Born in the U.S.A....

American gals are taking liberties -- and pursuing happiness on their own terms -- in this star-studded story collection featuring the nation's red-hot women writers.

They've declared their independence!

Jennifer Weiner (In Her Shoes) learns 'The Truth About Nigel' -- and the trouble with falling for an incognito Hollywood actor. Lauren Weisberger (The Devil Wears Prada) sends a single New Yorker on a backpacking trip halfway around the world -- where she sees her love life back home with new eyes -- in 'The Bamboo Confessions.' A harried mom with a hit novel crosses the pond in 'My Great Brit Book Tour' by Adriana Trigiani (Lucia, Lucia), and turns a crumbling talk show appearance into a sweet success. Also uniting their talents in this free-spirited anthology are

JULIANNA BAGGOTT ? CINDY CHUPACK ? LYNDA CURNYN ? QUINN DALTON ? LAUREN HENDERSON ? JUDI HENDRICKS ? GRETCHEN LASKAS ? CLAIRE LaZEBNIK ? CHRIS MANBY ? SARAH MLYNOWSKI ? MELISSA SENATE ? JILL SMOLINSKI ? NANCY SPARLING ? LAURA WOLF

Meet Rose Feller, a thirty-year-old high-powered attorney with a secret passion for romance novels. She has an exercise regime she's going to start next week, and she dreams of a man who will slide off her glasses, gaze into her eyes, and tell her she's beautiful. She also dreams of getting her fantastically screwed-up, semi-employed little sister to straighten up and fly right.

Meet Rose's sister, Maggie. Twenty-eight years old and drop-dead gorgeous. Although her big-screen stardom hasn't progressed past her left hip's appearance in a Will Smith video, Maggie dreams of fame and fortune -- and of getting her big sister on a skin-care regimen.

These two women, who claim to have nothing in common but a childhood tragedy, DNA, and the same size feet, are about to learn that they're more alike than they'd ever imagined. Along the way, they'll encounter a diverse cast of characters -- from a stepmother who's into recreational Botox to a disdainful pug with no name. They'll borrow shoes and clothes and boyfriends, and eventually make peace with their most intimate enemies -- each other.

For twenty-eight years, things have been tripping along nicely for Cannie Shapiro. Sure, her mother has come charging out of the closet, and her father has long since dropped out of her world. But she loves her friends, her rat terrier, Nifkin, and her job as pop culture reporter for The Philadelphia Examiner. She's even made a tenuous peace with her plus-size body.

But the day she opens up a national women's magazine and sees the words 'Loving a Larger Woman' above her ex-boyfriend's byline, Cannie is plunged into misery...and the most amazing year of her life. From Philadelphia to Hollywood and back home again, she charts a new course for herself: mourning her losses, facing her past, and figuring out who she is and who she can become.