Best books for summer
Make the most out of the last days of summer by kicking back with a sizzling read. Deirdre O’Brien picks some pageturners sure to keep you gripped…
ROM COMS What Happens Now? Sophia Money-Coutts HQ – £12.99
When her handsome internet date goes silent after a night of passion, Lil decides to forget all about him… until a pregnancy test turns out positive. A riotously funny story of modern love, with a likeable heroine and some very saucy sex scenes.
Love, Unscripted Owen Nicholls Headline Review – £16.99
After his romance with dream girl Ellie falls apart, film fan Nick looks back on their love story – and learns why real life isn’t like the movies. Full of witty references to classic films, this will tug at your heart strings, even if Nick is more than a little bit annoying.
SPINE CHILLERS Platform Seven Louise Doughty Faber – £14.99
After she falls to her death on the tracks, Lisa’s ghost is confined to Peterborough railway station, where she reflects back on the events that led to her untimely end. Profoundly moving, with a blistering depiction of an abusive relationship.
The Family Upstairs Lisa Jewell Century – £12.99
A crumbling mansion, an abandoned baby, a sinister cult. These spooky elements are expertly blended to create a stunning psychological thriller with brilliantly relatable characters. Full of atmosphere and expertly paced, this is a read to race through.
NERVE SHREDDERS What You Did Claire McGowan Thomas & Mercer – £8.99
A university reunion ends in horror for hostess Ali when her best friend is raped at the party and accuses Ali’s husband of the attack. Scrolling back to their college days, this richly woven tapestry of secrets, lies and betrayals will keep you hooked.
Snegurochka Judith Heneghan Salt Publishing – £9.99
In Kiev in 1992, troubled young English mother Rachel joins her journalist husband on his foreign posting. But, alone with a three-month-old in an alien country, she soon becomes haunted by dark imaginings and psychological torments.
TRUE LIFE TALES My Friend Anna Rachel DeLoache Williams Quercus – £16.99
Anna Delvey, alias the ‘Fake Russian’ heiress, conned her way into a glamorous Manhattan lifestyle, living in five-star hotels and dining in fine restaurants. In reality, she was a penniless con artist. A fascinating memoir by the pal who was taken in by her.
Is There Still Sex In The City? Candace Bushnell Little Brown – £16.99
Like her fictional alter ego, Carrie Bradshaw, the SATC creator isn’t in the first flush of youth. In this no-holds-barred memoir, she gets personal, investigating what happens when a woman of a certain age finds herself not so young, free and single in the city.