If you’ve got your wits about you, you’ll know when you’ve had too many glasses of schnapps.

It’s the moment when it starts tasting okay.

Thank 50-something travel agent Angie for the advice.

She’s the down-to-earth heroine of Helen Bridgett’s sparkling new romantic comedy The Heat is On, which is peppered with similar smile-a-minute nuggets.

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Still talking about schnapps, Angie observes that the first glass ‘always burns the back of your throat and you vow to have no more. The second feels strangely warming and by the third you’re finding out the name of the bottle and planning to buy some when you hit duty free’.

Which, as Angie points out, is not a good idea because ‘it’ll lie gathering dust in your drinks cabinet until one very dark day when you have absolutely nothing left to drink and the world is about to end, then you’ll get it out’.

What the blurb says:

‘And have you booked in your vejazzler?’

‘My what?’

‘You can’t roll up with your grey wire wool when he’s expecting rhinestone!’

Angie Shepherd is back and this time she means business!

Life is perfect for Angie Shepherd. Her dreams of becoming an entrepreneur have come true, business is booming, and her best friend Patty is back in town.

So when the opportunity of investing in a luxury hotel comes up, it seems like a no-brainer.

It’s all going swimmingly until a rival travel agency opens up across the street. Before long, The Mercury Travel Club is undercut, double-crossed and in deep trouble.

It’s time for Angie to up the stakes. But with costs mounting up, sales going down, and her personal life suddenly in freefall, can Angie and her friends weather the storm?

Witty and charming in equal measure, this feel-good novel shows that when the going gets tough, the tough definitely get going.

And then there’s Angie’s mum, who loves a bargain and never misses sample-hour at her favourite supermarket.

She’s most upset when Moira, who hosts the sampling table, decides to give up work to look after her new grandchild.

Identity theft

‘Who’s going to look after me and the other regulars?’ she wants to know. ‘The new girl might be a bit mean with the giveaways.’

She’s also concerned about identity theft.

‘It’s a real thing,’ she tells Angie, ‘someone could be out there pretending to be me.’

Oh, lord, thinks Angie, fervently hoping no-one ever steals her Mum’s identity. ‘What would they do?’ she wonders. ‘Pound the reduced aisles together?’

Angie, her Mum, business partner Charlie and best mate Patty, not to mention new-ish boyfriend Michael, are the perfect companions for an afternoon on the beach.

And, the stars of this very enjoyable page-turner, would be just as good company for a snug winter’s evening.

Review by Sue Featherstone.

Available to buy on Amazon.