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!

YY to Marian Keyes - I just dragged out my old copy of Rachels Holiday for a bit of non-stressful reading. Bloody love those real men.

I've also downloaded an old Freya North which I remember fondly from reading in my late teens.

By the way Rachel can you spill on the ending of The State we're in? I got approx 80% in and I was just so bored. Surely it didn't get worse???

Oh and for literary chick lit as it were, have you tried a bit of Nancy Mitford? I love those.

Or Jonathan Harvey. I read one of his novels (a MN giveaway last year) but wasn't wildly enthusiastic about it, but it certainly would fit the bill - reasonably well written, good story etc - The Confusion of Karen Carpenter.

Has anyone mentioned Deborah Moggach? Or Lottie Moggach? I liked LM's Kiss Me First, although it may be a marmite book :o. DM's books are pleasant and easy to read.

What about Jodi Picoult? She's not bad either. I quite like her wwyd dilemma stories, even though they sometimes make me

And Tracy Chevalier? I liked her Girl With a Pearl Earring.

Just place marking so I can sit down tomorrow and order a couple.

I have struggled too recently with decent chic lit. I have just reread jane greens 'jemima j' which I really enjoyed a lot of years after I first read it.

If you like her stuff Jodi Picoults leaving time is good. Also daniela scarloti or whatever her name.is who was mentioned by a pp is very readable and enjoyable. And I am currently reading The Hive which I Can't remember the author of. But its quite good.

Sure.

SPOILER ALERT IF YOU ARE READING ADELE PARKS 'THE STATE WE'RE IN, DON'T READ ANY FURTHER *

Really, don't read any further if you don't want to know the 'amazing' twist....

Jo finds out Dean's father left his mother for her mother.

Jo assumes Dean won't cope with it (they have fallen in lurve by this point) and leaves so she won't break his heart.

He follows her to UK. Meets her mother. Is furious with her mother but is talked round and leaves (we presume) to reunite with Jo.

He never turns up. Jo assumes he couldn't get over the fact that her mother was the person who 'ruined his life'.

The end.

Epilogue: Jo is married (to some bloke called Andy), has a toddler and another baby on the way and has travelled the world, found herself etc.
She meets a woman in the park who turns out to be Dean's sister. She tells the sister that Dean was the 'love of her life' (her poor bloody husband)
Dean's sister reveals....here's the BIG 'TWIST' that Dean is dead. He had been coming to find Jo and was killed in a car crash.

The end (again)

YY to shit ending above. Wholly unsatisfactory!

OP have you read any Penny Vincenzi? Hefty books, one of my favourites (alongside Jilly of course).

Urghhh, got angry just re-living the ending through your synopsis Rachel! Saw up thread someone recommended 'Me before you'......just beware another shit, depressing ending.

Rachel the publishers are so going to get you.

YY I've read me before you. It was inevitable but at least they addressed the issues beforehand, I didn't mind that one so much.

'One Day' is another one with a shit 'twist' and the worst bit was the book limping on for ages after it. Can't understand why people love that book so much.

Definitely try Mhairi McFarlane - she is very sweary and funny.

You Had Me at Hello
Here's Looking at You
It's Not Me, it's You

OP - I haven't read the whole thread so apologies if someone else has said this, but if you're reading the Yorkshire Pudding Club and you enjoy it, I'd recommend you read her other books in publication order.

They're not a proper series, but you often get passing mentions of characters from previous books, and I think you'll get more from them if you read them in the 'right' order. YPC is her first book so you'll be off to a good start

Whoops, sorry op, just re read that you wrote which you liked.

The problem with chick-lit (and any other successful/fashionable) genre is that it becomes a victim of its own success. Greedy publishers want to publish more and more and the standard might not be so good. It can become tired and formulaic. But there's always good stuff to be found.

Thank you

You've made me doubly glad I didn't bother!

Have you tried not reading chick lit? Jane Austen (the chick lit of her day), Nancy Mitford, Jilly Cooper are mostly light, easy, shortish reads that tick a lot of chicklit boxes while not being shit. Also The Great Gatsby for glamour, romance and drama and it's quite short which is a bonus

Just back to say I've just finished Mhairi McFarlane 'You had me at hello' - really enjoyed it, thanks for the recommendation

Watching with interest. I have "You had me at Hello" on my kindle, I'll read it next

Love Lisa Jewell-not predictable as most chicklit seems to be!

I also loved Lisa Jewell, The House We Grew Up In. I haven't read The Truth About Melody Brown, but have heard it's good too.

Jilly is 80s vintage chick lit. As is Jane Austen .

I've been reading Tilly Bagshawe books which aren't too bad, bit predictable but she spins it out a bit in a way which isn't too boring. However, some bits remind me a lot bit of Jilly Copper, but in a way that's she's blatantly copied Coopers style and I've recognised the odd similar scene which is a bit off putting as I've still to find anyone who writes as well as Copper for this style.

I thought Fiona Walker's 'Kiss Chase' (which I loved and have re-read many times) and 'Kiss & Tell' were good though it she can be a bit hit or miss - some of her other stuff I thought was pretty bad.

I've read all the Lisa Jewell books-love them! The House we grew Up in is fab-also really enjoyed Before I Met you ,The Making of Us and Vince and Joy.

I am another one who would recommend Jennifer Crusie.

Jo Jo Moyes particularly early ones.
Santa Montefiore
Rosie Thomas.
All good reads.