Not all romance novels are about starry-eyed young lovers. And not all dating guides are for frisky young singles. There’s a new breed of chick lit and dating tomes on book-shop shelves – aimed squarely at the mature-age market.

Instead of nubile young heroines, you’ll find the central characters of these works of fiction are widows or divorcées. “It was just such a pleasure to write about thunder thighs and varicose veins,” author Rexanne Becnel told Newsweek about her new novel Old Boyfriends. The same goes for dating guides. Sherry Halperin’s Rescue Me, He’s Wearing a Moose Hat offers amusing accounts of her later-life dating experiences. Flings, Frolics and Forever Afters is a dating guide from divorcée Katherin E. Chaddock, 57, and her widowed sister Emilie Chaddock Egan, 61.

Then there’s the self-help book How to Throw A Divorce or Break-Up Party. Author Christine Gallagher maps out how to throw the perfect break-up bash. It is available through her website, www.revengelady.com.