Bloody bastard chicklit with crap endings - sick of it, recommend a good one please!

[RachelRoyce]

Adele Parks 'The state we're in' is the last one I read. I will not be reading anything else she has written, ever. Grrrrr. That's the 3rd book I've read this week with an absolutely shite ending
I won't give anything away but the ending was just wrong. The two others I read just ended in a splat rather than a bang.

Is there no new, well written chick lit (oh how I hate that term)? I read good 'normal' fiction but I'm on holiday and I just want feel good happiness. I like Jill Mansell, Cathy Kelly and Fiona Walker. I have wifi and my kindle, best recommendations here please. Thanks!

I don't agree that liking light hearted romance has to sentence you to poor writing. Shona Maclean writes beautifully about Scottish landscapes - her books are murder mystery though.

OP you clearly need to read Sealed With A Kiss by Rachael Lucas. It's very sweet and as an added bonus all the bits with kids in are super-realistic.

oops sorry, 'you clearly need to read' sounds a bit bossy - I just meant it was a lovely book!

I think that you can like "chick lit" and still expect a decent read.

I think it is upto the individual what they read and for no one to judge!!

No need for snotty remarks about chick lit. Wouldn't mind being a penny behind some of the main authors!! I would definitely recommend Lianne Moriarty..her books are clever, with well drawn characters and funny too.And not a cupcake or lipstick in sight!

ALTERNATIVE yes absolutely true. Quality chicklit is pretty much an oxymoron. There are some quite entertaining ones, and some well written for the genre. However, a considerable quantity of shite out there too.

I have really gone off nearly all chick lit because of the trite, predictable plots and crappy characterisation but one novel I do re-read is Rachel's Holiday by Marian Keyes. I think it's because she is a very humorous writer but deals with serious issues in it.

I second Liane Moriarty, I've enjoyed all of her books and I normally hate chic lit.

Leanne Moriarty
Marianne Keyes

Both good

Sure this has been debated before, sorry, but what are the parameters of chick lit?

I'm sure Jane Austen would have been considered chick lit in her day.

I suppose the definition is books which would only appeal to women?

I don't know any men at all who would read 'chicklit' eg Jill Mansell etc but all other genres - crime, fantasy etc are appealing to both sexes.

Just adding my comment - my DH likes to read chick lit. He likes light reading but also loves terrifying ghost stories. He's a conundrum

I suppose the definition is books which would only appeal to women?

Interesting. Why would any book only appeal to women? [I was going to say 'apart from 'vagina/breast management for dummies' but I thought that would invoke another sarky response so then I thought I'd delete it but then again...]

Hmmm. Come on, don't be shy. It must be more than that. Actually, I'm probably hijacking thread.

I can't speak for all men but I can't imagine my Dh saying 'Chuck us over that Maeve Binchy when you've finished with it, Dame.'

And my DH is more likely to read the Maeve Binchy than I am :o

That's why I said not all men

Lisa Jewell books are fantastic reads, try Ralphs Party or Before I Met You.

The Pursuit Of Happiness by Douglas Kennedy is another superb read, nothing to do with the film of the same name.

Did you know that Ian Rankin named Jilly Cooper's Rivals as one of his favourite books of all time?

If you haven't tried Jilly, OP, then get stuck in, she's amazing.

For good trashy chicklit (which can be achieved, there's a fine art to writing something like that) there's a Mills & Boon by India Grey, Craving the Forbidden, which might sound awful but I've reread several times because it's great fun and reads a lot more like standard chicklit than some terrible Mills & Boon.

And you do realise, Alternative, that people are capable of reading more than one kind of genre during their life? For all you know the OP might have worked her way through Dostoyevsky's entire back catalogue before deciding on something a little easier for a change.

I want to love these books but cannot. I like crime thrillers and mostly rl tales of daring deeds/war etc
Except for Jilly Cooper....I adore her

Yes of course. But if she is moaning about chicklit - perhaps chicklit is the issue?

Whatever the fuck 'chicklit' actually is.

Oh ffs. I want recommendations for good chicklit. Like Jilly Cooper, like Jill Mansell.
Same as sometimes I want recommendations for good fiction authors like Christopher Brookmyer, Robert Galbraith, Terry Pratchett.n

I read widely, I don't read non-fiction as I don't enjoy it. I do enjoy good 'chicklit' - it's feel good escapism. However some of the Chicklit I've read recently has been dross. I don't want to read dross from any genre.

Does that explain it alternative? Or do I need to use smaller words?