Life after Lunch
Flowers won't Fax
That was Then
Heaven's on Hold

These are the catchy, alliterative titles of four contemporary romantic novels. About the time of the first it occurred to me that I was approaching what might be termed ‘the early afternoon of life’ – and as Dorothy Parker said, there’s only one thing afternoons are good for and it’s seldom available to the working girl… Each of these is a love story of a different kind, but all feature people looking at forty from the far side.

‘Life After Lunch’ is one where the devil doesn’t get all the best tunes. Laura, a wife and grandmother, begins a passionate affair not long after her silver wedding. But I defy any female reader not to fall in love with her husband, Glyn, who has the wisdom to hold steady and wait for her. Families again – and a scene near the end, involving a child, that made even the author cry.

•  Paperback (February 20, 1997)
•  Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton General
•  ISBN: 0340694998

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‘Flowers won’t Fax’ is a new take on the eternal triangle, and poses the question: Could the two women involved form a friendship, one that could outlast the man they both love? Friendship’s the bread-and-butter of love, the emotional staple of many lives, especially women’s. The writing of this book coincided with an especially happy turning point in my own life, so it’s a favourite for that reason.

•  Paperback 343 pages (March 11, 1998)
•  Publisher: Sceptre Australia
•  ISBN: 0340712953

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‘That was Then’ looks at that moment in a mother’s life when she realises she can no longer take responsibility for her children’s actions: they’re grown up, and must shoulder the consequences themselves. Divorced Eve, the doting mother of a straying son, confronts this moment in the most dismaying way possible. But if she’s going to live her own life, she can’t live her son’s, too.

•  Paperback 312 pages (February 18, 1999)
•  Publisher: Flame
•  ISBN: 0340707313

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‘Heaven’s on Hold’ looks at the terrible strain put on a middle-years marriage by the arrival of a baby. It’s bad enough when you’re in your twenties, but David and Annet are nearly twice that, and hedged about by the demands of their careers, too. There’s a supernatural strand in this novel – I’ve never written a full-blown ghost story, but it’s something I’d like to try.

•  Paperback (February 3, 2000)
•  Publisher: Sceptre
•  ISBN: 0340766581

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