I have really enjoyed all of Christina's stories so far, which is good, as it has taken a bit of work to get hold of them, the first three being out of print! Christina has said that these should be re-released when her new book Nothing to Lose, comes out this summer, so you will be able to get hold of them then.

I like them because they are about real people, not those who have two homes, only wear designer clothes, and end up marrying film stars or other unattainable individuals, they are about real women who may have imperfections that we all have and may hate or not, like freckles and hair which does what it wants. I have said before that part of the charm of the stories is that Christina Jones likes her characters, and makes them so that you like them, too. You know that they have flaws, but it does not matter, you know them and the flaws make them all the more human.

They do silly things and you smile because you know of a similar incident which you have experienced, either first or second hand, and it makes them all the more real. One of the nice things about them is that there is a certain integrity to the ladies involved, in that they feel bad when they cause distress to people. They do not mean to get involved with men who are married, and if it happens, they try to avoid it going any further..

For example, Nell in Stealing the Show, knows that she is falling in love with Jack but when he tells her that his live-in girlfriend is pregnant, she tried to withdraw from the relationship to allow him to be with his girlfriend and the baby.

I know that not all women are nice, and that there are some who would, and do deliberately break up relationships, but these are women that you would like if you met them, and be friends if the situation arose, so you would want them to be happy. Even Caroline at the end of Going the Distance, wants Maddy to be happy with Drew, you can't say fairer than that.

Chrissi - 30th April 2001