Archive for September 30th, 2009

Ben Grant has just been dumped by his 29th girlfriend. Not only that but he is also having to face his thirtieth birthday which is rapidly approaching. Desperate to find the perfect woman, like his friend Ash who is having an arranged marriage with Priti, Ben sets out to find himself his perfect bride.

He enlists the help of his parents in his bid to find his perfect bride but soon finds out that the women his parents pick out for him just aren’t for him. His parents, however, love the idea and set about their task with gusto. After a bunch of disastrous dates, Ben calls off his search for the perfect bride.

But what will happen when Ben meets his ideal woman?

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A few releases this month with some big hitters having books out: Cecelia Ahern, Marian Keyes, Kate Harrison, Jackie Collins and more. It’s a bumper-month of book releases!

Cecelia Ahern - The Book of Tomorrow - 1st October

Tamara Goodwin has always got everything she’s ever wanted. Born into a family of wealth, she grew up in a mansion with its own private beach, a wardrobe full of designer clothes and all that a girl could ever wish for. She’s always lived in the here and now, never giving a second thought to tomorrow. But then suddenly her dad is gone and life for Tamara and her mother changes forever.

Left with a mountain of debt, they have no choice but to sell everything they own and move to the country. Nestled next to Kilsaney Castle, their gatehouse is a world away from Tamara’s childhood. With her mother shut away with grief, and her aunt busy tending to her, Tamara is lonely and bored and longs to return to Dublin. When a travelling library passes through Kilsaney Demesne, Tamara is intrigued.

Her eyes rest on a mysterious large leather bound tome locked with a gold clasp and padlock. What she discovers within the pages takes her breath away and shakes her world to its’ core.

Jessica Brody - The Good Girl’s Guide to Bad Men - 1st October

Jennifer Hunter is an expert on men. She can tell if they’re single, married or lying…She runs a company which specialises in conducting fidelity inspections for those who suspect their loved ones are capable of infidelity. Boyfriend behaving badly? Suspect your husband of straying? Then Jennifer can supply the ultimate test.

Some might call it entrapment but to Jennifer it’s business pure and simple. And business is booming. But every success brings inevitable backlash and with each new challenge, Jen finds it harder and harder to stay in ‘retirement’, despite the promises she has made to her new boyfriend, Jamie to leave the actual ‘seductions’ to her employees.

Unfortunately, Jamie is one of the few men that Jennifer’s never been able to ‘read’. But after seeing so many men fail the fidelity tests, can Jennifer let herself believe in one good man?

Jackie Collins - Poor Little Bitch Girl - 1st October

First there’s Denver Jones, the hotshot attorney working in L.A. and Carolyn Henderson - personal assistant to a powerful and very married Senator in Washington with whom she is having an affair. Then there’s Annabelle Maestro - daughter of two movie stars - who has carved out a career for herself in New York as the madame of choice for discerning famous men.

The three twenty-something women used to go to high school together in Beverly Hills and Denver and Carolyn have always kept in touch, but Annabelle is out on her own with her cocaine addicted boyfriend Frankie. Bobby is Frankie’s best friend - Bobby Santangelo Stanislopolous, that is, Kennedy-esque son of Lucky Santangelo and deceased Greek shipping billionaire Dimitri Stanislopolous. Now he owns Mood, the hottest club in New York, but back in the day he went to high school with Denver, Carolyn and Annabelle, and hung out with all three of them.

Which means that Bobby knows everyone’s secrets - and he has some of his own, too.

Matt Dunn - The Good Bride Guide - 1st October

Ben Grant is fed up with always meeting the wrong girl. Having just celebrated his 29th birthday by being dumped by his 29th girlfriend, he decides he can’t go on like this. Why can’t he be as blissfully happy as his best friend Ashif, about to marry the beautiful Prithi, a bride chosen for him by his parents?

Suddenly Ben has a great idea: why not ask his own parents to do the same for him? But while Ben’s parents see this as the perfect opportunity to set their son on the right path to matrimonial bliss, it soon becomes clear that Ben’s idea of the kind of woman he wants to settle down with is quite different from that of his somewhat traditional mum and dad. Following a series of disastrous dates, Ben starts to realize that he wouldn’t let his parents pick him out a shirt to wear, let alone a woman to marry.

But when Ben finally meets the girl he thinks might be ‘the one’, he realizes that maybe he does have something to learn from his mum and dad after all. Can he learn the art of romance from his parents and land the girl of his dreams?

Kate Harrison - The Secret Shopper Unwrapped - 1st October

Christmas is coming, and while the bells are ringing, the tills aren’t. But Sandie - the rising star of the retail spying world - is busier than ever, rooting out the best and worst in festive customer care through her company. The former Charlie’s Shopping Angels are helping out, too.

Glamorous widow Grazia is going undercover under the duvet at boutique hotels, in between dating a succession of toyboys and trying to remember which lie she’s told about her age. Meanwhile, not-quite-yummy mummy Emily investigates the child-friendliness of the high street with the help of three-year-old Freddie, when she’s not working flat out with her partner to save their fledging village shop from the un-festive credit crunch.

The shoppers are back, but is the happiness they’ve worked so hard for, about to disappear faster than a Louis Vuitton handbag in the Harrod’s sale?

Cristina Odone - The Good Divorce Guide - 1st October

When Rosie Martin discovers that Jonathan, her husband of 15 years, is having an affair, she feels that her world is falling apart. That is, until she realises that she’s actually fallen out of love with him, too. So Rosie and Jonathan decide to go their separate ways, determined to be civilised about their divorce, for the sake of the children — in short, to have a ‘good divorce’!

But even the best of intentions and the most mature of objectives can be no match for external forces. Cue the rest of the world, where divorce is always a dirty word. Everyone and everything seems determined to conspire to make this divorce bitter — the lawyer, the estate agent, the botox man, the friends, not least their respective families!

‘The Good Divorce Guide’ is a touching, witty, funny story about starting afresh and learning to find your own way in life, no matter what anyone says.

Kathleen Tessaro - The Debutante - 1st Ocotber

Can the secrets of one woman’s past change another woman’s future? Cate is a gifted young artist who survives in New York by producing remarkable copies of Old Masters.She arrives in London to stay with her aunt Rachel who owns an auction house, determined to leave the pain of her past behind. Cate is sent to Devon with Rachel’s colleague Jack to value the contents of Endsleigh, the grand Georgian home of a former socialite.

But inside, its once elegant interiors are now worn with age and dust. Then Cate discovers hidden in the back of one of the bookshelves, an old shoebox containing an exquisite pair of silk dancing shoes from the 1930′s along with a mysterious collection of objects - a diamond brooch, a photograph of a handsome young sailor, a dance card, and a beautiful pearl and emerald bracelet from Tiffany’s.

Unable to solve the questions in her own life, Cate quickly becomes engaged in solving the mystery of the shoe box and begins to unravel the story of Baby Blythe; bright, beautiful and reckless, she was the most famous debutante of her generation. The clues in the box reveal a tale of a dark, addictive love, a tale that will lead Cate to uncover some secrets of her own.

Jo Carnegie - Naked Truths - 9th October

Newly-weds Caro and Benedict have swapped country life in Churchminster for an exclusive London mews. It’s blissful …until Benedict’s sister arrives, bringing with her a dangerous secret. Fashionable socialite Saffron lives next door. She always thought the countryside was boring, but when she’s invited to Churchminster she’s shocked to learn just how dirty rural life can get.

Saffron’s boss, workaholic editor Catherine, is fighting to save her ailing magazine. But her scandalous past threatens to destroy everything, especially when rugged builder John Milton strides into her life. Following a sexy, colourful cast through city and country, “Naked Truths” is an addictive, funny, feel-good romantic romp.

Cally Taylor - Heaven Can Wait - 15th October

‘What would I do without you, Lucy Brown?’ he said, and kissed me softly. I held his face in my hands and kissed him back. I felt that life just couldn’t get any more perfect. And I was right, it wouldn’t. By the end of the next day, I’d be dead.

Lucy is about to marry the man of her dreams - kind, handsome, funny Dan - when she breaks her neck the night before their wedding. Unable to accept a lifetime’s separation from her soulmate, Lucy decides to become a ghost rather than go to heaven and be parted from Dan. But it turns out things aren’t quite as easy as that. When Lucy discovers that Limbo is a grotty student-style house in North London she’s less than thrilled.

Especially after meeting her new flatmates: grumpy, cider-swilling EMO-kid Claire; and Brian, a train-spotter with a Thomas the Tank Engine duvet and a big BO problem. But Lucy has a more major problem on her hands - if she wants to become a ghost and be with Dan she has to complete an almost impossible task. How the hell does a girl like Lucy find a girlfriend for the dorkiest man in England? IT geek Archie’s only passions are multi-player computer games and his Grandma. But Lucy only has twenty-one days to find him love.

And when she discovers that her so-called friend Anna is determined to make a move on the heart-broken, vulnerable Dan, the pressure is really on…

Jessica Ruston - Luxury - 15th October

Sexy, smart New Yorker Logan Barnes knew how to take what he wanted to get where he wanted to be. But you can’t win the girl, make the money and live the high life without picking up enemies along the way…

There’s only one enemy who matters, and that’s the friend Logan betrayed years ago – Nicolo Flores. He got mad, but better still he got even, waiting in the wings to pull the plug on Logan and see his fortunes come crashing down.

Now Logan’s back, in London with a perfect wife, perfect family, and the perfect jewel to crown his rebuilt hotel empire: a stunning island getaway for the truly über-rich. Nicolo’s crazy to find a way to crush him again – but with gambling, addiction, sex and scandal all knocking on the Barnes’ family door, maybe they’ll destroy themselves before he even has a chance to…

Patricia Scanlan - Coming Home - 22nd October

Two sisters…two very different lives. Alison’s American dream is in tatters. Her highflying career is on the skids in the financial meltdown. Her Upper East Side apartment is now way beyond her means . But pride prevents her from telling her family back home just how bad things are.

Olivia is fraught trying to juggle family, career, preparations for Christmas and organize a surprise party for their mother’s seventieth birthday. How she envies, and sometimes resents, her sister Alison and her life of excitement and affluence in New York. Coming home is the last thing Alison wants to do, especially now that she’s met a rather attractive, sexy, down to earth neighbour who doesn’t believe in ‘non exclusive dating’ unlike her wealthy boyfriend, Jonathan. But family ties are strong.

Alison and Olivia sort their differences, the party throws up a few surprises and Christmas brings changes for Alison that she could never have imagined before coming home.

Amy Silver - Confessions of a Reluctant Recessionista - 22nd October

Cassie Cavanagh has never minded being ‘just a PA’. In fact she’s quite content with her lot. She has a city job she kind of enjoys - after all she is indispensable, you know. She has a boyfriend who showers her with gifts - what more could a girl want? And she earns enough to (just about ) finance the luxuries she’s become used to.

But Cassie hadn’t banked on being made redundant. Nor had she pictured her boyfriend leaving her for an older woman! Nor had she ever imagined needing to take financial advice from her student flatmate. Reluctant to embrace the art of being thrifty, if Cassie’s going to survive the recession in style, she’s a lot to learn about budgeting.

And even more to learn about herself…

Harriet Evans - I Remember You - 29th October

Heartbroken Tess Tennant is leaving London and moving back to her picture-perfect home town to take up a teaching job. It’s time for a fresh start, one with warm stone cottages, friendly locals in oak-beamed pubs and of course Adam, her best friend since childhood.

But something isn’t right in the town: Adam is preoccupied with a new girlfriend and the past is looming large again. So by the time she has to take her class on a trip to Rome, Tess is feeling reckless. Swept off her feet by a mysterious stranger, she finds herself falling in love. But her magical Roman Holiday is about to turn into a nightmare! Back in Langford, as autumn creeps towards Christmas, Adam is gone and everything has changed.

Tess has to decide, once and for all, where she belongs and who with.

Julia Williams - Last Christmas - 29th October

Catherine Tinsall is gearing up for Christmas – in the middle of summer. As the Writer in Chief on Happy Homes magazine, she is putting together a ‘perfect Christmas’ competition, to remind readers of the festive season’s true meaning.

In the sleepy Shropshire village of Hope Christmas, Marianne Mistletan enters with the suggestion that her village’s nativity play be held in the ancient chapel of Fitzcross Manor, home to the St Nicholas family. Catherine is completely entranced by the idea, and Marianne to her delight finds that she has won.

Waiting in the wings to help Marianne organise the set design is the cool and charismatic Joe Carpenter, who may or may not be just what she wants for Christmas. Meanwhile, for Catherine, the Happy Homemaker image is wearing thin, as her fifteen-year old marriage appears to be in trouble.

Then tragedy strikes and Catherine is forced to reassess her priorities, and work out what the perfect Christmas really means. And overseeing it all, is the figure of John St Nicholas, lord of the manor and perhaps, for some, a Christmas angel! For anyone who’s wondered whether Christmas is over-priced hype, think again

Sara Shepard - All the Things We Didn’t Say - 29th October

Emotional, issue-led fiction perfect for all fans of The Memory Keeper’s Daughter and Jodi Picoult Tragedy came as if so often does: a teenage party, emotions running high, followed by a horrific car crash. A girl is left dead and a boy is forced to leave his home town, with a secret that he will carry with him forever! Years later, when Summer’s mother disappears one summer, she is left with her father who is going slowly crazy.

Obsessed with an accident from years ago, he slowly descends into mental illness. And as he becomes more disorientated, he reveals small fragments of a secret that has been hidden since his youth, a secret that changes everything. Summer supports her father as much as she can but eventually realises that she has to escape. She finds refuge with her great-aunt, Stella. Feisty, fun-loving, and dying of cancer, Stella holds parts of the family secret. Slowly, things fall into place for Summer - or at least so she thinks!

This is a story of the importance of family, of the damage a lie can do, and of how nothing is ever what it seems.

Marian Keyes - The Brightest Star in the Sky - 30th October

At 66, Star Street in Dublin, someone is watching over the lives of the people living in its flats. But no one is aware of it – yet…

One of them is ready to take the plunge and fall in love; another is torn between two very different lovers. For some, secrets they want to stay buried will come to light and for others, the unveiling of those secrets will have tragic consequences.

Fate is on its way to Star Street, bringing with it love and tragedy, friendship and heartbreak, and the power to change their lives in the most unexpected of ways…