Angela Smith catches up with C.A Belmond, author of A Rather Lovely Inheritance and A Rather Curious Engagement, and finds another book in the series is on its way.
Divorce lawyer Britt writes a book as therapy to get over her own divorce. After her assistant secretly sends the manuscript to a friend, the book, The Perfect Man, becomes an instant romantic bestseller. But Britt never wanted to be a writer and she can't deal with people thinking that she must be a romantic person herself, especially as she has no time for men. She is booked as guest speaker on a Valentine cruise where she is joined by her sister Mia, who is still in love with the married father of her daughter. Will they find love at sea?
In Opportunity Rings, by former publicist Sheryl Steinberg, "it's not what you know, it's what they think you know". Erica Swift runs the marketing department of Rockit Wireless even though she isn't particularly tech savvy. Fortunately, she's got an assistant and a husband to help her get her mind around the latest techie trends. But when Lowell leaves her for an older woman - the president of his company - Erica moves back in with her mother. Suddenly disaster recovery takes on a whole new meaning, as Erica fends off the attention of some eligible bachelors, hits on the perfect plan to save the new product launch, and buys up a heap of gadgets. Steinberg lives in Toronto.
Here's one for the baby boomers: Allison Bottke's first book in her Va Va Va Boom series is You Make Me Feel Like Dancing. Fifty-something Susan Anderson owns a hip hair salon on the Las Vegas strip, decorated with her collection of disco memorabilia accumulated decades ago when she was one of the beautiful people on New York's disco scene. But an exciting business opportunity and her husband's impending retirement shake Susan's foundations, revealing regrets and painful memories she thought she'd dealt with. The next in the series, It Don't Mean a Thing If It Aint Got That Bling, is due out in 2010. Bottke is the founder of the Boomer Babes Rock website.
When Lisa Beth Kovetz's 2006 debut novel The Tuesday Erotica Club was released - about four women in a New York law office who meet once a week to read their erotic writings - many reviewers thought secretary Lux stole the show and deserved her own novel. In Lux's Practical Erotica Adventures, out in August, Lux has gone into debt to buy a neglected mansion to jump-start her real estate empire. Set amid the world's financial crisis and a bad American housing market, Lux also has to deal with an old flame restoring the house and a hoodlum mortgage broker. And Lux isn't the only club member who's in over her head. Kovetz has a background in playwriting, film production and stand-up comedy.
Ennui: Diary of an Ingenue by Holly Varjack (the anonymous author's pen-name) is about a woman who appears to have it all. New York is her oyster, and the best food, drugs and booze, clothes and sex are all hers on demand. She may not have a career but her father is usually there to supply any cash she needs. Or there's always a millionaire within reach who is good looking enough to be indulged in return for material favours. But can all these short-term, loveless relationships be relied on to distract her forever, or will she one day have to confront painful memories?
The Marriage Bureau For Rich People, the debut novel from Indian-born IT professional Farahad Zama, has taken out the 2009 Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance, awarded in London this week. Its synopsis says: "What does somebody with a wealth of common sense do if retirement palls? Why, open a marriage bureau, of course. And soon Mr Ali, from beautiful Vizag in South India, sees his new business flourish as the indomitable Mrs Ali and able assistant Aruna look on with careful eyes. But although many clients go away happy, problems lurk behind the scenes as Aruna nurses a heart-rending secret; while Mr Ali cannot see that he rarely follows the sage advice he so freely dishes out to others. And when love comes calling for Aruna, an impossible dilemma looms..." The sequel, The Many Conditions of Love, is out next month. A third book, Not All Marriages Are Made In Heaven, is underway. Zama married a Vizag girl through an arranged marriage and they now live in London and have two sons.
Sarah Strohmeyer's The Cinderella Pact is being made into a TV movie for the US Lifetime channel. Australian actress Poppy Montgomery (Without a Trace) is attached. The 2006 novel is about Nola Devlin and her friends who make a pact to transform themselves following 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 all up herself. It's due to air in February 2010.
One of the books making it on to the Chicklit Club's Top 10 Must-Read debut books for 2009 is by London journalist Amy Silver. In Confessions of a Reluctant Recessionista, Cassie Cavanagh is quite content with her lot. She has a PA job she kind of enjoys; a boyfriend who showers her with gifts; and she earns enough - just about - to finance the luxuries she's become accustomed to. But Cassie hadn't banked on being made redundant. Nor had she pictured her boyfriend leaving her for an older woman. Nor did she think she'd be taking financial advice from her student flatmate. Reluctant to embrace the art of being thrifty, if Cassie's going to survive the recession in style, she's a lot to learn about budgeting. And even more to learn about herself. It's out from October - start saving your pennies!
Miranda Dickinson, who was one of the first authors to score a book deal out of HarperCollins' electronic slush pile, www.authonomy.com, is releasing her debut novel later this year. Fairytale of New York, originally known as Coffee at Kowalski's, is about an English girl looking for her happily-ever-after in New York, the city where dreams can come true. Its synopsis says: "Florist Rosie Duncan's life couldn't be better, she has a flourishing business on New York's Upper West Side and fantastic friends. Moving to Manhattan feels like the best decision she ever made. Even though at the time, it was her escape route from heartbreak . . . For the past six years Rosie has kept her heart under lock and key, despite the protests of her closest friends - charming, commitment-phobic Ed, unlucky in love Marnie and the one-woman tornado that is Celia. Then a blossoming friendship with publishing hot-shot Nate begins to shake Rosie's resolve at the same time as her brother arrives in the Big Apple, hiding a secret. But a chance meeting brings Rosie face to face with her past, unravelling the mystery behind her arrival in New York."
New York accountant Cat Connelly is used to playing things safe, always looking out for her younger sister and father ever since her mother left them. At her sister's wedding, she meets restaurant owner Michael, and he encourages her to return to Rome, where she spent her last carefree time years ago. Disappointed when she discovers Michael is married, she does take off to Rome, planning to reunite with Francesco, her lover from all those years ago. But soon Cat finds herself alone in the Eternal City and embarks on her own Roman Holiday-inspired adventure, complete with Vespa. A romantic holiday read about one woman's need to leave home to find herself.
South African Fiona Snyckers is already working on the second book in her Trinity series. In the first book, Trinity Rising, Trinity is the daughter of one of the last activists imprisoned on Robben Island who's since gone on to become a billionaire mining magnate. Trinity is all set for her first year away from home, studying economics and English at Rhodes University. She thinks it's the best place to scope out rich guys who could become potential husbands. With her arch-enemy Sophie Agincourt also enrolled at Rhodes, will Trinity ever find true love, straighten out her priorities and make it to lectures on time?
So many promising chick lit authors are making their fiction debuts this year. Which of their books are we most curious about? Find out in our final Must-Read Top 10 list for 2009.
Florist Abby Crompton has a knack for arranging the most exquisite bouquets for the hippest clientele. If only her personal life could run as smoothly. Although her lawyer fiance, Toby, proposed a month ago, Abby's still waiting for the ring. On the way to meet her future mother-in-law, Abby gets stuck in an elevator - with a sexy stranger bearing fine wine. So a tipsy Abby arrives late for dinner and doesn't make the best impression. Meanwhile, a film studio wants to use Abby's shop in an upcoming movie. But when she meets the director, Dan, she's shocked to discover that he's none other than the man from the elevator. Soon her own life begins to mirror the romantic comedy he's shooting.
Lucinda Rosenfeld (What She Saw, Why She Went Home) takes a darkly humorous look at two best friends who don't always like each other in I'm So Happy for You. Its synopsis says: "What if your best friend, whom you've always counted on to flounder in life and love (making your own modest accomplishments look not so bad), suddenly starts to surpass you in every way? Wendy's best friend, Daphne, has always been dependably prone to catastrophe. And Wendy has always been there to help. . . . But when Daphne is suddenly engaged, pregnant and decorating a fabulous town house in no time at all, Wendy is not so happy for her. Caught between wanting to be the best friend she prides herself on being and crippling jealousy of flighty Daphne, Wendy takes things to the extreme, waging a full-scale attack on her best friend - all the while wearing her best, I'm-so-happy-for-you smile - and ends up in way over her head." It's out in July.
Californian magazine staffer Annabelle Pleasanton is the heroine of Elodia Strain's two novels, The Icing on the Cake (2007) and Previously Engaged (2009). In the debut book, a cake manages to turn Annabelle's world upside down. To impress her boss, Annabelle goes out of her way to buy a fancy cake for an office party. This leads to her getting the chance of writing about the fanciest restaurant in town and being assigned to handsome photographer Isaac Matthews. When a misunderstanding threatens to destroy her job, her most cherished friendship and her relationship with Isaac, Annabelle's courage and integrity are put to the test.
In the sequel, Annabelle has just been given the chance of a lifetime: A $50,000 dream wedding sponsored by a jeweller. The only problem? She's not technically engaged. Isaac's been dropping all kinds of hints but something seems to be keeping him from popping the question. Could it be that his family has someone else picked out for him, such as former model Chloe? Or the fact that Annabelle's set for a huge job promotion in Monterey while Isaac's talking about moving to LA? Or maybe it has something to do with Alex, the guy who broke Annabelle's heart at her prom, who is suddenly back in the picture. Strain lives in Utah and is one of the Latter Day Saints authors who contribute to The Ink Ladies blog.
Red magazine editor-in-chief Sam Baker (This Year's Model, Fashion Victim) uses her experiences as a stepmother in her latest novel, The Stepmothers' Support Group. She has said she was inspired to write the novel to give the viewpoint of "the most loathed of fairytale baddies". When Eve falls in love with Ian, he comes with a ready-made family of three children and the ghost of his glamorous, well-known late wife. Eve finds a sympathetic ear in her best friend's sister, Chloe, who is going through a similar experience. Their so-called stepmothers' support group expands when high achiever Mel is sent along by a colleague - she wants to learn how to relate to her new boyfriend's 10-year-old daughter. Then there's Mandy, the stay-at-home mum who's trying to forge a new family with stepchildren. But all their friendships are tested when they are forced to confront new futures as well as unwelcome figures from the past. The Stepmothers' Support Group is out in September.
Rachel Johnson's sequel to Notting Hell, Shire Hell, is being released for the US market this month under the title In A Good Place. Mimi and Ralph have left social climbing, pushy parenting and their marital problems behind them in London in favour of rural tranquility. Or so they thought. But Honeyborne turns out to be just as tricky to navigate as Notting Hill, even with Mimi's new best friend Rose - Dorset's answer to Martha Stewart - by her side. This book won last year's Bad Sex in Fiction Award for its "terrible animal metaphors". Johnson writes on her website that she's working on her third novel set in the 30s in Germany and 2006.
The Goodbye Cousins - about cousins, change and family secrets - is the latest novel from Pittsburgh author Maggie Leffler (The Diagnosis of Love). After living abroad for 15 years, Di returns to the US with her two-year-old son Max to start her life again - and find the father she was torn away from. She accepts a job as a nanny to a troubled teen and finds herself falling for the nearly divorced father. She also moves in with her cousin Alecia, who is preoccupied with planning the perfect wedding and dealing with her promotion to TV news anchor. Then Alecia's estranged mother turns up and she may well hold the secret to Di's parents' past. Two very different cousins - one searching for direction in the universe, the other desperate to stop her well-ordered life from unravelling - are about to discover the family they thought they'd lost may have found them instead. The Goodbye Cousins is out at the end of the month.
Jen Calonita, author of the young adult Secrets of My Hollywood Life series, has headed off to summer camp for her latest novel, Sleepaway Girls. When Sam's best friend gets her first boyfriend, she's not ready to spend the holidays playing the third wheel. So Sam applies to be a trainee counsellor at the Whispering Pines camp in the New York Catskills. But if Ashley, the camp director's daughter, doesn't ruin Sam's summer, then her crush on flirtatious bad boy Hunter just might. At least she has her new friends, Cole and the gang of girls that call themselves the Sleepaway Girls.
Cathy Yardley relays her love of amine and manga comics in her latest novel, Turning Japanese, which is about an aspiring American manga artist who moves to Tokyo after winning a comic book competition. Lisa, who is half-Japanese, is at first reluctant to leave behind the comforts of an unchallenging desk job and her workaholic fiance, Ethan, to take the risk. But she is finally convinced to take up the internship at the Sansoro publishing company. Faced with an exacting boss, a dysfunctional host family and another conniving manga author, Lisa takes her shot at making it big.
If you want to learn the secrets of writing chick lit from an experienced author, you could try Cathy Yardley's Will Write for Shoes.
Beth Dunn's Social Climbers focuses on Philadelphia's A-list crowd. Elizabeth Quinn is out to climb the social ladder, through marriage, motherhood and a comfortable income. But as the Main Line ladies compete to get their names on committees, invitations and their picture in the newspaper, Elizabeth finds that cliques, backstabbing and mean girls are all part of the package. Dunn is a former Philadelphian debutante.
Irish author Michelle Jackson follows up Two Nights in Biarritz with Three Nights in New York. It's about three girls, three guys, and three unforgettable nights in downtown New York. Its synopsis says: "Eve doesn't believe in knights in shining armour. As a director of Just for Coffee dating agency she reckons you need the correct profile and bank balance to find love. Fate, however, does not agree. This is single mum Nicky's first time in New York and she has come to shop. But she gets more than she bargains for. For Rachel it's time out from her stressful marriage and a chance to visit her hunky brother Conor. A holiday fling is the last thing she needs. Until she meets sexy Alex who uncovers the dark secret she lives with in her cosy secure life back in Dublin."
Did you know? New York socialite Alexandra Lebenthal, chief executive of a wealth management firm, has signed a deal for her debut novel, after the success of her New York Social Diary column. Due out mid-2010, it's reportedly about four Manhattan socialites whose lives get turned upside down by the economic collapse.
Marion's daughter, Hope, was killed in a hit-and-run accident six months ago, and now her husband Sam has walked out. Left alone with her grief, Marion has begun to contemplate suicide. But when she goes out to buy some pills, she is mugged. But as the knife is held to her throat, she realises she's not ready to die yet. When her mugger's girlfriend intervenes in the attack, an unlikely friendship blossoms between the two women. Marion gradually reawakens to a future where she can move beyond what happened to her daughter. Until, that is, she learns who exactly had been driving the car that killed Hope.
Julie Highmore's 8th novel, The Message, is about a woman whose life unravels after a wrong phone call. Its synopsis says: "Jen has no idea that her neat life is about to unravel. With one misplaced voicemail from her husband, she discovers that her marriage is a sham. Numb with shock, she's hiding from the future when she's stunned by a face from the past. Kit was Jen's first love, the one she hoped would never leave. On their airbase in Germany, he was out of her league - a senior officer's son - but even Kit's glamorous and disapproving mother couldn't keep them apart. What began as a glorious summer, though, could not last forever. Now, years later, Jen and Kit meet again, both troubled, and forced to confront what happened. Together, can they make sense of it all?" Highmore's previous novels include Beautiful Strangers and Your Place or Mine?
Irish-born Deidre Hart has drawn on her social work background in her first novel The Trust of the Innocent. Having a bullying boss from hell makes Louise Hogan leave her job as a child protection officer in Belfast and relocate to Australia. But her new workplace doesn't seem to be much better and her romance with James is tainted by his bitter ex-wife. But maybe Louise will finally learn to look conflict in the face instead of running from it. Hart now lives in Edinburgh.
Florist Molly Bailey has just discovered she's won 4.2 million pounds on the lottery. But since her grandfather, father and brother's attitude to money would make Scrooge look generous, Molly realises she can't let them get their hands on her winnings. Instead she decides to give most of it away to people in need. So she takes off on a journey across Britain, leaving behind bundles of 50 pound notes and yellow gerberas. Meanwhile small-time reporter Tom Mackenzie realises he may be on to the story of a lifetime, and with his young daughter Flora, takes off after the mysterious benefactor. When he realises Molly is his woman (far too quickly in my mind), the story soon puts Tom and Molly on the front pages and sets the grumpy Bailey boys on to her trail too. Perfect for days when you need a feel-good story that won't tax the brain cells.
American journalist Erica Kennedy (author of the 2004 release Bling) has a romantic comedy out in September called Feminista (a mix of a feminist and a fashionista). It's the story of a self-made woman, Sydney Zamora, who works as a celebrity journalist on a magazine. But as she's approaching her mid-30s, she finds that her independent attitude is keeping men away. So for her birthday, her sister surprises her with the services of Manhattan matchmaker Mitzi Berman.
In Paris Imperfect, by British author Susie Vereker, Englishwoman Clio Forrester is working as a private tour guide in Paris. Twice married and with her son Alex at boarding school, she is living with her boyfriend, Philippe who'd be perfect if he wasn't such a fussy perfectionist or had such a frosty mother. While conducting a battlefields tour, she meets handsome Canadian Joe, who she just can't stop thinking about. Vereker, whose previous novels include Tropical Connections, has spent much of her life travelling the world, first as an army officer's daughter then as a diplomat's wife. She now lives in Hampshire in England.
Katie, Georgia and Alice were at each other's hen nights but now their marriages have fallen apart and their friendships have been tested to the limits. Katie caught her husband cheating with a neighbour; Georgia's marriage to a playboy ended within six months and Alice is left holding the baby after her actor husband gets involved with his leading lady. Now control-freak Katie has become a commitment-phobe and never wants to venture up the aisle again. Ambitious gossip columnist Georgia is still putting her career first. And Alice wants to make a fresh start but can't get over her cheating ex - and Georgia's betrayal.
Maggie Dana's Beachcombing is about 50-something Jillian Hunter, who has raised two sons by herself, launched a small business and restored a beach cottage in Connecticut. Finally, she's ready for another shot at love. A trip to London reunites her with Colin - an old flame she hasn't seen for 35 years ago - and Jill falls in love with him all over again. But Colin isn't quite the boy Jill remembers and she ends up risking everything she's worked for to make a life with him. Dana has written several books for children. Beachcombing, her first adult novel, is out in June. She is currently working on her next book about a woman who is looking for the child she adopted out.
Your tastebuds will be tempted as you join Lexi Stuart on her misson to become a pastry chef in Sandra Byrd's three-book French Twist series.
Francophile college graduate Lexi Stuart has just lost another office job and is back home living with her parents. So when she lands a job at a French cafe, run by flirty Frenchman Luc, she hopes to transform her low-paying counter job into the assistant manager's position. She begins enthusiastically learning all facets of the business, but things don't get off to a great start when she leaves a fridge open and messes up a big order placed by good-looking lawyer Dan. From the Christian lit stable, there's also a sub-plot about Lexi trying to find a home church.
Did you know? You can actually check out Lexi's (aka Simply American) recipes on the allrecipes.com website.
This sequel to Let Them Eat Cake sees Lexi moving to France to study at a pastry school, sponsored by Luc's family. She also works in the family bakeries, where she discovers many of the locals are somewhat crusty. But she soon discovers a softer side to pastry chef Patricia, and also attends an English-language church with Luc's attractive cousin, widower Philippe and his daughter Celine. Meanwhile one of her classmates, Desiree, who is from a prestigious baking family, seems to be sabotaging everyone's efforts. Will Lexi pass the course and if so, will she stay in France or return to Seattle and Dan?
Coming soon: Book three in the French Twist series, Piece de Resistance, sees chef Lexi bid au revoir to France to return home to Seattle. She's put in charge of a high-end catering bakery, and has to find its recipe for success in just a few months. Plus her relationships with Frenchman Philippe and lawyer Dan get complicated. It's out in September.
Julie Buxbaum follows up her highly acclaimed debut The Opposite of Love with After You, a story about a Boston woman, Ellie, who drops everything and takes off to London to care for the daughter of her murdered best friend Lucy. With Lucy's husband Greg coping with his grief by retreating to the pub, eight-year-old Sophie has stopped speaking. Ellie turns to a book that gave her comfort as a child, The Secret Garden, to forge a bond with the young girl. But in the process she uncovers the secrets Lucy kept hidden, as well as faces up to the life and marriage she's left behind in Boston. After You is out in August.
Maddie Mandelbaum is a week away from marrying the man of her dreams in Jan Goldstein's The Bride Will Keep Her Name. Her fiance is ambitious investigative TV reporter Colin Darcy - and a distant relative to the Queen. But then Maddie receives an anonymous e-mail asking her whether she really knows the man she's about to marry? As she juggles last-minute dress fittings, pesky future in-laws, and her own overbearing mother, the bride-to-be and her two best friends embark on an investigation to uncover the truth about Colin's involvement in the death of a callgirl. And along the way, she stumbles upon a shocking secret she never saw coming.
Perri Klass' The Mercy Rule is about Lucy Weiss, a former foster child who now works as a pediatrician at a Boston clinic specialising in foster kids. Every day she must judge whether parents' actions are so incompetent that their children are in enough danger to be removed from their homes. Meanwhile she has her own personal life to deal with, including her somewhat absent professor husband and her own children, precocious tween Isabel and eccentric Freddy who may well be autistic. Klass, who has a background in paediatric medicine, has written several other fiction and non-fiction books.
Addie Downs believes she and Valerie Adler will be best friends forever. But in the wake of betrayal during their teenage years, Val is swept into the popular crowd, while mousy Addie becomes her school's scapegoat. Fifteen years on, Val is working as the weathergirl at the local TV station while Addie lives alone in her parents' house, caring for a troubled brother and trying to meet Prince Charming on the internet. She's just returned from another bad date when she opens her door to find her long-gone best friend standing there, with blood on her coat sleeve. "Something horrible has happened," Val tells Addie, "and you're the only one who can help." Can the women re-forge their ties in these times of need?
The Chicklit Club's new contributing editor Angela Smith reveals here some of the titles she'd like to see on the list.
Accidental IT Girl by Libby Street brings you the story of Sadie Price, 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? Street brings a fresh and fun voice to Accidental IT Girl. Anyone who reads the weekly tabloids or enjoys following the lives of Hollywood stars will devour this book in a heartbeat.
A Rather Lovely Inheritance and A Rather Curious Engagement, both by C.A. Belmond, are wonderful books chronicling the story of Penny Nichols (Yes, that's her real name!) Penny is a charming, sassy and smart character that you'll root for even when you know she's going to get herself in trouble. In the first novel, Penny, a historical filmmaker, is whisked away to London after her great aunt Penelope's death. To her surprise, Penny is left quite a bit of her great aunt's items. All is not perfect in Penny's world however, as she soon realizes that her wacky cousin, Rollo, may not be the nice guy he seems to be. Rollo is after her inheritance but Penny doesn't know why - he has been left his own share of things, seemingly more valuable than anything Penny was left. Eventually, with the help of her other cousin Jeremy, Penny finds that there is something else more valuable hidden somewhere within her inheritance that Rollo wants. With breathtaking settings in France's Cote De Azur, Italy and London, Penny and Jeremy's quest to find the mysterious item is suspenseful and filled with excitement, leading them to one of the biggest historical discoveries of current time! In sequel A Rather Curious Engagement, you'll once again find Penny and Jeremy getting themselves in over their heads as they try to splurge with a little bit of the money left by great aunt Penelope. It's just as much fun as the first novel - with a few unexpected twists and turns. Belmond's creative style gives both books a nice mix of romance, mystery and humor.
Sophie Kinsella's The Undomestic Goddess is a pleasure to read. In true Kinsella style, the characters are delightful and easy to relate to. Big-shot attorney Samantha Sweeting has just made a mistake so huge that it will cost her any chance of becoming a partner at her law firm. Having a breakdown, she walks out of her office, gets on a train and ends up in the middle of nowhere. Not knowing what to do, she knocks on the door of a massively huge house and is immediately welcomed in - to her surprise - as someone interviewing for a housekeeping job! Not knowing what to do, once again, Samantha acts as if that was exactly why she came to this house and pulls off the interview despite the fact that she cannot cook, iron or work a washing machine if her life depended on it. Samantha gets herself into quite a predicament but is so lovable that you can actually understand why she did what she did. While working in the house, Samantha learns new things and finds love while doing so. Happy and oblivious to everything around her, she finally feels like her life is back on track. That is, until her old life catches up with her. The question is: Does she want it back? The Undomestic Goddess is a light, fun read with a top notch, female heroine who is charming. (AS)
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Several high-profile chick lit novels are showing up on IMDB as movies in development for 2010-11 releases. These include: Sophie Kinsella's The Undomestic Goddess, about a lawyer who flees her job and becomes a maid; Lauren Weisberger's Chasing Harry Winston about three New York women who make a pact to change their lives; the Hilary Swank vehicle Something Borrowed, based on Emily Giffin's novel about a woman who sleeps with her best friend's fiance; Meg Cabot's Queen of Babble about a talkative wannabe dress designer, set to be played by Kristen Bell; and Kate Jacobs' The Friday Night Knitting Club about a single mum who runs a knitting store, which has Julia Roberts attached.
Other titles being worked on include The Guy Not Taken, a movie that explores a married woman's life had she chosen a different path, based on Jennifer Weiner's short story collection of the same name; Julie Buxbaum's The Opposite of Love, about a lawyer who rebuffs her boyfriend's marriage proposal; Linda Francis Lee's The Devil in the Junior League about a Southern socialite whose husband goes missing; and Jane Fallon's Getting Rid of Matthew about a woman who wants to dump her married lover. Now we'll just have to wait and see if they make it to the big screen.
Lust, Loathing and A Little Lip Gloss, the fourth installment in Kyra Davis' Sophie Katz' whodunit series, is out in June. Mystery writer and recreational sleuth Sophie has her eye on a three-bedroom Victorian. She's just got to have it but the realtor is her slimy ex Scott; the creepy seller Kane believes it's haunted and wants her to join his Specter Society and attend regular seances; and her first tour of the house reveals a lifeless body. While Sophie is disturbed by things that go bump in the night, her private investigator boyfriend Anatoly thinks it's all in her head.
Tanya Michna reveals on her website that her latest novel, Baggage Claim, was inspired by her daughter mixing up lunchboxes with another girl. Beth is a stay-at-home mum with marriage and debt problems, Carly is a divorced history professor caring for her mother. These Atlanta women appear to have nothing in common except similar suitcases, which they accidentally switch at the airport. So they arrange to meet in a hotel bar to retrieve their bags and their unlikely friendship takes their lives in surprising new directions.
Watch out for . . . Nanny Returns. Seven years after the release of their best-selling debut, The Nanny Diaries, Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus are bringing back Nan in a much-anticipated sequel in December.
Beverly Hills Adjacent, by next-door neighbours Jennifer Steinhauer and Jessica Hendra, centres on TV actor Mitch Gold and his wife June, a UCLA poetry professor, during pilot season. When Mitch's TV show is cancelled, it's back to audition anxiety for him. Meanwhile June is being tormented by the judgmental mums at their daughter's preschool, including the wife of Mitch's main rival. As Mitch is consumed by getting a role, June is drawn to charming producer Rich. Steinhauer is Los Angeles bureau chief of the New York Times, while Hendra wrote the memoir How to Cook Your Daughter and is married to character actor Kurt Fuller.
Amy and husband Will both work long hours for a TV company in London and their ever-reliable nanny helps raise their two children, Tom and Jessica. But one day, on the tube on the way to work, Will collapses and finds out he has a weak heart. It is enough of a near-death scare for him to pack in his job and pack off his family to the Yorkshire moors, where he buys a rundown farmhouse and starts filling the yard with unloved or past-their-prime animals, including a crazy hound called Hamish. Amy is not keen on this radical lifestyle change but is willing to stand by her husband as he follows his dream. And soon she finds herself really thrown into the deep end. Just don't leave the book lying around where Hamish could get it!
Juliet has been married to Rick for 25 years. But with two grown-up children who treat the house like a hotel, a mother who's just moved in and a father who's announced he's gay, it's hardly surprising that their relationship is beginning to suffer. Juliet's resigned to the fact that the only romance she's going to get is from the pages of books, so nothing prepares her for the unexpected return of Steven Aubrey, the guy who jilted her on their wedding day. Will Steven sweep her off her feet again or can Rick remind her of the loving feeling that they've lost?
Watch out for . . . Former supermodel Carol Alt's latest novel Model, Incorporated - the follow-up to her debut book This Year's Model. It's coming in August.
If you love TV's Desperate Housewives of Wisteria Lane or the Real Housewives of Orange County, you might want to meet the posh housewives of Westchester County. From the author of Good Little Wives comes Abby Drake's follow-up novel Perfect Little Ladies. Elinor Young has worked hard to get the life she has - a perfect husband, gorgeous grown-up children, and a house with more rooms than she can count. But Elinor also has her own personal blackmailer who has figured out that she hasn't been spending her afternoons in Manhattan with ladies who lunch but with a married politician. When Elinor and friends set out to track down the extortionist, none of them guess what other secrets will be spilled. Perfect Little Ladies is out in August.
A. One book with a similar plot is Margo Candela's More Than This. The two characters, Evelyn and Alexander, actually first lock eyes through a train window. But they then spy each other again through their office building windows and it becomes a matter of whether they will actually meet in person. He's a lawyer from a working-class background and she's from a prestigious family but is trying to make it on her own.
Pop Tart, by Kira Coplin and Julianne Kaye, is about Jackie who drops out of her college in an attempt to make it in Hollywood. Struggling to make it as an actress, she begins to work as a make-up artist, learning fast how to conceal the many flaws of the rich and famous. Then one day she meets 16-year-old Brooke, who's on the verge of becoming the next pop princess. And she takes Jackie along for the ride - in her stretch limos. But Jackie soon realises that fame has a dark side. Coplin is a pop culture journalist, while Kaye is a Los Angeles celebrity make-up artist. Pop Tart is out in June.
Did you know? Theresa Rebeck, author of Three Girls and Their Brother, has a new book out later this year called Twelve Rooms with a View. It's about Tina who inherits an apartment left by her mother's rich husband. Should she concede honourably to the rightful heirs or take what's hers by an oversight in the will?
Coming in September from Olivia Lichtenstein is a novel about a daughter who reconnects with her late mother. In Things Your Mother Never Told You, Ros' marriage of 20 years is over and her twin sons are about to leave home. She embarks on a new regime to stay sane: yoga, herbal remedies, internet dating. But as Ros is trying to find herself, the arrival of a memoir her mother wrote begins to reveal a woman she never knew, taking her on a journey into her mother's past that will change forever her idea of who she is.
In Dorothy Howell's sequel to Handbags and Homicide, Purses and Poisons, Haley Randolph is working part-time at LA's Holt's department store, owned by her sort of boyfriend, Ty Cameron, to pay back the debt she's accumulated buying designer handbags and clothes. When fashion model Claudia, Ty's ex-girlfriend, turns up dead in a Holt's restroom, the police determine that Claudia ate poisoned fruit from a fruit bouquet sent from Haley's mum's company Edible Elegance. To eliminate her mother and herself as murder suspects, Haley launches her own investigation.
Did you know? Elise Chidley's second novel, Married with Baggage, due out at the end of the year, is about Carrie who is cast into the stepmother role when she marries widower Simon.
Elizabeth Leiknes' The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns is about a woman wanting to break free from a job she hates, working for a devil of a boss. At 11, Lucy made a deal with the Devil to save her sister's life. Now nearly two decades later she's still bound for life. Although she enjoys some annual birthday perks, such as beauty and agelessness, she can't see her family, she can never have a boyfriend and she must spend her life leading sinners to their demise. Lucy wants out, and her music idol Teddy Nightingale offers her a little-known loophole. If she succeeds, Lucy gets love, happiness, and everything she ever really wanted. But the consequences? They're considerably worse than death.
Well before the discovery of Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent, Anne-Marie O'Connor was working on her novel Star Struck, about a 24-year-old woman who just wants to sing. Catherine still lives at home with her wacky family. The only thing she's ever been any good at is singing, but with no connections, low confidence and not the right image it doesn't seem as if she'll ever make a career out of it. But she signs up for TV talent show Star Maker . . . and soon she has a voice coach, a team of trainers and stylists and the world's number one music mogul on her side.
Holly's Inbox, which delves into the email trail of London front-of-house receptionist Holly Denham, is about to be released with a fresh cover in the US and the website on which the book is based reset to the beginning. Its author, Bill Hutton Surie, has come out from backroom operations to reveal the latest developments in our interview.
When Olivia's mother Maggie dies, she leaves behind a note that reads: 'Follow your heart and put right my mistake.' Twenty years ago, Maggie did everything in her power to end a love affair between her teenage daughter and Richie. Now Olivia decides to find the boy she loved all those years ago. She heads to the small coastal town where Richie lives with his young daughter Wren. Falling for him a second time, Olivia realises that this is the life she had always imagined for herself. But what about the husband and sons she has left behind?
Dempsey is on a quest to renovate a house - and her own life - in Mary Kay Andrews' latest novel, The Fixer Upper. Dempsey loses her job as a Washington lobbyist when her PR boss uses her as his scapegoat for a political scandal. She heads to Georgia, to refurbish a house her father has inherited. But not only is Birdsong a total mess, it's also inhabited by a grumpy distant relative who has claimed squatter's rights. With pesky FBI agents on her tail, Dempsey sets out to fix up the house, and maybe herself in the process. The Fixer Upper is out in June.
Eighteen-year-old Indian author Tishaa Khosla thumbed through the pages of her diary and reflected on her experiences at boarding school to inspire her first novel, the bestselling Pink or Black. It tells the story of a young girl, Tiana, who suffers from an identity crisis and tries to rediscover herself. Tishaa is working on her second book and is pursuing a filmmaking career in New York.
Cecelia Ahern's The Girl of Tomorrow is about a woman born into a family of wealth. Tamara Goodwin has always got everything she's ever wanted. She's always lived in the here and now, never giving a second thought to tomorrow. But then suddenly her dad is gone and life for Tamara and her mother changes forever. Left with a mountain of debt, they have to sell everything and move to the country to live with Tamara's aunt and uncle. When a travelling library passes through the village, Tamara finds a mysterious large leather bound tome locked with a gold clasp and padlock. What she discovers within the pages takes her breath away and shakes her world to its core. The Girl of Tomorrow is out in October.
In Rebecca Chance's Divas, trust-fund babe Lola Fitzsimmons leads a charmed life, with her rich father funding her every whim. Evie has had a much harder life but now that she's hooked up with an indulgent sugar daddy, she has been able to give up her pole-dancing career and move into a luxurious Manhattan penthouse. But with Lola's father and Evie's lover in a coma, the wicked stepmother and wife has seized control. Overnight, Lola's credit cards are refused and she finds herself locked out of her Chelsea mews house, while Evie is thrown out on to the streets. Although the two women loathe one another on sight, they must team up if they are to defeat the Ice Queen. Divas is out in August; Trophy Wives is due out next year.
From the author of The Dilemmas of Harriet Carew, Cristina Odone, comes her latest novel, The Good Divorce Guide. Rosie Martin is determined to manage her divorce from Jonathan, her husband of 15 years, in a civilised way - for the sake of the children. But even the best of intentions can be no match for external forces who think divorce is a dirty word. Everyone seems determined to conspire to make their divorce bitter - from their family and friends to the lawyer and estate agent.
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.
Will a second novel live up to the hype after a successful debut? Here's the Top 10 releases from the emerging authors that we most want to read this year.
Secrets & Lies, by Jaishree Misra, is about four friends - Anita, Zeba, Bubbles and Sam - who met at a private girls' school in Delhi in the early 90s. Three of them have moved to London - Bubbles is the bored wife of a billionaire, Anita is a BBC journalist, while Sam is married to a corporate lawyer. Zeba remained in India to become a Bollywood queen. Called back for a school reunion, the women must confront a secret that has haunted their lives. The body of Lily, another classmate, was found on the night of their school prom and the open verdict has shielded the fact that the four friends may have had a hand in her death. Will the truth about what really happened that night now come to light? Misra, who was born in India but moved to England in 1990, has written several other novels since her debut Ancient Promises.
Paige Toon's latest novel, Chasing Daisy, was partly inspired by her father Vern Schuppan's international motor racing career. Daisy has given up on men - and on her own family. So grabbing a chance to see the world, Daisy packs her bags and joins the team catering to the racing drivers on the Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit. From Brazil to Italy, and Melbourne to Monte Carlo, life passes in a dizzying whirlwind. But nothing can stop Daisy from falling for a racing driver. In an CC interview last year, Toon revealed that she wanted to write a story about the PA that Meg replaced in Johnny Be Good.
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.
Georgie and Flick run the Domestic Angels agency, which provides a helping hand to women. They do everything from booking the plumber to replacing dead pets. Then a new client approaches them seeking help to get revenge on her cheating husband. Soon they are inundated with requests from angry wives. But the disgruntled husband of one client is on to them.
Monica McInerney's Spin the Bottle (2003) is being released in the US this July under the title Greetings from Somewhere Else. This sequel to Upside Down Inside Out sees Lainey wrenched from her life in Melbourne to run a B&B in Ireland for a year. Despite having boyfriend Adam at home, a reunion with childhood friend Rohan sparks an unexpected romantic dilemma.
Carmen Reid continues her series about personal shopper Annie Valentine in the third book, How Not to Shop. Annie is about to hit the big time, presenting a glamorous TV makeover series. But then Annie discovers she's facing a shoestring budget. While Annie performs miracles with the minimum, boyfriend Ed is left at home with the kids and a sexy, Russian blonde. He's not happy. He wants more together-time and maybe even a baby. But could his fame-seeking woman ever handle that? How Not to Shop is out in August.
The Secret Shopper Unwrapped is the follow-up to Kate Harrison's The Secret Shopper's Revenge. Out in October, its synopsis says: "Christmas is coming, and while the bells are ringing, the tills aren't. But Sandie, the rising star of the retail spying world, is busier than ever, rooting out the best and worst in festive customer care. The former Charlie's Shopping Angels are helping out, too. Glamorous widow Grazia is going undercover under the duvet at boutique hotels, in between dating a succession of toyboys and trying to remember which lie she's told about her age. And not-quite-yummy mummy Emily investigates the child-friendliness of the high street with the help of three-year-old Freddie when she's not working flat out with her partner to save their fledging village shop from the unfestive credit crunch."
Years after her parents make her annul her marriage to poor student Will, Melissa has retreated into life as an academic. Both her parents are now dead - her father recently died in an accident in Italy - while Will is now a banking billionaire and ready to marry a gorgeous doctor. But when four people are murdered, Will, a former MI6 spy, puts together the pieces and links all the deaths to Melissa's father, an Oxford professor. Believing her to be the next hit, he whisks her away just in the nick of time and they go on the run. For those who like their chick lit served with assassins, deadly chases and international conspiracy plots - and just a touch of passion.
The author of memoir Petite Anglaise, the Paris-based Catherine Sanderson, has written her debut novel - and not surprisingly it's based in France. French Kissing is about 32-year-old Sally Marshall, a Briton who has spent the past 10 years in France. She left her French boyfriend Nicolas - and the father of her four-year-old daughter Lila - after she discovered his affair with his secretary. As she starts dating again after placing an ad on an online site - with men such as the newly single Frederic, charmer Manu and expat Marcus - she wonders: can she find a way to reconcile motherhood with being single? And is she truly ready to turn her back on Nicolas?
Get set for chick lit's most famous singleton on stage. A Bridget Jones musical is tipped to premiere in London's West End in early 2011. According to British newspaper reports, Bridget Jones's Diary author Helen Fielding has been working on the stage adaptation, which is being produced by Working Title, the company which took the two Bridget Jones novels to the big screen and adapted the Billy Elliot movie into a highly successful musical.
Maria Roberts has turned her Single Mother on the Verge blog into a memoir of the same name. Living on a council estate in Manchester, Maria dreams that one day she'll marry someone with a huge income to look after her and nine-year-old son Jack. The only problem is that current boyfriend Idris is a vegan ecowarrior who's not big on career paths - or monogamy. And so Maria finds herself unexpectantly juggling one, two, three lovers . . . But when Damien, Jack's abusive father, makes an unwelcome reappearance, she gets a wake-up call. Will Maria find a wonderful father figure for Jack by the time she turns 30? The book is out in July.
The Accidental Bestseller, by Wendy Wax, is the story of four women who met at a writers' conference. Now 10 years on, Mallory is a workaholic whose bestsellers support a lavish lifestyle. Tanya is a single mother juggling jobs, kids and deadlines. Faye, the wife of a famous televangelist, writes inspirational romances. And Kendall's once-promising career and marriage is on the skids, so she holes up in a mountain cabin. Her friends band together to collaborate on a novel using their own lives as fodder, thinking no one will guess the truth behind their words. But they never imagined it would go on to become a bestseller.
Kirsty Scott's latest release, Fortune House, is about four generations of Haldanes who are reunited in their family home for the first time in years. But behind the doors of Fortune House, life is not as idyllic as it seems. Life is changing again for Caroline and David, when his retirement is thrust upon them. And their three daughters, Fiona, Deborah and Vonnie, have brought with them not just husbands and children, but problems of their own. And they must all confront again that shattering loss that lives at the heart of their family.
Irish newspaper columnist Amanda Brunker is bringing back Eva Valentine in her sequel to Champagne Kisses. In Champagne Babes, out in July, the spoilt diva comes out of a coma and quickly marries Michael, the man who nursed her back to health. She then discovers she's already three months pregnant and neither is keen to embrace parenthood yet. When Daisy is born, Eva has to face weight issues, mother guilt and a struggling marriage. So her friends step in, taking her on wild weekends away.