1. Hester Browne

    New York Times bestselling author

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  2. "Always keep a
    bottle of champagne
    in the fridge for special
    occasions.
    Sometimes the special occasion
    is that you've got a bottle of
    champagne in the fridge."

    The Finishing Touches

    • The Honeymoon Hotel


      “In my professional opinion, the secret to being the best wedding planner is this: never think of yourself as a wedding planner. Because that way madness lies.

      My name is Rosie McDonald.

      I’m an Events Manager.”


      Synopsis

      The Bonneville Hotel is the best-kept secret in Mayfair: its Art Deco suites and glittering ballrooms a former home-away-from-home for royalty and film stars alike. Recent years haven’t been kind, but thanks to Events Manager Rosie, the Bonneville is reclaiming some of its old cachet as a chic, retro-glam wedding venue.

      While Rosie’s weddings are the ultimate in romance, Rosie herself isn’t; she’s focussed on the details, not the dramas. But when the hotel owner appoints his eccentric son Joe to the Bonneville staff, Rosie finds herself up against an unprecedented challenge: a rival whose love for the unconventional could derail not only Rosie’s own career, but the most elaborate, high-profile wedding the Bonneville has ever seen.

    • The Runaway Princess

      She’s a green-fingered gardener. He’s a blue-blooded banker. Can the Queen of Spades really make it work with the Prince of Diamonds?


      “The Runaway Princess is a runaway hit… simply charming!”

      – Jennifer Probst, NYT and USA Today best-selling author


      Synopsis

      If Amy Wilde’s new boyfriend, Leo, treats her like a queen, that’s because he’s secretly a prince himself: Leopold William Victor Wolfsburg of Nirona, the ninth most eligible royal bachelor in the world. Amy soon discovers that dating an heir to a throne has many charms—intimate dinners, glittering galas, and a dazzling new wardrobe with tiaras to match. But there are also drawbacks: imagine the anxiety of meeting your boyfriend’s parents multiplied by “riding in a private jet,” “staying in a castle,” and “discussing the line of succession over lunch.” Not to mention the sudden press interest in your very un-royal family. Amy would do anything for Leo, but is finding her Prince Charming worth the price of losing herself?

    • Little Lady, Big Apple

      In Hester Browne’s “deliciously addictive” (Cosmopolitan) bestseller The Little Lady Agency, Melissa Romney-Jones transformed herself from doormat to diva as Honey, London’s premier freelance girlfriend. Now, Melissa is about to take Manhattan, and its clueless bachelors, by storm!


      ‘Another bit of brilliant chick-lit’

      – Heat


      Synopsis

      At home, Melissa is a pushover in an Alice band.

      But at the Little Lady Agency, she transforms herself into blonde bombshell Honey: a super confident supernanny to hapless men all over London – with a desk diary that’s bursting.

      Only now her American boyfriend Jonathan has invited her to New York for a holiday – on the condition that Honey and the blonde wig stay at home. Reluctantly leaving the agency in the hands of her tactless best mate and terrifying sister, Mel flies out…

      Before she knows it, she’s agreed to polish the talented but rude rising star Ric Spencer, who just so happens to be an ex, while having to juggle Jonathan, his manipulative ex-wife, a wilful terrier, and escalating crises back in England.

      Can Melissa put the manners back into Manhattan? Or is this a challenge only Honey can tackle?

    • The Little Lady Agency and the Prince

      Freelance girlfriend Honey Blennerhesket has wrangled London’s scruffiest bachelors and charmed New York’s slickest socialites. But has she bitten off more than even she can chew politely when she’s hired to make over… a prince?


      “This final installment might be the best yet….From start to finish, this take is a joy to read.”

      – Library Journal


      Synopsis

      Making plans for her wedding to American fiancé Jonathan Riley, who now runs a prestigious Parisian real estate company, Melissa agrees to do a favor for her beloved grandmother: transform the notorious Prince Nicolas von Helsing-Alexandros into a proper gentleman. Even possessive Jonathan agrees it’s a great opportunity to make social connections. But taming a prince might prove too big a professional challenge for Melissa when she’s confronting so many big changes in her own personal life…

    • The Finishing Touches

      Every girl should know what the finishing touches are.

      That dash of gloss on the cheekbones to lift your complexion.
      High heels for poise, and a luscious lipstick for the perfect pout.
      It’s the spritz of perfume on the pulse points….

      And the ability to stand on your own two feet?


      Browne has written another entertaining and highly enjoyable novel that will appeal to fans of Bridget Jones’s Diary and other British chick lit.

      – Library Journal


      Synopsis

      Twenty-seven years ago, an infant turned up on the doorstep of London’s esteemed Phillimore Academy for Young Ladies. Now, Betsy Phillimore returns to the place where she was lovingly raised by Lord and Lady Phillimore, only to find the Academy in disrepair and Lord P. desperate to save his legacy. Enter Betsy with a savvy business plan to replace dusty protocol with the essentials girls need today: cell phone etiquette, eating sushi properly, handling credit cards, choosing the perfect little black dress, negotiating a pre-nup, and other lessons in independent living. But returning to London also means crossing paths with her sexy girlhood crush . . . and stirring up the mystery of who her parents are and why they abandoned her. Will the puzzle pieces of her past fall into place while Betsy races to save the only home she’s ever known?

    • Swept Off Her Feet

      The steps of a charmingly complex dance—Scotland’s famous reel—are at the heart of Hester Browne’s enchanting contemporary novel of two very different sisters whose dreams may come true at a romantic Scottish ball.

       



      The story is also brimming with humor and I literally laughed out loud more times than I remember… This is a happy book. A fun and funny book that put a smile on my face… And it’s an excellent sign when I finish a book and immediately want to go back and reread my favorite bits.  

      – DearAuthor.com


      Synopsis

      As a favor to friends of the family, romantic antique-junkie Evie jumps at the chance to appraise a Scottish castle full of artifacts and heirlooms. What could be more thrilling than roaming the halls of Kettlesheer and uncovering the McAndrews’ family treasures—and dusty secrets? But crossing paths with moody heir Robert McAndrew has Evie assessing what she wants the most . . . and at an upcoming candlelight gala, a traditional dance will set her heart reeling.

    • The Little Lady Agency

      Gentlemen! No little lady in your life? Call the Little Lady Agency: everything organized, from your home to your wardrobe, to your social life to you. No funny business or laundry.


      “Warning: only start this when you’ve got a whole day to spare – you won’t want to stop reading until it’s finished.”

      – Company


      Synopsis

      Melissa Romney-Jones can bake a perfect sponge cake, type her little heart out, and plan a party blindfolded. But none of that has helped her get far in life or in love. When she gets fired — again — she decides to market her impeccable social skills to single men. To avoid embarrassing her father, a Member of Parliament, Melissa dons a blond wig and becomes “Honey,” a no-nonsense bombshell who helps clueless bachelors shop, entertain, and navigate social minefields. She even attends parties if a client needs a “date.” But when a dashing American starts to request Honey’s services on a regular basis, it’s only a matter of time before Honey’s and Melissa’s worlds collide….

  3. "Clients often called me a state of
    agitation.
    Sometimes they were
    hiding from their not-quite-ex-girlfriends,
    or trapped by their ties in the washing machines
    or paralysed with indecision in
    Agent Provocateur."

    The Little Lady Agency and the Prince

  4. From the desk of HB

    • 31st July, 2014

      Wash.

      Shave.

      Give the rings to the best man.

      Say something really nice about your mother and her mother in your speech.

      Arrange for flowers to be delivered the first day she’s back at work after the honeymoon.

      Turn up to the church in good time.

      That’s it.

      Good luck.

    • 25th July, 2014

      Second in an occasional Honeymoon Hotel-inspired series comes this: how to be the bride of everyone else’s dreams.

      Everyone loves a bride. Not everyone loves a Bridezilla. But like BO and really sleazy boyfriends, no one tells you until it’s, well, too late. Here are a few hints, garnered from extensive wedding attendance and a year of lurking on wedding forums… Continue reading

    • 6th July, 2014

      Hello!

      In honour of the soon-to-be-published new book, Honeymoon Hotel, (out Sept!!) I thought I’d offer some hints and tips gleaned from a whole year spent immersed in wedding magazines, other people’s weddings, wedding websites and some anecdotes offered by friends which, as usual, were far too juicy and outrageous to put into the actual book. Continue reading

  5. "I never saw myself as a
    princess.
    I was always more interested in
    the magic beans,
    if I'm being honest."

    The Runaway Princess

  6. Ask Honey or Ask Betsy

    • Dear Honey

      My younger brother is staying in my flat while he does work experience in London this summer. I understand now why my mum was so excited to get him out of her house for a few weeks: my flat’s gone from pristine (ish) to pigsty in a matter of days. He leaves trails of discarded clothes wherever he goes, abandons cereal bowls and half-drunk tea everywhere, spends the entire evening online, and worse of all, doesn’t always flush the loo. I’ve tried reminding politely, nagging, passive aggressive texts… nothing seems to get through to him.

      How can I make him understand that if I have to pick up one more wet towel he’ll be camping at work? I feel if I can crack this now, I might be doing a future girlfriend a very big favour.

       

      Yours

      Sister of No Mercy

      Continue reading

    • Dear Betsy

      The one thing I always dread about Christmas is the tips. I never know how much to give, end up giving nothing, then worry that I’ll come home to find my rubbish all over the drive and my post in the composter. Please advise.

      Yours, with a fiver? A tenner? Some loose change?

      Miss Moneypenny

      Continue reading

    • Dear Honey

      I’ve just found out that amongst the guests at the stylish media wedding I’m attending tomorrow will be a couple of actual celebs. Proper Hollywood celebs. My Phase Eight ensemble with ‘quirky hat’ now looks cringingly frumpy and it’s too late for me to lose three stones. What should I do? Mount an early morning raid on Selfridges? Wrap myself in cling film? I feel like there should have been some warning on the invitation…

      Yours

      Starry-starry Fright

      Continue reading

    • Dear Betsy

      With coffee shops doing wonderful exciting drinks, and everyone baking, is it really enough to offer a plate of biscuits and a cup of builders’ tea for visitors? Is there something simple and exciting I could make? I don’t bake.

      Yours, No-gella

      Continue reading


    Got a question for Honey or Betsy?

  7. Chic is in
    your own
    distinctive details:
    a signature scent, a favourite cocktail,
    the perfect red lipstick.

    The Finishing Touches

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