In Samantha’s Mailbox:
Title: Schoolgirl Cinderella
Author: Priya Narendran
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Ten year old Briony Duke and her parents own a prestigious girls’ school in the country. This is in contrast to Mrs. Eyres, a middle-aged woman who has just been sacked by Briony’s father for embezzling funds.When Briony’s parents are killed in a car crash, Mrs. Eyres and daughter Lucy take over the school and Mrs. Eyres now becomes Briony’s guardian. Mrs. Eyres makes Briony sleep in the kitchen, cook, clean and tend to her and her daughter’s every whim.
Seven years pass and one day Briony meets 19 year old Tom Logan, the sixth richest man in the country. She slowly starts to fall in love with the intelligent, charismatic teenager, the only question is; can she win his heart before her evil stepsister does?
Title: Elly in Bloom
Author: Colleen Oakes
Received: Via CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: Surrounded by lush flowers and neurotic brides, chubby 32-year old Elly Jordan has carved out a sweet little life for herself as the owner of Posies, a boutique wedding florist in St. Louis. It’s not bad for a woman who drove away from her entire life just two years ago when she found her husband entwined with a red-headed artist.
Sure, Elly has an embarrassingly beautiful best friend, a terribly behaved sheepdog and a sarcastic assistant who she simply calls “Snarky Teenager”, but overall her days are pleasantly uneventful. As a bonus, her new next door neighbor just happens to be an unnervingly handsome musician who has an eye for curvy Elly. Just when she feels that she is finally moving on from her past, she discovers that an extravagant wedding contract, one that could change her financial future, is more than she bargained for.
With the help of her friends, staff and the occasional well-made sandwich, Elly bravely agrees to take on the event that threatens to merge her painful history with her bright new life, and finds herself blooming in a direction she never imagined.
Elly’s voice, both charming and hilarious, will appeal to those readers who have been looking for a new voice in chick-lit, and will give women of all sizes the realistic heroine they’ve been waiting for.
Title: Don’t Tell the Groom
Author: Anna Bell
Received: From Anna Bell
Synopsis: Bride-to-be Penny discovers that she’s lost £10,000 of wedding savings playing online bingo. So that she doesn’t have to reveal her gambling secret, she convinces her fiancé Mark that they should have a Don’t Tell the Groom themed wedding. Penny then has to plan a wedding fit for a princess on a shoestring budget. But, by the time she discovers that the true meaning of marriage isn’t a Vera Wang wedding dress or Jimmy Choos, will she still have a groom to marry?
Title: The Union Street Bakery
Author: Mary Ellen Taylor
Received: Penguin Group
Synopsis: Life can turn on a dime. It’s a common cliché, and I’d heard it often enough. People die or move away. Investments go south. Affairs end. Loved ones betray us…Stuff happens.
Daisy McCrae’s life is in tatters. She’s lost her job, broken up with her boyfriend, and has been reduced to living in the attic above her family’s store, the Union Street Bakery, while learning the business. Unfortunately, the bakery is in serious hardship. Making things worse is the constant feeling of not being a “real” McCrae since she was adopted as a child and has a less-than-perfect relationship with her two sisters.
Then a long-standing elderly customer passes away, and for some reason bequeaths Daisy a journal dating back to the 1850s, written by a slave girl named Susie. As she reads, Daisy learns more about her family—and her own heritage—than she ever dreamed. Haunted by dreams of the young Susie, who beckons Daisy to “find her,” she is compelled to look further into the past of the town and her family.
What she finds are the answers she has longed for her entire life, and a chance to begin again with the courage and desire she thought she lost for good.
Title: Sophie’s Run
Author: Nicky Wells
Received: From Nicky Wells
Synopsis: Her famous star remains her rock while life takes her on a little detour…
Who says that the road towards true love is straight and even? Sophie is certainly discovering that it is anything but.
So she has finally found the man of her dreams! Well… she knows who he is, even though she hasn’t actually quite met him yet. But she misses her opportunity, and then her life goes crazy. Rock star and ex-fiancé, Dan, keeps getting in the way of her new romance—even if he is just trying to be helpful. A fire, an impromptu mini-trip with Dan, and a dreaded wedding later, Sophie is still struggling to meet the love of her life. Then, just as she is getting it together with her perfect man, best friend Rachel commits an act of unspeakable betrayal.
Sophie has had enough. Confused and distraught, she decides that it is time for radical change. Surprising herself and shocking her friends, she embarks on a secret journey eventually gets her life back on track.
Title: The School Gates
Author: Nicola May
Received: From Nicola May
Synopsis: At 3.10pm every weekday, parents gather at Featherstone Primary in Denbury to collect their children.
For a special few, the friendships forged at the school gates will see them through lives filled with drama, secrets and sorrows. When Yummy Mummy Alana reveals the identity of her love-child’s father, she doesn’t expect the consequences to be quite so extreme. Ex Czech au-pair Earth Mummy Dana finds happiness in her secret sideline, but really all she longs for is another child. Slummy Mummy Mo’s wife-beating husband leads her down a path she never thought possible, and Supper Mummy Joan has to cope when life deals her a devastating blow.
And what of Gay Daddy Gordon? Will he be able to juggle parenthood and cope with his broken heart at the same time?
Four very different mothers. One adorable dad. And the intertwining trials and tribulations that a year at the primary school gates brings.
In Sara’s Mailbox:
Title: 12 Lessons
Author: Kate Spencer
Received: Kate Spencer
Synopsis: Move over Bridget Jones, Stephanie Slater is in town and she doesn’t believe in psychics…yet!
No one knows that beneath her groomed and successful persona Stephanie Slater is struggling to keep up the act.
When an accidental psychic reading breaks open the cracks in her perfect life, it starts to unravel for all to see.
Stephanie then starts the transformational journey to rebuild and reclaim her life lesson by lesson, month by month in a year like no other.
Each of the 12 Lessons helps her to learn more about herself and gives this entertaining story a deeper and more profound meaning, as she works towards creating the life that she has always wanted… but will she make it in time?
Can you really change your Destiny in one year?
Title: The Boy Next Door
Author: Annabelle Costa
Received: Ruth Madison
Synopsis: Through middle school, high school, bad dates, and an ill-advised punk phase, Tasha has always been able to count on Jason. Since the day he moved in next door, he’s gone from the weird kid in a wheelchair to Tasha’s most trusted friend. But lives change and the friends are going in different directions. When Jason and Tasha rekindle their friendship, sparks fly. After years of being a wild soul, now the ex-lead of a band turned music teacher is just looking for a relationship to last.
When none other than Jason introduces her to a man who can give her what she wants, Tasha is on the verge of throwing passion and love away just so she can forget her troubled past and settle down. But Jason isn’t ready to give her up just yet.
Title: The Bad Girls’ Club
Author: Kathryn O’Halloran
Received: Kathryn O’Halloran
Synopsis: Three girls are united in their realisation that keeping themselves nice has got them nowhere. It’s time to take action. It’s time to rebel. It’s time to become Bad Girls. Imogen wants to get laid but how can she be a bad girl until she loses a few kilos? Beth is happy to be a bad girl – so long as no one else finds out and so long as she is in control. Juliette’s not really sure what she’s doing, but it sure beats another Saturday night gaming with her geek boyfriend. They band together to form the Bad Girls Club, a support group for recovering nice girls, and through a series of brazen dares, push the limits of their sexuality. But are the girls ready to finally take the final leap that will have them branded as bad girls for real? To save the club, and each other, they each have to publicly acknowledge their darkest secrets. Join the bad girls in this raunchy, snort-laughingly funny chick lit adventure. The Bad Girls’ Club about sex, it’s about dares but most of all, it’s about friendship.
