Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus – The Real Real – June
Jesse O’Rourke, coffee barista, high school senior, and unwitting reality TV star. Imagine there was never a Laguna Beach, a Newport Harbor, the shimmering Hills. Imagine that your hometown-your school-is the first place XTV descends to set up cameras. Now imagine they’ve trained them on you. When Jesse O’Rourke gets picked for a “documentary” being filmed at her school in the Hamptons she’s tempted to turn down the offer.

But there’s a tuition check attached to being on the show, and Jesse needs the cash so she can be the first in her family to attend college. All she has to do is trade her best friend for the glam clique she’s studiously avoided, her privacy for a 24/7 mike, and her sense of right and wrong for “what sells on camera.” . . . At least there’s one bright spot in the train wreck that is her suddenly public senior year: Jesse’s crush has also made the cast. As the producers manipulate the lives of their “characters” to heighten the drama, and Us Weekly covers become a regular occurrence for Jesse, she must struggle to remember one thing: the difference between real and the real real.

Heather McElhatton – Jennifer Johnson is Sick of Being Single – 1st June
Body conscious, cubicle-working, and love lorn in the Minneapolis suburbs, Jennifer Johnson is your average American woman. So it’s totally understandable when she freaks out after learning her ex-boyfriend is getting married, as is her younger sister, Hailey. To add insult to injury, this means she’ll have to wear an Asian-inspried kimono bridesmaid dress, which shows every curve and dimple plus more. Approaching thirty, single, and still unsatisfied with her career as a copywriter for the family-owned Keller’s department store, like any woman would, Jen begins to obsess about finding a boyfriend, losing weight, and perhaps chasing her dream job. When Brad Keller, heir to the Keller’s business, comes into the picture, it looks like Jen’s luck just might be changing. But, as often is the case, in reality, things are never quite as glossy beneath the surface and life’s decisions aren’t always about following your dream. We’re with Jen every step of the way from her daily struggle to eat or not eat a Cinnabon to her decision to ruin the kimono with Drano, and finally, to her chance to define her ‘happiness’.

Emma Bowd – The Shoe Princess’s Guide To The Galaxy – 1st June

Overwhelmed by the realities of first-time motherhood and disillusioned with the corporate world, Jane trades in her Manolos for nappies, nipple shields and the foot spread of a yeti: a lifestyle choice her man-eating girlfriend, Rachel, thinks is taking retro chic just one step too far.

Unlike the lovely Liz, who’d give anything to be in Jane’s pram shoes. Desperate to reconnect with the outside world, Jane finds salvation in her local New Mothers Group, a nonagenarian neighbour, and a royal duo of bloggers dedicated to shoes and behind-the-scenes celebrity gossip. Meanwhile, her unlucky-in-love best friend, Fi, thinks she’s found THE one – Marco.

Should Jane be concerned that Marco is a handsome, intelligent, Italian shoe designer with a passion for teaching his craft to bored housewives? Or that her work-focussed husband is spending increasingly long hours at the office A heart-warming and timeless tale of the transition from career-girl to new mum, The Shoe Princess’s Guide to the Galaxy is a sassy and sparkling debut about one modern woman’s attempts to put her best foot forward.

Alison Kervin – Celebrity Bride – 4th June

It’s the celebrity wedding of the season…The news that Hollywood bad boy Rufus George is finally settling down has caused a media storm. Especially since his bride is a civilian – a nobody. Kelly Monsoon is a pretty, curvy theater administrator. She never expected to meet a mega-star like Rufus let alone have him fall in love with her. And when Rufus asks Kelly to come and live with him, in his magnificent mansion, she feels like it’s a fairytale come true. Only this Prince Charming comes with a 12-person entourage, a bevy of beautiful ex-girlfriends and the world’s press camped on his doorstep. But when Rufus proposes Kelly accepts and the media interest in this new couple hits the roof. However, the small, intimate wedding Kelly always dreamed of is taking on Hollywood epic proportions…Rufus’s manager is trying to book Buckingham Palace for the wedding reception and all Kelly’s mum wants to know is where to buy a nice hat. It’s a clash of cultures: British versus American, celebrity versus civilian – with poor Kelly stuck in the middle, not knowing where she belongs. Will this celebrity bride ever make it up the aisle?

Katie Fforde – Love Letters – 4th June

With the bookshop where she works about to close, Laura Horsley, in a moment of uncharacteristic recklessness, finds herself agreeing to help organize a literary festival deep in the heart of the English countryside. But her initial excitement is rapidly followed by a mounting sense of panic when reality sinks in and she realizes just how much work is involved – especially when an innocent mistake leads the festival committee to mistakenly believe that Laura is a personal friend of the author at the top of their wish-list.

Laura might have been secretly infatuated with the infamous Dermot Flynn ever since she studied him at university, but traveling to Ireland to persuade the notorious recluse to come out of hiding is another matter. Determined to rise to the challenge she sets off to meet her literary hero. But all too soon she’s confronted with more than she bargained for – Dermot the man is maddening, temperamental and up to his ears in a nasty case of writer’s block. But he’s also infuriatingly attractive – and, apparently, out to add Laura to his list of conquests…

Claudia Carroll – If This Is Paradise, I Want My Money Back – 4th June

Charlotte Grey is hovering between life and death, but the weird thing is, it’s taken a coma for her to finally open her eyes and see things clearly. Namely that she’s made a complete mess of her short time on Earth, and don’t even get her started on the five precious dating years she’s just wasted on the worthless, faithless James Kane. But after a quick peek at the afterlife, she decides that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be either. Kind of like a big retirement home in the sky, with an awful lot of bingo and bridge and absolutely no sign of Elvis/Princess Di/Kurt Cobain or anyone it would actually be nice to spend eternity with. So when Charlotte is offered a chance to go back to Earth, this time as a bonafide angel, she jumps at it. But there’s a catch. The person she’s assigned to watch over is …a certain Mr James Kane. Which is where the fun really starts. Well, just because she’s passed on doesn’t necessarily mean she’s moved on, does it?

Bridget Asher – The Pretend Wife – 11th June

For Gwen Merchant, love has always been doled out in little packets—from her father, a marine biologist who buried himself in work after her mother’s death; and from her husband, Peter, who’s always been respectable and safe. But when an old college boyfriend, the irrepressible Elliot Hull, invites himself back into Gwen’s life, she starts to remember a time when love was an ocean.

What does Elliot want? In fact, he has a rather surprising proposition: he wants Gwen to become his wife. His pretend wife. Just for a few days. To accompany him to his family’s lake house for the weekend so that he can fulfill his dying mother’s last wish. Reluctantly Gwen agrees to play along—with her husband Peter’s full support. It’s just one weekend—what harm could come of it?

But as Gwen is drawn into Elliot’s quirky, wonderful family—his astonishingly wise and open mother, his warm and welcoming sister, and his adorable, precocious niece—she starts questioning everything she’s ever expected from love. And as she begins to uncover a few secrets about her own family, it suddenly looks like a pretend relationship just might turn out to be the most real thing she’s ever known.

Jane Green – Girl Friday – 11th June

When Kit and Adam separated after almost fifteen years of marriage, Kit felt like she had lost her lover, her best friend and her identity all in one fell swoop. But now, a year on from the divorce, Kit has found herself again and she loves her life in the idyllic Connecticut town of Highfield.

She has the perfect job – working for Robert McClore, the famous novelist – two wonderful children, a good relationship with her ex-husband and time to enjoy yoga with her friends. Then Tracy, Kit’s yoga instructor and close friend, introduces her to Steve – attentive, charming, the perfect gentleman – and, for the first time in years, Kit thinks she may have found the right one. But is Steve really as perfect as he seems?

And why does it bother Kit when Tracy starts dating Kit’s reclusive boss, Robert? What no one knows is that Tracy is hiding a secret – one that threatens to ruin her new-found happiness with Robert and her friendship with Kit. And now Tracy must decide whether to keep her past hidden from them both for ever or whether she should reveal the truth before it’s too late…

Katherine Center – Everyone Is Beautiful – 11th June
Piling everything she owns into her car, Lanie leaves family and friends behind – all so her husband can realise his dreams of becoming a professional musician. But, somewhere in the eye of her personal hurricane, it hits Lanie that she once had dreams too.

If only she could remember what they were. Fifteen years, three babies, and more pounds than she’s willing to count after she said ‘I do’, Lanie longs desperately to feel like her old self again.

It’s time to fish her va-va-voom out of the nappy bin and find the woman she was before motherhood capsized her existence – harder said than done, when by finding herself she seems to be losing everything else in the process.

Sarah Tucker – The Control Freak Chronicles – 18th June

At forty-four, Helena Treadwell thought she had everything sorted. After divorcing her control freak ex, Leonard Wallis, she and her nine-year-old son, Freddie, relocated to her home town of Castleford. She’s made a happy home for them and has a successful career as a radio presenter.

Finally she feels she’s clawing back the control and confidence she lost to Leonard. But life is never simple for long …Helena unexpectedly loses her job and Leonard announces that not only does he want Freddie to attend a private boarding school, he’s also decided to move to Castleford to set up home with ‘the other woman’. Suddenly Helena’s losing control again, as her past comes back to unravel her future.

Lindsey Kelk – I Heart New York – 25th June
It’s official. Angela Clarke is in love — with the most fabulous city in the world.

Fleeing her cheating boyfriend and clutching little more than a crumpled bridesmaid dress, a pair of Louboutins and her passport, Angela jumps on a plane, destination - NYC. Holed up in a cute hotel room, Angela gets a New York makeover from her NBFJenny and a whirlwind tour of the city that never sleeps.

Before she knows it, Angela is dating two sexy guys. And, best of all, she gets to write about it in her new blog (Carrie Bradshaw eat your heart out). But it’s one thing telling readers about your romantic dilemmas, it’s another figuring them out for yourself !

Angela has fallen head over heels for the big apple, but does she heart New York more than home?

Tags: Alison Kervin, bridget asher, claudia carroll, emma bowd, emma mclaughlin, heather mcelhatton, jane green, Katherine Center, katie fforde, lindsey kelk, nicola kraus, sarah tucker

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