Book News: April Releases
Everyone wants to know when their favourite authors have new novels out so I thought: why not post all that will be out for each month. Here’s my first month, there are 7 books out this April. If I’ve missed one, email me and let me know.
Bernadette Strachan - How To Lost A Husband & Gain A Life - 2nd April
On the surface, Ruby Gallagher has the perfect life: an adoring husband, Manny, a beautiful home and a luxury lifestyle that involves shopping, holidays and not much else. It’s safe, predictable - exactly what she needs after her turbulent past. Until one day it all collapses as Manny is arrested for fraud. And it seems it’s not only his business deals that have been shady - Ruby discovers he’s been hiding a mistress and son too. But as her designer lifestyle is repossessed, Ruby dusts herself down and starts again. With the help of some good friends, bad wine and a new business venture, Ruby discovers that she’s a lot better off without her husband holding her back. If only he would see it that way …Fabulous characters and a warm and funny story make How to Lose a Husband and Gain a Life unputdownable.
Milly Johnson - A Spring Affair - 6 April
When Lou Winter picks up a dog-eared magazine in the dentist’s waiting room and spots an article about clearing clutter, she little realises how it will change her life. What begins as an earnest spring clean soon spirals out of control. Before long Lou is hiring skips in which to dump the copious amounts of junk she never knew she had. Lou’s loved ones grow disgruntled. Why is clearing out cupboards suddenly more important than making his breakfast, her husband Phil wonders? The truth is, the more rubbish Lou lets go of, the more light and air can get to those painful, closed-up places at the centre of her heart: the love waiting for a baby she would never have, the empty space her best friend Deb once occupied, and the gaping wound left by her husband’s affair. Even lovely Tom Broom, the man who delivers Lou’s skips, starts to grow concerned about his sweetest customer. But Lou is a woman on a mission, and not even she knows where it will end …
Trisha Ashley - Wedding Tiers - 6 April 2026
The path of true love never runs smooth. But for some, it’s one seriously bumpy ride! Growing up in the beautiful Lancashire village of Neatslake, Josie Gray and her childhood sweetheart, Ben Richards, have always dreamt of living a life of rural self-sufficiency. And when Josie inherits her beloved Grandmother’s cottage, it seems they might just have got what they wished for. Josie throws herself into her wedding cake business, whilst Ben supports himself as an artist. But the tranquil village turns into a hive of activity when Josie’s childhood friend, Libby Martin - now a wealthy widow - returns to the village, planning a lavish wedding to rival any celeb bash. The day goes with a bang, and soon Libby and Josie are hard at work at their fledgling wedding business, hiring out Libby’s beautiful Elizabethan home for ceremonies, with Josie creating all manner of wonderful cakes. But amidst all this romance, Josie’s fairytale relationship with Ben turns into a nightmare, and she quickly becomes Love’s number one cynic - until charming wedding photographer, Noah Sephton, arrives in Neatslake, with a very different outlook on love!Can this hopeless romantic persuade pessimistic Josie to give romance another try? Or will it be a case of always the cake maker, never the bride!?
Lisa Jewell - The Truth About Melody Browne - 9 April
When she was nine years old, Melody Browne’s house burned down, taking every toy, every photograph, every item of clothing and old Christmas card with it. But not only did the fire destroy all her possessions, it took with it all her memories - Melody Browne can remember nothing before her ninth birthday. Now in her early thirties, Melody lives in a council flat in the middle of London with her seventeen-year-old son. She hasn’t seen her parents since she left home at fifteen, but Melody doesn’t mind, she’s better off on her own. She’s made a good life for herself and her son and she likes it that way. Until one night something extraordinary happens. Whilst attending a hypnotist show with her first date in years she faints - and when she comes round she starts to remember. At first her memories mean nothing to her but then slowly, day by day, she begins to piece together the real story of her childhood. Her journey takes her to the seaside town of Broadstairs, to oddly familiar houses in London backstreets and to meetings with strangers who love her like their own. But with every mystery she solves another one materialises, with every question she answers another appears. And Melody begins to wonder if she’ll ever know the truth about her past.
Debbie Carbin - Three Men & A Maybe - 9 April
Beth Sheridan likes her life the way it is. OK, so her job’s a little dull and her social life leaves a lot to be desired. But none of that really matters because Beth is in love with Richard. And one day they will be together. Yes, there are a few teeny obstacles, like the fact that Richard has been Beth’s boss for eight years and that he is currently living in Portugal with another woman. But these are just minor details because Beth just knows that one day, the scales will fall from Richard’s eyes and he will realise that it is Beth that he has always wanted. Beth’s feisty flatmate Vini doesn’t harbour any such illusions and decides that Beth needs to give up on Richard and find love elsewhere.Reluctantly Beth agrees to Vini’s (at times extreme) plan of action. Following a puppeteers convention, a speed dating event, a chance encounter in a shopping mall and some pretty flirtatious email banter, Beth is suddenly dealing with three new men. There’s the lovely down-to-earth Brad, who she just can’t quite pin down, and the charming, millionaire Rupert. She’s never actually met Rupert but judging from his emails, he seems to just get her. What’s more, there’s also sleazy Sean from the office who’s suddenly seeming not-so-sleazy …And just when things couldn’t get more complicated, the gorgeous Richard waltzes back into her life. What’s a girl to do?
Holly McQueen - The Fabulously Fashionable Life of Isabel Bookbinder - 23rd April
When aspiring designer Isabel Bookbinder bags a job with Nancy ‘Fashion Aristocracy’ Tavistock, she’s sure her career is finally on track. Dazzlingly glamorous, this is a career that she can feel truly passionate about - after all, she knows her Geiger from her Louboutin, her Primark from her Prada, and she’s always poring over fashion magazines. Well, ok, the fashion pages of heat. So, learning from the very best, the future’s looking bright for Isabel Bookbinder: Top International Fashion Designer. Within days she’s putting the final touches to her debut collection, has dreamt up a perfume line, Isabelissimo, and is very nearly a friend of John Galliano. And on top of that she might even have fallen in love. Yet nothing ever runs smoothly for Isabel, and fabulously fashionably as her life is, it soon seems to be spiraling a little out of her control.
Louise Bagshawe - Passion - 30th April 2009
A super-charged, irresistible tour de force about two people fighting their own feelings - and fighting for their lives…
A failed marriage between Melissa Elmett and Will Hyde did a lot of damage. She was too young, he was hurt when she left him. Years later, Melissa becomes the target for a kidnap plot, a consequence of her father’s ground breaking energy saving invention, and Will is the only man who can protect her. Now they’re on the run, thrown together again by the pursuit of vengeance, will their passion for each other reignite?
