Showing results for "Becky" in Literature & Fiction

From mingling with tabloid millionaires to trading favours and fortunes with royalty, she will stop at nothing to reach the top of the career ladder at the Mercury newspaper. Landing scoop after scoop, Becky ruthlessly carves a place for herself in a society determined to ignore her. These are the biggest stories and scandals of the decade, and she has something to do with every one of them. But Becky may have more in common with the people she writes about than she thinks – what takes a lifetime to build takes only a moment to destroy...

Julia Dorning is a spinster, or at least on the road to becoming one. She has no social life, hates her career, and lives in her parent's basement with her cat, Charlie. With the arrival of Jared Moody, the new hire at work, Julia's mundane life is suddenly turned upside down. Her instant (and totally ridiculous) crush on the new guy causes Julia to finally make some long-overdue changes, in hopes to find a life that includes more than baking and hanging out with Charlie. But when the biggest and most unexpected change comes, will the new and improved Julia be able to overcome it?

Julia Dorning is about to lose it. Between her over-the-top wedding that her sister, Anna, took upon herself to create and the understaffed popular bakery she runs, she can barely find time to breathe. All Julia ever wanted was a quaint wedding on the beach with family and friends. But now, Julia has to contend with not only her sister's plans, but those of her future mother-in-law, as well. Not wanting to step on anyone's toes, especially her mother-in-law's, Julia just goes along with it. She can only take so much, though.

Julia Dorning thought she would die a lonely spinster. That was until nine months ago, when her world was turned upside down. Now she's got a dream career as a bakery owner, and a relationship with handsome Jared Moody - a life she never thought possible. Just as she's starting to feel comfortable in her new life, Julia is invited to battle it out on national television making cupcakes. An amazing opportunity, if she can muster up the confidence to do it, that is. Then, out of the blue, Jared goes and throws a wrench in their relationship, causing Julia to have to make some decisions.

Becky Sharp has big dreams and no connections. Determined to swap the gutters of Soho for the glamorous, exclusive world behind the velvet rope, Becky will do anything to achieve fame, riches and status. Whether it’s seducing society’s most eligible bachelors, or befriending silly debutantes and rich old ladies, Becky Sharp is destined for great things. Because it might be tough at the top but it’s worse at the bottom.

De’Andrea Whitman, her husband Malik, and their five-year-old daughter, Nina, are new to the upper-crust white suburb of Rolling Hills, Virginia—a move motivated by circumstance rather than choice. De’Andrea is heartbroken to leave her comfortable life in the Black oasis of Atlanta, and between her mother-in-law’s Alzheimer's diagnosis, her daughter starting kindergarten, and the overwhelming whiteness of Rolling Hills, she finds herself struggling to adjust to her new community. To ease the transition, her therapist proposes a challenge: make a white girlfriend.

Running away from my disastrous career to an island off the Florida coast wasn't part of my summer plans, but life hasn't been cooperative lately, anyway. At least here, I can hide away and figure out how to untangle the mess I've gotten myself into. One thing is certain: my A-list status and title of America's Sweetheart are long gone, and they're probably never coming back. I'll just remain on this island until the worst of it blows over. Until the gossip magazines move on to another juicy topic. Until the paparazzi lose interest.

Focused on her plan to win Adam back, Bridgette isn't expecting Ian - her college best friend, her love, her big regret - to come back into her life. They sink back into their comfortable friendship as if no time has passed at all, making Bridgette start to question her feelings for Adam. But Ian has a few secrets of his own...secrets that could shatter their friendship once and for all. Bridgette has to make some major decisions - should she speak now? Or forever hold her peace?

Becky's life is blooming! She's house-hunting with her husband, Luke, and...she's pregnant! Everything has got to be perfect for her baby, from the designer nursery to the latest, coolest pram to the celebrity, must-have obstetrician. But when the celebrity obstetrician turns out to be her husband's glamorous, intellectual ex-girlfriend, Becky's perfect world starts to crumble. She's shopping for two...but are there three in her marriage?

University dropout and would-be novelist Johnny Street and his worker-of-the-world mate Arthur Lane are the odd-couple partners in a one-horse, two-man family building firm (slogan: ‘Up Your Street, Down Your Lane’). Together, they travel the Yorkshire suburbs in their white van, tackling tricky household repairs with their unique combination of art and craft.

One thing that can be said about Quinn Pearson is that she has a knack for doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. Like, the worst time ever. Take her job for instance. One little slip of the tongue using the mother of all swear words while reporting the news, and suddenly she finds herself with over 18 million views on YouTube and her employment in jeopardy. If that wasn’t bad enough, when she meets the man of her dreams, she nearly chokes to death on a powdered sugar donut. Thankfully for Quinn, the dashing Brit, Henry, finds her near death experience quite charming.

“Don’t tell anyone we’re Democrats,” warned Mother when we moved to Bakersfield, CA, a town often referred to, back then, as redneck central. “And for heaven’s sake, don’t tell them you’re Jewish.”

Juliette, the eldest sister of the Gustafson Girls, is heartbroken after breaking up with her noncommittal boyfriend of almost ten years. Determined she isn’t “getting over Mike” quickly enough, her three sisters devise The Monday ManDates; an intervention plan requiring Juliette to endure what turns out to be a series of remarkably disastrous blind dates: TheraPaul, Frisky Frank, TAZ the rock star, and the stoic Tim Larsen, among others. Then there’s Victor Jarrett, the police officer with an affinity for pulling Juliette over when she’s at her very worst. But no one is more surprised than Juliette when she meets the only one who can right the wrongs in her past and change her future. But will she let herself fall in love with him?

Nicole, a cute, average, 20-something woman, is looking for love in all the wrong places. Who would have guessed that a dumpster in the back alley below her bedroom window would hold the key to finding love?

When middle-aged couple Reggie and Abbie Bartlett moved to a new town, they found themselves in need of exercise and a little excitement. Intrigued by a classified ad for square dance lessons, they sign up. As they progress from beginners to "official" square dancers, they get much more than they bargained for.

Playful, compelling, and deeply layered, What You Don’t See raises the stakes in friendship against the bittersweet backdrop of motherhood and the endlessly entertaining activities of well-heeled women’s groups. The story follows Livi, a spirited, outspoken PR executive, pivoting at 30 to full-time wife and mom. That goes better than imagined, until she gets entangled in a relationship with another mom.

On vacation at an exterminator's convention, Neeta's looking to relax, have fun, and enjoy a little romance. Too bad the zombies have a different idea. When they rise from their watery graves to take over the city by the bay, it looks like it'll be a working vacation after all.

Even though retirement is still three years away, Al Richardson is counting the days. He anticipates many enjoyable years in which every day feels like Saturday. But Al's wife, Millie, has different plans for their retirement. When she learns that a Victorian-era home is up for sale, Millie launches a full-blown campaign to convince Al that god's plan for them is to turn that house into a B&B. But a B&B won't be the only change for the small Kentucky town.

Sometimes the sweetest things in life don’t have anything to do with dessert. Gwynn Flannigan wants respect from her father and freedom from her big, loud family. The icing on her cake would be to win a decorating competition hosted by her favorite food magazine writer. Cole Marshall's one outlet from the stress of business life is writing his Cooking in the Buff feature. Who cares if he never has time for fun? The answer for them both lies in the deep freeze at Sweet Endings, the struggling ice cream shop Gwynn manages and the one property Cole needs to secure a big promotion.

This short story is the perfect introduction to best-selling author Virginia Smith's latest series, Tales from the Goose Creek B&B. Set in the years before the Richardsons launch their bed and breakfast scheme, the quirky residents of the small Kentucky town are all in a tizzy over the upcoming Fall Festival. Alison, Al and Millie's headstrong daughter, astounds everyone with the news that she's getting married - in three weeks - to a Colombian!