I wasn't thrilled when my mother told me she was getting married again. It wasn't until I met Future Husband #5 that I also met his son. Riley got my attention, that's for sure. Is it a mistake that we're going out? Or are we on our way to forever? Me and Mr. Jones is a contemporary romance short story: 7,400 words. A sweeter version of this title is published under the pen name Kate Russell. Keywords: chick lit, contemporary romance, romance short story, romantic comedy, first impression, tattoo, bad boy
Sweet With a Little Heat Short Story Collection features five individually published, sweet-ish short stories/novelettes: He was The One. Then he dumped me. Now, three years later, he wants a second chance. He's crazy if he thinks he's going to win over the heart he broke before. Right? Second Chance Boy is a college romance/ chick lit short story: 12,100 words. A sweeter version of this title is under the pen name Kate Russell. Honor is pregnant, and her ex-boyfriend is MIA. But she's going to track him down and tell him tonight if it's the last thing she does. Oh, and then she's going to tell her conservative Christian family about the baby. No biggie. Right? His Expectant Ex is a contemporary romance/ women's fiction short story: 7,100 words. A sweeter version of this title is published under the pen name Kate Russell. Penny Martin's college freshman year is starting off on the wrong foot. She hates her passive-aggressive roommate, thinks her Spanish professor should be committed, and meets her arch nemesis, Surfer Boy. But is Surfer Boy more than he seems? Penny's about to find out. Love Will Find You is a new adult romance short story: 12,300 words. A sweeter version of this story is published under the title Penny by Kate Russell. I wasn't thrilled when my mother told me she was getting married again. It wasn't until I met Future Husband #5 that I also met his son. Riley got my attention, that's for sure. Is it a mistake that we're going out? Or are we on our way to forever? Me and Mr. Jones is a contemporary romance short story: 7,400 words. A sweeter version of this title is published under the pen name Kate Russell. When I was 16, I was in love with my best friend's older brother. And I do mean older. He kissed the fire out of me, but then let me go. Now 8 years later, he's interested. If I give him another chance will he break my heart again? Or will I get my happily ever after? Choosing You Again is a romantic comedy/ chick lit novella: 18,200 words. A sweet version of this title is published under the pen name Kate Russell. Keywords: contemporary romance, new adult romance, college romance, chick lit, romantic comedy, second chance, enemies to lovers, opposites attract, friends to lovers, baby
“There are few things I love more than curling up with a Jenny B. Jones cast of characters. Save the Date was no exception.” —Kristin Billerbeck, author of The Theory of Happily Ever After The only thing scarier than living on the edge is stepping off it. Maggie Montgomery lives a life of adventure. Her job as a cinematographer takes her from one exotic locale to the next. When Maggie's not working, she loves to rappel off cliffs or go skydiving. Nothing frightens her. Nothing, that is, except Ivy, Texas, where a family emergency pulls her back home to a town full of bad memories, painful secrets, and people Maggie left far behind . . . for a reason. Forced to stay longer than she intended, Maggie finds her family a complete mess, including the niece her sister has abandoned. Ten-year-old Riley is struggling in school and out of control at home. The only person who can really handle the pint-sized troublemaker is Conner, the local vet and Ivy's most eligible bachelor. But Conner and Maggie keep butting heads—he’s suspicious of her and, well, she doesn't rely on anyone but herself. As Maggie humorously fumbles her way from one mishap to another, she realizes she's going to need to ask for help from the one person who scares her the most. To save one little girl—and herself—can Maggie let go of her fears and just trust God? “Jenny B. Jones strikes a perfect balance of quirkiness and vulnerability.” —Allison Pittman, author of Stealing Home “Jones’s sassy style is merely one of this romance novelist’s many endearing talents . . . Some subtle faith messages about trusting God despite painful pasts round out this fast-paced, lighthearted romantic escape.” —Publishers Weekly review of Save the Date
Izzy's determined to escape her troubled past with a new start by the sea - but flirtatious Charlie Jones is causing complications. Alicia's been happily married to loyal Hugh for years but secretly craves excitement. Maybe it's time to spice things up? Emma's relationship with David was once fun and romantic but trying for a baby has taken its toll. Then temptation comes along ...As the future of the family's B&B becomes uncertain, Izzy, Alicia and Emma are thrown together unexpectedly. It seems that keeping up with the Joneses is harder than anyone thought ...
Chick lit: A genre of fiction that often recycles the following plot: Girl in big city desperately searches for Mr. Right in between dieting and shopping for shoes. Girl gets dumped (sometimes repeatedly). Girl finds Prince Charming. This Is Not Chick Lit is a celebration of America’s most dynamic literary voices, as well as a much needed reminder that, for every stock protagonist with a designer handbag and three boyfriends, there is a woman writer pushing the envelope of literary fiction with imagination, humor, and depth. The original short stories in this collection touch on some of the same themes as chick lit–the search for love and identity–but they do so with extraordinary power, creativity, and range; they are also political, provocative, and, at turns, utterly surprising. Featuring marquee names as well as burgeoning talents, This Is Not Chick Lit will nourish your heart, and your mind. Including these original stories: “The Thing Around Your Neck” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie “Two Days” by Aimee Bender “An Open Letter to Doctor X” by Francine Prose “Gabe” by Holiday Reinhorn “Documents of Passion Love” by Carolyn Ferrell “Volunteers Are Shining Stars” by Curtis Sittenfeld “Selling the General” by Jennifer Egan “The Seventy-two-Ounce Steak Challenge” by Dika Lam “Love Machine” by Samantha Hunt “Ava Bean” by Jennifer S. Davis “Embrace” by Roxana Robinson “The Epiphany Branch” by Mary Gordon “Joan, Jeanne, La Pucelle, Maid of Orléans” by Judy Budnitz “Gabriella, My Heart” by Cristina Henríquez “The Red Coat” by Caitlin Macy “The Matthew Effect” by Binnie Kirshenbaum “The Recipe” by Lynne Tillman “Meaning of Ends” by Martha Witt Praise for This Is Not Chick Lit “This Is Not Chick Lit is important not only for its content, but for its title. I’ll know we’re getting somewhere when equally talented male writers feel they have to separate themselves from the endless stream of fiction glorifying war, hunting and sports by naming an anthology This Is Not a Guy Thing.”—Gloria Steinem “These voices, diverse and almost eerily resonant, offer us a refreshing breath of womanhood-untamed, ungroomed, and unglossed.”—Elle
Originally a euphemism for Princeton University’s Female Literary Tradition course in the 1980s, "chick lit" mutated from a movement in American women’s avant-garde fiction in the 1990s to become, by the turn of the century, a humorous subset of women’s literature, journalism, and advice manuals. Stephanie Harzewski examines such best sellers as Bridget Jones’s Diary The Devil Wears Prada, and Sex and the City as urban appropriations of and departures from the narrative traditions of the novel of manners, the popular romance, and the bildungsroman. Further, Harzewski uses chick lit as a lens through which to view gender relations in U.S. and British society in the 1990s. Chick Lit and Postfeminism is the first sustained historicization of this major pop-cultural phenomenon, and Harzewski successfully demonstrates how chick lit and the critical study of it yield social observations on upheavals in Anglo-American marriage and education patterns, heterosexual rituals, feminism, and postmodern values.
If life is a series of tests, Mandy Keeling just hit the mother lode. Ordinarily, I'm a fan of pink--lovely color, does smashing things for the complexion. But not when it's the bright, glaring stripe staring back at me on the pregnancy test. Then, pink is the color of major oops, of morning sickness, of boyfriends who seemed decent but now are part of some Jerk Witness Protection Program. Still, I've got a few things going for me--bitter humor, a divine right to eat till I'm the size of Marlon Brando, and good friends who've managed to get me a job interview with one Damien Sharpton: in need of a personal assistant, and some say, a good, swift kick in the arse. If you want to make a lasting impression, by all means, toss your cookies in your future boss's wastebasket, which is located directly between his excruciatingly sexy legs. Apparently, Mr. Gorgeous-But-Unbearably-Anti-Social must like personal assistants who violate his trashcan, because I got the job. And if I can avoid him via text messaging for the next nine months of free health insurance, everything will be just fine. Except that he's just asked--no, insisted--that I go with him on a business trip to the Caribbean. Gulp. Ordinarily, this would be cause for celebration. Ordinarily, I'd shave my legs, pack my bikini, revel in day-glo drinks and my seething lust for Mr. Swarthy-And-Secretive. But there's nothing ordinary about this situation. . .which means it could be absolutely extraordinary. . .
Ellie Somerset's high-flying job as an advertising copywriter is hard work, but she's got it under control. Her sexy, devil-may-care new boss, on the other hand? She'll try her best...A perfect romantic comedy for fans of Holly Martin and Cathy Bramley. Ellie Somerset loves her career-obsessed boyfriend Sam and she loves her job as an advertising copywriter. But Sam is always at work and her fresh ideas keep being overlooked. Her life gets more complicated when new boss Jack Wolfe - Heathcliff in jeans - arrives at the agency. With his brooding good looks, trademark scowl and plans for change, he challenges Ellie to smarten up and prove herself. To Ellie's horror, she finds herself both repelled and attracted to the sexy and dangerous Jack. But this particular wolf has an awful lot to hide . . .
