This Is Chick-lit

A funny, frank and bittersweet look at sisters, marriage and moving on, from the New York Times bestselling author of the Blue Heron series Letting go of her ex-husband is harder than wedding-dress designer Jenny Tate expected…especially since his new wife wants to be Jenny's new best friend. Needing closure, Jenny trades the Manhattan skyline for her hometown up the Hudson, where she'll start her own business and bask in her sister Rachel's picture-perfect family life…and maybe even find a little romance of her own with Leo, her downstairs neighbor, who's utterly irresistible and annoyingly distant at the same time. Rachel's idyllic marriage, however, is imploding after she discovers what looks like her husband's infidelity. She always thought she'd walk away in this situation but now she's wavering, much to Jenny's surprise. Rachel points to their parents' perfect marriage as a shining example of patience and forgiveness; but to protect her sister, Jenny may have to tarnish that memory—and their relationship—and reveal a family secret she's been keeping since childhood. Both Rachel and Jenny will have to come to terms with the past and the present, and find a way to help each other get what they want most of all.

The author offers a scholarly dissection of "chick lit" from a post-feminist perspective. She analyzes the novel Bridget Jones' Diary and the HBO series Sex and the City while making parallels back to writings of Jane Austen and the Victorian novel in general. She looks at what these works say about women in society and whether they are just an escape or a serious reflection of women's concerns.

INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER "Wise and addictive... The Gifted School is the juiciest novel I've read in ages... a suspenseful, laugh-out-loud page-turner and an incisive inspection of privilege, race and class." –J. Courtney Sullivan, author of Friends and Strangers, in The New York Times Smart and juicy, a compulsively readable novel about a previously happy group of friends and parents that is nearly destroyed by their own competitiveness when an exclusive school for gifted children opens in the community, from the author of The Displacements This deliciously sharp novel captures the relentless ambitions and fears that animate parents and their children in modern America, exploring the conflicts between achievement and potential, talent and privilege. Set in the fictional town of Crystal, Colorado, The Gifted School is a keenly entertaining novel that observes the drama within a community of friends and parents as good intentions and high ambitions collide in a pile-up with long-held secrets and lies. Seen through the lens of four families who've been a part of one another's lives since their kids were born over a decade ago, the story reveals not only the lengths that some adults are willing to go to get ahead, but the effect on the group's children, sibling relationships, marriages, and careers, as simmering resentments come to a boil and long-buried, explosive secrets surface and detonate. It's a humorous, keenly observed, timely take on ambitious parents, willful kids, and the pursuit of prestige, no matter the cost.

Pre-order your copy of the new heartwarming and romantic Anna Bell novel, Note to Self! A heart-warming and feel-good romcom about a second chance at falling in love, perfect for fans of Mhairi McFarlane and Beth O’Leary

From the bestselling Bridget Jones's Diary that started the trend to the television sensation Sex and the Citythat captured it on screen, "chick lit" has become a major pop culture phenomenon. Banking on female audiences' identification with single, urban characters who struggle with the same life challenges, publishers have earned millions and even created separate imprints dedicated to the genre. Not surprisingly, some highbrow critics have dismissed chick lit as trashy fiction, but fans have argued that it is as empowering as it is entertaining. This is the first volume of its kind to examine the chick lit phenomenon from a variety of angles, accounting for both its popularity and the intense reactions-positive and negative-it has provoked. The contributors explore the characteristics that cause readers to attach the moniker "chick" to a particular book and what, if anything, distinguishes the category of chick lit from the works of Jane Austen on one end and Harlequin romance novels on the other. They critique the genre from a range of critical perspectives, considering its conflicted relationship with feminism and postfeminism, heterosexual romance, body image, and consumerism. The fourteen original essays gathered here also explore such trends and subgenres as "Sistah Lit," "Mommy Lit," and "Chick Lit Jr.," as well as regional variations. As the first book to consider the genre seriously, Chick Lit offers real insight into a new generation of women's fiction.

Book 2 in the Agatha Award-Winning Series Cold-blooded murder is, like, totally un-cool As the wildly successful darling of the publishing industry, chick lit mystery writer Kimberlee Kalder is the guest of honor at an exclusive writers' conference at Dalmorton Castle in Scotland. But jealousy and resentment are soon replaced with shock when Kimberlee is found dead at the bottom of the castle's bottle dungeon. Who didn't want to see prima donna Kimberlee brutally extinguished like one of her ill-fated characters? It's up to Detective Chief Inspector St. Just to track down the true killer in a castle full of cagey mystery connoisseurs who live and breathe malicious murder and artful alibis... Praise: Named a Best Book of 2009 by Deadly Pleasures "[In] her superior second cozy, Malliet's satirical take on the mystery scene is spot-on."—Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Malliet excels at stylish writing very reminiscent of the golden age of British mysteries. A real find for old-school mystery fans."—Booklist (starred review) "An absolutely delicious skewering of the world of mystery publishing and its none-too-savory denizens, Death and the Lit Chick is even wittier and more skillfully constructed than her Agatha Award-winning Death of a Cozy Writer."—Denver Post "Delicious. Malliet is laugh-out-loud funny in describing the cadre of crime writers encountered by the sometimes-flustered St. Just."—Mystery Scene "An entertaining diversion"—Kirkus Reviews "A good choice for readers who enjoy intelligent cozies and traditional mysteries."—Library Journal "Readers who enjoy all things British, as well as a good whodunit, will find these novels just the ticket."—Free Lance-Star "The writing is A+—smooth, clever (in the good sense) and a pleasure to read."—Cozy Library "Death and the Lit Chick shows why classics never go out of style...Malliet belongs on your bookshelf."—Reviewing the Evidence "Malliet's old-fashioned style is reminiscent of the traditional whodunits of the past... but with a distinctly humorous flair. The book is a clever mystery as well as a witty satire." —Vickie Britton at Suite 101

Perfect for fans of Robyn Carr’s Virgin River Series, the author of Goodbye, Lark Lovejoy returns with a stirring story of a mother’s enduring love, a family’s betrayal, and the ultimate act of forgiveness. One mistake can steal your innocence. One promise can plague a friendship. One secret can tear apart a family. Sissie Klein barely remembers the night that tore her from the carefree life she knew. Not long after the shocked teen is pushed into marriage, she’s rushed to the hospital where a catastrophic delivery seals her destiny. Sissie is determined to give her daughter the opportunities she forfeited, but some fates can’t be avoided. Tragedy strikes, leaving behind a legacy of deceit—and an orphaned toddler. Told with heartbreaking honesty and shrewd humor, Sissie Klein Is Completely Normal examines the ties that bind us—some inherited, others chosen—none without their share of agonizing tangles.

Hilarious and unflinchingly honest, Careering takes a hard look at the often toxic relationship working women have with their dream jobs. careering (verb) 1. working endlessly for a job you used to love and now resent entirely 2. moving in a way that feels out of control Imogen has always dreamed of writing for a magazine. Infinite internships later, Imogen dreams of any job. Writing her blog around double shifts at the pub is neither fulfilling her creatively nor paying the bills. Harri might just be Imogen's fairy godmother. She's moving from the glossy pages of Panache magazine to launch a fierce feminist site, The Know. And she thinks Imogen's most outrageous sexual content will help generate the clicks she needs. But Imogen's fairy-tale ending soon sours as she finds herself putting more and more of herself into writing for a company that doesn't care if she sinks or swims. Neither woman is aware of the crucial thing they have in common. Harri, at the other end of her career, has also been bitten and betrayed by the industry she has given herself to. Will she wake up to the way she's being exploited before her protégé realizes that not everything is copy? Can either woman reconcile their love for work with the fact that work will never love them back? Or is a chaotic rebellion calling . . .