I can’t believe we’re almost at the end of another year. October has flown by and here are the releases for November; there are some cracking sounding reads and there’s a few I’d love to read.
Lisa Heidke - Lucy Springer Gets Even - 5th November
Lucy Springer thinks she’s got it tough. She’s living through renovation hell, her two kids seem more challenging than ever, and her once successful acting career has been reduced to the odd commercial. Then Max, her husband, absconds to Bali with an unknown companion and things go from bad to disastrous.
But Lucy doesn’t give up easily. Juggling increasingly chaotic building dramas, bewildered children, her crazy best friend-slash-agent Gloria, her ever ‘helpful’ mother and chasing after Max, Lucy Springer is determined to get her life onto an even keel-and more.
This delightful new novel is an often hilarious account of triumphing over adversity, following your dreams and listening to your heart.
Jemma Forte - Me & Miss M - 5th November
Struggling actress Fran has always had stars in her eyes but with a part in a car insurance ad as her only claim to fame, making it big is starting to look unlikely. So taking a job as a PA to Caroline Mason – one half of Hollywood’s most famous couple – seems like a fantastic opportunity.
Especially when Fran’s first encounter with Caroline’s sexy, Oscar-winning boyfriend involves him wearing nothing but a tiny towel . . . But Fran’s new job is far from glamorous as her days are spent fetching never-ending, venti, quatro, decaf, skinny lattes and being an all-round slave to a demanding, botoxed diva. And when the job starts to cost Fran her friends and the man of her dreams she has to ask herself whether it’s really worth it.
The time has come for Miss M to find out a few home truths, for Fran to get her life on track and to win back her Mr Right…
Martine McCutcheon - The Mistress - 6th November
Mandy Sanderson is turning thirty and has everything going for her – dark ebony hair, flashing black eyes, flawless skin and a job she loves – yet, so far, true love has eluded her. Then, on the night of her birthday party, surrounded by friends she adores, Cupid strikes as Mandy and the gorgeous Jake Chaplin lock eyes across the restaurant and fall for one another in an instant.
Jake is confident, successful, oozing with sex appeal and utterly irresistible. He is also married, with two children, and Mandy has always sworn not to break her own golden rule: never encourage a man to play away. Jake is used to getting what he wants, and this time it is Mandy he’s determined to win, and with Jake, seduction comes in more ways than one . . 
Miranda Dickinson - Fairytale of New York - 12th November
Once upon a time an English girl went to New York to live out her very own fairytale! Florist Rosie Duncan’s life couldn’t be better, she has a flourishing business on New York’s Upper West Side and fantastic friends. Moving to Manhattan feels like the best decision she ever made. Even though at the time, it was her escape route from heartbreak …
For the past six years Rosie has kept her heart under lock and key, despite the protests of her closest friends - charming, commitment-phobic Ed, unlucky in love Marnie and the one-woman tornado that is Celia. Then a blossoming friendship with publishing hot-shot Nate begins to shake Rosie’s resolve at the same time as her brother arrives in the Big Apple, hiding a secret. But a chance meeting brings Rosie face to face with her past, unravelling the mystery behind her arrival in New York.
Rosie is forced to confront questions she has long been trying to ignore, including will she ever get her very own happy-ever-after? 
Liza Palmer - A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents - 12th November
There are times when we’d all like to disown our family. But when the going got tough, Grace did it for real, leaving her family and even her lover behind.
With a lovely house, a new boyfriend and her family safely tucked in the past, everything seems perfect.
Until Grace discovers that her estranged father is dying.
Now she must decide whether to stay in her cosy new world, or return to face the wrath of her abandoned siblings and the wiles of an evil stepmother . . .
Elise Chidley - Married With Baggage - 19th November
‘She’d never dreamt she’d wind up being a mum before she had a baby.’
When Annie was swept off her feet by handsome widower Simon, she willingly promised to have and to hold all that he held dear, including his daughter, Lydia. Lydia’s mother died years before in a sailing accident and it’s clear from the off that the young girl doesn’t welcome her new stepmother. As a lucrative job offer for Simon forces them all to decamp to America, Annie has a lot to learn.
How do you fit in in a close-knit US town? What makes her daughter tick? And how do you try to convince your new husband that he’s done the right thing in marrying in haste? For every woman who’s had to juggle the complexities of step-parenting, this sharp and funny look at the world of modern famililes will ring very true indeed.
Lucy Dillon - Lost Dogs & Lonely Hearts - 26th November
When the abandoned strays from a local dogs’ home are matched with brand new owners, it turns out it might not just be the dogs who need rescuing. Rachel’s aunt has left her a house, a Border Collie and, despite knowing nothing about dogs, a crowded kennels. But since her life has collapsed she’s not sure she can deal with any more lost souls.
Zoe’s ex-husband has given their children a puppy. The kids are in love, but she’s the one stuck training Toffee the impossible Labrador. She’s nearly at the end of her tether – until Toffee leads her to a handsome doctor… Meanwhile Natalie and Johnny’s marriage hasn’t been easy since they started trying for a baby. But is a fridge-raiding, sofa-stealing Basset hound like Bertie really the child substitute they’re looking for?
As the new owners’ paths cross on the town’s dog-walking circuits, their lives become interwoven. And they – and their dogs – learn some important lessons about loyalty, companionship and unconditional love . . .
Nicky Schmidt - Naked In Knightsbridge - 27th November
With mounting debts, threats from a crazy landlord and a cleaning business that was going well until she set fire to someone s house, Jools Grand is about to find herself homeless. She has to come up with a plan, and fast. So with an acute sense of desperation, Jools decides to auction herself online in a marriage of convenience. Who knows, she might even find romance?
What Jools isn t banking on is a bidding war between two not-so-eligible bachelors a wealthy, gay, would-be politician who needs a wife as a cover; and a deranged loner with a newly-refurbished basement prison. Add to that a lecherous father, some soon-to-be-exposed secrets and an addiction to pastries, and Jools is set to discover that nothing comes without a price.
Since November 2009
A new release I spotted over the Romantic Novelists’ Association blog today that I liked the look of was Starting Over by author Sue Moorcroft. Sue has moved to new publishers Choc Lit, and this is her first release with them. The book is due out on 30th November, but you can read the prologue and first chapter online here. Here is the synopsis for the book:
Posted in 2009 Releases, Book News | 1 Comment »
Cat and Noel Tinsall are having a few troubles in their marriage at the moment. Cat is struggling to juggle her home life with her job as a columnist, and Noel is scared of being made redundant, something he doesn’t want to share with his wife. 
The Hen Night Prophecies: Eastern Promise (Book 2) by Jessica Fox - 26th November
Rathinch is a small Irish town with a lot of people who aren’t necessarily friends, but Detta is set to change all that with her ‘Single Parents’ group. She wants to get them all talking, and despite their initial reluctance, they soon find themselves making steadfast friends and suprising themselves along the way too. 
Katie, Georgia and Alice thought they would be best friends forever. As well as being great friends they were also all at each others hen nights. Years later however, all of the girls’ marriages have fallen apart and the girls barely keep in contact.
