Carole Matthews Books In Order

The Chocolate Lovers’ Club

Forget diamonds, chocolate is a girl’s best friend

Some women are addicted to shopping, others can t get enough of champagne.
Some like to curl up with a good book, and others want a night out on the town.
But there s just one thing Lucy Lombard can t live without, and that s chocolate rich, creamy, sweet, delicious chocolate.
For her there s no substitute. There s nothing it won t cure, from heartache to a headache, and she s not alone. Sharing her passion are her three best friends and fellow addicts: sweet, peace loving Autumn, harried mom Nadia, and sex kitten Chantal. Together they form a select group known as the Chocolate Lovers Club. Whenever there s a crisis, they meet in their sanctuary, a caf called Chocolate Heaven, and with a cheating boyfriend who promises he ll change, a flirtatious boss, a gambling husband, and a loveless marriage, there s always plenty to discuss .
By turns hilarious and heartrending, The Chocolate Lovers Club brings together four unforgettable women from totally different worlds united in their passion for chocolate.

A Whiff of Scandal

Love Stinks

It does when you find out that the guy you’re head over heels about is already married. That’s when Rose Stevens decides to escape her problems and flee to a remote country village. All she wants is peace and quiet, but the quaint, eccentric villagers of Great Brayford have other ideas.

Rose is amazed that her occupation as an aroma therapist is causing such consternation among the townsfolk, when what else goes on within the village limits seems so much worse: there’s a housewife who’s a hooker, a sex starved neighbor and a troublesome Peeping Tom.

Beneath the all pervasive aroma of garden lavender there’s a distinct scent of scandal here, and Rose thinks that her small transgressions seem paltry in comparison until she starts to get intimately involved with the sexy local builder…
and her ex lover arrives out of nowhere with a shocking announcement…
and she unwittingly finds herself in the center of a chaotic, rumor fed hurricane of scandal that ensures her life is even more complicated than it was before. But maybe that’s also because she’s in love again.

More to Life Than This

Sure, I have it all. Except…
wait, what’s that word again? Oh, right: FUN! I’m exactly what every woman dreams of being at thirty five: I have a lovely house, a handsome, loving husband and two perfect children. All right, so Jeffrey’s ‘loving’ can only be counted on to happen once a week, with lights off and pajamas on. And the children well, is it normal for children to remind their mother to eat her vegetables? It might be time to make a few changes which is why I signed up for this Tai Chi retreat, to concentrate on finding myself. Yes, this is the week for thinking about ME. Not my bumptious best friend Sonia’s attempts to shag our instructor. Not the perils of leaving Jeffrey alone for the week with a stunning Australian au pair. And definitely, definitely not my handsome classmate Ben Mahler…

For Better, for Worse

After her marriage to Damien ended in disaster, Londoner Josie Flynn thirtysomething and single again is flying across the ocean to her American cousin’s ‘big mistake’ wedding. In her present ‘love stinks’ frame of mind, the last person she expects to be seated next to on the flight is someone like Matt Jarvis. A recently divorced rock journalist, Matt is sensitive, good looking, and remarkably attentive and before their plane touches down, Josie’s smitten. So how can she hope to convince her cousin to cut and run when Josie is all ready to leap into love again with a stranger, no less, who might be just another Mr. Totally Wrong in Mr. Seductively Right’s clothing?

The point is rendered moot, of course, once they deplane and she and Matt go their separate ways. After all, Josie’s got prenuptial confabs to worry about and that dreaded lilac chiffon bridesmaid’s dress to wear. But Dante himself couldn’t have dreamed up the hell this wedding is proving to be and when her dream hunk reappears and throws himself into the mix, Josie finds herself wondering how she or any unattached modern woman, in fact can hope to survive the new romantic rules of the twenty first century.

Already a bestseller in the U.K., Carole Matthews’s For Better, for Worse is a deliriously droll, dead on tale of marriage, sex, monogamy, and modern love.

A Minor Indiscretion

In a moment of madness, Ali Kingston, wife and mother of three, skips work to spend the day with Christian, a gorgeous street artist fifteen years her junior. Midlife crisis or whatever, it escalates when Ali’s husband, Ed, equates her minor indiscretion with a major affair and kicks her out into the rainy night…
and Christian s open arms. Soon thirty eight year old Ali is ensconced in a Notting Hill love nest wondering how to introduce her children to the charismatic Christian, who could easily have been her teenage daughter s boyfriend rather than her own. Meanwhile back at the ranch house in suburban Richmond, Ed is also facing unanticipated temptations, as two younger women compete to console him for the loss of his wife, while family and friends attempt to reunite him with Ali…
with deliciously droll results. Then a disconcerting event forces both Ed and Ali to decide what they really want from themselves, from each other and from life itself. From the USA TODAY bestselling author of the ‘Reading with Ripa’ Book Club pick For Better, For Worse comes a provocative tale of midlife temptation, told with incomparable warmth, wit and wisdom by one of Britain s brightest romantic comediennes.

A Compromising Position

Once Emily Miller thought that losing her boyfriend Declan would be the worst thing that could happen. Of course, that was before she learned that the lowlife cad had secretly mortgaged their dream house, run up their shared debts…
and posted a picture of her on the internet that would make a rugby team blush. Still, she is coping masterfully, despite losing her home and her dignity until the local newspapers get wind of the story…
So here she is homeless, jobless, loverless…
and scandalous at thirty two. Her best friend Cara thinks yoga, aromatherapy, and the perfect potion will turn Emily’s karma around. Why not, Emily figures. It might help to attract that handsome stranger she’s just barely met. Either that, or she’ll hunt down the elusive Mr. Right herself. After all, there isn’t much else that could possibly go wrong…
And sometimes, when you’ve got absolutely nothing left to lose…
that’s when you get everything you ever wanted!

The Sweetest Taboo

A story of love, life and going completely la la in LA, from the internationally bestselling author of Bare Necessity and For Better, For Worse, Carole Matthews. One girl in love with two guys 133; Isn’t that The Sweetest Taboo? Sadie Nelson knows that falling in love can be big trouble especially when she discovers that the best things in life are never free. Her heart starts causing trouble when she first lays eyes on Gil McGann, the sexy and powerful Hollywood producer at the London Book Fair. In no time, Gil is whisking her away from her dead end job and drizzly old England to join him in the land of the perfect suntan. Then there’s Tavis Jones, an irresistibly endearing and criminally good looking actor who’s soon pulling her heartstrings in a different direction. Suddenly the choices facing Sadie in the home of the famous and the desperate to be famous are enough to drive a good girl insane especially when no one is quite what they seem to be. It’s not great to find out that Gil has a sticky ex who won’t let go or that Tavis’s uncertain orientation may permanently cast him in the role of ‘good friend’. With her real life turning rapidly into a mad movie plot, what does a slightly crazed woman two much in love do? Lights, camera, action…

With or Without You

After her boyfriend, Jake, dumps her for an Angelina Jolie look alike who climbs Mt. Everest, Lyssa Allen decides maybe a little adventure of her own can win him back. Leaving hair dryer, lattes and dreams of babies behind, this tougher than she thought London editor sets off for Nepal.

Her month long sojourn teaches Lyssa that her horizons are bigger than she knew and the man of her dreams far different than she thought. She even gains a new perspective on her former baby obsession. As her eyes are opened by her handsome American tour guide, Lyssa wonders if she can ever return to her old life. And when it’s time to go home, she faces the hardest decision of her life.

Welcome to the Real World

International bestselling author Carole Matthews brings her unparalleled wit, warmth and wisdom to a fresh venue the highly competitive world of professional music in a new, un put downable romantic comedy set in London and Los Angeles. Scraping by for years on pub gigs and odd jobs, Fern Kendal has always suspected she might actually have a decent voice. But caring for her feuding parents and sickly nephew took all her energy until now. During one crazy week, she lands a spot on the reality television talent show Fame Game and a glam new job as personal assistant to world famous singer Evan David. Fern’s handsome new boss lives in the spotlight, but memories of a childhood tragedy keep Evan from truly enjoying all he’s achieved. Though flanked by a hovering entourage and adoring fans, he feels isolated and set apart. That is, until free spirited Fern is added to the mix. Though she can’t seem to master her assistant duties, Fern brings a rare smile to Evan’s face and makes him long to rejoin the real world. Through a twist of fate, Evan becomes the newest judge on Fame Game, a sour note for Fern, who has reasons for keeping her ambitions under wraps. She goes on the run, but Evan can’t forget her, and thus begins the adventure of a lifetime both onstage and off!

Girls’ Night Out

25 stories from the hottest female writers on the scene

Too tired to doll up and head out for a night on the town? It happens to the best of us. Just dip into this year’s must read collection for a Girls’ Night Out to remember and indulge in tales of reunions and weddings, sisters and friends, endings and beginnings…
No waiting in line, no wardrobe malfunctions, no jockeying for position as you try to catch the bartender’s eye. With a lineup of fantastic writers like Meg Cabot The Boy Next Door, Emily Giffin Something Borrowed, Kristin Gore Sammy’s Hill0, Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus The Nanny Diaries, Alisa Valdes Rodriguez The Dirty Girls Social Club and Lolly Winston Good Grief, you’ll be hanging with the VIPS all night long!

Net proceeds to benefit War Child and No Strings

Other fabulous writers featured: Jessica Adams, Cecelia Ahern, Maggie Alderson, Tilly Bagshawe, Elizabeth Buchan, Laura Caldwell, Lynda Curnyn, Kathleen DeMarco, Nicki Earls, Imogen Edwards Jones, Robyn Harding, Lauren Henderson, Marian Keyes, Chris Manby, Carole Matthews, Anna Maxted, Lynn Messina, Sarah Mlynowski, Pamela Ribon.