There aren’t as many releases in July as June but there are still some fantastic ones! Highlights include the new book from Paige Toon (it’s fab, I can tell you), as well as new ones from Lindsey Kelk (the third ‘I Heart book), Adele Parks, JoJo Moyes & more!
Lindsey Kelk - I Heart Paris - 8th July 2010
Angela is in the city of love – but romance is taking a nose-dive… When Angela Clark’s boyfriend Alex suggests a trip to Paris at the same time as hip fashion mag Belle asks her to write a piece, she jumps at the chance.
But even as she’s falling for the joie de vivre of Paris, someone’s conspiring to sabotage her big break. And when she spots Alex having a tête-à-tête with his ex in a local bar, Angela’s dreams of Parisian passion all start crashing down around her.
With London and her old life only a train journey away, Angela can’t decide if should stay and face the music or run away home…
Paige Toon - Pictures of Lily - 8th July 2010
‘Will you marry me?’ I think of you, then. I think of you every day. But usually in the quietest part of the morning, or the darkest part of the night. Not when my boyfriend of two years has just proposed. I look up at Richard with his hopeful eyes. ‘Lily?’ he prompts. It’s been ten years, but it feels like only yesterday that you left. How can I say yes to Richard with all my heart when most of it has always belonged to you? I take a deep breath and will myself to speak…
Ten years ago when Lily was just sixteen, she fell in love with someone she really shouldn’t have fallen in love with. Now, living in Sydney and engaged to another man, she can’t forget the one that got away. Then her past comes back to haunt her, and she has to make a decision that will break her heart - and the heart of at least one of the men who love her.
Louise Candlish - Other People’s Secrets - 8th July 2010
When Ginny and Adam Trustlove arrive on holiday in Italy they have been torn apart by personal tragedy. A boathouse on peaceful Lake Orta is exactly the place to start piecing together their lives. A day later, the silence is broken by the arrival at the main villa of the Sale family: wealthy, high-flying Marty, his beautiful wife Bea, and their privileged, confident offspring.
It doesn’t take long for Ginny and Adam to be drawn in, especially when the teenage Pippi introduces a new friend into the circle. For there is something about Zach that seems to loosen old secrets ? and create shocking new ones …
Abby McDonald - The Liberation of Alice Love - 8th July 2010
Alice Love keeps her life (and boss, and family) running in perfect order, so when her bank card is declined, she thinks it’s just a simple mistake. But she soon discovers that someone has emptied every penny from her bank account, spending her hard-earned savings on glamorous holidays, sexy lingerie, and a to-die-for wardrobe, and leaving Alice with thousands of pounds worth of debt. With her perfectly-organised world crumbling around her, Alice enlists the help of dashing fraud investigator Nathan and sets about clearing her name. But as she unravels the intriguing paper trail, she makes a shocking discovery: her thief is closer to home than she ever imagined.
Following the clues from London to Rome and LA, Alice edges deeper into a seductive new world, where honesty might not be the best policy, rules are made to be broken, and the power of a gorgeous cocktail dress shouldn’t be underestimated. Perhaps her alter-ego’s reckless, extravagant lifestyle is the one Alice should have been leading all along… But as her little white lies begin to stack up, how far will Alice go to find the truth? And whose life, exactly, is she fighting for?
Sasha Wagstaff - Wicked Games - 8th July 2010
Feuding families, star-crossed lovers… let the fireworks begin! Debonair and dynamic, millionaire Judd Harrington is back at Brockett Hall. With his socialite wife and family in tow, he’s returned from LA a glittering success. But as he stares across the valley at Lochlin Maguire’s beautiful country house, all he can think of is revenge.
Meanwhile Judd’s arch-rival has troubles of his own. Lochlin’s record label is losing major talent to an unknown competitor, his wife Tavvy is distracted and he can’t seem to see eye to eye with his son Shay. And, unbeknownst to Lochlin, his talented singer daughter Iris has fallen for irresistible racing driver Ace Harrington out in LA. Ace is under orders from Judd to break Iris’s heart. What he hadn’t bargained for was losing his own in the process. Can he go against his father’s wishes? Or will Judd’s wicked games ruin love’s young dream?
JoJo Moyes - The Last Letter To Your Lover - 8th July 2010
When journalist Ellie looks through her newspaper’s archives for a story, she doesn’t think she’ll find anything of interest. Instead she discovers a letter from 1960, written by a man asking his lover to leave her husband – and Ellie is caught up in the intrigue of a past love affair. Despite, or perhaps because of her own romantic entanglements with a married man.
In 1960, Jennifer wakes up in hospital after a car accident. She can’t remember anything – her husband, her friends, who she used to be. And then, when she returns home, she uncovers a hidden letter, and begins to remember the lover she was willing to risk everything for. Ellie and Jennifer’s stories of passion, adultery and loss are wound together in this richly emotive novel – interspersed with real ‘last letters’.
Adele Parks - Men I’ve Loved Before - 8th July 2010
Neil and Nat are a match made in heaven. They hate marmite and the opera. They love smelly cheese and the missionary position. And they both absolutely do not want children.
At least that’s what Nat thought. But now Neil seems to have softened to the prospect of dirty nappies and sleepless nights, and he’s practically begging her for a baby. Nat, however, has no intention of swapping her high-flying career for a life of endless self-sacrifice. As the cracks start to show, Nat wonders if Neil really is the man of her dreams. Or is it possible that someone from her past could actually be ‘the one’?
Nat’s little black book, filled with the names and addresses of previous lovers, could hold the answers she’s looking for. Or it could be a one-way ticket to all kinds of trouble. And is the perfect match too much to ask for?
Katie Price - Paradise - 22nd July 2010
When glamorous model Angel was forced to make a life-changing decision and choose between a Ethan, the laid-back Californian baseball player, and giving her marriage to football star Cal another go, many were stunned when she picked Ethan. But life in LA is good: Ethan adores her and Honey and their life could not be more glamorous. But nothing is perfect, and after a year together problems are beginning to surface: a stalker seems to have singled out Angel; Ethan’s agent Benny despises her, and isn’t always good at hiding it; and when Ethan faces financial ruin the couple are forced to star in a reality TV show about their life together. Despite everything, though, Angel is convinced that Ethan is the man for her. So why does she always feel breathless when Cal is around? And why can’t she stop thinking about him and his new girlfriend? But as the tabloid headlines have always been quick to point out, the path of true love for our sexy celebrity has not always been smooth. So when her dad falls dangerously ill Angel rushes back to England to be by his bedside, throwing her and Cal back together. But Ethan loves her and Cal has a girlfriend, and she made her choice a year ago. It’s too late to go back now, isn’t it…?
Laura Elliot - Stolen Child - 22nd July 2010
When Carla Kelly and Robert Gardner marry, they seem destined for happiness. But tragedy strikes when their two-day-old baby, Isobel, is stolen. Distraught and bewildered, they must cope with the media frenzy that follows. As hope of finding her fades, their marriage disintegrates under the strain and they divorce. Robert moves to Australia and Carla, who had been a successful model, becomes reclusive and retreats into anonymity in order to escape the glare of publicity.
Meanwhile, many miles away in a small town, Joy Dowling, miracle baby, is the adored only child of Susanne and David. Her mother is over protective and attempts to rear Joy in isolation, but as a wilful and headstrong child, Joy will not be held back and comes into conflict with her mother. Susanne Dowling has her reasons for wanting to keep Joy out of sight but some things can’t stay hidden forever.
As the years pass, hopes of finding Isobel fade, but Carla Kelly never gives up her search. Her love for her Stolen Child burns fiercely and soon, secrets long kept will be brought into the light. Stolen Child is a love story about two families who are torn apart by deception and the consequences of a reckless act that shaped their futures.
Veronica Henry - The Beach Hut - 22nd July 2010
‘FOR SALE: a rare opportunity to purchase a beach hut on the spectacular Everdene Sands. “The Shack” has been in the family for fifty years, and was the first to be built on this renowned stretch of golden sand…’ Jane Milton doesn’t want to sell her beloved beach hut, which has been the heart of so many family holidays and holds so many happy memories. But when her husband dies, leaving her with an overwhelming string of debts, she has no choice but to sell. THE BEACH HUT follows the stories of the people who own the beach huts, families who come to Everdene each year, people who fall in - or out of - love, remembering their pasts, or trying to forget them… Veronica Henry has brilliantly drawn together the comings and goings of life at the beach huts over one long, hot, lazy summer…
Chick Lit Classics is a regular feature on Chick Lit Reviews where we highlight the books we feel are classics of the chick lit genre. Feel free to discuss our choices in the comments section!
le wait their whole lives to find their soul mates. But not Holly and Gerry. Childhood sweethearts, they could finish each other’s sentences. No one could imagine Holly and Gerry without each other. Gerry’s death devastates Holly. But as her 30th birthday looms, Gerry comes back to her. He’s left her a bundle of notes, one for each of the months after his death, guiding Holly into her new life without him, each note signed ‘PS, I Love You’. As the notes are opened, the man who knows Holly better than anyone teaches her that life goes on. With some help from her friends and her family, Holly finds herself laughing, crying — and being braver than ever before. Life is for living, she realises — but it always helps if there’s an angel watching over you.
