Maggie Walsh is the one perfect daughter her parents have. (She is part of the Irish family of five daughters that Keyes often writes about.) Then, one day, seemingly out of the blue, Maggie loses her job, leaves her husband of nine years, gets on a plane, and visits her friend Emily in Los Angeles. It is hard to say who is more surprised by this, her family, her husband, or Maggie herself.

Once in the land of sunshine, Maggie starts to explore. She spends lot of time on the beach. She shops expensive and famous stores. She helps her friend Emily deal with the drama involved with being a scriptwriter. She goes to parties with famous people. Its a completely new world for Maggie.

Maggie spends some time being sad and mopey about her recently ended marriage, but then, starts to rebound. She dates some people she never would have considered dating before all this happened, and for the first time, starts to consider what it is that she, herself, wants in life, instead of just what everyone expects her to want.

Just when everything is going well, things change. Maggie runs into an old boyfriend, that she might still be carrying a torch for, and this makes her think about events in her life (events that happened with this ex boyfriend and also later on, in her marriage), that were far from perfect. Her crazy Irish family takes a plane to visit her in California, and this makes Maggie remember who she really is, and where she is from. And, finally, Maggie must decide. Should she stay in LA with the stars and the sun, or, return to Dublin, and try to get her marriage, (which wasn’t that bad after all, was it?) back together again?

This book is really funny, and a quick and easy read. Its the perfect beach read, especially since the setting is in sunny California, and the characters spend lots of time on a beach. I always enjoy books by Marian Keyes. This book was written before Anybody Out There? and after Rachel’s Holiday. I think the reader can still enjoy each of the books about the Walsh sisters without reading them in any specific order. They each can stand alone.

Marian Keyes is my new favorite “chick lit” author, and this book, her newest, is the best one yet! Now, I haven’t actually read each and every one of her books, but, I have read a lot of them, and well, you get the idea!

Anna is from Ireland, (always, Irish characters!), and living in New York, working in marketing for a cosmetics company. Or, rather, thats what she was doing before her accident. At the start of the book, Anna is back in Ireland, where her family is helping to care for her until she heals. Keyes gives the reader bread crumbs along the way to piece together exactly what happened to Anna, when it happened, and the impact of it all. Where is Anna’s husband, Aidan, while she is getting better? Keyes leaves this as a bit of a mystery for a while. The answer is truely shocking. Part of this book is sad, but even the sad parts have the sarcastic and spirited comedy Keyes shows in her other books.

As a result of everything, Anna spends some time checking out horoscopes and psychics, hoping that a particular somebody is really out there, and that she can make contact.

Anna has a large family, of many sisters (each with a strong personality), a dad, (who is rather quiet), and a mom, (who is a stitch!). The mom is fabulous, and each time she appeared, it made the book that much more funny. She is one of those moms that always seems to know the news about everybody, but no one is quite sure just how she is keeping so on top of things. She’s also the kind of mom who tries using the hip new slang she picks up from her daughters, sometimes awkwardly, and who mixes references to popular culture in daily speech, sometimes terribly. Hysterical!

If you have read Keyes other book, Rachel’s Holiday, than some of the characters in this new book will be delightfully familiar to you. Anna and Rachel are sisters, and many of Rachel’s friends from the other book appear here.

This book isn’t out until early June. I got to read an advance copy, because I work in a bookstore. I really enjoyed this book! Marian Keyes fans will love it. If you haven’t read Keyes before, and would like to read some of her books, this book is a great choice to start with!

It’s another Marian Keyes book! I really enjoy her writing style. I like that at least one, if not more, of the characters is Irish. I like the way they talk, and the phrases they use. So different from the way we talk here in the States, (unless, of course, you have Irish relatives). Anyway, its fun!

This book takes three main characters, and slowly winds their lives together. Its like trying to eat spaghetti, when you turn the fork around a bunch of times and gather the pasta together in a bunch.

Gemma works as a party planner for some big company. She is in her early 30’s. At the start of the book, her Dad suddenly leaves her mom, for his secretary, a woman almost Gemma’s age! This really upsets Gemma, and devastates her Mum. From there, Gemma is just trying to cope. She sends emails about things to her friend. She goes to the pharmacy, (chemist, in the book!), for her mom’s pills many times. She calls her Dad often, and can’t wait for him to return home, so life can get back to normal.

Lily Wright is an ex-friend of Gemma’s. Some time ago, she met Anton, Gemma’s then recent ex, and fell in love. Anton and Lily have been together ever sense, and even have a child named Ema. (Ema is a delightful character! So spontaneous!) Lily feels somewhat guilty about this, and Gemma has stopped talking to her entirely as soon as she knew about it. Lily is a writer, who had a great first book, but the second book proves to be problematic. This begins to mess up her life.

Jojo is the agent who got Lily published. She has her own drama going on. Jojo is sleeping with her boss, Mark, who is one of the partners in the business they both work in. Mark is also married, and has two children.

These three women, who all seem to be going down different paths, end up with connected lives. Some of it I guessed before it happened. Most of the events in the book were a complete surprise, which I enjoyed very much. It all comes out to a (mostly) happy ending.