Chick Lit Recent Picks

October 2008

The underlined titles will take you directly to our catalogue.
Some featured items are linked via a book cover to enable you to read more reviews.

Thanks for nothing, Nick Maxwell by Debbie Carbin. (2008)
"In Rachel Covington's view, the world is divided into two kinds of people: those who have children and those who don't. Neither side can understand the other and each believe that they have the best deal. Rachel herself is sexy, selfish, single and smug. She's very happy with her fabulous, flirty life full of parties, clothes and hairdos. Then one day she meets Nick Maxwell and sets in motion a chain of events that change her life irrevocably." (Amazon)

Happy birthday by Christina Jones. (2008)
"On midsummer's day, Phoebe Bowler, should have returned home an ecstatically happy new bride. Instead, she's been jilted at the altar. In need of sympathy, perhaps she could turn to her neighbour, the dishy Rocky Lancaster? But with problems of his own he's turned into Mr Grumpy and wants to be left alone. That is until Essie Rivers arrives on the scene, and then Phoebe and Rocky's paths seem destined to collide with a very big bump." (Amazon)

The best day of someone else's life by Kerry Reichs. (2008)
"Vi Connelly got the wedding bug at just six years of age. The thrill, the attention, the big white dress, it's the Best Day of Your Life, and it's seriously addictive, unless, of course, it's always the best day of someone else's life. Now in her late twenties, Vi finds herself a bridesmaid time and again. She's honoured to perform her wedding duties, but watching everyone else's big day begins to make Vi wonder about her own. After years of dating, Vi's got an arsenal of funny stories to tell her friends, but deep down, her heart's still stuck on her ex, the gorgeous, eternally unobtainable Caleb. Then she meets someone new, someone who could turn out to be more than just another dating war-story. But just as love finally seems to be within reach, matters take an unexpected turn." (Amazon)

Coming up next by Penny Smith. (2008)
"When Katie Fisher, morning TV presenter, returns from holiday it's to discover that she's literally yesterday's news. Publicly sacked from her job as anchor of Hello Britain, she is replaced by a pert young thing. She does what any self-respecting thirty something would in these circumstances; she makes a dash for her parents and hits the bottle. But Katie, sooner or later, has to face the world, the photographers, and the backstage intrigue of morning television: the cut-throat, lecherous producers, the ambitious but vacant Keera, and Mike, her co-host, a trustworthy friend or just another one of the many back-stabbers? Humour is Katie's only weapon and, as things hit rock-bottom, it could provide a perfect solution to life after the sofa." (Amazon)

I'm with stupid by Elaine Szewczyk. (2008)
"When Kas meets William on a South African safari, he is the perfect catch, a handsome park ranger who is both brave and kind. Her two best friends, Max and Libby, are desperate to kiss the man, but he chooses Kas, an editorial assistant at a struggling literary agency in New York. Their fling turns out to be fun and when she returns home, she offers William an open invitation to visit the Big Apple. But when he loses his job for fraternising with the guests, her idle offer becomes a terrible reality. With William in New York it becomes apparent to Kas that her dream man may not be playing with a full deck." (Amazon)

Don't make me choose between you and my shoes by Dixie Cash. (c2008)
"New York City is miles from Salt Lick, Texas, in more ways than one, but Debbie Sue Overstreet and Edwina Perkins-Martin are ready to go. The best friends/beauty shop owners/private-eye partners have been offered an all-expense-paid trip to the National Association of Private Investigators convention in the Big Apple. While at the convention they help a shy small-town librarian hook up with a hunky young police detective and bumble their way into a murder investigation that could end up leaving Debbie Sue deceased and Edwina stone-cold in her new Jimmy Choos." (Book Cover)

The secret shopper's revenge by Kate Harrison. (2008)
"New mum Emily wants revenge on the stick-thin assistants who laugh at her post-baby tummy and post-baby budget. But frumpiness has its advantages when you're wielding a secret camera, and sending the footage straight to head office. Store manager Sandie has a lifelong love of the world of retail, the glitz, the magic, the stockroom. When she's fitted up by an ambitious assistant, she finds work as a secret shopper is the only way to keep her one passion alive. Glamorous widow Grazia can't leave behind the high life, despite her chronically low bank balance. The more she's buying and spying, the less time she has to mourn her husband or her fair-weather friends who've dumped her. They're Charlie's Shopping Angels, controlled by a mysterious figure that sends them assignments. But when they're sent to stitch up a doomed shop owned by the handsome Will, the angels begin to feel divided loyalties." (Amazon)

The romantics by Galt Niederhoffer. (2008)
"Laura and Lila were college roommates, one dark and Jewish, the other blonde and very rich, and were at the centre of a close knit group of witty, warm, quirky friends. Ten years later, a day before Lila's wedding to Laura's former boyfriend Tom McDevon, it's clear that the dynamics among the group have changed. Tripler and Pete got married, then Weesie and Jake. Is Laura not only the lone Jew, but the only one of the group not coupled up? Struggling with the traditionally thankless role of maid of honour and Lila's formidable mother Augusta to contend with, for the first time Laura realises she can't stop thinking about her complicated, long, intense relationship with the groom. But isn't that relationship far in the past?." (Amazon)

How the other half Hamptons by Jasmin Rosemberg. (2008)
"Every summer scores of Manhattan twenty-some things take part in an annual ritual with a camp-like culture distinctly its own: the Hamptons share house. When Rachel and her two best friends buy their shares for twenty times each of their bank balances, they're imagining days filled with lazy sun tanning and classy clambakes and nights spent rubbing shoulders with the Olsen twins and other celebrities. But once they arrive at 1088 Montauk Highway on Memorial Day weekend, they find that the reality falls a bit short. As housemates jockey for limited bathroom time and beer pong mania takes over the house, Rachel finds herself wondering if it's possible to find true love, or even another real person, in the Hamptons." (Amazon)

High potential by Ber Carroll. (2006).
"Katie Horgan is going places: soon she'll be a partner in the prestigious law firm where she works. Her love life, on the other hand, is going nowhere. That is, until she meets Jim Donnelly. Jim is brilliant, handsome and, like her parents, Irish. The only problem is that he already has a girlfriend. When Katie is sent to Ireland as part of her training, she happily settles into life in Dublin where she works in a clinic that provides free legal advice to the homeless. She befriends Mags who is warm and quirky and comes with a big entourage of friends. When she's not working or socialising, Katie is trying to track down her long-lost extended family. The icing on the cake is when Jim Donnelly comes home on a visit, but as their relationship deepens, Mags friendliness cools. Then disaster strikes and there are many shocks in store for Katie as everyone, including her parents, show their true colours." (Book Cover)

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