[[Category:Women's Fiction|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Women's Fiction]]__NOTOC__
{{Frontpage
|author=Ruth Hogan
|title=Madame Burova
|rating=4.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=This book lets us discover several people in different stages of life in the early 1970s, all vaguely connected. So we have a bullied half-cast boy (as he would have been called then), a girl in a humdrum job wanting to become a singer, and chiefly, Imelda, the third generation of Madame Burova, ''Tarot-Reader, Palmist and Clairvoyant'', to use her family's sea-front booth. The singer, the scryer and the sufferer's mother will all become staff at a revamped holiday camp, but just before then we see Imelda fly solo for the first time in the 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 who delivered the secrets about her to Imelda, and why did it have to remain a secret all this time?
|isbn=152937331X
}}
{{Frontpage
|author= Jennifer Saint
|title= Ariadne
|rating= 4.5
|genre= Women's Fiction
|summary= This re-telling of the myth of Ariadne and the Minotaur is interesting and unusual. Jennifer Saint presents the story in a way that is sympathetic to its origins but also appealing to a modern audience. Saint's narrative is told predominantly through the viewpoint of Ariadne, spanning from her childhood to her death, allowing the reader to really connect with Ariadne as a character in her own right rather than just a prop in the heroics of Theseus.
|isbn=1472273869
}}
{{Frontpage
|author=Lucy Holland
|title=Sistersong
|rating=5
|genre=Literary Fiction
|summary=Sistersong is part of a genre I particularly enjoy, the modern retelling of folk and fairy tales. These stories, for most of us, are a cornerstone of childhood and I relish seeing them retold with fresh eyes and a fresh perspective. If handled well these retellings give new life and new meaning to stories that are now becoming increasingly narrow and outdated, fleshing out characters, examining relationships and re-evaluating the role of women. Sistersong is a perfect example of a modern retelling done well, the plot is handled with care, keeping its archaic historical feel but allowing the characters to come to life, to feel real and human, most importantly they feel relatable in a modern world whilst still feeling appropriate for the pre-Saxon age they live in. This is a masterpiece of storytelling and I was captivated from beginning to end.
|isbn=1529039037
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=B08NF79QXT
|title=Cherry Blossom Boutique
|author=Brooke Adams
|rating=3
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Thirty-one-year old Liberty Rossini has had her shop, the Cherry Blossom Boutique, for just six months when she's nominated for - and wins - the Retail Best Newcomer Award. She's delighted and the two people she's brought with her to the event couldn't be more pleased. Sonja, her mother, is an ex-model and Brazilian: you can see where Liberty got her looks from. Jessica's thirty-four and Liberty's best friend: they'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 it wasn't for one thing: she misses having a man in her life.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=B08GFSK2WZ
|title=The Karma Trap
|author=Lisette Boyd
|rating=4
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=George Jackson is thirty-three years old, absolutely gorgeous to look at - and single. She's not had sex for eight months and she's stuck in the karma trap: an awful lot of bad luck is being visited on her and she has a real talent for attracting drama. 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 in it and left her, stark naked, staring at the pervy postman. 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 a photo being taken by someone who shares it around the office.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=B08CHJLNBS
|genre=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 ''your entire life depends on who you marry''. The only eligible boys were the Young Farmers and the idea of living in a farmhouse and having a couple of children called Will and Olly appealed to Charlotte, or perhaps William and Oliver if you were Elizabeth who was determined to marry the rather superior Patrick Shepley-Botham. The place to start their search was obviously the Young Farmers' Halloween disco that weekend. There was just one problem - there were too many Elizabeths in the class.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1473669588
|title=Falling Short
|author=Lex Coulton
|rating=4
|genre=Humour
|summary=Lex Coulton's debut novel is a story about mistakes, failures, and relationships. The main protagonist, Frances Pilgrim, is a sixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jackson, a work colleague and is grappling with the increasingly eccentric behaviour of her mother. This relationship is complicated by the fact that Frances's father disappeared at sea when she was five years old.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=0008237034
|title=Love and Other Things to Live For
|author=Louise Leverett
|rating=1
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Jess is single, again. She's recently heartbroken, jobless and has had to swallow her pride and move back in with her best friend. Jess looks to other areas of her life to lift her spirits, her friends, her city and her passion for photography.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1529014980
|title=The Butterfly Room
|author=Lucinda Riley
|rating=4
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Paradise. That's what it seemed like to nine-year-old Posy Anderson. Her father delighted in indulging her and playing with her. Together they caught butterflies and examined them before her father took them off to let them go free. Her mother was rather distant, but her father more than made up for that. The only blot on the horizon was that her father was a spitfire pilot, recovering from an injury, and it seemed likely that he would have to go back to the war. Everyone thought that it was drawing to a close, but men still had to go and fight - and risk their lives. Posy was staying with her grandmother in Cornwall when the news came through that her father had been killed in action. Her mother had travelled from Suffolk to tell her what was going to happen to her.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=147117946X
|title=If You Could Go Anywhere
|author=Paige Toon
|rating=4.5
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Angie is someone who always wanted to travel, but it's taken her 27 years to leave the small mining town in South Australia which has been the only home she's ever known. She doesn't do things by half though, and once she does feel able to go (following a family death) she leaves not only the town, the state and the country, but also the continent, and finds herself following in her mother's footsteps and heading to Italy.s
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1471178471
|title=The Magnificent Mrs Mayhew
|author=Milly Johnson
|rating=4
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=I liked this book. Whilst not necessarily a page-turner, this was a thoroughly enjoyable heart-warming read from the Queen of chick-lit, Milly Johnson.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=034914365X
|title=Keep Walking Rhona Beech
|author=Kate Tough
|rating=4.5
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Life has just hidden behind a corner and stuck a foot out as Rhona Beech came past. She and Mark had been together for nine years and it was beginning to feel ''settled''. Then Mark announced that he'd got a job in Canada and he was going whether Rhona wanted to come with him or not. The ''not'' bit of the sentence was the way it worked out and Rhona was left on her own. Well, she wasn't completely on her own: she had friends and family, but it's not the same as having that special someone in your life, that someone who makes you part of a couple. So Rhona had to start again, rejoining a world that bore little resemblance to the one she'd left nine years ago - and there's a lot of difference between being in the middle of your twenties and the middle of your thirties.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=ICTYW
|title=I Can't Tell You Why
|author=Elaine Robertson North
|rating=5
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=When we first meet Dani she's about to get an offer that would appear to be all too easy to refuse. She's Alex Cambridge's agent and the indications are that he's about to make the big time. He's good looking, charismatic and appealing - well, he's an actor so that's part of the spec - but his suggestion that he and Dani should start a relationship is hedged by a statement that he's got no intention of leaving his wife and three children. So, what's in it for Dani? No, there's no need to answer that. Dani understands the situation all too well and tells him so.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1529102464
|title=The Day We Met
|author=Roxie Cooper
|rating=3.5
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=This is an epic love story spanning ten years of 'will they, won't they'. Stephanie and Jamie are 'meant to be'. When they meet on an art course they have an instant strong connection but both are with other people. However, what I loved was that it's not a 'typical boy meets girl, falls in love and lives happily ever after' story. In fact far from it, without wanting to give too much away, the ending was both refreshingly unexpected and achingly poignant.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1503904954
|title=The Coordinates of Loss
|author=Amanda Prowse
|rating=3.5
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Rachel and James have made a new home for themselves, and their son, Oscar, on Bermuda. They have embraced island life, from the hired help (the delightful Cee-Cee) to the sailing life. It's a long way from her former life in England, but Rachel is rather enjoying the way things are working out.
}}
{{Frontpage
|isbn=1943826331
|title=Landslide
|author=Melissa Leet
|rating=4
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=The area where Jill and Susie lived wasn't highly populated so it was fortunate that they became such good friends, despite the fact that Susie was a year older than Jill. Susie lived with her mother, an alcoholic, and Jill lived with ''her'' mother, who dedicated herself to her garden. Jill's father was Jay Tutle, the photographer, but he spent much of his time working away - often for months on end. In reality, there was little difference between the two families: Mrs Smith's alcoholism caused serious illness whilst Susie was still young. Joy and tragedy would visit Jill's home. ''Landslide'' is the story of how what happened determined the course of Jill's life and how great tragedy can breed resilience and hope.
}}
{|class-"wikitable" cellpadding="15"<!-- Leverett -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0008237034.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0008237034/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Love and Other Things to Live For by Louise Leverett]]=== [[image:1star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Jess is single, again. She's recently heartbroken, jobless and has had to swallow her pride and move back in with her best friend. Jess looks to other areas of her life to lift her spirits, her friends, her city and her passion for photography. [[Love and Other Things to Live For by Louise Leverett|Full Review]] <!-- Lucinda Riley -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1529014980.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529014980/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Butterfly Room by Lucinda Riley]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Paradise. That's what it seemed like to nine-year-old Posy Anderson. Her father delighted in indulging her and playing with her. Together they caught butterflies and examined them before her father took them off to let them go free. Her mother was rather distant, but her father more than made up for that. The only blot Move on the horizon was that her father was a spitfire pilot, recovering from an injury, and it seemed likely that he would have to go back to the war. Everyone thought that it was drawing to a close, but men still had to go and fight - and risk their lives. Posy was staying with her grandmother in Cornwall when the news came through that her father had been killed in action. Her mother had travelled from Suffolk to tell her what was going to happen to her. [[The Butterfly Room by Lucinda Riley|Full Review]] <!-- Toon -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:147117946X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/147117946X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[If You Could Go Anywhere by Paige Toon]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's FictionFeatures|Women's Fiction]] Angie is someone who always wanted to travel, but it's taken her 27 years to leave the small mining town in south Australia which has been the only home she's ever known. She doesn't do things by half though, and once she does feel able to go (following a family death) she leaves not only the town, the state and the country, but also the continent, and finds herself following in her mother's footsteps and heading to Italy. [[If You Could Go Anywhere by Paige Toon|Full Review]] <!-- Johnson -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1471178471.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1471178471/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Magnificent Mrs Mayhew by Milly Johnson]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] I liked this book. Whilst not necessarily a page-turner, this was a thoroughly enjoyable heart-warming read from the Queen of chick lit, Milly Johnson. [[The Magnificent Mrs Mayhew by Milly Johnson|Full Review]] <!-- Kate Tough -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:034914365X.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/034914365X/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Keep Walking Rhona Beech by Kate Tough]]=== [[image:4.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Life has just hidden behind a corner and stuck a foot out as Rhona Beech came past. She and Mark had been together for nine years and it was beginning to feel ''settled''. Then Mark announced that he'd got a job in Canada and he was going whether Rhona wanted to come with him or not. The ''not'' bit of the sentence was the way it worked out and Rhona was left on her own. Well, she wasn't completely on her own: she had friends and family, but it's not the same as having that special someone in your life, that someone who makes you part of a couple. So Rhona had to start again, rejoining a world that bore little resemblance to the one she'd left nine years ago - and there's a lot of difference between being in the middle of your twenties and the middle of your thirties. [[Keep Walking Rhona Beech by Kate Tough|Full Review]] <!-- Robertson North -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:ICTYW.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1790464358/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[I Can't Tell You Why by Elaine Robertson North]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] When we first meet Dani she's about to get an offer that would appear to be all too easy to refuse. She's Alex Cambridge's agent and the indications are that he's about to make the big time. He's good looking, charismatic and appealing - well, he's an actor so that's part of the spec - but his suggestion that he and Dani should start a relationship is hedged by a statement that he's got no intention of leaving his wife and three children. So, what's in it for Dani? No, there's no need to answer that. Dani understands the situation all too well and tells him so. [[I Can't Tell You Why by Elaine Robertson North|Full Review]] <!-- Cooper -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1529102464.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1529102464/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Day We Met by Roxie Cooper]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] This is an epic love story spanning ten years of 'will they, won't they'. Stephanie and Jamie are 'meant to be'. When they meet on an art course they have an instant strong connection but both are with other people. However, what I loved was that it's not a 'typical boy meets girl, falls in love and lives happily ever after' story. In fact far from it, without wanting to give too much away, the ending was both refreshingly unexpected and achingly poignant. [[The Day We Met by Roxie Cooper|Full Review]] <!-- Prowse -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1503904954.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1503904954/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Coordinates of Loss by Amanda Prowse]]=== [[image:3.5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Rachel and James have made a new home for themselves, and their son, Oscar, on Bermuda. They have embraced island life, from the hired help (the delightful Cee-Cee) to the sailing life. It's a long way from her former life in England, but Rachel is rather enjoying the way things are working out. [[The Coordinates of Loss by Amanda Prowse|Full Review]] <!-- Melissa Leet -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1943826331.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1943826331/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Landslide by Melissa Leet]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] The area where Jill and Susie lived wasn't highly populated so it was fortunate that they became such good friends, despite the fact that Susie was a year older than Jill. Susie lived with her mother, an alcoholic, and Jill lived with ''her'' mother, who dedicated herself to her garden. Jill's father was Jay Tutle, the photographer, but he spent much of his time working away - often for months on end. In reality there was little difference between the two families: Mrs Smith's alcoholism caused serious illness whilst Susie was still young. Joy and tragedy would visit Jill's home. ''Landslide'' is the story of how what happened determined the course of Jill's life and how great tragedy can breed resilience and hope. [[Landslide by Melissa Leet|Full Review]] <!-- Blake -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1409177122.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1409177122/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[An Italian Summer by Fanny Blake]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Set against the backdrop of Rome and Naples, ten very different people meet on a small 'Taste of Italy' sightseeing trip. This is a story of family, friendships and relationships – my favourite. However, it was a departure from the usual formulaic chicklit I normally read focused on sassy independent female characters in their twenties or thirties. Here the characters are middle-aged with children in their twenties and rather than looking for love they are facing different life challenges of maintaining love, empty nest syndrome, and the loss of loved ones. Essentially it is a story of breaking out and new beginnings. [[An Italian Summer by Fanny Blake|Full Review]]<!-- Coulton -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:1473669588.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1473669588/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[Falling Short by Lex Coulton]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Humour|Humour]], [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Lex Coulton's debut novel is a story about mistakes, failures, and relationships. The main protagonist, Frances Pilgrim, is a sixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jackson, a work colleague, and is grappling with the increasingly eccentric behaviour of her mother. This relationship is complicated by the fact that Frances's father disappeared at sea when she was five years old. [[Falling Short by Lex Coulton|Full Review]] <!-- Fletcher -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0751571229.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0751571229/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[When The Curtain Falls by Carrie Hope Fletcher]]=== [[image:5star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Paranormal|Paranormal]], [[:Category:Crime|Crime]], [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] A thoroughly, magical and riveting story that hooks you in from the first page and takes you on a roller coaster ride towards the last. Fletcher weaves together a dash of ''Whodunit'' the thrill of romance, (the course of which never runs smoothly,) and an unpredictable ghost. The ghost appears once a year, the principal star of her very own show, to meet with the love of her life and re-enact her death. A tragic accident with the roots buried deep within the whole array of human nature. Love, joy, care, friendship, jealousy, possessiveness, selfishness, cold ambition, all laid bare on centre stage. <!-- Butland -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:Butland_Curious.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/785764403/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae by Stephanie Butland]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:General Fiction|General Fiction]], [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Ailsa Rae has been sick her whole life, and just as she was edging closer to death she finally, finally got the call that she needed, that a heart was available for her to have a transplant. Previously she had felt so helpless that she had used her blog to make decisions for her, running polls amongst her readers to decide on her actions. But with her new heart, she has been given a new life. Can Ailsa manage to start to live on her own, and will her mother let her do that? [[The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae by Stephanie Butland|Full Review]] <!-- Woods -->|-| style="width: 10%; vertical-align: top; text-align: center;"|[[image:0751568538.jpg|link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0751568538/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21]] | style="vertical-align: top; text-align: left;"|===[[How to be Happy by Eva Woods]]=== [[image:4star.jpg|link=Category:{{{rating}}} Star Reviews]] [[:Category:Women's Fiction|Women's Fiction]] Annie had hit rock bottom. Her mother was suffering from early-onset dementia and her marriage was well and truly over. She lived in a damp and depressing tenth-floor ex-council flat and had to share with someone she didn't really know just to afford the rent. And let's not get into the job with Lewisham Council and her colleagues there. Could it get any worse? Well, it looked as though it might when Polly burst into her life. She's one of those irritatingly happy, joyful people who simply won't take no for an answer and she's determined to make Annie happy. Whether she likes it or not. [[How to be Happy by Eva Woods|Full Reviewlatest features]]
