C
MEG CABOT
Queen of Babble (2006)
Lizzie Nichols is a blabbermouth: she just can't keep anything to herself. She heads to England to be with Andrew who rescued her from a dorm fire. But things don't work out when she blabs about him working while he's on the dole. Next Lizzie finds herself on a train in France, where she plans to meet up with best friend Shari and her boyfriend Chaz, who are helping out with wedding catering at a chateau. Telling all her woes to a fellow passenger, she then discovers that he is the chateau owner's son. Opening her big mouth keeps getting her in trouble at the chateau - until once it may just help her save the day?
7/10
Queen of Babble in the Big City (2007)
In this sequel to Queen of Babble, Lizzie Nichols is back from her holiday in France, in New York looking for a fashion job and an affordable apartment with best friend Shari. When boyfriend Luke asks her to live with him in his mother's Fifth Avenue apartment, Lizzie decides that solves one of her problems - especially as her job hunt is proving harder than she expected. To break into the wedding gown restoration field, she offers to work for nothing, so must also takes on a paying job as a receptionist at a prestigious law firm. There she meets Jill Higgins, a society bride whose mother-in-law is forcing her to wear a hideous, too-small, tartan gown. Can Lizzie save her day, get her own man to commit and find out why Shari is being so bad-tempered?
7/10
The Guy Next Door (2002)
Also known as The Boy Next Door
In this prequel to Boy Meets Girl, with the story told in email format, Melissa Fuller, social writer at the New York Journal, is almost on the brink of losing her job. One day she is late to work again (her 37th time this year) because she finds her elderly neighbour has been the victim of a violent intruder. She contacts the woman's nephew, Max Friedlander, to tell him to look after the cats and dog. Since Max doesn't want to end his vacation with a supermodel nor be written out of his aunt's will if she comes out of her coma, he asks a friend, John Trent, a crime reporter on a different New York newspaper, to pretend to be him and live at the apartment. What will happen when Mel finds out that the cute nephew isn't who she thinks he is?
7/10
Boy Meets Girl (2000)
Kate McKenzie's life isn't going according to plan - she's sleeping on her best friend's couch, she's broken up with her musician boyfriend and she works for Tyrannical Office Despot Amy Jenkins in the human resources department of the New York Journal. It may seem like things can't get any worse . . . but they can. When Kate is forced to sack Ida Lopez, one of the most popular staff members, she gets caught up in a legal fight. But maybe lawyer Mitch Hertzog will prove a bright light on the horizon. The story is told by written communication, ie letters and emails.
7/10
Also by author:
Big Boned; Size 14 Is Not Fat Either; Size 12 Is Not Fat; Every Boy's Got One; She Went All the Way
To come:
Queen of Babble Gets Hitched
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LAURA CALDWELL
A Clean Slate (2003)
Kelly McGraw simply can't remember the past five months of her life. She finds her boyfriend Ben now has a new girlfriend and she's lost her job as a financial analyst. The drycleaner's misplaced her clothes, the key won't fit in the door of her town house and she keeps getting headaches. With her best friend Laney helping her piece together her life, Kelly finds she can start again with a clean slate. But first she needs to remember what bad news triggered her memory loss.
5/10
Also by author:
The Year of Living Famously; The Night I Got Lucky; Burning the Map
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REBECCA CAMPBELL
The Favours and Fortunes of Katie Castle (2002)
Also known as Slave to Fashion
Katie Castle has worked her way into the job of her dreams, working for fashion designer Penny Moss. She snags not only a chic town house in London's Primrose Hill but also a fiancé in the form of the boss' son, Ludo. But a quick tumble with a delivery driver sees her lose her job, fiancé and flat in one foul swoop. Can Katie turn her fortunes around and manoeuvre her way back into the fashion world?
5/10
Also by author:
The Marriage Diaries; Slave to Love; Alice's Secret Garden
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MARGO CANDELA
More Than This (2008)
Evelyn Morgan Reed-Sinclair and Alexander Velazquez first lock eyes through a train window. He's a lawyer from a working-class background, while she's from a prestigious family trying to make it on her own. Evelyn has fled Paris and her life as an art student after being confronted by her married lover's wife. Back in San Francisco, she is loath to live the pampered life of her socialite sister, Tannin, so she takes on an assistant's job at the web company where her friend, James, works. Alexander is back in town after losing his job and breaking up with his girlfriend. As the son of a union activist, he reluctantly takes on the case of a wealthy widow being sued by her underpaid staff. Evelyn and Alexander watch each other through their office windows and their paths nearly cross several times as events play out over a 10-day period. If you love will-they-or-won't-they-meet books (and I do), then you'll find this is more than bliss.
7/10
Also by author:
Life Over Easy, Underneath It All
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LOUISE CANDLISH
Since I Don't Have You (2007)
At the birth of their daughters, best friends Rachel, Mariel and Jenny vow to care for each other's girls if disaster strikes. And in a mother's worst nightmare, disaster does strike when the girls are six - Rachel's daughter Emma dies and she flees her home and husband and heads to Oia, on the Greek island of Santorini, where her mother was brought up. As Rachel slowly tries to deal with her grief, she realises she owes the girls left behind - and hires a private detective, Johnny Palmer, to send updates on their progress. A moving tale of a heartbroken woman finding the will to live after her greatest loss.
8/10
The Double Life of Anna Day (2006)
Anna Day's boyfriend, Charlie, won't introduce her to his highly cultured and recently widowed mother, Meredith. So when Charlie leaves for a study program in the US, Anna hatches a plan to meet Meredith and win her over. Swapping her black advertising industry clothing for Laura Ashley florals, and nights at the pub for art gallery openings and Sunday tennis, Anna moves in on Meredith's turf - but without telling her about her relationship with Charlie. Her ultimate goal is to score an invitation to her 60th birthday party, where she'll be introduced to her son as the ideal girlfriend.
7/10
Also by author:
Sisters Avenue; Prickly Heat
To come:
The Second Husband
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CLAUDIA CARROLL
The Last of the Great Romantics (2005)
In this sequel to He Loves Me Not . . . He Loves Me, Portia, newly married to Andrew, is turning her ancestral home Davenport Hall into a country hotel. With the Irish president on hand to open the hotel and his daughter, Eleanor, deciding to hold her society wedding to a soccer star there, the new venture's success seems assured. But then a death, the arrival of a stranger, a job transfer and a flirtatious groom combine to throw a spanner in the works.
6/10
Also by author:
I Never Fancied Him Anyway; Remind Me Again Why I Need a Man; He Loves Me . . . He Loves Me Not
To come:
Do You Want to Know a Secret?
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LESLIE CARROLL
Choosing Sophie (2008)
Former burlesque dancer Venus de Marley (aka Olivia) finds out only by reading the New York Times obituaries that her estranged father has died. Leaving her fiancé in Colorado, she heads home for the funeral and discovers the eccentric millionaire has left her his beloved baseball team, the Bronx Cheers, as long as she “closes the circle”. Also attending the funeral is 20-year-old Sophie Ashe, who Olivia adopted out as a baby - she thinks that their bonding is what he meant by closing the circle. As Sophie moves in, Olivia fights a legal challenge, puts the players in a raspberry-coloured uniform and drafts some new talent. There's lots of baseball jargon but it helps pull you into the drama of a game. But it was a bit disconcerting to see that famous team sometimes referred to as Red Sock. Also suggest you skip the conclusion offered in the Extra Innings part of the book.
5/10
Also by author:
Herself; Spin Doctor; Play Dates; Temporary Insanity; Miss Match; Reality Check
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MARY CARTER
Accidentally Engaged (2007)
Psychic Clair Ivars has a flair for reading tarot cards yet has a blind spot when it comes to predicting her own future. Particularly her love life - she's been married three times. When bride-to-be Rachel demands a reading that says her marriage to winemaker Jack Heron will be a disaster, Clair complies and is left with the engagement ring to return to Jack. Somehow Clair finds herself pretending to be engaged to Jack but she can't keep her eyes off his business partner.
5/10
Also by author:
She'll Take It
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BRIDIE CLARK
Because She Can (2007)
Touted as The Devil Wears Prada of the book publishing world, this book's boss from hell is publisher Vivian Grant - a woman who thinks nothing of turning up at a wedding to berate the bride about unfinished business. Claire Truman thinks she's made it when she lands an editor's position at Grant Books and becomes the girlfriend of her university crush, Randall Cox. And despite having to weather Vivian's abuse and working to the wee small hours, Claire is determined to stay in the job for a year - and to see the book by Luke Mayville (the nephew of her former boss and mentor) published. But Claire can't help wondering if her future will have a happy ending.
6/10
To come:I Think She's Got It
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MELISSA CLARK
Swimming Upstream Slowly (2006)
Sarah Salter is on the fast track to success, as executive producer of a hit children's TV show. She's even being profiled as one of LA's “20 Under 30s - Ones to Watch”. But during a routine pap smear, Sarah is astounded to discover she's pregnant - she hasn't had sex for more than two years! A specialist reveals that she's experienced a medical anomaly and unwittingly hosted a lazy sperm that has taken its time to reach her egg. Now Sarah has to track down her past lovers to test which one is the father. And a reporter may well be on the trail of medicine's quirkiest story of the year.
6/10
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JACKIE CLUNE
Man of the Month Club (2006)
Amy Stokes, 39, loves running her baby shop, Precious Little Darlings, but the thought of having a baby herself leaves her cold. On the night before she is due to start a sabbatical, she discovers an abandoned baby on the store's steps. Soon she wonders if she has been wrong to avoid motherhood, so embarks on a campaign to try out 12 men over the next year to see if she can conceive.
5/10
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JENNY COLGAN
Operation Sunshine (2007)
Evie, a receptionist for Harley Street plastic surgeons, is just thinking that she needs a good holiday when her bosses invite her along to their medical conference in Cannes. What a perfect location for a glamorous holiday! Also coming along for the ride are her good friend Bailey, who's involved in her doctors' big secret project, another backstabbing receptionist, plus Evie's bullying brother and his gorgeous wife. Only problem is she's flying economy and staying in a fleapit of a motel while everyone else is living it up in luxury. With secret rendezvous and offshore shenanigans, it definitely turns into a holiday like no other. Unfortunately, it's not really a plot that would make you want to miss the inflight movie.
5/10
Do You Remember the First Time (2004) - also known as The Boy I Loved Before
As her best friend Tashy cuts into her wedding cake, 32-year-old Flora realises she's disillusioned with her life. So she wishes that she could go back to age 16 and do it all again. The next day, she wakes up in her childhood bedroom as a teenager. Can Flora get things right this time round, including preventing her parents' divorce, standing up to a bully and getting together with her high school crush? And will she want to resume her normal life?
6/10
Amanda's Wedding (1999)
How would you behave if the best man is the groom - and you're not the bride? Mel, Fran and Amanda are old school friends but Amanda seems to lead a more charmed life - and she sure loves rubbing her friends' noses in her success. Now she's getting married to Fraser, a Scottish laird who Mel had a crush on during university. So the bridesmaids set out with the groom's brother to sabotage the wedding.
6/10
Also by author:
West End Girls; Where Have All The Boys Gone?; Working Wonders; Looking for Andrew McCarthy; Talking to Addison
To come: Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend
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ROWAN COLEMAN
The Baby Group - Rowan Coleman (2007)
Natalie Curzon, co-owner of a lingerie company, is drawn to stranger Jack Newhouse on the tube. She lets him whisk her away to Venice, where she conceives baby Freddie and then never hears from Jack again. Natalie faces up to single motherhood - pretty much alone, until her house wiring plays up, heralding the arrival of teenage mother Tiffany in the tradesman's van. Together they decide to form a baby group and soon meet some other parents, including stay-at-home dad Steve, over-anxious Jess, Meg who is on to her fourth child but still feels she has much to learn, and her sister-in-law Frances who is highly organised but lacking friends. Will Natalie ever find Jack to tell him he's a dad - and admit to her new friends that her work-away husband doesn't actually exist?
6/10
Also by author:
The Accidental Mother; River Deep; After Ever After; Growing Up Twice
To come:
The Accidental Wife
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EILEEN COOK
Unpredictable (2008)
Sophie Kintock wants her boyfriend Doug back. When she overhears the new girlfriend, Melanie, aka Melon Tits, talk about how she visits psychics, Sophie decides she can get rid of her rival by convincing her that Doug is not her destiny. So she becomes psychic Emma Lulak, and uses sceptic Nick to help her learn all the tricks of the fortune-telling trade. When Emma's predictions help prevent a tragedy, she is offered a regular radio spot. Can she use her newfound powers to get Doug back - or does her future belong to another guy? With lots of laugh-out-loud moments from chick lit's latest loveable goofball, Unpredictable is a very promising debut. Just wish the ending was a bit less rushed and a bit more unpredictable.
7/10
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CLAIRE COOK
Must Love Dogs (2002)
Sarah Hurlihy, a 40-something divorced preschool teacher, is about to delve back into the dating world, putting a personal ad in the newspaper for a man who “must love dogs”. Although her first date with a man with a yellow rose turns out to be a disaster, to put it mildly, she soon finds herself with more than one man on her radar, including John Anderson, who borrowed a dog for their first date, and Bob O'Connor, the father of one of her students. If only her interfering family would stop turning up at the most inopportune times. This book was adapted into the 2005 movie, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack.
7/10
Also by author:
Life's A Beach, Multiple Choice, Ready to Fall
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JENNIFER COX
Around the World in 80 Dates (2005)
There's a saying that there's someone for everyone. But what happens if your someone is on the other side of the world. In this memoir, travel writer Jennifer Cox decides to date her way around the globe to find her Mr Right. From her first date in Amsterdam through to her final one in Auckland, she meets a variety of suitors - and may even find a soulmate . . . or two. Although the title suggests she went on 80 dates, several of the dates never eventuated and it was a definite cop-out to write-off dates 30-50 at a LA speed-dating event.
6/10
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CAPRICE CRANE
Forget About It (2007)
Jordan Landau has an uncaring mother, an evil half-sister, a cheating boyfriend and a boss who steals her ideas. When she sustains head injuries in a bike accident, it gives her the perfect opportunity to start over. Faking amnesia, she can stop being such a pushover and start living a truly memorable life - and be with a guy who really cares about her. With only one of her best friends - Todd, the boy she “married” at age seven - in the know, Jordan weaves a web of deception as she takes revenge on those who have wronged her. But then karma hits Jordan and she has to start over for real.
8/10
Also by author:
Stupid and Contagious
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MEGAN CRANE
English as a Second Language (2004)
Twenty-six-year-old Alex Brennan was bored in her New York job but not sure what direction her life should take. So when an ex-boyfriend tells her she could never get into graduate school in England, she does just that. Arriving at a northern campus with its hideous architecture and dreary weather, she begins an master's degree in literature - discovering pints and pubs, getting a crush on her hot lecturer and making a strange assortment of friends - and enemies. What she discovers is that instead of running away from home, she may have actually found it.
6/10
Also by author:
Frenemies; Everyone Else's Girl
To come:
Names My Sisters Called Me
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KIRSTY CRAWFORD
The Secret Lives of Husbands (2007)
Nurse Ruth Blackiston gets engaged to Ned Haskell after only three months - and without even meeting his parents. Now she has to deal with her mother-in-law Jackie's erratic moods and fit in with his close-knit group of friends. When she discovers Ned's old diaries, she realises her future with her husband won't be happily ever after unless she can untangle themselves from his past.
7/10
Also by author:
Other Women
To come:
Wife, Once Removed
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JENNIFER CRUSIE
Bet Me (2004)
Minerva Dobs has just been dumped by her boyfriend when she overhears him making a bet with Cal Morrisey that he can bed her in a month. She accepts a dinner date with Cal, and at the end they agree not to see each other again. But fate intervenes and over time, they bond over donuts, chicken masala, his nephew Harry and find that there is something between them. If that bet wasn't hanging over them maybe they could take the biggest gamble of all - a shot at true love.
6/10
Strange Bedfellows (2003)
Tess Newhart knows her former boyfriend Nick isn't right for her - he's an uptight Republican trying to make partner; she was brought up in a commune and works as a teacher. Still he talks her into going away for a weekend for a meeting with a prospective client that could make or break his career. The outspoken Tess takes an immediate dislike to the client, author Norbert Welch, and also finds herself fighting her attraction to her ex again.
5/10
Manhunting (2003)
Financial consultant Kate Svenson has been engaged three times but at 35, is still looking for her ideal man. So friend Jessica convinces her to follow her plan to snare a successful businessman at a resort in remote Toby's Corner. There, Kate accepts several dates from different men but things just keep going awry. And there's one man Kate knows she should keep away from but just can't - Jake, the resort's outdoor manager who seems to spend his days lying in a row boat.
5/10
Also by author:
Charlie All Night; Tell Me Lies; Faking It
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MICHELLE CUNNAH
Confessions of a Serial Dater (2005)
Rosie is dumped by boyfriend Jonathan after she fights off his lecherous boss at a dinner dance. But the night is not completely lost because she also meets a gorgeous doctor, Dr Love, who saves her from a pair of crippling shoes. She thinks she's finally found her dream man when a chance encounter brings her into contact with the doctor again but Luke Benton has a secret past. Somehow Rosie ends up on a wedding table from hell to find she's slept with all the men present (like a female Hugh Grant from Four Weddings and a Funeral).
6/10
32AA (2003)
Advertising secretary Emma Taylor wants an engagement ring and a job promotion for her 30th birthday. Instead her boyfriend Adam (also her boss) announces that he's seeing another woman and that she's been passed over for the junior account manager's job. Convinced that her small breasts are somehow to blame, homeless Emma is rescued by her stepmother's brother Jack. He once made fun of her breasts at a family wedding but now seems quite enamoured with her.
6/10
Also by author:
Call Waiting
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LYNDA CURNYN
Bombshell (2004)
Grace Noonan is starting to feel her age. She ends her latest relationship when her boyfriend freaks out when the condom breaks, showing how unready he is for babies. Now the cosmetics company where she works, known for targeting mature women, is looking for its new face - and it's a teenage one at that. But she hasn't outgrown her insecurities, as she goes through life dealing with family discoveries, a best friend getting married and a chance meeting with her father's charming colleague.
6/10
Also by author:
Confessions of an Ex-Girlfriend; Engaging Men