How Not To Murder Your Husband

Candid, caustic and surprisingly moving, Stephanie Calman is back: read her and know that you are not alone The idea for this book came when Stephanie began making a list of things that annoy her about her husband, and found how hard it was, once she had started, to stop. Here are the first Ten Things, just to give you an idea. He: (1) Leaves the bread unwrapped after making toast so it goes stale. (2) Writes illegible names and addresses on things like Christmas cards then tells her off when she tries to amend them. (3) Breathes really loudly when he's asleep - I wasn't SNORING - so that it's like being woken every night at 2am by Darth Vader. And not in a sexy, black cloak, galaxy ruling sort of way. (4) Says, I'm putting you in charge of that as if he's doing her a favour when he wants to get out of doing something. (5) Says, Well, let's not make a problem out of it, shall we? before ignoring the thing she's just told him about that's really bugging her and that she wants him to fix. (6) Doesn't fix things the minute she asks him to. (7) Manages to get the children to bed with far less yelling than she does. (8) Always sees the other side in an argument, i.e., the side that isn't hers. (10) Adores her mother. Viciously funny, touchingly honest and only too true, this is Stephanie Calman at her brilliant best.

The idea for this book came when Stephanie began making a list of things that annoy her about her husband, and found how hard it was, once she had started, to stop. Viciously funny, touchingly honest and only too true, this is Stephanie Calman at her brilliant best.

"Get this for your pregnant friends, or yourself" (People): a hilariously candid account of one woman's quest to bring her post-baby marriage back from the brink, with life-changing, real-world advice. Recommended by Nicole Cliffe in Slate Featured in People Picks A Red Tricycle Best Baby and Toddler Parenting Book of the Year One of Mother magazine's favorite parenting books of the Year How Not To Hate Your Husband After Kids tackles the last taboo subject of parenthood: the startling, white-hot fury that new (and not-so-new) mothers often have for their mates. After Jancee Dunn had her baby, she found that she was doing virtually all the household chores, even though she and her husband worked equal hours. She asked herself: How did I become the 'expert' at changing a diaper? Many expectant parents spend weeks researching the best crib or safest car seat, but spend little if any time thinking about the titanic impact the baby will have on their marriage - and the way their marriage will affect their child. Enter Dunn, her well-meaning but blithely unhelpful husband, their daughter, and her boisterous extended family, who show us the ways in which outmoded family patterns and traditions thwart the overworked, overloaded parents of today. On the brink of marital Armageddon, Dunn plunges into the latest relationship research, solicits the counsel of the country's most renowned couples' and sex therapists, canvasses fellow parents, and even consults an FBI hostage negotiator on how to effectively contain an "explosive situation." Instead of having the same fights over and over, Dunn and her husband must figure out a way to resolve their larger issues and fix their family while there is still time. As they discover, adding a demanding new person to your relationship means you have to reevaluate -- and rebuild -- your marriage. In an exhilarating twist, they work together to save the day, happily returning to the kind of peaceful life they previously thought was the sole province of couples without children. Part memoir, part self-help book with actionable and achievable advice, How Not To Hate Your Husband After Kids is an eye-opening look at how the man who got you into this position in this first place is the ally you didn't know you had.

Stephanie Calman moves on from bad motherhood, failed grown-upness to the ultimate in tricky relationships: that of mother and daughter. In typically candid Calman style she serves up a painfully acute examination of the human condition, softened by the bellylaugh of recognition that will seize all who read her. As a generation finds itself parenting its parents while still trying to haul up its children, she has – once again – hit the zeitgeist firmly over the head.

All women want to kill their husbands some of the time "Where there's a will, I intend to be in it," wives half-joke to each other. Marriage, it would appear, is a fun-packed frivolous hobby, only occasionally resulting in death. But when Jazz Jardine is arrested for her husband's murder, the joke falls flat. Life should begin at 40 - not with life imprisonment for killing your spouse. Jazz, stay-at-home mum and domestic goddess; Hannah, childless career woman; and Cassie, demented working mother of two are three ordinary women. Their record collections are classical, not criminal. Cassie and Hannah set out immediately to prove their best friend's innocence, uncovering betrayal, adultery, plot twists, thinner thighs and toy boys aplenty en route but will their friendship survive these ever darker revelations?

Life has been hectic in the Haskell household, but a lull in household affairs should allow Ellie time enough to slim down, pick up the threads of her interior design career, and kick the romance-reading habit that keeps her from her marital boudoir. But murder rears its ugly head when the body of the Chitterdon Fells librarian found sprawled among the library stacks. The only positive side of the untimely demise is the arrival of male romance cover model, Karisma, come to town to strut his tawny mane and sun-bronzed muscles for a fund-raiser in the late lamented librarian's name. But when hunky Karisma's entourage is poisoned, and the spouse of a Library League newlywed dies mysteriously, fantasy life careens toward a collision course with reality. Ellie must find a clever killer before she meets a sinister and decidedly unromantic fate! Fizzing with deadly wit and outrageous secrets, How To Murder The Man Of Your Dreams is a mystery to swoon for.

Perfect for fans of Jenn McKinlay and Kate Carlisle, in Agatha award-winning author Cynthia Kuhn’s series debut, small-town bookseller and literary event planner Emma Starrs is out to close the book on a killer intent on crashing the party. To help save her family’s floundering Colorado bookstore, Starlit Bookshop, newly minted Ph.D. Emma Starrs agrees to plan a mystery-themed dinner party for her wealthy, well-connected high school classmate Tabitha Baxter. It’s a delightful evening of cocktails and conjecture until Tabitha’s husband, Tip—hosting the affair in the guise of Edgar Allan Poe’s detective C. Auguste Dupin—winds up murdered. In a heartbeat, Emma and her aunt Nora, a famous mystery writer, become suspects. Emma is sure the party’s over for Starlit events, until celebrated author Calliope Nightfall, whose gothic sensibilities are intrigued by the circumstances, implores the bookseller to create a Poe-themed launch event for her latest tome. Throwing a bash to die for while searching for additional clues is already enough to drive Emma stark raven mad, but another shocking crime soon reveals that Silvercrest has not yet reached the final chapter of the puzzling case. Someone in this charming artistic community has murder on the mind, and if Emma cannot outwit the killer, she and her beloved aunt will land behind bars, to walk free nevermore.

Nicole Layton is a desperate woman. Her husband, Senator Linus Layton, not only abuses her but holds Nicole's brain-damaged niece hostage to keep Nicole in line. The teal-eyed beauty is no dumb blonde. Her plan to escape during their upcoming anniversary cruise in the Mediterranean and hide out in Spain goes array when the cruise ship wrecks off the coast of Italy. With a leap of faith, she jumps early and rows for hours. Later, weary and exhausted, she drags her inflatable raft onto the Italian mainland having no ID nor a way to get home. She's come so far on her wits and planning, but she's out of ideas. Austin Stevens knows when a woman is in trouble. Hired by the Senator's insurance company to prove foul play, Austin Stevens of Stevens Security hunts for the presumed dead woman. He's on a race against time and pitted against a clever enemy. To collect on the multi-million dollar Insurance policy, Layton must produce the dead body of his wife. He hires Black Adder, a private paramilitary operation to ensure that her body will be delivered. Monumental forces are at work. With chaos at every turn will Austin rescue her before Black Adder finds her? Even if he does, will her husband ever stop hunting her? This is not the first woman Austin Stephens has helped, but she is the only one who has him spinning in the wind.