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Daisy Dooley Does Divorce - Anna Pasternak (2007)
“There's only one thing worse than being thirty-nine and single. Being thirty-nine and divorced.” And so begins the story of Daisy Dooley, who has just got divorced after a brief marriage to Jamie. Guided by friends Lucy, who's married with two children, and Jess, a single GP who has lots of one-night stands, Daisy embarks on dating again. She goes on a blind date with an older man, has a fling with a twenty-something guy, considers a relationship with her best male friend and even gets involved with her very rich former boyfriend and possible soulmate, who unfortunately is about to marry an heiress. Written by the author of the widely panned Princess in Love (about Princess Diana and her cad James Hewitt), I must admit I was very apprehensive about this book and after reading it I still can't say if I liked it or hated it. Inspired by Pasternak's own life, Daisy Dooley Does Divorce is based on her weekly column in the Daily Mail. It introduces a number of terms such as the sexual sorbet (first person you sleep with after a break-up; it removes the taste of a bad relationship) and PDD (post divorce date). A pilot TV show, produced by Ashton Kutcher's company Katalyst in the US, is in production for ABC.
5/10
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Dancing with Mules - Morag Prunty (2001)
Also known as Wild Cats & Colleens
Irish-American billionaire Xavier Big has advertised for an Irish wife, and is on his way to Ireland to choose from the finalists. PR queen Lorna, whose firm looks shaky after her accountant failed to pay her clients' taxes, is hoping this will save her day. Journalist Sandy isn't looking for a husband - she just wants to do a documentary on Mr Big's search. Gloria's hairdressing salon would be quite profitable if her ex-husband Frank stopped dipping his hand in the till - she's determined never to live in poverty again.
6/10
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Decent Exposure - Phillipa Ashley (2006)
Emma Tremayne has moved to the Lake District after losing her boyfriend and her high-flying PR job in London. Trying to convince the men of the local mountain rescue team to pose for a naked fundraising calendar, Emma butts heads with handsome entrepreneur Will Tennant. Bit too cheesy for my tastes but this book won the Romantic Novelists' Association Joan Hessayon award for new writers.
4/10
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Dedication - Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus (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
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Deranged Marriage - Faith Bleasdale (2003)
Imagine signing a pact at 20, saying you'll marry your friend 10 years later if you are both still single. That's just what Holly and her best friend, George, did in a drunken haze. But now as Holly turns 30, George, a lawyer, is back to take her to court to enforce the marriage pact - ignoring the fact that she already has a gorgeous boyfriend.
6/10
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Diary of a Mad Bride (2001) - Laura Wolf
When Amy Thomas was bridesmaid for a friend, she was driven nuts by her demands and vowed she'd never become a crazy, self-centred bride. So now that she is engaged herself (after Stephen proposed in a movie popcorn queue), why are her friends and work assistant cringing every time she comes near? For Amy is quickly discovering that while marriages are made in heaven, weddings are made in hell. While Stephen only has to pick out the wedding band, Amy has a list of 70 items to tick off. Will this couple ever make it to happily ever after?
6/10
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Diary of a Mad Mother-to-Be (2003) - Laura Wolf
After being married to Stephen for two years, Amy Thomas Stewart decides that she wants to have a baby. With the pregnancy guide BABY HOW BABY NOW and an inaudible gynaecologist she dubs the Crotch Whisperer, Amy has to keep it together as she learns how to be a mother-to-be. She also has to keep her pregnancy a secret from her PR company while she promotes a soap actress who has written an anti-kid book.
6/10
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Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl - Tracy Quan (2001)
High-class call girl Nancy Chan has been a prostitute since her teens. Now in her 30s, she has a regular rota of clients but her fiancé, Matt, has no idea about what she does for a living. As she gets involved with sex community meetings, a blacklisted john and someone a bit close to home, can she keep up her secret life? This novel developed from Quan's Salon.com columns (she is a former call girl) and is one of our Top 10 Most Disappointing Books.
4/10
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Divorcing Dwayne - J.L. Miles (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
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Do You Remember the First Time - Jenny Colgan (2004)
Also known as The Boy I Loved Before
As her best friend Tashy cuts into her wedding cake, 32-year-old Flora realises she's disillusioned with her life. So she wishes that she could go back to age 16 and do it all again. The next day, she wakes up in her childhood bedroom as a teenager. Can Flora get things right this time round, including preventing her parents' divorce, standing up to a bully and getting together with her high school crush? And will she want to resume her normal life?
6/10
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Double Trouble - Shari Low (2003)
IT sales manager Clark Dunhill thinks of himself as the Shagmeister. Good looking, well-groomed, with designer clothes - what woman could resist him? When he has a bet with his mates that he can walk into the pub with two girls on his arms - one with brains, the other with beauty - he has no idea of the double trouble he's about to get himself into. Cassandra Haven, the brains, is the financial director of Systems Solutions, the company where Clark works. She has focused on her career, spending most hours tied to her desk, and has now decided it's time to have a baby - she just needs a sperm donor without any attachments. When she spots Clark at a business conference she decides he's the perfect man for the job. Polly Kent, the beauty, also works for the company as a marketing assistant but she's really waiting for a husband and family. From a rich hotel family, she meets Clark at the pub where her best friend, the acidic Fiz, works and they start dating. Clark seems like the perfect partner, so when her pregnancy test is positive, she's sure he'll be thrilled.
7/10