Ex-Girlfriend Emma Carter has a lot on her mind. Her boyfriend got a life—in L.A. Her hairdresser found God. And that extra ten pounds of “relationship flab” she acquired while falling in love with a commitment-phobe has just put her out of the running for new romance—or so she thinks. But before Emma can get on with her life, she’s got to face a few startling truths about being single in New York City…. Confession #5: Marriage suddenly seems like a social disease. Even the latest bride in my family—my mother—has put me to work in the service of her wedding day. What about us non-brides-to-be? Working in the warped little world of wedding planning has only led me to one conclusion: If you don’t get married in this world, you get nothing. Once, in an editorial meeting, I jokingly suggested that a woman should get a bridal shower when she turns thirty, wedding or not. Everyone looked at me as if I were some kind of nut. I am 31 years old; am I not entitled to free Calphalon yet? Who ever thought that baring your soul could be this good?

There should be a four-letter word for beauty. She has more shoes than Sarah Jessica Parker and a skin-care system that could make Madonna swoon, but unlike her celebrity counterparts, Grace Noonan doesn’t have it all. Her latest utterly-eligible-yet-maddeningly-unavailable boyfriend has just revealed that having sex with her is one thing and having babies quite another, forcing Grace to move on—again. And now that her employer—a top cosmetics company once devoted to “beauty beyond thirty”—is pursuing a teenaged supermodel as its future face, this thirty-four-year-old marketing exec is starting to wonder if she is going to get it all before the closing credits. Could it be time for Grace to back out of the beauty race and trade the singles scene for the sperm bank? Or is there something even this savvy bombshell has yet to discover about life and love in New York City?

More often than not, women tend to lose themselves in relationships, believing they have found "The One"-- the discovery that signifies the end of loneliness. The assurance of happily every after. If this relationship is lost, all seems lost. But what happens when you meet "The One" and he turns out to be just someone? What do you do when the love of your life becomes the heartbreak of your life? JoAnna Harris understands. After a broken engagement, she was forced to confront the inevitable void after the break-up and truly answer the question -- Who am I without this relationship? While wading through intense heartbreak, JoAnna says, "I discovered that the end of my relationship was not the end of me. That in Christ, I am complete and whole." Using her own story of heartbreak and healing, JoAnna will make you laugh and encourage you in your own journey to healing and discovery.

When one ex-boyfriend gets married, a girl can laugh it off. With two, she begins to get nervous. But three? Three? Angie DiFranco is starting to take it personally. What is it about her that doesn’t incite men to plunk down large sums of money in the name of eternal love? According to her one successfully married friend, men are like tight lids. One woman comes along, loosens him up, leaving him for the next woman to pop off the lid, no problem. After all, would Jennifer have landed Brad so easily without the Gwyneth factor? Suddenly Angie looks at Kirk, her current boyfriend, with new eyes. Kirk, whose last girlfriend loosened his lid by giving him The Ultimatum. Kirk, who suddenly seems primed to be popped right open. If the tight-lid theory is true, Angie could be married within a year—with a little effort. And a little help from her friends….

There should be a four-letter word for beauty.

In Manning Up, Manhattan Institute fellow and City Journal contributing editor Kay Hymowitz argues that the gains of the feminist revolution have had a dramatic, unanticipated effect on the current generation of young men. Traditional roles of family man and provider have been turned upside down as "pre-adult" men, stuck between adolescence and "real" adulthood, find themselves lost in a world where women make more money, are more educated, and are less likely to want to settle down and build a family. Their old scripts are gone, and young men find themselves adrift. Unlike women, they have no biological clock telling them it's time to grow up. Hymowitz argues that it's time for these young men to "man up."

A fun and practical guide on how to write the next chick lit bestseller—with expert writing advice from Meg Cabot, Emily Giffin, and Sophie Kinsella With chick lit novels popping up on every bestseller list, millions of readers are all thinking the same thing: I could write this stuff. I could write a bestseller and never go back to the office again! And here’s the guide that will show you how. Bestselling novelist Sarah Mlynowski and veteran chick lit editor Farrin Jacobs cover every stage of developing and selling your soon-to-be bestselling novel, with information on • developing an idea • learning the basics of plotting • deciding on a point of view • pacing, and conflict • making your characters likable • finding an agent —and much more, including humorous tips and advice from scores of established writers (from Meg Cabot and Marian Keyes to Emily Giffin and Sophie Kinsella). If you’ve got stories to tell, See Jane Write will take care of the rest.

Falling for the forbidden is never something you plan. Here is my confession… All 4 of the Forbidden Confessions: Protectors series in one print book! Seduced by the Bodyguard What will he demand in exchange for keeping her safe? Seduced by the Spy What will she surrender to him for his protection? Seduced by the Assassin What lengths will he go to in order to claim his babygirl? Seduced by the Mafia Boss What will he risk to make his one-night stand last forever?

The World According to Bridget Jones: Discourses of Identity in Chicklit Fictions examines the cultural functioning of a popular contemporary strand in mainstream Anglo-American literature, known as «chicklit». Assuming that the interpretive potential of chicklit novels is connected with the process of identity formation, the book points out the possibility of the reader's identification with certain fictional discourses permeating the convention. The study focuses on complex links between Anglo-American cultural discourses and narrative constructions of identity and explores narrative representations of contemporary family, love, and sexuality. It also tackles the relation between chicklit and consumerism, reconstructing salient characteristics of contemporary consumer culture and the position of the fictional female consumer within discourses of body, beauty, and shopping.

By identifying similarities in various books, this annual selection guide helps readers to independently choose titles of interest published in the last year.Each entry describes a separate book, listing everything readers need to know to make selections. Arranged by author within six genre sections, detailed entries provide: Title Publisher and publication dateSeriesNames and descriptions of charactersTime period and geographical settingReview citationsStory typesBrief plot summarySelected other books by the authorSimilar books by different authorsAuthor, title, series, character name, character description, time period, geographic setting and genre/sub-genre indexes are included to facilitate research.