NEW RELEASE
You Don't Have to Say You Love Me - Sarra Manning (2011)
Neve Slater is on a mission... to lose weight and to be with the man she loves, William. The only problem is the 25-year-old has never had a proper relationship. Besides giving herself a makeover, she wants to find someone she can have a fake relationship with, so when William comes home from California she is prepared for him. One night, after being dragged out by her sister Celia, she meets Max - her sister's womanising editor. But she comes to an agreement with Max that they will pretend to date so Neve can get an understanding of how a relationship works. Who knows what's in it for Max? As time continues, Neve realises that she is depending more and more on Max and thinking less about William. So what's a girl to do - choose the man she is in a faux relationship with or wait for the man she hasn't seen for years? This is a great book about relationships and finding true love. With so many women on a quest to be thinner, Manning obviously hits a nerve as she focuses on Neve's antics to lose weight, highlighting how far a woman will go to get the perfect body - and man. At times though Neve was perhaps too self-involved with her eating and the lengths she took to get thin. (CG)
Sarra Manning follows up her fantastic adult debut Unsticky with a story about a girl who's been losing weight to win the guy of her dreams. The summary for You Don't Have to Say You Love Me says: "Sweet, bookish Neve Slater always plays by the rules. And the number one rule is that good-natured fat girls like her don't get guys like gorgeous, handsome William, heir to Neve's heart since university. But William's been in LA for three years, and Neve's been slimming down and re-inventing herself so that when he returns, he'll fall head over heels in love with the new, improved her. So she's not that interested in other men. Until her sister Celia points out that if Neve wants William to think she's an experienced love-goddess and not the fumbling, awkward girl he left behind, then she'd better get some, well, experience. What Neve needs is someone to show her the ropes, someone like Celia's colleague Max. Wicked, shallow, sexy Max. And since he's such a man-slut, and so not Neve's type, she certainly won't fall for him. Because William is the man for her ... right? Somewhere between losing weight and losing her inhibitions, Neve's lost her heart - but to who?" You Don't Have to Say You Love Me is out in January.