Kirjahaku

It starts as a lark for Jasmin Field, the charming, acerbically witty columnist for a national women's magazine. She joins a host of celebraties gathering in London to audition for the season's most dazzling charity event: a one-night only stage production of Jane Austen's immortal Pride and Prejudice, directed by and starring the Academy Award -- winning Hollywood heartthrob Harry Noble. And nobody is more surprised than Jasmin herself when she lands the lead of handsome Harry's love interest, Elizabeth Bennet. But things start to go very wrong very quickly. Ms. Field's delicious contempt for the arrogant, overbearing Harry Noble goes from being wicked fun to infuriating. Her brief moment of theatrical glory looks as if it's going to be overshadowed by the betrayal of her best friend, the disintegration of her family and the implosion of her career. And suddenly she can't remember a single one of her lines. But, worst of all, Harry Noble -- who, incidentally, looks amazing in tight breeches -- has started to stare hard at Jazz with that sort of a glimmer in his eyes...Fresh, wild, wonderfully romantic and absolutely hilarious, Pride, Prejudice and Jasmin Field is Jane Austen as the great lady herself never imagined it.

Twenty-three-year-old Jo Green knows that if she has to spend one more night in ultra-provincial Niblet-Upon-Avon she'll go completely bonkers So she answers an ad in the paper, bids her devoted boyfriend Shaun adieu, and heads off to the big city. With a new job that offers excitement; a cool car; and her own suite with a TV, DVD player, and a cell phone, how can she go wrong?Then she meets . . . the Fitzgeralds -- Dick and Vanessa and their unruly brood of rugrats who have suddenly been entrusted into Jo's care. There's eight-year-old "psycho-babe" Cassandra; bloodthirsty Zak, the six-year-old Terminator; and timid little Tallulah.So what else could go wrong? How about the arrival of Dick's children from his first marriage: teenage Toby and (gulp ) all-grown-up-and-very-nicely-at-that Josh the accountant? And now that she has to temporarily share her room with Josh, Jo's head is really in a spin -- because with her hometown beau still in the picture and a sexy possibility sleeping just a foot away, life has suddenly gotten very complicated indeed

After years as a sweet, good-natured pushover, Annie Markham has had to face up to three hard truths: You've got to be tough to succeed in business and romance.Sometimes your meddling loved ones areright about your worthless, no-good boyfriend being worthless and no good.The only reliable thing about men is thatthey're totally unreliable.Okay, she's been persuaded. So now, seven years after wisely and abruptly dumping the "love of her life," Jake Mead, things should be going better for Annie Markham, right? Unfortunately, her life's going nowhere, her family's going mental, and the family business is heading straight down the tubes. Could it get worse? Of course Jake's back, Annie's getting ready for bankruptcy, and no one's ready for Christmas ... let alone a happy New Year.And no amount of persuasion will ever convince Annie that magic does happenand dreams do come true, not even at the stroke of midnight on December 31 at New York's Plaza Hotel ... will it?

The AppetizerKatie has lofty career aspirations that seem to change almost hourly: writer, film director, teacher, educational psychiatrist. In the meantime, she's waiting tables and waiting for "Mr. Right" to arrive out of the blue -- which seems unlikely, considering her romantic track record is as pitiful as her job history.The Main CourseStill, a girl can dream, even when she's rushing a hot plate of linguini over to the nasty customer at table six. So when gorgeous, sensitive, perfect Dan Crichton asks her out, Katie's over the moon. But once again, commitment phobia rears its ugly head and dinner turns into the Great First Date Disaster -- and Katie's ideal romance is over before the goodnight kiss.The Just DessertsThings are tough when a woman wants it all and will not settle -- and has a little trouble making up her mind. But it's about to get really complicated for the Queen of Complications.The BillNot only is Dan coming back -- as her new boss and engaged to someone else -- but persistent Ex-Boyfriend #3 Hugh's back too, with a vengeance. And suddenly there's a lot more on her tray than even the most able food service professional could safely handle ...

When Jo Green becomes a nanny in London to escape her small-town routine, complicated family and perfect-on-paper boyfriend Shaun, culture shock doesn't even begin to describe it. She is just getting used to the Fitzgerald's designer lifestyle when they acquire a distractingly good-looking lodger.

Katie Simmonds wants to be a film director. Last week she wanted to be a writer, the week before that an educational psychologist, and the week before that a florist. One thing Katie isn't short of is ambition, but she knows for certain that none of her ambitions are to be a waitress. Unfortunately, Katie Simmonds is a waitress. Hassled by customers, badly paid and stuck with the boss from hell, Katie's life hasn't turned out quite as she'd planned. As for relationships, she's starting to discover that a career choice isn't the only commitment she has problems with. But just when she thinks that things can't get any worse, the café where she works is taken over by the man she had a disastrous date with but can't get out of her mind. Katie's been waiting at tables - and waiting for Mr Right - for far too long, but what on earth is she supposed to do now -?

Nicky Hobbs loves teaching at the local primary school. She's idolised by her class - in particular ten-year-old Oscar Samuels - but she's starting to find she'd quite like some adult adoration for a change. Mark Samuels is a frazzled single father working all the hours God gives to provide for his beloved son, Oscar.

Jake's hasty departure from her life proved that a) godmothers are cleverer than they look and b) the only thing reliable about men is that they're totally unreliable. Now Jake is back in her life. And he's the one man who may just save her family's ailing company. But what Annie doesn't know is that Jake has an Achilles' heel.

When journalist Jasmin Field lands the coveted role of Elizabeth Bennet in one-off adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice" she discovers that the play's director, Hollywood heart-throb Harry Noble, is every bit as obnoxious as she could have hoped. Which means a lot of material for her column. And a lot of fun in rehearsals. And then disaster strikes.