Here are the September releases. See Part II here.
SHEILA O’FLANAGAN - THE PERFECT MAN - 3RD SEPTEMBER (REVIEW)
Two very different sisters, Mia (still in love with Alejo, the married father of her daughter) and Britt (the ice maiden, who has ironically written a romantic bestseller), join a luxury honeymoon cruise in the Caribbean where Britt is the guest lecturer. Also on board are recently widowed Leo, still reeling from the discovery of his wife’s betrayal just before her death, and Steve, a ship’s officer who’s soon looking for more than a holiday romance with Mia.
Can Steve replace Alejo and is there any chance that Britt and Leo can see that they really should get together? When the characters head for home – Mia to Spain, the others to Dublin – it seems that all romantic options are off, especially as Leo rashly got engaged to glamorous, man-eating Pippin while at sea. But love has a way of triumphing in Sheila O’Flanagan’s novels, even if it takes till the very last page…
NINA BELL - SISTERS IN LAW - 3RD SEPTEMBER (REVIEW)
Sisters-in-law Kate, Helen and Olivia all have one thing in common – they’re hiding something. It’s not easy being part of the high-achieving Fox family: the expectations and demands of their husbands and children; the jealousies and rivalries; and the endless Sunday lunches where somehow everything feels like a competition.
So when mysterious Sasha enters their lives, bloodied from the battlefield of a painful divorce, buried frustrations rush to the surface. Why is Kate’s husband Jonny working so late at the office, and how will she cope at home alone? Can army-wife Heather trust Jack to come back to her next time, or is he drawn by temptations in a foreign field? And will Simon’s explosive secret blow Olivia’s marriage apart once and for all?
Three sisters-in-law. One devastating divorcee. Whose husband is about to play with fire?
LOUISE PATTEN - BAD MONEY - 3RD SEPTEMBER
Mary Kersey, the breadwinner in her family, juggles her job as a high-flying management consultant at Lock Chase with trying to be a good mother to her 8-year-old daughter Grace and keeping Trister, her husband’s ancestral home in Suffolk, in a decent state of repair. It is enough to challenge the most organised of women. When the headmistress of Grace’s boarding school calls to say that Grace is acutely homesick and should come home, the demands on Mary’s time and energy become almost overwhelming. Dr Alan Dove is CEO of biotechnology company, Pneumatech. He wants to buy a competitor who specialises in cosmetics, F-ACE.
They’d be a perfect fit if only he could afford them. Enter Ivan Strawe, evil genius head of M & A at Wolkenbank, who’ll find a way to lower the F-ACE share price with the help of a hedge fund that’s only too happy to help. Of course there’ll be a nice little cut for all of them once the deal goes through. Meanwhile Mary, who surprisingly retains a conscience in this dog-eat-dog world, is recruited by the Treasury to investigate dodgy dealings at hedge funds. Her world and that of Dove and Kona are set on a collision course…
EMMA BURSTALL - NEVER CLOSE YOUR EYES - 3RD SEPTEMBER
Evie, Nic and Becca are wannabe writers. The three friends are members of a creative writing group and they decide to enter a national competition. But while they ponder their plots and agonise about their characters, their own lives are going far from smoothly.
Evie’s still pining for the husband who left her for a younger woman and is relying increasingly on clairvoyant Zelda. But who is Zelda really? Nic’s battling a drink problem and is in despair about her workaholic husband who is addicted to his laptop. A shocking discovery shakes her to the core, but will she realise in time that she must stop protecting him? Becca’s a City highflyer who seems to have everything – until a childhood friend turns up, threatening to expose the secret she’s kept buried for nearly thirty years.
How will her marriage, her children, her friendships survive it? And on top of that there’s a deadline. The women have just eleven months to complete their manuscripts. Who will win the competition – and can there be any real-life happy endings?
MELANIE LA’BROOY - BABYMOON - 3RD SEPTEMBER
The countdown to mummydom has started …Isabelle and Jack are expecting their first child. And Isabelle is the very model of a calm Earth Mother-to-be. Or she would be if she wasn’t consumed by anxiety about finding her pelvic floor, watching birthing videos or being accepted into the yummy mummy parade with a very practical mobility system.
Even worse, as Isabelle’s tummy grows, so does the distance between her and her adored Dr Jack who, it seems, has quite different priorities. But with the support of a host of new mothers and friends all full of the worst possible advice, just maybe Isabelle can make it through pregnancy and childbirth with her dignity, her relationship and some more private bits intact. Then again, maybe not.
SHARON GRIFFITHS - THE LOST GUIDE TO LIFE & LOVE - 7TH SEPTEMBER
Follow food writer Tilly Flint as she discovers her roots, her sense of adventure and the secret to happiness in this timeless, inventive tale for fans of Eva Rice and Kathleen Tessaro. Do the answers to Tilly Flint’s future lie in her past? In a nightclub full of the rich and famous, a glamorous model leaps from a window and escapes into the night. Food writer Tilly Flint – on a rare date with boyfriend Jake – is sole witness to her flight. Little does she know the chain of events set to unfold!
The following week, Tilly and Jake have the last of many arguments, leaving Tilly alone in the wild Pennines landscape where she’s on assignment. Terrified yet strangely exhilarated, she investigates the area – and finds more than a few surprises. Intrigued to learn that, as an only child, she has family in the area, Tilly starts to dig deeper, discovering her great grandmother’s past and the eerie parallels with her own life. As she explores the treacherous moors, she stumbles across mysterious pieces of cherry-red ribbon. What do they signify? And who is the strangely familiar face in the local pub?
Then a chance encounter with celebrity Clayton Silver leads Tilly into a high-octane world that spells danger. Can the ribbons from the past be a lifeline in the present?
Nina Bell is another new author, and has signed with publishers Sphere, and her debut novel Sisters-In-Law is due for release in September. The funky eye-catching cover looks really cool, and the plot sounds just like something I would love to read. Here’s the synopsis:
