Customer Reviews

A Clean Slate (Red Dress Ink Novels)

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3 star:		(2)
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Kelly has stars in her eyes about the future as she goes home one day, but they fall to the ground with a resounding bang when she arrives to find her key will not work and some idiot has replaced her name with someone else's on the mailbox. Her irratation turns to shock when a stranger opens the door and treats her like a visitor. This woman and her family now live in Kelly's home, and have for months. Scared, she goes in search of her boyfriend, who tells her to quit acting like a stalker and leave him and his new girlfriend alone. When Kelly finally finds her best friend, Laney tells her things that make her realize that five months of her life have been erased from her mind. She now lives somewhere else, is jobless, and her boyfriend broke up with her months ago. She is also keeping a pscyhologist in business.

Disconcerted, Kelly is not sure what bothers her more, losing five months or finding out what kind of person she has become in that length of time. Determined to change the latter, she begins an odyssey that will lead her to following a dream and getting a job working with a photographer she has long admired, changing her image in a way that draws men to her, including her former boyfriend who now wants a second chance, and generally reshaping her life.

**** Kelly is a heroine that shows us the truth of such Bible passages as Romans 8 28, that all things work out for the good. Losing one's lifestyle might be the way to really find one's life. This unusual book will get you to think, intriguing you with what it really takes to start one's life anew. ****

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore

Red Dress Ink has ventured into darker, thought-provoking novels with serious subject matters. I find this new venture refreshing. Lindsay Faith Rech's Losing It floored me in a profound level, and Laura Caldwell's A Clean Slate has done the exact same thing.

Kelly McGraw's life is no longer the same. She suddenly has no recollection of events that occurred during the last five months. Strangely enough, those were the most difficult months of her life. Her boyfriend had dumped her on her birthday, she'd lost her corporate job, and a deep depression had befallen her. Kelly sees her loss of memory as a clean slate. Now she can pursue all the things she's always wanted. However, starting over isn't as simple as she had hoped...

As previously said, this is quite an impressing Red Dress Ink offering. This imprint offers books that are above the typical looking-for-love-in-the-big-city novels. A Clean Slate is a wonderful and poignant novel. Laura Caldwell is a talented writer and I look forward to her next project.

I loved Laura Caldwell's first novel, "Burning the Map" and have been looking forward to her second book. "A Clean Slate" deals with Kelly who discovers that she has some memory loss problems had a chance to "do it all over again." The only thing Kelly remembered was that she was dumped by her longtime boyfriend Ben on her 30th birthday, retrenched by her company and was basically alone. Thankfully, her best friend, Laney was at her side to give her all the encouragement and support that she needed but despite that, Kelly was still not able to remember the events between her birthday and now. However, Kelly felt that something important happened during those months but she was at the same time too afraid to find out. Putting it behind her, Kelly was eager to start a new life and pursuing her interest in photography full time.

I think this is one of Red Dress Ink better books. It is definitely a lot more thought provoking than your regular chick lit. The author did a fantasic job of characterizing Kelly and is able to bring her to life. In addition, I like the relationship between Kelly and Laney which I thought was well developed. In addition, the book was very well-written, great secondary characters, and good plot. The whole "thing" that Kelly forgot but knew it was important was quite intriguing and the author was able to keep her readers guessing. This is a more serious chick lit compared to the rest and it is definitely worth your money. Laura Caldwell is certainly a promising writer in this genre.

Another must-read from Laura Caldwell. You will love this book. Who hasn't dreamed about starting completely over and the possibilities therein? Kelly McGraw finds herself with a real clean slate and hers is a journey that we can all empathize with and enjoy. Caldwell makes us laugh and she makes us think. Hers are stories of substance, friendship, life, and laughter. There is something for everyone in "A Clean Slate" - it is definitely a must-read. Enjoy!

This book starts out as a page turner, and in the beginning had me as bewildered as Kelly, the heroine. The suspense continues throughout the book, but at the same time I got wrapped up in Kelly's "current" clean slate life. It is very easy to identify with Kelly - she handles life's problems as most of us probably do, TRYING HER BEST. Her friend Laney is delightful! Laney is the best friend a girl could want, although she's not perfect as she has the endearing honesty to admit. Laney is supportive but not afraid to insert her opinion when needed, as most of our good friends are required to do from time to time!

Above and beyond loving the characters and keeping the pages turning rapidly to uncover the mystery behind the memory loss, the book had me literally LAUGHING aloud in numerous places along the way. It was so funny because I could relate to those true to life 'I could just die of embarassment' moments.

Laura Caldwell has a lot of talent to create such real and enjoyable characters. This is definitely a book I'd recommend for a light and enjoyable read.

Kelly thought she knew exactly what she wanted out of life: to make partner at her job, to marry her boyfriend and eventually have kids. Her world get's smashed when she must cope with the death of her sister then to make matters worse a couple months later on her 30th Birthday she gets laid off and dumped by Ben! She plummets into a horrible depression for months... but Kelly doesn't remember anything that happened before her birthday! Her best friend fills her in and she's given this clean slate of a life to work with. Her body is looking better than ever, she has enough money from her job's severence pay so she decides to take up photography professionally. BUT WHY CAN'T SHE REMEMBER!?!?! You'll have to read it for yourself to find where this new path takes her.

I absolutely loved this book! I got to a point where I couldn't put the book down... I loved Burning the Map, Caldwell's first novel and now this! I can't wait to see what else she'll write!

By far one of the best 'chick lit' books I have read. This story rings true and I couldn't put it down. This author is going to go places! This is very different from any other RDI book that I have read, and I too, hope they keep going in this direction. The writing is excellent, almost literary, and the story is fast-paced and interesting, without the cliches that you often see, and a great thought-provoking ending.

This author has just landed on my auto-buy list...

Kelly McGraw cannot remember the last five months of her life. She discovers that someone else is living in her townhouse. Her former boyfriend Ben tells her she has to stop stalking him and his new girlfriend. With the help of her best friend Laney she tries to discover what happened to her. She decides to follow her dreams and take a photography course. She signs up for an internship that pays little but completely changes her life. Kelly is frightened by her flashbacks of herself and others she cannot remember. Her life has been turned upside down by the emotional turmoil and physical trauma. An unexpected conclusion to Kelly's problems will leave you wanting more.

Laura Caldwell's latest novel leaves readers with the resounding question, "If you were starting over with no memory of the past, what would you do?" Ok, so maybe that's not a question that most of us ponder, but this novel elicits this as well as some other very interesting conundrums.

Kelly McGraw is a successful retail analyst with a great townhouse and a soon-to-be fiance. The book opens with Kelly going around to her old haunts, and guess what? Her keys don't fit and her boyfriend tells her to get lost. So what has happened? At this point I was afraid this book was going to resemble a bad Beverly Hills 90210 plot, but Caldwell instead assembles a story about love, friendship, depression, loss, and finding one's true calling.

This is a fast read and a thought-provoking one, too. Enjoy this latest Red Dress Ink book and maybe you, too, will have a better idea of who you are, just as Kelly does.

If you had the chance to hit "redo" and make your life over again, what would you do differently? What forgotten dream would you dust off? Lauren Caldwell's Clean Slate is about a woman who gets that opportunity.

Chick lit gets a bad rap for whiny heroines who have no concept of "real problems." But I found Ms. Caldwell's heroine to be the polar opposite of that unfair chick lit assessment. Kelly was honest, funny, and brave enough to sweep up the pieces of her life and stick the old stuff in the garbage. And yet she was vulnerable in a very sympathetic way - who doesn't enjoy telling a character, "don't do it!"

I wanted to find out what happens after the ending but I had great hopes that Kelly would be just fine.