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| LINDSAY FAITH RECH | PAMELA REDMOND SATRAN | CARMEN REID |
| TINA REILLY | ROS REINES | NICOLE RICHIE |
| ELISABETH ROBINSON | JACKIE ROSE | ALLISON RUSHBY |
LINDSAY FAITH RECH
Losing It (2003)
Everyone thinks Diana Christopher is losing it. Especially considering she's just driven her car into the front window of a cafe. Since the death of her father in a car crash two decades before, Diana has literally become a HUGE disappointment to her mother. She is overweight, works night shift in a cafe and has never had a boyfriend. But a friendship with her elderly neighbour helps her start to shed weight and find a reason to live.4/10
Also by author:
Joyride
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PAMELA REDMOND SATRAN
Babes in Captivity (2004)
Four women from a mother's group decide to each strive towards a goal. Mother of twins Deirdre, who fantasises about former band member Nick, dreams of resurrecting her singing career. Juliette, whose son Trey has autism, wants another baby and plans to start fertility testing. Ms Organised Lisa decides to write a self-help book but must first face a health crisis. And Anne wants to open a restaurant.7/10
Also by author:
The Home for Wayward Supermodels; Suburbanistas; Younger; The Man I Should Have Married
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CARMEN REID
Up All Night (2005)
There are simply not enough hours in the day for Jo Randall - and this is no ordinary week. The newly divorced mother of two is a newspaper reporter whose love life is heating up thanks to a sexy younger chef, Marcus. And she's working on two big stories. She's chasing an interview with the Green Goddess, Savannah Tyler, who is expected to be the first Green MP and has been keeping her private life secret for a reason. Then's there her investigation into a potentially harmful vaccination as a whooping cough epidemic takes hold. Can she uncover the truth before it affects more families - including her own?7/10
Also by author:
The Personal Shopper; How Was It For You?; Did the Earth Move? Three in a Bed
To come:
Late Night Shopping
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TINA REILLY
Wedded Blitz (2005)
A tale of warring spouses, embarrassing parents and the battle of the hairdressing salons. When hairdresser Jane discovers another salon is opening up down the road, she enters a hairdressing competition to help woo customers. On the home front, her husband, Jim, has moved out so her mother moves in. Then an accident makes Jane and Jim relive a past tragic event and forces them to confront what drove them apart in the first place.5/10
Also by author:
All I Want is You; Wish Upon a Star; Something Borrowed; Is This Love?; The Onion Girl; Flipside
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ROS REINES
Gossip (2006)
Ros Reines worked as a gossip columnist for a Sydney newspaper so news of her debut novel had many wondering how much of it would be fiction. Her heroine, Venous Ventura, is a gossip columnist for the Sunday Observer. She enrols in an exclusive self-help course at Byron Bay at the behest of her boyfriend - former rock star Larry. Tagged The Bitch, she joins fellow guests, including her nemesis, fashion designer Ruby Star (Abusive) and football star Todd Straw (Unfaithful), in facing their demons. And of course Venous is not only determined to keep breaking celebrity stories, such as J.Lo's arrival in town, while she's on the retreat but she's also desperate to dish the dirt on Ruby's secret.4/10
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NICOLE RICHIE
The Truth About Diamonds (2005)
Chloe Parker had lead a wild childhood running with the young A-list crowd after being adopted by a music producer. She disappears for a week when she has a fight with a friend at a nightclub. On her return best friend Simone, who makes everyone's private phone numbers public when she leaves her mobile in a rest room, announces that she and Chloe are going to be spokespeople for Magdalena cosmetics and they will shoot a reality TV ad. It doesn't seem as if Richie has strayed too far from her own experiences to act as the story's narrator. She's the adopted daughter of singer Lionel Richie and she starred in reality TV show The Simple Life with her then best friend Paris Hilton (and Paris did once lose her phone).6/10
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ELISABETH ROBINSON
The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters (2004)
Hollywood film producer Olivia Hunt was working on the fourth draft of her suicide note (she'd been fired, dumped by her boyfriend and had discovered evidence of a moustache) when she got a phone call that her younger sister Maddie has leukaemia. Through a series of letters, the book follows her time spent at her sister's bedside as she attempts to get Don Quixote made into a film.4/10
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JACKIE ROSE
Marrying Up (2005)
Newspaper obituaries writer Holly Hastings - a compulsive therapy user - writes her own obituary and is less than impressed to find she's going to die alone at 85. Inspired by the Marilyn Monroe movie How to Marry a Millionaire, she decides to do just that and write a book on the topic. Honing her search to some of America's most wealthy regions, she and best friend George arrive in San Francisco (home of most millionaires under 50) and start dating two rich men. But they find that money doesn't necessarily buy love.6/10
Also by author:
Slim Chance
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ALLISON RUSHBY
It's Not You, It's Me (2004)
Charlie is at the airport leaving for a trip to Europe when she hears over the announcement system a name from her past - Jasper Ash. It's her former flatmate, a songwriter who has gone on to great things as Zamiel in supergroup Spawn. The last time she saw him was when they nearly slept together - until he backed away at the last moment proclaiming “it's not you, it's me”. When Jas joins her on a bus tour to Oktoberfest in Munich (even though Charlie hates beer), they slip straight back into their easy banter. But That Night looms over them as an undiscussed topic. Both seem at a crossroad in their lives - why is Jas ignoring all his phone calls and why has Charlie still not finished uni or got stuck into creating her sculptures? Not just a light frothy read. You'll also get some great survival tips in case you ever find yourself at Oktoberfest with a group of Australians from a Beer-drinking Society.7/10
allmenarebastards.com (2000)
Also known as Friday Night Cocktails
Best friends Gemma and Sarah are at their ritual Friday night cocktails, when Sarah adds another name to their bastards list - a collection of 20 yellowing pages of men who have done them wrong. They add the list to Gemma's homepage and she creates a form so other internet users can add their own stories of bastards they have known. It becomes an overnight success so Gemma sets up a new website called allmenarebastards.com. This becomes Gemma's place to vent, especially now her ex-fiancé Brett has sent her an invitation to his wedding to another woman. But is Gemma's manhating getting out of control?6/10
Also by author:
The Dairy Queen; Hating Valentine's Day