Archive for August 31st, 2009

Here are the September releases. See Part II here.

SHEILA O’FLANAGAN - THE PERFECT MAN - 3RD SEPTEMBER (REVIEW)

Two very different sisters, Mia (still in love with Alejo, the married father of her daughter) and Britt (the ice maiden, who has ironically written a romantic bestseller), join a luxury honeymoon cruise in the Caribbean where Britt is the guest lecturer. Also on board are recently widowed Leo, still reeling from the discovery of his wife’s betrayal just before her death, and Steve, a ship’s officer who’s soon looking for more than a holiday romance with Mia.

Can Steve replace Alejo and is there any chance that Britt and Leo can see that they really should get together? When the characters head for home – Mia to Spain, the others to Dublin – it seems that all romantic options are off, especially as Leo rashly got engaged to glamorous, man-eating Pippin while at sea. But love has a way of triumphing in Sheila O’Flanagan’s novels, even if it takes till the very last page…

NINA BELL - SISTERS IN LAW - 3RD SEPTEMBER (REVIEW)

Sisters-in-law Kate, Helen and Olivia all have one thing in common – they’re hiding something. It’s not easy being part of the high-achieving Fox family: the expectations and demands of their husbands and children; the jealousies and rivalries; and the endless Sunday lunches where somehow everything feels like a competition.

So when mysterious Sasha enters their lives, bloodied from the battlefield of a painful divorce, buried frustrations rush to the surface. Why is Kate’s husband Jonny working so late at the office, and how will she cope at home alone? Can army-wife Heather trust Jack to come back to her next time, or is he drawn by temptations in a foreign field? And will Simon’s explosive secret blow Olivia’s marriage apart once and for all?

Three sisters-in-law. One devastating divorcee. Whose husband is about to play with fire?

LOUISE PATTEN - BAD MONEY - 3RD SEPTEMBER

Mary Kersey, the breadwinner in her family, juggles her job as a high-flying management consultant at Lock Chase with trying to be a good mother to her 8-year-old daughter Grace and keeping Trister, her husband’s ancestral home in Suffolk, in a decent state of repair. It is enough to challenge the most organised of women. When the headmistress of Grace’s boarding school calls to say that Grace is acutely homesick and should come home, the demands on Mary’s time and energy become almost overwhelming. Dr Alan Dove is CEO of biotechnology company, Pneumatech. He wants to buy a competitor who specialises in cosmetics, F-ACE.

They’d be a perfect fit if only he could afford them. Enter Ivan Strawe, evil genius head of M & A at Wolkenbank, who’ll find a way to lower the F-ACE share price with the help of a hedge fund that’s only too happy to help. Of course there’ll be a nice little cut for all of them once the deal goes through. Meanwhile Mary, who surprisingly retains a conscience in this dog-eat-dog world, is recruited by the Treasury to investigate dodgy dealings at hedge funds. Her world and that of Dove and Kona are set on a collision course…

EMMA BURSTALL - NEVER CLOSE YOUR EYES - 3RD SEPTEMBER

Evie, Nic and Becca are wannabe writers. The three friends are members of a creative writing group and they decide to enter a national competition. But while they ponder their plots and agonise about their characters, their own lives are going far from smoothly.

Evie’s still pining for the husband who left her for a younger woman and is relying increasingly on clairvoyant Zelda. But who is Zelda really? Nic’s battling a drink problem and is in despair about her workaholic husband who is addicted to his laptop. A shocking discovery shakes her to the core, but will she realise in time that she must stop protecting him? Becca’s a City highflyer who seems to have everything – until a childhood friend turns up, threatening to expose the secret she’s kept buried for nearly thirty years.

How will her marriage, her children, her friendships survive it? And on top of that there’s a deadline. The women have just eleven months to complete their manuscripts. Who will win the competition – and can there be any real-life happy endings?

MELANIE LA’BROOY - BABYMOON - 3RD SEPTEMBER

The countdown to mummydom has started …Isabelle and Jack are expecting their first child. And Isabelle is the very model of a calm Earth Mother-to-be. Or she would be if she wasn’t consumed by anxiety about finding her pelvic floor, watching birthing videos or being accepted into the yummy mummy parade with a very practical mobility system.

Even worse, as Isabelle’s tummy grows, so does the distance between her and her adored Dr Jack who, it seems, has quite different priorities. But with the support of a host of new mothers and friends all full of the worst possible advice, just maybe Isabelle can make it through pregnancy and childbirth with her dignity, her relationship and some more private bits intact. Then again, maybe not.

SHARON GRIFFITHS - THE LOST GUIDE TO LIFE & LOVE - 7TH SEPTEMBER

Follow food writer Tilly Flint as she discovers her roots, her sense of adventure and the secret to happiness in this timeless, inventive tale for fans of Eva Rice and Kathleen Tessaro. Do the answers to Tilly Flint’s future lie in her past? In a nightclub full of the rich and famous, a glamorous model leaps from a window and escapes into the night. Food writer Tilly Flint – on a rare date with boyfriend Jake – is sole witness to her flight. Little does she know the chain of events set to unfold!

The following week, Tilly and Jake have the last of many arguments, leaving Tilly alone in the wild Pennines landscape where she’s on assignment. Terrified yet strangely exhilarated, she investigates the area – and finds more than a few surprises. Intrigued to learn that, as an only child, she has family in the area, Tilly starts to dig deeper, discovering her great grandmother’s past and the eerie parallels with her own life. As she explores the treacherous moors, she stumbles across mysterious pieces of cherry-red ribbon. What do they signify? And who is the strangely familiar face in the local pub?

Then a chance encounter with celebrity Clayton Silver leads Tilly into a high-octane world that spells danger. Can the ribbons from the past be a lifeline in the present?

Here is Part II. See Part I here.

CATHERINE RYAN HYDE - WHEN I FOUND YOU - 10TH SEPTEMBER

When Nathan McCann discovers a newborn baby boy half buried in the woods, he assumes he’s found a tiny dead body. But then the baby moves and in one remarkable moment, Nathan’s life is changed forever.

The baby is sent to grow up with his grandmother, but Nathan can’t forget him and is compelled to pay her a visit. He asks for one simple promise – that one day she will introduce the boy to Nathan and tell him, ‘This is the man who found you in the woods.’

Years pass and Nathan assumes that the old lady has not kept her promise, until one day an angry, troubled boy arrives on his doorstep with a suitcase…

SANDRA BYRD - PIECE DE RESISTANCE - 15TH SEPTEMBER

Having earned her chef’s hat, Lexi Stuart bids au revoir to her glamorous and deliciously satisfying pastry mentorship outside of Paris and returns to her hometown of Seattle, Washington. There, she finds life unexpectedly complicated.

She’s put in charge of a high-end catering bakery called Bijoux, which should be her dream job, but there’s a catch: She has to make this lavish bakery into a successful business in just a few, short months, which will require more than her ability to make an amazing wedding cake. Stir in a complicated relationship with her French beau Philippe and his daughter, Celine, then add a dash of romance with down-to-earth lawyer Dan, and life suddenly contains more ooh la la than Lexi can handle.

CAROLE MATTHEWS - THAT LOVING FEELING - 17TH SEPTEMBER

Juliet Joyce has been happily married for twenty-five years. But with two grown-up children who treat the house like a hotel, a seventy-year-old mother who’s just moved in and a father who’s announced he’s gay it’s hardly surprising that her relationship with her husband Rick is beginning to suffer.

Juliet’s resigned to the fact that the only romance she’s going to get is from the pages of her library books, so nothing prepares her for the unexpected return of Steven Aubrey. Last seen twenty-six years ago, when he jilted Juliet on their wedding day, he ignites a passion in her that she thought was long gone. But will Steven sweep her off her feet or can Rick remind her of the loving feeling that they’ve lost? There’s only one way to find out..

SUSY MCPHEE - THE RUNAWAY WIFE - 17TH SEPTEMBER

Marion Bishop’s life has fallen apart. Her daughter Hope was killed in a hit-and-run accident six months ago, and now Sam, her beloved husband, has walked out. Left alone with her grief, Marion has begun to contemplate the unthinkable. However, even her suicide plans go awry.

Firstly, she’s all out of pills, and then she’s mugged when she goes out to get more. In fact, it’s the mugging that wakes her up to the fact that she’s perhaps not quite so ready to die as she’d thought: an awkward realisation when you have a knife at your throat. When her mugger’s girlfriend intervenes in the attack, an unlikely friendship blossoms between the two women and Marion begins to contemplate a future. And what of Sam? He may have given up on their marriage but he hasn’t given up on Marion entirely.

ABBY MCDONALD - THE POPULARITY RULES - 24TH SEPTEMBER

Rule 1: All’s fair in love, war and popularity…Kat Elliot is no social butterfly: she’s spent her life rebelling against phony schmoozing - and it’s led her nowhere. Just as she’s ready to give up her dreams and admit defeat, in steps Lauren Anderville. One-time allies against their school bullies, Lauren and Kat had been inseparable. Then one year later Lauren returned from summer camp - blonde, bubbly and suddenly popular, and Kat was left to face the world alone. Lauren finally wants to make amends by teaching

Kat the secret to her success: “The Popularity Rules”. A decades-old rulebook, its secrets transformed Lauren that fateful summer. And so, tempted by Lauren’s promises of glitzy parties and the job she’s always dreamed of, Kat reluctantly submits to a total makeover - only to find that life with the in-crowd might have something going for it after all. But while Lauren has sacrificed everything to get ahead, is Kat really ready to accept that popularity is the only prize that counts?

CLAIRE ALLAN - JUMPING IN PUDDLES - 24TH SEPTEMBER

Jumping in Puddles is the story of 4 different characters – each of then lone parents brought together by the wonderful Detta O’Neill in the small Donegal village of Rathinch.

The book deals with grief, betrayal, domestic violence and friendship – and yet, it’s still a comedy of sorts!

Chloe loved Lindsey Kelk’s debut novel I Heart New York. The second in the series, I Heart Hollywood, is due out on 7th January 2010 and has a fab cover. The synopsis for I Heart Hollywood reads:

Angela Clark fell head over heels for New York, but will the sun-drenched glamour of Hollywood win her heart? Angela Clark can’t believe her luck! She’s an English girl living in New York with a dream job at hip magazine The Look and a sexy boyfriend.

Her latest assignment takes her to Hollywood to interview hot actor and fellow Brit James Jacobs.Thrown in at the deep end she heads west with best friend Jenny dreaming of Rodeo Drive and Malibu beach. Soon Angela discovers that celebrity life in Hollywood is not all glamour, gloss and sunshine. Despite his lady-killer reputation, the only person who seems genuine is James.

Then a paparazzi snaps them in an uncompromising position and suddenly Angela is thrust into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons! Can she convince all those close to her — especially her boss and her boyfriend — not to believe everything they read? And will Hollywood ever win Angela’s heart?

Look out for the third in the series, I Heart Paris, due out in June 2010.