For years Tony Parsons was best known as a sharp-tongued journalist - not to mention the ex-husband of the vitriolic Julie Burchill - but now it turns out he was Mr Sensitive all along.

His last book Man and Boy, published in 1998, challenged Nick Hornby in the New Man stakes with its portrayal of the hero's relationship with his elderly father and his young son.

Arguably over-sentimental in places, it was unarguably incredibly successful and won the Book of the Year at the British Book Awards.

After such an achievement no one could blame Parsons for going for the same trick by displaying similar New Man tendencies in his new book, One For My Baby. Once again the themes are the search for love, and loss.

The hero Alfie Budd is a recently widowed thirtysomething who returns from Hong Kong to Britain, still trying to come to terms with losing his wife in a diving accident.

Believing that he won't love again he starts a string of meaningless affairs with students at the language school where he teaches, before realising that single mother Jackie could be the key to rediscovering his interest in life.

At the same time he also has to deal with the worsening health of his beloved grandmother.

One For My Baby will no doubt delight fans of Man and Boy - particularly as it comes out in time for the summer holiday reading list.

The story works, as the hero is basically a likeable bloke but it will be interesting to see if Parsons tries the same format for a third time with his next book. A hat-trick might be a bit much.

One For My Baby by Tony Parsons is published byHarperCollins and is priced £16.99.