NEW RELEASE
A Perfect Proposal - Katie Fforde (2010)
Sophie's academic, money-grabbing family have always taken advantage of her. This time they send her off to look after her grumpy but rich uncle while his carer is away. But Sophie actually hits it off with Evil Uncle Eric and she takes on the task of tracking down an American relative who may hold the key to the family making some money off some Texan oil shares. Once she's tasted a bit of independence, Sophie decides to head to New York to see her friend Milly. But when her job falls through at the last moment, she's left stranded until she meets a spirited elderly lady called Matilda who takes Sophie under her wing. Her grandson Luke is very suspicious of her motives but soon realises Sophie can do him a huge favour too. This follows a predictable romantic formula - and the way Sophie is so downtrodden with her family doesn't ring true with how she acts in the rest of the book - but reading this one lazy afternoon sounds like a pretty reasonable proposal.
Katie Fforde's upcoming release A Perfect Proposal is about a British girl who heads off to the US to prove herself to her family. The summary says: "Sophie Apperly has been supporting herself since she left school, but as far as her academic family are concerned she's never had a 'proper' job. And because she's currently in between work she's despatched to look after Uncle Eric while his housekeeper is away. Here, whilst tidying his papers, she discovers a document relating to family business in America. Driven mad by her family and wanting to prove herself to them and bring in some much-needed income for them all, when her best friend Milly invites her over to New York she jumps at the chance - what's more she's lined up some nannying work for her to pay her way. However, she's hardly been in the country five minutes before disaster strikes. She suddenly finds herself with no work, nowhere to stay and very little money. Luckily Milly has a corner in her tiny apartment she can camp out in. A jaunt to an art gallery opening throws her into the path of Matilda - a grand old lady who is delighted to find someone who comes from the same part of the world as she grew up in. She is very taken with Sophie and invites her to her house in Connecticut for Thanksgiving. But Matilda's grandson Luke is very suspicious of Sophie - what exactly does this English girl want, is she after her grandmother's money? - and he's determined to nip this growing friendship in the bud." Fforde is the current chairwoman of the Romantic Novelists' Association, which is celebrating its 50th year.