Juliet's relationship with live-in boyfriend Will is in a rut after two and a half years together. When he forgets to meet her for their Valentine's Day dinner, she finds herself drawn to rival ad man, Sykes, who is over from Italy to pitch for the same account. He whisks her off to fair Verona - but can romantic gestures (or lack thereof) make or break a relationship?
6/10
Three sisters turn up, one by one, on their grandmother Angela's doorstep, each running away from a problem and with something to hide. Susan has ended her engagement after having a fling at a wedding and has her eye on her Gran's hot gardener. Except she discovers he's her cousin Gavin. Felicity, who had been set to make her fortune from a website, has had a public meltdown at work. And no one is surprised that flighty Marianne is in some sort of trouble again. But the biggest surprise of all comes from Gran. It's also no secret that this book just doesn't gel.
5/10
Emma Corrigan is a young woman who spills her most intimate secrets to a complete stranger on a plane. She is horrified to then learn that this handsome stranger is her American boss, Jack, who's visiting the company's London branch. Emma is a fantastic character that every reader will identify with. Sophie Kinsella does not disappoint in this hysterical novel that you will not be able to put down. (AO)
9/10
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
As the book blurb says: 'Carrie Pilby needs to find 10 things she loves. And do five things she fears . . . But first she has to leave her apartment.' Carrie doesn't fit in - she skipped three grades through school so had finished Harvard by age 19 - and prefers lying in bed in her apartment. It doesn't help that Carrie looks down on everyone with a lower IQ (which includes almost everyone in New York). The only person she sees regularly is her therapist, who comes up with a plan to get her interacting socially, including joining an organisation and going on a date. But Carrie goes about her mission in her own quirky way, picking a church to join so she can expose it as a cult, and turning to the personal ads for a date, picking Matt who is wanting to cheat on his fiancée.
6/10
Former daytime soapie star Tabby Brockman is sacked from her job in a bookstore after an incident with a rabbit costume. But it seems God does have a plan for her - she's getting the chance to return to her TV role on Legacy of Life: her character Felicia Fontaine isn't in fact dead but is emerging from a coma. But back on the set she finds her nemesis Rachel Savage is also joining the cast, the TV writer who killed her off still hates her and she's got to find a way to bond with her character's children. On the personal front, her mum has set her up with an unwanted boyfriend, who just won't leave her alone, and she's got a big crush on stage dad David - but Rachel already has her claws in him. It's book one in the Drama Queen series - more books centred on Tabby's flatmates Dancy (You Had Me at Good-bye) and Laini (That's Not Exactly Amore) follow.
6/10
All Maggie Beaumont yearns for is just a decent guy who will stand by her and be a good father to her future kids. Despite being the owner of the sole restaurant in her Maine town, accepting any sorts of blind dates and eagerly volunteering and organising fundraisers, Maggie just can't seem to find The One. When she meets gorgeous bachelor Tim O'Halloran, she unintentionally tells everyone about her new crush, later discovering he's their new priest. Will she ever find true love? Or will the seemly cold and grumpy lobsterman Malone be The One? I found this a disappointing read compared to Higgins' other books because of its lack of surprises and twists. (XT)
6/10
Kelly Monsoon is leaving behind her small, cold flat she shares with her two best friends Sophie and Mandy to move in with her new boyfriend. Who just happens to be Rufus George, one of Hollywood's hottest actors. Kelly works for a British theatre company and met Rufus while he was treading the boards there. And although Kelly devours Heat every week, she still finds settling into a celebrity's life difficult. With super-critical stylist Elody overhauling her body and her look, the paparazzi capturing her every move, and Rufus back in LA spending time with a gorgeous co-star, Kelly finds she is losing touch with her old life. Don't get thrown by the cover illustration and back cover blurb - this isn't about planning a celebrity wedding at all. In fact there isn't a proposal in sight for the first 250 pages and Rufus only appears as a guest star. A sequel is in the works.
6/10
Probably my favourite Hollywood insiders' book so far. Lola was born into Hollywood royalty on Oscar night - her father is an award-winning director. But she has two main problems - she's an Actorholic getting over a devastating break with actor SMITH (Sexiest Man in the Hemisphere) and she's got Career Deficit Disorder - or no idea what to do with her life - a disorder very common with Adult Children Of in Hollywood. Meanwhile her best friend Kate, a very ambitious agent, is still trying to leap up the ladder while her best actress friend Cricket is still striving for her big break. Then upcoming fashion designer Julian, Lola's BGF (Best Gay Forever), appoints her as his Hollywood ambassador to get someone into his gowns for the Oscar red carpet. But her rival Adrienne Hunt is out to destroy her career and she has to deal with self-centred actresses like Olivia. With lots of celebrity bad behaviour and name-dropping.
7/10
Stella Fair, luxury reporter for a London newspaper, knows all about elite brands but somehow starts dating Jay Fisher, without realising the renowned playboy is the billionaire heir of an American banking group. Then her six-times married father Ham doesn't want her seeing Jay because he dislikes his family. Throw in some work problems alongside romantic tensions with a colleague and stepbrother, and Stella finds that money might make the world go round but it doesn't make the path to love any easier to tread - even in Prada wedges.
7/10
Cannie Shapiro, from Weiner's 2001 book Good in Bed, is back - and in her world it's 13 years down the track. Still plus-sized and feisty, she has married her diet doctor, Peter Krushelevansky, become a best-selling novelist and is now writing science fiction under a pseudonym. Her biggest priority in life is getting ready for her daughter Joy's bat mitzvah. But the adolescent Joy is tiring of her mother's constant attention and is looking for a place in the in crowd and a closer relationship with her father Bruce. When she gets her hands on Cannie's novel Big Girls Don't Cry, a thinly disguised memoir written in anger after Bruce left, Joy wonders how much of it is true. Meanwhile Peter announces that he wants a baby - which means finding a surrogate mother. With Weiner's novels, you know you're on a certain thing - expect flawed but intriguing characters, family dramas and emotional twists. But this one is certainly not my favourite. The mother-daughter dynamics are well explored, the unexpected fate of one of the characters gives a power-punch towards the end but the surrogacy sub-plot shouldn't have been so sidelined.
7/10
Kyla and Kimari Fontaine are gorgeous, privileged sisters who are finishing their final year at Penn State University. Kimari, an aspiring author and the wilder of the two, falls for Penn State football player Sean. After graduating, her dream comes true and she publishes her first novel, thrusting her into high-profile parties in New York City. However, she soon discovers that her partying ways and a questionable picture of her with an infamous playboy rapper might jeopardise her relationship. Kyla, the more reserved sister, is torn between two men. Vince is a stable medical student who adores Kyla. Troy is the two-timing ex-boyfriend who she cannot resist. After much heartache, Kyla realises who she belongs with, only to learn that it might be too late to salvage the relationship. This is a fun quick read that follow the lives of two sisters as they make the transition from the college years to adulthood. (AO)
7/10
TV journalist Tessa heads to Appleton Manor in the Cotswolds to film a documentary about the wedding of Oscar-winning movie star Clemmie and her actor fiance Rufus. Rufus used to play rugby with Will Forbes-Henry, who has returned to England to rescue his family's fortune by turning the manor into a hotel. Will is wary of Tessa and has a number of burdens on his broad shoulders - his parents Jack and Caro continue to have an open marriage, his fiancee is stuck in France, his artist brother Tristan still hasn't got over a past love and his aunt Henny and cousins Milly and David have moved in after his uncle's death. It is certainly no surprise who's going to end up with whom - perhaps best suited to those who like racy rural romps in the vein of Jilly Cooper.
6/10
After getting her heart broken, Daisy Rodgers flees America in the hope that putting as much distance between herself and her ex will help speed up her recovery. Jumping at the chance to see the world (while getting paid to do so) she joins the team catering to the world's highest paid, supercharged racing drivers on the Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit. Only trouble is, it's not long before she finds herself falling for one of the drivers and with him already having a girlfriend (a childhood sweetheart no less), surely it can only lead to one thing - further heartbreak. With enough twists and turns - with one in particular that will have you quite literally gasping for breath - this is a highly enjoyable read. A real "paige" turner in fact. Plus if you were a fan of Johnny Be Good, then look out for the cameo appearances from Meg, Johnny and Christian, along with the revelation of just who the father of Meg's baby was! (KC)
8/10
Emmy's latest long-term relationship has just ended. Instead of Duncan popping the question, he's run off with his personal trainer. Adriana only ever has flings and doesn't have or need a job. But as she approaches 30, she's beginning to think things need to change. So Emmy and Adriana make a pact - Emmy is to sleep with a man from every continent while Adriana is looking for one man to place a diamond ring on her finger within the year. Meanwhile their friend, the slightly neurotic book editor Leigh, is about to get engaged to her boyfriend, Russell, a real catch. So why has author Jesse Chapman got her all hot under the collar? If you have been hankering after some pure chick lit (and aren't looking to scratch the surface too deep), this story about three friends trying to change their lives may be just as welcome as a four-carat diamond ring.
7/10
Fiona loses her flatmate when she is caught at a party half-naked with Ellie's new man, Connor. Ellie, a travel journalist, doesn't stick around long enough to find out it was all an innocent accident. So Fiona's hunt for a new flatmate brings the beautiful but vulnerable Bunny to her doorstep - she's fleeing an abusive boyfriend and has an impressive stash of cash. After stuck-in-a-work-rut Fiona goes along on a travel junket intended for Ellie, she meets magazine social diarist Angela-Jean who wants her to fill in while she goes to New Zealand to find herself. But first AJ turns Bunny into Dublin's latest It Girl.
6/10
When waitress/artist Lettie finally leaves her abusive boyfriend, she is encouraged to cast her net beyond Lyme Regis and place a personal ad in the newspaper. Her most promising response comes from Welsh forester Dougie and soon she's off to his village. This sweet romantic story is flavoured with an unexpectedly strong cast of characters including the obese Eve who dotes on drunkard Peter; a charming couple known as the Worm Gatherers and perpetual student Rizzo who has his eye on the luscious Lisa. It was a case of expecting light, fluffy chocolate mousse and getting so much more.
7/10
Former burlesque dancer Venus de Marley (aka Olivia) finds out only by reading the New York Times obituaries that her estranged father has died. Leaving her fiancé in Colorado, she heads home for the funeral and discovers the eccentric millionaire has left her his beloved baseball team, the Bronx Cheers, as long as she 'closes the circle'. Also attending the funeral is 20-year-old Sophie Ashe, who Olivia adopted out as a baby - she thinks that their bonding is what he meant by closing the circle. As Sophie moves in, Olivia fights a legal challenge, puts the players in a raspberry-coloured uniform and drafts some new talent. There's lots of baseball jargon but it helps pull you into the drama of a game. But it was a bit disconcerting to see that famous team sometimes referred to as Red Sock. Also suggest you skip the conclusion offered in the Extra Innings part of the book.
5/10
Margaret, Beatrice, Louise and Jessie are close friends who reside in Hope Springs, North Carolina. The women, who are all members of the cookbook committee of the Hope Springs Community Church, are holding a Christmas cake recipe contest. Margaret, the heart and soul of the group, learns a few weeks before Christmas that her breast cancer has returned and has spread to other organs. Margaret tells her friends that all she wants for Christmas is to visit her deceased mother's hometown in Texas. So the best friends set off in a stolen funeral parlour van across country to fulfill Margaret's wish. Charlotte, the former pastor of Hope Springs Community Church, meets them in Texas for support. Continuing the Hope Springs series, this is a beautifully written holiday story about friendship that you will not be able to put down. (AO)
8/10
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
This is a story about life at a Cornwall boarding school for girls - but, unlike most boarding school books, told more from the viewpoint of a new teacher. Maggie Adair has left behind her long-term boyfriend Stan in Scotland to become English teacher at Downey House. Can their long-distance relationship survive and why is she so attracted to David, her opposite number at the boys' school? There's also principal Veronica Deveral, whose secret past is about to confront her, and French teacher Claire, who's having an affair. For those wanting the students' perspective, there's Fliss who can't wait to get thrown out of the school; scholarship winner Simone who's trying her hardest to fit in; and Alice, the beautiful troublemaker. I enjoyed the fact that all the threads weren't neatly sown up at the end - leaving us wanting to return to Downey House for the sequel.
6/10
Alex comes face-to-face with his disturbing past when he and his wife, Chloe, go on a restaurant date. Chloe's lawyer colleague, Mark, introduces his date Julia, but the woman abruptly leaves the table, never to return. It appears that she knows Alex but he isn't about to shed any light on their past relationship - not even to Chloe. As Chloe deals with a largely absent husband and Mark - her ex - showing renewed interest, she finds she's facing another life-changing development. This is a very promising debut, with a storyline teeming with slowly revealed secrets and unexpected turns. It's told from each character's perspective, and is set between London and Perth. Extra points to anyone guessing the final twist.
7/10
When Stacey suddenly shows up in the driveway just before Christmas, Joy can't help but wonder if her sister is here to ask for forgiveness after destroying her five-year marriage to Thom. Instead, showing no sign of remorse, she is bearing news of her pregnancy and upcoming wedding to Thom. Unable to bear the pain of betrayal, Joy drives off to the airport, mindlessly purchasing a ticket to Hope, in British Columbia. However, her plane crashes and she finds herself alone in the woods. Struggling to find a way out she stumbles across a log building, the Comfort Fishing Lodge where she meets widower Daniel and his son, Bobby. It's a heartwarming story about the greatness of love and forgiveness. It reminds me a lot of Cecelia Ahern's If I Could See You Now. I enjoyed this book very much but it lost points because of the abrupt ending. (XT)
7/10
Gus Simpson's Cooking Channel TV show is losing its spark, so she is paired with an ambitious, younger co-host - former Miss Spain, Carmen Vega - for a live cooking show. Their tension leads to on-air chaos as Gus' adult daughters, reclusive neighbour and others join the Eat, Drink and Be team. This has all the right ingredients for a nourishing read as Gus deals with getting older, sharing the limelight, letting go of her daughters and recovering from loss.
7/10
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
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
Beauty expert Bella Hunter writes the most popular column in uber-chic magazine Enchante - readers just can't get enough of her beauty advice, even though she's not immune to her own styling disasters such as dying her hair orange or staining her clothes with self-tan. But Bella's lucky streak is about to end when she imbibes too much wine during a newspaper interview and reveals secrets about her bitchy industry. Snubbed by her fellow beauty colleagues, the only magazine that will touch her is Womanly World - a magazine more suited to the over-50s. And despite dating a rising model and heading off on a Paris junket, Bella just can't come up with the right ideas to impress her new publisher, James. Written by a magazine insider (who also lost her job after being exposed as a beauty blogger who revealed too much), this is classic chick lit that may just have beauty junkies rushing out to get a copy - without stopping first to apply their make-up.
7/10
This sequel, again in diary format, picks up from where the first book left off so you should really read them in order. This year Susie's desperate to befriend the new celebrity mum at the school gates, Angelica Law, wife of an American actor. She's also keeping up with the (pre-divorced) Richies with her new country retreat and trying to avoid being revealed as the desperate housewife in Lone Father's new raunchy novel. Meanwhile husband Joe is reassessing his life after a near-death experience, her brother-in-law is finally coming out and she's been roped in to be her best friend Louise's birth partner. Plus with her nest now empty for a few hours with Jack at playschool, Susie's thinking about returning to the workforce. Maybe her A-lister friend Angelica can help her score a glamorous TV job.
7/10
Modern LA girl Courtney Stone is about to get the shock of a lifetime, after breaking up with her boyfriend Frank. Nursing a broken heart she heads home to curl up with a bottle of Absolut and her favourite book, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. The next morning, Courtney finds herself in Regency England as none other than Jane Mansfield from Austen's book Mansfield Park. Now not only is Courtney stuck in Jane's body, she must now remember everything she learnt from reading Jane Austen about things like manners, language and dress code and put it to use. But what advice did Austen offer on fighting off an unwanted suitor and suffocating chaperones? Can Courtney eventually find her way back to the 21st century or will she be stuck living in Regency England? An excellent read for all fans of Jane Austen's work, with a hint of 21st century humour added to the mix. (PP)
8/10
It's not been a good week for air hostess Annie. First her boyfriend Niall borrows £1000 then dumps her by text. Then she's suspended for a week after passengers overhear her rant about the bastard. Then she wakes up in hospital after a tangle with a Mercedes. But on the plus side, the Mercedes owner, the oh-so appealing businessman Oliver Kane, does replace her ruined Jimmy Choos. And she can spend her suspension and recovery time in the Spanish coastal town of Malaga, keeping company with gorgeous pilot Danny. A lighthearted romp with a delightful heroine, but it unfortunately hits a bit of turbulence when some too-improbable scenarios are thrown in.
6/10
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
Rosie is dumped by boyfriend Jonathan after she fights off his lecherous boss at a dinner dance. But the night is not completely lost because she also meets a gorgeous doctor, Dr Love, who saves her from a pair of crippling shoes. She thinks she's finally found her dream man when a chance encounter brings her into contact with the doctor again but Luke Benton has a secret past. Somehow Rosie ends up on a wedding table from hell to find she's slept with all the men present (like a female Hugh Grant from Four Weddings and a Funeral).
6/10
Lily Traywich works in the children's wear section of her parents' department store. She's Christian, goes to Super Single Sundays, has never had a boyfriend and writes a fashion victim's blog. After a bad press report about a store fashion parade that she organised, Lily allows best friend and fashionista Reagan to make her over. Soon Lily is dressing in the latest fashions and is even dating. But is her new way of life causing her to lose hold of everything that matters?
6/10
When her ex-boyfriend, Gaston, announces that he is marrying a schoolteacher he just met, 26-year-old Kate Linden is gobsmacked. Filled with regrets, the Seattle sous-chef quits her job at Sounds Bistro to devote her time to cooking up a scheme to get Gaston back, assisted by his mother. As Gaston offers Kate a job with his company, will she get the man she wants? Or will she realise that she's making the second mistake in her life? (XT)
4/10
The up-market village of Churchminster is in uproar after discovering a developer has his eye on vast tracts of land for a downmarket housing estate. The villagers are united in a multi-million-dollar fundraising campaign to out-bid disreputable developer Sid Sykes at auction. And Sykes' plans aren't the only sinister development - what with one of the locals turning up dead, a cloaked figure roaming around and a ghost going bump in the night at the mansion of 80s pop star Devon Cornwall. As family matriarch Clementine heads the fund-raising committee, her grand-daughters are more tied up with love matters. Caro isn't aware her arrogant City husband Sebastian is playing away; Camilla isn't sure about her uncouth farmer Angus; while it seems Calypso has given up on men totally. Just the trip if you're in the mood for a lively, irreverent rural romp with lots of name-dropping.
7/10
Golf resort heiress Birdie Sederburg is used to getting whatever she wants. So when the man on her radar, soapie star Dean, doesn't reciprocate an interest in her, she rear-ends his car so she can take him out to dinner in apology. Dean's agent, Justin, convinces him to date the socialite - for publicity sakes. But when he starts romancing his co-star instead, Birdie decides to go to even more drastic lengths to gain his attention - she arranges her own kidnapping. Meanwhile, former law student Nate, now an eco-warrior, is campaigning against her grandfather's environmentally destructive developments - and takes a job as Birdie's gardener to get close to her. For those looking for an outrageous read about an infatuated socialite whose entourage includes a sex-change personal assistant, a ditzy fellow heiress as a loyal best friend, and a stylist whose fashion-forwardness places Birdie at the top of the worst dressed list.
6/10
In the sequel to The Thin Pink Line, just as Jane reaches the end of her fake pregnancy, she finds a baby abandoned outside a church on Christmas Eve. She throws a New Year's Eve party for her family and friends to reveal all about her pregnancy and the new baby, who she christens Emma. As Jane makes plans to become Emma's foster parent, she befriends a black woman to help her learn about the baby's heritage. But then her book, the Cloth Baby, comes out and looks like spelling the end to her foster chances. The story then heads towards a too-predictable conclusion.
5/10
This is one of those books that I am so happy I read. The day I was browsing the bookstore, I remember picking it up off the table and putting it back down two or three times. My hesitation was more about spending money on another book than it was on the story itself. But something about the description just stuck with me and I had to have it. This book has what I consider the perfect elements of a chick lit novel - a New York City setting, strong, intelligent women wrestling with their lives (and each other), and of course, a love interest or two. The fact that these women are English professors referencing centuries of women's fiction was the icing on the cake for me. Diana Monroe and Rachel Grey are both English professors at Manhattan University with completely different areas of study. Diana is a tenured expert on Sylvia Plath and Rachel has just moved to New York to teach contemporary women's fiction. They clash from the get-go and things between them become further strained when visiting Harvard professor Carson McEvoy vies for the affections of them both. When they agree to co-lead an undergraduate literary trip to London, they are forced to interact on a new level and end up learning about themselves, and each other, in the process. An engaging, smart story showing you can't always judge a book by its cover, especially when it comes to people. (LEK)
8/10
Crystal is hoping a reality TV band competition will launch her singing career. Paired with her best friend, Tahlia, and bitchy upstart Belle, the Lost Angels begin to soar in the audience polling. But when Crystal falls for Belle's boyfriend, Max, their illicit relationship could spell the end for the band. And the tabloids haven't even begun spilling all the band members' secrets yet. Watch out for the guest appearance from one of Price's other characters, glamour model Angel, who shares the same hairdresser. For those who want a juicy plot without having to think too hard. And the biggest surprise - the heroine isn't big-busted!
5/10
