Sleeping Arrangements (2008)

A VACATION FROM SHOPAHOLIC Madeleine Wickham (a.k.a. Sophie Kinsella) offers a novel about two British couples on holiday in Spain, and their hidden connections

Two British couples are ''accidentally'' double-booked at a Spanish vacation villa: uptight Hugh and Amanda, seeking a proper holiday with nanny and two identically dressed daughters in tow, and Chloe and Philip, hoping to forget Philip's possible layoff and spend time with their scrappy sons. But the foursome is more connected than it seems, as Hugh and Chloe share a secret history — and the forced togetherness might not be unintentional. Madeleine Wickham doesn't sparkle as much in Sleeping Arrangements as in her blockbuster Shopaholic series, written under her pseudonym, Sophie Kinsella. But hers is a rare breed of beach read that's breezy but doesn't wriggle out of difficult adult choices. B