Book Review: Love Struck by Chantel Simmons

Finding out your husband of three years is cheating on you is shock enough, but before you have time to react to that devastating news, you find out he has been in a freak accident. That is the way Poppy Ross finds her day going. Rushing to the hospital, while still reeling from the affair news, Poppy finds out that her husband, Parker, has not only been hit by lightening while in the company of his mistress, but he has lost his short term memory. With it unclear as to how long before Parker regains his memory, Poppy goes about reinventing herself. The model for her reinvention? Sienna Somers, who just happens to be the woman her husband was cheating on her with.

Chantel Simmon's latest book, "Love Struck" is a definitive "what would you do" as Poppy frantically tries to make herself over into what she imagines is the woman that Parker wants. Her career as an image consultant starts to suffer and her relationship with her best friend is strained as Poppy struggles with her makeover. Add ex-boyfriend, Colin, to the fray and Poppy's life is spinning out of control. As I read the book I went from feeling sympathy for Poppy to needing to see her get knocked down a few pegs to cheering for her to come out on top again. What I really enjoyed about this book was the fact that all the characters, though definitely flawed, were extremely likable. Even Sienna, knowing she was the other woman, was interesting. I loved the book and have added Chantel Simmons to my list of must reads.

I was also lucky enough, thanks to the gracious Samantha Robey of CLP Blog tours, to get to interview Chantel. I hope you enjoy it! She is a lot of fun.

Who inspired you to become a writer? And who continues to inspire you to this day?

In the first grade, I wrote a mashup story in which the Care Bears and My Little Pony meet up and save the world. I illustrated it, made a cardboard cover for it, bound the spine and even splatter-painted the endsheets inside the cover. I learned three things in the process.

A) I'm a terrible artist.

B) Writing about famous bears and ponies is probably considered plagiarism and grounds for being sued.

C) I loved to write.

So I started making up original stories, and that was that.

My parents were (and still are) hugely supportive of following my dreams. Both of them are not really that artsy at all (my mom was a pharmacist and my dad in business) so it meant even more to me that they would fully support a not-exactly-stable career.

"Love Struck" was such a fun read, was there any part of yourself in any of the characters?

I think there is always a part of me in my main characters -- what I loved about Poppy was how neurotic she is. I am always letting my imagination cause me to have insomnia, stress and anxiety, so it was nice to actual put my rather unflattering quality to good use by channeling it into creating a fun character!

Since Poppy was all about reinventing herself, if you could reinvent yourself what would you do?

It would be fun to reinvent myself as the complete opposite of who I actually am. Outgoing, sexy, super tall and skinny, with blond hair and big boobs. OK maybe just for a day.

Who would you like to see cast if "Love Struck" was made into a movie?

Poppy: Rachel McAdams
Parker: Josh Duhamel
Colin: Jim Sturgess...swoon!
Sienna: Scarlett Johansson could totally pull it off.

I found Colin to be absolutely charming, any thoughts of telling his story? Or even Sienna's?

Ooh, I love that idea! Can you get started on the synopsis? :)

Can you talk about what you are working on next?

I have a few projects in the works, but I'm too superstitious to talk about any of them...but you can keep checking my blog/website/Facebook/Twitter for updates!

Chantel's website

And a note from Samantha:
Please join me and Chantel on Tuesday, May 31st at 7 pm CST for a TwitParty! Use the hashtag #CLPChantel to ask your questions and participate!