Autumn Chick Lit

The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman

Published by Allen & Unwin RRP $29.99

Two sisters, opposite in every way: twenty-eight-year-old Emily is a CFO of an internet start-up, twenty-three-year-old Jess is a graduate student in philosophy. Pragmatic Emily is making a fortune in Silicon Valley, romantic Jess works in an antiquarian bookstore. Emily's boyfriend is fantastically successful. Jess's boyfriend is an environmental activist. But the dot-com bubble must burst, while Jess's work on a cache of rare cookbooks uncovers strange erotic drawings and marginalia that bring her closer to their mysterious collector...

Rich ideas and characters, The Cookbook Collector is a novel of substitutions: reading cookbooks instead of cooking, speculating instead of creating, collecting instead of living. But above all it is about holding on to what is real in a virtual world: love that lasts.

To the Moon and Back by Jill Mansell

Published by Headline Review RRP $32.99

The gorgeously indulgent, funny and touching new novel from Jill Mansell.

When Ellie Kendall tragically loses her husband she feels her life is over. But eventually shes ready for a new start at work. She doesn’t need a new man when she has a certain secret visitor to keep her company...

Zack McLaren seems to have it all, but the girl he cant stop thinking about wont give him a second glance. If only shed pay him the same attention she lavishes on his dog.

Moving to North London, Ellie meets neighbour Roo who has a secret of her own. Can the girls sort out their lives? Guilt is a powerful emotion, but a lot can happen in a year in Primrose Hill...

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhonda Janzen

Published by Allen & Unwin RRP $29.99

Not long after Rhoda Janzen turned forty, her world turned upside down. It was bad enough that her husband of fifteen years left her for Bob, a guy he met on Gay.com, but that same week a car accident left her injured. Needing a place to rest and pick up the pieces of her life, Rhoda packed her bags, crossed the country, and returned to her quirky Mennonite family's home, where she was welcomed back with open arms and offbeat advice. (Rhoda's good-natured mother suggested she get over her heartbreak by dating her first cousin - he owned a tractor, see.)

Written with wry humour and huge personality - and tackling faith, love, family, and aging - Mennonite in a Little Black Dress is an immensely moving memoir of healing, certain to touch anyone who has ever had to look homeward in order to move ahead.

To Touch the Stars by Jessica Ruston Published by Headline Review RRP $32.99

Perfect for every woman who loves the family drama of a Penny Vincenzi novel and the glamorous settings of Tasmina Perry.

From the author of LUXURY, a glossy, gripping epic blockbuster featuring the beautiful, wealthy but accursed Cavalley family.

Renowned for style, glamour and sophistication, Cavalley's creates the most luxurious millinery in the world. Talented and beautiful, Violet Cavalley has poured her heart and soul into building her multi-million-pound business and raising her three adored children. But behind the Cavalley family's gilded facade lies a streak of darkness. Darkness that now threatens to destroy them all.

Beneath the Shadows by Sara Foster

Published by Random RRP $32.95

When Grace's husband, Adam, inherits a cottage on the Yorkshire moors, they leave London behind to try a new life. A week later, Adam disappears. The following year, Grace returns with her baby daughter, Millie . She is desperate for answers, but resigned to preparing the cottage for sale. With no-one prepared to divulge their secrets, Grace finds herself unwilling to trust anyone. Then, just as snowfall threatens to cut her off from the rest of the world, she makes a terrible discovery. In the aftermath, she realises that she has been looking in the wrong place for answers all along. In the wild winter weather she sets out to reclaim her daughter from the one person seemingly intent on taking Millie away, praying that she will reach them in time.