stores are open in the mornings until about one o'clock and then they re-open at three. This counts especially for the Italian boutiques and stores. Some department stores are open though. I would advise to have lunch during these two hours and go back to the shops afterwards.

The parking situation is usually not easy in these curies, try to find a parking garage on Google Maps before hnd and then let your GPS take you there.

Italians don't really like having to speak English, so if you order something or buy something in a shop, try it in Italian, it's some simple words and phrases and then you're good.

When you have lunch or dinner at a restaurant be prepared to pay extra for "coperto". That means you are basically paying for sitting down and that everything is ready on the table, you can also call it cover charge. Usually tips are not expected though. Bread in Italian restaurants is also different most of the time, not salty and it's used for a different purpose. Many restaurants only open at 7 pm in the evening, so be prepared to eat late. In touristy places the restaurants tend to be open earlier.  

Italian coffee is the best. So make sure you have a least one while you're there. And of course the gelato, so many choices!!!

Ladies with small feet, Italy is your paradise!!!

In Italy it's best to have a car. Buses and trains have a schedule, but they always run late and are not reliable at all. 

It's good to always carry around cash, some places don't accept credit cards and if you want to split the bill, it's easier.