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JANICE KAPLAN AND LYNN SCHNURNBERGER
The Botox Diaries (2004)
In a world where cosmetic surgery is a must for women of a certain age, single mother and charity fundraiser Jessica Taylor is just hoping she'll age gracefully past 40. Her glamorous best friend, TV producer Lucy Baldor, though is trying everything to make sure she doesn't look any older - including taking on a famous lover. Amid returning exes, unrequited love, reality dating shows and flirtations with a boss, the women rely on their friendship more than ever to weather their mid-life crises.
7/10
Also by author:
The Men I Didn't Marry; Mine are Spectacular
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CARRIE KARASYOV
Wolves in Chic Clothing - with Jill Kargman (2005)
When Pelham jewellery store salesgirl Julia Pearce delivers a necklace to Lell, the store's heiress, on her wedding day, it gives her a pass into a different world. Lell and her friends, bitchy Polly and sweet Hope, adopt natural beauty Julia like modern day Henry Higgins. Lell gives the aspiring jewellery maker a job as her assistant and introduces her into Park Avenue society. But then Lell's new husband Will lets his roving eye land on Julia and the pack turn on her.
6/10
Also by author:
The Infidelity Pact, The Right Address
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JILL KARGMAN
Wolves in Chic Clothing - with Carrie Karasyov (2005)
When Pelham jewellery store salesgirl Julia Pearce delivers a necklace to Lell, the store's heiress, on her wedding day, it gives her a pass into a different world. Lell and her friends, bitchy Polly and sweet Hope, adopt natural beauty Julia like modern day Henry Higgins. Lell gives the aspiring jewellery maker a job as her assistant and introduces her into Park Avenue society. But then Lell's new husband Will lets his roving eye land on Julia and the pack turn on her.
6/10
Also by author:
Momzillas, The Right Address
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PIP KARMEL
Me Myself I (2000)
Journalist Pamela Drury feels like she's missed out on love and marriage. Why didn't she say yes to Robert Dickson when he proposed 13 years ago? Racked with regret, Pamela collides with someone who is about to change her life - herself. In fact, it's the Pamela who did marry Robert all those years ago and has gone on to have three kids. Then Pamela #2 disappears, leaving her stranded in her family's life. This book is also a film starring Rachel Griffiths.
6/10
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JENNIFER KAUFMANN and KAREN MACK
Book Lover (2006)
Dora has two ex-husbands, a dead father, a reformed alcoholic mother and she's trying to get her job back as a reporter on the Los Angeles Times. So it's no wonder that she often retreats from the world for days at a time with book binges. Then she meets Fred, who works in her favourite bookshop, and his mixed-up family helps her realise she needs to re-enter the real world.
5/10
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CATHY KELLY
Lessons in Heartbreak (2008)
Three generations of an Irish family are affected by infidelity in different ways. Izzie Silver, who works for a modelling agency in New York, meets wealthy businessman Joe at a charity lunch. He tells her his marriage is over but he's still living in his family home for his children's sake. Back in her Irish hometown Tamarin, Izzie's aunt Anneliese discovers that her husband is moving in with her best friend. But before she is able to break the news to the family matriarch Lily, the elderly woman has a stroke and slips into a coma. It is Lily's slowly revealed story, about life as a nurse in London during World War II and a secret love affair, that makes up the most interesting chapters.
7/10
Past Secrets (2006)
The thing about secrets is they have a tendency to come out when you least expect them. Faye, a single mother to teenager Amber, dresses conservatively, holds down a respectable job in a recruitment office but she's hiding a secret about Amber's father. Amber is studying for her final exams and everyone is expecting her to go to art college. But she has other plans in mind. Maggie discovers her boyfriend has been cheating so she moves in to look after her injured mother and learns how to make a stand. Even Christie, the friend they turn to for advice, is hiding a secret - an affair with an artist.
6/10
Always and Forever (2006)
Three women thought they had their lives mapped out. Ambitious Mel wanted a high-flying career; Daisy wanted to start a family while Cleo planned to run her family's hotel after she completed a management course. But now Mel has had to give up her job in PR to look after her young daughters, Cleo is fighting a losing battle to save the ailing business, while Daisy is still desperately trying to have a baby.
6/10
Woman to Woman (1997)
Best friends Aisling Moran and Jo Ryan think they have it all. Then Aisling discovers a lingerie receipt in her husband's pocket and Jo watches a blue line appear on a pregnancy test.
6/10
Also by author:
Best of Friends; Just Between Us; What She Wants; Someone Like You; Never Too Late; She's the One
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JUDITH KELMAN
Backward in High Heels (2006)
Imagine how heartbroken you'd be if your husband's office building burnt down when he was at work. Now imagine how you'd feel if you then discovered that he didn't die in the fire - instead he was in bed with his young mistress at the time. For Maggie, this spells the end of her marriage to Harold. Somehow she has to move forward.
6/10
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DEBRA KENT
Wife Living Dangerously (2006)
Despite working for a sex research institute, Julia Flanagan has always played by the rules and put her family first, so her best friends dare her to live a little dangerously. But did they ever expect her to take up with Evan, a university poetry tutor; try to uncover whether husband Michael is having an affair with his band's singer; and worse yet - lie to her family that their pet rat is actually a dwarf Norwegian flat-coated guinea pig?
5/10
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MARIAN KEYES
This Charming Man
When it is announced that charismatic Irish politician Paddy de Courcy is getting married, three women are particularly interested in the news. Lola is devastated, because she has been Paddy's girlfriend for 16 months and now he's marrying someone else. Heartbroken and unable to concentrate on her work as a stylist, Lola flees Dublin to a friend's country cottage. Journalist Grace is intrigued, as she's had dealings with Paddy and the bride-to-be, Alicia, before and is certainly not a fan. For one, Paddy was the first love of her twin sister, Marnie, who is now having trouble keeping her life together. With a serious underlying theme, slowly revealed secrets and characters who will draw you into their pain, could it be Keyes' best yet?
9/10
Anybody Out There (2006)
Anna Walsh has landed on her feet in New York - a wonderful job as a PR executive for a beauty brand, a loving husband Aidan and a great apartment. Then one morning she wakes up in her family's Dublin home with stitches in her face and a dislocated knee - and no memory of how she got there. More troubling is the fact that Aidan won't return her calls or emails.
8/10
The Other Side of the Story (2004)
There are sometimes three sides to every story. The men in events organiser Gemma Hogan's life are proving a problem - actually it's the men disappearing from her life that she has trouble with. First there's former boyfriend Anton, who is now living in London with Gemma's ex-best friend Lily Wright. Then there's Gemma's father, who's just left her mother after 35 years of marriage and Gemma has to move in to pick up the pieces. Lily has a bestseller, Mimi's Remedies, under her belt but is still waiting for karma to catch up with her for what she did to Gemma. Maybe it's what's causing her inability to write the next book despite the fact the advance has already been spent. High-flying literary agent JoJo, who's involved with her married boss, is always on the lookout for the next big thing, and thinks it's unlikely to come from her debut star, Lily. But she may have found it when she gets her hands on some of Gemma's emails to her friends.
8/10
Angels (2002)
Maggie Walsh is the sensible one in her family until she leaves her husband Garv and heads to LA. She moves in with best friend Emily, a screenwriter still waiting for her big break. With a former boyfriend in town and a cute American to lust after, Maggie tries to discover what she really wants from life. Then her parents and two of her sisters arrive in town, and her past confronts her.
8/10
Sushi for Beginners (2000)
Magazine editor Lisa Edwards is sent to Dublin to launch Colleen magazine. But despite her demotion in the professional world, Irish MD Jack Devine could turn out to be the consolation prize. And then there's her over-anxious, always-prepared deputy, Ashling Kennedy, ready to help her succeed. Will Ashling learn to stand up for herself, particularly to her often devious best friend, Clodagh Kelly, who is trying to get back into the workforce after having two kids.
7/10
Last Chance Saloon (1999)
Three Irish friends, Tara, Katherine and Fintan who now live in London, are out celebrating Tara's 30th birthday. Tara feels she's in the Last Chance Saloon because even though she is living with boyfriend Thomas, he is reluctant to commit. Having been burnt by another man she thought was her future, Tara is willing to put up with Thomas' cheapskate ways and criticisms about her weight - at least it's better than not having a relationship at all. Meanwhile, Katherine doesn't want a man to mess up her neatly ordered life and tries to ignore her attraction to colleague Joe. When Fintan is diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, he makes the girls promise to do something for him - that'll change their lives forever.
7/10
Rachel's Holiday (1997)
Rachel Walsh has such a fondness for recreational drugs that she's even had her stomach pumped. Now her family's bought her back to Dublin for a spell in the Cloisters rehab clinic. She's only agreed because she needs a holiday and she's heard it is like a spa full of rock stars. What Rachel finds is a diverse group of characters fighting addictions to everything from alcohol to gambling - and not a massage table in sight. Lucky that Rachel doesn't actually have a problem like the rest of them - she's planning on checking herself out real soon. This book often tops the list of favourite novels for many chicklit authors and readers.
7/10
Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married (1997)
Lucy and some of her friends visit a fortune teller and the tarot cards tell her that she is getting married. Without an eligible man in sight, Lucy writes it off until other predictions made about her friends start coming true.
7/10
Watermelon (1996)
Claire Walsh's husband, James, tells her he's leaving for another woman moments after she's given birth to their daughter, Kate. Claire returns to her family home in Dublin and takes to her room. At first she sinks into a depression, then a rage before she emerges ready to look after herself and Kate. Then James reappears, saying he made a mistake.
8/10
Also by author:
No Dress Rehearsal
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SOPHIE KINSELLA
Remember Me? (2008)
Lexi Smart is having a crappy night. Her date is a no-show, she's the only staff member at her flooring company to miss out on the annual bonus and her new boots are too small - oh and tomorrow is her father's funeral. While trying to hail a taxi, she slips and bumps her head. But when she wakes up in a hospital bed, she actually discovers it's 2007 and she's got amnesia after a car accident. But in the three missing years of her life she's gained a millionaire husband, a glamorous wardrobe, a luxurious apartment and has become boss of her department. How on earth did she land this dream life? And why do her friends hate her and why does her husband's colleague insist they were having an affair? Kinsella has delivered another failsafe chick lit comedy - maybe not her most memorable but you'll still devour it as fast as you can.
7/10
The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic (2000)
Also known as Confessions of a Shopaholic
As a financial journalist for Successful Saving magazine, Rebecca Bloomwood spends her working life telling people how to manage their money. In her private life she is a shopaholic who is unable to face her mounting debts. She dreams of lottery wins, marriage to rich heirs and a range of harebrained schemes to save her from financial disaster. But has she met her dream man in Luke Brandon, head of a financial PR company, who is more than willing to lend her £20 to buy her ailing aunt a present.
8/10
Shopaholic Abroad (2001)
Also known as Shopaholic Takes Manhattan
Rebecca Bloomwood is now a financial adviser on a morning TV show and having settled her debts, her new motto is Buy Only What You Need. But then the Big Apple's luxury department stores and designer sales beckon when she moves with boyfriend Luke Brandon to New York. But will Becky's extravagant spending habits return to ruin their Manhattan life?
7/10
Shopaholic Ties the Knot (2002)
Rebecca Bloomwood is now a personal shopper at Barney's in New York when boyfriend Luke Brandon proposes. Rebecca gets stuck into planning her wedding but the trouble is her mum wants a backyard wedding at home while Luke's frosty society mother books The Plaza in New York. How is Becky going to pull off two weddings on either side of the Atlantic?
7/10
Shopaholic & Sister (2004)
Rebecca Brandon (nee Bloomwood) returns to London after a 10-month honeymoon travelling the world with Luke. As two lorries deliver her honeymoon purchases, her long-lost half-sister Jess turns up to meet her father. Rebecca, who had thought she was an only child, embraces her new sister but is disturbed to find she's a skinflint who hates shopping. But is Rebecca willing to learn some frugal ways in a bid to strengthen sibling ties?
6/10
Shopaholic & Baby (2007)
Rebecca Brandon is back with a bump . . . and is househunting for the perfect home with a Shoe Room in time for the arrival of their first child. After discovering that shopping cures morning sickness, she embarks on getting everything ready for the baby - from five prams, two nurseries and a celebrity obstetrician. But as she shops for two, she fears there are three in her marriage - her glamorous doctor is Luke's former college girlfriend, Venetia. Could Becky's marriage crumble before her baby is born?
7/10
The Undomestic Goddess (2005)
As workaholic lawyer Samantha Sweeting is going for partnership, she realises that she forgot to register a loan and a company is set to lose $50 million. So she just walks out and gets on a train bound for the middle of nowhere. When she asks for directions at a big house, she is mistaken as a housekeeper looking for work and is hired by nouveau riche couple Eddie and Trisha. But Samantha struggles to do the most basic chores until hunky gardener Nathaniel lends a hand. But will her old life catch up with her . . . and will she want it back?
6/10
Also by author:
Can You Keep a Secret?
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DEANNA KIZIS
Would You? (2006)
Also known as Finishing Touches
When Jesse's best friend dies after a car accident, she finds the only person who understands her pain is Cecile's widower, Zach. Is their friendship turning to romance, and if it does, will Jesse lose all her other friends in the process?
5/10
Also by author:
How to Meet Cute Boys
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DOROTHY KOOMSON
My Best Friend's Girl (2006)
Kamryn Matika hasn't been in contact with her best friend since she discovered that Adele had slept with her fiancé, Nate - and that her daughter Tegan is the result. Then she gets a letter from Adele, telling her that she's dying of leukaemia and she wants Kamryn to adopt the five-year-old. With Tegan being mistreated at the hands of Adele's father and stepmother, Kamryn finds she doesn't have much choice - even though she has a busy job and has never wanted to have children. With the help of her new boss, Luke, Kamryn finds she has to adapt quickly to being a mother. Then Nate comes back into her life. Many readers have rated this as their favourite chick lit book.
7/10
The Chocolate Run (2004)
Deputy film festival director Amber Salpone doesn't like commitment. She's the type of person who works out what type of chocolate people are - in fact she's shown more commitment to chocolate than any man. So when she falls into bed with a friend, the womanising Greg - and he announces that she's the love of his life - Amber's wondering what she's got herself into. And she's definitely not letting their best friends Jen and Matt know about the relationship.
7/10
Also by author:
Marshmallows for Breakfast; The Cupid Effect
To come:
Goodnight, Beautiful
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NICOLA KRAUS and EMMA McLAUGHLIN
Dedication (2007)
Kate Hollis gets a phone call from her best friend Laura that her ex-boyfriend, pop star Jake Sharpe, has come back to their Vermont hometown with a fiancée in tow. Kate immediately hops on a plane, just a few days before Christmas, with the intention of confronting him. Since Jake just up and left her 13 years ago, his recording career has laid bare some of their most private relationship moments, including his breakout hit Losing, about their first sexual encounter. With flashbacks to high school, the story takes Kate from her days of pining for a distant Jake to him standing her up at prom. Now she's back in his life, will she exact revenge and find closure?
7/10
Citizen Girl (2004)
Recent graduate Girl has had a feminist upbringing and been taught to make a difference. After being fired from her non-profit job for standing up for her rights, she meets Guy at a networking event and he hires her to work for My Company. Her role is to attract Ms magazine into the company's net site. But Girl plans to use her place in corporate America to extract a huge donation for a woman's charity. One of the most panned chicklit books, it's in our Top 10 Most Disappointing.
4/10
The Nanny Diaries (2002)
Nan is working as a nanny while studying child development at NYU. She is hired by Mrs X, a woman who neither works nor mothers her four-year-old son Grayer. The father, Mr X, is an investment banker who is so absent from G's life that he carries around his business card like a cuddly rug. As Nan's duties expand - organising a dinner party for Mr X's colleagues; heading to an office party as a Teletubby, sleeping over when G's parents are nowhere to be found - she desperately wants to quit but finds she can't abandon G.
8/10
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SHARON KRUM
The Thing About Jane Spring (2005)
A family military background has made Jane Spring an efficient, aggressive and blunt lawyer. But it doesn't seem to help her find a man. So after watching a Doris Day marathon on TV during a snowstorm, she decides to reinvent herself to become what men what along the lines of the actress. She starts wearing pastel suits with pencil skirts, frosted pink lipstick and cuts her blonde hair into a cute bob. But with her colleagues thinking she's putting on an act to win a case, will the more feminine Jane also win her man?
6/10
Also by author:
Walk of Fame
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ALICE KUIPERS
Life on the Refrigerator Door (2007)
Claire is a 15-year-old student and her mother is a single mum who works as an obstetrician. They rarely find themselves in the same room at the same time, so they leave each other notes on the refrigerator door. What they don't realise at first is they are literally running out of time. When the mother is diagnosed with breast cancer, the notes become more poignant, especially when they realise they are wasting time arguing about Claire's boyfriend and who hasn't cleaned the rabbit's cage. It is such a short book (took me less than half an hour to read), that you feel as if you never really had the chance to get to know the characters properly. But maybe that was entirely the message the author wanted to convey.
6/10
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ALISA KWITNEY
Sex as a Second Language (2006)
Katherine Miner is a teacher of English as a second language but it's just her day job until she can score another acting gig. As her divorce to actor Logan progresses, Kat is asked to audition for her former daytime soap role. Then her estranged father makes contact with her and an Icelandic student moves in as her boarder. Suddenly Kat is questioning herself about who she can trust.
4/10
Also by author:
Flirting in Cars; On the Couch; Does She or Doesn't She?; The Dominant Blonde