Raw, romantic and real ... just like life can be

Sushi for Beginners by Marian Keyes (M Joseph, £14.99, 576pp)

Even when Maeve Binchy or Roddy Doyle have a new novel out in Ireland, Marian Keyes pips them to number one. Author of four previous blockbusters, including Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, and Rachel's Holiday (a semi-autobiographical novel about recovering from alcoholism) 37-year old Keyes, like Helen Fielding, has given romantic comedy a much needed face lift. Chatty and warm-hearted, Keyes's talent is to tell it how it is. Her dialogue is natural, her chapters brief, and her characters convincing. Whether transplanted to New York or London, her freckle-faced heroines know they should take work and man trouble on the chin, but end up taking to their beds instead. Trying on a more sophisticated milieu for size - whether it's the Manhattan clubbing scene or magazine journalism - they stumble around like frisky heifers, but finally exit with the approval of their professional peers

Even when Maeve Binchy or Roddy Doyle have a new novel out in Ireland, Marian Keyes pips them to number one. Author of four previous blockbusters, including Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, and Rachel's Holiday (a semi-autobiographical novel about recovering from alcoholism) 37-year old Keyes, like Helen Fielding, has given romantic comedy a much needed face lift. Chatty and warm-hearted, Keyes's talent is to tell it how it is. Her dialogue is natural, her chapters brief, and her characters convincing. Whether transplanted to New York or London, her freckle-faced heroines know they should take work and man trouble on the chin, but end up taking to their beds instead. Trying on a more sophisticated milieu for size - whether it's the Manhattan clubbing scene or magazine journalism - they stumble around like frisky heifers, but finally exit with the approval of their professional peers

Aspirational without being patronising, Keyes's books are well researched. Set in Dublin, her latest describes life on a new woman's monthly, Colleen, and despite some wide-eyed comments about launch parties, fashion freebies and exotic sushi lunches, the novel gives a more authentic picture than any number of romans à clefs by magazine insiders.

The love interest revolves around three lonely-hearts: Lisa Edwards, neurotic control freak sent over from London; her deputy, Ashling, and Ashling's best-friend Clodagh, a frustrated mother of two. Between them they divvy up a motley crew of males, and the last remaining samples of Oui Oui perfume.