Works by
Meg Cabot
(aka Jenny Carroll, Meggin Cabot, and Patricia Cabot)
(Writer)
[1967 - ]

Writing as Jenny Carroll (Romance)
(In memory of her dead cat, named Jenny Carroll)

Lightning Strikes Series
(Renamed the 1-800 Where-R-You? Series by Meg Cabot)

1. When Lightning Strikes (2001)

2. Code Name Cassandra (2001)

3. Safe House (2002)

4. Sanctuary (2002)

Lightning Strikes Series continues
as 1-800 Where-R-You? Series

Mediator Series

1. Shadowland (2000)
   There’s a hot guy in Susannah Simon's bedroom. Too bad he’s a ghost.
   
   Suze is a mediator—a liaison between the living and the dead. In other words, she sees dead people. And they won't leave her alone until she helps them resolve their unfinished business with the living. But Jesse, the hot ghost haunting her bedroom, doesn’t seem to need her help. Which is a relief, because Suze has just moved to sunny California and plans to start fresh, with trips to the mall instead of the cemetery, and surfing instead of spectral visitations.
   
   But the very first day at her new school, Suze realizes it’s not that easy. There’s a ghost with revenge on her mind…and Suze happens to be in the way.

2. Ninth Key (2001)
   Ghosts ruin everything. Especially your love life.
   
   Everything is going great for Suze. Her new life in California is a whirlwind of parties and excellent hair days. Tad Beaumont, the hottest boy in town, has even asked Suze out on her very first date. Suze is so excited that she’s willing to ignore her misgivings about Tad…particularly the fact that he’s not Jesse, whose ghostly status—not to mention apparent disinterest in her—make him unattainable.
   
   What Suze can’t ignore, however, is the ghost of a murdered woman whose death seems directly connected to dark secrets hidden in none other than Tad Beaumont's past.

3. Reunion (2001)
   Accidents happen. With ghostly consequences, if you’re Susannah Simon.
   
   The RLS Angels are out for blood, and only Suze can stop them—since she’s the only one who can see them. The four ghostly teenagers died in a terrible car accident, and they blame Suze’s classmate Michael…and they’ll stop at nothing until he’s joined them in the realm of the dead.
   
   As Suze desperately fends off each attempt on Michael’s life, she finds she can relate to the Angels’ fury. Because their deaths turn out not to have been accidental at all. And their killer is only too willing to strike again.

4. Darkest Hour (2001)
   What—or who—is buried in Susannah’s backyard?
   
   When the nineteenth-century ghost of Maria de Silva wakes her up in the middle of the night, Suze knows this is no ordinary visitation—not just from the knife at her throat, either. In life, Maria was the fiancée of Jesse—the same Jesse who was murdered a hundred and fifty years before. The same Jesse Suze is in love with.
   
   Maria threatens Suze: The backyard construction must cease. Suze has a pretty good idea what—or rather, who—Maria doesn’t want found. But in solving Jesse’s murder, will Suze end up losing him forever?

5. Haunted : A Tale of the Mediator (2003)
   Is it possible to be haunted by someone who isn’t even dead?
   
   Suze is used to trouble, but this time she’s in deep: Ghostly Jesse has her heart, but Paul Slater, a real flesh-and-blood guy, is warm for her form. And mediator Paul knows how to send Jesse to the Great Beyond. For good.
   
   Paul claims he won’t do anything to Jesse as long as Suze will go out with him. Fearing she’ll lose Jesse forever, Suze agrees. But even if Suze can get Jesse to admit his true feelings for her, what kind of future can she have with a guy who’s already dead?

6. Twilight (2005)
   Suze has gotten used to ghosts. They wake her up in the middle of the night. They haunt her locker at school. She’s even spotted a few down at Carmel Beach. Suze is a mediator, after all, and communicating with the dead is all in a day’s work for her. The last thing she ever expected was to fall in love with one: Jesse, a nineteenth-century hottie.
   
   But when she and Paul Slater, himself a mediator of undeniable power (and dubious intent), discover that the powers they share aren’t limited to helping ghosts resolve their earthly woes, but can also be used to determine whether or not they become ghosts in the first place, Suze can’t help but freak. Not because she suddenly knows how to alter the course of history, but because Paul, can, too. And Paul would like nothing better than to prevent Jesse’s murder, keeping him from becoming a ghost and allowing him to live a natural life at last…only in the nineteenth century. Meaning Jesse and Suze would never meet.
   
   Suddenly, Suze is the faced with the most important decision of her life: Allow the only guy she’s ever loved to have the life he’s always longed for…or keep him anchored forever in half-life at her side. But will Jesse choose to live without her, or die to love her?

Writing as Meg Cabot

• Nicola and the Viscount (2002, 2005)
  Nicola Sparks, sixteen and an orphan, is ready to dive headlong into her first London Season. A whirlwind of fashionable activities awaits her, although nabbing a husband, ordinarily the prime object of every girl’s Season, is not among them. For Nicola has already chosen hers: a handsome viscount by the name of Lord Sebastian.
  
  Lord Sebastian Bartholomew is wealthy, attractive, and debonair, even if the few tantalizingly short moments Nicola has spent with him have produced little save discussions about poetry. Nicola is sure that a proposal from Lord Sebastian would be a match made in heaven. Everything is going well, until the infuriating Nathaniel Sheridan begins to cast doubt on the viscount’s character.
  
  Nicola is convinced Nathaniel’s efforts to besmirch Lord Sebastian’s sterling reputation will yield nothing. But when she begins to piece things together for herself, the truth that is revealed has as much to do with the viscount as it does with Nicola’s own heart.

• Victoria and the Rogue (2003, 2005)
  Growing up in far-off India, wealthy young heiress Lady Victoria Arbuthnot was accustomed to handling her own affairs—not to mention everyone else’s. But in her sixteenth year, Vicky is unceremoniously shipped off to London to find a husband. With her usual aplomb, however, Lady Victoria gets herself engaged to the perfect English gentleman, even before setting foot on British soil.
  
  Hugo Rothschild, ninth earl of Malfrey, is everything a girl could want in a future husband: he is handsome and worldly, if not rich. Lady Victoria has everything just as she’d like it. That is, if raffish young ship captain Jacob Carstairs would leave well enough alone.
  
  Jacob’s meddling is nothing short of exasperating, and Victoria is mystified by his persistence. But when it becomes clear that young Lord Malfrey just might not be all that he’s professed to be, Victoria is forced to admit, for the first time in her life, that she is wrong. Not only about her fiancé, but about the reason behind the handsome ship captain’s interference.

• Teen Idol (2004)
  High school junior Jenny Greenley is good at solving problems ... so good she's the school newspaper's anonymous advice columnist. Even if solving other people's problems doesn't make her own—like not having a boyfriend—go away, it's still fun. But when nineteen-year-old screen sensation Luke Striker comes to Jenny's small town to research a role, he creates havoc that even levelheaded Jenny isn't sure she can repair ... especially since she's right in the middle of it.
  
  Can Jenny, who always manages to be there for everybody else, learn to take her own advice, and find true love at last?

• How to Be Popular (2006)
  Do you want to be popular?
  Everyone wants to be popular—or at least, Stephanie Landry does. Steph’s been the least popular girl in her class since a certain cherry Super Big Gulp catastrophe five years earlier.
  
  Does being popular matter?
  It matters very much—to Steph. That’s why this year, she has a plan to get in with the It Crowd in no time flat. She’s got a secret weapon: An old book called—what else?—How to Be Popular.
  
  But don’t forget the most important thing about popularity!
  It’s easy to become popular. What isn’t so easy? Staying that way.

• Pants on Fire (2007)
  Liar, liar…
  
  Katie Ellison is not a liar.
  
  It's just that telling the truth is so . . . tricky. She knows she shouldn't be making out with a drama club hottie behind her football- player boyfriend's back. She should probably admit that she can't stand eating quahogs (clams), especially since she's running for Quahog Princess in her hometown's annual Quahog Festival. And it would be a relief to finally tell someone what really happened the night Tommy Sullivan is a freak was spray-painted on the new wall outside the junior high school gymnasium—in neon orange, which still hasn't been sandblasted off. After all, everyone knows that's what drove Tommy out of town four years ago.
  
  But now Tommy Sullivan has come back. Katie is sure he's out for revenge, and she'll do anything to hang on to her perfect (if slightly dishonest) existence. Even if it means telling more lies than ever. Even if, now that Tommy's around, she's actually—no lie— having the time of her life.

• Jinx (September 2007 release)

1-800 Series (Previously called Lightning Strikes Series)

1. When Lightning Strikes (2001)
   Jess Mastriani has never been what you'd call a typical Midwestern teenager—her extracurricular activities, instead of cheerleading or 4-H, include fist-fights with the football team and month-long stints in detention. A part of Jess would like to be the prom queen her mother has always envisioned her being, but another part is secretly counting the days until she's saved up enough money to buy her own Harley.
   
   Then something happens that guarantees Jess will be one of the in-crowd...at least until her newfound talent ends up getting her dead.

2. Code Name Cassandra (2001)
   "Help me find my little girl." Jess Mastriani - dubbed "Lightning Girl" by the press when, after a huge storm, she develops a psychic ability to find missing children —has lost her miraculous powers. Or has she? She would like the media and the government to think so. All Jess wants is to be left alone, by everyone except sexy Rob Wilkins—who still hasn't called, by the way
   
   But it doesn't look like Jess is going to get her wish—especially not while she's stuck working at a summer camp for musically gifted kids. Then the father of a missing girl shows up to beg Jess to find his daughter. Jess can't say no, but now the Feds are on her trail again, as is one ornery stepdad, who'd like to see Lightning Girl dead.

3. Safe House (2001)
   It wasn't her fault. Sixteen-year-old Jessica Mastriani was on vacation when classmate Amber Mackey went missing. How could Jess—even with her newly acquired psychic ability to find anyone, anywhere—have stopped the varsity cheerleader from turning up dead, without having known she was missing in the first place?
   
   But ignorance is apparently no excuse. Most of the student population at Ernest Pyle High School seem to blame Jess for Amber's brutal slaying. Jess has never been particularly popular, but she'd been hoping to start her junior year off right—slumber parties instead of fist fights, and invitations to prom instead of detention.
   
   But when yet another cheerleader disappears, Jess is given a chance to redeem herself. If she can just find Heather Montrose—without letting the Feds know she still has her psychic powers—before Heather, too, is murdered, maybe Jess will finally have a chance to be part of the incrowd....
   
   Except that it's starting to look like being In at Ernie Pyle High just might get you—not to mention your loved ones—killed. So much for popularity.

4. Sanctuary (2002)
   Sixteen-year-old Jessica Mastriani knew she wasn't going to be able to hide her psychic powers from the U.S. government—interested in utilizing her special skills for their own devices—forever. But she never thought that she and Cyrus Krantz, the special agent brought in to "convince" Jess to join his elite team of "specially-gifted" crime solvers, would turn out to have something in common.
   
   But when a local boy's disappearance is attributed to a backwoods militai group, Jess's goal—to find the missing child—and Dr. Krantz's—to stop a group of madmen before they kill again—turn out to be one and the same. Suddenly Jess finds herself working with one enemy in order to stop a far worse one. In an atmosphere of hate and fear, can Jess and Dr. Krantz—not to mention Jess's would-be boyfriend Rob—work together to unite a community and save a life...without losing their own?

5. Missing You (2006)
   All Jessica Mastriani—a problem teen, according to her high school guidance counselor—ever wanted was to be normal. But that changed during a walk home on a particularly stormy day. And suddenly, Jess realized she never knew how good she’d had it before.
   
   Becoming known worldwide as Lighting Girl—a psychic who could find the location of anyone, dead or alive—Jess had no choice but finally to embrace her lack of normalcy, and eventually ended up lending her newfound talent to the US government (not to mention selling her life story to Lifetime to make into a television series that is currently funding her tuition at Julliard).
   
   But her work for the government during the war takes a terrible toll, and Jess returns from overseas a shadow of her former self, her powers gone, Lightning Girl no more.
   
   Starting over in New York City, intent on finding a new life at college, Jess is less than happy when Rob Wilkins, her ex, shows up unexpectedly at the door of apartment Jess is sharing with her best friend Ruth.
   
   But how can Jess, her powers gone, find anyone—let alone the sister of a man she once loved (and believed—however erroneously—loved her back)—when she can’t even find herself?

All-American Girl Books
Ages 12 and up

1. All-American Girl (2002)
   Samantha Madison is just your average disenfranchised sophomore gal living in D.C. when, in an idle moment sandwiched between cookie-buying and CD-perusing, she puts a stop to an attempt on the life of the president. Before she can say "MTV2" she’s appointed Teen Ambassador to the U.N. and has caught the eye of the very cute First Son.

2. Ready or Not (2005)

Avalon High Series

1. Avalon High (2005)
   Avalon High seems like a typical high school, attended by typical students: There’s Lance, the jock. Jennifer, the cheerleader. And Will, senior class president, quarterback, and all-around good guy.
   
   But not everybody at Avalon High is who they appear to be…not even, as new student Ellie is about to discover, herself. What part does she play in the drama that is unfolding? What if the bizarre chain of events and coincidences she has pieced together means—as with the court of King Arthur—tragedy is fast approaching Avalon High?
   
   Worst of all, what if there’s nothing she can do about it?

2. Avalon High: Coronation

   1. Coronation #1: The Merlin Prophecy (July 2007 release)

   2. Coranation #2: Homecoming (September 2007 release)

Heather Wells Mystery Series

1. Size 12 Is Not Fat (2006)
   Or, at least, she did. That was before she left the pop-idol life behind after she gained a dress size or two—and lost a boyfriend, a recording contract, and her life savings (when Mom took the money and ran off to Argentina). Now that the glamour and glory days of endless mall appearances are in the past, Heather's perfectly happy with her new size 12 shape (the average for the American woman!) and her new job as an assistant dorm director at one of New York's top colleges. That is, until the dead body of a female student from Heather's residence hall is discovered at the bottom of an elevator shaft.
   
   The cops and the college president are ready to chalk the death off as an accident, the result of reckless youthful mischief. But Heather knows teenage girls . . . and girls do not elevator surf. Yet no one wants to listen—not the police, her colleagues, or the P.I. who owns the brownstone where she lives—even when more students start turning up dead in equally ordinary and subtly sinister ways. So Heather makes the decision to take on yet another new career: as spunky girl detective!
   
   But her new job comes with few benefits, no cheering crowds, and lots of liabilities, some of them potentially fatal. And nothing ticks off a killer more than a portly ex-pop star who's sticking her nose where it doesn't belong . . .

2. Size 14 Is Not Fat Either (2006)
   Former pop star Heather Wells has settled nicely into her new life as assistant dorm director at New York College—a career that does not require her to drape her size 12 body in embarrassingly skimpy outfits. She can even cope (sort of) with her rocker ex-boyfriend's upcoming nuptials, which the press has dubbed The Celebrity Wedding of the Decade. But she's definitely having a hard time dealing with the situation in the dormitory kitchen—where a cheerleader has lost her head on the first day of the semester. (Actually, her head is accounted for—it's her torso that's AWOL.)
   
   Surrounded by hysterical students—with her ex-con father on her doorstep and her ex-love bombarding her with unwanted phone calls—Heather welcomes the opportunity to play detective . . . again. If it gets her mind off her personal problems—and teams her up again with the gorgeous P.I. who owns the brownstone where she lives—it's all good. But the murder trail is leading the average-sized amateur investigator into a shadowy world. And if she doesn't watch her step, Heather will soon be singing her swan song!

3. Big Boned (2008 release)

Princess Diary Series
Series about an American teenager who learns that she's really a European royal. (Ages 12 and up)

1. The Princess Diaries (2002)

2. Princess in the Spotlight (2002)
   Just when Mia thought she had the whole Princess thing under control…
   
   Things get out of hand, fast:|
   
   Since Mia's the brand—new crown princess of Genovia, indomitable dowager princess Grandmère arranges a national primetime interview for her. With just a few innocent remarks, Mia manages to enrage her best friend Lilly, practically get one of her teachers fired, and alienate the entire country of Genovia. (Population 30,000, but still!)
   
   There's the havoc of the interview's aftermath and her dreaded princess lessons at the Plaza. Plus an unexpected announcement from her mother, and intriguing, exasperating letters from a secret admirer. Mia is swept up in a whirlwind of royal intrigue the likes of which hasn't been seen since volume I of The Princess Diaries.
   
   What's an heir to the royal throne to do? But what’s a girl to do when her name is PRINCESS AMELIA MIGNONETTE GRIMALDI THERMOPOLIS RENALDO?

3. Princess in Love (2003)
   Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo may seem the luckiest girl ever.
   
   She's a princess, for starters. She also lives in New York City. And while she's no supermodel, mirrors do not crack at her reflection. Best of all, she finally has a boyfriend.
   
   The truth is, however, that Mia spends all her time doing one of three things: preparing for her nervewracking entrée into Genovian society under the slave—driving but elegant Grandmère, slogging through congestion unique to Manhattan in December, and avoiding further smooches from her hapless boyfriend Kenny.
   
   All she wants is a little peace and quiet… and a certain someone else to be her boyfriend. For Mia, being a princess in love is not the fairy—tale it's supposed to be… or is it?

4. Princess in Waiting (2003)
   Never before has the world seen such a princess.
   
   Nor have her own subjects, for that matter. Mia's royal introduction to Genovia has mixed results: while her fashion sense is widely applauded, her position on the installation of public parking meters is met with resistance.
   
   But the politics of bureaucracy are nothing next to Mia's real troubles. Between canceled dates with her long—sought—after royal consort, a second semester of the dreaded Algebra, more princess lessons from Grandmère as a result of the Genovian parking—meter thing, and the inability to stop gnawing on her fingernails, isn't there anything Mia is good at besides inheriting an unwanted royal title?

4.5  Project Princess (2003)
What on earth is that princess up to now?

Most princesses would prefer to spend their spring breaks in Gstaad, or some other equally unpronounceable European hot spot.

Not this one, though. Hammer in hand, Princess Mia embarks on an epic adventure for one so admittedly unhandy: along with her cohorts from school, she's off to build houses for the less fortunate. It doesn't take Mia long to realize that helping others—while an unimpeachably noble pastime—is very hard work. Will her giving spirit prevail? Will the house collapse due to royally clumsy construction? And most importantly, will Michael stop working long enough to kiss her?

5. Princess in Pink (2004)
   Even princesses have dreams.
   
   Things are looking up for Mia: She's the newest staffer on the school paper, and her miraculous completion of freshman Algebra is just around the corner. Plus she's about to get a new baby brother or sister. Could things possibly get any better?
   
   But in her heart of hearts, Mia has one wish: an evening spent with Michael in a tux and a corsage on her wrist—in other words, the PROM. Michael, however, does not seem to share the dream that is the prom. Worse still, a service workers strike (with Grandmère and Lilly at the heart of it and on opposite sides) threatens the very existence of this year's prom.
   
   Will the strike end in time? Can Michael be dissuaded from his anti—prom views? Most importantly, will Mia get to wear her pink prom dress?

6. Princess in Training (2005)
   Princess for president!
   
   Student body president, that is. It's all the fault of Princess Mia's power—mad best friend and campaign manager, Lilly, who nominates her in the first place. This is not how Mia imagined kicking off her sophomore year, even if Grandmère thinks ruling her high school makes good practice for ruling Genovia someday.
   
   As usual, Mia has bigger problems to worry about, though. Sophomore geometry appears to be just as hard as freshman algebra, and a shocking B on her first English assignment has Mia reeling. And with Michael, her one true love, uptown at college, what is the point of even getting up for school in the morning? The last straw is what Lana whispers to her on the lunch line about what college boys expect of their girlfriends.
   
   Really, it's almost more than a princess in training can bear.

6.5  The Princess Present (2004)
Mia would give all the jewels in Genovia for the perfect present.

Every year, Princess Mia spends the holidays in Genovia with Grandmère. This year, she's looking forward to the most perfect Christmas ever: her boyfriend, Michael, and her best friend, Lilly, are coming to Genovia, too. But even a princess's plans can go awry. Lilly has a lot to learn about palace protocol, and with all the state holiday functions Mia must attend, there's no time to linger under the mistletoe with Michael. Worst of all, Mia hasn't been able to find him the perfect gift.

Can Mia stop her (bah—hum)bugging long enough to see that the perfect present has nothing to do with international express courier—and everything to do with real love? (Though some shiny silver ribbon never hurts…).

7. Party Princess (2006)
   Princesses just want to have fun.
   
   This spring, Mia’s determined to have a good time, despite the fact that the student government over which she presides is suddenly broke. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it) Grandmère has an elaborate scheme to simultaneously raise money, catapult Mia to theatrical fame, and link her romantically with an eligible teen bachelor not her boyfriend. It’s no wonder that Michael, the love of her life, seems to think she’s a psycho, or worse: not much fun.
   
   Is it possible that Mia, soon-to-be star of the stage, president of the student body and future ruler of Genovia, doesn’t know how to party?

7.5  Sweet Sixteen Princess (2006)
Sixteen is the magic number.

Mia doesn’t always have the best luck with parties, so even though it’s her sweet sixteenth, she doesn’t want a birthday bash. As usual, Grandmère has other ideas, and thinks a reality TV special is just the thing in order to celebrate royally. The whole scheme smacks of Lilly’s doing—Lilly whose own TV show is still only limited to local cable viewers. Will Mia be able to stop Grandmère’s plan? Will her friends ever forgive her if she does stop it, since it involves all of them taking the royal jet to Genovia for an extravaganza the likes of which would turn even Paris Hilton green with envy? Why can’t Mia get what she really wants: an evening alone with Michael?

With a little luck, this sweet sixteen princess might just get her wish—a birthday that's royally romantic.

7 3/4  Valentine Princess (2006)
Valentine's Day means flowers, chocolates, and all-out romance.

That is, it usually means those things. But when you're Princess Mia, nothing happens the way it's supposed to. For one thing, Grandmère seems determined to prove that boy (or Michael, as he is commonly known) isn't the right one for the crown princess of Genovia. And Mia isn't having much luck proving otherwise, since Michael has a history of being decidedly against any kind of exploitative commercialization (Valentine's Day, as it is commonly known).

Boris can declare his love openly to Lilly, and even Kenny comes through with a paltry Whitman's Sampler. So why can't Michael give in to Cupid and tell Mia he loves her—preferably with something wrapped in red or pink and accompanied by roses—in time to prove he's Mia's true prince?

8. Princess on the Brink (2007)
   In the eighth Princess Diaries novel, Princess Mia finds herself facing some very difficult problems. She’s a junior now, and even though she survived freshman Algebra and sophomore Geometry, there’s no guarantee she’ll make it through Precalculus. On top of all the mathematical strife, her beloved boyfriend, Michael, is leaving for Japan for a year. Precalc has nothing on preparing for the worst separation ever!

The Princess Diaries Collection, Vols. 1 and 2

Other Princess Books

• Third Time Lucky (2001

• The Secret Princess Diaries (2003)

• Princess Lessons (2003) with Chesley McLaren (Illustrator)
  Yes! Finally! Just what you've been waiting for!

  This book has it all:
   

  • Preventing your tiara from slipping off

  • Keeping your pores squeaky clean

  • Winning the heart of the boy of your dreams (or, at the very least, the cute guy you sit next to in language lab)

  • Avoiding a military incursion by a neighboring principality

  • And much, much more!

  By following the invaluable advice of Mia and her very special guest authors (including best friend and urban guerrilla Lilly Moscovitz; Grandmère, the dowager princess of Genovia; Manhattan beauty expert Paolo; Italian fashion specialist Sebastiano Grimaldi; and Tina Hakim Baba, resident high school romance specialist), you will be well prepared for the day you finally ascend the throne . . . or at the very least, you'll know the difference between a fish fork and a salad fork.

• Perfect Princess (2004) with Chesley McLaren (Illustrator)
  Do you know…
   

  • How to wield the incredible power of the tiara?

  • When your prince deserves to be whacked in the head with a shoe?

  • What it takes to achieve immortality… or at least make an unforgettable entrance?

  • Why allowing the populace to eat bread and not just cake is of critical importance?

  • What to do as a houseguest should you find a pea under your mattress?

  • What makes a princess perfect?

  Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo of Genovia (aka Mia) and subjects look to the world's princesses for the answers to these burning questions and more. Big and small, old and new, real and imaginary—all kinds of princesses exhibit perfection in their own way. Don't delay: Find out what made this royal roster rule, and begin your own reign!

• Holiday Princess (2005) with Chesley McLaren, Illustrator
  A princess always knows how to celebrate the holidays. There's Christmas, Hanukkah, Yule, Chinese New Year, Saturnalia ... to name just a few.
  
  Then there's gift giving, the royal Genovian Fabergé advent calendar, hot chocolate with marshmallows—oh, and all those fabulous holiday movies.
  
  How will YOU celebrate this holiday season? Mia and her subjects have a few ideas.

Queen of Babble Series

1. Queen of Babble  (2006)
   Lizzie Nichols has a problem, and it isn’t that she doesn’t have the slightest idea what she’s going to do with her life, or that she’s blowing her college graduation money on a trip to visit her long-distance boyfriend (of three months) Andrew, instead of using it as the down payment for the cute little Manhattan apartment everyone is expecting her to rent after finding a well-paying job in the city.
   
   Where she’s going to live and how she’s going to support herself in the fall are really the least of Lizzie’s problems right now. Not when she’s got to deal with the fact that she’s done it again. See, Lizzie can’t keep her mouth shut. It’s not just that she can’t keep a secret—she can’t keep anything to herself.
   
   But this time when she opens her big mouth, her good intentions get Andrew in major hot water. Now Lizzie’s stuck in London with no boyfriend and no place to stay until the departure date written on her non-changeable airline ticket.
   
   What’s an American girl with a big mouth—but an equally big heart—to do?
   
   Fortunately there’s Shari, Lizzie’s best friend and college roommate, who’s spending her summer in the south of France, catering weddings with her boyfriend Chaz in a sixteenth century chateau. One call to Shari, and Lizzie’s on a train to Paris. Who cares if Lizzie’s never traveled alone before in her life, and speaks only rudimentary French? One glimpse of gorgeous Chateau Mirac—not to mention gorgeous Luke, Chateau Mirac’s owner—and she’s smitten…
   
   But while most caterers can be trusted to keep a secret, Lizzie’s the exception. And no sooner has the first cork been popped than Luke seems to hate her, the bride is in tears, and it looks like Chateau Mirac is in danger of becoming a lipo-recovery spa. As if things aren’t bad enough, ex-boyfriend Andy shows up looking for closure (or at least a loan), threatening to ruin everything, especially Lizzie’s chance at ever finding real love…
   
   …unless she can figure out a way to use that big mouth of hers to save the day.

2. Queen of Babble in the Big City (June 2007 release)
   Lizzie Nichols is back, pounding the New York City pavement, looking for a job, a place to live, and her proper place in the universe (not necessarily in that order).
   
   When summer fling Luke uses the L-Word (Living Together), Lizzie is only too happy to give up her plan of being post-grad roomies with best friend Shari in a one-room walk-up in exchange for co-habitation with the love her life in his mother's Fifth Avenue pied-a-terre, complete with doorman and resident Renoir.
   
   But Lizzie's not so lucky in her employment search. As Shari finds the perfect job, Lizzie struggles through one humiliating interview after another, being judged overqualified for the jobs in her chosen field?vintage gown rehab—and underqualified for everything else. It's Shari's boyfriend Chaz to the rescue when he recommends Lizzie for a receptionist's position at his father's posh law firm. The non-paying gig at a local wedding gown shop Lizzie manages to land all on her own.
   
   But Lizzie's notoriously big mouth begins to get her in trouble at work and at home almost at once—first at the law firm, where she becomes too chummy with Jill Higgins, a New York society bride with a troublesome future mother-in-law, and then back on Fifth Avenue, when she makes the mistake of bringing up the M-Word (Marriage) with commitment-shy Luke.
   
   Soon Lizzie finds herself jobless as well as homeless all over again. Can Lizzie save herself - and the hapless Jill - and find career security (not to mention a mutually satisfying committed relationship) at last?

3. Queen of Babble Gets Hitched (2008 release)

The `Boy' Series

1. The Boy Next Door (2002) (aka The Guy Next Door)
   To: You (you)
   From: Human Resources (human.resources@thenyjournal.com)
   Subject: This Book
   
   Dear Reader,
   
   This is an automated message from the Human Resources Division of the New York Journal, New York City’s leading photo-newspaper. Please be aware that according to our records you have not yet read this book. What exactly are you waiting for? This book has it all:
    

   • Humor

   • Romance

   • Cooking tips

   • Great Danes

   • Heroine in peril

   • Dolphin-shaped driftwood sculptures

   If you wish to read about any of the above, please do not hesitate to head to the checkout counter, where you will be paired with a sales associate who will work to help you buy this book.
   
   We here at the New York Journal are a team. We win as a team, and lose as one as well. Don’t you want to be on the winning team?
   
   Sincerely,
   Human Resources Division
   New York Journal
   
   Please note that failure to read this book may result in suspension or dismissal from this store.

2. Boy Meets Girl (2004)
   Meet Kate Mackenzie. She:
    

   • works for the T.O.D. (short for Tyrannical Office Despot, also known as Amy Jenkins, Director of the Human Resources Division at the New York Journal)

   • is sleeping on the couch because her boyfriend of ten years refuses to commit

   • can't find an affordable studio apartment anywhere in New York City

   • thinks things can't get any worse.

   They can. Because:
    

   • the T.O.D. is making her fire the most popular employee in the paper's senior staff dining room

   • that employee is now suing Kate for wrongful termination, and

   • now Kate has to give a deposition in front of Mitch Hertzog, the scion of one of Manhattan's wealthiest law families, who embraces everything Kate most despises ... but also happens to have a nice smile and a killer bod.

   The last thing anybody—least of all Kate Mackenzie—expects to find in a legal arbitration is love. But that's the kind of thing that can happen when ... Boy Meets Girl.

3. Every Boy's Got One (2005)
   To: Jane Harris <jane@wondercat.com>
   Fr: Claire Harris <charris2004@freemail.com>
   Re: You

   Hi, honey! It's me, Mom. I know it's a big secret that your friend Holly and her boyfriend Mark are eloping in Italy, and that you and Mark's friend Cal Langdon (the handsome New York Journal reporter with the big book deal) are going, too, as their witnesses. But I just saw Holly's mother at the Kroger Sav-On, and I thought I'd warn you: She doesn't seem to like Mark very much at all. Just wanted to let you know.
   
   PS I don't understand why you don't like that nice Cal Langdon! He seemed so smart when I saw him being interviewed on Charlie Rose. And so handsome!
   
   PPS Don't forget to wear a sweater!
   
   Cartoonist Jane Harris is delighted by the prospect of her first-ever trip to Europe. But it's hate at first sight for Jane and Cal Langdon, and neither is too happy at the prospect of sharing a villa with one another for a week—not even in the beautiful and picturesque Marches countryside. But when Holly and Mark's wedding plans hit a major snag that only Jane and Cal can repair, the two find themselves having to put aside their mutual dislike for one another in order to get their best friends on the road to wedded bliss—and end up on a road themselves ... one neither of them ever expected.

Anthologies

• Thirteen Stories That Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen (2003) with James Howe, ed

• Prom Nights from Hell (2007)
  In this exciting collection, bestselling authors Meg Cabot (How to Be Popular), Kim Harrison (A Fistful of Charms), Lauren Myracle (ttyl), Michele Jaffe (Bad Kitty), and Stephenie Meyer  (Twilight) take bad prom nights to a whole new level—a paranormally bad level. Wardrobe malfunctions and two left feet don't hold a candle to discovering your date is the Grim Reaper—and he isn't here to tell you how hot you look.
  
  From angels fighting demons to a creepy take on getting what you wish for, these five stories will entertain better than any DJ in a bad tux. No corsage or limo rental necessary. Just good, scary fun.  Young Adult.

• Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned fro Judy Blume (June 2007 release), Jennifer O'Connell, ed. with Beth Kendrick, Cara Lockwood, Julie Kenner, and Meg Cabot
  Whether laughing to tears reading Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great or clamoring for more unmistakable "me too!" moments in Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, girls all over the world have been touched by Judy Blume's poignant coming-of-age stories. Now, in this anthology of essays, twenty-four notable female authors write straight from the heart about the unforgettable novels that left an indelible mark on their childhoods and still influence them today. After growing up from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing into Smart Women, these writers pay tribute, through their reflections and most cherished memories, to one of the most beloved authors of all time.

• Prom Nights from Hell (2007)
  With works by Kim Harrison, Lauren Myracle, Meg Cabot, Michele Jaffe, and Stephenie Meyer

Writing as Meggin Cabot (Romance)

• She Went All the Way (2002)
  Success hasn't spoiled screenwriter Lou Calabrese—it's just given her a taste for luxury. And it's put her in some bizarre situations—like in a helicopter en route to the wilds of Alaska, sharing too-close quarters with the last man she wants to be with: Jack Townsend! Once a sexy nobody whom Lou helped make a somebody, Jack's just been dumped by a high-profile Hollywood airhead—who's eloped with Lou's longtime love! So what else could go wrong?
  
  Well...
  
  Their pilot could try to shoot the most adored man in America. They could crash land in the icy, mountainous middle of nowhere. And at the worst possible moment, when survival should be their only consideration, Jack could start wondering if maybe he wasn't a wee bit too hasty for not giving this sexy screenwriter a second look—while Lou could start noticing how superstar Jack is kind of hot after all ...

• The Boy Next Door (2002)
  See also The `Boy' Series by Meg Cabot

• Boy Meets Girl (2004)
  See also The `Boy' Series by Meg Cabot

Writing as Patricia Cabot (Romance)

• Where Roses Grow Wild (1998)
  She was ruled by her head...
  
  Only one thing stood between Edward, Lord Rawlings, and a life of rakish debauchery: a spinster. Even worse, a liberal, educated, vicar's daughter-guardian to ten-year-old Jeremy, the true heir to the title Edward did not want. If Jeremy would not assume dukedom, Edward must, a fate of dire responsibility and utter boredom.
  
  But this time, her heart was taking the reins
  
  Since there had never been a female his lordship couldn't charm, Edward was sure he would win over the old girl. But Pegeen MacDougal was neither old, nor a girl-she was all woman, with a prickly tongue, infernal green eyes and a buried sensuality that drove him mad. Unfortunately, she loathed him and his class for their fripperies and complete disregard for the less fortunate. But for the sake of the boy, she agreed to accompany him back to his estate.
  
  The rise was quickly apparent. For Pegeen knew she could resist Edward's money, his power, his position...his entire world. It was his kiss, however, that promised to be her undoing...

• An Improper Proposal (1999)
  A stormy heart
  Adventurous, outspoken, Payton Dixon has two passionate dreams...a clipper ship of her own and the love of Captain Connor Drake. But both seem impossibly out of reach, since her beloved captain is about to marry another, and worse, he's been given her ship as a wedding present from her traitorous father.
  
  A thwarted love
  Out to prove she has right on her side, Payton manages to unleash a scandal and ignite all sorts of trouble. As for Drake, he can't decide whether to throttle the girl he's grown up with, or make love to the beautiful woman she has become.
  
  An Improper Proposal

• Portrait Of My Heart (1999)
  They parted in disgrace...But desire would bring them back together.
  
  Years ago, in one explosive instant, childhood rivalry turned into wild passion for Jeremy, handsome young Duke of Rawlings, and Maggie Herbert, the object of his affections. Unfortunately, the ensuing scandal found them banished to separate corners of the world.
  
  Now fate has joined Jeremy and Maggie again-- for a long-overdue dance of desire as uncompromising as the lovers themselves. Jeremy, a decorated soldier, is determined to claim Maggie at last. And Maggie, engaged to be married to another man, finds her secret fantasies of Jeremy spinning out of control. All that stands between them and the steamy passion the years can no longer chain is the past-- and a present steeped in jealousy, intrigue, and danger...

• A Little Scandal (2000)
  When beautiful Kate Mayhew is hired as chaperone to Burke Traherne's headstrong daughter Isabel, the Marquis finds himself in an impossible predicament. Torn between the knowledge that she is exactly what Isabel needs but also, for him, the worst possible temptation, he finds himself in constant proximity with someone who threatens his independence. Known for his steely self-control since the day he caught his wife with a lover, Burke has vowed never to risk marriage again.
  
  In accepting his lordship's offer of employment, the feisty Kate faces two perils; her wild attraction to a man who has sworn off love, and a date with her own scandalous past...which she cannot keep secret forever.

• A Season in the Highlands (2000) with Jude Deveraux (Editor), Jill Barnett (Editor), Geralyn Dawson, and Pam Binder
  See The Christmas Captive

• Lady of Skye (2000)
  Dr. Reilly Stanton, eighth Marquis of Stillworth, must mend his injured pride by proving himself a hero -- and not a drunken wastrel, as his former fiancée claimed. Against all sane advice, the Londoner takes a medical post in a tiny fishing village on the remote Isle of Skye -- and is convinced that he can cope with the primitive conditions, horrendous Highland weather, and rampant illness. But Miss Brenna Donnegal is another matter entirely....
  
  Try as he might, Reilly cannot ignore the toweringly tall lady with flaming chestnut locks and an equally fiery will. She has filled her father's former role as the local physician, and is more than annoyed to find the urbane Dr. Stanton taking over her work and her father's cottage. By fair means or foul, she will give the usurper his comeuppance. But what begins as a sparking tug-of-war between two proud hearts soon flames to a passionate fire...

• Educating Caroline (2001)
  Lady Caroline Linford is horrified to discover...
  
  her fiancé, the Marquis of Winchilsea, in the arms of another woman. Unfortunately, Victorian society considers such masculine peccadilloes a trifle; canceling their imminent wedding would be unthinkable. But Caroline's wish is for the man she is to marry to desire only her...and she seeks lessons in the art of romance from the best teacher: London's most notorious rake.
  
  Braden Granville may be a famous lover...
  
  but he has no intention of taking part in Caroline's scheme -- until he learns she has something he wants: the name of his own unfaithful fiancee's lover. As their passionate tutelage begins, sparks fly -- and the lines between teacher and student fall away. Now there is just one last lesson to learn: on the subject of true love, the heart chooses its own unpredictable ways.

• Kiss the Bride (2002)
  One lucky man would win her hand...
  A lady of London breeding, Emma Van Court never expected to be left widowed -- and penniless -- in the Scottish village of Faires. But when a fortune is promised if she remarries, the pretty schoolteacher finds Faires' motley assortment of eligible men scrambling for her attentions -- from the local cowherd to an obnoxious baron!
  
  One sweet kiss would seal their love...
  James Marbury, Earl of Denham, was urbane, sophisticated....and utterly at odds among the muddy roads and thatched roofs of Faires. He had come after hearing of his cousin Stuart's passing -- and was exasperated to find his maddening, tempestuous love for the widowed Emma was as strong as ever. With bachelors coming out of the woodwork to woo her, James sees only one solution: offer himself to her as a temporary husband...even if secretly he longs to make his "I do's" last a lifetime.