Lightweight story of love and family discord among rich and not so rich. ( )

There was a time before the financial crisis and the Great Recession when these "chick-lit" books were everywhere. Everyone wanted to read about the ultra-rich, luxury, designer fashions, fabulous shoes, exotic destinations that ordinary people would never see but could read about vicariously in books like these. Then - financial Armageddon! Suddenly no one wanted to read anything about the evil One Percenters, unless it was to find out they were being sent to prison. And the chick-lit genre mostly ground to a halt.

I still enjoy a good chick-lit story, and pick them up occasionally when I come across them in a thrift shop or library book sale, where I got Cents and Sensibility. I especially liked the description of Stella's chaotic family life, thanks to her womanizing father's 6 wives and the "half-siblings, step-siblings, semi-steps and former steps and stepmothers". There was just something appealing about the huge family homes with everyone piling in and out at random, presided over by the larger-than-life Henry Montecourt-Fain. Really fun.

These books may be dated, but the best of the British chick-lit books were even better than the American ones, and I enjoyed Cents and Sensibility. If these sorts of books make you want to fling them across the room, don't read them, but if you like them, this is a good one. ( )

As a big fan of Maggie's column in the Good Weekend, I couldn't resist picking this up. Her column is a wonderful blend of fashion, humour and philosohpy of life so I expected similar here. I was a little disappointed on the first page to discover it was about a journalist and her fickle love life, but I needn't have worried. This is a thoroughly modern girl and despite the formulaic nature of the plot she did win me over. I won't spoil the ending, you'll be guessing right to the end who she will end up with, if anyone. The addition of architectural themes and the rich family life she portrays somehow lift it from the usual pulp fiction. But make no mistake, this is total escapism, not much more to it than that. ( )