Book picks similar to
The Time of Our Lives by Abby Williams
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chick-lit
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The Key to Happily Ever After
Tif Marcelo - 2019
All’s fair in love and business. The de la Rosa family and their wedding planning business have been creating happily ever afters in the Washington, DC area for years, making even the most difficult bride’s day a fairytale. But when their parents announce their retirement, the sisters—Marisol, Janelyn, and Pearl—are determined to take over the business themselves. But the sisters quickly discover that the wedding business isn’t all rings and roses. There are brides whose moods can change at the drop of a hat; grooms who want to control every part of the process; and couples who argue until their big day. As emotions run high, the de la Rosa sisters quickly realize one thing: even when disaster strikes—whether it’s a wardrobe malfunction or a snowmageddon in the middle of a spring wedding—they’ll always have each other. Perfect for fans of the witty and engaging novels of Amy E. Reichert and Susan Mallery, The Key to Happily Ever After is a fresh romantic comedy that celebrates the crucial and profound power of sisterhood.
The Bette Davis Club
Jane Lotter - 2013
Spending three decades in love with a wonderful but unattainable man is pretty high up on her list of missteps, as is a long line of unsuccessful love affairs accompanied by a seemingly endless supply of delicious cocktails.When the young bride flees—taking with her a family heirloom and leaving behind six hundred bewildered guests—her mother offers Margo fifty grand to retrieve her spoiled brat of a daughter and the invaluable property she stole. So, together with the bride’s jilted and justifiably crabby fiancé, Margo sets out in a borrowed 1955 red MG on a cross-country chase. Along the way, none of what she discovers will be quite what she expected. But it might be exactly what she’s been seeking all along.From acclaimed humor writer Jane Lotter comes this madcap, laugh-out-loud adventure, The Bette Davis Club.
Revised edition: This edition of The Bette Davis Club includes editorial revisions.
The Accidental Beauty Queen
Teri Wilson - 2018
Which couldn’t be more opposite from her identical twin sister. Ginny, an Instagram-famous beauty queen, has been chasing a crown since she was old enough to say "world peace," and she’s not giving up until she wins Miss American Treasure. But when Ginny has a face-altering allergic reaction the night before competition, Charlotte suddenly finds herself in a switcheroo the twins haven’t successfully pulled off in decades.Woefully unprepared for the glittery world of hair extensions, false eyelashes, and push-up bras, Charlotte realizes, after walking a mile in her twin's sky-high stilettos, there might be more to the pageant circuit than just a sparkly crown . . .
A Day Like This
Kelley McNeil - 2021
It’s a day like any other when she takes Hannah to the pediatrician…until she wakes hours later from a car accident. When she asks for her daughter, confused doctors tell Annie that Hannah never existed. In fact, nothing after waking from the crash is the same as Annie remembers. Five happy years of her life apparently never happened.Annie’s marriage is coming to an end. Now a successful artist living in Manhattan, she’s no longer home in their beloved upstate farmhouse. Her long-estranged sister is more like a best friend, and her recently deceased dog is alive and well. With each passing day, Annie’s remembered past and unfamiliar present begin to blur. Haunted by visions of Hannah, and with knowledge of things she can’t explain, Annie wonders…is everyone lying to her?The search for answers leads Annie down an illuminating path far from home, to reconcile the memories with reality and to discover the truth about the life she’s living.
The Gin Lover's Guide to Dating
Nina Kaye - 2019
add a splash of gin
Two parts sparkling comedy. One dose of romantic tension. Mix well with a second chance, a splash of mystery, and garnish with a twist of fate...
When Liv's high-flying career goes off the rails, she finds herself working at a glitzy new gin bar to pay the bills. Yes, she's got a knack for reading the customers, she's finally got time to have some fun, and she might have just found some real friends - but it's just until she gets her life back on track, right? But between humiliating encounters with her old workmates, one very hot bartender, and a lot of soul searching to do, Liv's life is even more muddled than a Blackberry Bramble...Can Liv face up to her past, seize her future, and mix her own recipe for happiness?
A hilarious, feel-good romantic comedy for fans of Mhairi McFarlane and Sophie Ranald
***
The Cows
Dawn O'Porter - 2017
/ka?/A piece of meat; born to breed; past its sell-by-date; one of the herd.Women don’t have to fall into a stereotype.The Cows is a powerful novel about three women. In all the noise of modern life, each needs to find their own voice.It’s about friendship and being female.It’s bold and brilliant.It’s searingly perceptive.It's about never following the herd.And everyone is going to be talking about it.
The Silent Wife
Kerry Fisher - 2017
Gorgeous doting husband Massimo, sweet little son Sandro and the perfect home. Lara knows something about Massimo. Something she can’t tell anyone else or everything Massimo has worked so hard for will be destroyed: his job, their reputation, their son. This secret is keeping Lara a prisoner in her marriage. Maggie is married to Massimo’s brother Nico and lives with him and her troubled step-daughter. She knows all of Nico’s darkest secrets – or so she thinks. Then one day she discovers a letter in the attic which reveals a shocking secret about Nico’s first wife Caitlin. Will Maggie set the record straight or keep silent to protect those she loves? For a family held together by lies, the truth will come at a devastating price. A heart-wrenching, emotionally gripping read for fans of Amanda Prowse, Liane Moriarty, and Diane Chamberlain.
I Know Where You Live
Pat Young - 2018
Yet no one should know where she lives. Penny seizes the chance of a new life for her family when her husband is offered a job in Europe.At the airport they meet charming Sophie, fluent in French and looking for work as an au pair. Penny, struggling to cope in France, offers Sophie a job and she soon becomes an important part of the family’s life. But Sophie is hiding something.Then Penny’s toddler son, Ethan, is abducted and an international hunt for the child begins. The police beg Penny and her husband to take part in a television appeal but the couple refuse. Unknown to the police, Penny and Seth have new identities and are determined to lay low and protect them. But it may be too late for that.Who has taken Ethan and why?Are the couple’s true identities linked to the abduction?And who has been watching them?To save her son Penny may have to put her own life on the line.
A Spark of Light
Jodi Picoult - 2018
Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester disguised as a patient, who now stands in the cross hairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard.Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day.Jodi Picoult—one of the most fearless writers of our time—tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A Spark of Light will inspire debate, conversation . . . and, hopefully, understanding.
Sweet Home Summer
Michelle Vernal - 2021
Burnt out and tired of an unfulfilling profession and lousy boyfriends, it’s time for her to go home.Arriving back in cosy Bibury to stay with her grandmother, Bridget, everything is charmingly familiar. Even her childhood sweetheart, Ben, is as handsome as she remembered…And when she discovers a stack of long-forgotten Valentine’s Day cards, Isla, with the help of Ben, begins to realise exactly what is most important in life.
Very Nearly Normal
Hannah Sunderland - 2020
Neither is Theo. But together, they’re pretty close. Matilda ‘Effie’ Heaton has always felt like she’s swimming against the tide. Everyone around her has life sorted, but Effie’s living with her parents and crying into a wine bottle at night. The only thing she loves is her job at a bookshop, where she can lose herself in other people’s stories. But then she meets Theo, who knows only too well that life isn’t something to take for granted. Because Theo has a life-changing secret, and as Effie starts to realise that she’s falling in love instead of falling apart, fate steps in and deals her a new hand. And this time, the stakes are high.A gorgeous, heart-breaking read for fans of Jojo Moyes and Gail Honeyman. If you love this, don’t miss Hannah Sunderland’s new book, At First Sight.What readers are saying about Very Nearly Normal…‘I haven’t been able to put it down …a rollercoaster of emotions’ ***** Reader Review‘I loved it from page one and every page after that I loved it more’ ***** Reader Review‘Made me laugh and smile, but also cry for the real struggles Effie and Theo faced’ ***** Reader Review‘Life-affirming, funny and relatable. A twist I didn’t see coming’ ***** Reader Review
The Man I Loved Before
Anna Mansell - 2020
All the secrets she kept from him – from the little lies she’d sometimes tell about how new those shoes really were, or how many glasses of wine she’d had that evening… right up to The Big Thing that happened on the night that changed everything. But she never expects he will actually see what she’s written. She is just writing because she thinks it will help to get the words out. Later, she resolves, she’ll burn the letter, and then the past will be in the past for good. Because Jem is doing fine now. She’s busy: working, spending time with her best friend, and looking after her mother, who’s in remission from cancer. She’s even dating again and has just met a guy who she thinks she could actually fall for. At long last, Jem is really, definitely somewhere close to happy. But her mum finds the letter and thinks she’s doing Jem a favour when she posts it to Ben. And Jem’s new, carefully rebuilt life begins to unravel in ways she could never have imagined. Then, when her mother gets ill again, she finds herself asking who has the key to her future. The man she’s falling in love with now? Or the man she loved before? A heartbreaking, beautifully honest novel that will stay with readers long after they finish it. Perfect for fans of Diane Chamberlain, Amanda Prowse, and Susan Lewis. Readers love Anna Mansell: ‘Wonderful… I found myself completely lost in this story. My heart ached, broke and re-healed itself again by the time I finished the book. My mind was totally blown by the amount of emotions I felt.’ Chells and Books, 5 stars ‘Oh, Anna Mansell, what have you done to me?!... Wow, what a storyline written from the heart… I don’t think that I would have been able to stop the tears from falling even if I tried… A thought-provoking, insanely beautiful and poignant read… I am jealous of every person who gets to read this book for the first time.’ The Writing Garnet ‘A beautiful touching story that pulled my heartstrings to the limit in every possible direction.’ B for Bookreview, 5 stars ‘This novel is an absolutely beautiful read and is full of insight, empathy and love… It totally enthralled me… Unmissable.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ‘I've rarely read such an honest novel. It seemed so personal. And, for me, that's what made it shine. Five beautiful stars!’ Shalini Boland, 5 stars ‘What a fabulous novel!!!… Oh my goodness [it] just tugged at my heartstrings!… Such a beautiful novel… Anna Mansell’s imagery, dialogue, and emotion in this novel is outstanding… Happy, funny, sad, regretful, and hopeful.’ Dandelions Inspired ‘This is a book that needs to be read… Hauntingly sad, this book will touch your very core.’ Laura Morningstar Reviews ‘Totally loved it! The intricate storyline, the beautiful settings and the fascinating yet flawed characters.
Things We Set on Fire
Deborah Reed - 2013
Jackson, Vivvie’s husband, was shot and killed 30 years ago, and the ramifications have splintered the family into their own isolated remembrances and recriminations.This deeply personal, hauntingly melancholy look at the damages families inflict on each other – and the healing that only they can provide – is filled with flinty, flawed and complex people stumbling towards some kind of peace. Like Elizabeth Strout and Kazuo Isiguro, Deborah Reed understands a story and its inhabitants reveal themselves in the subtleties: the space between the thoughts, the sigh behind the smile, and the unreliable lies people tell themselves that ultimately reveal the deepest truths.
The Missing Piece
Catherine Miller - 2020
Keisha Grant learnt that the hard way.Fifteen years ago, when she was a teenager being raised by her single dad, something happened on an ordinary Wednesday. Something that imploded her world, shattering her life as she knew it. It changed her forever – the girl she used to be is nothing but a faded memory.Ever since then, Keisha’s been in survival mode. She won’t let herself cry, won’t let herself think – what happened is hidden in a little box in the far corner of her mind. Just one look into her emerald-green eyes and you can see the shadow that haunts her.The scar she covers with a tattoo is an important reminder: your heart can’t break if you don’t let it feel in the first place. It’s an insurance policy she lives by. She won’t let anyone close enough to do real damage, and when happiness taps her on the shoulder, she turns the other way.But the problem is that Keisha isn’t living – she’s simply existing. What will it take to convince her that someone out there could be her missing piece? And can she ever face up to her past, so that she can have a future?For anyone who has ever felt the pang of heartbreak and feared you might never heal, this beautiful tale teaches us how to dust ourselves off and seek happiness again. Fans of Jojo Moyes, Josie Silver and Diane Chamberlain will love this moving and uplifting story.
The Fifth Letter
Nicola Moriarty - 2017
. .
Joni, Deb, Eden, and Trina have been best friends since high school, sharing a bond that has seen them through their teenage years and into adulthood. But now, time and circumstance is starting to pull them apart as careers, husbands, and babies get in the way. As their yearly vacation becomes less of a priority—at least for three of the women—how can Joni find a way to draw the four of them back together?
Four secrets . . .
During a laughter and wine-filled night, the women dare one another to write anonymous letters, spilling their deepest, darkest secrets. But the fun game turns devastating, exposing cracks in their lives and the friendships they share. Each letter is a dark confession revealing shocking information. A troubled marriage? A substance abuse problem? A secret pregnancy? A heartbreaking diagnosis?
Five letters . . .
Late on one of their last nights together, after the other three have gone to bed, Joni notices something in the fireplace—a burnt, crumpled, nearly destroyed, sheet of paper that holds the most shattering revelation of all. It is a fifth letter—a hate-filled rant that exposes a vicious, deeply hidden grudge that has festered for decades. But who wrote it? Which one of them has seethed with resentment all these years? What should Joni do?Best friends are supposed to keep your darkest secrets. But the revelations Joni, Deb, Eden and Trina have shared will ripple through their lives with unforeseen consequences . . . and things will never be the same.