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KAREN MACK and JENNIFER KAUFMANN
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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SUZANNE MACPHERSON
Hysterical Blondeness (2006)
When Nordquist store assistant Patricia Stillwell takes part in an experimental weight-loss program, she expected to lose some weight. But changing her brunette hair to blonde? The change in her appearance means Patricia is suddenly getting noticed, including by store heir Brett Nordquist. With a wedding to plan and a promotion to a more prestigious department, this blonde is certainly finding she's having more fun. But what will happen when the dark roots start showing again?
5/10
Also by author:
Switched, Bothered and Bewildered; She Woke Up Married; In the Mood; Talk of the Town; Risky Business
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CATRIONA McCLOUD
Growing Up Again (2007)
Janie Lawson tells her husband Ludo that she is leaving him after 14 years of marriage. The next morning she wakes up back in her childhood room and finds it's 1981 and she's a teenager again. It may be too late to save Elvis but Janie decides to warn Princess Diana and prevent many of the world's tragedies. Janie also welcomes a second chance in her personal life. For one, maybe she can help her parents find their bliss. Oh and she could be nicer to that geeky classmate Danny, invest in some sure-thing shares and devise the odd ratings-winning TV show. But most of all Janie wants to do things differently with Ludo. Soon Janie realises that even second time around, nothing is guaranteed. The explanation of how and why Janie has time travelled is not really explained satisfactorily (but then again this isn't sci-fi), and as a teen of the 80s I'd have liked to have seen more 80s cultural references. But don't miss out on reading this - unlike Janie, you may not get a second chance.
7/10
Also by author:
Straight Up
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MARDI McCONNOCHIE
Fivestar (2005)
Five girls are picked for a girl group destined for the top of the pop charts. There's Jules, who has longed to be a star even as she is working in Japan as a hostess; Claudia, a manipulative former cover girl who dates the band manager to get ahead; Ellie, a former gymnast; Suzy, the optimist who grew up on ABBA; and Sam, a singer/songwriter who replaces another girl who dropped out. Fivestar become huge but then things start to go wrong. Shades of the Spice Girls, anyone?
6/10
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KAREN McCULLAH LUTZ
Karen McCullah Lutz is an American screenwriter, with credits including Legally Blonde, Ella Enchanted and 10 Things I Hate About You.
The Bachelorette Party (2005)
LA schoolteacher Zadie Roberts is left at the altar by soap star Jack. So she's not feeling particularly favourable towards weddings when her conservative cousin, Helen, and best friend Grey announce they are tying the knot. Helen's bachelorette party is destined to be a quiet affair, with a yoga class and herbal tonics on the agenda. Then Zadie convinces the teetotaller Helen to have some champagne. And from there, the night takes such a wild turn the wedding may well be off.
7/10
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MONICA McINERNEY
Those Faraday Girls (2007)
Five sisters live with their widowed father Leo in Tasmania - hardworking Juliet, dramatic Miranda, determined Eliza, anxious Sadie and calm Clementine. Then 16-year-old Clementine falls pregnant and the sisters agree to bring up her baby, Maggie, together. Just before Maggie's sixth birthday, an unforgiveable act changes everything. Twenty years later, Maggie is living in New York, when she gets a surprise visit from Leo, who needs her help. When the Faradays gather at their Irish holiday home to celebrate Christmas in July, more family secrets are revealed.
8/10
The Alphabet Sisters (2004)
Anna, Bett and Carrie Quinlan were childhood singing stars, The Alphabet Sisters. But they haven't spoken for years, not since Bett's fiancé, Matthew, left her for Carrie. Then their grandmother, Lola, calls them back to their parents' motel in South Australia's Clare Valley for her 80th birthday. Anna's marriage to Glenn is breaking up and she still hasn't got over the dog attack which has scarred her daughter Ellen's face. Bett returns from England and takes on a part-time job back at her former newspaper, while Carrie, who has been working at the hotel, finds the distance growing between her and Matthew. At her party, Lola has a surprise announcement for the sisters, but just as their rift begins to close, they face the biggest test yet.
7/10
Upside Down Inside Out (2002)
Eva Kennedy heads off to Australia to visit her friend Lainey, to decide whether she wants to take over her uncle Ambrose's delicatessen in Dublin. Successful English businessman Joseph Wheeler is in Australia for an industrial design conference, then is taking a few weeks off to travel. The pair meet but through a series of misunderstandings, Joseph thinks Eva is an Irish singer/sculpturist called Niamh, while Eva thinks he's a penniless English backpacker called Joe. What willl happen when they discover the truth about each other - and themselves?
6/10
Also by author:
Family Baggage, Spin the Bottle; A Taste for It
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CATHERINE McKINNON
The Nearly Happy Family (2008)
Who needs enemies when you have family? Jackie Delaney and her eldest daughter Claire, 15, are still dealing with the fallout after the sudden death of Claire's father, Vince. Claire particularly doesn't want her mother moving on with her younger boyfriend, Ben. And while Jackie certainly isn't the best role model - she drinks too much, smokes, works only occasionally as a stand-up comedian and still lives in her father T.J.'s house - she's finding it hard to handle the rebellious teenager. When their family feud takes a turn for the worse, Claire moves out and becomes an apprentice in Italian chef Nino's restaurant. Told in alternating chapters from both mother and daughter's viewpoints, the book tells the tale of how a dysfunctional family makes family life work for them.
6/10
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LUANN McLANE
Trick My Truck but Don't Mess with My Heart (2008)
Candie Montgomery has left a good job in Chicago and headed back to her Kentucky hometown to help out in her family's used-car business. But as she rolls into town, she's surprised to discover that the small-town welcome she expected is sadly lacking. Her twin, Sarah, soon reveals why the townsfolk have been shunning her - they blame Candie for her sister's broken engagement to her close friend Nick. Somehow she's been exposed as the other woman despite being gone for two years. It's a shame she doesn't have her own boyfriend to help put a lid on the gossip. But then a good-looking guy in the pub, Tommy Tucker, puts his hand up for the job - and Candie seems all too willing to let him fill the vacancy. Then Candie comes up with a proposition for Nick that may just save the family business and help fix her sister's broken heart. Just the ticket for anyone seeking some light-hearted fun and romance from some sassy Southern characters. McLane says the storyline was inspired after she watched Trick My Truck on the Country Music Channel. It is the third in her series of Southern romantic comedies, which she pitched as GRITS Lit (Girls Raised in the South). “I wanted to write novels that small-town girls could relate to as if the stories were written about their lives,” she said.
6/10
Also by author:
Dancing Shoes and Honky-Tonk Blues; Dark Roots and Cowboy Boots
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EMMA McLAUGHLIN and NICOLA KRAUS
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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TERRY McMILLAN
The Interruption of Everything (2005)
Marilyn Grimes' three kids have left home, her husband Leon needs to escape to Costa Rica to find himself and her live-in mother-in-law has found love. At 44, maybe now she finally has time to go to art college. But a trip to the doctor's to determine if she is going through menopause reveals that she's actually pregnant. As her concerns about her foster sister's children and her own mother's health escalate, it seems Marilyn still doesn't have a life to call her own.
6/10
Also by author:
A Day Late and a Dollar Short; How Stella Got Her Groove Back; Waiting to Exhale
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CHRIS MANBY
The Matchbreaker (2006)
Spoilt only child Lindsey Parker is well used to getting rid of her widowed father's fiancées. Potential stepmum No. 4, Karen, a personal trainer, is all set to put Lindsey into a tacky gold bridesmaid dress until Lindsey pushes her overboard a yacht during a hen's weekend in Ibiza. In the aftermath Lindsey's father basically disowns her. Having to stand on her own two feet for the first time, Lindsey tries to make things right again, including working as a honeytrapper to reunite her dad with his love.
7/10
Running Away From Richard (2001)
In this sequel to Lizzie Jordan's Secret Life, the wannabe actress is dumped by her boyfriend of four years, Richard, a week before her best friend Mary's wedding. Fat Joe, her former flatmate and now a transvestite living in Los Angeles, lets Lizzie move into his Venice Beach home. Soon Lizzie is working as a waitress and pretending to be the fiancee of a hot movie director, who just happens to be gay.
6/10
Also by author:
Spa Wars; Marrying for Money; Ready or Not; Girl Meets Ape; Seven Sunny Days; Getting Personal; Lizzie Jordan's Secret Life; Deep Heat; Second Prize; Flatmates
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MARIANNE MANCUSI
Marianne Mancusi is the author of several timewarp and science fiction novels and has also worked as a TV news producer.
News Blues (2008)
When Maddy Madison is offered an investigative producer spot on a new News 9 San Diego show, she is hoping it will take her one step closer to her dream job on Newsline - and away from puff pieces about Killer Cosmetics and Pudgy Pets. But first she has to become accustomed to working directly with anchor Terrance Toller who can't get enough of his face on screen and needs three hours notice of a shoot to prepare his hair and make-up. Things are also looking up when she is partnered with a cute new cameraman, Jamie, but she is disappointed to learn he comes with a fiancée. During a handbag shopping spree over the border in Tijuana, Mexico, a stallholder tells her about a drug tunnel into the US and Maddy thinks she's on to the scoop of her life. But she doesn't realise how close the story will come to her own family - and what she'll have to risk to get it broadcast.
6/10
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JILL MANSELL
An Offer You Can't Refuse (2008)
Ten years ago, 17-year-old Lola was offered 10,000 pounds by her boyfriend's snobby mother to break up with him. At first she refused as Dougie was the love of her life. But after finding out her stepfather had serious gambling debts, she accepts and takes off to Majorca, leaving behind only a break-up letter for Dougie. A decade later, a Good Samaritan act by Lola, now a bookshop manager, brings her ex back into her life. But although Lola still has strong feelings for him, he finally discovers that she was paid off to dump him. Read it for the great characters, including the feisty heroine and her neighbours Sally - an immaculately dressed but sloppy flatmate who is also Doug's sister - and Gabe, possibly the world's most useless (but kind-hearted) paparazzo. The ending doesn't surprise but if you get an offer to read this book, don't refuse it.
7/10
Thinking of You (2007)
Gina Holland's nest is empty after her daughter Jem heads off to university. At only 38, she realises she'll have to kick-start a whole new life - and find a new man. But the first man she thinks is showing interest in her actually accuses her of shoplifting. Then she advertises for a lodger and believes she'll be sharing her home with the charismatic Perry. Instead the room's for his reclusive sister, Laurel, who is still obsessed about an ex-boyfriend. Even on the work front, Ginny finds she's left a disastrous first impression with new boss Finn. And just as she is getting to know him, someone from his past turns up on the doorstep.
7/10
Also by author:
Making Your Mind Up; The One You Really Want; Falling for You; Nadia Knows Best; Staying at Daisy’s; Good at Games; Miranda’s Big Mistake; Head Over Heels; Perfect Timing; Two’s Company; Kiss; Solo
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WENDY MARKHAM
This is pseudonym of Wendy Corsi Staub.
Mike, Mike and Me (2005)
Back in the 1980s, TV production assistant Beau found herself torn between two men - her high school sweetheart Mike and a wannabe actor also called Mike who she met at an airport bar. With boyfriend Mike not wanting to live in New York, she is drawn to the other guy who loves the city. One she married, the other she left behind. Now years later, with her marriage under strain and the other Mike back in contact, she is wondering if she made the right choice. Alternating between past and present, the story only reveals at the end which Mike she married.
7/10
Also by author:
Love, Suburban Style; Slightly Married; Slightly Engaged; Bride Needs Groom; Hello, It's Me; Slightly Settled; Once Upon a Blind Date; The Nine Month Plan; Slightly Single
To come:
Slightly Suburban; That's Amore
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MAGGIE MARR
Secrets of the Hollywood Girls Club (2008)
The girls of the Hollywood Girls Club are back. Celeste is thinking it's time for a facelift while a sex tape - the one she thought was destroyed at the time of her divorce - seems to be making the rounds. And she's desperate to keep both secrets from her new husband, Worldwide Pictures boss Ted Robinoff. Mary Anne has started seeing hot leading man Holden Humphrey - a fact that infuriates his co-star Vieve. Jessica, now happily married with a baby son, is still promoting her list of clients. And Lydia is running the studio and receiving mysterious notes threatening to expose a big secret. Meanwhile publicist Kiki seems to know everyone's secrets - and is willing to use them to her own advantage.
6/10
Hollywood Girls Club (2007)
Celeste Solange is a movie star whose film producer husband has not only taken off with a teenage actress - he's also given her the part that was meant to herald Celeste's comeback. Her powerful agent Jessica Caulfield recommends that she takes the starring role in the low-budget film being produced by their friend Lydia Albright. But although Seven Minutes Past Midnight has new writer Mary Anne Myers turning it into a killer script, the male star is in jail, the director Zymar is too busy getting high in Bali and the new studio boss is desperate for Lydia to fail.
6/10
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CAROL MASON
The Secrets of Married Women (2007)
Jill can handle not having children. What she can't handle is how her husband Rob has withdrawn from her when he finds out it's his sperm count that's the problem. With one friend confessing to a passionate affair and another living the perfect marriage with the perfect guy, Jill feels like she's missing out. Then she meets a gorgeous lifeguard who's had his eye on her for a while. Will Jill let her fantasies become reality or discover the secrets her best friends are keeping? A tale of infertility and infidelity, with some clever twists to keep you turning the pages.
7/10
To come:Send Me a Lover
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SARAH MASON
The Party Season (2003)
Party planner Isabel Serranti is booked to do a charity ball at Pantiles, the Monkwell estate where her family lived when she was a child. Isabel is just hoping to keep far away from Simon Monkwell, now a successful entrepreneur, who had bullied her when they were in their teens. Press coverage suggests he hasn't changed a bit, but Isabel soon finds that things aren't quite as she remembers.
6/10
Also by author:
High Society; Playing James
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CAROLE MATTHEWS
It's A Kind of Magic (2008)
When Emma's irresponsible but loveable boyfriend Leo turns up to her 30th birthday dinner very late and awfully drunk, she can't help wishing that he was different. And after realising she'll never change him, she tells him that the magic is gone and so begins the next phase of her life without him. That night Leo runs into the mysterious Isobel and falls under her spell. As this fairy girlfriend waves her wand and sprinkles her fairy dust around, Leo starts becoming more like the man Emma wished he was. Even if you don't like books with magical themes, read it for the hilarious cardboard box scene.
6/10
The Chocolate Lovers' Club (2007)
Temp worker Lucy Lombard can't live without chocolate so she forms a group with three other addicts - Autumn, Nadia and Chantal - which meets regularly at a cafe called Chocolate Heaven. Chocolate helps the four women deal with life's problems, such as a crush on a boss, a drug-dealing brother, a gambling husband and guilt about infidelities. The sequel is The Chocolate Lovers' Diet.
7/10
The Chocolate Lovers' Diet (2007)
The women of The Chocolate Lovers' Club are back. Lucy's boyfriend Aiden (aka Crush) has gone missing in Australia, and she thinks he's seeing another woman. Autumn's relationship with co-worker Addison is going well but her drug-dealing brother Richard is back from “rehab” in the US, and is in trouble with some very unsavoury sorts. Nadia and her son are living with Chantal but thinking about giving her gambling husband, Toby, a second chance. And Chantal is trying to speak to her husband Ted - especially after she has some unexpected news - but he's avoiding her. Love the opening line: “There are two types of women, I've found. There are those who are addicted to chocolate and there are bitches.” But even though I am a chocoholic, even I found the chocolate references too frequent - these women would even self-medicate their leg falling off with a bite of chocolate-covered peanut brittle.
6/10
Welcome to the Real World (2006)
Fern Kendal is a struggling bar singer who desperately needs a break. She takes on an extra job as personal assistant to opera star Evan David, but finds she can't let him know about her singing dream. So Fern throws away her chances on TV talent show Fame Game when she discovers Evan is one of the judges. Evan's every whim is catered for by his agent, trainer, chauffeur, chef and a cast of thousands, but memories of a childhood tragedy keep him from truly enjoying all he's achieved. Though Fern can't seem to master her assistant duties, she brings a rare smile to Evan's face so when she goes on the run, he finds he can't forget her.
6/10
Also by author:
You Drive Me Crazy; With or Without You; The Sweetest Taboo; A Compromising Position; A Minor Indiscretion; For Better, For Worse; More to Life Than This; A Whiff of Scandal; Let's Meet on Platform 8
To come:
All You Need is Love
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LORELEI MATHIAS
Lost for Words (2007)
Daisy Allen is a sweet-natured assistant at a publishing house who is hoping to find a literary gem in the slush pile. She is also hoping her boyfriend, the smarmy Miles, will finally commit. After becoming friends with Elliot, who comes in to do work experience, she stumbles upon a partly finished manuscript from a mystery author, William. Will this book be her big break and why is the author being so secretive? Only other thing to say is I'm a bit lost for words as to why the plot was so damn predictable.
5/10
Also by author:
Step on It, Cupid
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ANNA MAXTED
A Tale of Two Sisters (2006)
Sisters Cassie and Lizbet are total opposites - Cassie is an ambitious lawyer, while Lizbet is a laidback magazine writer. Despite their differences, they have managed to stay friends as they head off on their different paths. But then Lizbet unexpectedly falls pregnant and Cassie, desperate to have her own baby, finds it difficult to deal with the news. Lizbet is also shocked to discover that Cassie has kept the fact she is adopted a secret.
7/10
Running in Heels (2004)
Natalie Miller's life has gone into a tailspin. She loses her PR job for a ballet company, her brother is dating the ballerina Natalie outed as an anorexic and she's exchanging drunken kisses with her best friend's husband. What Nat really needs to face is the mirror - to take a good hard look at herself.
5/10
Also by author:
Being Committed; Behaving Like Adults; Getting Over It
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JILLIAN MEDOFF
Good Girls Gone Bad (2002)
Actuary Janey Fabey joins group therapy with Dr Hensen because she keeps imagining how she would kill herself. There she meets Suzanna, aka The Dream Weaver, who prefers the company of her dog to men; Laura, who is a top performer in the one-night-stand Olympics; Bethany, a 40-year-old divorcee who still lives with her mother; Valentine, a fat woman who can't stop eating; Ivy, a southern belle addicted to cosmetic surgery; and Natasha, who fears germs. Together, the group help each other battle their personal problems but one day take it all too far.
6/10
Also by author:
Hunger Point
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ELLEN MEISTER
Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA (2006)
When a location scout announces that Applewood school may make the perfect setting for an upcoming George Clooney movie, the mothers of the PTA think their fantasies are about to become real. This is their chance to get up close and personal with the hunky actor - oh, and their school will finally get its much-needed stadium. But Maddie Schein, Ruth Moss and Lisa Slotnick need to band together to save the project because PTA president Suzanne Podobinski has decided that the movie threatens historic Applewood Rock. The trio also face dramas on the home front - Maddie thinks her husband is having an affair with his cousin; Ruth is looking for some loving after her husband's stroke left him impotent and Lisa has to deal with an alcoholic mother.
7/10
To come:The Smart One
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LYNN MESSINA
Fashionistas (2003)
Vig Morgan, associate editor at Fashionista magazine, is drawn into a plot to get rid of tyrant editor Jane McNeill. With the help of a reclusive social editor, an overambitious assistant and a controversial artist, the plan successfully unfolds but Vig may be better off with the devil she knows.
6/10
Also by author:
Mim Warner's Lost Her Cool; Tallulahland
To come:
Savvy Girl
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J.L. MILES
Divorcing Dwayne (2008)
Would anyone think Francine Harper deserves to be locked up for shooting at her husband Dwayne and his stripper ex when she caught them in her marital bed? Especially since she missed - three times. Well, apparently the politically ambitious district attorney Warren Wilson does. When Francine is bailed on home detention, she discovers that their joint bank account is $30,000 richer and is worried that Dwayne has got mixed up in a shady mob deal. And she certainly isn't about to let the ankle monitor stop her from finding out the truth. But when Dwayne goes missing, presumed dead, Francine - the town's newly crowned celebrity - becomes the No. 1 suspect. You don't need to live on the right side of the Mason-Dixie line to enjoy the side-splitting humour. Full of crazy characters such as Nanny Lou who believes her husband isn't dead but just run off with the floozy from across the street.
6/10
To come:Dear Dwayne; Dating Dwayne
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NISHA MINHAS
Sari & Sins (2003)
Indian bride Kareena thinks her parents have chosen well when she weds Samir in an arranged marriage. But she is unaware he has been seeing Cloey for six years. Cloey wants Sammy - and more importantly his house - for herself so is prepared to fight dirty. But Kareena isn't the timid bride she was expecting.
4/10
Also by author:
Tall, Dark and Handsome; The Marriage Market; Bindis & Brides; Passion & Poppadoms; Chapatti or Chips?
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SARAH MLYNOWSKI
Me vs Me (2006)
When Cam proposes to Gabby Wolf on the eve of her leaving for a dream job in New York, she wishes on a star that she didn't have to choose between a fiancé and her job. Suddenly Gabby is leading a double life - each morning, she either wakes up in Phoenix planning a wedding (or watching her overbearing mother-in-law Alice do it) or in New York being a TV producer. Soon she decides that New York life maybe isn't for her - her best friend has started dating Cam, her flatmate is psycho. But in Phoenix she doesn't have a job, she's comfort eating and biting her nails, and of course she has to deal with Alice. But how does she end the battle of Me vs Me?
8/10
Fishbowl (2002)
The tale of three flatmates, Allison, Jodine and Emma, who accidentally set fire to their kitchen, find themselves uninsured and have to find ways to pay off the repair bill, such as throwing theme parties and running “how to pick up women” seminars for men.
6/10
Also by author:
Monkey Business; As Seen on TV; Milkrun
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JANE MOORE
The Second Wives Club (2006)
When Alison's wedding is gatecrashed by her groom's ex-wive, she is introduced to the Second Wives Club, where they get together to vent about what happens when you marry someone else's husband. The other members include Susan who is living in the shadow of a dead wife, Fiona, who is battling with a teenage stepson, and Julia, the trophy wife of a merchant banker who remains too close to his former wife.
6/10
Also by author:
Dot.Homme; The Ex-Files; Fourplay
To come:
Perfect Match
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LIANE MORIARTY
The Last Anniversary (2005)
HR officer Sophie Honeywell breaks up with Thomas Gordon on the day he planned to propose on a trip to Hawaii. He goes on to marry his travel agent and have a baby. He later tells Sophie that she has inherited his Aunt Connie's house on Scribbly Gum Island. The house is the site of the Munro Baby mystery where Connie and her sister, Rose, found an abandoned baby at their tenants' home. The Doughty family have made a tourism business out of the “untouched” house and each year celebrate the anniversary when baby Engima was found.
8/10
Three Wishes (2003)
The birthday dinner of the Kettle triplets, Lyn, Cat and Gemma, comes to an abrupt halt when one of them throws a fork into the pregnant stomach of another. This book then recaps the sisters' tumultuous year of family secrets and betrayals, sibling rivalry and rekindled love that lead to the restaurant argument.
8/10
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SINEAD MORIARTY
In My Sister's Shoes - Sinead Moriarty (2007)
Kate O'Brien has just landed her dream TV presenting job in London when her older sister, Fiona, finds out she has breast cancer. Kate owes her sister big time since Fiona selflessly brought her and brother Derek up after their mother died of the same disease. So Kate heads back to Dublin to step into her sister’s shoes and look after her boisterous five-year-old twin boys.
7/10
The Baby Trail (2005)
Thirty-three-year-old make-up artist Emma Hamilton decides it's time for her and husband James to start a family. But after months of post-coital handstands, ovulation testing and fertility drugs, she's still not pregnant. With everyone from her doctor to her mother telling her to just relax, Emma finds her life is turning into a roller-coaster of emotions which is starting to alienate those closest to her.
7/10
A Perfect Match (2005)
The sequel to The Baby Trail, this finds Emma Hamilton ready to adopt after an unsuccessful IVF attempt. But she is upset to discover there are no Irish babies waiting to be rescued, so she turns her attention to Russia and immerses herself in its culture. But between trying to prove that she and James would make perfect parents and cutting through all the red tape, Emma finds out that adoption is far from an instant solution.
6/10
Also by author:
From Here to Maternity
To come:
Whose Life Is It Anyway?