Maggie Alderson

'Some of my best friends are homosexuals. I just didn't expect my husband to be one too.' A year after Antonia and Hugh move to Australia with their 4 year old son Tom, everything is going terribly well. They have a lovely house, they're very popular - and then Hugh tells Antonia he is gay and has a boyfriend ... It's only the arrival of Ant's outrageous lavender-haired uncle Percy that lifts her out of her depression and sends her off to the gym - to combat the lardy thighs her comfort eating has given her - where she meets the mysterious James, and falls head over heels in lust. Soon Ant finds she's over Hugo - but by then her problems are only just beginning ...

Mad About The Boy

A hot fashion stylist for Chic magazine, Emily Pointer finds herself abandoning her self-imposed rules about love, in a witty insider's novel about love, sex, friendship, relationships, success, and revenge, set inside the fashion world. Original.

Handbags and Gladrags

Stella Fain has a rule for men she likes: Make them wait . . . But the gorgeous Jay proves an exception to the rule when he bowls Stella off her Prada wedges at a press junket on the Cote d'Azur. He might seem to have everything going for him, but Stella is about to realise that while jetset lifestyles can be fabulous, her career as a journalist isn't something she wants to jeopardise for any man, no matter how filthy-rich or gorgeous. And then there's her father - a six-times-married prime slice of Alpha Male with a grudge against inherited wealth . . . and Jay. There's no denying money makes the world go round and diamonds are a girl's best friend, but they don't make the path to love any easier to tread - with or without the Prada wedges.

Cents and Sensibility

A broken heart is hard to mend. And a good heart is practically impossible to find ... When Georgia Abbott's fiance cheats on her, she's left with a broken heart and the reality of her humdrum life in London. Until someone tells her about a job on Glow magazine: in Sydney. That's Sydney, Australia - where the welcome is as warm as the weather and the men look like Mel Gibson, but taller. What's she got to lose? So Georgia packs up and ships out Down Under. And at first things seem promising, as she's swept up in a whirl of A-list parties, dancing, and debauchery. But while Australian water may go down the plughole the other way, Australian men are - oh dear - starting to look all too familiar ...

Pants on Fire

'Do you always sleep in separate beds?' A question from her outspoken friend Kiki shocks Amelia Bradlow into taking stock of her 'perfect' life. She might have the adoring husband, the flat in Mayfair and the weekend cottage, but what about the things that really matter? Like the unmentionable matter of the baby they haven't had . . . Just when she is most confused, up pops gorgeous Joseph Renwick - the first boy she ever kissed - back in town and dangerously single. Struggling to put thoughts of him aside, Amelia makes some big changes. A reinvigorated career and a style makeover turn her into a new woman - but husband Ed preferred the old one. So with her internal clock ticking ever louder, Amelia has to decide whether to stay in her nearly happy marriage, or take a gamble on going solo. Is it better to break your own heart than to settle for second best?

How to Break Your Own Heart

Even the closest families have secrets ... it's when they are shared that things begin to change. The lives of three very different sisters collide in this witty new novel from bestselling author Maggie Alderson. Recently divorced Rachel is juggling her new dream job in interior design PR with the demands of two young daughters. She's full of creative ideas but -- even with a colourful childminder or two -- some days she can't make it into the office in time and in matching shoes. Her life is balanced more precariously than she cares to admit. Tessa, a talented muralist, is feeling flat. Her kids are growing up and she's feeling upstaged by her husband's new-found celebrity as the host of a reality TV fireplace restoration show. But everything turns on its head when she gets a surprise from her past. Youngest sister Natasha leads a glamorous jet-setting life -- she's one of Vogue's favourite make-up artists who regularly creates the looks for the biggest shows in Paris and Milan. Single and childless, she's been focused on her career -- but when the lie she's concealed for years threatens to come to light, the truth will make her question everything. Meanwhile their mother, Joy, a hippy vegetarian caterer, is carefully ignoring the letters that keep arriving at her door. Into the mix comes Simon, Rachel's urbane boss, hiding secrets of his own. And everything lurking beneath the surface of this seemingly happy family is about to come out ...

Secret Keeping for Beginners

Loulou Landers, London's undisputed Queen of Vintage Fashion, meets a man on the eve of her dreaded forty-ninth birthday. He's kind, he's sensitive, he's divinely handsome and he carries a designer suit like George Clooney. Unfortunately, he's barely half her age, and Loulou's just not ready to 'go cougar'. Then there is Loulou's 21-year-old daughter, Theo, who won't get a job, won't move out, wears chainstore fashion, and hasn't said a civil word to her mother for years. And she is on the verge of her own spectacularly unsuitable affair. So how will Loulou cope with a daughter who's off the rails, a man who won't take no for an answer, an ageing process that won't slow down - not to mention a birthday party in a camping ground? Like she always has - with wit, grit and an exemplary sense of style. Visit Maggie's blog

Shall We Dance?

Have you ever wondered why even the truly stylish find it hard to do smart casual? Why all men look like James Bond in dinner jackets? Why all four-year-old girls are obsessed with pink? Why fashionable people always wear black? Why blondes have less fun? Or why some people will spend $6000 on a handbag? This book will explain all of these mysteries and many more. And even if you've never pondered any of these issues, Maggie Alderson will amuse and entertain you with her finely tuned observations about everything from global style icons to when to wear that perfect red dress, with the leopardskin shoes, of course. Australia's wittiest fashion and lifestyle commentator delivers a delightful bundle of wicked charm.

Shoe Money

Home is where the heart is - but what happens to your heart when the people you love are scattered around the world? Hannah and Matt are very happy together, living in London's cool East End with their two young children. Hannah has a job she loves as a beauty editor and Matt is always just about to break through as a songwriter. But then events start to pull them apart, with Hannah certain they'd be much better off down in the English countryside with her family - and Matt's mum needing them with her, back in Sydney, 17 000 kilometres away. Hannah's mother, Marguerite, mends broken china, but can she can repair her damaged marriage? And Matt's vivacious young cousin, Ali, feels lost, looking for love in a strange city. All of them have unsettling secrets and while some are better shared, others might be best left unspoken - the problem is knowing which are which. In this story of three women's search for a place to call home, Maggie Alderson crosses continents and generations to explore how we find happiness - and whether love can survive betrayal.

Everything Changes But You

Perfume blogger Polly is in crisis. Will her husband's absence break her ... or make her? A novel of perfumes, exploring life, love, loss and forgiveness - Maggie Alderson's new bestseller. On New Year's Eve, Polly Mackay is contemplating her life. She had been happily married with two grown-up children, a thriving business as a perfume blogger, and a glamorous, ageing, ex-model mother who keeps things ... interesting. But when her husband announced that he needed time away from her and promptly vanished, everything she took for granted was thrown into disarray. As Polly grapples with David's disappearance she clings to a few new friends to keep her going. Shirlee, the loud-mouthed yoga student; Guy, the mysterious, infuriating and hugely talented perfumer; and Edward, an old friend from university, who sparks a new sense of possibility ... But while she distracts herself with the heady world of luxury perfume, she can't keep reality at bay forever, and eventually she is forced to confront some difficult truths - about her husband, about herself, and about who she really wants to be. Praise for Maggie Alderson: 'Fact: Maggie Alderson is a goddamn national treasure. Her writing is pithy, warm, incisive and touching, her characters extremely lovable and relatably flawed.' Cosmopolitan

The Scent of You

'Was he even twenty-five? He was half my age and I was dancing with him like some moon-eyed teenager.' Loulou Landers, London's undisputed Queen of Vintage Fashion, meets a man on the eve of her dreaded forty-ninth birthday. He's kind, he's sensitive, he's divinely handsome and he carries a designer suit like George Clooney. Unfortunately, he's barely half her age, and Loulou's just not ready to 'go cougar'. Then there is Loulou's 21-year-old daughter, Theo, who won't get a job, won't move out, wears chainstore fashion, and hasn't said a civil word to her mother for years. And she is on the verge of her own spectacularly unsuitable affair. So how will Loulou cope with a daughter who's off the rails, a man who won't take no for an answer, an ageing process that won't slow down – not to mention a birthday party in a camping ground? Like she always has – with wit, grit and an exemplary sense of style. 'A supreme commentator on the vagaries of fashion.' - Sunday Age 'A humorous page-turning style.' - Sydney Morning Herald 'Alderson's books have heart.' - The Melbourne Weekly 'If you love chick lit, Maggie Alderson is your idol.' - Shesaid.com 'Alderson's sensibility and wit make for clever chick lit.' - Vogue Entertaining and Travel Visit Maggie's blog

Kathy Lette

Jessica Adams

Imogen Edwards-Jones

"An unashamedly sexy collection" ("Glamour") featuring today's top female writers hiding behind naughty pseudonyms.

In Bed With Anthology

"An unashamedly sexy collection" (Glamour) featuring today's top female writers hiding behind naughty pseudonyms. A unique and sexy collection of bedtime stories by bestselling, award- winning, and well-known novelists delivering the goods under their X- rated pseudonyms. So who's who? We're not telling. After all, a woman should have at least one good secret. Feturing Adele Parks, Ali Smith, Bella Pollen, Chris Manby, Daisy Waugh, Emma Darwin, Esther Freud, Fay Weldon, Jane Moore, Joan Smith, Joanne Harris, Justine Picardi, Louise Doughty, Rachel Johnson, Santa Montefiore, Stella Duffy, Imogen Edwards-Jones, Jessica Adams, Kathy Lette, and Maggie Alderson.

In Bed With is an often wicked and totally sizzling collection of unashamedly sexy stories by bestselling, award-winning and well-known novelists - writing under their x-rated pseudonyms. Entertaining and erotic, In Bed With is a delicious collection of fiction provocateur. So what are you waiting for? Slip under the covers with a good book. Satisfaction guaranteed. Featuring Jessica Adams, Maggie Alderson, Emma Darwin, Louise Doughty, Stella Duffy, Imogen Edwards-Jones, Esther Freud, Joanne Harris, Rachel Johnson, Kathy Lette, Chris Manby, Jane Moore, Adele Parks, Justine Picardie, Bella Pollen, Santa Sebag-Montefiore, Ali Smith, Joan Smith, Daisy Waugh and Fay Weldon.

Erotic Stories

In Bed With...

Mad About the Boy

With a witty and biting insider's take on the fashion world, the crazy circuit of the New York-London-Milan-Paris designer shows, and the most humbling of all experiences--love, Alderson delivers a poignant, funny novel of success and revenge, friendship and flirtation, passion and Prada.

Scent of You

In this collection, Maggie Alderson dishes up romance, humour and adventure - with a liberal dose of style, of course! Pants on Fire:London magazine editor Georgia Abbott comes to Sydney looking forward to being whisked off into the sunset by an Akubra-hatted fantasy man. However, the men in Australia soon look all too familiar. What to do when all the blokes you've found are gay, married, unfaithful or just plain unworthy? Mad About the Boy:Antonia Heaveringham's life is rocked by her husband Hugo's out-of-the-blue announcement that he is gay. Her life then takes another dramatic turn when she encounters the mysterious James and the shadowy world he inhabits. Soon she is in a situation where keeping a secret becomes a matter of life, death - and love. Handbags and Gladrags:After a night of wild sex with a hunky Australian photographer, Emily Pinter soon discovers that life can be messy. From Milan to London, Paris and New York, Emily does her utmost to conceal the affair. But secrets come at a cost and Emily is about to be hit with the bill. Praise for Maggie Alderson 'Fun, funny, feather-light and once started, like a box of chocolate bikkies, can't be put down until you're full and it's finished.' Sydney Morning Herald 'Heaven for sex-and-shopping fans.' Daily Mail

Pants on Fire, Mad about the Boy, Handbags and Gladrags

Three Novels

MAGGIE ALDERSON, novelist, philosopher of fashion and arbiter of style, brings us a new collection of her much-loved Style Notes column. Find out why men hate shopping and why women love wearing clothes men hate. Share the frustration of the search for the perfect Walkable Heeled Shoe and consider whether a size 'large' item of clothing is acceptable as a gift. Learn why it's good if your child is too embarrassed to be seen with you, and how to harness your life force through the power of yoga – and liberally applied make-up. Discover some key terms for the fashion addicted – Show Crow, Bag Hag and Fleabag – and work out where you fit on the spectrum. Warm, witty and wise, Style Notes is the ultimate insider's guide – a knowledgeable but not-too-serious take on the wonders and weirdness of the world of fashion, style and life beyond.

Maggie Alderson

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