Chick-lit chic

Shape, May, 2004 by Gabrielle Gayagoy

Need a fun way to de-stress? Unwinding with an entertaining novel is just the ticket. From tales of office romance to laugh-out-loud weight-loss blunders, here are 10 new titles worth toting to the beach.

category     30-second synopsis                  also don't miss

kiss & tell  Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie    When in Rome ... by
             Kinsella (The Dial Press) For       Gemma Townley
             Emma Corrigan, living life          (Ballantine Books)
             under wraps appears to be the       A fling with a jet-
             easiest road to follow. There's     setting ex starts
             no harm, she reasons, in not        Georgie Beauchamp on
             telling her family that her         a mysterious mission
             successful cousin refuses to        in this delightful
             give her a job, or letting her      debut from Kinsella's
             boyfriend think her favorite        kid sister.
             music is jazz. But a turbulent
             airplane ride changes all that,
             forcing Emma to face the often-
             hilarious truth about her
             feelings, ideas and desires.
             --Arlyn Petalver

             message Life is better when
             you're honest with your
             friends, your family and
             yourself.

working      The Anxiety of Everyday Objects,    The Accidental Diva, by
girls        by Aurelie Sheehan (Penguin)        Tia Williams (G.P.
             Aspiring filmmaker Winona           Putnam's Sons) A look
             Bartlett can't afford to quit       at the racy
             her day job as a secretary at a     misadventures of
             New York City law firm. Enter       masthead-climbing
             Sandy, a beautiful, blind lawyer    Billie Burke, an
             who arrives at the firm and         African-American
             takes Win under her wing,           beauty editor at the
             encouraging her creative            top of her game.
             pursuits. As Win discovers more
             about her enigmatic mentor, she
             finds her life paralleling her
             screenplay--and learns that
             illusions sometimes reveal the
             truth.--Josie Rubio

             message Things--and people--are
             not always as they seem.

good grief!  PS, I Love You, by Cecelia Ahern    To Have and to Hold,
             (Hyperion) Holly Kennedy, just shy  by Jane Green
             of 30, loses her high school        (Broadway) In this
             sweetheart and husband, Gerry,      Cinderella story gone
             to cancer. But Gerry has left       awry, Alice Chambers
             behind a gift for Holly: 10         stumbles upon true
             envelopes, one for every month      love--with the help of
             of the remaining year, with a       her cheating husband.
             letter of instruction to help
             Holly cope with her grief.
             Guided by Gerry, she conquers
             her fear of singing in public,
             finds a job and--no spoiler
             here--emerges from her loss a
             stronger woman.--Gail O'Connor

             message Even the unhappiest
             ending can lead to promising
             beginnings.

self-        Fat Chance, by Deborah Blumenthal   The Dim Sum of All
discovery    (Red Dress Ink) Maggie O'Leary,     Things, by Kim Wong
             the anti--diet writer of the        Keltner (Avon Trade)
             popular newspaper column "Fat       Bridget Jones's Diary
             Chance," advocates fat              meets The Joy Luck
             acceptance and loves food as        Club in this funny and
             much as her readers do. But when    poignant story of
             Hollywood's hottest leading man     Lindsey Owyang's quest
             asks her to help him prepare for    to find her Chinese
             a role as a weight--loss doctor,    roots.
             Maggie may blow it with her
             column--and lose a fine man
             who's right under her nose.
             --Maureen McGavin

             message Sometimes slimming down
             can make you miss more than
             food.

A-Z          The ABCs of Love, by Sarah Salway   Elegance, by Kathleen
             (Ballantine Books) Verity Bell's    Tessaro (Avon Trade)
             life is told in snapshots, on       Rediscover
             subjects from A to Z. Under the     sophistication in
             letter H, she admits to having an   this A-to-Z style
             odd habit of looking up her best    guide that transforms
             friend's horoscope before her       Louise Canova, a
             own; for M, she is horrified        plain Jane on the
             when her boyfriend compliments      brink of a midlife
             her "wonderful moustache."          crisis, into a classy
             Whimsical entries are balanced      fashionista.
             by tough takes on love, from
             Verity's dead-end affair with a
             married man to the loss of her
             parents. --Bethany Gumper

             message Fall in love before you
             learn to stand on your own two
             feet and you'll wind up flat on
             your face.