Bridget Jones aficionados will be thrilled that, after 14 years, there is a new installment about the adventures of this irrepressible British woman with a zest for life and wine.

They may be less enthused to find out that Bridget is no longer with her love Mark Darcy (played to perfection—and with a wink to Pride and Prejudice—by Colin Firth in the movie). I won't ruin things by explaining exactly why Bridget is single again. Suffice it to say, she is heartbroken, and must hold things together for her two young children.

In Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, Bridget is starting over again in a dating world that has moved mostly online. Like the previous Bridget books, this one is written as Bridget's scribbled journal entries, but she now also Tweets (often drunkenly) and texts (also drunkenly). "The fantastic thing about texting is that it allows you to have an instant, intimate emotional relationship without taking up any time whatsoever or involving meetings or arrangements or any of the complicated things which take place in the boring old non-cyber world," Bridget muses without a trace of irony.

Some things never change: Bridget's raucous old pals Tom and Jude are still around, as funny and loyal as ever, and Daniel Cleaver, Bridget's old fling and godfather to her children, makes a few appearances to toss some of his trademark double entendres her way. But Helen Fielding, to her credit, has evolved Bridget from a navel-gazing 30-something whose biggest worry was caloric intake to a (fairly) responsible mother who is lonely and overwhelmed. It's not surprising that Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is deeply funny and compulsively readable. What is unexpected is how poignant it is in its exploration of love, loss and the courage to try again.

If you don't know that Fielding is bringing back her beloved Bridget Jones, the character that sold 15 million copies worldwide and launched a movie franchise, then you've been hiding under a rock for months. The setting is contemporary London, and like all of us Bridget has moved on. No more plot details, but at least the title should be settled by BookExpo America.

England's sweetheart Bridget Jones returns after over a decade in Field's latest novel (after Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason). Bridget, now a single mother to two young children, is trying to catch up with the rest of the world. Just figuring out how to program the remote and her son's X-box is overwhelming enough, but now her friends are pushing her to get back into the dating scene. Determined to stay hip, Bridget is dating Roxster, a man 15 years her junior, who she meets through her trials and errors on Twitter. But juggling motherhood and a new boyfriend, while dealing with producers trying to turn her screenplay from tragedy to comedy may be more than Bridget can handle. Whether she is unintentionally announcing her family's head lice infestation to her production team or getting stuck in a tree while looking after her daughter, fans will find Fielding's third Bridget Jones installment hilarious and thoroughly entertaining. This book is sure to be a hit among new and old readers alike. Fielding's awkwardly charming character has aged well—but of course not gracefully. (Oct.)

England's sweetheart Bridget Jones returns after over a decade in Field's latest novel (after Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason). Bridget, now a single mother to two young children, is trying to catch up with the rest of the world. Just figuring out how to program the remote and her son's X-box is overwhelming enough, but now her friends are pushing her to get back into the dating scene. Determined to stay hip, Bridget is dating Roxster, a man 15 years her junior, who she meets through her trials and errors on Twitter. But juggling motherhood and a new boyfriend, while dealing with producers trying to turn her screenplay from tragedy to comedy may be more than Bridget can handle. Whether she is unintentionally announcing her family's head lice infestation to her production team or getting stuck in a tree while looking after her daughter, fans will find Fielding's third Bridget Jones installment hilarious and thoroughly entertaining. This book is sure to be a hit among new and old readers alike. Fielding's awkwardly charming character has aged well—but of course not gracefully. (Oct.)