POPULAR WENDY HOLDEN

IT WAS ONLY EVER YOU by Kate Kerrigan (Head of Zeus £18.99)

No One does lavish vintage romance like Kate Kerrigan. We start in rural Ireland, where upmarket rose loves farm-hand Patrick. But her disapproving father, without telling rose, packs poor Patrick off to the states. There he meets rich girl Ava, who wants a change from the preppy boys who are being pushed at her.

There’s also sheila, would-be music manager, who needs a singing star to launch. Might Patrick be that star? And what will happen when rose comes to find him? emotional drama, with fabulous characters.

MISS YOU By Kate Eberlen (Mantle £12.99)

A ro M-Co M whose main leads keep almost meeting — but don’t — is hardly new. But Miss you repeats the trick brilliantly. gus is posh and Tess is poor and they’re perfect for each other. But with complications in their path — including marriage to other people — how will they ever get together?

It’s in the complexity of the plot that this novel really scores. The action spans the past 20 years and a whole history of lifestyle detail is entertainingly evoked.

you won’t find a warmer, weepier, funnier Christmas curl-up read than this. Perfect for the teen in your life, too.

THE REAL LIDDY JAMES by Anne-Marie Casey (Hodder £13.99)

LIKE Miss you, this book reheats a successful formula. The high-powered mum of I Don’t Know How she Does It is mixed with lashings of Celtic romance.

Irish-born, New york-based liddy is a glossy divorce lawyer and mum of two. she has it all, but only because of spreadsheets, servants and money.

When liddy falls down in spectacular fashion, a smouldering Irish colleague lends her a cottage in the old Country.

off she goes, to find that fulfilment takes many different forms. The scenes of posh New york life are alone worth buying this superior, super-wry rom-com for.