Soon to be a Lifetime movie called "Lying to be Perfect" When Nola Devlin is turned down for her dream job because she's overweight, she decides to become thin-or, at least, pretend to be. The alter ego she creates-the thin, British, hip, and did we mention thin Belinda Apple-is a smashing success who is offered movie proposals, national television appearances and even dates...though no one's met her in person, of course. Then Nola takes Belinda a bit too far, and is forced to join "The Cinderella Pact" and drop the pounds. As the weight comes off, however, Nola's problems begin to mount. Watch a Video

When magazine editor Nola Devlin is turned down for her dream job as an advice columnist because she's overweight, she decides to become thin, or at least, pretend to be.

A wickedly funny fairytale for modern women from the 'laugh-out-loud funny' (Washington Post Book World) author of The Cinderella Pact. Genie's commitment-phobic boyfriend is finally proposing-on national television. To the woman he's been seeing on the side. It's a major wake-up call for a girl who's hit the snooze button on her life a few too many times. With no names mentioned on the broadcast, Genie finds herself flooded with presents and congratulations. It's up to her to explain the mistake, but sometimes waking up is hard to do. When her parents start planning the reception, she can't help enjoying herself. Why call off the so-called engagement just yet? It's fun to play princess. But unless a prince shows up-and soon-this dream could start getting weird.

A delicious novel about the power of love-and dessert-by the national bestselling author. Betty Mueller believed she did right by secretly ending her daughter Julie's relationship with Michael Slayton, a wild, older neighborhood heartthrob. Twenty years later, Betty has come to realize her mistake. Workaholic Julie is now the single mom of a teenager-and Michael, the one man who could make her happy, has been out of her life for the past two decades. Determined to make amends, Betty schemes to reunite the couple in a dessert class. And with the love of her mother and daughter, her own determination, and lots of chocolate, Julie's chance for romance is all the higher...

Exploration of fairy-tale movies that blur the line between reality and magic.

In this book, Susan Edmunds explores he relationship between modernist domestic fiction and the rise of the U.S. welfare state. This relationship, which began in the Progressive era, emerged as maternalist reformers developed an inverted discourse of social housekeeping in order to call for state protection and regulation of the home. Modernists followed suit, turning the genre of domestic fiction inside out in order to represent new struggles on the border between home, market and state. Edmunds uses the work of Djuna Barnes, Jean Toomer, Tillie Olsen, Edna Ferber, Nathanael West, and Flannery O'Connor to trace the significance of modernists' radical reconstitution of the genre of domestic fiction. Using a grotesque aesthetic of revolutionary inversion, these writers looped their depictions of the domestic sphere through revolutionary discourses associated with socialism, consumerism and the avant-garde. These authors used their grotesque discourses to deal with issues of social conflict ranging from domestic abuse and racial violence to educational reform, public health care, eugenics, and social security. With the New Deal, the U.S. welfare state realized maternalist ambitions to disseminate a modern sentimental version of the home to all white citizens, successfully translating radical bids for collective social security into a racialized order of selective and detached domestic security. The book argues that modernists engaged and contested this historical trajectory from the start. In the process, they forged an enduring set of terms for understanding and negotiating the systemic forms of ambivalence, alienation and conflict that accompany Americans' contemporary investments in "family values."

Gigi, Bea, and Neerja are best friends and total overachievers. Even if they aren't the most popular girls in school, they aren't too worried. They know their real lives will begin once they get to their Ivy League colleges. There will be ivy, and there will be cute guys in the libraries (hopefully with English accents)! But when an unexpected event shows them they're missing out on the full high school experience, it's time to come out of the honors lounge and into the spotlight. They make a pact: They will each take on their greatest challenge—and they will totally rock it. Gigi decides to run for student rep, but she'll have to get over her fear of public speaking—and go head-to-head with gorgeous California Will. Bea used to be one of the best skiers around, until she was derailed. It could be time for her to take the plunge again. And Neerja loves the drama club but has always stayed behind the scenes—until now. These friends are determined to show the world that smart girls really can get what they want—but that could mean getting way more attention than they ever bargained for. . . .

The "fabulously fun"* fashionista/sleuth Lacey Smithsonian is back in the case of a food editor who may have given her holiday sweater-hating coworker her just desserts...

After one fateful PTA meeting, four young mothers—Lynne, Mary Kay, Beth, and Carol—discovered they had more in common than they ever thought possible. Meeting once a month, the women would share laughs and secrets, toasting to their blossoming friendship with the clink of their sacred martini glasses. Two years later, when Lynne passes away suddenly, she leaves behind one simple request: that her old friends sort through her belongings. The women reunite to rummage through her closets, and buried deep within Lynne’s lingerie drawer, they find an envelope addressed to their little society… Inside is a letter that reveals Lynn’s shocking secret and last wish, sending the women on a life-changing journey that will reveal to them that nothing is more powerful than the will of a true girlfriend—and a good, strong martini.

Surveys the lives and works of some 90 contemporary women mystery writers, who are among the most popular authors read today.

At one time or another, everyone has wished they could be someone else. Exploring this universal longing, Allie Larkin follows up the success of her debut novel, Stay, with a moving portrait of friendship and identity. When Jenny Shaw hears someone shout “Jessie!” across a hotel lobby, she impulsively answers. All her life, Jenny has toed the line, but something propels her to seize the opportunity to become Jessie Morgan, a woman to whom she bears an uncanny resemblance. Lonely in her own life, Jenny is embraced by Jessie’s warm circle of friends—and finds unexpected romance. But when she delves into Jessie’s past, Jenny discovers a secret that spurs her to take another leap into the unknown.

Living in suburban New Jersey, Kat has a pretty serious retail habit. Now it looks like her husband Griff is having an affair...and setting up a secret bank account in preparation for a divorce. Suspecting her spending habits may be driving him away, Kat's determined to save her marriage by saving some money. But when her rich ex-fiancé turns up with a tempting bargain, she'll have to decide whether love conquers mall...

“A fabulous read packed with suspense, unexpected twists, glamour and humor. Prepare to be gripped from the first to the last page!” —Liane Moriarty For readers of Lisa Jewell, Liv Constantine, and Megan Miranda, a lightning-paced psychological thriller that the New York Times Book Review says "kept me reading, near breathless, until all assumptions were gloriously upended" about two women, a tragedy that connects them as teenagers, and the terrible reckoning that will decide their fates a decade later Jane Ellison is a “super recognizer” able to identify strangers by the slightest facial details—the curve of a head, the arch of an eyebrow. When she spies human rights activist and heiress Bella Valencia in a crowded Boston airport, Jane’s convinced she’s found the person responsible for her sister Kit’s disappearance and presumed death eleven years earlier. But her attempt to detain the suspect ends with Jane herself fired and humiliated. As Bella prepares to marry Will Pease, scion of the uber-wealthy, influential, and ruthless Pease family, famous for their wholesome wellness and lifestyle brand, on their private Cape Cod island, she grows increasingly anxious that her dire secret will be revealed and used against her by—of all people—the man she loves. She has reason to fear: Jane is ready to risk everything for the chance to publicly expose Bella’s crimes at her upcoming celebrity wedding. But the more she digs into what happened that night, the more she questions her own assumptions. Combining magnetic, wise-cracking narration and a skillfully layered plot, Do I Know You? is a gripping psychological thriller and tale of redemption that reveals the power of a sister's love.

After a whirlwind overseas romance, down-home girl Claire Stark has moved to her new husband’s hometown, Hunting Hills, Ohio, where the men earn seven figures, the women wear size two, and if everything isn’t absolutely perfect, you’re expected to pretend it is.… But Claire’s having trouble pretending. For one thing, John’s previous girlfriend still lives here—and with all the bed-hopping in Hunting Hills, she may not be Claire’s only potential rival. For another, Claire’s constantly hearing vicious gossip—including rumors about herself. And though she also misses her reporting career, John isn’t thrilled with the idea of her working at the local paper. She might just have to be satisfied mingling with the Hunting Hills moms, who like to borrow their daughters’ Seven jeans and their sons’ Ritalin. That is, until scandal threatens to shatter the stylish facade of this exclusive gated community—and behind the salon highlights and sunlamp tans, true colors start shining through.…

Gone Girl meets Six Feet Under in bestselling author Sarah Strohmeyer's romantic YA mystery about a girl who must unravel a web of lies in her small town before it's too late. Descended from a long line of female morticians, Lily Graves knows all about buried secrets. So after senior-class president Erin Donohue—perfect saint to the community—turns up dead, Lily believes it's her job to find the culprit. But Lily has feelings for Erin's ex-boyfriend, Matt, which makes both of them suspects and makes Lily's investigation . . . complicated. As her world crumbles around her, Lily must figure out the difference between truth and deception, between genuine love and a web of lies. And she must do it quickly, before the killer claims another victim. Fans of Sara Shepard who enjoy realistic contemporary fiction with a dash of mystery will love the secrets, lies, and romance swirling in this sexy, intriguing novel.

Like Meg Cabot, Sarah Strohmeyer has a gift for creating smart, funny girls teen readers love. She’s done it again with Zoe, heroine of her latest romcom. In YA novel How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True, Zoe learns there is a dark core under the glittering façade of the fairy-tale themed amusement park (cough, Disneyland, cough) where she’s a summer intern. For starters, her boss has a blacker heart than Snow White’s stepmother, and the other interns are worse backstabbers than Cinderella’s step-sisters. On the upside, she has the chance of romance with a real-life Prince Charming, and a shot at winning a big heap of cash. If she can just live through a summer in the Fairyland Kingdom.