You Are Viewing 2005 releases

Charlize “Charlie” Edwards certainly knows, in theory, what it takes to lead a successful and happy life. She owns a nice house in Silverlake, LA’s trendiest neighborhood. She has glamorous and loyal friends who accompany her to the hottest clubs in town. And she works as the personal assistant to Drew Stanton, Hollywood’s sexiest movie star. But she’s also turning 30, chronically single, and faced with serving as maid of honor at her younger sister’s wedding. Charlie finds herself struggling to juggle the chaos of wedding planning (while wondering if she’ll ever wear the white dress herself), her all-consuming job for lunatic boss Stanton, and a serious crush on Jordan, a photographer on the set of Drew’s latest feature-a man who might actually return her feelings.

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Annie Baker’s life could not be more complicated: her sister Lizzie wants her to be her birthing partner once she goes into labour, her boss Barney has her working like a demon as he tries to make even more outrageous commercials and her friends Kate and Laila are either wrapped up in new men or having an affair with their ex-husband.

Her son Charlie has now decided he wants to be a Pagan and wants a pet pheasant, dog and ferret and she also has to look after her old, and slightly mad, Uncle Monty. To top it all off, just when she thinks she’s getting over Mack, he comes waltzing back into her life. What’s a girl to do?

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Reviewed by Linda Gallagher

For eighteen years the Hartes and the Golds have lived next door to each other, sharing everything from Chinese food to chicken pox to carpool duty. Parents and children alike are best friends - so it’s no surprise that in high school Chris and Emily’s friendship blossoms into something more. They’ve been soul mates since they were born.

When the midnight calls come in from the hospital, no one is prepared for the appalling truth: Emily is dead at seventeen from a gunshot wound to the head as part of an apparent suicide pact. The gun holds a single unspent bullet that Chris tells police he intended for himself, but a local detective has doubts. And the Hartes and Golds, in a single terrifying moment, must face every parent’s worst fear: do we ever really know our children at all?

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Samantha is a high-powered lawyer in London. She works all hours, has no home life, and cares only about getting a partnership. She thrives on the pressure and adrenalin. Until one day…she makes a mistake. A mistake so huge, it’ll wreck her career. She walks right out of the office, gets on the first train she sees, and finds herself in the middle of nowhere.

Asking for directions at a big, beautiful house, she is mistaken for the interviewee housekeeper and finds herself being offered the job. They have no idea they’ve hired a Cambridge-educated lawyer with an IQ of 158 - Samantha has no idea how to work the oven. Disaster ensues. It’s chaos as Samantha battles with the washing machine…the ironing board…and attempts to cook a cordon bleu dinner.

But gradually, she falls in love with her new life in a wholly unexpected way. Will her employers ever discover the truth? Will Samantha’s old life ever catch up with her? And if it does…will she want it back?

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Imogen, who organised the holiday, is frighteningly capable and a bit of a control freak. With three children who are at the centre of her world, she’s determined that this holiday will be perfect. But is Imogen’s tidy life quite as happy as it seems?

Sophie is Imogen’s oldest friend, dating back to the days when they would chat long after lights out at their Home Counties boarding school. Sophie knows she should be feeding her offspring organic cous-cous, but they love McDonalds’ apple pies too much - and where’s the harm in that? But is there more to Sophie than dogged loyalty to her rather overbearing old mate?

And then there’s Jo, an acquaintance of Sophie’s roped in at the last minute when the first choice of housemate pulled out. An East London GP and single mother, and very easy going with her son, she appears to be the polar opposite to Imogen. A group holiday seemed such a good idea back in January …

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A double review today: The Accidental Mother & The Accidental Family by Rowan Coleman, the first book and then the sequel. First The Accidental Mother.

Sophie Mills has worked her Manolo Blahniks off to reach the near-top of her profession. And she’s very happy with her priorities in life - her job, her neurotic cat Artemis and her passion for shoes. After all, relationships only get in the way. And as for children - She hasn’t even begun to think about them yet. Until one day an unexpected visitor brings news of a strange inheritance and Sophie is suddenly, out of the blue, in sole charge of two children under the age of six. But motherhood can’t be all that hard, can it? Within twenty-four hours, her make-up smeared all over the bathroom, Artemis has taken up residence on top of her wardrobe, and Sophie is in despair. And all her unconventional mother can suggest is “Dr. Roberts’ Complete Dog Training and Care Manual”. Determined to rise to the challenge, Sophie soon realises that she’ll need more than a business plan to cope with all this … Read my review underneath

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