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[[Category:New Reviews|Women's Fiction]]==Women's Fiction==__NOTOC__{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Jojo Moyes1471180158|title=The Last Letter From Your LoverMaybe Tomorrow|author=Penny Parkes

|genre=Women's General Fiction|summary=I do love Jamie Matson works in an upper-class grocery store, for a man who's a control freak with all the subtlety of a story that wraps me up completely within its little worldhalf brick. Jamie's son, Bo, making me want to ignore my long list of things to do and just curl up reading all day'has his problems'. Jojo MoyesHe' new novel certainly managed its asthmatic and the more you read, the more you'll suspect that he's on the autistic spectrum. I felt transported back Sometimes Jamie needs to the 1960take time off at short notice - she's, entirely caught up a frequent flier in the characterslocal A&E and sometimes Bo' lives, riding their highs s not fit enough to go to school. Missed shifts or the need to be away on time to pick Bo up from school are occasions when Jamie can be controlled and lows alongside of them, and I ended up desperately foisting my just-woken-up toddler onto my husband so that I could just read put in the last four pages without her hanging off my arm!|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340961627</amazonuk>wrong. It was going to come to a head.

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Cathy WoodmanLauren Bravo|title=Trust Me, I'm a VetPreloved|rating=4.5|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=Though I'm not a pet owner and as such had never thought too much about it, I believed this book when it told me there are two types of vets (three if you count the Vietnam kind, though for these purposes let's not). No, I mean the city type who look after poodles and hamsters and maybe the odd depressed gold fish, and the country kind who stick their hands up cows' bottoms for fun, and think horses are man's second best friend, as well as essential equipment for extracurricular activities. Maz definitely falls into the first category, but when her love life gets as sticky as a cancerous canine tumour, she realises that London is not the place to be any more. An opportunity arises at the rather tweely named ''Otter'' ''House'' ''Veterinary'' ''Clinic'', and she seizes it, pleased to have a reason to flee the capital, at least temporarily.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099543567</amazonuk>}}  {{newreview|author=Jeannie Machin|title=My Lady Domino|rating=3

|summary=Adele Russell serves behind the counter in Gwen is pressing her middle-aged bosom on a big number that starts with a haberdashers four and lives over the shopends with an oh-my-God-I'm-nearly-forty. It wasn't always like that though as it's only Having been made unexpectedly redundant - any HR officer worth their salt would argue the toss - Gwen finds herself having a few years since she was a wealthy heiress engaged to marry an earl, but after her father's financial ruin and his death in bit of a fire her fiancé broke off the relationship and Adele was lucky to be taken in by her old nursemid-life crisis. It's taken some time to come to terms with what happened Catharsis is key and Adele Gwen has reconciled herself to her lowly position until she finds an invitation decided now is the time to a masked ball. What harm would there be in take back her wearing her motherlife's ball gown and domino, just for a taste of how things used to be?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0709089988</amazonuk>1398510629

 {{newreview|author=Val Harris|title=Sea Creatures|rating=3.5|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=Rowena Moon and her husband Brendan lived on the Cornish coast with their three children, Jenna, Charlie and Olivia. Brendan was an artist – and a reasonably successful one. Rowena ran a local café and the children had the freedom of the local beach. It sounds like, and probably was, an idyllic childhood until one day Rowena disappeared without warning and without explanation. It was devastating and affected each of the children in different ways as they grew up. Twenty two years later the five are reunited and the mystery of their past unravels.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0955599741</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Sandra Heath0008506337|title=A Commercial Enterprise|rating=3.5|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=Caroline is a Lexham, but she's not one of ''the'' Lexhams as her father made a rather unfortunate marriage. In consequence she's rather surprised to be invited to the reading of her uncle's will. She didn't know him, had no expectations and probably wouldn't have gone to London if she hadn't been trying to escape the attentions of a pressing suitor. The journey there is trying, but she's rescued by Sir Hal Seymour who gives her a lift in his carriage. It might have got Caro to the reading on time, but she made an enemy of his mistress who had hopes of becoming his wife.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>070908997X</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewGarnett Girls|author=Lisa Jewell|title=After the PartyGeorgina Moore

|genre=Women's General Fiction|summary=ItThe love affair between Margo Garnett and poet Richard O's been eleven years since Ralph Leary was all-consuming, apparently on both sides. Margo was just sixteen when they fell in love. Richard was twenty-one and Jem finally became an item at the end of Lisa Jewelldescribed by Margo's first novel Ralphmother as 'an older man's Party. After buying a house in South London Her parents worried that Richard's influence would take her away from what they felt she could achieve - going to Oxford and having two children their once excitinga glittering career. In the event, romantic they eloped and crazy relationship has gradually become consumed by responsibility and domesticityRichard took her away from the Isle of Wight. Jem has Margo did go to Oxford and went on to become bogged down with motherhood and running a home well-respected journalist. The couple had three children: Rachel, Imogen and just wishes Ralph would help out a bit as she struggles to start working againSasha. RalphLife was lived in London and holidays were spent at Sandcove, unsure the family home on the Isle of his role in Wight. Even then the family, has gradually drifted away both physically and emotionally doubts about Richard's drinking were never far from Jem and his children, preferring Margo's mind: ''she would never be able to spend as much time as possible painting leave him in his studiocharge''.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846055733</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|author=Sue Eckstein|title=The Cloths of Heaven|rating=4Then Richard left them.5|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=We're in West Africa in the early nineteen nineties. There's the usual mix of expatriates and diplomatic staff doing their best to do their best whilst still making the most of the freedoms such a life gives. Isabel is married to iconoclastic photographer Patrick Redmond and copes better than most wives would with her husband's fixation with pendulous black breasts. There is gossip though. The High Commissioner and his wife Fenella are both involved in illicit affairs, with more or less discretion. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0954930983</amazonuk>

{{newreviewFrontpage|author=Trisha AshleyHadeer Elsbai|title=Chocolate Wishes|rating=4.5|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=I know one should never judge a book by its cover, but somehow I always do. So I was expecting some light-hearted chick-lit when I began this book. I was a little startled to find several mentions of tarot cards, Mayan charms, and guardian angels - a somewhat bizarre spiritual mixture - within the first pages. What, I wondered, had I got myself into?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847561144</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Margaret Leroy|title=The Perfect Mother|rating=3.5|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=Perfection pervades every corner of Catriona's life She has a beautiful home, a charming husband, a well-behaved stepdaughter, and a cherished daughter of her own, 8-year-old Daisy. When Daisy is taken ill, Catriona does all a good mother would do to help her get better. But as Daisy's condition deteriorates with no sign of improvement, Catriona seeks more and more medical intervention, until eventually she is accused of being responsible for her daughter's illness.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0778303527</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Susannah Bates |title=Under a Sapphire Sky|rating=4.5|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=Marianne Cooper is happy. She has a thriving jewellery business with her best friend Gabby and is six months pregnant with Gabby's brother Jay's baby. Marianne enjoys her passion for stones, her unconventional attitude to life and her pregnancy, and her unique relationship with Jay, but when her ex boyfriend, and reformed man, Paul comes back into her life with his fiancée Sophie and a rare padparascha stone he wants Marianne to turn into an engagement ring, she soon finds herself questioning her decision to reject Paul and indeed her way of life.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099445441</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Louise Harwood|title=Kiss Like You Mean It|rating=3.5|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=This book is a modern-day love story. It's all about trendy characters with trendy names living rather trendy lives in glossy location sets. The title gives a very clear message as to its contents. Romantic fiction which will appeal generally to women. But there's also a story within a story (and for me the more interesting one) which is the Hollywood movie being filmed in Europe. It takes us back to the first World War and the heroic actions of one young man, in particular.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330442090</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Laurie Graham|title=Life According to Lubka|rating=3.5|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=Buzz Wexler is at the top of her game, working in music PR with all the latest up and coming Urban music bands like Grime Beat and Evil Marsupial. She's forty-two years old but is still out every night, drinking, eating very little and seemingly surviving on a diet of chemical mood enhancers. One day, however, she is called into her manager's office and assigned a tour with a 'World Music' group, the Gorni Grannies, a group of elderly women from Bulgaria who sing together. Buzz finds her life in the fast lane is brought to a sudden halt, as she tries to control a group of elderly ladies touring England who think that lifts are powered by black magic and that Poundland is the best shop ever invented. Yet this is just the beginning Daughters of a whole new life for Buzz.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849161828</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Janet Mullany|title=Improper RelationsIzdihar

|genre=Historical FictionFantasy|summary=Unlucky Drawing inspiration from Egypt, ''The Daughters of Izdihar'' explores the lives of two women who could not be more different, yet find themselves fighting for the rights of women and weavers – those with magical abilities - in love Charlotte Hayden has just lost a society pitted against them. Nehal, born into the upper class, wishes to attend the Weaving Academy to learn to control her best friend abilities and confidante Ann in then join the military, but instead she is forced into an arranged marriage with Nico. Giorgina on the other hand did not have a privileged upbringing like Nehal and feels great pressure to provide for her family and maintain their reputation, whilst secretly attending meetings of the Earl Daughters of Beresford. At the wedding she encounters Lord Shadderly, BeresfordIzdihar – a group campaigning for women's best friend, a broodingly handsome man whom she takes an immediate dislike rights. Giorgina also happens tobe in love with Nico. Before she knows it Charlotte What follows is caught in a compromising situation story of an unjust society, filled with Shadderly hypocrisy and he is forced to propose to her or risk both cruelty, from which blossoms a group of admirable women fighting for their rights and overcoming their reputationspersonal obstacles.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0755347803</amazonuk>0356520471

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Dorothy KoomsonB0B575J99N|title=The Ice Cream Girls|rating=5|genre=Crime|summary=Poppy and Serena, labelled 'The Ice Cream Girls' by a rapacious press, have their young lives shattered by Beneath the man they shared, a teacher in a position of trust, who controlled them in the worst possible ways. The girls are trapped as victims because neither has the assertiveness or maturity to handle the situation. Chance intervenes to escalate an inevitable situation. Now twenty years on, the traumatic events have profoundly affected the emotional stability of each girl, though their lives have taken almost diametrically opposed courses.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847443648</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewPorticoes|author=Lauren Grodstein|title=A Friend of the FamilyBrooke Adams

|summary=Elizabeth Miller was thirty-four and a teacher at a prestigious girl'A Friend of the Family' is an intriguing and enjoyable read. Set s school in a wealthy New Jersey neighbourhood, it tells the story of two couples who have been friends for many yearsYork. Peter Dizinoff and Joe Stern graduated from medical school together and their wives, Elaine and Iris have known each other It was ''comfortable'' but she longed for just as long. In many ways their privileged lives have been almost perfect – that is until a shocking event occurs and the two couples react something more in such different ways that it shatters their friendship and threatens their comfortable existencelife.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099533359</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Kate Long|title=A Mother She's Guide to Cheating|rating=3.5|genre=Womend 's Fiction|summary=When Jaz discovers a random text message on her husband Ian's phone, it does still not take a genius to work out found the right vocation nor met the meaning of a message as personal as right man'what did you dream last night?', followed by kisses and now was the time to make a strange woman's namechange. She needed challenges. Nor does it take There was a genius to figure out little trepidation when she applied for the precise nature of what Ian has been up to with the senderprofessoressa job in Bologna. A subsequent confession After a telephone interview, she was offered the position and proclamation from Ian that it wasn'it meant nothing; t long before she is nothing' does not diminish Jaz's rage and he is dispatched, forthwith, from was exploring the family homebeautiful city. As is the norm in these kind of situations, you turn to the people you most trust to help you through and reinforcements in the shape of Jaz's mother, Carol, swiftly arriveThere were some natural doubts before her first class but it went surprisingly well.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847377505</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Louise Douglas0241542405|title=Missing YouMeredith Alone|author=Claire Alexander

|genre=Women's General Fiction|summary=Sean seemed to have the perfect lifeWhen we first meet Meredith Maggs it's Wednesday 14 November 2018 and she's not left her home for 1,214 days. He has a successful career, a beautiful wife She'd ''like'' to whom he is devoted: in fact, a daughter whom he adores and he lives in a dream homeshe so nearly does. But then one day it all falls apart when Belle announces that Her outdoor clothes are on and she's even considered which shoes to wear if she has met someone else and wants Sean 's going to move outcatch her train. Fen Then, on the other hand, doesnshe can't have a perfect life. She works in a bookshop and is devoted simply can't force herself to leave the safety of her young sonhome. She's fortunate that she has a good friend, Sadie, Connor who has cerebral palsyvisits regularly with her two children, James and Matilda. ThatSadie's not the least a cardiac nurse and full of sound common sense. In fact it was Sadie who gave Meredith her problems though cat, Fred. Groceries are online deliveries and there's also an internet-based support group where you'll find Meredith as JIGSAWGIRL, so you can guess what she hides a dreadful secret and fearful that it will be brought out into the open she lives a life drawn does in on itselfher spare time. Then Tom McDermott arrives. He's from Holding Hands, far from her home and family and reluctant to become close to anyonea charity which supports people with problems such as Meredith's.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330454412</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Katie Fforde (Editor) and Sue Moorcroft (Editor)0008441618|title=Loves Me, Loves Me Not|rating=4.5|genre=Short Stories|summary=What a feast is presented in these forty stories from well-loved and prolific romantic authors, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Romantic Novelists' Association. In a Who's Who of the genre, there are writers from every age group, including one or two who might even have been founder members of the RNA, back in 1960. My advice is to sip through the stories slowly, rather than gobbling them up quickly and suffering from indigestion.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0778303373</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewOther Parents|author=Lauren Oliver|title=Before I FallSarah Stovell

|summary=Samantha Jo Fairburn knew that she was under intense pressure as the new head of West Burntridge First School: if she didn'Sam' Kingston is, t live up to her retired predecessor there could well be a house price slump in many ways, your typical American high schooler whose concerns are pretty predictable: boys, friends, fashion, weird parents, annoying little sistersthat part of the town. Today it's Cupid Day, The school had an active Parent Teacher Association and the funds which they raised were a chance considerable benefit to show off just how ''In'' you are at the school. There was one difficulty, as measured by the number of roses youthough - they were ''re sent, but Samdevastatingly shockable's not too worried about that. She knows she's part of a group who, by most definitionswith two members, would be called popularin particular, causing problems for the head. Laura Spence and though sometimes inside she might feel on the inside a little like an imposter, on the outside, well, sheKate Monroe objected to Jo's restrictions on the definition of ''toys children could bring in''on Toy Day but that was just a warm-up act for their real gripe: LGBTQ education.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340980893</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Suzanne BuglerGiovanna Fletcher|title=This Perfect WorldWalking on Sunshine|rating=54

|summary=Laura Hamley sees herself as a fortunate womanMike's wife, Pia, who he was with for seventeen years, has died. She has a successful husbandAnd whilst he is dealing with his grief, two beautiful children, a big house in a good neighbourhoodso are their best friends, Vicky and a coterie of friends who fall nicely into the category of people like usZaza. SheBut Pia left them all some 's always beautifully turned outrules' to follow, knowing that she was dying and her position in the social pecking order is never less than highthat they would need help to carry on living. She simply shrugs off Whilst some of the occasional moments rules are around practicalities such as clearing out her wardrobe, another one that Mike discovers one day encourages him to take one of dissatisfaction - what on Earth could she have their trips away, and Vicky and Zaza, struggling with their grief and their own life troubles, decide to complain about? And then Mrs Partridge makes an unwelcome phone call..drop everything in their own lives, and go along with him. |amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>023074401X</amazonuk>140593560X

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Julie CohenB09FS89KX9|title=Nina Jones and the Temple of Gloom|rating=4.5|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=A sign of a good book, for me, often relates to how easily I can put it down. And then how much I want to pick it back up again. Nina Jones was a particular challenge for me as after reading it for an hour whilst my toddler napped I kept my thumb in the page whilst getting her out of bed, snuck her downstairs still saving my page, put on Cbeebies, and then sat next to her on the sofa to carry on reading for at least another hour, if not a little bit more than that. I then kept it in the kitchen so I could sneak a few more pages in between stirring the spaghetti. And then once my daughter was in bed I went on to absently ignore my poor, tired, over-worked husband (who got bored and went for a bath) so that I could read on to the end of the story. I found myself mentally yelling at a fictional character (I hope it was mentally and I wasn't actually shouting out loud...we have very thin walls), I swooned over the hero, sniggered often and I even cried a little bit too. So, a book that induces such family neglect and an emotional roller coaster of emotions is definitely a good read!|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755341414</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewFall On Me|author=Melanie Rose|title=Coming HomePenelope Potts|rating=43.5

|summary=We meet Life should have been good for Hollie: She was just going into the narrator final year of this story drinking coffee from a thermos in a layher veterinary degree and - three years later - was still working at BB's diner. Bob - the owner -by, on regarded her fondly: he was a cold grey daygood boss. All her worldly possessions are travelling Hollie had moved in with her in her carboyfriend, including Marcus: her catmother thought he was great and he was doing well in his career. She has clearly made some momentous decision, Hollie wasn't quite so certain though: Marcus wanted to control her and is on most of all he wanted her way to somewhere newleave her job at the diner. I assumed Then there was the fact that as story unfoldedhe would be violent, I'd learn more about both to her and where she was goingto other people.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847561063</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Stephanie Tillotson0008421714|title=Cut on the BiasMrs March|author=Virginia Feito

|genre=Short StoriesLiterary Fiction|summary=If The problem began just after the publication of George March's most successful novel to date. Everyone but Mrs March (we know her first name only on the last page) seemed to either be reading it or had already done so. Every day Mrs March went to the local patisserie to buy olive bread but on that particular morning, Patricia asked, as she was wrapping the bread, ''but isn't this the first time he'Cut s based a character on the Biasyou?'' is in your local bookshop She mentioned that Johanna, you will surely be won over by the feisty coverprincipal character had 'her mannerisms''. Stories about women and their clothes are about identityPerhaps this would not have mattered, so what better start to a set except for the fact that Johanna is the whore of short stories than Nantes - ''a fashion statement cover featuring the bags in which said clothes arrive home?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906784132</amazonuk>weak, plain, detestable, pathetic, unloved, unloveable wretch.''

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Erica Bauermeister 1473685745|title=The Monday Night Cooking SchoolUnbreak Your Heart|author=Katie Marsh|rating=4.5

|summary=The Monday Night Cooking School is the When Beth Carlyle and Simon Withers first novel written by American writer Erica Bauermeister met they were on opposite ends of an angry exchange - well, Simon was angry and it really is a delicious read in every sense. The novel tells of eight very diverse people who attend a cooking class once a month at LillianBeth was doing her best to apologise for having knocked Simon's restaurantson, Jake, off his bike. Each He wasn't hurt but Jake has a different reason for being there and each history. He has his or her own story to tell. However, over the months HLHS - that the course is run, they start to bond through the learning experience and their love of food. It's not the sort Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome for those of novel where much happens but if you who are interested in people and you love food, I am sure you will enjoy this booknot ''au fait'' with your medical acronyms. Having said that though When he was born, I donthe left side of his heart hadn't think it is developed properly and he needed open-heart surgery when he was a book that should few days old. So, Simon has every right to be read if you are trying to diet because you can virtually smell the food as you turn the pages!|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141038837</amazonuk>over-protective particularly when someone isn't looking where they're driving.}} {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Kate MortonC J Carey|title=The Forgotten GardenWidowland

|genre=Women's General Fiction|summary=Just before It's April 1953, and Adolf Hitler's schedule includes going to Moscow to attend the First World War state funeral of Joseph Stalin then within weeks coming to London, parading around a little girl was found abandoned on bit, and watching over the wharf after a dreadful sea voyage from England sanctioned return to Australiathe throne of Edward VIII with his wife, Queen Wallis. She appears not For yes, Britain caved in the lead-up to the World War Two that certainly didn't happen as we know her name it, and we are now a protectorate – or well, we share enough of the same blood as the Germanic peoples on ''the mainland''. But this is unwilling to tell it – most certainly a different Britain, for Nazi-styled phrenology, and ideas of female purpose, has put all she will say is of that gender into a mysterious lady she calls caste system, ranging from high-brow office bigwigs to the Authoress had promised drudges, and beyond those, right on down to look after herthe childless, the husbandless and the widows. Female literacy is actively discouraged. There's no trace And in this puritanical existence, our heroine, Rose Ransom, is employed with the task of bowdlerising classical literature to take all encouragement for female emancipation out of her though it – after all, not every book can be banned, and not every story excised immediately from British civilisation, and so they just get a hefty tweak towards the little girl was taken in a by a friendly familyparty line before they're stamped ready for reprint. She forgot all about That is her job, at least, until the events until many years later when her adopted father told her what had happenedfirst emerging signs of female protest come to light, with their potential to spoil Hitler's visit.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0330449605</amazonuk>152941198X

 {{newreview|author=Cathy Marie Buchanan |title=The Day The Falls Stood Still|rating=4.5|genre=Historical Fiction|summary=I imagined this title as a 'Gone With the Wind' sort of novel, a saga-esque historical romance, with a characterful heroine and page-turning story line that necessitates reading late into the night. Well, I wasn't disappointed in this paperback edition of the hardback, already a best-seller in the U.S.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0091925967</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Nia Pritchard|title=More Than Just A Hairdresser|rating=2.5|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=It's a brand new year, and Liverpudlian hairdresser Shirley is looking forward to the months ahead following one hell of a new year's eve party. What's more, she's going to chronicle her adventures in her brand spanking new diary which she will write in diligently, even when she's feeling a bit 'morning after the night before'.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1870206851</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Anthony QuinnRuth Hogan|title=The Rescue ManMadame Burova

|summary=This love affair tale with the city book lets us discover several people in different stages of Liverpool is mostly told through life in the eyes of architect Tom Bainesearly 1970s, all vaguely connected. With the Second World War looming So we have a bullied half-cast boy (as he would have been called then), Baines is desperately working on a book girl in a humdrum job wanting to capture become a singer, and chiefly, Imelda, the memory third generation of buildings that are at riskMadame Burova, ''Tarot-Reader, Palmist and Clairvoyant'', to use her family's sea-front booth. The singer, the scryer and appears the sufferer's mother will all become staff at a man more revamped holiday camp, but just before then we see Imelda fly solo for the first time in love with the past family stall. We also see her on her last day, fifty years later, in possession of a pair of letters that will change everything for a woman called Billie. Just who is she, and solidwho delivered the secrets about her to Imelda, cold structures than mankind.and why did it have to remain a secret all this time?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0099531933</amazonuk>152937331X

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Lorraine JenkinJennifer Saint |title=Chocolate Mousse and Two SpoonsAriadne |rating=4.5|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=From the first sentence: 'With one hell This re-telling of a crash, Lettie Howell’s dinner service hit the wall…', I knew that I was going to enjoy this tale. An opening thus full myth of expletive Ariadne and resounding Welsh Voice immediately makes it clear who’s the boss Minotaur is interesting and I can relax, knowing I’m unusual. Jennifer Saint presents the story in competent handsa way that is sympathetic to its origins but also appealing to a modern audience. WelcomeSaint's narrative is told predominantly through the viewpoint of Ariadne, Lorraine Jenkinspanning from her childhood to her death, allowing the reader to my handful really connect with Ariadne as a character in her own right rather than just a prop in the heroics of favourite chick-lit authorsTheseus.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1870206959</amazonuk>1472273869

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Ru FreemanLucy Holland|title=A Disobedient GirlSistersong

|genre=General Literary Fiction|summary=''A Disobedient Girl'' follows two women struggling to retain control Sistersong is part of their lives in a genre I particularly enjoy, the face modern retelling of servitudefolk and fairy tales. Latha is These stories, for most of us, are a cornerstone of childhood and I relish seeing them retold with fresh eyes and a servant girl fresh perspective. If handled well these retellings give new life and new meaning to the affluent Vithanage familystories that are now becoming increasingly narrow and outdated, whose daughter, Tharafleshing out characters, examining relationships and re-evaluating the role of women. Sistersong is Latha's age. As childrena perfect example of a modern retelling done well, the girls are the best of friendsplot is handled with care, keeping its archaic historical feel but they are destined allowing the characters to be separated by class, which is made painfully obvious when boys come into the picture. Meanwhileto life, Biso serves a cruel to feel real and drunken husband who beats her and terrorises her childrenhuman, one of whom is another man's love child. Biso's husband murdered her lover most importantly they feel relatable in a hateful rage when he uncovered her affair and she realises that she must escape his house if she and her children are to modern world whilst still feeling appropriate for the pre-Saxon age they livein. Latha too seeks escape, but she finds it in the arms This is a masterpiece of Thara's boyfriend storytelling and this sets off a chain of events that will echo far into her futureI was captivated from beginning to end.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0670917958</amazonuk>1529039037

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Debby HoltB08NF79QXT|title=Recipe For ScandalCherry Blossom Boutique|author=Brooke Adams|rating=43

|summary=ThereThirty-one-year old Liberty Rossini has had her shop, the Cherry Blossom Boutique, for just six months when she's evidently a market nominated for scandalous tales, or else many a women- and wins - the Retail Best Newcomer Award. She's delighted and the two people she's weekly would have gone out of business by nowbrought with her to the event couldn't be more pleased. Sonja, but this book, though full of scandalher mother, is slightly differentan ex-model and Brazilian: you can see where Liberty got her looks from. This isnJessica't council estate scandal or even trashy celebrity scandal, its thirty-four and Liberty's juicy, firmly middle class scandal of the type [[best friend:Category:Zoe Heller|Zoë Heller]] might write aboutthey've known each other since university and Liberty adores Jessica's husband, Charles and their four-year-old daughter, Ava. Life would be perfect for Liberty if itwasn's wickedly captivatingt for one thing: she misses having a man in her life.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847396542</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Jules StanbridgeB08GFSK2WZ|title=A Date in Your Diary|rating=4.5|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=Harry knows that a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle, but she also knows there's a difference between what we need and what we want – and she wants a bloke. More specifically, she wants a date for the latest in a string of friend-and-family weddings, a wedding where, thanks to a 'tricky' seating plan, she will be sitting on the same table as her most recent ex...and his new girlfriend. With no prospects in sight, Harry comes to the conclusion that internet dating might be the way to go. At best, she'll find a guy who ticks all her boxes and will joyfully accompany her to the wedding before they live happily ever after, and at worst, well, she might get a story out of it, never a bad thing for a magazine journo.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755347137</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewThe Karma Trap|author=Sharon Owens|title=The Seven Secrets of HappinessLisette Boyd

|summary=It was hard George Jackson is thirty-three years old, absolutely gorgeous to think that life wasn't perfect for Ruby O'Neilllook at - and single. She 's not had sex for eight months and Jonathan had she's stuck in the karma trap: an idyllic marriage awful lot of bad luck is being visited on her and she has a beautiful homereal talent for attracting drama. There Her life's chaotic: she dealt with the leak from the shower by putting something down at the bottom of the stairs to absorb the water - then the shower fell through the roof whilst she was a job in a dress shop which she enjoyed it and although she might not be close to left her parents she had good friends, stark naked, staring at the pervy postman. It was Christmas Eve She only has to take her mother's dog out for a walk for her to end up with dog poo spattered across her face - and the tree had just been delivered a photo being taken by a lovely man on behalf of someone who shares it around the garden centre when her world fell apart. Jonathan had been killed in a car crashoffice.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141028564</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Sarah DuncanB08CHJLNBS|title=A Single to RomeCapturing Emilia|author=Brooke Adams

|summary=Natalie is in love with Michael. TheyHe've been together for three yearss Charles Devereaux, but Michael wants some space. He hasn’t said he doesn’t love her, so there is still a chance he could come back… Then he goes thirty-eight and finds himself a new girlfriendpartner at Wickham Jones, the Mayfair letting agents. Devastated She's Emilia, twenty-nine, Natalie consoles herself with librarian and archivist in the help of her friends, who persuade her to go speed datingheritage library next door. There Emilia has read [[The Secret by Rhonda Byrne|The Secret]] but she meets Guy's moved on from new age books like that, a friendly manwhich leave you dependent on someone else's philosophies, who like her is trying to get over someone – his new ex-wife Vanessasomething a little deeper. But Guy Charles is one more of the nice onesa [[Personal by Lee Child|Jack Reacher]] man himself, but, and before she knows itabove all, he has been invited to her friend’s wedding as Natalie’s date. At least she won’t be going alone and Michael will be there. But her love life isn’t her only worry. Past actions have come to light 's shocked that have put her career in dangerEmilia reads ''The Guardian''. At a loss They're obviously not at all compatible, Natalie turns so why can Charles not get this woman out of his mind? She's not his usual type at all: it's obvious to Guy for help, who offers her the use of his flat in Romefriends. A place And given that Emilia regularly feels repulsed by Charles's superficiality, why does she feel drawn to escapehim? Or The relationship's obviously a place to dwellnon-starter, isn't it? |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0755345932</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Lesley PearseHelly Acton|title=StolenThe Shelf|rating=3.54|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=The story of When we meet Amy, she's in a relationship with Jamie. You can'Stolen'' is an interesting one. David Mitchell is walking along t really call it a beach in Selsey, Sussex in May 2003partnership, when he comes across a young woman – beautiful, half-drowned and barely alive. She is taken because things tend to hospital and her photo is featured in the newspapersget done on his terms, as the police hope to discover who but she's sticking around because she hopes she iscan change him. MeanwhileAh, Dale, a female hairdresser, sees the photo and believes the girl yes. Haven't we all been there? Things are looking up when he tells her to be Lotte, who she befriended on pack for a cruise they were working onsurprise trip. Along with DaleCould this be it? Is he ''finally''s colleague Scott – who also knew Lotte – they visit going to get down on one knee? Was the girl, but she has amnesia work (and seems to have forgotten almost everything.the wait) worth it?|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0718152859</amazonuk>1838770879

{{newreview|author=Julie Highmore|title=The Message|rating=4.5|genre=WomenWhen Mike Parker's Fiction|summary=''The Message'' is very much girlfriend comes into school with a twenty first century tale as black eye, claiming he gave it all hinges on a voicemail message made from a mobile phoneto her, her whole world is tipped upside down. Her relationship has just ended and now she's the talk of the school. It is also based on Mike was the fact most popular boy in school who was always so in love with her, everyone knew that it is very easy to send a message to , so why did he do what he did? Some people believe her and some don't, but one person when it thing is actually meant for someone else. This is what happens sure, this isn't going to Jen when she receives a message from her husband Robert. There is nothing particularly special about this message; that is until Jen realises that she is not the intended recipient and then it has a shattering effect on her marriageblow over any time soon.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0755343018</amazonuk>0349003297

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Ann PearlmanKatie Fforde|title=The Cookie ClubA Springtime Affair|rating=54|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=Chocolate bonbons with an almond glaze. Peanut butter cookies double dipped in chocolate. Coffee I've wanted to read author Katie Fforde for ages and raisin hermit biscuits. Crisp vanilla fingers with toasted almonds. Thin crunchy crisps flavoured with molasses this was pretty much exactly what I was expecting - a warm, cosy read focused on romance, family and gingerfriendships.  If you're even This provided two romances for the price of one, but it was actually the family element as opposed to the slightest bit peckish after romance that, I guarantee you'll be starving by the time you finish this wonderful book full of festive flavourreally enjoyed.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1847376843</amazonuk>1780897561

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Eloisa JamesB07W4MNBSG|title=When the Duke ReturnsBe Careful Who You Marry|author=Lizzy Mumfrey

|genre=Historical General Fiction|summary=It was coming up to Halloween in 1987 and a group of sixth-form schoolgirls wondered what they would be doing when they were fifty. When you're only seventeen that seems positively ancient, but Liz was convinced that 'When the Duke Returns'your entire life depends on who you marry', the newest volume in the 'Desperate Duchesses' series, continues the regency celebrity romp saga where [[Duchess by Night by Eloisa James|Duchess by Night]] left off.  The focus, this time, is on Isidore, only eligible boys were the Duchess of Conway: hot-headed, hot-blooded Young Farmers and Italian to boot, she was married by proxy at the age idea of sixteen living in a farmhouse and is still having a virgin seven years later. Isidore's cunning plot couple of children called Will and Olly appealed to entice back the husband she has never seen from his travels in Asia and Africa works perfectly and Simeon, His Grace Duke of Conway is now back in EnglandCharlotte, ready to claim his estate or perhaps William and, as Isidore presumes, ready to claim his beautiful wife.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340961104</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Nia Pritchard |title=More Than Just A Wedding|rating=2.5|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=If Oliver if you like novels in which little happens as the story strolls towards its happy ending, then Nia Pritchard's sequel were Elizabeth who was determined to 'More Than Just a Hairdresser' may suit you. If marry the Liverpudlian vernacular and setting pushes your buttons, then maybe you'll enjoy its lightrather superior Patrick Shepley-hearted picture of Scouse lifeBotham. My mother-in-law will probably love it. I'm sorry The place to say that it wasn't my cup of tea at all.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1906784124</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Jessica Porter |title=Sicilian Sunset|rating=3|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=Sarah Livingstone's jewellery business start their search was struggling but she was still annoyed when her father called James Ross for help. Sarah and James had had a relationship some ten years earlier and Sarah really didnobviously the Young Farmers't want to work with him, particularly after her marriageHalloween disco that weekend. Most people thought that her husband's death There was just one problem - there were too many Elizabeths in a plane crash had been the cruel end to a good marriage. Only a few knew that he had been about to leave her to live with another womanclass. It's left Sarah very reluctant to get involved with any man.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0709089430</amazonuk>

{{newreview|author=Margaret Thornton|title=Until We Meet Again|rating=4|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=In the fateful summer of 1914 Tilly Moon is settled in the midst of the Moon family in Scarborough. It's an extensive clan with the usual close relationships, unusual situations and slight distances between people for no apparent reason. Tilly's an accomplished pianist and she longs to take her music studies further, but there's someone who's coming to mean more to her than her music. Her twin's best friend, Dominic Fraser is the apple of her eye and he feels the same way about her. There are war clouds on the horizon though and when Britain declares war Move on Germany Tommy and Dominic are quick to enlist as were many of the men in and around the Moon family.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749007486</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Liza Palmer|title=A Field Guide to Burying Your Parents|rating=4.5|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=Grace is reluctantly participating in a 5k race when she receives the news: her estranged sister is calling to tell her their estranged father has had a stroke. That's two lots of estrangement in just two generations of family, but a summons is a summons, and Grace soon finds herself dragged back into the heart of the family she deserted, working with the others to discover the many hidden secrets of the father who deserted them all. It's a tough jump from her happy life of a good job, a new boyfriend and a home of her own to return to the family life she left behind a long time ago, and Grace has to decide whether she can ignore the pull of her biological siblings once more or whether the time has come to let bygones be bygones. After all, while there are lots of four letter words she would associate with her family, ''love'' is not one of them.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340962151</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Julia Williams|title=Last Christmas|rating=4.5|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=With Christmas fast approaching, what better way of getting in the spirit of things than by reading this excellent book that captures the joys and stresses of the festive season so well? The reader follows four different people – Catherine Tinsall and her husband Noel, Marianne Moore and Gabriel North. Each of these characters have their own reasons for not really looking forward to Christmas (mainly because of the experience of last Christmas) and these reasons slowly become apparent to the reader as the story progresses.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847560865</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Camilla Noli[[Features|title=The Mother's Tale|rating=4|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=''It is early evening. I am suckling my infant son… We are picture perfect. Madonna and child''.  No doubt about it: a new mother totally smitten with her son. Zach is adorable. Quiet. Undemanding. A happy, generally relaxed, child. Gorgeous.  But Zach isn't her first-born. First there was Cassie. A child who entered the world screaming and has since learned exactly what power she can wring with such lungs. Not yet two years old, Cassie adores her father, but even him she manipulates. Her mother she terrorises.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1409101584</amazonuk>}}latest features]]