Being Committed

Hannah thinks you have to be insane to get married. She's content with her life - the job as private investigator at Hound Dog Investigations, the boyfriend of five years, Jason, and the wonderful father (pity her mother is such a disaster). Besides, she's tried marriage once before, but she ended up divorced before she was 21.

So, when the long-suffering Jason proposes, Hannah doesn't think twice about turning him down. Still, she is a little shaken when, a month later, the man has the nerve to get engaged to someone else. Is she not up to settling down? Hannah's family are convinced she blew her one chance of hooking a permanent man, and maybe - just maybe - there's something in Jason's theory that being committed means first coming to terms with your past.

Brimming with the warmth, perception and understanding that characterises Anna Maxted's writing, 'Being Committed' mixes heartache with humour and is her finest novel yet.