Queen of Babble - Meg Cabot (2006)

Lizzie Nichols is a blabbermouth: she just can't keep anything to herself. She heads to England to be with Andrew who rescued her from a dorm fire. But things don't work out when she blabs about him working while he's on the dole. Next Lizzie finds herself on a train in France, where she plans to meet up with best friend Shari and her boyfriend Chaz, who are helping out with wedding catering at a chateau. Telling all her woes to a fellow passenger, she then discovers that he is the chateau owner's son. Opening her big mouth keeps getting her in trouble at the chateau - until once it may just help her save the day?

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Queen of Babble in the Big City - Meg Cabot (2007)

In this sequel to Queen of Babble, Lizzie Nichols is back from her holiday in France, in New York looking for a fashion job and an affordable apartment with best friend Shari. When boyfriend Luke asks her to live with him in his mother's Fifth Avenue apartment, Lizzie decides that solves one of her problems - especially as her job hunt is proving harder than she expected. To break into the wedding gown restoration field, she offers to work for nothing, so must also takes on a paying job as a receptionist at a prestigious law firm. There she meets Jill Higgins, a society bride whose mother-in-law is forcing her to wear a hideous, too-small, tartan gown. Can Lizzie save her day, get her own man to commit and find out why Shari is being so bad-tempered?

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Queen of Babble Gets Hitched - Meg Cabot (2008)

When Luke arrives unexpectedly on her doorstep with a marriage proposal, Lizzie accepts . . . then has to hurriedly get rid of his best friend Chaz, who'd spent the night. For a wedding gown restorer, who's used to dealing with the whirl of weddings, Lizzie sure seems to be a reluctant bride. As she throws herself into making a wedding dress for discount store heiress and paparazzi target Ava Geck, Lizzie finds she breaks out in hives whenever she thinks about her own big day. Even Chaz and her best friend Shari think she shouldn't be with Luke. And what chance do they have when the groom-to-be has returned to France to work for his uncle's investment banking firm. Although life seems to be on the up for Lizzie, this book puts the series into a downward spiral. Maybe it's fortunate that it's time for the Queen of Babble to get ditched!

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Queen Mum - Kate Long (2006)

Ally always plays life safe unlike her beautiful, self-assured neighbour Juno, who signs up for Queen Mum, a reality TV show where two mums swap homes. It's only when the program airs that it becomes apparent that things in Juno's household are not as Ally believes, and that she and Juno are more alike than she ever imagined.

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Queen Takes King - Gigi Levangie Grazer (2009)

aka Fairytale Ending

When rich and ambitious heir Jackson Power gets caught on camera with his latest mistress, Lara - the day after his 25th wedding anniversary - wife Cynthia decides to end the marriage. With her daughter Vivienne on her side, and plans to drag out the divorce for a year or two, Cynthia is no easy woman to deal with. This marks the start of the divorce games, as both parties try to strategise and outmanoeuvre each other, like in a game of chess. Jackson even takes an active role in engaging bartender Adrian to seduce his wife, so that he has a chance of retaining more of the estate. A fast-paced and hilarious read about a divided power couple trying to retain the upper hand. (XT)

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