Who Will Love Polly Odlum? by Anne Marie Forrest (Poolbeg, £5.99)

Polly, Davy and Micheala are strangers who share a triangle of undeclared love. In true romance fashion, each dreams of revealing their devotion and of the blissful self-transformation that will follow. Forrest gently probes this fragile notion of identity with a well-paced story of unexpected rescues and chivalrous tests. Her characters - including a homeless ex-con - are not the usual thirtyish cast, and there are surprisingly violent moments. The ending suggests that purity of desire is all, but offers scant hope of a happy-ever-after - an emotional punch-line that few romances will risk nowadays. Forrest's debut is a rare thing, a story which captures the irresistible make-believe of falling in love and yet leaves little doubt that romance fictions are just that.