Best of
Chick-Lit

1994

Tara


Lesley Pearse - 1994
    She forges a determination then and there to change her life.This is the story of three beautiful and talented women. Mabel, whose great love for a gambling man has brought her close to insanity; gentle Amy, who marries a man brutalised by war and failure; and Tara, who is hungry for success and life on her own terms.To have both, she must battle against the legacy these two women have left her, the deep prejudices and dangers of Whitechapel in the 1960s - with its gang leaders, rogues, market traders and dolly birds - and the passionate love she has had since girlhood for the charming wideboy and villain, Harry Collins.

One for the Money


Janet Evanovich - 1994
    Now the rent is due again. And you live in New Jersey. What do you do?If you're Stephanie Plum, you become a bounty hunter. But not just a nickel-and-dime bounty hunter; you go after the big money. That means a cop gone bad. And not just any cop. She goes after Joe Morelli, a disgraced former vice cop who is also the man who took Stephanie's virginity at age 16 and then wrote details on a bathroom wall. With pride and rent money on the line, Plum plunges headlong into her first case, one that pits her against ruthless adversaries - people who'd rather kill than lose.In Stephanie Plum, Evanovich has created a resourceful and humorous character who stands apart from the pack of gritty female detectives.

It Had to Be You


Susan Elizabeth Phillips - 1994
    And Phoebe is definitely not prepared for the Stars' head coach Dan Calebow, a sexist jock taskmaster with a one-track mind. This is the book that began it all. The Chicago Stars are about to take the field... and they’re not the only ones playing for keeps.

French Relations


Fiona Walker - 1994
    But her mother is insistent and, out of a job and recently ditched by her boyfriend, Tash decides that spending July in the vast rambling Loire chateau might have its compensations.It's a summer of lust, bed-hopping, unresolved sexual tension, horses, dogs, bolshy kids and lots of bad behaviour. And in the midst of bedlam, at least two people fall in love . . .

Foreign Affairs


Patricia Scanlan - 1994
    All at a crossroads in their lives. All with difficult choices to make. All badly in need of a holiday.PAULA: Beautiful, ambitious and successful, she works hard and plays hard. Men find her irresistible...except for the one man she really wants.BRENDA: In her late thirties, she longs for glamour and excitement. Tired of being a housewife stuck at home with her children, Brenda is determined to make changes in her life. Then the unthinkable happens.RACHEL: Shy and timid, she's always been dominated by her cold, intolerant father. But beneath the surface she is bubbling with suppressed rage. Does she have the courage to finally become her own woman?JENNIFER: She's a true friend. Paula comes to her with man troubles. Rachel tells her of family woes. Her sister Brenda is envious of Jennifer's high-powered career and successful marriage. Then tragedy strikes. Will Paula, Brenda and Rachel be there for Jennifer when she needs them?When the four women stay in a luxurious villa on a Greek island, they soon realize that they have embarked on more than just a foreign holiday. Amidst rows, arguments, laughter and fun they come to see each other in a different light. Can their friendships be sustained? Indeed, will their lives ever be the same again?

For My Daughters


Barbara Delinsky - 1994
    Clair have spent their lives trying to escape the legacy of their wealthy, aloof, social-climbing mother, Virginia—each losing a certain part of herself in the process. Now, on the eve of her seventieth birthday, Virginia has asked them all to help her get settled into her magnificent new estate on the rocky coast of Maine, a request each sister reluctantly agrees to, thinking it may be her mother's last.But it is Virginia who has something to give to the daughters she neglected in childhood. For amid the glories of a New England summer, three sisters will finally learn the answers to the questions that have troubled them for years . . . and new truths that will stay with them forever.

Vengeance


Susan Lewis - 1994
    But she is also a woman haunted by her past which threatens to ruin her life - a lingering past of loneliness and rejection. And most dangerous of all, of burning vengeance.Lawrence McAllister is the man who walked out on her and broke her heart. Yet he is the only man who can help her fight her worst enemy - Dyllis Fisher, a woman who has vowed to destroy Kirsten's life at all costs. And in a world where bitter vengeance will know no limit, Kirsten needs all the help she can get...

The Glass Lake


Maeve Binchy - 1994
    For it is a place where change comes slowly. drowned in the lake, and then the gossip runs wild. The consequences for Helen's husband, her son, but above all for her daughter, Kit, are unimaginable and will leave not one of their lives unchanged.

Spirit of the Season


Donna Hill - 1994
    Unusual and romantic, this collection of short stories surrounds the December holiday seasons of Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year's Eve.

Temptation


Donna Hill - 1994
    Liaisons is the ultimate fantasy--a chic retreat where romantic dreams are yours for the right price. But Noelle has other secrets--a past in New Orleans, a marriage to a powerful man who fulfilled all but her deepest longings and a vow to uncover the truth behind his mysterious death. Yet the only man she can trust is a stranger whose explosive sexuality awakens desire--and fear....Is Love Worth Any Price?From the moment the man calling himself Cole Richards meets his partner's beautiful widow, the stakes in a dangerous game rise even higher. But the closer he gets to Noelle's seductive flame, the more he risks being burned--and the more he must hide a shocking truth that could destroy the love he so passionately craves....

Range Of Motion


Elizabeth Berg - 1994
    It's easy to say how it happened. He walked past a building, and a huge chunk of ice fell off the roof, and it hit him in the head. This is Chaplinesque, right? People start to laugh when I tell them-'As Jay Berman lingers in a coma, his young wife, Lainey, is the only one who believes he will recover. While he lies motionless, she hopes to reach him by offering reminders of the ordinary life they shared - sweet-smelling flowers, his softly textured shirt, spices from their kitchen. And throughout her ordeal, Lainey is sustained by her relationship with two very special women, each of whom teaches her about the enduring bond of friendship and the genuine power of hope.

Drawn In: Impulse / Once More With Feeling / The Best Mistake


Nora Roberts - 1994
    1 New York Times bestselling author Nora Roberts comes two tales of resisting and succumbing to love...ImpulseFor once in her life, Rebecca Malone decided to follow her impulses, jettison the familiar and head to Greece to find adventure! So when a sexy stranger began to romance her, she couldn't resist playing the sophisticated, well-travelled woman. However, falling in love with Stephen Nickodemus was not part of the plan! How on earth could she explain to the man she'd given her heart to that she wasn't the woman he'd believed her to be? And then convince him that she was still the woman he loved...Once More with FeelingMusician Raven Williams was devastated when Brandon Carstairs broke her heart five years ago. Now he's back, asking for her help co-writing the score for a major film — an opportunity she can't refuse. Despite the undeniable heat between them, Raven vows to keeps things strictly professional. Once burned, twice shy. But when the sparks start flying, it's hard not to melt...

The Dragon and the Dove


Glenna McReynolds - 1994
    But Cooper Daniels is anything but--he's a bounty hunter who brings in modern-day pirates, and he wants Jessica to help him track down the most notorious tyrant in the South China Sea.

Honor


Lindsay Chase - 1994
    It was a scandal that could have shattered Honor Elliott. Instead, it strengthened her resolve to become a lawyer. The only woman in her Bostonian law school, she endured the pranks and insults of her classmates. But law student Robert Davis seemed to share her dream--and wanted to share his life with her.They came to New York City to advance Robert's career. But Honor wanted so much more... Her own law office. Recognition of her skills, equal to any male lawyer. Then she took on a ground-breaking case to defend an outspoken woman doctor. Here was the chance to fulfill the promises she had made to herself And to meet a special man who would show her the rewards of true love...

The Danse Macabre of Women: Ms. Fr. 995 of the Bibliothèque Nationale


Ann Tukey Harrison - 1994
    The only Dance of Death devoted entirely to women, it was written by an anonymous author and subsequently expanded by several poet/editors. In this version, one of the later productions, 36 women are called in the midst of their bustling daily lives to join the eternal Dance of Death. Young and old, rich and poor, widow, matron, and child—each is the focus of two short poelms written in the form of a dialogue (Death calls and the victim replies) and accompanied by an illumination (or a miniature).The combined text and illumination forms a valuable social document describing these Parisian women and their preoccupations, pleasures, and attitudes toward death and the life they are leaving. The manuscript thus affords an occasion for social, historical, and anthropological insight. Because it post-dates the popular printed editions published by Guyot Marchant in Paris beginning in 1486, it also offers an opportunity to study the dynamic interactions between manuscript and print, between popular and high culture, in the early years of the Renaissance.The book contains reproductions of each manuscript folio, five in full color, a transliteration and translation into English of the text (on facing pages), and explanatory chapters by Ann Tukey Harrison and by art historian Sandra L. Hindman.Readers interested in art, art history, women’s studies, literature, culture, and paleography as an artistic form will find this volume essential.