Book picks similar to
You Had Me at Merlot: Part 1 by Lisa Dickenson
chick-lit
beletria
bought-not-read
bought-used
A Single to Rome
Sarah Duncan - 2009
She thought he was the love of her life but now Michael’s found himself a new girlfriend. So much for space. Natalie tries speed-dating, but how could she move on when she's still yearning for Michael? One of her speedy dates is Guy and, despite the lack of chemistry, at least she's now got a date for her best friend's wedding. But past indiscretions are about to come to light. Natalie needs to escape. Guy happens to own a flat she can borrow... in Rome! There Natalie makes some fabulous new friends and discovers who puts the Rome into Romeo. She's falling in love – but is it with Rome, or with someone she finds there?
Milked
Lisa Doyle - 2014
Okay, she might not have the best taste in men, but she’s got great friends, a good job, and an independent spirit. That is, until her 30th birthday ushers in a whirlwind romance with a sexy Irish musician who leaves her, not at the altar as she imagined, but accidentally pregnant. And when he disappears, she’s downsized out of a job, her apartment is robbed, and lapsed health insurance coverage leaves her with a C-section to pay for, Amanda is launched headfirst into the life of a broke single mom. But her friend and uber successful ob-gyn, Joy, clues her in to an unlikely temp position with one of Chicago’s celebrity elite that just may be the answer to all her woes. Or could it be just the beginning?It’s with serious trepidation that Amanda embarks on her surprisingly lucrative new career: underground wet nurse to the offspring of Chi-town’s rich and famous. Amanda must quickly understand how to live at the whims and mercy of the one percent as she deals with the irony of nursing – and loving – someone else’s child, while still making ends meet for her own daughter. And then there’s Cute Daycare Dad (aka Dan), who’s obviously interested in her. But can she afford to tell him what she really does for a living? Is her new job (something she thought went out with the 19th century) a shameful thing? Just another way of selling her body? Or does it have something to teach her after all?A novel of motherhood, its many demands, and all the little triumphs along the way, MILKED is a warm and witty debut about making tough choices and traveling the roundabout road to happiness.
Planning for Love
Christi Barth - 2012
She won’t let anything burst the perfect bubble of happiness she creates for her clients. So she’s immediately on guard when a reality television crew appears to tape one of her weddings. Tall, blonde and sexy, the cameraman’s a relentless flirt, and Ivy follows his easygoing charm straight into the bedroom.Ever since a scandal ended his career as a news videographer, Bennett Westcott is relegated to filming reality catfights and bridezillas. His latest assignment comes with the bonus of a gorgeous wedding planner. But Ivy ruins their one-night stand by turning too serious too quickly. Although a big fan of lust, Ben’s allergic to love. He rejects her and everything she holds dear, leaving her brokenhearted.The network builds a reality show around Ivy, Planning for Love. She signs the contract before learning the man who shredded her heart into confetti will spend the next three months filming her. Suddenly Ben has to spend every day with the woman he knows he shouldn’t be with, but can’t resist. And Ivy’s stuck wondering, how do you plan for happily ever after when the guy you want doesn’t believe in it?
One Last Summer at Hideaway Bay
Zoë Cook - 2016
Perfect for fans of Nicholas Sparks and Jojo Moyes.Lucy, hi. It’s Tom. How are you? It’s been a while. I’ve been meaning to get in touch but it’s hard to know how to after so much time. I hear you’re doing really well up there. I knew you would be.You should come here, you know, back to Hideaway bay. Come and see everyone, see how little it’s all changed. Feel the sand between your toes, the Cornish sea breeze on your face. When the sun hits the surf in that way it does, it’s as magical as ever.That’s why I’m writing to you, actually. I want to get the gang back together again, one last time before…well…just one last time. You should come too. The four of us, a summer on the beach, like old times. We all want you here for it. I want you here for it. It’s been so long since I saw you.I still think about you.Tom
My Favourite Goodbye
Sheila O'Flanagan - 2001
She's twenty-nine, single and self-supporting. So, shouldn't she be out there every night, swilling Chardonnay and falling in love? Or, if she isn't, at least having a great time moaning about it with her best friends? Doesn't she know how to be a single woman?Trouble is, Ash likes things as they are. She doesn't do impulsive and relationships scare her to death. At the first hint of commitment, it's goodbye. No way is she going to let herself get hurt.But as Ash watched Dan Morland - who employed her to cook the ultimate dinner the night he proposed to his girlfriend - trying to sort out a life with the woman he loves, she begins to wonder if being Miss Self-Contained-and-Secure might also mean Missing Out...
Love, Rosie
Cecelia Ahern - 2004
Best friends since childhood, their relationship gets closer by the day, until Alex gets the news that his family is leaving Dublin and moving to Boston. At 17, Rosie and Alex have just started to see each other in a more romantic light. Devastated, the two make plans for Rosie to apply to colleges in the U.S. She gets into Boston University, Alex gets into Harvard, and everything is falling into place, when on the eve of her departure, Rosie gets news that will change their lives forever: She's pregnant by a boy she'd gone out with while on the rebound from Alex. Her dreams for college, Alex, and a glamorous career dashed, Rosie stays in Dublin to become a single mother, while Alex pursues a medical career and a new love in Boston. But destiny is a funny thing, and in this novel, structured as a series of clever e-mails, letters, notes, and a trail of missed opportunities, Alex and Rosie find out that fate isn't done with them yet.Sometimes you have to look at life in a whole new way...From the bestselling author of PS, I Love You comes a delightfully enchanting novel about what happens when two people who are meant to be together just can't seem to get it right.
The Whole Thing Together
Ann Brashares - 2017
Since they were children, they’ve shared almost everything—reading the same books, running down the same sandy footpaths to the beach, eating peaches from the same market, laughing around the same sun-soaked dining table. Even sleeping in the same bed, on the very same worn cotton sheets. But they’ve never met.Sasha’s dad was once married to Ray’s mom, and together they had three daughters: Emma, the perfectionist; Mattie, the beauty; and Quinn, the favorite. But the marriage crumbled and the bitterness lingered. Now there are two new families—and neither one will give up the beach house that holds the memories, happy and sad, of summers past.The choices we make come back to haunt us; the effect on our destinies ripples out of our control…or does it? This summer, the lives of Sasha, Ray, and their siblings intersect in ways none of them ever dreamed, in a novel about family relationships, keeping secrets, and most of all, love.
Rome in Love
Anita Hughes - 2015
She has a handsome boyfriend, is portraying her idol in a major motion picture, and gets to live in beautiful Rome for the next two months. Once there, she befriends a young woman named Sophie with whom she begins to explore the city. Together, they discover all the amazing riches that Rome has to offer. But when Amelia’s boyfriend breaks up with her over her acting career, her perfect world begins to crumble. While moping in her hotel suite, Amelia discovers a stack of letters written by Audrey Hepburn that start to put her own life into perspective. Then, she meets Philip, a handsome journalist who is under the impression that she is a hotel maid, and it appears as if things are finally looking up. The problem is she can never find the right time to tell Philip her true identity. Not to mention that Philip has a few secrets of his own. Can Amelia finally have both the career and love that she’s always wanted, or will she be forced to choose again?With her sensory descriptions of the beautiful sites, decadent food, and high fashion of Rome, Hughes draws readers into this fast-paced and superbly written novel. Rome in Love will capture the hearts of readers everywhere.
The Year of Taking Chances
Lucy Diamond - 2014
There's music, dancing, champagne and all their best friends under one roof. It's going to be a night to remember.Also at the party is Caitlin, who has returned to the village to pack up her much-missed mum's house and to figure out what to do with her life; and Saffron, a PR executive who's keeping a secret which no amount of spin can change. The three women bond over Gemma's dodgy cocktails and fortune cookies, and vow to make this year their best one yet.But as the following months unfold, Gemma, Saffron and Caitlin find themselves tested to their limits by shocking new developments. Family, love, work, home - all the things they've taken for granted - are thrown into disarray. Under pressure, they are each forced to rethink their lives and start over. But dare they take a chance on something new?
The Billionaire Is Conned
Kyra Radcliff - 2021
A beautiful and brilliant entrepreneur, she’s no stranger to tragedy. But instead of letting grief consume her, she’s dedicated her life to helping others. Now, in addition to running an exclusive health resort, she has a successful career as a life coach, with a reputation for working miracles...And it will take a miracle to get through the gruff, surly shell of her latest client. To all outward appearances, Lyle Cunningham seems to have it all. He’s rich, handsome, and runs one of the biggest consumer businesses in the world. But behind his brooding good looks, this brash billionaire still carries the rage and betrayal of a broken heart, simmering just beneath the surface.When Lyle accepts a challenge to let Fifi streamline his fortune 500 company, the sparks begin to fly. Fifi is determined to prove that Lyle’s inability to trust is hurting his business. And Lyle is convinced that Fifi’s reputation is a sham designed to hustle unsuspecting victims like his mother. As he begins unravelling the mystery that’s Phoenix Jones, each discovery is another adrenalin-pumping twist on his rollercoaster ride. As their work takes them on a breath-taking tour of one of Europe’s most stunning cities, the guarded billionaire finds himself irresistibly drawn to Fifi’s beauty and free spirit...And they both know the dangers of giving in to the inevitable conflagration that’s threatening to consume them. But Fifi is keeping a rather large secret, one that can push Lyle over the edge. The question is … will he survive the fall? Or will it serve to convince him that he was right after all … never to trust?
Controlling Interest
Elizabeth White - 2008
There first assignment is to find Yasmine (a Pakistani woman) who is on the run from her fiance."
Italian for Beginners
Kristin Harmel - 2009
But after her little sister gets married, Cat wonders if she has condemned herself to a life of boredom by playing by the rules. She decides to take a chance for once, accepting an invitation to spend a month with an old flame in Italy. But her reunion with the slick and gorgeous Francesco is short-lived, and she finds herself suddenly alone in Rome. Now, she must see if she has the courage to live outside the lines for the first time – and to face a past she never understood. It will take an unexpected friendship with a fiery Italian waitress, a whirlwind Vespa tour of the Eternal City with a handsome stranger, and a surprise encounter with an old acquaintance to show Cat that life doesn’t always work out the way you expect, but sometimes you have to have fall in order to fly.
The Happy Ever Afterlife of Rosie Potter (RIP)
Kate Winter - 2014
Especially when you're dead.When Rosie Potter wakes up one morning with what she assumes is the world's worst hangover, the last thing she expects is to discover that she's actually dead. With a frustrating case of amnesia, suspicious circumstances surrounding her untimely demise, and stuck wearing her ugliest flannel PJs, Rosie must figure out not only what happened last night, but why on earth she's still here.Slowly the mystery unravels, but there are many other secrets buried in the quiet Irish village of Ballycarragh, and nobody is as innocent as they first appear. Aided by the unlikeliest of allies in her investigation, Rosie discovers that life after death isn't all it's cracked up to be, particularly when you might just be falling in love . . .In this hilarious, life-affirming and romantic journey through Rosie Potter's afterlife, she shares the ghostly tale of how she lived, she died, and she loved (in that order).
Coffee And Kung Fu
Karen Brichoux - 2003
What she does love is Kung Fu movies...especially the ones starring Jackie Chan. Their timeless and inspired wisdom offers her a philosophy of life. The problem is she doesn't have much of a life to philosophize about. But Jackie Chan is also a pretty good action hero. And when opportunity-and risk-present themselves in unexpected ways, it's up to Nicci to follow her hero's example, focus on her goal, and strike...
The Accidental Mother
Rowan Coleman - 2005
Sophie and Carrie were childhood best friends, but in the last few years they've lost touch. While Carrie chose motherhood in a small town, Sophie is powering up the London career track. She's a corporate manager poised for her next promotion. Sure, she doesn't have much time for men, but she has a great shoe collection and a cat who's never going to let her down. And then Sophie is told that Carrie has died, with nobody left to care for her two daughters, Bella and Izzy, aged six and three. Their father, who left before Carrie's death, is nowhere to be found; their grandmother is moving into assisted living. Sophie once promised Carrie she would take care of her children if the worst ever happened...and now that day has come. Witty, wise, and filled with genuinely powerful emotion, The Accidental Mother is the heartwarming, heartbreaking story of a woman who is woefully under-equipped to be suddenly thrown into motherhood, but who through the eyes of two little girls learns more about loss, commitment, and true love than she had ever realized existed.