New Releases by Wendy Holden

When Mary meets gorgeous Monty, heir to a stately pile, romantic bliss seems assured. But after the roof falls in and the pictures are flogged, happiness is thin on the ground. Beth exchanges Holland Park for simple weekends at the country cottage her banker husband''s bonus has bought. They only offered a little over the asking price - why don''t the locals like them? Uber-WAG Alexandra needs a country mansion - fast. Her footballer boyfriend is being transferred and time is running out. There must be a Hello!-tastic pile somewhere? Morag is the terror of the village. She''s a Stalin against slug pellets who wears hemp trousers and makes her own Weetabix. When the village launches an allotment project they become dramatically embroiled in a bitter struggle over sex, power and money, which threatens to blight more than everyone''s carrots.

A leading male model offers a glimpse inside the decadent world of high fashion during the 1980s and 1990s, revealing the sex, drugs, extravagance, intense competition, and indulgence of the era while chronicling his own experiences.

Neil and Sarah are the ultimate happy couple. Until, that is, Neil’s new job leaves Sarah alone to juggle the baby, domestic drudgery, and her own career. When Neil fails to come home one night, Sarah rushes home to her mother, who has always wished that Sarah had married her childhood sweetheart, the fabulously rich lawyer Colin, who has coincidentally reappeared in her life. The stage is set for divorce, but Neil has other ideas. Distraught at the prospect of losing Sarah and recognizing what an idiot he has been, he enrolls in an experimental “School for Husbands,” a clinic aimed at helping hopeless spouses mend their ways. But will its intensive tuition in everything from emotional self-expression to putting the toilet seat down be enough to get Neil back together with his wife? Not if Colin and Sarah’s mother have anything to do with it.

Sophie seems to have a perfect marriage. She lives with her author husband Mark & their daughter in a big house full of antiques. But, as Mark''s best-selling star rises, his best husband status is sliding out of the chart.

"[T]he amazing story of a woman who lived through one of the worst times in human history, losing family members to the Nazis but surviving with her spirit and integrity intact.” —Publishers Weekly Marthe Cohn was a young Jewish woman living just across the German border in France when Hitler rose to power. Her family sheltered Jews fleeing the Nazis, including Jewish children sent away by their terrified parents. But soon her homeland was also under Nazi rule. As the Nazi occupation escalated, Marthe’s sister was arrested and sent to Auschwitz and the rest of her family was forced to flee to the south of France. Always a fighter, Marthe joined the French Army and became a member of the intelligence service of the French First Army. Marthe, using her perfect German accent and blond hair to pose as a young German nurse who was desperately trying to obtain word of a fictional fiancé, would slip behind enemy lines to retrieve inside information about Nazi troop movements. By traveling throughout the countryside and approaching troops sympathetic to her plight--risking death every time she did so--she learned where they were going next and was able to alert Allied commanders. When, at the age of eighty, Marthe Cohn was awarded France’s highest military honor, the Médaille Militaire, not even her children knew to what extent this modest woman had helped defeat the Nazi empire. At its heart, this remarkable memoir is the tale of an ordinary human being who, under extraordinary circumstances, became the hero her country needed her to be.

Artist Rosie dreams of a peaceful country cottage, but when her dreams are realised she quickly discovers that village life is far from peaceful.

As an emotionally fragile journalist recovers from war trauma, she immerses herself in the study of the history of handmade art paper and its influence on the artist J.M.W. Turner--a scholarly project that might prove the most dangerous minefield she''s ever encountered.

Ruthless, beautiful Belinda wants a rich and famous man. Her problem is that interviewing Z-list celebs offers zero opportunity for megastar-bagging. Gentle Grace, meanwhile, only wants a quiet life. Her problems include an egomaniac boyfriend, a meddling mother and a publishing job with the authors from hell.

Deana Martin''s captivating, heartfelt memoir of her father, Dean Martin Charming, debonair, and impeccably attired in a black tuxedo, Dean Martin was coolness incarnate. His music provided the soundtrack of romance, and his image captivated movie and television audiences for more than fifty years. His daughter Deana was among his most devoted fans, but she also knew a side of him that few others ever glimpsed. In this heartfelt memoir, Deana recalls the constantly changing blended family that marked her youth, along with the unexpected moments of silliness and tenderness that this unusual Hollywood family shared. She candidly reveals the impact of Dean’s fame and characteristic aloofness, but delights in sharing wonderful, never-before-told stories about her father and his pallies known as the Rat Pack. This enchanting account of life as the daughter of one of Hollywood’s sexiest icons will leave you entertained, delighted, and nostalgic for a time gone by.

From the bestselling author of Azur Like it and Farm Fatale comes a domestic comedy set in the world of coupledom and new parenthood. Bath, England – the swanky town once home to ancient Roman spas and Jane Austen heroines – is the setting for Wendy Holden’s brilliant novel. Birthing class brings together two sets of expectant parents who couldn’t be more different. Huge and his spoiled wife Amanda plan to throw money at the problem of parenthood, making use of private hospitals and nurses, while environmentally friendly Jake and Alice have arranged a home delivery complete with birthing pool and whale music. But even after their babies are born, these seemingly disparate couples can’t escape each other. When Amanda decides she’s not cut out for motherhood and Huge must look elsewhere for a sympathetic ear, the couples are inextricably drawn together once again, resulting in hilarious social comedy, as only Wendy Holden can write it. "Wendy Holden is [a] superstar." -- Evening Standard (London)

A personal look at moments both private and powerful and the ways these moments have helped carry her through life.

Packed with rich anecdotes and never before published information, ''Memories Are Made of This'' is an intimate biography of a rediscovered star who represents an era.

A witty, winning escapade through the south of France is offered by the internationally bestselling author of "Gossip Hound" and "Farm Fatale." 352 00.

Satire.

A memoir of the only woman to ever serve in the French Foreign Legion, the unique story of Susan Travers is told against the backdrop of war-torn France. Photos.

In this whimsical and satirical novel that''s already a smash hit in England, a writer for a glossy women''s magazine lands the nightmare assignment of ghostwriting for the town''s latest bedazzling socialite.

Set in Southern Ireland in the tiny coastal village ot Tulaigh Morh, Waking Ned is the comic tale of Jackie O''Shea and Michael O''Sullivan and a lottery scam that changes the lives of their community for ever.

This is the story of the launching of a male striptease act by a group of out-of-work steelworkers who are down on their luck and strapped for cash. Through the process of rehearsing the show, they form new friendships and find a new purpose in life.