The Good Life Series by Merren Tait

I started My New Life with a wild leap of faith and a screw driver in my back pocket. Turns out I needed a power tool arsenal… Nancy Myers is having a hard time. She’s broken-hearted, homeless and unemployed. And she’s just turned forty. But Nancy has a secret weapon. Desperation... moreI started My New Life with a wild leap of faith and a screw driver in my back pocket. Turns out I needed a power tool arsenal… Nancy Myers is having a hard time. She’s broken-hearted, homeless and unemployed. And she’s just turned forty. But Nancy has a secret weapon. Desperation. Relying solely on her finely-honed ability to make stuff up as she goes along and the battery life of her cordless drill, she’s determined to make a fresh start (one that on no account features men of the falling-in-love-with variety). After purchasing a rural property on a whim at the foot of the Southern Alps in New Zealand, Nancy attempts to settle into country life. She finds the vista of the mountains healing. She also finds a tall, dark and gumbooted stranger (who proves to be therapeutic in other ways). But when she discovers her precious view is about to be taken away, Nancy faces a hard choice. Should she play saboteur to protect her own happiness, even if it means losing the man who just might possibly be the key to it? Maybe her fresh start is actually a false start. Or maybe she’s learning a thing or two about how to be a kick-arse, self-reliant woman. less

"This is chick-lit at its best. Merren Tait has written a genuinely funny novel" - Readers' Favorite editorial review (5 stars).I started My New Life with a wild leap of faith and a screw driver in my back pocket. Turns out I needed a power tool arsenal…Nancy Myers is having a hard time. She’s broken-hearted, homeless and unemployed. And she’s just turned forty. But Nancy has a secret weapon. Desperation... more"This is chick-lit at its best. Merren Tait has written a genuinely funny novel" - Readers' Favorite editorial review (5 stars).I started My New Life with a wild leap of faith and a screw driver in my back pocket. Turns out I needed a power tool arsenal…Nancy Myers is having a hard time. She’s broken-hearted, homeless and unemployed. And she’s just turned forty. But Nancy has a secret weapon. Desperation. Relying solely on her finely-honed ability to make stuff up as she goes along and the battery life of her cordless drill, she’s determined to make a fresh start (one that on no account features men of the falling-in-love-with variety).After purchasing a rural property on a whim at the foot of the Southern Alps in New Zealand, Nancy attempts to settle into country life. She finds the vista of the mountains healing. She also finds a tall, dark and gumbooted stranger (who proves to be therapeutic in other ways).But when she discovers her precious view is about to be taken away, Nancy faces a hard choice. Should she play saboteur to protect her own happiness, even if it means losing the man who just might possibly be the key to it?Maybe her fresh start is actually a false start. Or maybe she’s learning a thing or two about how to be a kick-arse, self-reliant woman. less

Business in ruins: one.Money in the bank: $4.82.Crime scene: one and counting.Sadie Quinn’s been down on her luck before, but never like this, and the moment of folly that forces her to go on the run has pushed her out of the fire and into a thermo-nuclear disaster. Fleeing to the one place she knows she can get her life back on track – her grandfather’s small-town home – presents a complication: The Misdeeds List... moreBusiness in ruins: one.Money in the bank: $4.82.Crime scene: one and counting.Sadie Quinn’s been down on her luck before, but never like this, and the moment of folly that forces her to go on the run has pushed her out of the fire and into a thermo-nuclear disaster. Fleeing to the one place she knows she can get her life back on track – her grandfather’s small-town home – presents a complication: The Misdeeds List. Her grandfather’s non-negotiable condition for letting her live with him is that she must help him relive the misdemeanours of his youth. The problem is, the wilder the acts become, the more attention she gains from the handsome local cop, and for all the wrong reasons.At first Sadie thinks the misdemeanours are just random acts of madness brought on by an elderly mind that’s beginning to lose its hold on reality. But as she helps her grandfather tick off the items on his list, she begins to see the pieces of a puzzle slotting together – a puzzle that offers clues to her own troubled past.Now, not only does Sadie need to redeem herself to win the right kind of handsome-cop attention, she must also commit one last and spectacular misdeed to fit the final piece of the puzzle into place.Something has to give.The Misdeeds of Sadie Quinn is the third of four stand-alone novels in the award-winning Good Life series. less

When I called the mayor a “cockwomble”, it didn’t go down well.Jewel Bauer has always been the underdog in whatever situation she lands in, and unfortunately her ‘act now, think later’ approach to life – or, as she puts it, “being the biggest numpty this side of planet Spackbrain” – doesn’t help her chances of beating the odds.Moving to a small town to kick start her life, she finally finds a place, a family to belong to... moreWhen I called the mayor a “cockwomble”, it didn’t go down well.Jewel Bauer has always been the underdog in whatever situation she lands in, and unfortunately her ‘act now, think later’ approach to life – or, as she puts it, “being the biggest numpty this side of planet Spackbrain” – doesn’t help her chances of beating the odds.Moving to a small town to kick start her life, she finally finds a place, a family to belong to. The group of fellow oddballs who welcome her into their fold, seem to understand her – the tall, broad-shouldered, quiet one a little more so than the rest.When a failed politician with questionable ethics and an even more questionable agenda seeks to establish power in her new community, Jewel knows she must stop him, even if the only political experience she has is insulting mayors.What’s the logical solution? Mount an opposing political campaign with her small family of social misfits, of course.Jewel and her friends quickly find themselves out of their depth fighting a political veteran who knows all the tricks to win voters over, and the resulting comedy of errors threatens to break the group apart.But Jewel’s not afraid of casting a stone at the giant – or several – to see which will fell him. The question is: How devious and dangerous a stone does she need? And will it ruin her first shot at love?Odd Girl Roar is the final of four stand-alone novels in the award-winning Good Life series. less