Cents And Sensibility

A dazzling new bestseller from the fast-emerging queen of glamorous fiction

Maggie Alderson's first novel, Pants on Fire, was a UK bestseller and she was a co-editor of the charity anthology Big Night Out. Pants on Fire and Maggie's more recent novels, Mad About the Boy and Handbags and Gladrags, are all published by Penguin.

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 realize that there's only thing worse than having a boyfriend with no money ... and that's having one with too much. 
 
Jetset lifestyles can be fabulous, but Stella's career as a journalist isn't something she wants to jeopardize 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.

Handbags And Gladrags

Maggie Alderson has worked on nine magazines and currently has a weekly column in The Times. She lived in Australia for 8 years, returning here in 2001. Her first novel Pants on Fire was a UK bestseller, and she was a co-editor of the charity anthology Big Night Out. Her most recent novel Mad About the Boy is published by Penguin. She is married with a baby daughter and moves a lot.

Emily Pointer would rather jog naked through Harvey Nichols' beauty hall than be seen with last season's handbag. 
 
A fashion stylist with Chic magazine, Emily is a natural blonde, a effortless size 10, travels the world for work and gets 30% discount at Prada. As far as she's concerned, life is perfect. 
 
So surely a night of wild sex with a hunky Australian photographer during the fashion show season in Milan will be just another fabulous experience to add to the package? Instead, Emily starts to discover that life can be messy- and the designer clothes in your closet can be squeezed out by the skeletons lurking in there too. 
 
From the bestselling author of Pants on Fire and a former magazine editor herself, comes the delicious tale of a woman who was kidding herself that another Birkin bag was all she needed to achieve fulfilment.

Mad About The Boy

Maggie Alderson has worked on nine magazines and currently has a weekly column in the Times. She lived in Australia for 8 years, returning here in 2001. Her first novel, PANTS ON FIRE was a UK bestseller, and she was a co-editor of the charity anthology BIG NIGHT OUT. She is married with a baby daughter and moves a lot.

'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 ...

Maggie Alderson

'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?

Maggie Alderson

Books by Maggie Alderson

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