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[[Category:Women's Fiction|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Women's Fiction]]__NOTOC__
{{Frontpage
|isbn=B08CHJLNBS1471180158|title=Capturing EmiliaMaybe Tomorrow|author=Brooke AdamsPenny Parkes|rating=34.5|genre=Women's General Fiction|summary=HeJamie Matson works in an upper-class grocery store, for a man who's Charles Devereaux, thirty-eight and a partner at Wickham Jones, control freak with all the Mayfair letting agentssubtlety of a half brick. SheJamie's Emiliason, twenty-nineBo, librarian and archivist in the heritage library next door'has his problems'. Emilia has read [[The Secret by Rhonda Byrne|The Secret]] but sheHe's moved on from new age books like thatasthmatic and the more you read, which leave the more you dependent on someone else's philosophies, to something a little deeper. Charles is more of a [[Personal by Lee Child|Jack Reacher]] man himself, but, above all, ll suspect that he's shocked that Emilia reads ''The Guardian''on the autistic spectrum. They're obviously not Sometimes Jamie needs to take time off at all compatible, so why can Charles not get this woman out of his mind? Sheshort notice - she's not his usual type at all: ita frequent flier in the local A&E and sometimes Bo's obvious not fit enough to his friendsgo to school. And given that Emilia regularly feels repulsed by Charles's superficiality, why does she feel drawn Missed shifts or the need to be away on time to him? pick Bo up from school are occasions when Jamie can be controlled and put in the wrong. The relationship's obviously It was going to come to a non-starter, isn't it?head.
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{{Frontpage
|author= Helly ActonLauren Bravo|title= The ShelfPreloved|rating= 4|genre= Women's Fiction|summary= When we meet Amy, she's in Gwen is pressing her middle-aged bosom on a relationship big number that starts with Jamie. You can't really call it a partnership, because things tend to get done on his terms, but shefour and ends with an oh-my-God-I's sticking around because she hopes she can change himm-nearly-forty. Ah, yes. Haven't we all Having been there? Things are looking up when he tells her to pack for made unexpectedly redundant - any HR officer worth their salt would argue the toss - Gwen finds herself having a bit of a surprise tripmid-life crisis. Could this be it? Is he ''finally'' going to get down on one knee? Was the work ( Catharsis is key and Gwen has decided now is the wait) worth it?time to take back her life'|isbn=18387708791398510629
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{{Frontpage
|authorisbn= Alyssa Sheinmel0008506337|title= What Kind of GirlThe Garnett Girls|author=Georgina Moore|rating= 45|genre= Women's General Fiction|summary= The love affair between Margo Garnett and poet Richard O'Leary was all-consuming, apparently on both sides. Margo was just sixteen when they fell in love. Richard was twenty-one and described by Margo's mother as 'an older man'. Her parents worried that Richard's influence would take her away from what they felt she could achieve - going to Oxford and having a glittering career. In the event, they eloped and Richard took her away from the Isle of Wight. Margo did go to Oxford and went on to become a well-respected journalist. The couple had three children: Rachel, Imogen and Sasha. Life was lived in London and holidays were spent at Sandcove, the family home on the Isle of Wight. Even then the doubts about Richard' Doing something when yous drinking were never far from Margo's mind: 're scared is braver than doing something when you're notshe would never be able to leave him in charge''.
When Mike Parker's girlfriend comes into school with a black eye, claiming he gave it to her, her whole world is tipped upside downThen Richard left them. Her relationship has just ended and now she's the talk of the school. Mike was the most popular boy in school who was always so in love with her, everyone knew that, so why did he do what he did? Some people believe her and some don't, but one thing is for sure, this isn't going to blow over any time soon.|isbn=0349003297
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{{Frontpage
|author= Katie FfordeHadeer Elsbai|title= A Springtime AffairThe Daughters of Izdihar|rating= 4|genre= Women's FictionFantasy|summary= IDrawing inspiration from Egypt, ''The Daughters of Izdihar''ve wanted to read author Katie Fforde explores the lives of two women who could not be more different, yet find themselves fighting for ages the rights of women and this was pretty much exactly what I was expecting weavers – those with magical abilities - in a warmsociety pitted against them. Nehal, cosy read focused on romanceborn into the upper class, family wishes to attend the Weaving Academy to learn to control her abilities and friendships. This provided two romances for then join the price of onemilitary, but it was actually 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 element as opposed and maintain their reputation, whilst secretly attending meetings of the Daughters of Izdihar – a group campaigning for women's rights. Giorgina also happens to the romance that I really enjoyedbe in love with Nico. What follows is a story of an unjust society, filled with hypocrisy and cruelty, from which blossoms a group of admirable women fighting for their rights and overcoming their personal obstacles. |isbn=17808975610356520471
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{{Frontpage
|isbn=B07W4MNBSGB0B575J99N|title=Be Careful Who You MarryBeneath the Porticoes|author=Lizzy MumfreyBrooke Adams
|rating=4
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Elizabeth Miller was thirty-four and a teacher at a prestigious girl's school in York. It was ''comfortable'' but she longed for something more in life. She'd ''still not found the right vocation nor met the right man'' and now was the time to make a change. She needed challenges. There was a little trepidation when she applied for the professoressa job in Bologna. After a telephone interview, she was offered the position and it wasn't long before she was exploring the beautiful city. There were some natural doubts before her first class but it went surprisingly well.
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{{Frontpage
|isbn=0241542405
|title=Meredith Alone
|author=Claire Alexander
|rating=4.5
|genre=General Fiction
|summary=It was coming up to Halloween in 1987 When we first meet Meredith Maggs it's Wednesday 14 November 2018 and a group of sixth-form schoolgirls wondered what they would be doing when they were fiftyshe's not left her home for 1,214 days. When youShe'd ''re only seventeen that seems positively ancient, but Liz was convinced that like''your entire life depends to: in fact, she so nearly does. Her outdoor clothes are on who you marryand she's even considered which shoes to wear if she's going to catch her train. Then, she can't. The only eligible boys were the Young Farmers and She simply can't force herself to leave the idea safety of living in her home. She's fortunate that she has a farmhouse and having a couple of good friend, Sadie, who visits regularly with her two children called Will and Olly appealed to Charlotte, or perhaps William James and Oliver if you were Elizabeth who was determined to marry the rather superior Patrick Shepley-BothamMatilda. The place to start their search was obviously the Young FarmersSadie' Halloween disco that weekends a cardiac nurse and full of sound common sense. There In fact it was just one problem Sadie who gave Meredith her cat, Fred. Groceries are online deliveries and there's also an internet- there were too many Elizabeths based support group where you'll find Meredith as JIGSAWGIRL, so you can guess what she does in the classher spare time. Then Tom McDermott arrives. He's from Holding Hands, a charity which supports people with problems such as Meredith's.
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{{Frontpage
|isbn=14736695880008441618|title=Falling ShortOther Parents|author=Lex CoultonSarah Stovell|rating=45|genre=HumourWomen's Fiction|summary=Lex CoultonJo Fairburn knew that she was under intense pressure as the new head of West Burntridge First School: if she didn's debut novel is t live up to her retired predecessor there could well be a story about mistakes, failures, house price slump in that part of the town. The school had an active Parent Teacher Association and relationshipsthe funds which they raised were a considerable benefit to the school. The main protagonist There was one difficulty, Frances Pilgrimthough - they were ''devastatingly shockable'', is a sixth form English teacher who has recently fallen out with her best friend Jacksontwo members, in particular, a work colleague and is grappling with causing problems for the increasingly eccentric behaviour of her motherhead. This relationship is complicated by Laura Spence and Kate Monroe objected to Jo's restrictions on the fact toys children could bring in on Toy Day but that Frances's father disappeared at sea when she was five years oldjust a warm-up act for their real gripe: LGBTQ education.
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{{Frontpage
|isbnauthor=0008237034Giovanna Fletcher|title=Love and Other Things to Live For|author=Louise LeverettWalking on Sunshine|rating=14
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Jess Mike's wife, Pia, who he was with for seventeen years, has died. And whilst he is singledealing with his grief, so are their best friends, againVicky and Zaza. SheBut Pia left them all some 'rules's recently heartbrokento follow, jobless knowing that she was dying and has had that they would need help to swallow carry on living. Whilst some of the rules are around practicalities such as clearing out her pride wardrobe, another one that Mike discovers one day encourages him to take one of their trips away, and Vicky and move back in Zaza, struggling with her best friend. Jess looks to other areas of her their grief and their own life troubles, decide to lift her spiritsdrop everything in their own lives, her friends, her city and her passion for photographygo along with him.|isbn=140593560X
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{{Frontpage
|isbn=1529014980B09FS89KX9|title=The Butterfly RoomFall On Me|author=Lucinda RileyPenelope Potts|rating=43.5
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Paradise. Life should have been good for Hollie: ThatShe was just going into the final year of her veterinary degree and - three years later - was still working at BB's what it seemed like to ninediner. Bob -yearthe owner -old Posy Andersonregarded her fondly: he was a good boss. Her father delighted Hollie had moved in indulging her and playing with her. Together they caught butterflies and examined them before boyfriend, Marcus: her father took them off to let them go free. Her mother thought he was rather distant, but her father more than made up for thatgreat and he was doing well in his career. The only blot on the horizon was that Hollie wasn't quite so certain though: Marcus wanted to control her father was a spitfire pilot, recovering from an injury, and it seemed likely that most of all he would have to go back wanted her to leave her job at the wardiner. Everyone thought that it Then there 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 fact that her father had been killed in action. Her mother had travelled from Suffolk he would be violent, both to tell her what was going and to happen to herother people.
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{{Frontpage
|isbn=147117946X0008421714|title=If You Could Go AnywhereMrs March|author=Paige ToonVirginia Feito
|rating=4.5
|genre=Women's Literary Fiction|summary=Angie is someone who always wanted The problem began just after the publication of George March's most successful novel to travel, date. Everyone but Mrs March (we know her first name only on the last page) seemed to either be reading it's taken her 27 years or had already done so. Every day Mrs March went to the local patisserie to leave buy olive bread but on that particular morning, Patricia asked, as she was wrapping the small mining town in South Australia which has been bread, ''but isn't this the only home shefirst time he's ever known. based a character on you?'' She doesnmentioned that Johanna, the principal character had 't do things by half though, and once she does feel able to go (following a family death) she leaves her mannerisms''. Perhaps this would not only the townhave mattered, except for the state and fact that Johanna is the countrywhore of Nantes - ''a weak, but also the continentplain, detestable, pathetic, unloved, and finds herself following in her motherunloveable wretch.''s footsteps and heading to Italy.s
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{{Frontpage
|isbn=14711784711473685745|title=The Magnificent Mrs MayhewUnbreak Your Heart|author=Milly JohnsonKatie Marsh
|rating=4
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=I liked this bookWhen Beth Carlyle and Simon Withers first met they were on opposite ends of an angry exchange - well, Simon was angry and Beth was doing her best to apologise for having knocked Simon's son, Jake, off his bike. He wasn't hurt but Jake has history. Whilst He has HLHS - that's Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome for those of you who are not necessarily ''au fait'' with your medical acronyms. When he was born, the left side of his heart hadn't developed properly and he needed open-heart surgery when he was a few days old. So, Simon has every right to be over-protective particularly when someone isn't looking where they're driving.}} {{Frontpage|author=C J Carey|title=Widowland|rating=4|genre=General Fiction|summary=It's April 1953, and Adolf Hitler's schedule includes going to Moscow to attend the state funeral of Joseph Stalin then within weeks coming to London, parading around a pagebit, and watching over the sanctioned return to the throne of Edward VIII with his wife, Queen Wallis. For yes, Britain caved in the lead-turnerup to the World War Two that certainly didn't happen as we know it, and we are now a protectorate – well, we share enough of the same blood as the Germanic peoples on ''the mainland''. But this was is most certainly a thoroughly enjoyable heartdifferent Britain, for Nazi-warming read styled phrenology, and ideas of female purpose, has put all of that gender into a caste system, ranging from high-brow office bigwigs to the drudges, and beyond those, right on down to the Queen childless, the husbandless and the widows. Female literacy is actively discouraged. 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 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 party line before they're stamped ready for reprint. That is her job, at least, until the first emerging signs of chick-litfemale protest come to light, Milly Johnsonwith their potential to spoil Hitler's visit.|isbn=152941198X
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{{Frontpage
|isbnauthor=034914365XRuth Hogan|title=Keep Walking Rhona Beech|author=Kate ToughMadame Burova
|rating=4.5
|genre=Women's General Fiction|summary=Life has just hidden behind This book lets us discover several people in different stages of life in the early 1970s, all vaguely connected. So we have a corner and stuck a foot out bullied half-cast boy (as Rhona Beech came past. She and Mark had he would have been together for nine years called then), a girl in a humdrum job wanting to become a singer, and it was beginning to feel chiefly, Imelda, the third generation of Madame Burova, ''settledTarot-Reader, Palmist and Clairvoyant'', to use her family's sea-front booth. Then Mark announced that heThe singer, the scryer and the sufferer'd got s mother will all become staff at a job revamped holiday camp, but just before then we see Imelda fly solo for the first time in Canada and he was going whether Rhona wanted to come with him or notthe family stall. The ''not'' bit of the sentence was the way it worked out and Rhona was left We also see her on her ownlast day, fifty years later, in possession of a pair of letters that will change everything for a woman called Billie. WellJust who is she, she wasn't completely on and who delivered the secrets about her own: she had friends to Imelda, and family, but why did ithave to remain a secret all this time?|isbn=152937331X}}{{Frontpage|author= Jennifer Saint |title= Ariadne |rating= 4.5 |genre= Women's not Fiction |summary= This re-telling of the myth of Ariadne and the Minotaur is interesting and unusual. Jennifer Saint presents the same as having that special someone story in your life, a way that someone who makes you part of is sympathetic to its origins but also appealing to a couplemodern audience. So Rhona had Saint's narrative is told predominantly through the viewpoint of Ariadne, spanning from her childhood to start againher death, rejoining allowing the reader to really connect with Ariadne as a world that bore little resemblance to the one she'd left nine years ago - and there's character in her own right rather than just a lot of difference between being prop in the middle heroics of your twenties and the middle of your thirtiesTheseus.|isbn=1472273869
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{{Frontpage
|isbnauthor=Robertson NorthLucy Holland|title=I Can't Tell You Why|author=Elaine Robertson NorthSistersong
|rating=5
|genre=Women's Literary Fiction|summary=When we first meet Dani she's about 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 get an offer stories that would appear to be all too easy to refuse. She's Alex Cambridge's agent are now becoming increasingly narrow and the indications are that he's about to make the big time. He's good lookingoutdated, fleshing out characters, charismatic examining relationships and appealing re- evaluating the role of women. Sistersong is a perfect example of a modern retelling done well, he's an actor so that's part of the spec - plot is handled with care, keeping its archaic historical feel but his suggestion that he allowing the characters to come to life, to feel real and Dani should start human, most importantly they feel relatable in a relationship modern world whilst still feeling appropriate for the pre-Saxon age they live in. This is hedged by a statement that he's got no intention masterpiece of leaving his wife storytelling and three children. So, what's in it for Dani? No, there's no need I was captivated from beginning to answer that. Dani understands the situation all too well and tells him soend.|isbn=1529039037
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{{Frontpage
|isbn=1529102464B08NF79QXT|title=The Day We MetCherry Blossom Boutique|author=Roxie CooperBrooke Adams|rating=3.5
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=This is an epic love story spanning ten years of 'will theyThirty-one-year old Liberty Rossini has had her shop, the Cherry Blossom Boutique, won't theyfor just six months when she's nominated for - and wins - the Retail Best Newcomer Award. Stephanie She's delighted and Jamie are the two people she'meant s brought with her to the event couldn't be'more pleased. When they meet on Sonja, her mother, is an art course ex-model and Brazilian: you can see where Liberty got her looks from. Jessica's thirty-four and Liberty's best friend: they have an instant strong connection but both are with 've known each other people. However, what I loved was that itsince university and Liberty adores Jessica's not a 'typical boy meets girlhusband, falls in love Charles and lives happily ever after' storytheir four-year-old daughter, Ava. In fact far from Life would be perfect for Liberty if it, without wanting to give too much away, the ending was both refreshingly unexpected and achingly poignantwasn't for one thing: she misses having a man in her life.
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{{Frontpage
|isbn=1503904954B08GFSK2WZ|title=The Coordinates of LossKarma Trap|author=Amanda ProwseLisette Boyd|rating=3.54
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=Rachel George Jackson is thirty-three years old, absolutely gorgeous to look at - and James have made a new home single. She's not had sex for themselves, eight months and their son, Oscar, she's stuck in the karma trap: an awful lot of bad luck is being visited on Bermudaher and she has a real talent for attracting drama. They have embraced island Her life, 's chaotic: she dealt with the leak from the hired help (shower by putting something down at the delightful Ceebottom of the stairs to absorb the water -Cee) to then the shower fell through the roof whilst she was in it and left her, stark naked, staring at the sailing lifepervy postman. It She only has to take her mother's dog out for a long way from walk for her to end up with dog poo spattered across her former life in England, but Rachel is rather enjoying face - and a photo being taken by someone who shares it around the way things are working outoffice.
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{{Frontpage
|isbn=1943826331B08CHJLNBS|title=Landslide Capturing Emilia|author=Melissa LeetBrooke Adams|rating=43
|genre=Women's Fiction
|summary=The area where Jill He's Charles Devereaux, thirty-eight and Susie lived wasna partner at Wickham Jones, the Mayfair letting agents. She't highly populated so it was fortunate that they became such good friendss Emilia, twenty-nine, despite librarian and archivist in the fact heritage library next door. Emilia has read [[The Secret by Rhonda Byrne|The Secret]] but she's moved on from new age books like that Susie was , which leave you dependent on someone else's philosophies, to something a year older than Jilllittle deeper. Susie lived with her motherCharles is more of a [[Personal by Lee Child|Jack Reacher]] man himself, but, an alcoholicabove all, and Jill lived with he's shocked that Emilia reads ''herThe Guardian'' mother, who dedicated herself to her garden. JillThey's father was Jay Tutlere obviously not at all compatible, the photographer, but he spent much so why can Charles not get this woman out of his time working away - often for months on end. mind? In reality, there was little difference between the two familiesShe's not his usual type at all: Mrs Smithit's alcoholism caused serious illness whilst Susie was still youngobvious to his friends. Joy and tragedy would visit JillAnd given that Emilia regularly feels repulsed by Charles's home. superficiality, why does she feel drawn to him? The relationship's obviously a non-starter, isn'Landslide'' is the story of how what happened determined the course of Jill's life and how great tragedy can breed resilience and hope.t it?
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{{Frontpage
|isbnauthor=1409177122Helly Acton|title=An Italian Summer|author=Fanny BlakeThe Shelf|rating=4|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=Set against the backdrop of Rome and NaplesWhen we meet Amy, ten very different people meet on she's in a small relationship with Jamie. You can'Taste of Italy' sightseeing trip. This is t really call it a story of familypartnership, because things tend to get done on his terms, friendships and relationships – my favouritebut she's sticking around because she hopes she can change him. HoweverAh, it was a departure from the usual formulaic chick lit I normally read focused on sassy independent female characters in their twenties or thirtiesyes. Here the characters Haven't we all been there? Things are middle-aged with children in their twenties and rather than looking up when he tells her to pack for love they are facing different life challenges of maintaining love, empty nest syndrome, a surprise trip. Could this be it? Is he ''finally'' going to get down on one knee? Was the work (and the loss of loved ones. Essentially wait) worth it is a story of breaking out and new beginnings.?|isbn=1838770879
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{{Frontpage
|isbnauthor=0751571229Alyssa Sheinmel|title=When The Curtain Falls|author=Carrie Hope FletcherWhat Kind of Girl|rating=54|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=A thoroughly, magical and riveting story that hooks '' Doing something when you in from the first page and takes 're scared is braver than doing something when you on a roller coaster ride towards the last. Fletcher weaves together a dash of 're not'WhodunitWhen Mike Parker' the thrill of romance, (the course of which never runs smoothly,) and an unpredictable ghost. The ghost appears once s girlfriend comes into school with a yearblack eye, the principal star of claiming he gave it to her very own show, to meet with the love of her life whole world is tipped upside down. Her relationship has just ended and re-enact her death. A tragic accident with now she's the roots buried deep within talk of the whole array of human natureschool. LoveMike was the most popular boy in school who was always so in love with her, joyeveryone knew that, careso why did he do what he did? Some people believe her and some don't, friendshipbut one thing is for sure, jealousy, possessiveness, selfishness, cold ambition, all laid bare on centre stagethis isn't going to blow over any time soon.|isbn=0349003297
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{{Frontpage
|isbnauthor=Butland_CuriousKatie Fforde|title=The Curious Heart of Ailsa Rae|author=Stephanie ButlandA Springtime Affair|rating=4|genre=Women's Fiction|summary=Ailsa Rae has been sick her whole life, I've wanted to read author Katie Fforde for ages and just as she this was edging closer to death she finally, finally got the call that she needed, that a heart pretty much exactly what I was available for her to have expecting - a transplant. Previously she had felt so helpless that she had used her blog to make decisions for herwarm, running polls amongst her readers to decide cosy read focused on her actionsromance, family and friendships. But with her new heart This provided two romances for the price of one, she has been given a new life. Can Ailsa manage but it was actually the family element as opposed to start to live on her own, and will her mother let her do the romance that?I really enjoyed. |isbn=1780897561
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{{Frontpage
|isbn=0751568538B07W4MNBSG|title=How to be HappyBe Careful Who You Marry|author=Eva WoodsLizzy Mumfrey
|rating=4
|genre=Women's General Fiction|summary=Annie had hit rock bottom. Her mother It was suffering from earlycoming up to Halloween in 1987 and a group of sixth-onset dementia and her marriage form schoolgirls wondered what they would be doing when they were fifty. When you're only seventeen that seems positively ancient, but Liz was well convinced that ''your entire life depends on who you marry''. The only eligible boys were the Young Farmers and truly over. She lived the idea of living in a damp farmhouse and depressing tenth-floor ex-council flat having a couple of children called Will and had Olly appealed to share with someone she didn't really know just Charlotte, or perhaps William and Oliver if you were Elizabeth who was determined to afford marry the rentrather superior Patrick Shepley-Botham. And let The place to start their search was obviously the Young Farmers's not get into the job with Lewisham Council and her colleagues thereHalloween disco that weekend. Could it get any worse? Well, it looked as though it might when Polly burst into her life. She's There was just 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 notproblem - there were too many Elizabeths in the class.
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