What do young women romance writers think about these days? Much the same things they've always thought about, if this collection of stories is anything to go by: drop-dead gorgeous men, dirty rotten scoundrels, sun, shekels and the odd glass of Chardonnay. But this is romance with a realistic edge: these writers donated their stories for free, and the proceeds (at least £1 per book, which is pretty good going) will go to the charity War Child to set up safe play areas in Kosovo and an educational programme in Rwanda. And these writers are? Well, there's Marian Keyes, who has a bit of fun with sci-fi in "The Truth Is Out There", and Sheila O'Flanagan, who swaps the dealing room for a damp tent in France in "Storm Clouds"; the other names, from the UK, the US and Australia, are mostly new to me, but there are lots of them and let's face it, it's hard to totally dislike a book which contains the line "I left Crispy to pull up his tight trousers . . . "
