The Reading Group - Elizabeth Noble (2004)

"The real, hidden subject of a book group discussion is the book group members themselves." So sets the scene for this story. Five diverse women form a book club and while discussing a variety of books, they form unintended friendships. The books chosen by the women feature largely as part of the story and are related to the circumstances of one or more of the women. Whilst it is interesting to learn about the titles Noble chooses, their inclusion is a little disjointed and feels like a convenient thread to join the characters together. Nicole and Harriet are true friends, the sort whom tell each other everything; Harriet is honest with Nicole about her rotten unfaithful husband and Nicole tries to convince Harriet that she really is married to one of the best men around. Polly and Susan are old friends, and then there's Clare who joins the group on the recommendation of her mother who works with Susan. Each of them suffers ups and downs in their relationships and family life. Nicole must choose whether to stay with her philandering husband and Harriet must finally decide whether she really does love Tim. Susan is trying to cope with her unwell mother, while midwife Clare is desperate to have a baby and this failure risks her marriage to Elliot. Meanwhile can Polly really choose her daughter over her fiance? It is obvious this book is one of Noble's earlier novels. There are so many points of view it is difficult to learn the voice of each until you are well entrenched in the book. As usual though, she delivers a touching and feel-good read but this one is not a tearjerker! (LF)

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The Real Katie Lavender - Erica James (2011)

A trip to a solicitor's office a year after her mother's death reveals that Katie's late dad was not actually her biological father. Instead her mother had an affair with her boss, Stirling Nightingale, who has set up a trust fund for the child he has never seen. With no pressure for Katie to make contact with him, she decides she is curious enough to just observe him from a distance. But when she arrives at his property in Henley-on-Thames, somehow she is swept into waitressing at the 90th birthday party for his mother Cecily. Soon Katie finds that she can't just remain as an observer. But with a tragedy and its aftershocks rocking the Nightingales, not all are happy to welcome the latest addition into the family. This is an intriguing story about a girl trying to find her place in a family she never knew she had - and a family trying to deal with secrets it never knew it had.

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The Real Thing - Catherine Alliott (1996)

Tessa is heading off on the annual family holiday to the Scottish Highlands. And she discovers that this year, Patrick - the artist she fell for when she was a teenager - is back from Italy. Back then her vicar father had forbidden her from seeing Patrick and she had gone on to marry David and have two kids. But she has never forgotten Patrick. When David returns to London early for work and Tessa has an accident and is forced to rest up at Patrick's mother's home, it seems the star-crossed lovers may well be brought back together again. As Tessa faces up to whether she's with the right man, she veers from one crazy predicament to the next, with lots of shock announcements along the way.

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The Reason is You - Sharla Lovelace (2012)

This follows the life of single mother Dani and her teenage daughter Riley. Dani has lost her job and with nowhere else to go, they head back to her hometown of Bethany. Dani had left there as soon as she could to escape her gift - she can see and speak to the dead - and one ghost in particular, Alex, who had always had her in knots. Dani had always hoped that the gift would skip Riley until she sees her daughter talking to Alex. Dani certainly hopes that Riley doesn't have to live through what she experienced but when Riley starts to get harassed, she will soon discover that her daughter does not back down to anyone. Dani and Alex's friendship increases and passions between the living and the dead start to spark. What happens though when Dani discovers how Alex died and the true reason she feels so close to him? Will Dani feel betrayed when she discovers the truth of why she is in the living and not in the land of the dead? This is an amazing tale of romance and love on the other side and a tale of how strong family bonds can form when the going gets tough and there is no one else to turn to. (PP)

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The Repeat Year - Andrea Lochen (2013)

What would you do if you had the opportunity to relive a year of your life? If you had the chance to right wrongs, and make different choices? Olive Watson is about to find out. The past year of her life has been full of heartache and stress, including a break-up with her long-time boyfriend, her mother remarrying, and the strain of being a new ICU nurse. Olive is ready for a fresh start. She goes to sleep on New Year's Eve, and wakes up in her ex-boyfriend's bed on New Year's Eve a whole year earlier. Feeling disoriented and confused, Olive soon meets a woman named Sherry, who also "repeats" time. Olive is determined to make this year better. Her fresh perspective allows her to see past mistakes. But will it be enough to change the course of her life? This is a charming story with relatable, well-developed characters, a heart-breaking love story, and a nice balance of humor and drama. It is the kind of story that encourages people to be kind and forgiving not only to others, but also to themselves. (CK)

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The Replacement Wife - Eileen Goudge (2012)

Camille is in her early 40s, married to her doctor husband, Edward, and has a matchmaking business. When her cancer comes back, she decides to match up Edward with his second wife, believing that in doing so, she secures care for her children and husband. She believes she must do this, because her own mother passed away when Camille was 14, leaving her to take care of her younger sister in the face of an absent father who worked as an airline pilot. Camille does not want the loneliness, fear and uncertainty that she experienced to happen to her 14-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son, so she convinces Edward to let her find him a wife. Edward is not amused. He balks and resists, but ultimately agrees in an attempt to make Camille's waning months pleasant for her. She first tries to fix him up with Kat, a sexy, successful news anchor who has been very unlucky in love. That doesn't work, so Camille introduces Elise, a divorced teacher whose first husband cheated on her. Then there is Angie, the owner of a small catering company, who provides food for Camille's meet-and-greet socials, but whom Camille is convinced has no interest in love and marriage. Angie vies for Edward's affections on her own, albeit unintentionally at first. Which one will Edward choose? Or will he choose at all? And what will happen to Camille? How will she manage this shift in their marriage, even if it is her idea? This book is amazing, and you will sink into it. Eileen Goudge writes a fascinating, gripping story that will have you smiling one minute and weeping the next. You will find yourself taking sides. Do you choose the dying Camille? Or do you side with Edward and hope his kindness is rewarded? This would make an excellent book club choice, because there is so much you can discuss. I just loved it! (AP)

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The Rest of Us - Jessica Lott (2013)

This is a story about a couple who attempt to rekindle their rather intense relationship which occurred fifteen years earlier when Terry was a student and Rhinehart was her professor. After reading Rhinehart's online obituary, Terry is shocked to bump into him while shopping and their friendship takes on a life of its own. This story was a very emotional one and I went through a range of emotions - joy, frustration, confusion and sadness. The setting of the story and the personalities of the characters were well thought-out, I felt this novel had a classic quality. It questions choices we make in our lives, both when we are young and old enough to know better, the pull of family and our need to know our past and how it translates to the present. It is not what I would call a light read - but well worth the effort. (KARM)

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The Return of Jonah Gray - Heather Cochran (2007)

The detail-oriented Sasha finds her job as a senior auditor at the Internal Revenue Service interferes with her social life. When she starts getting weird phone calls - all referring to one of her upcoming audits, journalist Jonah Gray - she begins to investigate this mysterious man. Sasha's family issues also figure prominently, including her father's struggle with cancer. The author deals impressively with the friendship between Jonah and Sasha, and how their relationship goes beyond just mere phone conversations, and how Jonah's articles become the source of comfort for Sasha as she seeks to resolve her relationship with her father in the face of his past infidelity. (XT)

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The Reunion - Amy Silver (2013)

During their time at university, Jen, Andrew, Lilah, Natalie, and Dan used to be the best of friends. They spent all their time together, enjoying their student years and sharing every moment with each other. Until one summer at the house of Jen's family in the French Alps; that one summer that drastically changed every single one of their lives. Seventeen years later, Jen invites her old friends back to her family home in the hope of rekindling their friendship. Yet, when a snowstorm arrives and they find themselves stuck in the house, hidden memories and emotions are brought to the surface and slowly everything that happened during that fatal summer is revealed. At the centre of the novel there are the five main characters - each with their own intriguing story. Family and friendship combined with hidden secrets and conflicting emotions are at the core of the story, turning it into a captivating read I simply didn't want to put down. Amy Silver has an enchanting way with words; the use of different points of view (each one just as fascinating as the other) and different time periods, both in the past and the present (bringing back both blissful and poignant memories), challenges the reader to collect the different pieces of the puzzle and bring it all together. I specifically loved the way personal letters and e-mails played a role in the book, showing a more personal and intimate side of the characters' lives and relationships. The Reunion is a brilliant, beautifully melancholic and captivatingly well-written novel with a story at its centre that will stay with you for a long time to come. (JoH)

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The Reunion - Joanne Fedler (2012)

Jo, Helen, Ereka and CJ first became friends through their mothers' group. Now their kids are heading into their teen years and the women are reuniting for a weekend away at a country home. Joining them on their weekend of wine, food, tears and laughter are some of their friends - anthropology professor Maeve; Zumba fanatic Summer who's on to her third husband; and location scout Virginia, the only unmarried and childless one of the group. Jo is determined to stick to her strict dieting regime and try to stop worrying about her kids for just a moment. Mother of four Helen has a much more laidback attitude to life. Meanwhile Ereka, the mother of a disabled child, has stacked on the weight. And CJ is a divorced lawyer who is revelling in her new relationship. The weekend away exposes tensions, secrets and intimacies as the group face up to the truths of growing older.

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The Right Time - Dianne Blacklock (2010)

The four Beckett sisters are at crossroads. Ellen, the eldest, has finally ended her loveless marriage to Tim; Liz needs to decide whether to stay committed to her affair with a fellow doctor; Emma wants to get married and be taken seriously by her family; and baby Evie is trying to understand the man she married and her place in the world. Then there is younger brother, Eddie, who keeps all of his girlfriends a secret from his overbearing sisters and pursues extreme sports in his spare time. The sisters are different and unique in their own way but united when it comes to each other and their parents. But none of them can reconcile their parents' decision to sell the family home. The characters are real, warm and embracing. The story lacks a certain momentum and there are few surprises but it's a feel-good read that makes us all wish we had sisters. (LF)

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The Rise and Fall of a Domestic Diva - Sarah May (2008)

The mothers of Prendergast Road, in south London, are waiting desperately to find out if their four-year-olds have won a coveted place at St Anthony's. When Kate gets the letter saying her son Findlay hasn't been accepted, despite them attending church nearly every Sunday, she tells everyone that he is in, in the hope that she can instead buy a house within the catchment area. All the other children have got a place - or have they? So preoccupied are these parents that they often forget to pick up their children from activities and leave babies screaming in their car seats. Nor do they take much notice of weird goings-on on the street, from Lithuanian prostitutes pleading for help, to one of their own scoring from the local drug dealer or their husbands' obsessions with the neighbours. Promoted as a "black-hearted soap opera", this book has a lot of drama going on but it finishes without a conclusive or satisfactory ending.

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The Rise and Fall of a Yummy Mummy - Polly Williams (2006)

Six months after the birth of her daughter Evie, Amy Crane is still schlupping around in maternity clothes. Then she meets Alice, who introduces her to the yummy mummy brigade. Following her new friend's advice, Amy is caught up in a whirlwind of designer shoes, Botox injections and yoga classes. These new interests, including yummy yoga instructor Josh, put further pressure on her relationship with boyfriend Joe, who she suspects cheated on her during her pregnancy.

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The Rise and Fall of the Wonder Girls - Sarah May (2009)

This black comedy opens with a group of school friends heading off to pick fruit. The girls - Vicky, Saskia, Ruth and head girl Grace - all attend Burwood Girls' school, in an affluent town known as a good place to live, with its low teen pregnancy rates and high life expectancy. Soon all four girls realise they are pregnant and the media descends on the town, wondering if they are part of a cult or all impregnated by the same man. This was an unexpectedly good book, even though I had trouble remembering which character was which. The mixed-bag of parents add some more interest, including Vicky's social climbing mother Sylvia; Ruth's mother Rachel who is desperate to have another baby; and Saskia's drunken, cocaine-addicted father Richard. It recalls the real life story of an American media storm over a pregnancy pact at a Massachusetts high school where 17 girls fell pregnant at the same time.

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The Rose Garden - Marita McKenna (2013)

Molly Hennessy is heartbroken after the sudden death of her beloved husband, David. Her two grown-up daughters are busy leading their own lives in other parts of Ireland, while she is still living at Mossbawn House, the large country manor that has functioned as their family home for years. Molly can't possibly imagine leaving Mossbawn, but there's simply too much room for just her and her dog Daisy, and financially things aren't looking great. One day, Molly discovers a part of the grounds she hadn't really paid too much attention to - a rose garden, and she decides to restore it to its former glory. With this project to keep her occupied and the help of two other women living in the town of Kilfinn, Gina and Kim, Molly finds herself slowly starting to pick up the pieces of her life and thinking about her own and Mossbawn's future. This novel has several great elements in it: some great and diverse female characters (Molly, Kim and Gina are each different and lovely women), several plotlines coming together, a wonderful setting (in the Irish countryside) and a large, enchanting, country estate (the descriptions of it are breathtaking and make it incredibly easy for the reader to picture it all). There are a lot of names and characters in the book and it was occasionally a bit difficult to find out which names needed to be remembered in order to understand the story and which were just there as background information. Overall, The Rose Garden is a fabulous, heart-warming story about dealing with loss and taking the time to find love and happiness, in whatever kind or form... A definite must-read for lovers of anything romantic. (JoH)

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The Rose Petal Beach - Dorothy Koomson (2012)

When Tami's husband, Scott, is accused of an awful crime by her friend, she doesn't know who to believe. This dark story, a real page-turner, slowly reveals the relationship she has with her husband and her friendship with two women who live on the same street. Everyone, it seems, has secrets and when things take an even more tragic turn, Tami is left wondering if she can even trust herself. This is one of those stories where it is best if you don't know much before you begin - instead let the twists take you on a gripping journey. It's definitely Koomson's best to date.

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The Romancipation of Maggie Hunter - Jane Sigaloff (2007)

Maggie Hunter found out that her boyfriend was cheating on her immediately before he died in an accident. Fast forward a few years and Maggie is dating the perfect boyfriend, Max French. Max asks Maggie to move in with him and she is hesitant to give up her freedom. Meanwhile, Maggie's best friend, Eloise, is dating commitment-phobic Jake. Both friends are confused about their current relationships and can't help but notice how perfect their best friend's boyfriends are. Could they possibly exchange boyfriends? The author wrote a cute story but it could have been 100 pages less. (AO)

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The Rules of Conception - Angela Lawrence (2013)

Rachel, a 35-year-old who works in public relations, is ready to be a mother but no longer has a man in her life. So she decides to go down the sperm donor route. But she decides she doesn't want an anonymous man fathering her child, nor does she want the father to be overly involved in the child's life. She ends up picking a donor off a website - a Canadian architect called Digby who has his own reasons for wanting to have a child in a non-traditional way. Meanwhile as Rachel tries to fall pregnant, her work life becomes increasingly out of control thanks to her boss-from-hell Lyndall. This is a fabulous debut which shines a different life on single motherhood.

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The Runaway Actress - Victoria Connelly (2012)

Stressed out with Hollywood and needing a break, A-list actress Connie Gordon runs to a small village of Lochnabrae in the Scottish Highlands to escape. Not only is Lochnabrae home to her unofficial fan club, but it is also home to Alistair the playwright. Meeting Alistair, Connie realises that she isn't the only one running away. But can Connie run away forever and will she work out what she is really running from? It would be very easy to dismiss this book as a chick lit cliche, the storyline might read a little predictably, but it is a wonderful book. The quirky characters from the village pull you in and you can't help but love Maggie. The weather and the scenery are described so vividly that you actually feel like you're transported to the Highlands. An excellent example of chick lit. (AB)

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The Runaway Princess - Hester Browne (2012)

Amy Wilde fits in best with the flowers and plants that she works so hard to grow and nurture. She loves her job as a gardener and sharing a flat with her friend, Jo, even though Jo is always pestering her to find a boyfriend. So when Amy unexpectedly meets Leo at a party, she realises that she properly likes him and wants to see more of him. Unfortunately, before she can ask for his number he's gone. Plus, he's so drop dead gorgeous that she figures she'll never see him again. However, to her surprise, he shows up on her doorstep one day asking her to help him with his garden. Amy's not sure if it's a date or just a business proposal, but either way she can't believe her luck. From then on, she and Leo begin a courtship full of tender romance that blossoms with each meeting. Yet, the fact that Leo is always taking her to posh members-only clubs and hanging around with the horrendous (and very rich) Rolf, make Amy wonder if their relationship can work. After all, she's just a gardener and Leo is a high-powered banker with ultra-rich friends. Or is he? As Amy soon finds out, Leo is more than what he seems. He's not just a banker, he's also the Prince of Nirona and one of the world's most eligible bachelors. He dates models and socialites, takes luxe vacations and parties with the elite. All things Amy's never been privy to. Now that she knows Leo's real background, can she make their relationship work or will the pressure of possibly becoming a princess and being thrust into the spotlight be too much for this simple gardener? With a cast of extremely appealing characters - one being the delicious Leo - this is a novel you won't want to put down. With all the interest in Will and Kate's life, it's fun to read about Amy and Leo, who in some ways emulate what people think Will and Kate are like. Leo is relentlessly charming and will make you want to figure out where you can find this lovely place called Nirona and move there just to be closer to him. A definite must-read. (AS)

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The Runaway Wife - Susy McPhee (2009)

Marion Bishop hasn't really been living since her nine-year-old daughter Hope died in a hit-and-run accident. Now her doctor husband Sam says he can't live with her anymore and leaves her alone with only their big mutt Hector for company. So Marion plans to end it all by overdosing. Heading out to the pharmacy to buy more pills, she is mugged by a youth with a knife. Suddenly Marion finds she is still willing to fight back. This book is best enjoyed when you don't know much more about the plot than that. It's well worth a spot on your reading list, with its raw depiction of a mother's grief sensitively mixed with more light-hearted moments.

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The Sassy Belles - Beth Albright (2013)

If you are like me and one of your favourite TV shows currently is Hart of Dixie, then you will just love yourself some of Beth Albright's new Sassy Belles series. Set in the heart of the South, she has captured the heart and essence of what I could only imagine a Southerner belle to be like. Blake O'Hara Heart wonders how she is going to tell her husband, Henry, that a divorce is on the cards when a phone call interrupts her. It's Blake's best friend, Vivi, with the alarming news that her lover, Lewis, has died suddenly. Lewis also happens to be Blake's brother-in-law, so Blake and Henry travel down to the motel room but when they get there, there is no dead body. What has happened to Lewis - has someone moved the body or is he still alive? For Blake, this drama teaches her to reflect on her life as her ex-high school boyfriend, Sonny - now the town cop and newly divorced - arrives back on the scene. Will her heart lead her towards Sonny or will she continue in this hard time to stay faithful to her husband? It seems though that the town of Tuscaloosa has a whole lot of deep and dark secrets that this one case may bring to the surface. Are the characters of The Sassy Belles ready to come clean or will some of them do everything in their power to kept their secrets hidden? (PP)

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The Saturday Supper Club - Amy Bratley (2012)

Eve's boyfriend, Joe, works for a newspaper which is running a dining competition. He talks Eve - who is about to open a cafe - into filling in as one of the contestants. Eve doesn't know that her former boyfriend Ethan is also a contestant so is shocked to discover him on her doorstep as her first guest. She wants to find out why Ethan left three years ago without explanation. When I first started reading this book, I wasn't sure how the story would develop. The story certainly doesn't disappoint and couldn't put the book down. I'm delighted to have discovered a new author and will be looking out for more of her books. (BS)

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The Scarlet Letter Society - Mary T. McCarthy (2014)

The premise of this novel takes its inspiration from Nathaniel Hawthorn's famous story about adultery, A Scarlet Letter. Centred around three main characters - Eva, Maggie and Lisa - it charts the lives of the women over an 11-month period. Eva, a lawyer in her early 40s, is successful, independent but trapped in a loveless and sexless marriage to Joe. She escapes by having two simultaneous affairs with Ron, a much younger intern, and Charles, a chef who is coping with the death of his wife to breast cancer. Then there is feisty Maggie, in the throes of a divorce from a man she never loved, who is having an affair with Ted and on a bi-curiousity experience with Kate, a university professor. To complicate matters further, she still engages in random sex with her first husband Dave, who she never really got over. Finally, Lisa is desperate for a child with her husband Jim but he seems more interested in his shoe fetish and increasingly Lisa becomes attracted to graphic designer Ben. The Scarlet Letter Society is a monthly refuge for the women, where over coffee, cake and books, try to reason and fathom their way through their complicated lives by discussing their issues and develop their friendships due to their common link - adultery. I really was genuinely blown away by this breathtaking book. The author cleverly references classic tomes which deal with the concept of faithfulness by encompassing them in the format of a fictional book club; in which the girls meet to discuss each month. Each of the women is faced with infidelity; either by actively committing it or thinking of straying. As the writer shows and as many of the books she uses highlight, woman have always fared badly in extra-marital affairs. Each woman is forced to confront issues in their past and discover that life is really a question of choices. What I liked most about this book is that the characters are very strong, empowering women; they are successful in their careers, forthright and even though each one of them comes across challenging situations, there is positivity in the result. Ultimately, each of the ladies realises that although there is the impetus to stray, nevertheless, this is due to some emotional void within their personality and rather than seeking to appease it with other people, eventually, happiness is found within. It made me question the concept of people cheating and especially how society views a woman who does commit adultery. Fantastically written, beautifully plotted with warm, feisty and inspiring characters, this is definitely one to recommend to a friend. (LP)

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The Scent of Rain - Kristin Billerbeck (2012)

Daphne leaves behind her job at a perfume factory in Paris to start a new life in the US. But then on the morning of her wedding she is dumped at the altar. Daphne finds herself in the middle of a new town - Dayton, Ohio, in a rundown house and working as "a nose" for a laundry company. And to make matters worse, she has lost the one thing she has perfected all her life - her sense of smell. Now Daphne must fake her way through her new job and finds herself falling for her new boss Jesse - a single father. Can Daphne prove to Jesse that she is more than just "a nose" and that even though she lied to protect herself, she cares for him? The Scent of Rain shows that sometimes in order to start a fresh new life, you have to sacrifice or lose something of yourself in order to grow. (PP)

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The School Gates - Nicola May (2012)

Alana is a single mother trying (and largely failing) to bring up her daughter and balance her career without the father of her child. Joan is a stay-at-home mum with a large brood who lately has noticed her husband doesn't seem to be around as much. Mo is stuck in an abusive relationship with an alcoholic husband and struggling to make ends meet for her daughter Rosie. Dana is desperately trying for a second baby and wanting a bit more freedom from her husband. And Gordon is a gay man bringing up twin girls. What all of these people have in common is Featherstone Primary School, where each weekday morning they drop their children off and each afternoon they collect them. Told inventively over the course of a school year, this novel delves into the lives of these seemingly disparate characters, charting their individual ups and downs as well as the friendships and connections that join them together. It is a great concept for a novel and one that is replicated outside every school. The novel is very ambitious, with its myriad plots and characters, something of a literary soap opera, and at time it suffers as a result with several storylines feeling somewhat rushed. However, the novel offers a very innovative style of writing with the narrative shifting between characters as they literally bump into each other, which is very refreshing. A nice read, with some great emotional content. (JC)

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The School Gate Survival Guide - Kerry Fisher (2014)

Maia Etxeleku works hard as a cleaner so she can take care of her two children while her partner Colin spends his time lazing around at home. Out of the blue, one of Maia's favourite clients passes away and the elderly lady, who was fond of Maia, leaves her an unexpected inheritance. The money can't be spend on just anything; it's so Maia's two children can attend an exclusive private school and get the best education possible. Suddenly, Maia finds herself standing at the school gates together with all the ladies she works for, and has to find her own way in this middle-class world while dealing with everything else that's going on in her life. I've read several novels about school gate politics over the years, but I have to say this is definitely my favourite so far. The main protagonist, Maia, is easily likeable and I was rooting for her until the very last page. Maia is willing to do anything to make her children's lives better, but her boyfriend Colin and their money situation doesn't make it easy for her. When she inherits money for the kids to go to private school, she knows she has to take this opportunity but it's the start of a whole new set of problems. It was great seeing Maia deal with the other mothers and everything that is thrown her way. The plotline is really engaging and consists of a good mix of both light-hearted aspects and more serious topics such as class inequality. Kerry Fisher has a really comfortable and well-paced writing style which only made the reading experience even more enjoyable. It's an engaging, entertaining, well-written and funny read; I loved it! (JoH)

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The School for Husbands - Wendy Holden (2006)

Magazine sub-editor Sophie leaves her husband Mark after he forgets her birthday then doesn't come home after a work do. With Sophie thinking he's having an affair, Mark enrols in the School for Husbands, which helps teach hopeless spouses how to mend their ways. But has he left it too late - Sophie's former boyfriend who is in need of a wife is on the prowl.

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The Second Assistant - Clare Naylor and Mimi Hare (2004)

Lizzie Miller gets a job as a second assistant at talent management company The Agency. Her first task is sorting out the white thumbtacks, her boss Scott is a drug-taking wonderkid, her supposed mentor Victoria just plies her with errands and scripts, while the first assistant Lara is busy writing a novel. Then Lizzie immediately breaks one of the first rules - not getting involved with anyone from the industry when she meets hot-shot producer Jake after a not-so hot-shot with a hockey puck.

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The Second Husband - Louise Candlish (2008)

When Kate Easton's ex-husband reduces his financial support, she divides her flat to allow a tenant to move in. And Davis Calder, a tutor, seems the ideal neighbour - he's charming, quiet and he even helps her 17-year-old daughter Roxy with her French lessons. Kate is so swept up by him that when Davis proposes, she accepts. But after their wedding, she finds a diary which reveals it's not her that he loves. Unfortunately the cover line of 'There are some things a mother and daughter should never share' gives away what should have been a powerful twist.

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The Second Wives Club - Jane Moore (2006)

When Alison's wedding is gatecrashed by her groom's ex-wive, she is introduced to the Second Wives Club, where they get together to vent about what happens when you marry someone else's husband. The other members include Susan who is living in the shadow of a dead wife, Fiona, who is battling with a teenage stepson, and Julia, the trophy wife of a merchant banker who remains too close to his former wife.

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The Secret Desires of a Soccer Mom - Robyn Harding (2006)

Also known as Secrets and Wives

Paige Atwell is a bit dissatisfied with her lot - a busy husband, an increasingly hostile daughter and a son obsessed with bodily functions. As Paige tries to spice up her marriage, Aberdeen Mists is rocked by the death of her neighbour Karen, who is found in a pool of blood in her garage. With everyone else assuming it was an accident, Paige suspects foul play, as Karen had just revealed to her that she was having an affair with a Latin lover. Using sleuthing tactics from her favourite TV crime shows, Paige attempts to uncover the truth.

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The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella (2000)

Also known as Confessions of a Shopaholic

As a financial journalist for Successful Saving magazine, Rebecca Bloomwood spends her working life telling people how to manage their money. In her private life she is a shopaholic who is unable to face her mounting debts. She dreams of lottery wins, marriage to rich heirs and a range of harebrained schemes to save her from financial disaster. But has she met her dream man in Luke Brandon, head of a financial PR company, who is more than willing to lend her £20 to buy her ailing aunt a present.

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The Secret Life of Evie Hamilton - Catherine Alliott (2009)

Evie certainly has a comfortable life with her Oxford university don husband Ant and 14-year-old daughter Anna. While her brother Tim and his gung-ho wife Caro have taken over the struggling family farm, she isn't really doing much with her life. Then a letter arrives, with information that will shake up her small family. It's all an enjoyable read as Evie careens from one mishap to another - from car prangs and wedding punch-ups to underwear flashing and gropes in the stables - but the story also has heart and soul. And the best bit, it wasn't predictable at all.

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The Secret Life of a Slummy Mummy - Fiona Neill (2007)

For former TV news producer Lucy Sweeney, being a mother to her three sons is not easy - it has been years since her washing pile was less than a metre high, months since she had sex with her architect husband and only a week since she did the school run in pyjamas. She also has to contend with the attentions of Sexy Domesticated Dad and the criticisms of Alpha Mum as she tries to uncover her inner domestic goddess.

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The Secret Lives of Dresses - Erin McKean (2011)

Dora Winston's life has been anything but going places ever since she packed up, left her grandmother's and headed to college. Now she's stuck in a dead-end coffee shop job, with a boss she is head over heels with but he doesn't notice her. When her grandmother Mimi falls ill, Dora rushes home to North Carolina. It is here that Dora realises that she had lost her passion for fashion, especially vintage clothing. When Dora takes over her grandmother's vintage clothing shop, she soon rediscovers herself as she finishes a project Mimi liked to do with the clothes - "The Secret Lives of Dresses - each item of clothing with a story to tell". The story sees Dora finding out about her past, her calling and more importantly her future with the hunky builder Con. (PP)

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The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives - Sarah Strohmeyer (2005)

Foreign correspondent Claire Stark moves into the privileged neighbourhood of Hunting Hills when she marries eligible bachelor John Harding. Wives here live by 10 rules, including be busy even if you aren't and remember that the more you buy, the more your husband values you. But perhaps the women of the neighbourhood need another rule - don't trust one another. Marti Denton, who only communicates with her husband Denton by post-it notes, has had her eye on John and desperately wants to break up the new marriage. Meanwhile Marti's best friend, Lisa, who downs amphetamines to keep up the pace, has been having an affair.

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The Secret Lives of Husbands - Kirsty Crawford (2007)

Nurse Ruth Blackiston gets engaged to Ned Haskell after only three months - and without even meeting his parents. Now she has to deal with her mother-in-law Jackie's erratic moods and fit in with his close-knit group of friends. When she discovers Ned's old diaries, she realises her future with her husband won't be happily ever after unless she can untangle themselves from his past.

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The Secret of Happy Ever After - Lucy Dillon (2011)

Anna is newly married to Phil who has three children, who have not made the transition easy for Anna. She is finding it hard to gain the girls' trust and get them to like her. She also wants to have a baby with Phil so she can have something that is truly hers that is not tainted by Phil's ex-wife and his children. But unfortunately for her, Phil is already past the point of wanting to deal with nappies and screaming babies. So in an effort to get away from the house of chaos, she takes on a job for her best friend, Michelle. The Longhampton bookshop Anna will be running is her dream come true as she loves to get lost in stories. Michelle, newly separated from her husband, has thrown all her energy into her two new shops, and is also struggling to keep things from her past a secret. This is a great read about blending families and friendships that will last a lifetime. (CG)

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The Secret Ingredient - Dianne Blacklock (2011)

Andie Corcoran goes against everyone's advice and marries Ross, 10 years her senior who was still married when they met. She survives the criticism and heartbreak of breaking up his family as she truly believes Ross is the love of her life. Ten years later and their relationship is distant. Andie gave up her dream of becoming a chef and runs a deli instead. When Ross encourages Andie to return to working in a kitchen, she is ecstatic. When her stint in the kitchen doesn't go as planned, she discovers the reason for Ross's distance. Can a leopard change its spots? Can Andie survive the breakdown of her marriage and rediscover her love of food and perhaps much more in the kitchen? (LF)

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The Secret of Joy - Melissa Senate (2009)

Rebecca Strand has been living a nice life. She has a boyfriend, even though they have become emotional distant recently, a loving father, and a steady job. However, this carefully constructed life is quickly blown to pieces when her father is diagnosed with cancer. In a matter of weeks he is gone, leaving Rebecca an orphan with no siblings to fall back on, or so she thought. In a fleeting moment before his death her father leaves her with the information that she has a half sister, the result of a vacation fling. Rebecca travels to Wiscasset, Maine, to meet this sister she never knew. But her sister, Joy Jayhawk, is less than welcoming. Rebecca attempts to connect with her sister, whose emotionally frigid marriage is already on the fritz. This is a great novel which explores the depths of sisterhood and what one woman will do to connect with the sister she never knew. (SN)

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The Secrets of Married Women - Carol Mason (2007)

Jill can handle not having children. What she can't handle is how her husband Rob has withdrawn from her when he finds out it's his sperm count that's the problem. With one friend confessing to a passionate affair and another living the perfect marriage with the perfect guy, Jill feels like she's missing out. Then she meets a gorgeous lifeguard who's had his eye on her for a while. Will Jill let her fantasies become reality or discover the secrets her best friends are keeping? A tale of infertility and infidelity, with some clever twists to keep you turning the pages.

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The Secrets She Carried - Barbara Davis (2013)

Years ago, Leslie Nichols ran away from her painful childhood in North Carolina and arrived in New York City to start a new life. She quickly became the hottest name in the luxury lifestyle magazine business, however, thanks to the surge in electronic media, she now can't even find a job. Her mail is cluttered with overdue and final notices. She receives a phone call from an attorney office in North Carolina regarding the soon-to-expire window of time for Leslie to claim her grandmother's estate. If she does not claim the property, it will default to another beneficiary. Leslie reluctantly returns to her grandmother's home and the memories of her mother's death, her father's drinking and her miserable childhood come flooding back. She is shocked and annoyed to meet Jay Davenport, her grandmother's former caretaker. Jay has a claim to part of her grandmother's estate and makes his disdain for Leslie immediately apparent. As Leslie goes through her grandmother's stuff, she begins to fall into a life of secrets surrounding her grandmother and the parents that raised her grandmother. Leslie learns of the mysterious death of Adele Laveau, an African-American maid who lived in her grandmother's house when her grandmother was a young child. As Leslie delves into the circumstances regarding Adele's death, she begins to question her entire past. With the help of Jay, Leslie beings to piece together the mystery. The story flashes between Leslie's present-day story and Adele's life in the 1930s. The characters are so engaging and the secrets that are revealed are so unpredictable that this leads to an incredible novel. (AO)

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The Secret Shopper Affair - Kate Harrison (2011)

The Secret Shopper girls are back and this time it seems Emily, Sandie and Grazia are ready for new opportunities. Emily really wants a baby but her partner, Will, is on a mission to make their business environmentally friendly. When Emily enters a women's Go Globally Green contest, she finds herself up against Will's ex-fiancee Abby. Sandie and Toby are about to have a new addition to their family and should be excited about the future. But their house renovations take longer than expected and they discover Garnett's department store - Toby's family business - is losing money. Grazia is about to jetset around the world with a guy she's just met. But what will happen when he wants to introduce her to his children? For Emily, Sandie and Grazia, it's time to forge a new future but will they choose the right path or blow it? Find out in this enjoyable third book in the series which skilfully adds more depth to each character. (PP)

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The Secret Shopper's Revenge - Kate Harrison (2008)

Frumpy new mum Emily is used to being patronised or ignored in stores - and her confidence takes another hit when her husband abandons her. Ultra-organised Sandie has a passion for retail and is shattered when she loses her store manager job. The two women are recruited to the Charlie's Shopping Angels team by glamorous widow Grazia, whose artist husband left her financially bereft. Armed with hidden cameras in their handbags, the women work undercover as mystery shoppers exposing bad service, overpushy staff, uninspiring displays and other retail crimes. And in the meantime, they become close friends and help each other deal with their own personal crises. Expect a sequel.

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The Secret Shopper Unwrapped - Kate Harrison (2009)

We first met Emily, Sandie and Grazia in the first book The Secret Shopper's Revenge where they became Charlie's Shopping Angels. Now it's nearing Christmas and as usual all three women are suffering some sort of crisis. Newly married Emily is facing the prospect of her shop not taking off as she hoped; Sandie, who's dating an upper-class white boy and is pregnant with his child, gets an unwelcome blast from the past; while Grazia, after mourning the death of her husband Leon, has decided it's time to go out and play the field. However, there is still time for their secret shopping adventures. Emily and Freddie check out Santa grottos, and Grazia visits dermatologists and skin doctors. With Sandie becoming the boss of Shopping Angels, two new members join the team. Gramma (Sandra's grandma) puts burger joints to the taste-test while Kelly is their secret shoplifter-crime buster. Filled with laughs, tears and joy, this is an awesome read full of Christmas spirit. (PP)

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The Secrets Sisters Keep - Sinead Moriarty (2014)

The Devlin sisters have very different lives. Julie has four young kids, and has just inherited a lot of money. Rather than making her life easier, suddenly her husband is too busy to take an interest in family life. Louise is a strong single mum to gifted four-year-old Clara. But when it's pointed out to her that Clara may be a little bit different, her life takes a turn she wasn't expecting. Sophie is also a single mum to nine-year-old Jess, and is struggling to come to terms with her ex having a new girlfriend. She is lonely and desperate to carve out a new life for herself. I had not read the first book Me and My Sisters, so this was my first time encountering the Devlin sisters. This book, I felt, was full of cliches. The sisters were very stereotypical, and the fact that at first they had little in common but then by the end they are best of friends and united by their struggles was quite predictable and overdone. I did like Julie though. She was relatable, a bored housewife overwhelmed by her children and feeling out of place at the school gates. Sophie was pretty annoying and shallow, focusing constantly on how she looked and equating physical attractiveness with happiness. Louise was an admirably strong lady, but cold and difficult to like. There were some redeeming secondary characters such as their brother Gavin, and Julie's friend, Marion. This was quite an easy read but also easily forgettable. (LO)

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The Secret Supper Club - Dana Bate (2012)

After Hannah Sugarman's unsuccessful meeting with her boyfriend's parents and embarrassing him at a party, he calls time on their relationship. She is left in a job she hates, with two professors as parents who are constantly trying to push her towards a future she doesn't want. Having moved out of the flat she shared with her boyfriend Hannah now finds herself living in a miniscule basement. The only thing that keeps her sane is her cooking, so when her best friend Rachel suggests she start a secret supper club in her new apartment, she agrees, after all what's the worst that can happen? But when her apartment floods she ends up running the supper club in her landlord's apartment whilst he is away on business, and if the trespassing and deception is not bad enough, her landlord just happens to be a rather upstanding citizen who is currently running for local office. As well as trying to keep the secret from her landlord, Hannah also has to keep up her day job which is becoming increasingly difficult, negotiate her love life and deflect her parents' continuous questions about fellowships and careers. The Secret Supper Club introduces a wonderfully witty new voice to chick lit, who has a great capacity for humour (with one uncharacteristic insensitive slip aside) and suspense. The actual supper clubs and the guests do not receive the main attention of the story but this is in no way a criticism, indeed, the plot works really well and the novel is a fun and energetic read. Be warned however that reading this may get your tummy rumbling; but the recipes at the back of the book offer a great solution. (JC)

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The Secrets We Keep - Colette Caddle (2009)

Erin runs The Gatehouse guesthouse in the village of Dunbarra. Many of her guests show signs of never wanting to leave - from PJ, who helps out in her market garden; and Hazel, the shy artist with a young daughter who never speaks; to gossipy American Sandra who has just broken up with her husband. In fact, it seems all the guests are hiding something. Then Erin's friend, restaurateur Marguerite, asks if her half-brother, Hollywood actor Sebastian Gray, can stay. It seems he needs a retreat while he recovers from a breakdown. Despite dating a local farmer, Erin finds herself attracted to the moody actor. But will he trust her enough to reveal what has happened to him? This is a slow-paced book but all the guests' secrets eventually come tumbling out. Most did take me by surprise but unfortunately by that stage I didn't really care what happened to the characters.

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The Self-Preservation Society - Kate Harrison (2007)

Jo Morgan is a self-confessed scaredy-cat who as a schoolgirl used to stockpile canned food in case of a nuclear holocaust. Now she works for a council's accident prevention department, trying to protect the population from food poisoning, DIY mishaps and killer tea cosies. Fortunately her boyfriend Dennis shares her ultra-safe outlook on life. But when Jo emerges from a coma after a hit-and-run accident, she realises this scaredy-cat may have used up most of her nine lives and needs to live life differently. But first she needs to unlearn a lifetime of fears. With the help of fellow headcase patient, former World War II fighter pilot 'Frisky', and his grandson Luke, Jo tries to embrace spontaneity. She also has to work out why she's having flashbacks when she sniffs a smell from her past.

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The Seven Year Bitch - Jennifer Belle (2010)

According to Joy, Izzy's newly separated best friend, being married for seven years turns you into a nagging bitch. Izzy, who has just reached that milestone, has a one-year-old son Duncan and is feeling resentful that her husband Russell, a book publisher, doesn't contribute more. She's recently been laid off as a hedge fund manager but still goes ahead and appoints a nanny, Shasthi from Guyana. She later becomes caught up with helping her nanny fall pregnant in between judging competition essays. Your interest in and sympathies for Izzy may wax and wane throughout the story. Written like a series of vignettes, I loved the seven-year concept and the insight into lasting less-than-perfect relationships but I just didn't like Izzy at all.

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The Seven Year Itch - Kate Morris (2009)

Ellie has been married to Jack for seven years but she's starting to resent him. Jack is quite self-centred and now that his long-running soapie character on Country Matters has been killed off, he's desperate for a new role - even auditioning for voice-overs for dog food. Ellie throws herself into opening a cafe with friend Tilda, while au pair Petra helps look after the kids, Jed and Maud. Can Ellie and Jack make it past a familiar bump in the road to long-term marital bliss? Well, it certainly doesn't help when the irresistible Mark moves in across the road. Keep reading for the ending that veers off unexpectedly.

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The Shelly Beach Writers' Group - June Loves (2011)

Gina's husband, Kenneth, has taken off with his PA and left her in debt. So she accepts a house/dog-sitting post at Shelly Beach, looking after Adrian's cottage while he visits his sick daughter in Britain. But as Gina settles into her seachange, she discovers Adrian intends for her to look after much more than just the house and dog. Like the local writers' group - even though as a failed writer she really doesn't want to get involved. Like renovating his cafe, babysitting the bossy child next door, attending community meetings. With its wry humour and larger-than-life locals, both human and animal, the story follows Gina's journey as she finds a new place for herself in the world.

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The Shoe Princess's Guide to the Galaxy - Emma Bowd (2009)

Self-confessed shoe lover Jane Meadows has traded in her client relations job at an insurance company for full-time motherhood. With husband Tim mostly working away in Bangladore, she is craving some support and adult company. So Jane joins a new mothers' group with daughter Millie and keeps track of shoe and celebrity gossip through blogs. She also begins to step towards her dream business by learning the finer points of shoe craftsmanship from Italian shoe designer Marco, who is dating her best friend Fi. This book is really lightweight chick lit. But at least the coverline 'Life, love and shoes. But mostly shoes' warns you upfront. Those Shoe Princesses among you will probably love all the shoe references.

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The Shoestring Club - Sarah Webb (2012)

Julia is terribly heartbroken, alone, penniless and drinking too much after her boyfriend of six years, Ed, shamelessly has an affair with her best friend, Lainy. Julia is working for her sister, Pandora, who runs a second-hand designer clothes shop, Shoestring, in Dublin. Day and night, Julia is convincing herself that she is so over Ed but a part of her still loves him. One day Julia gets a wedding invitation from Lainy - the cheek of her! After debating with herself, Julia finally decides to go to the wedding with her head held high, just to show people that she is totally over Ed. She would love to wear this beautiful dark pink chiffon dress which has just arrived in Shoestring but it costs a fortune. As luck would have it she bumps into Arietty who too feels that she can't attend her school reunion without this beautiful pink dress. This mutual love for dress sparks a brilliant idea in Julia's mind and she sets up The Shoestring Club where they time-share the dress and attend the most important days of their lives, looking glamorous. Magical, that's what this book is, with its daily doses of drama. Make sure you keep a box of tissues within reach. (SS)

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The Single Girl's To-Do List - Lindsey Kelk (2011)

Somebody else would have described her as just being organised (full stop) but Rachel Summers is more than just that. A self-proclaimed listomanic, she's always ticking off her daily lists of to-dos, making sure everything is under control. For now, the one at the top of her list is to get her boyfriend back, after he initiates a temporary time-out from their relationship, and Rachel needs more than just a sexy outfit to get it done. She turns up at Simon's "casual Friday" hangout, waiting for her opportunity to talk to him so everything will fall into place - at least that's what Rachel thought. But when he dumps her on the streets with the oh-so cliche "I love you but you're not the one", she is left devastated, humiliated and for the first time in 16 years, single. Her two best friends step in to get Rachel's life back on track. Writing her a single girl's to-do list, they come up with 10 things she has to complete before her dad's wedding. Stepping outside her comfort zone, and attempting things she's never ever imagined herself doing, Rachel starts on a whole new journey filled with adventure, fun and the unexpected. You will not only fall in love with the heroine, with her over-the-top obsession with lists, but also with her gay best friend, Matthew (my favourite character with his exaggerated actions and honesty), and best girlfriend Emelie. Hilarious and cleverly written, this novel is one to definitely add to your to-read list. (XT)

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The Singles - Meredith Goldstein (2012)

Bee Evans always resented brides that didn't give her a plus-one invite to their wedding. Bee vowed that when she got married, everyone would be allowed to bring a guest. As her wedding date approaches and her RSVPs are returned, Bee is frustrated that five of her guests declined her offer to bring a guest and are showing up single. Confused by where to seat them, Bee nicknames the five guests the "SINGLES". Hannah, Vicki, Rob, Joe and Nancy are the single guests. Hannah, Vicki and Rob all attended Syracuse University with Bee. Joe is Bee's blacksheep uncle. Nancy is a friend of the groom's parents. Days before the wedding, Nancy is stricken with a virus and forces her reluctant son, Phil, to attend in her place. With each chapter being told from an alternating perspective of a different "single", we learn the background of each character and ultimately how their stories all interconnect. Anyone who has ever been stuck attending a function without a date can appreciate this well-written novel. (AO)

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The Sister Circle - Nancy Moser and Vonette Bright (2002)

Evelyn Peerbaugh's husband, Aaron, has recently passed away and she has discovered that he has left her with only $10,000 to survive on. At 56 years of age, Evelyn has never had a job and wouldn't know where to start. But fearful of losing the home which has been in her husband's family for generations, she is inspired to turn the three extra bedrooms into a boarding house. So Evelyn, unsure on how to attract customers, nails a sign on her porch and leaves it up to God's will. Within five hours of having her sign up, all three rooms are filled. There's Mae, a free-spirited divorcee and a barrel of laughs, academic Tessie who is very religious, and single mother Audra with her five-year-old daughter Summer. Over the course of the novel, the women discover the true meaning of sisterhood as they get up to mischief, have heated arguments, and share their stories of how they ended up where they are today. The Sister Circle, the first in the series, is a book that will have you feeling a variety of emotions as we experience the loss of family and the gaining of new ones even though they may not be blood-related. (PP)

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The Sister Diaries - Karen Quinn (2009)

Laura has put her life on hold for the past six years to care for her ailing mother Sunny. So she is shocked to discover at the will reading that just about everything has been left to her middle sister, Serena. That's the sister who already lives a luxurious lifestyle thanks to her wealthy husband. The oldest sister, Amanda, is also annoyed at being left out of the inheritance. The high-flying realtor has been a casualty of disgraced financier Bernie Madoff and was counting on the money to get her out of trouble with a loan shark. Serena believes her mother left the spoils to her because their wealth stemmed from a painting given to her by artist Daniel Lassiter - and she believes Daniel was her real father. But for Laura and Amanda, they already believe they have given Serena enough. Amanda has financially supported the family, particularly when Serena had leukaemia. Laura even donated bone marrow and the eggs for Serena's two children. So the sisters embark on a mission to find out why their mother changed her will from her policy of "equal treatment". With poignant quotes about sisters at the start of each chapter, this is a multi-layered story that will keep you guessing. And it wouldn't be a Karen Quinn book without some hilarious episodes about the things rich, overly ambitious people do to their kids.

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The Sisterhood - Emily Barr (2008)

Twenty-year-old Helen has always felt like something was missing in her life. She lives a pampered life in a French chateau but has a distant relationship with her parents. So when she discovers that her mother had abandoned another baby years before, she starts looking for her sister. She finds Elizabeth in England through the internet and so leaves France for the first time in her life to meet her. But she doesn't tell Liz who she is - instead she ingratiates herself into Liz's life with the plan to take her back home to reunite her with her long-lost mother. Liz, whose boyfriend has just left her for someone else, eventually begins to have her suspicions about the clinging French woman. A real page-turner - there will be at least one or two twists that you won't have seen coming.

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The Sister Season - Jennifer Scott (2013)

Claire, Julia and Maya Yancy have all returned home to celebrate Christmas and bury their father. The three daughters love their mother, Elise, however, they have no love for the alcoholic father that abused them through their childhood. Elise to trying to make it a festive Christmas, with a tinsel-garnished tree and mulled wine, while holding a secret about her husband's death from her daughters. The three sisters have scattered across the country because of years of misunderstandings and harsh accusations. The sisters are no more than strangers to each other. As the three women spend time together, long-buried secrets resurface and present hardships are revealed. It finally takes a near tragedy for the sisters to come together. This novel will pull you in immediately. It is extremely sad and tackles very heavy topics, however, it ends with a measure of hope that will leave the reader satisfied. (AO)

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The Sleeper - Emily Barr (2013)

Lara has gone missing. She got on the sleeper train from London to Truro but has not disembarked at her destination. And CCTV shows she didn't get off at any of the other stations on the journey. How has a woman disappeared so easily? Her husband Sam is panicking, surely she should have rung by now? Her friend Iris is convinced something serious has happened. Can Iris piece together what has happened before the police do? And, is Lara still alive and if so, is she in danger? Emily Barr's writing leaves you on the edge of your seat as you race towards the dramatic finale. The character development throughout this plot was outstanding and you would struggle not to be drawn into this world. (LL)

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The Sleeping Beauty Proposal - Sarah Strohmeyer (2007)

Genie Michaels is in for a shock when boyfriend Hugh proposes on national television - not to her but to a mystery woman. He then continues on his tour of England, promoting his bestselling novel, and asks Genie, a college admissions advisor, to let everyone know that she wasn't the woman he proposed to, instead that they've split up. Although best friend Patty tells Genie she can't be like Sleeping Beauty just waiting for her prince to come, she also advises her to pretend she's engaged - to reap the benefits of being a bride-to-be, such as registry gifts and parental approval. So with everyone thinking she's planning a wedding, Genie buys a (fake) diamond ring, which helps give her the confidence to move ahead with her life - with or without a man. Although Nick, a carpenter working on the house she wants to buy, would certainly make life that bit sweeter.

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The Smart One - Ellen Meister (2008)

Bev is one of three sisters - she's the Smart One; Clare, a married mother of two, is the Pretty One; and youngest sister Joey, a former one-hit wonder pop star who became a drug addict, is the Wild One. Bev, after several career missteps and a divorce, has just finished her degree and applied to become a teacher in Las Vegas. But first she has to help her parents' next-door-neighbours, the Waxmans, sell their Long Island home since both couples are sunning it up in Florida. The Waxmans' son, comedy writer Kenny, is also back in town but Bev is still not ready to forgive him for something that happened years ago. Then they find a body stuffed in an industrial drum at the house and as the sisters endeavour to uncover the truth, even more skeletons fall out of everyone's closets. This is a smart one about sibling rivalry and living with labels - with a murder mystery on the side.

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The Smart One and the Pretty One - Claire LaZebnik (2008)

This is a provocative but sometimes predictable tale of sibling rivalry. As its title suggests, older sister, Ava, has always been considered the "smart one", always accountable and responsible. She is now a high-powered, workaholic attorney in Los Angeles. Lauren has lived up to her role as the "pretty one", living much more frivolously and irresponsibly, maxing out her credit cards to ensure that she maintains her image by donning all the latest in designer couture and suitably working as a buyer for a fashion boutique in New York. Living separate lives on opposite coasts, the sisters are brought together once again after they receive an email from their father with bad news about their mother's health. Although devastating, Lauren finds this an opportune time more than anything else to move back home to LA to take care of her mother and escort her on hospital visits. Although her motives may seem purely benevolent at first, Ava quickly learns the real motivator behind Lauren's sudden dedication to family - she's just been evicted from her New York apartment and fired from her job. Determined to teach Lauren a lesson about life and responsibility, Ava draws up a contract for Lauren, forcing her to sign on the dotted line and thus sign away her credit card and spending habits for the rest of the year! When Lauren uncovers another contract - one that their mother and neighbour had drawn up back when Ava was eight years old, promising her hand in marriage to the boy-next door, Russell Markowitz, Lauren decides to surprise Ava with a night out to meet her own signed, sealed and delivered fate and introduces her to the groom-to-be. Learning to live within the confines of each of their contracts, these two sisters begin to break out of their accustomed roles and find out that there just may be a little smart and pretty in each of them. This novel didn't rise above the rest for me but it was a quick, entertaining read that brought a little joy to my day. (CH)

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The Soldier's Wife - Joanna Trollope (2012)

Dan Riley, a major in the Army, returns from a six-month tour of duty of Afghanistan. On the surfaces Dan appears to have it all - a beautiful wife, Alexa, stepdaughter Isabel and three-year-old twin daughters Flora and Tassy. He is well respected by both his men and his family circle. The reality, however, is very different as both Dan and Alexa struggle to adapt to the changes in their lives. This is the first Joanne Trollope novel I have read, and I was sadly disappointed. I felt I wasn't able to get to know the characters in this book as there were too many. I also found myself having to re-read parts of the book as I felt I had missed something as the plot seemed to be underdeveloped. (BS)

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The Solomon Sisters Wise Up - Melissa Senate (2003)

Sarah discovers she is pregnant to a guy she's only be dating a couple of months. Will he stay around long enough to meet his baby and will her pregnancy affect her chances of promotion to senior magazine editor? Her older sister Ally, who has been desperately trying to fall pregnant for five years, discovers that her husband has been having an affair. Meanwhile their half-sister Zoe is a successful dating guru who critiques people's dating skills but her own love life is going nowhere. With her former friend about to tie the knot with her father, Zoe heads to New York to head off her mother who is on the loose and out for revenge. The three Solomon sisters, who have never been that close, all end up living at their father's house and help each other deal with their personal crises.

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The Song Remains the Same - Allison Winn Scotch (2012)

Thirty-two-year-old Nell Slattery is one of only two passengers to survive a plane crash. A week after the crash, she emerges from a coma with amnesia and the daunting task of piecing together her former life. Her sister, mother and husband overwhelm her with pictures and stories of her past. As she examines the stories and photos of her former life, Nell is forced to trust in herself to find the truth of what her life and marriage was really about. As she starts to uncover the past, she questions what betrayals she can forgive. The author manages to take a storyline that could have been an overused cliche, and turn it into a unique thought-provoking novel. A definite must-read with an ending that will leave you satisfied. (AO)

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The Son-in-Law - Charity Norman (2013)

After spending several years behind prison walls, Joseph Scott is out in the wide world again. The only thing he cares about is seeing his three children, Scarlet, Theo and Ben, but this won't be an easy task. Four years ago, Joseph killed his wife Zoe in a fit of rage, in front of their children. They now live with their grandparents, Hannah and Frederick, who have no intention of letting Joseph anywhere near his children ever again. When Joseph sees no other option but to take the case to court, Zoe's torn family is forcefully reunited, bringing back all kinds of memories and emotions. One of the absolute strengths of this novel is Charity Norman's writing. After just a few chapters, I already felt myself being consumed by this story and I couldn't get it out of my mind. The characters are incredibly well-written and realistic, just like the scene setting. Norman especially managed to create a feeling of conflict: which of the characters do you support? I found myself switching alliances continually. As a reader you are really brought into the minds of these characters, and it also shows you everything might not be as straightforward as it might seem at first sight. Even though Zoe has already died quite some time ago, she takes on a central role in the story. She was a mother, daughter, and wife, and these three roles are explored in the form of her surviving children, parents, and husband. I especially loved the three children, most specifically Scarlet; she is so clearly torn between the two parties, and Norman describes this so incredibly well. The Son-in-Law is an emotional and realistic novel that will keep you captivated from beginning to ending, and a tale that reminds you to not forget that there's always two sides to every story. (JoH)

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The Spa Decameron - Fay Weldon (2007)

Borrowing its name from the fourteenth-century work The Decameron by Boccaccio in which people tell stories to pass the time, later popularised in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Fay Weldon updates the concept for a modern female audience, with a group of wealthy, intelligent women gathered at Castle Spa over Christmas. With financial difficulties and employee setbacks disrupting the normal functioning of the spa, the women are left to entertain themselves, and begin to share their stories. There is the trophy wife fresh out of prison for alleged arson; the public speaker with a heart condition who has taken an immigrant into her home; the journalist who was at the mercy of a scorned beautician; the brain surgeon whose intellect has scared off men; the judge who has undergone gender reassignment; the weather girl who feigned rape to pay her way through university; the conspiracy theorist who is convinced of the impending fall of society; the manicurist who has been courted by a Saudi price; the psychoanalyst and the case of the murdering mother; the company director and her sibling rivalry; the mortgage broker who frequents weddings and funerals; the screenwriter who blurs fiction and reality; the vicar's ex-wife who lived in a haunted house; and the stepmother who has to compete with her conniving stepdaughter. This book promised much, but the stories are quite heavy and dark, not making for an easy or light-hearted read. More literary than chick lit. (JC)

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The Stag and Hen Weekend - Mike Gayle (2012)

Phil's finally going to marry his long-term girlfriend Helen, and all that stands in their way is the stag and hen dos. Phil wants a quiet stag do in his home town, yet his friends - eager to be let off the leash - want to let their hair down and go all out for a weekend in Amsterdam. His fiancee Helen's hen do couldn't be more different from the guys' event - she picks a luxury country hotel and spa for her friends. But both Phil and Helen encounter people on their weekends that dredge up their past and have the ability to stop them from living happily ever after. The book is split into half and written separately, leaving readers to choose whether they read the hen or stag section first. While this worked really well in that there are clues in each story that make sense when you read the second half, it also meant that the book didn't really properly end. Both stories ended a little ambiguously, and this was probably due to the fact that you could read either story first, and maybe it would have ruined it for the second section if you already knew how it ended. Putting the ending aside, it was a fun read, and it was great to be able to follow the stags on their stag do, which for a chick lit book we don't often get to do! (AB)

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The Starlet - Mary McNamara (2010)

When Juliette Greyson rescues starlet Mercy Talbot from jumping off a beautiful Italian fountain, much to the delight of the merciless paparazzi below, she should know that her long-awaited vacation will not go as planned. Juliette, head of public relations at the celebrity haven Pinnacle Hotel in LA (from the first book Oscar Season) knows Mercy has a drug problem and also knows that no matter where Mercy goes, drama is sure to follow. Knowing this, Juliette still decides to bring Mercy back to Cerreta, her private slice of Italian life, which she and her cousin Gabe inherited. When Mercy wakes up from her drugged stupor, she becomes somewhat attached to Juliette, but goes back to Siena where she is filming a movie - even though the lead actor Lloyd Watson is found dead under mysterious circumstances. After another near-death overdose, Mercy shows up at Cerreta once again, film crew in tow, wanting to relocate the movie from Siena to Cerreta where Mercy feels more at peace. But drama, drama and more drama ensues as Mercy's overbearing mother continues feeding her drugs; and LA's top rock star-turned-rehab guru shows up and starts pushing to buy Cerreta so he can expand his rehab business to Italy. All this while Juliette is still refusing to face up to her past. When part of her past follows her to Cerreta in the form on Michael O'Connor - the gorgeous movie star who Juliette almost had a fling with - she is forced to deal with her buried emotions and finally move on with her life. Fast paced and filled with lust, hidden agendas and cover-ups galore, this novel will keep you on your toes right until the explosive ending.

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The Starter Marriage - Kate Harrison (2005)

Tess Leonard is a perfectionist whose life is in a shambles. When husband Barney leaves her for his pregnant girlfriend, Tess joins the Divorce Survival Class - a boot camp for the broken-hearted. Will the course help Tess move on?

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The Starter Wife - Gigi Levangie (2005)

Gracie Pollock is dumped by her movie studio executive husband just before their 10th wedding anniversary ('I've been Cruised,' she says) and finds herself living the Hollywood nightmare of being a starter wife. As a social pariah, she and her three-year-old daughter, Jaden, move into a friend's beachside Malibu home where she befriends a different set of characters, including the hunky but homeless Sam who saves her from drowning and her ex-husband's boss.

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The State We're In - Adele Parks (2013)

Dean Taylor and Jo Russell have had completely different childhood experiences. Dean's father, Eddie, walked out on his family, while Jo was brought up in a loving environment overseen by mother Clara. Now, as Eddie Taylor lies dying, Dean flies over from Chicago to London to seek some answers but to little avail. Meanwhile Jo, searching for her happy-ever-after, plans to stop her ex-fiance's wedding in Chicago. So it is that Dean and Jo find themselves sat next to each other on a flight to Chicago and it seems that fate has brought them together. This is an absolutely engrossing read and a masterclass in storytelling, characterisation, and emotion. The impactful ending will determine most readers' opinions of the novel, and for me it was the perfect, if heartbreaking, conclusion to a novel that highlights the challenges of love and encapsulates the motto 'the course of true love never did run smooth'. An epic of a story. (JC)

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The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight - Jennifer E. Smith (2012)

American teenager Hadley is reluctantly heading to London for her dad's wedding to a woman she's never met. But she misses her plane by just four minutes. Stuck at the New York airport until the next flight, she meets Oliver, a British boy who is studying at Yale. They bond on the flight over but will their paths ever cross again? A lovely story about chance encounters and instant connections, this also focuses on a teen's feelings about being let down by a parent. At just over 200 pages - and with the story set over 24 hours - this is the perfect quick read for when you've got a couple of hours to yourself. You might just fall in love with the book.

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The Stepmother - Carrie Adams (2007)

Bea has managed to keep her divorce amicable so Jimmy can maintain a good relationship with their three daughters. Then he announces that he's seeing someone - Tessa King - and it's serious. This news sends Bea into a freefall - to the outside world she's looking good but that's only because she's swapped binge eating for drinking. Tessa, meanwhile, has to win over the girls, particularly the oldest daughter Amber. Told from both women's viewpoints, this sequel is better than the original tale about Tessa as the godmother.

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The Stepmothers' Support Group - Sam Baker (2009)

Magazine journalist Eve fell in love with widower Ian after writing an article about his wife's battle with cancer. Now as their relationship gets more serious, she must try to fit in with family life that revolves around his three children in a house that still bears the marks (and gumboots) of his late wife. Her best friend Clare, a schoolteacher and single mum to teenager Louisa, suggests that Eve talk it over with her younger sister Lily, who is also dating someone with a child. Soon their informal Stepmothers' Support Group grows to include Melanie, an American fashion web entrepreneur who is preparing to meet her boyfriend's daughter for the first time, and Mandy, who is blending together a large family. As Eve struggles to get along with Ian's teenage daughter Hannah, Clare faces up to the unwelcome return of Louisa's father. Exposing lots of relationship pitfalls, this book (written by a real life stepmother) gives an honest, open take from the not-so-wicked stepmother's point of view - and is a refreshingly different slant on the usual mum lit.

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The Story of Us - Dani Atkins (2014)

Emma Marshall's hen night was supposed to be a great night out with her two best friends, Amy and Caroline. Instead it turns into tragedy. When all seems lost, a stranger, Jack Monroe, comes to Emma's aid, saving her life, and the bond between them is immediately apparent. But is it just a natural reaction to him saving her? Anyway it's something she can't dwell on as her wedding to her childhood sweetheart, Richard, is only a couple of weeks away. But as the tragedy of Emma's hen night plays out, Emma learns a disturbing secret that will rock the core of her closest relationships. After Atkins' debut novel, Fractured/Then and Always (US), one of my favourites of 2013, I've been looking forward to this second book. In the first few pages, it seemed like the book may be quite similar to Atkins' previous, yet brilliant, first novel, but soon thereafter she sets readers on an amazing new path. It has to be said that Atkins excels at creating interesting, intricate and refreshing plots, with a generous helping of emotion to boot. The thing I loved most about this novel was that the author genuinely keeps the conclusion up in the air - does Emma choose Richard or Jack? Does she get her happy ending? - and more astonishingly the choice is neither clear-cut nor easy for Emma or the readers alike. Yes, whilst Jack emerges as the alpha hero, Atkins does a remarkable job not only of making Richard seem likeable in spite of what he's done to Emma but also a valid choice. It would have been easy for Atkins to write Richard off immediately but she somewhat offsets his failings with examples of his positive qualities, making Emma's choice much more difficult. Throughout the novel, Atkins also includes glimpses from the present day, which add to the suspense and intrigue and offers a final twist when the truth of these snapshots is revealed. A quick nod also to the tongue-in-cheek comments about being a character in a book etc. Atkins is fast becoming one of my favourite writers, one I can rely on for a great story and a worthwhile read. (JC)

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The Storyteller - Jodi Picoult (2013)

Sage Singer slaves away her nights working in a bakery to hide herself from the world due to a facial scar. Her mother died three years ago and she attends a grief counselling session. This is the only contact she has with the world outside the bakery. At the counselling group she meets Josef Weber, an elderly German. He chooses Sage as his confidante to unearth a secret he has kept buried for over 60 years. When Sage learns of Josef's secret, she finds out her grandmother was a survivor at one of the Auschwitz death camps. The middle section of the book is devoted to the story of Sage's grandmother and then returns to the story of Sage and Josef. This book is by far the best Jodi Picoult novel. It strays away from her usual courtroom drama novel but still has a moral dilemma and a great twist at the end. The book is engrossing, gripping, clever and very sad in places. Cancel all your plans once you start this book, you will not want to put it down! (SG)

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The Strip - J.J. Salem (2011)

Cam Lawford became a stud-for-hire after his football career ended with injury. Now known for his champion efforts in the bedroom, he is found shot dead in a Las Vegas hotel room - presumedly by someone he was intimate with. The story then jumps back six weeks, and introduces some of his clients. Billie Shelton (remember that self-destructive singer from Tan Lines?) is now a headliner for a casino, and is married to the creepy Randall, the plastic surgeon who reconstructed her. Kristin Fox, author of raunchy bestsellers, finds she needs some passion in her life, because her marriage to hotel executive Hart certainly isn't providing it. And therapist Jennifer - who sees both Kristin and Billie - tries Cam out after her journalist husband Patrick loses his lust for life. As Cam proves he's not just a gigolo but a good listener too, who wants him dead? This is a much stronger story than the first - a bit like those addictive gambling machines where you lose track of time - and can be read as a stand-alone. In one word, it's wicked.

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The Sugar Queen - Sarah Addison Allen (2009)

Twenty-seven-year-old Josey Cirrini is trapped in the past and, overshadowed by her domineering mother Margaret, leads a secluded, isolated life in her mother's house. Josey is bullied by her mother; constantly reminded of what a bad child she was. But Josey has a coping mechanism; in a secret compartment in her closet, she hides sweets and romance novels, which she escapes into to deal with her banal existence. Josey has an unrequited love for postman Adam, who is unaware of her affections as she loves him from afar. Josey has settled into this humdrum life and acquiesced to the demands of her overbearing mother without question. Yet, all this is changed when she discovers Della Lee Baker, a sassy hard nut waitress hiding in her closet. Emotionally blackmailed by Della, Josey reluctantly allows Della to stay. Yet her arrival in Josey's life acts as a catalyst and sets off a chain reaction. Indeed, Della's presence and tough love causes Josey to see what her life has become; cloistered, cut off from reality and effectively removed from everyday society. Della acts as a guardian angel to Josey, enabling her to face the truth of her stagnant life and to reclaim it as her own. Through her she encounters Chloe, who has been left devastated from the betrayal of her boyfriend Jake. Della's emergence causes the two women to befriend each other and their fates to become irrevocably intertwined. This is like a magical fairy tale for adults but structured with a realistic plot tempered with characters who, although flawed, are able to confront their issues and move forward with their lives. At the crux of the novel is a tale of the complexity and precariousness of relationships and how often it is easy to become defined by another person, so much so that we lose our authentic self. The author deals with themes of love, infidelity, forgiveness and the importance of living our lives for ourselves. The characters are so endearing that the reader really becomes embroiled in the story. Yet against this realism, the writer offsets this with magical elements which make for an unusual but compelling read. Simply breathtaking. (LP)

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The Summer Guest - Emma Hannigan (2014)

Lexi and Sam seem to have everything they want from life - great jobs, a great house that they've poured their soul into and each other. But as life goes on all their friends seem to be having babies and the expectation level for them to take the next step rises, making them wonder if their original decision not to have children was right to begin with. Kathleen is visiting Ireland with a list of three things that she hopes to accomplish - including visiting Lexi and Sam's home where she spent her early childhood years. Together the two women form a friendship that comes at a time when they both need it most. This book was very emotional for me and by midway through to the end I had to take frequent breaks. It was very hard to read Lexi's take on everyone's expectations for her and Sam, and how easy it was for our judgment to intervene in the lives of others. The author introduces a perspective I had never considered and although I do have friends who choose not to have children I never gave much thought into how difficult it must be to know how they may be perceived by society. Totally eye-opening and a must-read. (KARM)

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The Summer Hideaway - Susan Wiggs (2010)

Claire Turner, a private nurse, is running away from her past. As a child she witnessed a murder and she has been in witness protection ever since. George Bellamy is dying of brain cancer. Instead of spending his final days in treatment, George hires Claire to be his nurse. George hires Claire not for her medical skills, but because he believes she is the perfect woman for his lonely grandson, Ross, who is returning from a tour in Afghanistan. Claire has always managed to avoid becoming emotionally involved with her clients, however, she soon finds herself falling in love with the Bellamy family. George is also hoping to reconnect with his estranged brother Charles who he has not spoken to in 55 years. The novel flashes between the past and the woman who drove George and Charles apart and the modern day love story between Claire and Ross. This is a wonderful love story about a dying man who lost the love of his life years ago and how it impacted his outlook on true love. (AO)

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The Summer of Secrets - Martina Reilly (2007)

Hope has just been let go from yet another job and decides to go on holiday to Boston. But her plane has trouble taking off and crashes, killing most of the people on board. She awakes in hospital with her two best friends Adam and Julie by her side. They take her to a cottage in her Irish hometown of Dunport to recover - a place Hope was happy never to see again. She goes into therapy to help her get over post-traumatic shock disorder but her therapist suggests that she first needs to face up to her unsettling past first.

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The Summer of Secrets - Alison Lucy (2012)

In 1989, Danny takes his new wife on honeymoon to Mexico. Unable to change his gambling ways he wins a house on a deserted island, only for his wife to desert him. He consoles his heartbreak with Mexican Catalina and rich girl Lucy. Nine months later, three babies are born. The story fast forwards 21 years, when all three daughters are searching for something. Megan is escaping the UK; Esme who married at 15 is wondering if there is more to life; and rich girl Claudia has to reconnect with her mother to find her long-lost father. With the action centring around Mexico, this book makes you want to go there on holiday. The story hooks you in as you want to find out if the three girls will meet up and you want to know what happened to their delinquent dad. A perfect summer read, I struggled to put it down. (AB)

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The Summer Psychic - Jessica Adams (2007)

The book opens with a bang, with psychic Luke Gabriel gazing into a bucket of sea water and hearing a voice as he predicts a number of events destined to happen in 2006. It is a test to figure out which event each rambling refers to - and some of them will definitely stump international readers. (But that may be why Adams also wrote a version for the British market with Brighton journalist Katie Pickard and Australian psychic Jim Gabriel.) Coffs Harbour newspaper journalist Jo Delaney is sent to interview the English psychic and ends up with a shocking prediction of her own - he foresees that he's going to marry her by winter. Then Luke's other predictions start coming true - a scorching New Year's Day, Italy winning the World Cup, cyclones Monica and Larry hitting Queensland, and stingrays and blood in the water signalling the death of Croc Hunter Steve Irwin. Meanwhile, Jo is still coming to terms with the death of her depressed boyfriend Andrew in a car crash; has a crush on ageing rocker Gram Nixon (who Luke predicts will have a No. 1 hit) and is facing the possible closure of her newspaper Coffs and Coast Courier. Throw in hundreds of missing cats and a witches' coven and you start to wonder if the psychic will ever get it wrong. Adams' career as an astrologer no doubt helped make the psychic aspects of the book believable.

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The Summer We Read Gatsby - Danielle Ganek (2010)

Cassie and Peck, two half-sisters, spent a summer years ago at their Aunt Lydia's cottage in Southampton reading The Great Gatsby. After their aunt passes away, the two sisters reunite for the summer at the cottage they have inherited. Cassie is the down-to-earth, recently divorced sister and Peck is the dramatic party-loving socialite sister. Their aunt has left instructions for the two sisters to seek a thing of the utmost value from within the house. The sisters debate whether the treasure is a Jackson Pollock painting or a dust jacket first-edition of The Great Gatsby. The sisters also find time to reunite with men from their past. This is a well-written novel with eccentric fun-loving characters. (AO)

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The Summer Without You - Karen Swan (2014)

Rowena "Ro" Tipton wants to make her mark on America but being on her own in New York for a whole summer isn't exactly how she planned on doing it. However, that's what she finds herself doing when her longtime boyfriend, Matt, proposes the idea that they take a "pause" before they settle down for good. He's gone off for six months to Asia and now, as a result, Ro has found herself hanging out in the Hamptons and setting up her photography shop among the luxury stores. What starts out as a need for adventure quickly turns into something more when Ro makes real friends with her housemates and an older woman on the town board. Her business is flourishing and she is enjoying herself - more than she has in the past 11 years with Matt. But things in the Hamptons are not at all what they seem. When Ro is attacked and her friend is almost murdered, she has to decide if it's really worth it to stay. Has this one summer changed Ro or will she always be a part of Matt's shadow? This is a lovely story that weaves together romance and mystery without giving anything away until the very end. It's a definite for any summer beach bag - whether you're in the Hamptons or not! (AS)

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The Sweet By and By - Sara Evans and Rachel Hauck (2009)

Jade Freedom Fitzgerald's life is for once looking up - she owns an antique shop called The Blue Umbrella, she has a good set of friends and she is about to get married to lawyer Max Benson. Jade wants a nice, quiet intimate wedding but her interfering mother-in-law is planning an extravagant event including expensive red-enveloped invitations. The story starts with Jade contemplating whether to send an invitation to her hippie mother, Beryl, who's still living like it's the 1960s. As the wedding nears, all Jade's secrets from her past start to surface, such as ex-fiances, her estranged father and her dysfunctional family. Armed with her two close friends whose dreams are to go on Oprah, her trusty one-eyed dog Roscoe and her quirky antique shop, can Jade move forward into married life without losing who she really is and will she fit in with her husband-to-be's socialite friends and family or will it just be too much for her to handle? This collaborative effort by country singer-songwriter Sara Evans and Christian author Rachel Hauck is an amazing read which tells a story about chasing dreams, travelling endless miles to get where you want to be and having the faith that no matter how much you focus on the future, you have to open and accept the past in order to move forward. (PP)

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The Sweetest Taboo - Carole Matthews (2003)

Sadie meets Hollywood producer Gil at the London Book Fair and he soon sends her a plane ticket so she can join him in LA. But once she gets there she realises he forgot to mention his wife Gina, who may have run off with a rock star but still spends a lot of her time messing up Gil's life. Through her work at a talent agency, Sadie gets to know wannabe actor Tavis, who she gets along with so well. It's just a shame he's gay. This has some great one-liners but no real surprises.

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The Sweetest Thing - Cathy Woodman (2011)

Jennie Copeland is just on the other side of finalising her divorce to her cheating husband. With three kids, Jennie starts her new life on the outskirts of Talyton St George in a rundown house in desperate need of some TLC. Life in this country town is full of ups and downs and when Jennie has a run-in with her farmer neighbour, she contemplates heading back to the busy streets of London instead of fulfilling her dreams. Those dreams of starting her own cake business begin to falter when some of the locals make things difficult. Add to that a teenage son who only wants to be with his friends and is desperate for a dog; a daughter who wants a pony and a younger child who just wants some chickens. As the pages begin to stir this delicious tale together, Jennie begins to wonder if her neighbour, Guy Barnes, is right... will she never make it past a year or will she and her brood make a go of their new life? Beautifully written, this novel (part of the Talyton St George series but it reads like a stand-alone) is full of ups and downs and unexpected twists and turns. The reader will join the emotional rollercoaster and Jennie's journey will resonate with readers who have gone through their own divorce. Finding love is never easy the second time around, but this novel gives a sense of hope that something new and fresh can come from taking a risk - all it takes is a little support and belief in yourself. The Sweetest Thing fulfills every chick lit reader's dream... with tears, sadness, hope and resolve. (MP)

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The Sweet Spot - Stephanie Evanovich (2014)

Amanda Cole, a successful, full-figured restaurant owner from New Jersey, doesn't believe in happy endings. Better to not believe in fairy tales and Prince Charming - you'll just set yourself up for failure. But when pro baseball player Chase Walker patrons her restaurant, he decides that she's the one he's been looking for. To Amanda, Chase looks like the ultimate playboy: rich, sexy, and completely irresistible. There's no way she has a chance with him. Not in the long run, anyway. Intrigued and not willing to take no for an answer, Chase pursues Amanda relentlessly. As they fall in love, Amanda discovers that squeaky clean, boy scout Chase has a kinky secret. And to her surprise, she likes it. When a hidden video camera turns their secret into public knowledge, Amanda is humiliated. Will Amanda step up to the plate and handle this curveball? Or is their loved destined to strike out? I loved this book, and had a hard time putting it down. It is easy to read, entertaining, sexy, and romantic. Chase is ahhh.... so dreamy. Can't wait to read more from Stephanie Evanovich! (CK)

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The Tao of Martha - Jen Lancaster (2013)

In her latest memoir, Jen Lancaster is taking on the queen of all domesticity, Martha Stewart. Well, she's not so much "taking on" Martha as she is "incorporating" Martha's principles into her daily life. Jen spent a year following Martha's advice on organising, decorating and entertaining. Some of it worked (Happy Easter!) and some of it didn't (no organic zucchini this year), but all of it was hilarious. Whether she is carefully introducing two new cats into her menagerie, begrudgingly carving pumpkins with husband Fletch, or crafting home-made gifts for her friends (which, by the way, really aren't any cheaper than buying gifts when you do the math), the laugh-out-loud factor is once again huge. This time around, we also get a glimpse of "serious Jen" as she deals with a couple of difficult issues in a most touching and heartfelt way, which was a nice balance to her sarcastic humour we are so fond of. The Tao of Martha is the perfect book to add to the top of your summer reading list. And if you are looking for a take away from Jen's search for the Tao of Martha, there are two. 1) If you can't live the Tao of Martha, then live the Tao of Maisy by being awesome, giving awesome, and getting awesome, and 2) There is no such thing as too much glitter! (LEK)

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The Teashop on the Corner - Milly Johnson (2014)

A group of diverse people all find solace and friendship at the Teashop on the Corner, run by Leni. There's Carla, a widower but not really; Will Linton, a businessman whose wife leaves when his business folds; and Molly, a senior whose heart has never recovered from her lost love and whose son and daughter-in-law seem bent on taking everything she has. This is a heartwarming novel, everyone in the group is holding on to a sadness, a secret and a longing that only seems bearable through the friendships found at the teashop. This story was so emotional, I cried and laughed, relating to every character in some way. I would absolutely recommend this as one of the best reads of the year. (KARM)

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The Tea Chest - Josephine Moon (2014)

Kate Fullerton has been working at the Tea Chest for several years, designing and selling new and exciting tea blends; a job she absolutely loves. When her mentor Simone unexpectedly dies, she leaves her part of the Tea Chest, making her the new co-owner of the Australian chain. Simone always kept herself busy with the business side of things, now it's Kate's turn to give it a try, especially as they are opening their first-ever UK store in London. Her husband, Mark, is supportive and will take care of their two young sons, while Kate flies to the other side of the world. In London, she meets Leila, who has just lost her job and is looking for a new challenge, and Elizabeth, who has been betrayed by her husband, and her younger sister Victoria. Together the women aim to do everything they can to make the London store a success but it quickly becomes apparent it is no easy road to success... The storyline is simply wonderful. I'm a big tea drinker, and I really loved Kate's passion for tea, making new blends, and the amazing ways in which the different stores were described. If the Tea Chest really existed, I'd definitely be a regular customer! There's definitely more to this book than just the descriptions of a lovely tea shop, though. The story is told from the perspectives of several women, each of them dealing with their own issues. The book focuses mainly on relationships: the relationship between husband and wife, the relationship between sisters, the relationship between friends/colleagues. The different storylines really complemented one another and I didn't get bored with any of it for even a second. Josephine Moon has managed to inject a lovely personal touch and I really enjoyed her writing style. The Tea Chest is a wonderful, well-written, light read about love, friendship, and lots and lots of tea! (JoH)

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The Temp - Serena Mackesy (1999)

Sasha is a university graduate but after taking time out to travel she is yet to settle into a career. Instead she is temping as a secretary, at a variety of businesses where no one knows - or cares about - her name. She shares a flat with a group of friends, including unemployed boyfriend Matthew, and former teen pop sensation Ben. As Sasha passes through a series of jobs and her flatmates begin to move on, Sasha starts to worry she may be stuck in this holding position for ever. A very clever story about the grind of office life and a character study of twentysomethings trying to find their way in the 90s.

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The Ten Best Days of My Life - Adena Halpern (2008)

Alex Dorenfield dies after being hit by a MINI Cooper while walking her dog Peaches. Arriving at the pearly gates, she is soon reunited with her beloved grandparents and uncle; moves into her dream home with a wardrobe full of designer clothes; and falls for her cute next-door neighbour Adam. But her guardian angel reveals there is a catch - in order to stay in seventh heaven (the highest level) she must prove she was living a fulfilling life by writing an essay about her 10 best days. Alex is an intriguing character who despite being an only 'miracle' child from a wealthy family had to work hard to find her place in the world. This sends the timely reminder that being surrounded by people you love is what really matters in life.

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The Tennis Party - Madeleine Wickham (1995)

In this debut novel, insurance salesman Patrick has invited three couples over to his English country home for a weekend of socialising, tennis and Pimm's. What he hasn't told his wife Caroline is that he's also hoping to sign up a new client so he makes a huge bonus this year. There's art dealer Charles and his aristocratic second wife Cressida, their impoverished former neighbours Stephen and Annie; and their next-door-neighbour Don and his daughter Valerie. As Don gets competitive on the tennis court, Patrick plays underhand in his office and Cressida is served a nasty shock, a surprise guest turns up. This comes across rather like a play, and the author has obviously made use of her background as a financial journalist.

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The Terrace - Maria Duffy (2012)

The Terrace tells the story of a diverse group of individuals living in the close-knit community of St Enda's Terrace in the heart of Dublin city, with one overriding thing in common - their friendship. However, the strength of their friendship is about to be put to the test. When the street syndicate wins the National Lottery, everyone is thrilled - until it becomes apparent that the winning ticket has vanished without a trace. Meanwhile, a New York production company has arranged to film the terrace and its inhabitants as part of a TV show on what the quintessential Dublin community is - just as friendships on the street start to break down and everyone begins to suspect each other of taking the missing ticket. Flamboyant, stylish Marco thinks his neighbour Majella is the culprit, despite the fact that she seems to have it all already. He also has his suspicions about single mother Rita, who hasn't a penny to her name. Maggie, seen as the mammy of the terrace, can't bear to think that anyone has taken it at all - but if someone hasn't, where has the ticket gone? As for Marco's big sister Lorraine, she's too concerned about what's going on behind closed doors within her marriage to worry too much about the ticket - until she realises that maybe the missing ticket issue is closer to home than she could ever have dreamed of ... As filming continues, the community's camaraderie begins to crumble right in front of the camera - much to the chagrin of Claude, the assistant producer of the TV show. Marco is thrilled to find that he and Claude are growing closer, and even manages to put his worries about the missing ticket out of his mind - but what Marco doesn't know is that his neighbours have seen something to suggest that Claude might be involved in the ticket's disappearance. As time goes on and the ticket doesn't show up, the gloves come off and the community truly gets to see what their friendships are made of. Will friendship prove to be more important than money? With likeable characters and clever twists, The Terrace is a warm tale that makes you ask yourself what you'd do in the residents' situation. (SBB)

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The Theory of Opposites - Allison Winn Scotch (2013)

Willa Chandler-Golden, aka "William", thinks that everything is going as it should when the universe gets in the way and changes everything. Having a best-selling author for a father, who wrote a book on everything happening for a reason, isn't easy, especially when you don't believe in his hare-brained theories. But when Willa's attempts to get pregnant keep failing, she loses her job over adult diapers and her husband decides they need a no-strings-attached break, what else is Willa to think? Feeling lost, Willa takes up her friend Vanessa on an offer to disprove her father's theories and take risks. Vanessa also dares Willa to live outside of her comfort zone for once in her life and let whatever happens happen. Can Willa actually do this? Of course she can. But will she change the course of fate forever? This is an extremely charming and funny story about one woman who thought she had it all but really was missing out on what she really wanted. Willa settled because she was too afraid to take chances and now she's being given a second chance to make things right in her life. You'll definitely fall in love with all of the wacky characters (including Willa's Yogi brother, Oliver, and hilarious nephew, Nicky). Don't miss it! (AS)

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The Thing About Jane Spring - Sharon Krum (2005)

A family military background has made Jane Spring an efficient, aggressive and blunt lawyer. But it doesn't seem to help her find a man. So after watching a Doris Day marathon on TV during a snowstorm, she decides to reinvent herself to become what men what along the lines of the actress. She starts wearing pastel suits with pencil skirts, frosted pink lipstick and cuts her blonde hair into a cute bob. But with her colleagues thinking she's putting on an act to win a case, will the more feminine Jane also win her man?

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The Things I'd Miss - Andrew Clover (2014)

Just like any other person, Lucy Potts can't help but ask herself occasionally: what if...? What if she had managed to stay together with the love of her life, Hugh Ashby? What if she hadn't married Hugh's best friend Simon instead? But then, one day, Lucy has a horrible car crash which results in her revisiting the past, particularly those important moments that shaped her future. It doesn't take long before Lucy notices she isn't just a bystander, but can actually change things in her own memories. Suddenly Lucy is given the chance to make these 'what if's' happen, but by focusing so much on the past, she starts to forget about everything that's going on in the present. The premise fascinated me straight away; I love novels in which the main characters get to do things which we won't be able to do in real life. When Lucy is involved in a car crash, her soul is separated from her body, providing her with the opportunity to travel through her own past and memories, and at the same time be able to change these important events. I really enjoyed this aspect of the novel; travelling with Lucy to different stages in her life, from her being a little girl disobeying her mother to her being at university completely infatuated with a boy. The fact that Lucy is actually able to change these memories was a remarkable aspect of the book and I was curious to find out what Lucy would do and how it would all turn out in the end. As the novel progressed, I have to say I didn't really feel the chemistry between Hugh and Lucy, which is a shame because I think it would have made the novel even stronger if this chemistry had been there. I also sometimes felt like I didn't know enough about Lucy, which made it difficult for me to really connect with her as a character. Overall, though, The Things I'd Miss is a touching, well-paced and thoughtful novel. (JoH)

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The Thin Pink Line - Lauren Baratz-Logsted (2003)

Jane Taylor, a 29-year-old assistant editor at a publishing firm, thinks she is pregnant. But when she gets her period, she is disappointed, especially when she realises how much attention pregnant women get. So expecting to fall pregnant any day to boyfriend Trevor, she fakes a pregnancy test by drawing on a pink line. Soon she's invented a tilted uterus, appointed a tarot-card-reading midwife and even tried to buy ultrasound pictures off expectant mothers. Then a publisher hears of her story, and convinces her to continue the charade so she can write about her experiences of what to expect when you're not really expecting.

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The Third Wife - Lisa Jewell (2014)

The story begins with Maya, the third and youngest wife of Adrian Wolfe - who is extremely drunk when she gets hit and killed by a bus. The readers are left with a mystery as to whether Maya committed suicide, was pushed, or accidentally fell in front of the bus. The following chapters follow Adrian - late forties and handsome; his first wife Susie - an aging hippie; his second wife Caroline, beautiful and a little preppy; and his five children ranging in age from toddler to adult. Told from both the present and past, we watch as Adrian's "perfect" world and family unravel. Though his whole family always spends the holidays together, things aren't as great as Adrian once thought they were. He starts to see himself through his children's and wives' eyes, finally admitting that he has been a pretty crummy dad, and an even worse husband, always trading in his wife for a "new model". Some interesting revelations come to light regarding Maya's state of mind in the weeks leading up to her death, and we are given a new mystery mid-book that makes us question everything we have learnt about the family. This was an interesting read, but I feel the genre is a little confused. It's a mystery that doesn't leave you hanging on the edge of your seat as it was easy to figure out early on - and a romance that doesn't actually include any passion or feel-good moments. More disappointing than compelling.(AV)

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The Three Day Rule - Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees (2005)

The Thorne family head to a small island off the Cornish coast for a three-day Christmas break. As Elliot's mistress Kellie stays behind on a different island, he's getting ready to tell his wife Isabelle that he's leaving her after New Year. But Isabelle has a secret of her own and their daughter Taylor just can't seem to stay out of trouble. Then there's his sister, Stephanie, who's having a hard time dealing with the fallout of a family tragedy. Kellie jumps on a boat with the charming Ben to take a look at the island - just as snow begins to fall. It seems fate will ensure that this family will be forced to stay together longer than the three-day rule. But will it tear them apart forever?

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The Time of My Life - Cecelia Ahern (2011)

Lucy Silchester may speak five languages but she often doesn't speak the truth. Ever since she split with her jetsetting boyfriend Blake, lost her job and moved into a tiny apartment with just a cat for company, Lucy has been down in the dumps. Then she is summoned to meet with her Life - an appointment she can't put off any longer. Will he be able to help Lucy get herself back on track? Ahern again injects quirky and magical elements into her storytelling, with the idea that your Life is in fact someone you can meet, who can force you to face up to your own deluded self-beliefs. There's lots of wry humour, particularly as Lucy, the narrator, recounts events by weaving in lies. But for a much-anticipated book of just under 400 pages, this just wasn't a story that enticed me to put my own life on hold to read it. And it doesn't really leave readers with much of an earth-shattering life lesson either.

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The Time of Our Lives - Jane Costello (2014)

Meet Imogen, a stressed-out single mum, who works too hard and is in desperate need of a holiday. Her last one, six years ago, wasn't the best so when her best friend wins a luxury holiday in Barcelona - complete with VIP treatment - Imogen and her friends are more than thrilled. But from the flight down to the hotel, it is obvious that things will not be going to plan - with hilarious and heart-stopping results. Will Imogen, Meredith and Nicola finally get their dream holiday or will everything possible get in the way of what is supposed to be the holiday of a lifetime? From the start, this story has Jane's trademark humour and will have you laughing out loud. It's not my personal favourite out of her books but that doesn't mean it isn't great. It's funny, sweet and a definite page-turner. (AS)

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The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (2003)

This book focuses on a lifelong love between two people, librarian Henry and artist Clare. Henry was born with a genetic condition called Chrono-Displacement Disorder which causes him to time-travel back and forth - and unfortunately most of the time Henry doesn't have control over it. They first met when Clare was six and Henry was in his 30s. Over the years, Clare and Henry develop a relationship, get married and start a family - all the time dealing with Henry's constant disappearances. In their final meeting Clare is 82 and Henry is 43. Alternating between both characters' points of views, this book is a mixture between The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks with its message of everlasting love no matter what obstacles stand in the way and The Lake House with its characters living in different years. The bestselling book has been made into a 2009 movie starring Eric Bana as Henry and Rachel McAdams as Clare. (PP)

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The Travel Bug - Sheila Norton (2005)

Now that Maddy Goodchild's daughter, Sophie, has taken off to see the world, Maddy is feeling bored with her life. Still only in her late 30s, she has a lottery win with friend Rachel, so she throws in her office job and they hit Europe together. Rachel, a teacher and proponent of healthy living, starts drinking and sleeping around, while Maddy, a self-proclaimed bad girl, busies herself with snorkelling and sightseeing. It seems the travel bug has bitten her - and Australia is her next destination.

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The Travelling Tea Shop - Belinda Jones (2014)

Laurie is a travel writer with a penchant for cake. Her perfect job comes along when celebrity cook Pamela wants to do a road trip around the US, swapping UK recipes for those native to each place she visits, and write a book about it. Laurie organises the trip and soon they, along with Pamela's mother Grace and daughter Ravenna, are tripping around in a London double-decker bus kitted out as an English tea room. It's the trip of a lifetime, but each of the ladies are troubled. Will they be able to sort out their problems, and could romance be on the horizon too? I liked that this book was a little bit fiction and a little bit non-fiction. The descriptions of the places visited and the history given of each State made the trip come alive for the reader, and although at times it read more like a travel memoir than a chick lit novel, I personally enjoyed that. Laurie was a likeable character, resourceful and fun. But the star of this book for me was Ravenna. The transformation from the start to the end was remarkable, and I enjoyed going on the journey with her. An entertaining read but be warned, it will tempt you to indulge in any number of the delicious cakes described throughout! (LO)

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The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy - Sara Angelini (2007)

Set in modern times, the classic tale of the love between Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy is once again revived. Elizabeth is fresh out of law school and ready to make her mark on the world. But she is soon to find this is easier said than done as her cases are repeatedly being assigned to the meanest judge in the area, Judge Fitzwilliam Darcy. Both develop a loathing towards each other, the only thread connecting them is Elizabeth's sister Jane's love of Darcy's close friend Dr Bingley. But they are quickly both looped into a trip to Darcy's manor in the English countryside, neither exactly knowing of the invitation to the other. Will they be able to survive the trip together? Or will everything fall apart soon after their planes touch down? This book contains it all - fast cars, love triangles, humour, satire, and of course a classic tale of love. (SN)

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The Trials of Tiffany Trott - Isabel Wolff (1998)

The irrepressible Tiffany Trott is a 37-year-old spinster who is a self-confessed romantic hankering for her Mr Right. After being dumped by her latest squeeze Alex on her birthday, Tiffany examines her questionable love life and emboldened by friend Lizzie's assessment of her as a failure with men, she embarks upon her quest to find her perfect partner rather than have fate deliver him to her. In her pursuit, Tiffany employs all manner of modern methods to land the man of her dreams; from disastrous blind dates to taking out small ads and holidaying in exotic locations. Tiffany has an established group of friends, some of which have her ultimate prize: the ring and the children and through their dramas, she vicariously gets an insight into coupledom and motherhood. Yet is the grass always greener? As Tiffany journeys through the pitfalls of contemporary dating and the life of the modern woman, she begins to question whether being part of a couple and a mother are the be-all-and-end-all. This was an engaging and delightful story, with Tiffany's trials like a modern guide to dating. Gone are the days when girl met boy, got engaged and then married. Tiffany is an endearing character you really warm to; she is bubbly, quirky and her exploits make for laugh-out-loud moments. You genuinely feel her frustration and the agonies of being a singleton. As she navigates through the seas of personal dating, with questionable men and her ever-present optimism, she strives to keep herself afloat to eventually gain her prize. (LP)

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The Trouble with Valentine's Day - Rachel Gibson (2005)

Kate Hamilton suddenly quits her job as a private investigator in Las Vegas and moves to small town Gospel, Idaho, to help her widowed grandfather run his grocery story. On her way to Gospel, Kate stops in a ski lodge and attempts to live out her fantasy of having a one-night stand with a handsome stranger. Her efforts are immediately rejected. Rob Sutter, a former Chinooks hockey player, was forced to retire after a crazy stalker shot him. He moves to Gospel to be near his mother and open a sporting goods store. When Rob walks into Kate's grandfather's grocery store, Kate is mortified to learn that Rob is the handsome stranger who rejected her. Unfortunately, Kate's efforts to stay clear of Rob are hampered by the fact that her grandfather and Rob's mum are becoming romantically involved. Although the storyline is far-fetched, readers will appreciate the light-hearted romance that begins and ends on Valentine's Day. (AO)

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The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters - Elisabeth Robinson (2004)

Hollywood film producer Olivia Hunt was working on the fourth draft of her suicide note (she'd been fired, dumped by her boyfriend and had discovered evidence of a moustache) when she got a phone call that her younger sister Maddie has leukaemia. Through a series of letters, the book follows her time spent at her sister's bedside as she attempts to get Don Quixote made into a film.

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The Truth About Diamonds - Nicole Richie (2005)

Chloe Parker had lead a wild childhood running with the young A-list crowd after being adopted by a music producer. She disappears for a week when she has a fight with a friend at a nightclub. On her return best friend Simone, who makes everyone's private phone numbers public when she leaves her mobile in a rest room, announces that she and Chloe are going to be spokespeople for Magdalena cosmetics and they will shoot a reality TV ad. It doesn't seem as if Richie has strayed too far from her own experiences to act as the story's narrator. She's the adopted daughter of singer Lionel Richie and she starred in reality TV show The Simple Life with her then best friend Paris Hilton (and Paris did once lose her phone).

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The Truth About Love and Lightning - Susan McBride (2013)

When a tornado seemingly drops a very familiar stranger on to her property, Gretchen Brinks must come to terms with the lie she told 40 years before with regard to the paternity of her daughter, Abby. Abby who is newly pregnant herself, has arrived home to figure out what the future holds for her. However, with the arrival of the Man Who Might Be Sam, family ties become more intertwined as they all search for answers about what the truth might be. Filled with magic and mystery, The Truth About Love and Lightning is mostly a story of what makes a family. Lovely characters and an interesting story line will keep you entertained and wondering until the very end. (LEK)

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The Truth About Melody Browne - Lisa Jewell (2009)

When Melody was nine, she was rescued from a burning house. But along with her possessions, the fire also wiped out her memories. Now decades later, the single mum is out on her first date in years. After fainting while taking part in a hypnotist show, she finds that many locked-away memories of her childhood are coming back to her in flashes. Melody slowly pieces together her past, realising her childhood was nothing like she thought it was. A real page-turner from a great storyteller - you'll want to finish it in one go.

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The Truth About Ruby Valentine - Alison Bond (2006)

On the day that Hollywood star Ruby Valentine dies, Kelly Coltrane's father reveals that she is Ruby's daughter. So Kelly heads to Hollywood to attend the funeral and uncover the truth about her mother's mysterious suicide. As Kelly finds that it is never too late for a comeback, Ruby's path to fame is revealed in a series of flashbacks. I guessed the ending far too early but still an enjoying read.

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The Truth About You - Melissa Hill (2010)

This story begins with the discovery of an abandoned newborn baby on the doorstep of a local cafe in Lakeview, a small Irish town. Who could it possibly belong to? We flash back to several months earlier where we meet happily married Jess. She is childless by choice, but as she becomes more and more distanced from her friends with children, she wonders if it's time to become a mother - but is her husband on-board with her plan? And is Jess blindly rushing into something she's not ready for? Meanwhile, local girl turned Hollywood actress Ruth is about to return home to Lakeview - with baggage. A one-night-stand with her cocky co-star has left her with an unplanned consequence that she doesn't know how to deal with. And newly single Nina has also returned to Lakeview to live with her estranged father - but what is she trying to hide from him? As always, there is a delicious twist in this tale. Although I enjoyed the story, I did find myself spending more time trying to guess what the twist was than enjoying the tale itself! But try as you might to anticipate how the book will end, Hill's twists are so well woven into the narrative that it's very hard to work out The Truth About You. (SBB)

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The Truth Will Out - Anna McPartlin (2008)

Interior designer Harri Ryan has once again left her fiance at the altar - she is recovering in the hospital's A&E room from the same panic attack which caused her to miss her own wedding before. Convinced that these pre-wedding jitters are more than cold feet, James leaves their apartment and moves in with his best friend. George, her twin brother, however, thinks that there's more to this than meets the eye, especially since she had similar attacks when she was a child. So when Harri demands the truth from their parents, she discovers secrets that will threaten the tight bond within her family, forcing her to face the ghosts of her past she never knew existed. (XT)

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The Twenty Year Itch - Linda Kelsey (2010)

Julie's husband, Walt, has decided he needs to take a gap year - 20 years into their marriage. He quits his job, fills his backpack and takes off around the world. With her kids off her hands, Julie, a doctor, needs to adjust to life on her own. Meanwhile she discovers her sister Gemma is contemplating a divorce; her friend Aggie arrives on her doorstep after her husband tires of her endless affairs; and a family tragedy has shaken Valentina's marriage. And once Julie meets the father of her daughter's new boyfriend, she might just try scratching an itch of her own.

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The Twins of Tribeca - Rachel Pine (2005)

Movie publicist Rachel Pine's tell-all novel is based on her time at Miramax Films and has very thinly veiled references to real-life movie stars. Anyone can't guess who Frederick 'Fly' Faccione, who rose to fame and fortune through his portrayal of an underdog boxer and Vietnam vet, or Ronald Ululater, a European bodybuilder who became an action hero, are based on? Former CNN researcher Karen Jacobs gets a job as publicity assistant at Glorious Pictures, run by twins Phil and Tony Waxman. From announcing VIP guests at the studio's Oscars party, to dodging a mysterious washed-up journalist writing a tell-all Waxman biography, flirting with a Page Six columnist and covering for her missing boss Allegra, Karen finds out that work at the studio isn't all that glorious.

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The Twitter Diaries - Imogen Lloyd Webber and Georgie Thompson (2012)

When Stella Cavill (@StellaCavill) rescues Tuesday Fields (@TuesdayFields) from a major fashion dilemma at the New Year's Eve party of media magnate Peter Mignon (@PM_TV), a new friendship emerges. With Stella based in New York from where she runs her struggling men's designer shoes business and Tuesday based in London where she is trying to make her mark in television, the two connect via Twitter. And over the course of a year the tweets fly back and forth between them as they share their problems and worries, successes and failures, including flings with movie-stars, near-misses with sportsmen, break-ups and new loves. Aside from the prologue and epilogue, this novel is told entirely in tweets, which makes for a fast and fun read. Obviously, the novel lacks the benefits of characterisation, detail and scene-setting that are intrinsic to the usual narrative format, and anyone wanting a descriptive and layered read won't find what they are looking for in this book. However, the novel does not suffer at all from its style, thanks in large to the driving momentum of the communication and the plot. A witty and dynamic read, this is a chick-lit novel for the social network age. (JC)

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The Two Mrs Robinsons - Donna Hay (2007)

Anna lives with restaurateur Oliver Robinson and their young son Charlie. But he still hasn't divorced his wife Eve, mother of his two teenage children, and she still continually hovers in their lives. For Eve still hasn't gotten over the love of her life. Then Oliver dies suddenly and the women are left to sort out his affairs. But they can't seem to agree on anything - Eve takes over the restaurant while Anna thinks they should sell it. Then they discover Oliver was heavily in debt and there's a lot more at stake. Can they forge a truce or be driven even further apart?

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The Two Week Wait - Sarah Rayner (2012)

In the aftermath of a health scare, Lou has come to realise time is running out to have her dream, a baby. Her partner unfortunately doesn't have the same feelings so Lou is undecided whether to go on the journey on her own or not. Cath is longing to start a family with husband Rich but Cath can't conceive as she is infertile. Could Lou and Cath help each other with their own destiny? Sarah Rayner is a good writer - the writing is powerful and keeps you gripped. The story actually left a lump in my throat. I loved Anna - she's the friend everyone wants to have - she is so kind and thoughtful. But Sukey, Cath's sister-in-law, really annoyed me. She was so judgmental and thought she was perfect in every sense of the word, and every time her scenes came up I wanted to throw the book out the window. I've never felt so passionately annoyed by a character before! If you want to read something that will have you gripped - with emotion and good writing - then this is the book for you. Although this isn't strictly a prequel, you will find many of the same characters in Rayner's novel One Moment, One Morning. (KD)

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The Ugly Sister - Jane Fallon (2011)

Abigail has always played second fiddle to her more beautiful sister Caroline. But as a child Abigail didn't mind that Caroline was the one to inherit their parents' good looks, or care how it affected the way people treated them, because Caroline proved to be not only her big sister, but her best friend and protector too. But when Abigail was 13, Caroline stepped into the world of modelling and got so caught up in her fame and success that she left her old life behind (including her sister). Eighteen years have passed, and Abigail is now a single mother who works part-time at a library. Her daughter, Phoebe, is already moving out, and has plans for a rather bright future. Abigail though has no place to stay since she sold her small cottage way before getting possession of her new flat. Then she receives an email from Caroline, after so many years of hardly any contact, inviting her to spend the summer holidays with her family. Abigail thinks it may be the perfect opportunity to re-establish their sisterly bond. But upon meeting her sister's family, she discovers that her visit is not going to be two fun-filled months of sightseeing but will instead see her step into the role of nanny while Caroline stages her modelling comeback. This is an intriguing story with a clever title which had me trying to figure out which of the characters really fit the profile of The Ugly Sister. (XT)

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The Underside of Joy - Sere Prince Halverson (2012)

Three years ago Ella's life changed when she passed through a small northern Californian town called Elbow. She met Joe and became stepmum to his two young children, Annie and Zach. But when Joe drowns, his ex-wife Paige turns up at the funeral, with plans to reclaim the children that she abandoned years earlier and take them to live with her in Las Vegas. As Ella works to save Joe's family business, she has to prove that the children are best left with the only mother they've known. But maybe Joe hasn't been completely honest with her. This is a poignant and beautifully written story about the sacrifices mothers make in a custody battle with a difference.

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The Undiscovered Goddess - Michelle Colston (2012)

Holly has a good life. A loving husband who works hard, three healthy children, a beautiful home in Texas, and a circle of friends she connects with regularly. She has so much to be thankful for. Then why is she so unhappy? In order to find out why, Holly starts reading self-help books but usually gives up by chapter 3. She's almost ready to resign herself to a life of fast food, wanting to get away from her kids, and crying into a glass of wine each night when she finds a book called The Undiscovered Goddess. Sceptical but ready to try anything at this point, Holly dives into the book with gusto. And it changes her life. Never before have I encountered a book that so perfectly gives voice to one's target audience. Holly is very relatable, I felt like I was reading about myself. The writing is funny, sarcastic, and honest. Although I loved the book as a whole, I started to lose interest toward the end when Holly became more functional. There was less conflict, and reading one happy paragraph after another became a little boring. That being said, I finished this book feeling encouraged. If Holly can do it, maybe I can too. (CK)

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The Undomestic Goddess - Sophie Kinsella (2005)

As workaholic lawyer Samantha Sweeting is going for partnership, she realises that she forgot to register a loan and a company is set to lose $50 million. So she just walks out and gets on a train bound for the middle of nowhere. When she asks for directions at a big house, she is mistaken as a housekeeper looking for work and is hired by nouveau riche couple Eddie and Trisha. But Samantha struggles to do the most basic chores until hunky gardener Nathaniel lends a hand. But will her old life catch up with her . . . and will she want it back?

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The Unfinished Symphony of You and Me - Lucy Robinson (2014)

Sally is in love with opera and has been since she was a child but a family tragedy during her childhood makes her family want to shun all forms of attention, causing Sally to retreat to the safety of her wardrobe to sing instead of seeking out the spotlight. As she gets older, and gets a job with the Royal Opera as a wardrobe mistress, Sally finds watching others sing on stage more than enough. Her job is everything to her. When she is sent to New York for work, she meets Julian, a man who will change her life forever and by the end of the trip Sally needs to keep her promise to "seize the day". Can she actually step into the spotlight though, after all the years of closet-singing? Can she forgive the one person who destroyed her entire world? Written with Lucy Robinson's usual humour, this is a fun story of finding yourself and learning to stick up for what you believe in when people step on your toes. It's about going for your dreams even if others think they're silly. You'll definitely love Sally and you might love Julian too, a little bit at first but more as the story goes on. (AS)

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The Union Street Bakery - Mary Ellen Taylor (2013)

Daisy McCrea's life has been turned upside down. Not only has she lost her job but she has broken up with her boyfriend and had to return to the family home. She's living above the family bakery, The Union Street Bakery, and trying to salvage the ailing business. When an elderly customer leaves an old journal to Daisy she wonders why the old lady chose her. The journal is written by a young slave girl, Susie, who lived during the 1850s. Daisy learns more about herself and her family heritage than she could ever have imagined. I absolutely loved this book - it's chick lit with a difference! I was enthralled from start to finish. (BS)

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The Very Picture of You - Isabel Wolfe (2011)

At 35 Gabriella "Ella" Graham is somewhat content with her life and she loves her job as a portrait painter. She gets to hear all the life stories of the people she paints. Ella has kept her past a secret for a long time but then an article is written about her, revealing that she has a father she has not seen or spoken to since she was five. Her mother, a retired ballerina, had told her that her father abandoned them for another woman and she was instead adopted by her stepfather. One day she gets an email from her real father who wants to tell his side of the story. Meanwhile her sister Chloe is getting married to Nate, an American who Ella loathes. She has been commissioned to paint a portrait of the groom, and along the way finds out that maybe the life she knew wasn't actually the truth at all. A great read about finding out new things about yourself and accepting the fact that maybe it is OK to forgive and forget. (CG)

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The Village Bride of Beverly Hills - Kavita Daswani (2004)

Priya moves from New Delhi to Los Angeles after an arranged marriage to Sanjay. She moves into her in-laws' home, where she is expected to be the domestic help and hold down a job until she falls pregnant. But the job she lands isn't the sort of work her in-laws had in mind for a traditional Indian wife. Can she keep her media job and her Western clothes a secret and will Sanjay's loyalties lie with his family or his new bride?

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The Vintage Teacup Club - Vanessa Greene (2012)

This book begins with three women in search of something unique and simple for different reasons at a car boot sale. But they all fall for the same teaset and agree to share it and through this they form a bond. Jenny has found the man of her dreams in Dan, and then suddenly someone walks back into her life with a bang. Maggie has closed the box on her broken heart and focuses on the event in her career that could change her life but life isn't as always simple as you want it to be. Alison is happy with the way her life is, married to her true love with two daughters, but the balance of her life becomes unsteady and she is pushed to breaking point. We as readers are given an insight into the history of the teaset and I think a lot of readers will find this interesting, especially if they are interested in vintage items and their history. This is a simple easy read with a few surprises along the way.(KD)

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The Violets Of March - Sarah Jio (2011)

Author Emily Wilson is in her 30s and going through a heartbreaking divorce. She is invited to stay at her aunt Bee's gorgeous home on Bainbridge Island, Washington, for the month. While Emily is trying to find material for her next book, she comes across a red velvet diary from 1943. While reading this diary, she can't help but notice similarities in the story told and her own life. Filled with standout characters such as her funny best friend Annabelle, her unique Aunt Bee, and her new-found sexy friend Jack; this story really warms your heart, opens your imagination, and touches your soul. Different than anything I have read before, this is not your everyday romance, or self-discovery story - this is much, much better. (AV)

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The WAG's Diary - Alison Kervin (2007)

Tracie Martin has been a WAG for 12 years. Now married to Luton Town captain Dean, she knows everything you need to know about being a footballer's wife. Like wearing skirts short enough to show your knickers, ensuring you maintain a healthy orange glow and choosing a ridiculous double-barrelled name for your children - all while knowing absolutely nothing about offside rules and penalty shoot-outs. As Dean's career begins to wind down, Tracie is concerned that the new breed of WAGs aren't maintaining standards. So she takes a writing course and begins work on her own handbook. Soon she finds herself in the limelight as her words of WADdom are picked up for a national newspaper column. Posh, watch out - there's a new Queen WAG in town. And WAGs do yourself a favour - we know you don't read books but pop this one into your oversized designer handbag. (Note: This column was kept under 300 words to adhere to WAG laws.)

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The Waitress - Melissa Nathan (2004)

Katie finds it extremely hard to commit to anything - be it her career or the man of her life - she always finds it easier to run away to safe havens rather than taking a plunge into the valley of risks. She's a commitment phobic, ambitious young lady who when she leaves Oxford with a psychology degree is ready to take the world by storm. However, she becomes a waitress in a cafe (which isn't her idea of a dream job but it pays the bills) while she is "waiting" (literally!!!) for the perfect job. Her grand career aspirations change almost every week and needless to say, her affair with them stays intense but short which eerily fits her dating scenario. This book follows Katie's antics as a super-rude and cheeky waitress who takes the less travelled path and stumbles a lot. There are a lot of secondary characters and subplots, including Jon who is Katie's roommate and an author in the making. Whenever he is not envisaging plots for his books, he helps Katie to fabricate her resume to suit her ever-changing career options. Then there is Sukie who is Katie's waiting-to-be-discovered actress best-friend and partner in crime at the cafe. She is beautiful and truly gifted in the art of acting but sadly is yet to get her big break. Matt is a teenage dishwasher at the cafe whose only aim in life is to lose his virginity before he gets run over by a random bus. And then there's her new boss Dan - "The Man" who comes as close to being Katie's Mr Right. Dan typifies how insecurities govern our choices. He might be a teeny bit of a letdown for those who like the main hero to be strong and unwavering in the face of any incoming storm. In the end all these sub-plots fit together like a jigsaw puzzle to form the main plot. The main show stealer for me is the last letter Katie receives from her great-aunt which aptly articulates "the wait". (PD)

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The Wardrobe Girl - Jennifer Smart (2014)

After the rather messy end of an affair, costume designer Tess leaves the period dramas of the BBC for a stint on the wardrobe team of an Australian soapie. The daughter of a famous actress and well-known director, Tess has always been determined to make it in her own right. Right from the start, when Pretty Beach Rescue hottie Sean flirts with her, guaranteeing there will be no love lost between her and his girlfriend Bree, Tess finds she needs to be on her toes to keep up with her job. Then her ex-fiance Jake revs back into her life as the show's new director. From the pen of someone who has worked on Home and Away, it has all the behind-the-scene drama of what it's like on set, including how to stage those cliffhanger disasters Summer Bay is well known for. But somehow despite this being the sort of setting right up my alley, the story failed to engage me. Tess may tick all the chick lit boxes with her ditzy antics and the past she needs to reconcile but if The Wardrobe Girl was a TV show, I would have flicked to a different station well before the end.

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The Way We Were - Elizabeth Noble (2010)

Books from this author usually need to come with a warning sticker saying: "Do not approach without a tissue box handy." This one - while it will tug on your emotions - isn't a tearjerker. It's centred around Susannah, who can't stop thinking about her high school sweetheart, Rob, after she bumps into him at her brother's wedding. Susannah already has one marriage behind her and is living with her older partner, Douglas, who comes with a ready-made family of three children. A family she's never really felt connected to. Rob, who joined the armed forces, has never married. Does this chance meeting mean Susannah should take a second chance with him? With lots of flashbacks and unexpected turns, this is an enthralling tale that is a welcome addition to that library of stories about being reunited with a lost love.

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The Way Back Home - Freya North (2014)

When Oriana Taylor was 15 she was ignominiously sent away from the artists' commune in which she had grown up after an incident that rocked the small community. Having moved to America and built a new life there, Oriana has been able to avoid the realities of that past. But when she's forced to return to live in the UK, once more she comes face to face with her old home, her family and brothers Malachy and Jed Bedwell. This was my first Freya North novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot was engrossing and although the mystery of the incident surrounding Oriana's departure is fairly discernible from quite early on, the actual circumstances of, and behind, the event remain an enigma until near the end which made for an intriguing read. I loved the way the past and the present were intertwined especially when it came to the relationships between Oriana and Malachy and Jed and it was pleasing to see this dynamic treated in a more mature novel, although it would have been nice to see more of what passes between Jed and Oriana. Oriana's relationships with her parents were less developed which was a shame as both Robin and Rachel had the potential to be intriguing characters and in particular Rachel's relationship with Oriana felt overlooked. Each of the Taylors were also not the easiest characters to like but I enjoyed the fact that they were imperfect and their relationships weren't straightforward and uncomplicated. Overall I thought this was an accomplished novel that has a maturity and depth that was nice to see. (JC)

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The Wedding - Nicholas Sparks (2003)

Is love always worth the fight? This is a sequel to Sparks' immensely popular novel The Notebook. (It would be difficult to read this book without prior knowledge of The Notebook.) Allie and Noah's son-in-law Wilson is finding that with his 30th wedding anniversary approaching, he and his wife, Jane, have grown apart. With the knowledge of his parents-in-law's love affair, can he find his way back into his wife's heart and recapture the love they once shared? Nothing Sparks writes will ever be as beautiful as The Notebook so it is hard to forget that story whilst reading this one. However, as always you fall in love with his writing and get lost in the lives of his beautiful characters.(LL)

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The Wedding Bees - Sarah-Kate Lynch (2013)

Sugar Wallace never stays in one place for more than a year; with her hive of bees guiding her to the next destination the unexpected friendships formed are enough to make Sugar's life complete - at least that's what she thought. With her new home in Flores Street, Alphabet City, perfect for raising bees and honey making, Sugar's encounter with two strangers brings her past to the present and the possibility of hope, love and promise of happily ever after. As the residents of the apartment building develop an affection for Sugar and her honey, the sequence of events which follow brings with it the true meaning that manners are free and have a far greater reach than we humanly thought - especially in finding out who you are as a person. Even though Sugar Wallace never once thought she would find true love again, by following her bees she may have met her final destination where love is bountiful. A Southerner with a passion for bees and good manners, following the path of doing the best she can for others has always taken precedent. It's the friendships formed in Flores Street, which teaches Sugar that sometimes, she too, needs to be taken care of and guided. The Wedding Bees is a truly delightful novel in which one is eager for the story to unfold and yet as a reader, hesitant to turn the page in case the story ends. The characters are lively and addictive, the scenes beautiful and mesmerising. As with all happily-ever-after stories, there is sadness and secrets. Once shared, the burden of these secrets seem insignificant compared to what was once held within. George, the volunteer doorman, is exquisite in his role of protector and helper. His wealth of wisdom is profound. When met with the challenge of opening Sugar's heart to love, his sincerity is paramount to the underlying story. It is he who enables Sugar to take the next step in placing her heart in the hands of the man she truly loves. As each of the characters are woven within the walls of the apartment complex, there are surprises, curiosity and of course friendship and manners. This was a pleasure to read and highly recommended! (MP)

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The Wedding Diaries - Sam Binnie (2012)

After Kiki's fiance Thom pops the question, Kiki chronicles the path to the altar in a diary. When her publishing company take on a celebrity wedding book, Kiki has to cover the wedding (and the hen do, and the run-up...). As Kiki starts to descend into bridezilla territory, all her wedding plans start to disintegrate. Will there even be a wedding by the end of the diary? Written in diary style, it does take a little while to get into the flow of the book, especially the dialogue. But after the first month I started to enjoy the style. I'm sure that anyone who has either planned a wedding or known anyone with a hint of bridezilla will be able to relate to this entertaining and funny story, the first in a trilogy. (AB)

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The Wedding Diary - Margaret James (2013)

Cat Aston has just won a fairytale wedding in a luxury hotel. However, the big problem is she no longer has a fiance. Adam proposed to his girlfriend but she left him heartbroken by turning him down. He vows never to fall in love again. Fate brings Cat and Adam together but they shouldn't be falling in love after all their relationship woes. However, neither can stop thinking about each other. But are they really made for each other? This book had me laughing out loud on the buses. You really want Cat and Adam to be together, after all the heartbreak they have been through. It's a must-read for anyone getting married in the near future. (SG)

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The Wedding Party - Sophie King (2009)

Becky has a hectic life as a mother of two who works on a women's magazine. With her nanny threatening to quit, her husband always away on work trips, the last thing she needs right now is her father Geoff deciding to get remarried. Becky's mother Helen has been divorced from Geoff for years, and despite keeping busy through her gardening business, his decision to remarry still tugs at her heartstrings. Two other people caught up in the wedding preparations include Becky's wedding planner friend, Janie, whose dyslexia makes it difficult for her to get the details right, and vicar Mel, who has to deal with her own family crises. And it seems they all have to contend with a very demanding first-time bride, Monique. Told from the viewpoints of the multiple characters, this is an entertaining read that alternates well between its dramatic and light-hearted moments.

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The Wedding Girl - Madeleine Wickham (1999)

Milly is about to get married to Simon, heir to a multi-million-dollar family business - and her social-climbing mother has run herself ragged organising an elaborate wedding in Bath. Only problem is just days before the nuptials, the photographer remembers Milly from a decade earlier - when he took her photo on the steps of an Oxford registry office. She had just married Allan, an American who wanted to stay in Britain with his gay lover. And it seems they never divorced nor has Milly mentioned her first marriage to her fiance. Will the wedding she really wants still go ahead? Meanwhile her career-oriented sister Isobel is keeping a secret of her own.

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The Wedding Writer - Susan Schneider (2011)

Illustrating the equally seductive and cut-throat world of the bridal industry, The Wedding Writer might initially be mistaken as a mimic of The Devil Wears Prada, but this is not the case. Schneider has successfully set the bar higher with her 10 years of experience as writer and editor for varied wedding magazines, providing the book with its realistic insider's view. It tells the story of four women who work for the hottest bridal magazine, Your Wedding, as they adapt to the sudden managerial decision to replace Grace Ralston, the most respectable woman in the industry and the editor-in-chief since the magazine's first issue, by her own protege Lucky Quinn. Each character strives to live up to ideals built on perfection and professionalism, but it all takes a toll on their personal lives. For Grace, it wasn't just the coincidence of her humiliating fall and the folding of her competitors Princess Bride and Tulle that has her at a low ebb but how she has to face everything she used her high-flying career to get away from - the physical realities of being 50, her loneliness and a broken relationship with daughter Isla. Fashion director Sara loves her job more than anything, yet her tiredness is beginning to overwhelm her and she's not so sure she can still cope with Lucky being in charge. Felice knows that she's a failure as a mother to 16-year-old Charles, and how it strains her marriage to Jack. Her job as art director isn't helping, especially now with a change in power, as the compromises she needs as a parent are no longer tolerated. Then there's Lucky, who's finding out life's not particularly easy at the top. This is a well-written book with fantastic characters, definitely one to put on your must-read list! (XT)

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The Wedding Season - Su Dharmapala (2012)

Shani is perfectly happy being single at 32. She's got a good job as an accountant and her own home in Melbourne. But her Sri Lankan mother is desperate to find her a man during the upcoming wedding season - particularly as it is a very auspicious time for her to settle down. Her mother uses astrological charts and iPhone technology to connect her with suitors who are then invited to a meet-and-greet at the family home, with Shani serving up curries dressed in traditional sarees. Her dad just wants to watch the cricket in peace. Meanwhile as her friend Amani struggles with motherhood, Shani literally feels the foundations of her life fall apart. This is a very funny insight into a different culture and includes a glossary at the back to help you out with any unfamiliar terms.

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The Week Before the Wedding - Beth Kendrick (2013)

Emily has the life she has always dreamed of. She has a successful career and she is about to marry Grant, a handsome and loving surgeon, in a beautiful resort in Vermont. All she has left to do is survive the week before the wedding. Despite her mother driving her crazy, everything is going well until an uninvited guest shows up. Ryan is Emily's ex-husband. He symbolised her crazy, unstable past when she was a wild child. Ryan is now a successful Hollywood film producer who is scouting a film location in Vermont. Emily tries hard to avoid Ryan and the memories of her past life, however, with Grant busy with work, it seems that Ryan keeps appearing. The seven days before the wedding prove to be the hardest as Emily struggles to find what she truly wants in life. Beth Kendrick has once again written a fantastic story with a lovely heroine and a slew of characters that will make you laugh. I loved the surprise of waiting to see who Emily would ultimately end up with. (AO)

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The Weight of Silence - Heather Gudenkauf (2009)

This is not the typical chick lit read. The story is told over a 16-hour period, when two seven-year-old girls, best friends Calli and Petra, go missing on the same night. Calli has selective mutism, which Petra understands and communicates for her. The two girls' families are left to wonder whether their daughters will be found - and unspoken family secrets come to the fore. Each chapter is told by a different narrator. There is a "whodunit" feel to the book. It is quite slow to get into but the short chapters make it a real page-turner. However the reader can be left disappointed at the end as it is all too predictable. (SG)

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The Weird Sisters - Eleanor Brown (2011)

The Weird Sisters centres around the Andreas family - the father is a professor who only talks in Shakespearean language and has named his three daughters after the Bard's characters Rosalind, Bianca and Cordelia. The three sisters - who go by the names Rose, Bean and Cordy - return to their childhood home when their mother finds out she has breast cancer. Rose has always assumed responsibility as the oldest of the sisters. She is stuck between her dream job in Barnwell or moving to England for two years with her fiance. Will Rose choose her career over love? Bean, who has been fired for embezzlement, has moved back home as a last resort. Will she be able to move on with her life when she's offered the job as Barnwell's librarian and when it comes to guys will she choose Edward or the new father Aiden? Cordy has come home with a secret - she's pregnant. When she finds love with Dan, owner of the local coffee shop, will it last or will he be off like a shot when he discovers she carrying someone else's baby? In this story of love, forgiveness and the real meaning of sisterhood, Eleanor Brown has done an amazing job expressing the different personalities. (PP)

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The Whole Golden World - Kristina Riggle (2013)

TJ Hill has just been promoted to teaching a calculus class at his school. His wife Rain, a yoga instructor, is on a mission to get pregnant but after two years of trying she is getting despondent. TJ is lost on how to bring back the woman she used to be. Morgan is tired of her mum Dinah and dad Joe depending on her to help her twin brothers who have a learning disability because of their premature birth. She certainly feels a lot older than her 17 years and is constantly helping out everyone else, leaving little time for herself. At school she is known as the assistant principal's daughter. Morgan starts staying after school in Mr Hill's calculus class to study and to collect her thoughts about how she is not happy with the school and dreams of leaving to Boston University where she has been accepted - a fact she hasn't told her parents yet. One day she and the teacher cross the line and start a torrid affair. But it seems it won't stay a secret for long ... This is another great read from Kristina Riggle, who has an uncanny way of making you really believe the story she is telling. (CG)

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The Widow's Season - Laura Brodie (2009)

The story begins with Sarah McConnell seeing her supposedly "dead" husband in the grocery store, looking pretty much alive. But when she starts chasing him, he suddenly disappears into thin air, leaving her wondering if she's crazy. It's been three months since David's funeral, even though his body was never recovered from the storm which took place during his kayak trip. Throughout the first portion of the novel, you see a very sad woman (Sarah), constantly shifting from states of grief to her consistent questioning of David's status (of being alive), but as you delve deeper into the story, surprising turn of events subsequently change your perspective - such as her involvement with David's brother, Nate. (XT)

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The Wife of Reilly - Jennifer Coburn (2004)

Life is complicated for Prudence - you see she is both married and newly engaged which means she is in the middle of planning not only a wedding but a divorce. On a trip back home to Ann Arbour for a homecoming weekend, Prudence runs into her old flame Matt - the one guy she has been convinced all her life is her soulmate. Caught up in the thrill of rekindled romance and a proposal, she now needs to deal with her husband Reilly. With the help of her three best friends, Prudence devises a plan to find Reilly a new wife so that when Prudence divorces him, he won't be lonely. And because no one knows Reilly as well as Prudence, she even goes to the trouble of finding her replacement. What follows is a journey - fun in parts and sad in others - which demonstrates the lengths the women will go to find a replacement wife for Reilly. It will have you wondering whether Prudence is doing the right thing and is there such a thing as soulmates or should one true love remain in the realm of fairytales? (PP)

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The Wildwater Walking Club (2009)

Claire Cook has once again created a heartfelt story with wonderfully relatable characters. Noreen accepts a buyout from her job in Boston at the urging of her not-so-faithful secret boyfriend. Not knowing where to go next, she realises that she never had much of a life outside of her job. She never even took the time to get to know any of her neighbours or even the basic details of her neighbourhood. So she decides to take the time to do so now that she has a lot of free time by walking. Each page starts out by showing you how far Noreen walked, eventually accumulating to 10,000 steps. She soon becomes friendly with two neighbours on Wildwater Way and they create the Wildwater Walking Club. Both of Noreen's new friends are having issues in their life and walking provides a healthy way for them to vent and stay in shape. Tess has a teenage daughter who is quite rebellious and is driving her crazy. Rosie has moved in with her father after her mum died to help run his lavender farm. Together the three help each other through life's ups and downs and also go on a trip to a lavender festival across the country in Washington. Through everything that comes their way, the three always walk away their woes. This is an excellent novel weaving together the importance of friendship and fitness. (AS)

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The Winter Folly - Lulu Taylor (2014)

Delilah Young has fallen in love with John Stirling, she is his second wife. He encourages her to quit her job in London and come live permanently in Dorset. Delilah, not being used to so much free time, starts to wander around the Stirling property and runs into John's father, who has dementia, calling her by another name. When she stumbles upon a picture of his mother Alex, Delilah starts to investigate but what she finds will affect her current life with her husband. Back in 1965, Alex Crewe marries Laurence, the man that her father had chosen for her. She ends up moving to London in the barracks where Laurence works. She tries so hard to make the marriage work but she is always alone. One day she runs into her childhood friend Nicky Stirling. They start meeting at his London apartment and she soon realises she has fallen in love with him. This story goes back and forth from the present day to 1965, anchored by both women living in the same house. It's another great read from Lulu Taylor, she offers up a great mystery involving the past and present for two women married into the same family, with plenty of atmosphere provided by the old house setting. (CG)

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The Wisdom of Hair - Kim Boykin (2013)

It's 1983 in South Carolina. Zora Adams is celebrating her 19th birthday. Well, trying to celebrate. It's difficult to be cheerful about anything when your mother is an abusive alcoholic, who has delusions of being Judy Garland and brings home a new man every night. With the help of her high school English teacher, Zora leaves her mother and starts a new life in Davenport. Enrolled at the Davenport School of Beauty, she hopes to make a beautiful life for herself. She rents an apartment from Winston Sawyer, a handsome widower who keeps to himself and drowns his sorrow in a bottle of Scotch each night. Despite hating her mother's alcoholism, Zora falls hard for Winston and turns a blind eye to his drinking. Things become more and more complicated, and if it weren't for her new friends, Sara Jane and Mrs. Farquhar, Zora might have been really lost. As Zora practises perms and up-dos, saves her pennies and hopes for a bright future, she learns the true meaning of love, friendship, and above all, forgiveness. Talk about not judging a book by its cover! I didn't expect this book to be so heavy and dramatic. The characters are well constructed, and the plot is both realistic and heart-breaking. The author doesn't shy away from showing how devastating alcoholism and mental illness can be. And yet, these characters weren't demonised either. Their humanity and vulnerability shines through, so even when I disagreed with what they were doing, I could understand why and felt more compassion. Because this book explores some heavy issues, I wish there had been more happy/fun chapters to balance it out. Although I enjoyed the book overall, I felt kind of depressed when I finished reading. (CK)

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The Wish List - Melanie La'Brooy (2005)

aka Romantic Fiction

Scatty Lucy is a hopeless romantic who drives her friends Meg and Chloe crazy as she tries time and again to keep her relationship with Tom just platonic. This time their on-off relationship may be definitely off as she's met the man of her dreams in Latin lover Byron. But she's still got to deal with hunting for a flat with decent curtains, avoiding a lovelorn stalker and watching a bitchy neighbour sink her claws into Tom. When Byron and Tom are challenged to a duel to win her heart, who will emerge as victor?

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The Wish List - Jane Costello (2013)

Emma Reiss is nearing her thirties. She's single and writes for a beloved children's show despite the fact that she hates children, all of them. One day Emma finds a list scribbled on a crumpled piece of paper which she wrote with her friends 15 years ago. Going through the list, Emma realises that she hasn't done a single thing on it. It's a wake-call for Emma and though her sister thinks that she must be crazy to take this list seriously, she vows to achieve the list before her thirtieth birthday. So what if it includes having a one-night stand with a truly gorgeous man who happens to be her new neighbour? The clock is ticking and Emma is running out of time and money. Though the book started bit slow, it picked up the pace after a couple of chapters and once the ride started you don't want it to end. It's funny, confusing, twisted and brilliant. I love Emma, it's so easy to relate to her and I am sure you will love her too. (SS)

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The Witch of Belladonna Bay - Suzanne Palmieri (2014)

Bronwyn left her home in Alabama 14 years ago and she's never looked back. Her childhood memories aren't the happiest, except when it comes to her brother and her two best friends. Then she gets a message from her father that her brother is in jail for killing her best friend. Bronwyn can't help but believe in her heart that her brother is no murderer, but if he didn't do it - who did? This book for me was as close to I get at being terrified! Yup, I'm a proud coward ... The writer tells a great story of family relationships, friendships and how they shape us through time and faith in those we love. Even though I had a bit of the heebie-jeebies I could not help but read to the very end and even when I thought I'd figured it out, I didn't. Good storyline with a bit of the paranormal and very mysterious too! (KARM)

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The Wives of Bath - Wendy Holden (2005)

The tale of four people and an antenatal class. Lawyer Alice and recycling crusader Jake plan to have their baby at home in a birthing pool. Style writer Amanda decides to have a baby - in a private hospital, naturally - after she loses her job when the magazine's lawyer (coincidentally Alice) can't get her out of a legal mess for making up quotes. But husband Hugo is left holding the baby when the unmaternal Amanda escapes back to work. And Jake is driving Alice away when his green zeal turns into fanaticism.

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The Wonder Spot - Melissa Bank (2005)

This book is a series of interconnected stories that follow middle child Sophie Applebaum from her school days when she used to wag Jewish school, through college to her first job and her terrible typing skills, to her disappointing dating life.

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The Woman He Loved Before - Dorothy Koomson (2011)

Libby, a beautician, is buying a car when she meets a horribly arrogant guys called Jack. He may be smitten with Libby but she wants nothing to do with him, so it soon becomes a game of cat and mouse. Fast forward six months, Libby and Jack are together and want to take things to the next step and get married. Fast forward again, there has been a terrible car crash and soon Libby realises that Jack's first wife, Eve, has been killed. Then Libby discovers Eve's diaries and, intrigued to find out more about her, she starts to read them. Has Libby opened up a Pandora's box of secrets and is what is written in the diaries the cause of Eve's death? This shows what limits a spouse or family member will go to to protect the ones they love and hold dear. Koomson is one of my favourite authors but I just didn't enjoy this as much as her other books. (PP)

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The Wrong Girl - Zoe Foster (2014)

The new year isn't off to the best start for TV producer Lily. She makes the mistake of sleeping with her good friend Pete, who then proceeds to tell her all about the girl he really fancies. This prompts Lily to go on a dating detox with her flatmate - even though for model Simone it's her hard partying lifestyle that really needs the detox. But just as Lily starts her self-imposed man ban, the rather tasty Jack becomes the new chef on her cooking segment. He's possibly the type of guy she should go for - if she wasn't on a man break, or if he wasn't seeing someone else totally unsuitable. Lily is a fun character with a universal girl-next-door appeal. A light-hearted read, this is my favourite Zoe Foster book to date - she's really starting to hit her straps as a writer.

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The Wrong Sort of Wife? - Elise Chidley (2008)

aka Your Roots are Showing

Lizzie Buckley finds managing a household with three-year-old twins with little help from her busy husband is tiring her out. And when she vents her frustration at her married life, instead of sending the email to her sister, Jane, she mistakenly sends it to her husband, James. He takes offence at the fact she prefers a box of chocolate biscuits over sex with him and immediately moves out. Lizzie, who had never felt part of James' titled family, and the kids move away to a small cottage - hoping distance will make her husband's heart grow fonder so he'll take her back. As Lizzie waits for her life to get back on track, she takes up running - will this help her find a whole new lease on life?

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The WWW Club - Anita Notaro (2005)

With every diet failing them to this point, childcare worker Ellie Simpson starts a dieting club with her friends - divorced mother-of-two Pam, Maggie who has fallen into a routine relationship, and Toni, a stylish nurse. As the women face the ups and downs of their love lives, careers and waistlines, Ellie begins to fall for her new employer, Jack Bryant, a book writer who has been left to bring up his daughters alone. But then Toni wins the bet to lose the first half a stone, and gets a date with Jack.

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The Xmas Factor - Annie Sanders (2006)

Meet two women with very different approaches to the festive season. Academic Beth starts planning for Christmas months ahead, hoping to put on the perfect day for her new husband and his grown-up children. For Carol, who's just been made editor of ailing magazine Women's Weekly, she's so busy trying to turn it around that she doesn't even notice December is fast approaching. But she did manage to book her son and herself into a cottage in a quiet village, which is where the two women's lives converge.

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The Year Everything Changed - Georgia Bockoven (2011)

Jesse Reed's final wish is to see all of his children one last time. With the help of his lawyer and confidant, Lucy, he arranges for his four daughters to visit him before he dies. The problem is Elizabeth, Rachel, Ginger and Christine don't know the others exist and only two of them even remember Jesse as their father. After the very explosive meeting, each woman's world is turned upside down with the revelations brought to light that day. When Jesse dies a short time later, the women must decide whether to comply with the terms of their father's will in order to gain their inheritance or walk away from each other forever. Together they decide to learn about the father they never knew and eventually realise just what it means to have true family in your corner. This is a wonderful story which I found very hard to put down. Even though the characters are highly diverse, I did have trouble keeping a couple of them straight for the majority of the book. I loved how Jesse's story was told through flashbacks, which helped the reader understand the emotions the women felt, hearing about their father for the first time. (LEK)

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The Year Nick McGowan Came to Stay - Rebecca Sparrow (2006)

Seventeen-year-old Rachel Hills is in Year 12 (it's 1989) and she has a big crush on Nick, who was shipped off to boarding school after his mother died. But now he's back at her school, after rumouredly trying to kill himself, and Rachel's parents have decided to let him move in with them. It's going to be a year Rachel will never forget.

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The Yorkshire Pudding Club - Milly Johnson (2007)

When three Yorkshire friends picnic on top of an ancient fertility symbol, who would have imagined that within months all three would be pregnant. For Helen, the pregnancy is a dream come true, if only her marriage with controlling Simon wasn't crumbling before her eyes. For career-minded Janey who's up for a promotion, it's a nightmare as she never wanted kids but husband George is ecstatic. And then there's Elizabeth, who loses her job after letting her hormones take over and telling the boss to stick his job. Amid the determined return of a man she once pushed away, she fears that she will never love the child she is carrying.

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The Younger Man - Sarah Tucker (2005)

Divorced divorce lawyer Hazel is about to hit 40, her daughter is about to move out and she is happy without a man. But then a new partner joins her law firm - 29-year-old Joe - and Hazel can't stop blushing like a besotted teenager. She couldn't go there ... could she? Meanwhile her friends are facing life-changing moments - Fran is about to get married, Carron is about to get divorced, Valerie is about to have a baby, and Doreen is about to find out you can't plan everything in life.

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The Younger Man - Zoe Foster (2012)

Thirty-something Abby runs a thriving promotional agency and is happy being single and carefree. One night she hooks up with the gorgeous Marcus, who is 11 years younger than her. He seems keen to see her again but Abby decides the age difference is just too much. But then she unwittingly hires his website company and he goes out of his way to convince her to give their relationship a shot. With her business now running like clockwork thanks to the new website and a new right-hand woman, Abby can finally take a well-deserved trip abroad. But what happens when she meets an accomplished, suave and older Italian? This is an enjoyable story about a vivacious businesswoman who may just be taught a lesson in love by a younger man.

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