'Pictures of Lily,' Paige Toon

PLOT: Lily was only 16 years old when she fell for a much older man. She kept her feelings hidden, certain that they would never be reciprocated. Then, the object of her affections moved away, and she never really got over him. Ten years later, on the brink of getting engaged, Lily has a chance encounter with her teenage 'love.' She dances dangerously with fire, ending in her having to choose between two men who love her.

REVIEW: Oh. My. Gosh. What can I say about the creepy age gap between Lily and her older man? She wasn't even sixteen when she met him, yet was describing the feelings of an adult. What made it worse was when he admitted feelings for her to a friend. Did I really believe that Lily had haboured feelings for her first crush for the following ten years? Quite frankly, no. That said, it was a light holiday read, which I can suggest to those not looking for anything heavy.

AUTHOR: Currently Paige Toon has written four books, and there is another one on the way any day now. The only other Toon book I have read is 'Johnny Be Good.' I enjoyed that more that Lily, although the ending was rather random and unsatisfying.

Paige Toon's webpage.

'The Carrie Diaries,' Candance Bushnell

PLOT: The prequel to the 'Sex & The City' book follows iconic Carrie Bradshaw through her senior year in high school. Carrie is an aspiring writer who is desperate to be accepted into a summer writing program in New York City. A familiar face from her past appears at her high school, Sebastian Kydd, who soon becomes her love interest. Sebastian can do no wrong in her eyes, and neither can her best friend Lali - until she commits the ultimate betrayal. Carrie then finds an unlikely ally in her former nemesis Donna La Donna.

Will Carrie be accepted into the writing course, or will she end up at Brown University like her father hopes for her to??

REVIEW: Having been fairly non-plussed about the 'Sex & The City' book, I didn't have high expectations. How wrong I was! 'The Carrie Diaries' provided detailed and fun insight into Carrie's life just before she moves to New York. It was interesting to not that Carrie experiences a similar relationship to her later one with 'Big.' She really is a glutton for punishment. It's easy to look past some of the random character namaes - such as Lali, Dorrit and Mrs Smidgens. This is a must-read for all die-hard SATC fans.

AUTHOR: Candace Bushnell is the author of 'Sex and the City,' 'The Carrie Diaries,' 'One Fifth Avenue,' 'Lipstick Jungle,' 'Trading Up,' and 'Four Blondes.' 'Lipstick Jungle' was adapted into a television series starring Brooke Shields, Kim Raver (who is currently appearing in 'Grey's Anatomy') and Lindsay Price. The show was filmed for two seasons. And who doesn't know 'Sex & The City?' Six seasons were filmed from 1998-2004, with two subsequent movies.

Click below for:

SATC pilot episode

SATC cast

Click the link below to visit the authors' webpage:

http://www.candacebushnell.com/

Candace Bushnell

'The Sleeping Beauty Proposal,' Sarah Strohmeyer

PLOT: 36 year old Genie Michaels has been dating the same man for the past four years. She is fed up with his reluctance to commit - doesn't he realise that her biological clock is ticking?! So when he finally proposes on National TV, naturally Genie is over the moon. That is, until, she quickly discovers this proposal was not intended for her. Everyone assumes that Genie is Hugh's new fiancee and she takes no measures to correct them. With Hugh out of the country things rapidly snowball out of hand. Her parents are booking reception venues, organising caterers and drawing up guest lists and budgets. How is Genie going to worm her way out of this mess once Hugh comes back to town?!

REVIEW: While the idea of faking one's own engagement may sound far-fetched, in this story it is strangely believeable! Genie's best friend Patty is larger than life, and there is a great mix of characters and subplots to keep the storyline zooming along. This is a great read for those in their early 20s and upward.

AUTHOR: Strohmeyer wrote 'The Penny Pinchers Club' which I recently read. I enjoyed it so much that I recommended it to a friend, who is now also full of praise for her. She has written quite a books, all of the same genre, so if you like her you'll easily be able to continue enjoying her work. 

 To find out more about the author, click below to visit her website.

http://www.sarahstrohmeyer.com/

'Remember Me?' Sophie Kinsella

PLOT: Lexi loses the past three years of her memory when she is involved in a car crash and there's a chance she may never recover it. She awakes to discover that her crooked teeth are fixed and she no longer bears the nickname 'Snaggletooth.' Even better, she has a super-rich, super-hot husband. What could be better? Life seems pretty perfect to her, until she discovers that her three best friends are no longer talking to her, and her husband has written her a 'marriage manual.' He has even written in a section about foreplay! How can Lexi get her best friends back, and who exactly is Jon?

REVIEW: Kinsella pays fine attention to detail. The amnesia Lexi suffers is completely believable. There were so many laugh-out-loud moments when reading about Lexi trying to regain her memory. I would recommend this book to females from their mid-twenties upward.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: For those of you who don't know her, Sophie Kinsella is the author of the popular 'Shop-a-holic' series. 'Confessions of a Shop-a-holic' was made into a movie starring Isla Fischer in 2009. If you like 'Remember Me?' then you will love the 'Shop-a-holic' series, which are a highly addictive read.

Click here for Confessions of a Shopaholic - Movie Preview