Rumours

Rumours

by Freya North

HarperCollins (e-book)

Freya North writes fizzy, fun romances for readers with a sense of humour and a fair degree of brain. Some call her work chick lit, but the tag doesn't catch her state of the British nation addresses, and her characters who find love but only after facing down their demons. In Rumours, these include suicide, depression, divorce, the recession, isolation and, for Lady Lydia Fortescue, the end of a way of life. Our heroine is Stella, newly divorced with a young son (Will) and a failed business: she owned an art gallery. Haunted by ex-husband Charlie, she tries to start again in a small rural village - presided over by Lady Lydia and her stately pile. But the aristocrat has decided to sell up and move on - much to the chagrin of hunky Xander Fletcher. Like Stella, he is emotionally vulnerable: smarting from a failed relationship of his own, and dependent on his past at Longbridge Hall. So when he and Stella collide, literally and then more smoochily, we know trouble lies ahead. North imbues her tried and tested love plot with vivid splashes of comedy and sex: it may not be 50 Shades of Grey, but Rumours does clock in around 30. Most importantly, the ending rings true. The perfect summer read.