Book picks similar to
Shebang by Valerie Vogrin
books-by-friends
chick-lit
female-authors
home-library-fiction
Following My Toes
Laurel Osterkamp - 2006
After all, she totally saw it coming when Peter, her boyfriend of two years, dumped her for her best friend. Heartbroken, Faith needs a fresh start. So when her good friend Carolyn suggests she move from Duluth to Minneapolis, Faith takes the plunge and embarks on a new adventure. However, Faith soon learns things don't always go as planned when she's forced to deal with a coffee shop customer from hell, a bruised tailbone, a phone-sex operator roommate, a freeloading younger sister, her parents' taxidermy convention, and a new love interest who may be stalking her. Yet every time Faith tries to rely on her perceptive abilities, friends or family accuse her of being self-involved. Faith believes in love, but knows she must solve the stalker mystery before she can trust any of the new men in her life. In the process she discovers that she has more to learn about following her heart and following her instincts than she ever imagined. Following My Toes is a tale of love and forgiveness, told with humor and a fresh, innovative voice! Laurel Osterkamp has been a comedy writer for Minneapolis performance groups over the last seven years. She currently teaches creative writing to high school students, and lives in Minneapolis with her husband and son. This is her first novel.
Bardwell's Folly: A Love Story
Sandra Hutchison - 2022
A tragic accident pulled Dori from college to care for her only remaining brother, but now the money is running out, her ex-boyfriend appears intent on revenge, a media baron has designs on her father's last, unfinished manuscript, and her own thoughtless blackface joke is about to go viral and turn her life upside down.With a new, media-savvy African American friend, Dori embarks on a voyage into her family's secret history that might just lead her right back to where she started.If you like humorous, heartfelt book club fiction with a strong romantic thread, a love of literature, and a sharp eye for race and class in America, you’ll love BARDWELL’S FOLLY. "Dori is a fabulous, sympathetic character, caught up in a rollicking, funny, original, beautifully-written journey." -- Lucia Nevai, author of SALVATION"Once again, Sandra Hutchison expertly weaves enticing characters with captivating imagery, creating a story so engrossing it's impossible to put down and even harder to forget." -- S.M. Freedman, author of THE FAITHFUL and IMPACT WINTERIncludes discussion questions.
The First Time Mums’ Club
Lucie Wheeler - 2017
Finally a precious baby to call her own. This is all Pippa has ever wanted…if only husband Jason could show just a little excitement.Imogen…A baby is the icing on the cake for Imogen and Alice – proof that their love for each other can overcome any obstacle. But when Imogen starts receiving malicious texts, it's clear that not everyone is thrilled about the girls' good news.And Ellie…A drunken one-night stand and Ellie's life is ruined! Pregnant, jobless and the relationship with her best friend, Chris, over- forever. Because Chris just happens to be the father of Ellie's baby…and potentially the love of her life!For these first time mums the road to motherhood is bumpier than most!
Bastard Husband: A Love Story
Linda Lou - 2009
(And I thought I had problems.) As I sat among a circle of strangers waiting for my turn to share, I glanced at the Absolutely No Swearing sign hanging from the ceiling and thought, This will be a challenge. Im Linda, I began, I have no husband, no job, and you people are my only friends. Everyone laughed at my pathetic truth." -- Linda Lou Bastard Husband: A Love Story is an autobiographical account of the author's first year alone in Las Vegas following a midlife divorce. Balancing poignancy and edgy humor, Linda Lou reflects on the troubled relationship that prompted this story and leads readers through a hodgepodge of emotions as vast as a Vegas buffet--from the sadness of a failed union and the questioning of her spiritual convictions to the thrill of exploring the Vegas neon nightlife and the triumph of performing stand-up comedy for the first time at age 46.
Mapping Love
Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
My body still hurts. It has been some time since Oorja Chaturvedi has come home; but the wounds she suffered, at the hands of the very people who so aptly named her, cut deep. Her relationship with her father was barely strung together with a few words. But when her mother dies, the woman whose nagging love was both her comfort and her secret hiding place from the world, new grief melds with old bitterness. Reeling from the loss, Oorja decides to come back to India, only to find her estranged father missing. Her search leads her to her grandfather, a man who had lived all his life among books and forest, withering away in his house. As she tries to grapple with her grief for a dying grandfather, she unexpectedly finds love and solace in the arms of a man who inherits her grandfather’s estate. But before she can decide what Anang and her own future together hold, Oorja must first untangle the secrets of their shared past. A quiet gut-punch of a debut, acclaimed filmmaker Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s novel, Mapping Love is heartbreakingly brave and equally delicate. It is a story that digs its claws into you and doesn't let go, long after you've finished it.
The Travel Bug
Sheila Norton - 2005
Bad girls drink, and smoke, and swear, and have affairs with married men, don’t they? They certainly don’t spend their time keeping their bodies fit, and pure, like Maddy’s best friend Rachel. Maybe Maddy doesn’t like herself very much, but then again, she thinks maybe she doesn’t deserve to be liked. Fast approaching her forties, the only good thing she’s done in her life is bringing up her daughter Sophie – but when Sophie goes off travelling for a year, Maddy’s bereft. So there’s only one thing she and Rachel can do when they have a moderate win on the Lottery: go off on their own travels together! What adventures await the pair when they set foot together on foreign soil? Will they survive Rachel’s terrible map-reading and fear of driving ‘on the wrong side?’ The trip holds a few surprises for them both – and not all of them are pleasant.
Jack and Jill went downhill
R.J. Gould - 2021
Despite their backgrounds, personalities and interests being poles apart, the relationship flourishes during their university years. It’s not quite as comfortable when their studies are over and they start work, Jack in the City and Jill as a teacher. Way back when they first met, they’d shared the joke that their names were those of the nursery rhyme. Down the line, they fail to recognise that their lives are matching the plot – Jack falls down and Jill comes tumbling after. Their relationship is on the rocks. Can it survive? What reviewers say about R J Gould’s writing: ‘R J Gould is a sharp, perceptive observer of human relationships, demonstrating both their fragility and their absurdity.’ ‘I loved this book! Tender, witty, funny, with characters you can totally relate to.' ‘I laughed from the beginning and didn't stop until the end and I couldn't put it down in between.’ ‘A story about trust, resilience, forgiveness and fresh starts, narrated with humour and insight. It kept my interest hooked and made me smile all the way through. A great read!’
Change of Season
Anna Jacobs - 2003
But he’s called away to deal with a crisis in Hong Kong and she’s left to settle into a new country on her own. One by one, her three grown-up children need help with major life problems and there’s only her to help them, because as usual, Paul puts his job first. Then she finds out that her husband's been unfaithful for years, and it’s the final blow to their marriage, especially as she’s met another man she finds attractive and kind. Her confidence grows as she wins acclaim as an embroidery artist and then she comes into an inheritance. Will her loyalty keep her with her husband, as it has before, or will Paul get more than he’d bargained for with the new, independent Rosalind?
Amish Romance: A Secret Love Story
Lady Aingealicia - 2015
They were neighbors and often enough Levi was over at the house to help Paul with the back forty. Emma had taught Rebecca a great deal as she had grown up, since her mother had passed during childbirth. It was not unusual for them to have dinner together once or twice a week until Rebecca was old enough to handle the chores. It was a simple life, without the complications that the new world provided. Rebecca had never even left the farm to go celebrate Rumspringa, the coming of age tradition in the community. She knew where she belonged, she just hoped in her heart of hearts that Jedidiah would as well. This is an adult, graphic romance short story containing explicit content only suitable for adults. Tags: Amish, Amish Romance, Amish Erotica, Amish Love, Amish Love Stories, Inspirational, Erotic Romance
Discreetly Matched
Jenna Brandt - 2019
What could go wrong? Lord Edwin Clarke is aimless. A fault his father insists upon correcting by way of a wife of substance, financial that is. Though Edwin stands to inherit an earldom, the title has power in name only. The family coffers have been secretly depleted by his mother’s outrageous spending habits. A rich heiress can solve all their problems, but how does a gentleman go about finding one? Julia Bennett's life is perfect, enjoying the spoils of being a darling of London society. She’s an heiress with a handsome fiancé, set to marry within weeks. When tragedy strikes, however, her future crumbles around her, forcing Julia to make new plans. With her father’s imminent death looming, Julia must find a new man to marry in order to inherit. She is forced to turn to her aunt, the premier London matchmaker. Can Edwin find his way to be the man Julia needs? Can Julia find her way to open her heart after her loss? And will the two of them agree to marry before the clock runs out for both of them?
Amish Dead & Breakfast: Amish Cozy Mystery (Ettie Smith Amish Mysteries Book 24)
Samantha Price - 2021
A Lone Palm Stands
H.A. Olsen - 2009
With the help of an eccentric aunt, Angela begins a new life, and embarks on a remarkable journey of self-discovery that takes her from the rural South to the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. But her promising future as a pop star is threatened by the jealously and betrayal of her friends-and the shocking secret that is about to be revealed by the ghost of a mysterious little girl. Haunting and thought-provoking, A Lone Palm Stands is more than just the story of one life: it's a unique commentary on love, family, and our spiritual nature It's also a testimony to the resiliency of the people of South Carolina and their proven ability to survive 'come hell or highwater.'
Promise Spoken (The Dupree Boys Book 1)
J. Nichole - 2022
Lavender Lane
Christina Jones - 2004
Bob and Amy Phillips and their four grown-up children run Lavender Cabs in the small Berkshire market town of Appleford. Everyone is involved. The business has grown – through three generations – into a thriving taxi and garage business. But when Bob is taken ill, he and Amy decide to retire to Devon, but to do this they would have to sell the business which would throw the entire family’s lives into turmoil…
The Fixer
Claudia Carroll - 2021
. .Meet Meg Monroe, the fixer. If you want to get rid of someone you call Meg. (No, not like that - this would be a very different book!)Using her brilliant intuition, people reading skills and with masterful manipulation Meg befriends her mark and tells them what they want to hear, using it to convince them to see the error of their ways. She's never once found a case she can't handle - affairs, clingy former-friends, useless employees and exes that can't take the hint.But when a blast from the past turns up on Meg's doorstep, will she get caught in her own web of lies?