Hazel Marie, former lover of Miss Julia's late husband, needs assistance in staging a beauty contest to determine who will reign as Miss Abbot County Sheriff's Department. Enter Miss Julia. She has plenty of advice for the contestants about maintaining their poise, showcasing their charm, and perfecting their stage presence. Doing her utmost to help the women, Miss Julia must also address concerns over her complicated relationship with her gentleman...

"Precious Ramotswe founder and owner of Botswana's only detective agency for the 'concerns of both ladies and others,' investigates the alleged poisoning of the brother of an important 'Government Man,' and the moral character of the four finalists of the Miss Beauty and Integrity Contest, the winner of which will almost certainly be a contestant for the title of Miss Botswana. Meanwhile, the agency is having money problems, and when unexpected difficulties...

Sixteen-year-old Willowdean wants to prove to everyone in her small Texas town that she is more than just a fat girl, so, while grappling with her feelings for a co-worker who is clearly attracted to her, Will and some other misfits prepare to compete in the beauty pageant her mother runs.

Back in Orlando for the summer, twelve-year-old Claire has difficulty connecting with her former best friends.

When she is hired to write lyrics for a contestant in the talent competition for the Miss Teen Queen America pageant, freelance writer Jaine Austen is plunged into a glittering nightmare of vicious stage moms, exacting judges and trash-talking teens after a catfight turns deadly.

In the two weeks CIA assassin Fortune Redding has been hiding in Sinful, Louisiana, she's been harassed, poisoned, and shot at-- and that was the easy part. But now, she's about to face her biggest challenge since setting foot in the tiny bayou town. When mayoral candidate Ted Williams is murdered, everyone is surprised. Ted was a blowhole and a Yankee, but those usually weren't good reasons to kill someone. When Sinful Ladies Society leader Ida Belle...

Bookish Charlotte Gorman loves her job as an elementary school librarian, while her twin Ginny is an Instagram-famous beauty pageant contestant. Ginny is not giving up the circuit until she's crowned Miss American Treasure, and drags Charlotte to the pageant for good luck. When Ginny has a severe allergic reaction to dinner the night before the competition, she won't be back in beauty queen form for at least three days. After a few tears and a whole...

From the author of The Dressmaker's Dowry. In the 1940s young women, winners of beauty contests and dance competitions, flocked to Hollywood with stars in their eyes. Violet Harcourt seems to have disappeared there without a trace. Sixty years later, a young woman sets out to discover what happened to Violet on that long ago summer.

"Tina Saurus-Rex is a fierce young competitor. She always has to win the Miss Dinosaur pageant. Will Patty Saurus, Stef O'Saurus, Teri Dactyl, and Sarah Topps be brave enough to challenge her?"--

Olive is a little girl who dreams of winning the Little Miss Sunshine contest. Her family wants her dream to come true, but they are so dysfunctional that they can barely make it through a day without some disaster befalling them. Olive's father, Richard, is unsuccessful as a motivational speaker. He is barely on speaking terms with Olive's mother. Her uncle Frank has attempted suicide following an unsuccessful romance with a male graduate student....