Romance Literature: British Chick Lit

When her best friend, Babs, gets married, Natalie is sure that their friendship will suffer. Matters are strained when Natalie starts dating Chris, a pompous band manager of whom Babs disapproves. Their relationship becomes increasingly strained, until Babs finally confronts Natalie, concerned about her dangerously low weight. But Natalie's downward spiral is just beginning: she continues to starve herself, loses her job, and enrages her spoiled brother by telling their mother about the child he had out of wedlock years before. However, Natalie is surprised to find that her friends are more steadfast than she thought: her former boss, Matt, finds her freelance jobs; her new friend, Alex, forces her to stick with Pilates; and Andy, Bab's handsome brother, moves into her flat and lifts her spirits. Natalie's journey is a long one, with lots of ups and downs, but it is hilariously and touchingly told. Booklist.

Flatmates Fiona, Kerry and Linzi have problems enough squabbling over the itemised phone bill and whose turn it is to do the washing up. But nothing can prepare them for the chaos which ensues when Linzi's latest boyfriend arrives on the scene. Gorgeous but feckless, Gaetano spells trouble with a capital 'T'. And soon events are spiralling out of everyone's control ...

Kendra Tamale is looking for a fresh start and a simple life when she rents a room from Kyle Gadsborough. But against her better judgment Kendra soon finds herself drawn into her new landlord’s household: a young father in way over his head, a beautiful mother out the door, and six-year-old twins, Summer and Jaxon, with hearts full of hurt. Kendra has plenty of issues of her own, but this family seems to need her so desperately that she’s soon falling in love—with Summer’s constant chatter, Jaxon’s soulful eyes, and the sugar-laden Saturday breakfasts she invents.

Abby Morland's been making mischief since she was not-so-sweet sixteen, when she spied gorgeous Guy from the neighborhood being attacked by curvaceous Cara, the "Topless Piranha." It was a racy, tasty, spicy piece of gossip Abby couldn't resist passing along. But years later, her indiscretion may be coming back to haunt her -- since she now wouldn't mind a little nibble of Guy herself. With four cousins, two weddings, and a re-emergent piranha in the offing, the recipe for making more mischief is at hand, and it might just turn Guy in Abby's direction at last!

From zipless action in Fear of Flying to jolly romps with Jilly Cooper; from transgressions with a priest in The Thorn Birds to mischief with Mellors; from a gentle first encounter with Ralph in Forever to anything and everything but gentle in The Story of O. Even Keats, Chaucer, and Shakespeare are up to no good. These are the stories that taught us about sex, volumes pilfered from our parents’ bookshelves, favorites passed from girl to girl, hidden in desks, whispered and wondered about. Amazon.

When Nadia Kinsella meets Jay Tiernan, she’s tempted. Of course she is. Stranded together in a remote Cotswold pub, with a snowstorm raging outside… let’s face it, who would ever know? But Nadia’s already met The One. She and Laurie have been together for years—they’re practically childhood sweethearts, and she still gets goose bumps at the sight of him. Okay, maybe she doesn’t see that much of him these days, but that’s not Laurie’s fault. She can’t betray him. Besides, when you belong to a family like the Kinsellas—bewitchingly glamorous grandmother Miriam, feckless mother Leonie, stop–at–nothing sister Clare—well, someone has to exercise a bit of self–control, don’t they? I mean, you wouldn’t want to do something that you might later regret

Annie Markham is trapped in a fairy tale existence complete with a narcissistic family and a godmother, but her prince turns out to be a toad. At 19, Jake Mead was her true love until her godmother Susannah stepped in and Jake ran away. Now, seven years later, Annie's wealthy family is heading toward bankruptcy, and Susannah brings in the best consultant in England to rescue their London public relations agency. The wunderkind turns out to be Jake, who is out for revenge. Shades of Jane Austen's Persuasion.

Thirtysomethings Freya and Jack have been “just friends” for more than ten years. Of course, they’ve had their differences. Freya doesn’t approve of Jack’s taste for student teeny-boppers from Planet Bubblegum, and Jack has problems with Freya’s utter scorn for human frailty–especially his own.

So when Freya, dumped by her lawyer boyfriend, moves temporarily into Jack’s apartment, tensions simmer. They reach a boiling point when Jack agrees to act as Freya’s Significant Other at her step-sister’s society wedding. Now, old friends, best friends, just friends, are fighting like cats and dogs.
Bestselling author Robyn Sisman has written a sexy, hilarious novel about that eternal struggle to find “the one”–the one for now and the one forever!

Clemmie Colshannon, a London art appraiser framed (pun intended) by her boyfriend and subsequently fired, retreats to the bosom of her eccentric family in Cornwall to recover. But no sooner has she unpacked her bags than her sister, Holly, an energetic reporter who lives to scoop, enlists Clemmie’s derring-do on a juicy story.

It seems that Emma McKellan, who writes the society pages for the Bristol Gazette, has disappeared days before her lavish wedding. As Holly and Clemmie search for clues on the missing bride (relishing the prospect of delicious scandal), they inadvertently steer themselves directly toward trouble.

In times of crisis, the Colshannon clan is always in the thick of things–particularly Clemmie’s drama-queen mother, who has an affinity for saving wild animals, and her brother, who goes to outrageous extremes to impress a certain girl and succeeds only in terrifying her. Whether she likes it or not, Clemmie always seems to find herself in the throes of adventure. And sure enough, the whole family is soon fleeing to the south of France . . . with an ex-convict in hot pursuit.

Becky has a fabulous flat in London's trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous socialite friends, and a closet brimming with the season's must-haves. The only trouble is that she can't actually afford it—not any of it.