If you could have dinner with 3 authors, dead or alive, who would they be and why?
1. Shirley Conran because she stands alone. There’s never been another Lace. I’d never run out of questions for her.
2. Jackie Collins because I’d just love her company. I’ve only met her once but I’ve followed her for years. She’d be the best guest – funny, sharp, proper old-school Hollywood. I also want to ask her how much sibling rivalry there was with Joan. I bet that was a saga in itself.
3. And Jacqueline Susann, because I’d want to know how she beat the system that was built to stop her - and how many bottles of Dom she ordered when she finally got her bestseller. Although I think Jacqueline and Jackie might get rivalrous around that table. People said that Jackie copied Jacqueline, and I’d love to see their faces when that came up…
About the Author
Melanie Blake has her own rags-to-riches story, just like her characters. At 15, she was told by her school career advisors that her decision to go work at a record shop proved she wouldn't go far in her career. They were wrong. By 21 she was working at the BBC's iconic Top of the Pops and by 27 she was one of the UK's leading music and entertainment managers. She then built an acting agency specialising in soap stars which become the most successful independent boutique agency in the UK.
Melanie's first novel The Thunder Girls became a paperback bestseller in 2019 and her most recent novels Ruthless Women and Guilty Women were bot top ten Sunday Times bestsellers in hardback. She has sold over 300,000 copies of her books worldwide. Follow her on X @MelanieBlakeUK and Instagram @MelanieBlakeUK
About the book
From Sunday Times bestselling author Melanie Blake comes a gripping new chapter in the Falcon Bay series ― where showbiz glamour collides with dark secrets, and women who’ve lost everything are ready to fight back.
On a private island off the coast of England, five powerful women sit in jail, awaiting trial for manslaughter: a world-famous soap star, an ambitious talent agent, a ruthless producer, a brilliant screenwriter and a cougar casting director.
The man who put them there, their long-term nemesis Jake Monroe, is cashing in – turning the island they once ruled into a twisted theme park crowned by the world’s tallest skyscraper. While the women plot revenge, old secrets that could change everything begin to surface.
The glossy veneer of their showbiz world was shattered when they were incarcerated and the rot beneath the red carpets and studio lights is beginning to show… and meanwhile, a journalist chasing the truth behind an American serial killer is uncovering stories that could destroy everything – and everyone.
As the body count climbs and the women’s trial date looms, Jake’s empire teeters. Because one thing is certain. Hell has no fury… like vengeful women.
Review
It would be fair to say that Blake is carving out her own uncontested space that was previously ruled by the Grande dames of bonkbusters. Her books have the same flair for negligee swirling divas who like their men robust, their romps fulfilling and their drama hot, just like the tea they serve from page to page.
Farrah, Amanda, Catherine and Helen are behind bars awaiting their trial for manslaughter after the death of their co-worker, Madeline Kane. Do you remember that spectacular incident on live television? No, then you should absolutely read the first two books in the series. What ensues is a captivating game of vengeance and scores that need to be settled.
Be warned though, Jake is still a tosspot who deserves to be fed to hungry sharks, and the main characters - the women of course - are still ten shades of neither here nor there when it comes to morality, but then morality has always been overrated and a smidgen of immorality is always quite fun. Something wicked this way comes and all that jazz.
This is the third book in the Falcon Bay series and can I just say the twist is an homage, a small nod, to Conran - nicely done. At this point, especially after the bold move of bringing the world of Cooper to the small screen, it would be a hoot to see the same happen with this series. The casting would have to be on point though!
Buy Vengeful Women at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher : Piranha Publishing, pub date 6th November 2025. Buy at Amazon com. Via Waterstones. Via Bookshop.org.


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