CHRIS MANBY

When Emily Browns life and business is turned around by a surprise visit from Carina Lees, immaculately-groomed reality TV star and Z-list celebrity, she cant believe her luck.With just one other member of staff to help her out at her Essex salon The Beauty Spot, Emily is pushed for time as well as money, and so Carinas patronage and the subsequent financial success of the salon is more welcome than a sunbed session in December.But even with the assistance of skilled-yet-shabby new girl Natalie, things start to go mysteriously wrong, and it soon becomes clear that someones got it in for the salon. And with tactics dirtier than a gardeners fingernails, the battle of the beauticians commences. For under all the makeup and manicures, Carina is not who she seems, and although confronting the past can be more painful than a bikini wax, Emily eventually has to stare the truth in the face and realise its whats inside that really "counts ...

To her great surprise, Lara Fenton is asked out by gorgeous banker, Hugh Armstrong-Henderson. But on their dates Hugh acts rather strangely, and it gradually becomes apparent that he's in love with someone else. Then Lara begins to realize her feelings for her flatmate, Simon. But is it too late?

Why is it that your best friend always seems to end up with men who treat her badly? Why is that your best male friend seems intent on dating the kind of girl who thinks that Nietzche is an STD? Why is it that your own little black book looks more and more like the non-celeb client list of the Priory? Why can't any of you find someone quite right?Ruby, Martin and Lou are three old friends who have spent too much time talking about the ones that got away. Facing another summer without love, they decide to approach the dating dilemma in the way they approached finding flatmates. They're going to place personal ads. For one another.

Every bride is entitled to some pre-wedding jitters. And what girl wouldn't think twice about marriage when her fiance gets his eyebrows shaved off just in time to look horrendous for the photographs.But what if it's not the ceremony that freaks you out but the happy ever after? Heidi Savage is wondering whether she can really forsake all others for macho, beer-swilling Ed. And how can a couple who've never even been baby-sitters be ready to start a family of their own?Will the answer come in the form of her ex-boyfriend Steven? Grown-up, gorgeous and good-with-children. Is Heidi's dilemma simply a case of right shoes, right dress, wrong husband?

In Little Elbow, hunting ground of the rich and famous, size does count - the size of a man's bank balance, that is. And the Grosvenor sisters will do anything to get their hands on a big one. But when faced with the choice between a Wall Streeter addicted to his cell phone, a software tycoon with no social skills, and a poor but handsome handyman, Grace and Charity Grosvenor soon learn that if you want to marry for money, you have to work for every penny . . .

Just graduated from drama school, Lizzie Jordan is looking forward to a glittering career at the RSC and becoming Mrs Richard Adams. So how come, just one month later, Lizzie finds herself working as

He's the King of the Swingers. But she's the Ice Queen. When Dr Jennifer Niederhauser becomes head of the chimpanzee project at Prowdes Animal Sanctuary, the uptight young zoologist looks forward to making her mark in the conservation world. But the regime is ramshackle, the chimpanzees uncontrollable and her first meeting with head keeper Guy Gibson finds him naked and covered in baby oil. She decides never to work with animals or the childish again. But, she may not have a job for much longer anyway -- Prowdes is in big financial trouble. Salvation comes in the form of a TV documentary. Prowdes needs the money and exposure. But does Jennifer need to be exposed to the show's smooth presenter, chimpanzee expert Dr Timothy Lauder? The ultimate alpha male.

When Rachel Buckley announces that she is going to get married, her best friends Yaslyn and Carrie Ann can't wait to give her a proper send-off. No second-rate male stripper in a smoky bar for Rachel though. The girls choose instead to take a 'hen week' in Turkey, in the all-inclusive surroundings of luxurious holiday resort. It should be the perfect trip. But all three girls are bringing along more than their luggage. While Rachel looks forward to her wedding day with excitement, Carrie Ann wonders why the pain of her abusive marriage didn't end when the decree nisi arrived and Yaslyn considers the possibility that she might never be ready to marry her patient boyfriend Euan. Add unlimited free cocktails, rampant reps and a nasty dose of sunstroke and suddenly 'getting away from it all' comes dangerously close to 'going back to nothing'. Can three firm friendships survive just seven sunny days?