Isabelle is PA to the chief of a London TV production company. But she is sent packing when she shoots off a draft email her boss never intended to send. With her art director boyfriend Harrisson always away on shoots, Izzy thinks she needs a fresh start so applies for a job as a wedding planner in Majorca. This has lots of the chick lit staples like a gay friend (Ray), a stylish shopaholic friend (Remi), and a new love interest (Tomas). But Izzy is not a particularly convincing character - she's prone to getting herself into embarrassing situations but is more than capable of pulling things together in the face of wedding mayhem. She actually lost me right at the start when she doesn't even ask why she's been fired. Read it instead for all the captivating, behind-the-scene wedding preparations, inspired no doubt by the author's own experience as a Majorca wedding planner. The sequel is due in June 2010.
5/10
New York Post's Page Six is running items about a grisly murder, a premature birth and a public meltdown. Each headline applies to three friends who signed up for a summer-share lease in the Hamptons. There's Liza, a feminist media commentator who is stuck in an unfulfilling marriage; Kellyanne, an actress-model whose biggest role to date is mistress to a demanding developer; and Billie, an indie rock singer who's hell-bent on self-destruction. Despite the book's premise resting on who is going to suffer which fate, there was very little suspenseful build-up to the actual murder. If you don't like raunchy reads, you'll probably find this more painful than a dose of sunburn.
5/10
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Life changed for Molly Drayton the day she confided in her biology teacher about her father's behaviour, embellishing the truth. That's when she started realising the power of her stories, and began making up events that didn't exist in her mundane life. Throughout this entire story, it's hard to grasp what's true and what's not, because everything seems to be concocted by Molly. Following her father's disappearance and her mother wanting nothing to do with her, Molly soon meets Mr Roberts who offers her a place to stay in exchange for her help at his shop. As the story develops, more new characters come into the picture. Molly starts to develop a friendship with a woman named Miranda, who works at a nearby salon, and gets to know Liz, a librarian who offers her recommendations for romance novels. Portrayed as another mysterious character, her boyfriend Tim is said to be working as a secret agent and meets her regularly at the same bench in the park. Molly continues to tell tall tales about herself and her past to the people around her, but it is all just an act to shield her vulnerable side. This is an intriguing tale of how a woman becomes so lost in her own world of deceit. But I wished the ending offered a better closure to Molly's stories. (XT)
6/10
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Annie Ashworth and Meg Sanders write under this name.
Georgie and Flick run a Domestics Angels agency - providing help to clients on the home front doing everything from feeding a pet to overseeing renovation work. But one day, a woman requests their help to get back at her cheating husband. And so as word spreads, the pair get caught up in a more "Avenging Angels" role which sees them lurking around public toilets and pole-dancing in a club. But one of the humiliated husbands seems to want his own payback on Georgie and Flick. And it seems the need to get revenge is so much closer to home for one of them. It's written in the authors' usual easy-to-read and light-hearted style, but the storyline all worked out that bit too neatly at the end.
6/10
Music teacher Sarah has packed her children Tom and Claire off to university. And now she's feeling fed up with her marriage, her job - just everything staying the same. So she tells husband David that she needs time out, and heads to stay with her friend Nathalie in the south of France. There Sarah rediscovers her passion for the violin and starts dating a Frenchman. Meanwhile David is left coping with an empty house while Claire is having a hard time adjusting to uni life. With the pace picking up in the second half, this is a spirited tale about a mother who flew the nest.
7/10
Alex has a demanding career as a marketing exec for a sportswear company. So when her mother - an actress/style icon of the 60s - has a fall and needs to move in with her, her friend Saff suggests that she place an ad for help. Out-of-work actor Frankie applies for the job but Alex isn't keen to have a man around the house. So his sister Ella applies, despite having not a domestic bone in her body. When she scores the job at the same time as her dream position at a radio station opens up, she convinces Frankie to take her place. And Alex's mum, The Bean, just loves her new good-looking companion - now they just have to make sure Alex doesn't find out. Another fail-safe read from this co-writing duo. This has all the right ingredients - a too-busy career woman, a jealous co-worker plotting her downfall and yet another bored housewife who turns to catering.
7/10
Meet two women with very different approaches to the festive season. Academic Beth starts planning for Christmas months ahead, hoping to put on the perfect day for her new husband and his grown-up children. For Carol, who's just been made editor of ailing magazine Women's Weekly, she's so busy trying to turn it around that she doesn't even notice December is fast approaching. But she did manage to book her son and herself into a cottage in a quiet village, which is where the two women's lives converge.
6/10
Control freak Imogen rents a beachside cottage in Cornwall, which she shares with the families of easy-going friend Sophie and last-minute rope-in, single mother Jo. Amid rainy weather, tensions rise in the house until an incident forces them to club together.
6/10
Bohemian copy editor Isabel Stock meets designer-clad interior designer Maddy Hoare at a ladies' lunch. Both are fish out of water, having moved to the countryside for their husbands' careers. Then when Maddie finds herself widowed, she uncovers her great-grandmother's book of French recipes for cosmetics and the women form a natural cosmetic company.
7/10
Sally, a 30-something single mother, is English but has been living in Paris for the past 10 years. Having left Nicolas, the father of her four-year-old daughter Lila, because he had an affair with his secretary, Sally is now ready to start dating again. She signs up for online dating site Rendez-Vous but wonders whether the men will be put off by the fact she has a child. Meanwhile her boss Kate has a secret to confess, while new friend Anna gets to enjoy being single again without the hassles of being a mother. This book takes us through Sally's series of dates - from the rude and obnoxious, to the pleasing and promising. And for those who want to practise their French language skills, there's lots of French phrases thrown in (which even non-speakers will be able to understand as the author always explains through the context).
6/10
There's nothing like a good wedding to start world war III! And that's exactly what's going to happen if Connie Adams, the mother of the bride, can't smooth things over between Debbie and her dad. Debbie's never quite forgiven her dad for walking out on her and her mother when she was a child and with him hell bent on bringing his stuck-up second wife and their sulky teenage daughter along to the big day it can only lead to one thing - fireworks! Plus on top of having to deal with the dreaded step-family, Debbie's also having to put up with the boss from hell and a fiance who's getting cold feet. Written with Scanlan's usual warmth and humour this is a really enjoyable and engrossing read that sucked me in right from the word go. The sequel is Happy Ever After. (KC)
7/10
This novel follows the life of three women from a small town in Ireland and the men that ultimately intertwine their lives. Noreen Flynn is unhappily married to a workaholic. Haunted by past secrets, she is desperate to have a baby, hoping that this will bring her and her husband closer together and give her purpose in life. Lorna Morgan is eager to leave her small town and start a glamorous life in Dublin. But her dream that her new life will be like an episode out of Sex and the City is quickly shattered. Heather Williams moves to Dublin with her cousin Lorna, however, unlike Lorna she misses her small-town life. So she moves home and questions whether an old boyfriend is the right man for her. The author does a fantastic job developing characters that a reader can relate to - you will not be able to put this book down. (AO)
8/10
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Jennifer Bradley used to work at an auction house but is now a stay-at-home mum who is wondering if this is her lot in life. When her husband, Thom, announces he's off to Singapore on business for three months, things get even more difficult for her.
4/10
Jody is a lonely music teacher whose only companion is an oversized white pit bull mix from the ASPCA named Beatrice. On one of her sleepless nights, Jody meets handsome divorcee Everett, and finds herself falling for him when he smiled at her. Waiter George lives with his sister Polly in the apartment above Everett. Copy editor Polly, who is struggling to get over her ex-boyfriend, has taken in the dog left by the previous owner of her apartment - naming it Howdy. Down the street lives Simon, a tall and shy man who's often seen sitting at the bar alone. This is an interesting story about loneliness in New York City, telling a heart-warming tale about love and loss through the ways the characters interact with their dogs. (XT)
5/10
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Life is far from grand for Jools Grand. Her cleaning business is ruined after her major client's house burnt down; she's got a massive overdraft and can't pay the rent on her manky flat; she can't claim the dole because of a previous incident - and worse yet she's barely able to keep herself in HobNobs. Befriending a hobo called Skuttle and moving into his squat beneath a bus garage, Jools comes up with a plan to auction herself on eBay, with the top bidder winning her hand in matrimony. Two serious contenders emerge - the in-the-closet gay politician Rodney who needs a wife to become an MP and the deranged loner Niles who isn't prepared to take no for an answer. As Jools begins planning to marry Rodney, she is distraught to find things aren't working out how she hoped. Far from enjoying a close Carrie Bradshaw-Stanford type relationship, it seems Rodney can't stand the sight of her. And her addiction to baked goods is playing havoc with her chances of squeezing into her wedding gown and getting a decent paparazzi shot. Jools' correspondence at the start of each chapter may remind you of Shopaholic but she's got more to worry about than scoring a Denny & George scarf. As she discovers you can't buy love - not even on eBay - Jools realises she could lose even more than she already has. Even though the plot twists won't surprise, you'll still be wanting to get through the pages quicker than Jools can scoff down a tray of doughnuts. An amusing debut about a girl who may be down on her luck but is not yet out of ideas - it will get the chick lit world talking.
7/10
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Jeannie Sterling is a late-night New York radio show host, whose show Sterling Behavior targets everyday rude behaviour. She is trying to make the world a better place, one annoying person at a time. Everything from iPods at full volume, litterers, cutting in line or poor gym etiquette gets her talking turkey. In fact, she even calls a guy in a Hummer a 'turkey' when he splashes water on her while she's waiting for a cab. After she disses him on air, the Hummer driver, mogul Nicholas Moss, takes over her radio station. Pushed to increase ratings, Jeannie starts acting in ways that take her ranting much too far. With a best friend keeping a secret, a boyfriend keeping library books and a misbehaving dog keeping her panties, Jeannie looks like losing everything that's important to her.
6/10
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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
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Deborah Schoeneman has covered gossip, real estate and society for the New York Observer, the New York Post, and New York magazine. She's also the editor-in-chief of Hampton Style magazine.
Kate Simon gets a job as the 'new legs' covering the New York scene on the Examiner's gossip column. She befriends two other gossip columnists, Blake Bradley who has to protect his wealthy father after he's implicated in a tax scandal, and Tim Mack, from Column A, a heavy drinking guy whose affair with a mattress (model/actress) sees her falling pregnant. Kate is told that the secret, when it comes to being a boldfaced name, is to be only 4% famous where you get invites and perks, without the invasive media and public attention. And she's also warned to never date a source, which becomes tricky when she falls for the latest celebrity chef Marco Mancini. He loves courting the media but has a past he's desperate to keep out of the gossip columns.
6/10
Cate Wishart and Margie Holland were childhood best friends but now two decades later they live at opposite ends of the country and don't keep in touch. Cate is married to a doctor and mother to three daughters. But she's wanting more attention from her husband Dan and to just find the time to finish her interior design course. Margie is a senior news producer who's single (apart from occasional nights spent with the star correspondent) and happily child-free. When the two women get an invite to their high school reunion, they hook up again and help each other in ways that only a best friend can.
7/10
Gwen, Alison and Katherine meet at a morning tea for class mothers at Farquhar's. Gwen's husband, Rob, is made redundant as another baby is on its way so he heads off to work in England while she stays at home with their other three children. Alison, a journalist with one daughter, is writing a series about attacks on prostitutes but her husband, Darren, is making her feel guilty about all the overtime and her reluctance to extend their family. Katherine, a trophy wife whose two children are reared by a nanny, finds her husband has moved on to one of his mistresses.
8/10
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Teacher Ella Holt ends her relationship with Rob the Slob after he forgets her birthday. So best friend Maddie sends off a magazine questionnaire about Ella's perfect man and she is selected to be matched by Dr Lara Stein's Perfect Agency. It seems that the agency has scored a perfect match with handsome James Masters. Or has it?
6/10
Martha Seymore is a London relationship advice columnist whose boyfriend Luke tells her, while they are in bed together, that he has slept with another woman. So Martha dumps Luke and moves in with her new friend, Jacqui. Jacqui's partying ways introduces Martha to a whole new lifestyle of casual sex and drugs. She questions whether her new crazy lifestyle is as glamorous as she always imagined. As Martha answers her readers' letters, she starts to take her own relationship advice and re-examine some of her past relationships. Her relationship with an ex-boyfriend from high school gets particularly complicated when she learns that their love lives are more intertwined than she ever imagined. This novel is fast paced, however, the characters are annoying and forgettable. (AO)
5/10
Faith Wishart's family think she has a great job for a top PR company and the perfect boyfriend, Adam. Actually Faith is a make-up girl at Keats Cosmetics and is without a man. But when her sister returns from Australia engaged, Faith desperately needs to find an 'Adam' to show off to her family at the wedding. And as luck would have it a handsome man named Adam walks right up to her make-up counter.
5/10
Ruby has just got engaged to fellow school teacher Tom when her twin sister Stella announces she is pregnant after a one-night stand. So Ruby joins her on a road trip to find the guy - believed to be a lawyer from Las Vegas called Jake. The trip will also give Ruby a chance to consider whether she is really ready to marry Tom. Her sister, a professional face reader, thinks he's boring and her sexy colleague Nick (her McDreamy) has just confessed he has feelings for her. And does Ruby think the relationship will stand up to all 15 questions couples should ask before marrying?
6/10
Eloise Manfred is offered a $100,000 wedding in exchange for featuring in a bridal magazine. With her mother dead and her father's whereabouts unknown, she accepts the offer to be the Modern Bride. But when faced with a Bird Bird gown, a vegan menu and a Leap Year wedding date, Eloise soon learns there's no such thing as a free wedding.
5/10
Did you know? Whose Wedding Is It Anyway is a spin-off of See Jane Date. Eloise was one of Jane's colleagues who lived in the apartment below.
Sarah discovers she is pregnant to a guy she's only be dating a couple of months. Will he stay around long enough to meet his baby and will her pregnancy affect her chances of promotion to senior magazine editor? Her older sister Ally, who has been desperately trying to fall pregnant for five years, discovers that her husband has been having an affair. Meanwhile their half-sister Zoe is a successful dating guru who critiques people's dating skills but her own love life is going nowhere. With her former friend about to tie the knot with her father, Zoe heads to New York to head off her mother who is on the loose and out for revenge. The three Solomon sisters, who have never been that close, all end up living at their father's house and help each other deal with their personal crises.
8/10
Assistant editor Jane Gregg thinks her life will be perfect once she gets a promotion and finds a man. And she enlists her friends' help in setting her up with blind dates. But first she has to make it through her cousin Dana's wedding as a bridesmaid in peach; and edit her childhood nemesis Natasha Nutley's memoirs about her affair with a famous actor.
7/10
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Documentary producer Heather Greenblotz, the heiress to the world's greatest matzo company, doesn't actually celebrate Passover. Her mother is usually on some adventure holiday and her gay father was last heard of heading for Australia. But when The Food Channel decides it wants to film the family seder, her cousin - company boss Jake - decides they need the publicity and they start enlisting people to act as family members. But are a postman, a German called Amy Hitler and an Egyptian diplomat going to be able to pull it off?
6/10
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Monica, a junior associate at a Los Angeles divorce and mediation firm, is hoping her handling of superstar clients Cameron and Lydia Johnson - aka Camydia - as they discuss a trial separation will score her a promotion. But she has her work cut out for her with rival colleague Stefanie giving her the evil eye and trying to undermine her on the job. To further complicate her life, her fiancé is away in London, her former boyfriend is back in her life as a client and her drama queen mum is returning to town. A tale of female rivalry, celebrity shenanigans and being true to yourself.
6/10
Vina Chopra has built a successful 70-hour-a-week career as a Wall Street investment banker but is now looking for a life partner. She's even desperate enough to allow her Indian parents to set her up on dates. But while her focus is on her romantic life, including an ex with a secret and an in-the-closet gay, Vina gets caught up in a scandal that could ruin her career.
6/10
"When I get to my thirties, I'll know what I'm doing." Lacey Brennan has been questioning her impulsive decision to give up her job and life in New York to move to Hollywood with her talented comedian boyfriend, Toby. But this uncertainty recedes when Toby proposes on her 30th birthday - suddenly everything seems to fall in place. However, her happiness is short-lived when Toby can't get a job and their marriage starts to crack. Lacey also struggles with the negative atmosphere in her new TV job and her own family dramas, including her brother suddenly taking off. Lacey starts to wonder if being 30 will really make her mature enough to make the right decisions in life. This is an edgy, bittersweet story about growing up and learning that sometimes letting go is perhaps the best way. (XT)
6/10
Dedicated career woman Olivia Anderson is running late for a business meeting after a run-in with an arrogant, queue-jumping American. Then she discovers the same man - Luke Wylie - has taken her promotion as projects director of a computer company. But a hefty pay rise and Luke's considerable charms lessen the blow - a bit. But something is rotten in the state of Puttock Leavitt and it seems as if Liv could well be the fall girl. A promising debut with lots of witticisms about surviving - and thriving - amid office politics.
7/10
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Maggie Hunter found out that her boyfriend was cheating on her immediately before he died in an accident. Fast forward a few years and Maggie is dating the perfect boyfriend, Max French. Max asks Maggie to move in with him and she is hesitant to give up her freedom. Meanwhile, Maggie's best friend, Eloise, is dating commitment-phobic Jake. Both friends are confused about their current relationships and can't help but notice how perfect their best friend's boyfriends are. Could they possibly exchange boyfriends? The author wrote a cute story but it could have been 100 pages less. (AO)
6/10
High-flying lawyer Sam Washington is on a flight back to London when she realises she's left her diary in a New York hotel room. As she fends off the unwanted advances of her firm's senior partner, she worries that not only could someone read her inner thoughts but there's a secret in there about her best friend EJ that the tabloids would love. When TV producer Ben Fisher turns up on her doorstep with her diary, she's suspicious that he's read it - after all he seems to know a lot about her. Does he want to get close to her because he's become smitten or does he want to reveal her embarrassing secrets?
7/10
Lizzie Ford is a high-profile advice columnist for a magazine and radio show. She meets advertising man Matt Baker at a work function - and they hit it off. But the problem is that Matt is stuck in an unhappy marriage to workaholic Rachel - but doesn't reveal this to his new girlfriend. One day while sick in bed, Rachel writes to Lizzie for advice about whether her husband is having an affair, using the pseudonym Name & Address Withheld. How long will it take Lizzie to work out she is the other woman?
7/10
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Cassie loves designer shoes and handbags, massages, getting about in taxis - in fact she loves to spend. But when Cassie is retrenched from her admin job at an investment bank and loses her high-flying boyfriend Dan, she has to embrace the art of being thrifty. But despite her best efforts to cut back, heed the budgeting advice of her student flatmate Jude and find a new job, the world seems to conspire against Cassie and make her spend even more. This is an entertaining tale with an endearing heroine for these global financial crisis times.
7/10
Movie star Paige Carson hates working with her arrogant Australian co-star Jackson Rolfe on movie Code Red. But he's nominated for an Oscar and she's already got a reputation for walking off set. The daughter of divorced celebrity parents, Paige suffers a few too many humiliations on the way to the Academy Awards. So she accepts a part on the London stage, playing Rosalind in As You Like It. This allows her to catch up with friend, rock chick Davina, who's now settled in England with her aristocratic husband, and brings her into the sphere of her landlord Ed, a documentary maker who is not at all keen to play host to a spoilt American diva. You may have fun picking the real life inspirations for the celebrity characters. But much like how Gwyneth's advice to Madonna to find herself an English husband turned out - badly - this predictable book ain't going to enjoy its own Hollywood ending.
5/10
Have you ever been told that it is impossible for men and women to be "just friends"? After a stunningly abrupt break-up from her predictable and, quite frankly, boring boyfriend, Freya is left homeless and wondering why she ever thought that he was going to propose. Desperate to find a place to live, she is forced to move in with her womanising writer friend, Jack. Despite Freya's eccentric best friend, Cat, telling her that men and women can't simply be "just friends", she is determined to prove her wrong. However when her sister announces that she is getting married, Freya and Jack's just-friends relationship is put to the test when Freya, determined to not be made a fool of by her family, asks Jack to be her boyfriend for the occasion. However, can Jack keep his womanising ways on hold for Freya? And will Freya realise her feelings, that Cat was right all along? This is a fantastic novel that takes a traditional scenario and mixes it up with witty banter and surprising twists and turns involving lovable and irresistible characters. (GC)
9/10
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Nell and Charlotte would be perfect mothers, if it wasn't for the children. With Charlotte in London and Nell recently moved to Canada, the sisters keep in touch about their mutual household chaos through a series of letters and emails.
6/10
Katie Fisher, co-host of breakfast show Hello Britain!, is on holiday when she finds out she's been replaced by a younger model. Keera Keethley is an ambitious, publicity-hungry woman on the rise despite her lack of interviewing nous. One of the reasons Katie loses her job is viewer feedback that she has an "unappealing" and "unfunny" sense of humour. Their opinion is certainly spot on if the dreadfully woeful puns throughout this book are anything to go by. Katie takes off to her parents' home in Yorkshire, where she hooks up with her brother's friend Bob and is papped in various states of drunkenness. With an awful character you would step right over if you saw her lying in a pool of her own vomit, let's just hope Smith, a regular British TV presenter, has nothing coming up next on the fiction front.
4/10
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"You can always count on your sisters." This third book in the Christian Sister-to-Sister series focuses on the baby sister, Tori Sanderson. Tori has been given the opportunity of a lifetime in her job at an advertising firm - to become account executive at 24 would make her one of the youngest to ever be hired in that position. But there's only one position up for grabs - and she's been given a month to come up with a marketing plan for a new restaurant. It shouldn't be too hard but Tori has distractions - her sister Joan (from Stuck in The Middle) is about to get married to Ken "The Religious Nut" and Joan and Allie (from Age before Beauty) are trying to set her up with country bumpkin Ryan. When talk about fathers comes up, Tori decides to go searching for hers, which provides her with surprising results. Can Tori balance her career, family, love and of course her number one priorities - shopping and coffee - with everything happening around her? This is a heart-warming read about three sisters coming together in times of strife and happiness and providing us with the knowledge that no matter what we encounter - we can always count on our family to support us. (PP)
7/10
If you have ever been pregnant and had doubts about returning to work, you'll be able to relate to this story, the second book in the Sister-to-Sister series. Allie Harrod is a social worker by day and a brand-new mum by night. She is more than ready for a career change. When Allie is invited to a Vari Cose Party (similar to Avon or Tupperware) she decides on the spot to become a sales rep. This means she can be a stay-at-home mum but still contribute to the family's income. Of course Allie is discouraged by her family - I mean she even dropped out of the Girl Scouts for not selling enough cookies. But Allie is determined to rise to the occasion and prove to her family that she can make it. However all the daily challenges that Allie faces, such as her rising credit card balance, losing her baby fat, fitting back into her clothes and fearing her husband is slinking off to what may be an affair with a solo mum, are becoming too much. An enjoyable book combining motherhood, marriage, sisterhood and of course make-up and all those handy inventions like the Laundry Pen. (PP)
7/10
This is the book that started off the wonderful Sister-to-Sister series about three sisters. This story focuses on the middle sister Joan Sanderson who is stuck in a rut. Her older sister, Allie, is starting a family with husband Eric and her younger sister Tori has an advertising career, a wardrobe to die for and dates lining up around the corner for her. Whereas Joan is Miss Reliable and Boring and she jokes her mother should have named her Jane so that she could be Plain Jane. She lives with her mother and grandmother and has a job in a furniture store. Then a sexy doctor moves in next door and Joan decides to take a risk and try to score a date with him. But Tori also sets her eyes on him and it becames a battle of the sisters. But with a little help from God, Allie and an enormous mutt with bad manners, can Joan build up the courage to ask the doctor out? (PP)
7/10
Make this book the next one on your list - it has one of the freshest plot concepts of the year and a heroine worth rooting for. June Parker works for a LA carpooling agency. On the way home from a Weight Watchers meeting, she offers a lift to a woman who has just lost over 100 pounds, taking pity on her walking for the bus in stiletto shoes. As Marissa unbuckles her seatbelt to reach into the backseat to pull out a taco soup recipe from her bag, June swerves to avoid a dresser falling off the back of a truck. Marissa is flung through the windscreen and dies. June finds a list that Marissa has written - 20 Things to Do Before my 25th Birthday. Six months later, she runs into Marissa's brother, Troy, at the cemetery and still feeling guilt-ridden is compelled to finish off the list. The tasks range from running a 5km race, going on a blind date and changing someone's life. As she races through the list to beat the birthday deadline, it looks like it might be her own life that she's set the change.
8/10
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After ending a four-year relationship with her Harvard graduate boyfriend Ron, and losing both her job and apartment, Natalie Quackenbush finds herself with no choice other than to move into her parents' home in Arizona; and paying for her piling debts through teaching English at a local high school. To compensate for her dull life, she and friend Jill often lie about their own identities by making up a series of incredible stories whenever guys try to pick them up at bars. However, when Natalie falls in love with an incredibly attractive guy, she finds herself spinning more lies about herself - teaching at a prison and living with her mentally insane mum. It turns out that this guy, Jonathan, is in fact falling in love with her. Will Natalie be able to tell him the truth or will she be trapped in her own lies? (XT)
6/10
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Brooklyn's Park Slope neighbourhood is the place to live if you are a neurotic SAHM (stay-at-home mom) continually obsessing about your child's wellbeing. From the best public education money can buy to organic baby food from the Prospect Park Food Coop, and of course, playmates with well-connected parents, Park Slope has it all ... including four dissatisfied mothers. Melora Leigh is growing increasingly frustrated with her acting career, her distant actor-writer husband, and her adopted son to the point that she does whatever she can to feel the thrill of life again. Lizzie O'Donnell, dealing with loneliness while her musician husband is on the road, finds herself continually drawn to women even though she considers herself a "hasbian" since getting married and having her son. Rebecca Rose longs for the sex life she had with her husband before having her daughter. When a flirtation with a neighbourhood dad at the Coop is taken to the next level, she must decide what she really wants out of life. Karen Bryan Shapiro is a social climber of the highest order. In an effort to obtain the perfect address so her son can attend the best school in Brooklyn, she resorts to some very unsavoury behaviour. The lives of Melora, Lizzie, Rebecca, and Karen become dizzyingly intertwined in this dishy, frank, but completely over-the-top and stereotypical look at life in Brooklyn. The book suffers from the author including too many characters who aren't developed to their potential. (LEK)
4/10
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Seventeen-year-old Rachel Hills is in Year 12 (it's 1989) and she has a big crush on Nick, who was shipped off to boarding school after his mother died. But now he's back at her school, after rumouredly trying to kill himself, and Rachel's parents have decided to let him move in with them. It's going to be a year Rachel will never forget.
5/10
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Lucy Stephens knows that there's never a winner in divorce after watching her parents' marriage disintegrate. Now as a divorce barrister, she is battling to gain a permanent position in chambers against the slimy Hugo. Her chances are given a boost when she scores a spot on the legal team representing Prime Minister Llew Jones. But will she get blamed for the leak when salacious secrets about his impending divorce get revealed in the media? Meanwhile, Lucy's been warned that seeing her new man, Mark, may jeopardise her career while her cheating ex, Jonathan, is trying to convince her he's a changed man. For those who want a bit of law and courtroom order with their romance.
6/10
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Two failed marriages, four engagement rings and more than 250 cyber-dates . . . Julie Spira brings to us her memoirs of her 15 years of online dating and a range of those memorable moments she has experienced, some great and others not worth the effort. For this book subtitled Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online, she has chosen a handful of the dates, telling us a bit about the date and whether it was a success. From the Investment Banker and the Neurologist to the Latin Lover, we laugh, empathise and experience a variety of feelings when we see what Julie went through from being told she looked like a date's dead wife to being proposed to with skywriting. An amazing read that acts both as a cautionary tale and a witty insight into the highs and lows of dating. (PP)
9/10
Swearing, drinking, sexual harassment, drug abuse, stress and backstabbing - we must have entered a commercial TV station . . . Single mum Rosie is director of publicity at Network Six, the same position the author held for a year at Channel 9. When newspaper journalist Rosie went along to interview the legendary network chief, Keith Norman, she never dreamed she'd walk away with what seemed like a dream job. But having to have two mobiles switched on 24/7 to deal with the network's scandals is starting to take its toll. Especially since newly appointed newsreader Graham Hunt can't keep his pants zipped or his nose clean. Besides coping the daily, soul-destroying abuse from the very un-PC boys' club of executives, Rosie is barely seeing her four-year-old son Leon. She drops him off sick at day-care, she misses his birthday party, and even when she seems to have a few moments to spare she's found out shopping or sharing a spliff with her best friend, Lou. Many insiders have tried over the past few years but we're still waiting for a decent book about network TV.
5/10
Annie is one very organised New Jersey mum - she has to be as she juggles a demanding corporate job and her family. But when she tells her bosses she's not willing to work out of Connecticut during the week, they show her the door. So now she has more time to ferry her daughter Charlotte around to soccer. Soon Winslow West, the crazy coach of the top girls soccer team, the Power, has his eye on the talented Charlotte. His is a world of exhausting training sessions where death is the only excuse for absence and not even Halloween or storms will stop match time. And for the competitive soccer mums on the sidelines, there's even a position for an anti-rage rep to stick lollypops in the mouths of disruptive parents. As Winslow builds his dream team and a massive Soccer-Plex, it seems one dissatisfied parent has sabotage on their mind. A sharp satire that is unashamedly over-the-top, this really kicks a winning goal.
8/10
TV producer Kate is depressed and drinking a lot after her latest boyfriend dumps her, while her younger sister Kelly is feeling the strain of being a young married mother. When Kelly meets a gorgeous guy at Starbucks, she convinces her sister to sign up together for his volleyball classes. Once Kate meets coach Tim, she decides he could well be the man of her dreams. But he is too busy making a play for Kelly. Told in alternate chapters from each sister's viewpoint (Fenton wrote the Kelly chapters, while Steinke wrote for Kate.)
6/10
Sometimes you read a book which is nothing like what you expected from the back cover blurb. That is exactly what happened in this case but it made it a much stronger book as a result. Clare thought she would have her twins, spend six months at home with them and then return to her flourishing chain of boutique flower shops. But from the moment she gives birth on the street, nothing goes to plan and Clare, who didn't have the best role model for a mother, finds she can't cope. So she hires a nanny to look after her babies - even though younger husband Marc would prefer her to stay home. And nanny Jenna is looking for a live-in post in order to get away from her abusive boyfriend. Told in the Stimson style of multiple narrators who often overlap on events to give a different perspective - this riveting read is her best yet.
8/10
An affair is never just between two people. In this case, Ella and William have been secretly seeing each other for eight years. Ella, a paediatrician, is married to Jackson and is happy with her decision not to have children. William is not-so-happily married to artist Beth who suffers from manic depression. Their 17-year-old daughter Cate is seeing Dan, who actually has his eye on Beth. When Jackson dies, it suddenly changes the dynamics. These characters and their connections are intriguing enough to keep you turning the pages. But showing the different perspectives of the main players sometimes meant scenes were replayed a tad too much.
7/10
Divorce lawyer Nicholas Lyon is married to Mal, a cookery writer, and together they have an enviable life with three daughters. He knows he'd never cheat on his wife. Young lawyer Sara Kaplan joins his firm - she's never understood why a woman would go for a married man - she's watched her best friend Amy waste four years on Terry. But something sparks between Nicholas and Sara and when a terrorist attack on London forces them together, their affair starts. Meanwhile, Mal's old boyfriend Trace is back on the scene. Told from the viewpoint of the married man, his wife and his mistress. Whose side will you be on?
7/10
Libby Street is the pseudonym for the writing team of friends Sarah Bushweller and Emily S. Morris.
Life in New York City isn't as wonderful as Ryan Hadley imagined. Despite her dreams of owning an accomplished web-design company, she ends up getting a monotonous data entry job. When her gorgeous colleague Will clinches a record deal for his band, and her two best friends Audrey and Veronica get promoted, Ryan starts to feel left behind. She soon finds herself coming up with a plan for her future, and even though not all her schemes are feasible, well, at least it's a start. But what she didn't count on was the reappearance of her college ex-boyfriend and first love, Charlie, who seems to have a successful career in LA. This is a truly inspirational and hilarious read. You will love Ryan, and cheer her on as she endeavours to follow her plans to be the someone she wants to be, and find the courage to fight for the man she loves. (XT)
7/10
Sadie Price is a celebrity photographer who'll do whatever it takes to get the shot that will bring in the most money. When she gets a compromising shot of Hollywood heart-throb Ethan Wyatt, she thinks she is at the top of her game. That is, until the tables are turned on her and she starts being stalked by a paparazzi who follows her every move. Ethan, in the meantime, won't give up trying to get Sadie to stop her celebrity photo-taking ways and switch to another career. The question is: How does Sadie feel being stalked every day, unable to even leave her house without being followed? Anyone who reads the weekly tabloids or enjoys following the lives of Hollywood stars will devour this book in a heartbeat. (AS)
8/10
Ruby Gallagher seemed to have the perfect life, treated like a princess, until the dawn raid that saw husband Manny arrested on numerous fraud and money laundering charges. But even with his assets seized, Ruby was willing to stand by her man - until she discovers his mistress is expecting his baby. Moving into an apartment with one of his former staff members Maria, Ruby begins to realise it wasn't so much fun living in her gilded cage. Willingly taking on work as a housecleaner, she soon creates a new life, helped by Maria, her clients and her substitute parents, gay couple Tom and Kendall - and even faces up to some issues from the past. With a very endearing heroine, this is a totally enjoyable way to Lose a Day and Gain a New Favourite.
8/10
Also by author:
She is also the author of the highly popular series about sleuth Bubbles Yablonsky.
Kat loves to shop - she is constantly at stores buying things, not because they are needed but because she got them for a good price. While Kat is buying things for her 20th wedding anniversary, she realises that her husband Griff, an economic professor, may be leaving her. According to her sister Viv, all the signs are there, including a new bank account and credit card that were opened without her knowledge and some interesting emails from Griff's assistant. Kat and Viv go to a divorce attorney where she is told she needs $15,000 just for the retainer fee. For the first time in her life Kat starts to think about money and how she spends it without thinking. She joins a group called the Rocky River Penny Pinchers Club. They guarantee she will have the retainer fee in eight months if she joins their club and follows their rules for financial restraint. From spending $800 a week to only $250, can Kat get the money in time before her husband leaves her? Will an old flame she left for her husband rescue her from this belt-tightening life? This is a great book to read in these trying economic times that will have you laughing at how these women save money. (CG)
8/10
When Julie's mother Betty gives her a gift of dessert technique classes, the last person she expects to see there is her teenage crush Michael. Single mother Julie is now a TV correspondent seeking to make it on to the national election campaign team, and the last time she saw Michael, a political consultant, was six years ago when she did an expose of his candidate. The rekindled romance ignited by Betty - the woman who kept Michael and Julie apart all those years ago - is merely the icing on the cake. The real flavour of this book is its delving into issues such as job ethics, the mother-daughter bond and aging parents. And all the delectable descriptions of the desserts will have you licking your lips. Regarded by many as the author's best to date.
7/10
Genie Michaels is in for a shock when boyfriend Hugh proposes on national television - not to her but to a mystery woman. He then continues on his tour of England, promoting his bestselling novel, and asks Genie, a college admissions advisor, to let everyone know that she wasn't the woman he proposed to, instead that they've split up. Although best friend Patty tells Genie she can't be like Sleeping Beauty just waiting for her prince to come, she also advises her to pretend she's engaged - to reap the benefits of being a bride-to-be, such as registry gifts and parental approval. So with everyone thinking she�s planning a wedding, Genie buys a (fake) diamond ring, which helps give her the confidence to move ahead with her life - with or without a man. Although Nick, a carpenter working on the house she wants to buy, would certainly make life that bit sweeter.
7/10
Nola Devlin and her friends make a pact to lose weight and transform themselves after they are refused a window seat at a restaurant. They intend to follow the weight-loss tips offered by Sass magazine's advice columnist Belinda Apple. But Nola, an editor on the magazine, knows the tips are not the answer - because she has a secret identity as the trendy and thin British advice columnist and made them up herself. Now Belinda is taking over her life, with her sister making the agony aunt her maid of honour and eligible bachelors wanting to date her.
8/10
Foreign correspondent Claire Stark moves into the privileged neighbourhood of Hunting Hills when she marries eligible bachelor John Harding. Wives here live by 10 rules, including be busy even if you aren't and remember that the more you buy, the more your husband values you. But perhaps the women of the neighbourhood need another rule - don't trust one another. Marti Denton, who only communicates with her husband Denton by post-it notes, has had her eye on John and desperately wants to break up the new marriage. Meanwhile Marti's best friend, Lisa, who downs amphetamines to keep up the pace, has been having an affair.
6/10
In the unfamiliar halls of Smith College, an all-women's school, Bree, Sally, Celia and April form a unique, beautiful and often tested friendship. On the cusp of adulthood in the 1990s, these four young women are privilege to what many generations of young women before them were not - options. Sally, dealing with the grief of losing her mother, finds herself in an unexpected affair with an older man. April, a passionate feminist, teams up with a radical women's rights activist and finds herself in a dangerous situation. Bree struggles between the opportunities provided by Smith and her life and fiance she left behind at home. Celia, having attended Catholic school all her life, shows up with a Vodka bottle wrapped in a Snoopy blanket. She soon discovers that the halls of Smith are very different to what she expected and after one life-changing night, Celia will question everything she thought she knew. Sullivan gives insight to the girls' past before entering Smith and takes the reader on a well-written, tear-inducing, laugh-aloud, smart ride to adulthood where their friendship will be tested. As the girls struggle to find independence in a world where they are discovering what type of women they want to be, they learn to let themselves depend on one another. Through it all, the reader will learn, "there are so many ways to be 26". (JE)
8/10
It's not such a festive occasion when personal shopper Annie Curtis discovers on Christmas Day that husband Mark has been cheating on her again. As the main breadwinner, she is more than happy to offer him a very generous, amicable divorce settlement - until he demands custody of her pooch Fluffy. Flashbacks reveal how both boys came into Annie's life - she rescued the mongrel from a homeless man and then hired Mark to be her dog-walker. A hilarious, cleverly written and heart-warming tale about the lengths people will go for their furry best friend.
8/10
Also by author:
Sylvia Mortimer is on her honeymoon in Careyes, Mexico, (unfortunately her husband Hunter had to return to work) when she meets Lauren Blount, who is celebrating her divorce. The two become fast friends and join in a whirlwind of parties and trips, including heading to Moscow to buy jewellery for the rich but unGoogleable Giles Monterey. With rumours swirling that Hunter is having an affair, Sylvia has to decide whether to subscribe to Lauren's 'Who needs a husband anyway?' philosophy - or stand and fight for her man.
5/10
Bergdorf Blondes are Park Avenue Princesses (PAPs) who are on the prowl for the must-have accessory, a rich fiancé. English Lit major Moi, who works as a freelance magazine writer, is friends with the perfect example, department store heiress Julie Bergdorf, who gets her blonde locks touched up every 13 days. Will Moi find her Prospective Husband (PH) in her European travels or has he been under her nose all this time?
4/10
This follows New Yorker Kas and her friends Max and Libby as they go on a South African safari. Kas is an awfully boring one-dimensional 20-something who has been dumped by her boyfriend and is stuck in a post-breakup depression. To make things worse, Kas sees her ex, Richard, out at a club with his new girlfriend, who actually ends up being his fiancee of two years! Max decides to enact revenge on Richard in various ways such as telling all his neighbours he's a convict and putting up signs around town advertising his escort services. Max's antics are about the only thing that is funny about this novel. On the African safari, Kas has a fling with handsome park ranger William who saves the group from certain death. After going back to New York, Kas thinks William is out of her league. When he unexpectedly sends an email and says he is coming to New York (believing that Kas has offered him a place to live) Kas is ecstatic but her excitement fades when she realises William is not playing with a full deck of cards. He has an obsession with Big Apple-themed souvenirs and psychics. So it's a case of the girl gets the guy but wishes all along that she hadn't. But the characters are boring and the chapters are far too long (at over 100 pages just for chapter one!) The way it is written feels like you're reading the ramblings of someone with hyper activity disorder - it's all over the place and hard to follow. (AS)
3/10
Melissa Senate is a former book editor who is now a full-time writer. Her debut book See Jane Date launched the Red Dress Ink imprint. Her latest novel Questions to Ask Before Marrying is out this month. She lives in Maine with her son, Max.
Poonam Sharma has written two novels Girl Most Likely To and All Eyes on Her. Now New York-based and also working as a real estate developer, she has an MBA from The Wharton School and has written two non-fiction books on entrepreneurship.
Lisa Steinke and Liz Fenton have been friends since college and both live in California. Like the two main characters in their debut novel I'll Have Who She's Having, Liz is married with two children and Lisa is single. They also have created the chicklitisnotdead blog.
