Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic 5-Book Bundle (109 page)

Acknowledgments

Writing this book was tremendous fun; researching it even more so. I am exceedingly grateful to all, both in Britain and in the States, who gave me so much inspiration, and allowed me to come and ask them lots of stupid questions.

My thanks to Lawrence Harvey at the Plaza, who could not have been more helpful, and to the ever wonderful Sharyn Soleimani at Barneys. Also to Ron Ben-Israel, Elizabeth and Susan Allen, Fran Bernard, Preston Bailey, Clare Mosley, Joe Dance at Crate and Barrel, Julia Kleyner and Lillian Sabatelli at Tiffany, Charlotte Curry at
Brides,
Robin Michaelson, Theresa Ward, Guy Lancaster and Kate Mailer, David Stefanou and Jason Antony, and lovely Lola Bubbosh.

A million thanks, as always, to my wonderful agent Araminta Whitley and to Celia Hayley, Kim Witherspoon, and David Forrer. And of course deep gratitude to the endlessly fantastic team at The Dial Press, with particular thanks to Susan Kamil, Zoë Rice, and Nita Taublib.

And lastly to the people who’ve been there all the way through: Henry, Freddy, and Hugo, and the purple posse. You know who you are.

Coming in 2004

an all-new

Sophie Kinsella
adventure

introducing her latest hilarious heroine

EMMA CORRIGAN

who has a few secrets . . .

Of course I have secrets.

Everyone has a few secrets. I’m not talking about big, earth-shattering secrets. Not the-president-is-planning-to-bomb-Japan-and-only-Will-Smith-can-save-the-world type secrets.

Just normal, everyday little ones. Like, for example, here are a few random secrets of mine, off the top of my head:

1. My Kate Spade bag is a fake.

2. I love sweet sherry, the least cool drink in the universe.

3. I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is.

EMMA CORRIGAN HAS SECRETS
FROM HER BOYFRIEND . . .

4. I weigh one hundred and twenty-eight pounds. Not one eighteen, like Connor thinks.

5. I’ve always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken.

6. Sometimes, when we’re right in the middle of passionate sex, I suddenly want to laugh.

EMMA CORRIGAN HAS SECRETS
FROM HER COLLEAGUES . . .

7. When Artemis really annoys me, I feed her plant orange juice. (Which is pretty much every day.)

8. It was me who jammed the copier that time. In fact, all the times.

9. Just sometimes, when I’m reading
Marketing Week
at my desk, I really have
Entertainment Weekly
inside.

EMMA C
ORRIGAN HAS SECRETS
FROM HER PARENTS . . .

10. I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom with Danny Nussbaum, while Mum and Dad were downstairs watching
Ben-Hur.

11. I’ve already drunk the wine that Dad toldme to lay down for twenty years.

12. The goldfish in the kitchen isn’t the same one Mum and Dad gave me to look after when they went to Egypt.

EMMA CORRIGAN HAS SECRETS SHE WOULD NEVER SHARE WITH ANYBODY . . .

13. My G-string is hurting me.

14. I’ve always had this deep-down conviction that I’m not like everybody else, and there’s an amazingly exciting new life waiting for me just around the corner.

15. I often have no idea what people are talking about. None whatsoever . . .

UNTI
L SHE SPILLS THEM ALL TO A STRANGER ON A PLANE . . .

The plane suddenly drops down again, and I give an involuntary shriek. “We’re going to die!” I stare into his face. This could be the last person I ever see alive. I take in the lines etched around his dark eyes, his strong jaw, shaded with stubble.

“I don’t think we’re going to die,” he says. But he’s gripping hard onto his seat arms, too. “They said it was just turbulence—”

“Of course they did!” I can hear the hysteria in my voice. “They wouldn’t exactly say, ‘OK, folks, that’s it, you’re all goners!’” The plane gives another terrifying swoop and I find myself clutching the man’s hand in panic. “We’re not going to make it. I know we’re not. This is it. I’m twenty-five years old, for God’s sake, I’m not ready to die. I haven’t achieved anything. I’ve never had children, I’ve never saved a life . . .” My eyes fall randomly on the “30 Things to Do Before You’re 30” magazine article in front of me. “I haven’t ever climbed a mountain; I haven’t got a tattoo; I don’t even
know
if I’ve got a G spot . . .”

“I’m sorry?” says the man, sounding taken aback, but I barely hear him.

“I’m not a top businesswoman!” I gesture half tearfully to my suit. “I’m just a crappy assistant and I just had my first-ever big meeting and it was a total disaster. I don’t know what
logistical
means, and I’ve never read a Dickens novel, and my underwear’s too small, and I owe my dad four thousand quid, and I’ve never really been in love . . .”

AT L
EAST, SHE THOUGHT HE WAS A STRANGER
. . .

So this is the new big boss. The guy in the baseball cap turns, and as I see his face I feel an almighty thud, as though a bowling ball’s landed hard in my chest. Oh my God. It’s him. The same dark eyes. The same lines etched around them. The stubble’s gone, but it’s definitely him. It’s the man from the plane—the man I told all my secrets to. What’s he doing here at the office? And . . . and why has he got everyone’s attention? He’s speaking now, and everyone is lapping up every word he says. He turns again, and I instinctively duck back out of sight, trying to keep calm. What’s he doing here? He can’t— That can’t be— That can’t possibly be. If this is the new mega-boss, I’m in big, big trouble . . .

CAN YOU KEEP
A SECRET?

THE NEW NOVEL COMING FROM

Sophie Kinsella

The trouble with telling
secrets is . . . you can’t get
them back

And don’t miss the novel that introduced the fabulous Becky Bloomwood!

Becky Bloomwood has everything: a fabulous flat in London’s trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous socialite friends, and a closet brimming with the season’s must-haves. The only problem is that she can’t actually afford it—not any of it. Her job as a financial journalist not only bores her to tears, it doesn’t pay much at all. And lately, Becky’s been chased by dismal letters from Visa and the Endwich Bank—letters with large red sums she can’t bear to read—and they’re getting ever harder to ignore. She tries cutting back; she even tries making more money. But none of her efforts succeeds. Becky’s only consolation is to buy herself something . . . just a little something . . .

Finally a story arises that Becky actually
cares
about, and her front-page article catalyzes a chain of events that will transform her life—and the lives of those around her—forever.

Sophie Kinsella brilliantly taps into our collective consumer conscience to deliver a novel of our times—and a heroine who grows stronger every time she weakens. Becky Bloomwood’s hysterical schemes to pay back her debts are as endearing as they are desperate. Her “confessions” are the perfect pick-me-up when life is hanging in the (bank) balance.

“Packing Light” takes on a whole new meaning

“This expensive, glossy world is where I’ve been headed all along. Limos and flowers; waxed eyebrows and designer clothes from Barneys. These are my people; this is where I’m meant to be.”

—Becky Bloomwood.

With her shopping excesses (somewhat) in check and her career as a TV financial guru thriving, Becky’s biggest problem seems to be tearing her entrepreneur boyfriend, Luke, away from work for a romantic country weekend. And worse, figuring out how to “pack light.” But packing takes on a whole new meaning when Luke announces he’s moving to New York for business—and asks Becky to go with him! Before you can say “Prada sample sale,” Becky has landed in the Big Apple, home of Park Avenue penthouses and luxury department stores. Surely it’s only a matter of time until she becomes an American TV celebrity, and she and Luke are the toast of Gotham society. Nothing can stand in their way, especially with Becky’s bills miles away in London. But then an unexpected disaster threatens her career prospects, her relationship with Luke, and her available credit line!
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan
—but will she have to return it?

Also by Sophie Kinsella

CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC
SHOPAHOLIC TAKES MANHATTAN

SHOPAHOLIC & SISTER

SHOPAHOLIC & SISTER

A Dial Press Book / October 2004

Published by The Dial Press

A Division of Random House, Inc.

New York, New York

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved

Copyright © 2004 by Sophie Kinsella

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.

The Dial Press is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kinsella, Sophie.

Shopaholic & sister / Sophie Kinsella.

p. cm.

1. Bloomwood, Becky (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Married women—Fiction. 3. Shopping—Fiction. 4. Sisters—Fiction. I. Title:
Shopaholic and sister. II. Title.

PR6073.I246S56 2004

823′.92—dc22

2004050201

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