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Mummy Said the F-Word


Fiona Gibson - 2008
    But despite her early unwillingness, she gradually realises that the women writing might really need her help. Perhaps mothers need to realise that they're not actually expected to be perfect, after all? Then Cait gets an email from a mysterious reader - a single dad who simply signs his name R...

The Little Shop in Cornwall


Helen Pollard - 2020
    Breathe in the crisp, salty air, slip off your shoes and feel the golden sand beneath your feet…Claudia has never regretted leaving her corporate city life behind and escaping to this piece of coastal paradise. With her cheeky cat Pudding by her side, she has built a community of loyal friends who feel more like family. Her shop at the end of the beach road is full of things that bring joy to locals and visitors alike. Life has finally settled into a perfect, comfortable rhythm.That is until widower Jason moves to town with his teenage daughter Millie, looking for a new start for both of them. Millie is instantly drawn to the delights of Claudia’s shop and her free-spirited way of life. However, practical architect Jason is less than thrilled about his daughter’s new interests. He doesn’t shy away from telling Claudia exactly what he thinks and sparks fly every time they meet.But Jason and Millie aren’t the only newcomers this summer and life in the harbour, especially Claudia’s, is about to change in more ways than one. As circumstances throw Claudia into Jason’s path in increasingly unexpected ways, she begins to glimpse what lies beneath his fiery temper and sharp tongue. Claudia was sure her life was complete, but could something have been missing after all?The only book you need in your beach bag this summer. Fans of Sarah Morgan, Cathy Bramley and Phillipa Ashley will be charmed by this seaside romance filled with warmth, humour and heart.

Venus Envy


Louise Bagshawe - 1998
    She’s stuck in a dead-end job and her relationship history is a tale of woe. What’s more, she’s put on a few pounds lately...Sharing a house with three gorgeous girls doesn’t help. Her sister Gail got more than her fair share of the good genes, Keisha is an ice-cool man-magnet and Bronwen is so hip it hurts. With competition like this, is it any wonder Alex feels so inadequate? Alex has two choices: she can retreat to the safety of her duvet and stuff herself with chocolate or she can smarten up her act and face the world head on. Never one to choose the easy option, Alex realises she needs to up her game if she wants to stay in it...

A Hard Man is Good to Find


James W. Lewis - 2011
    Despite the exceptional qualities and his obvious interest in her, things are moving too slow between them. Unlike most men who can’t wait to get in her pants, this particular man refuses to take things to the next level.DARYL JACKSON has grown tired of the nightclub scene and wants to settle down, but he has a secret that always seems to interrupt any potential love connection once he reveals it. He believes Michelle is the ideal woman, but can she handle the truth?After six weeks of dating, and still no attempt from him to get her “horizontal,” Michelle grows sex-starved. She is driving herself crazy trying to figure out Daryl’s problem! During a weekend getaway in Palm Springs, Michelle finally puts an end to the what’s-wrong-with-Daryl guessing game and demands to know what’s up. Not only does Daryl answer all her questions, Michelle learns first hand that you really need to be careful with what you wish for!

Spring Tides at Swallowtail Bay


Katie Ginger - 2020
    Even gorgeous but grumpy local Miles can’t take the shine off things. But then her ex-husband announces he’s getting married again, and someone in the village starts gossiping about Stella…Is Stella's dream over already? Or, with her new friends behind her, can Stella fight back and save her new life – and find the happy ever after she's been waiting for? Fans of Cathy Bramley, Debbie Johnson and Jenny Colgan will fall in love with Swallowtail Bay!

Broken Dreams


Traci Hunter Abramson - 2021
    Now a coach, her father Gordon is living his dreams through the skaters he trains—until Maggie is forced to deliver heartbreaking news: her mother’s battle against cancer will be a losing one. Shattered, her father loses his dreams in an instant—his beloved wife and his will to coach. Left to pick up the pieces, a devastated Maggie finds herself relying on the steadfast support of her childhood best friend, Lance Whitmore. Despite the fact that Maggie has never seen Lance as more than a friend, his heart has always been hers. Lance does what he can to help Maggie work through her grief, and soon their friendship blossoms into love. But when distance threatens their relationship, Maggie is torn between building a life with the man she loves and helping her broken father rebuild his life.

Something in Common


Roisin Meaney - 2013
    Perfect for readers of Cathy Kelly and Sheila O'Flanagan.The friendship starts with a letter...from aspiring writer Sarah to blunt but witty journalist Helen, complaining about Helen's most recent book review. And there begins a correspondence that blossoms into a friendship which spans over two decades.As the years pass, the women exchange details of loves lost and found, of family joys and upheavals. Sarah's letters filled with thoughts on her outwardly perfect marriage and her aching desire for children, and Helen's on the struggle of raising her young daughter alone.But little do they realise that their story began long before Sarah penned that first letter - on one unforgettable afternoon where, during a distraught conversation on a bridge, Sarah changed the course of Helen's life forever.This is the story of Helen and Sarah, and the friendship that was part of their destiny.

What Was She Thinking? [Notes on a Scandal]


Zoë Heller - 2003
    George's, befriends her. But even as their relationship develops, so too does another: Sheba has begun an illicit affair with an underage male student. When the scandal turns into a media circus, Barbara decides to write an account in her friend's defense—and ends up revealing not only Sheba's secrets, but also her own.

The Start of Something Good


Gracie Lee Rose - 2012
    Right lived right next door?Jamie Sutherland, coffee shop owner and serial ruined-relationship survivor, moves into a beautiful loft apartment for a change of scenery. What she doesn't plan on getting is an eye-full of her handsome next-door neighbor--in nothing but a towel--arguing with his significant other in the hallway.Joseph Scarbrough's world crashes down on him one cruel morning when his childhood sweetheart rips his heart out of his chest and walks away. His humiliation isn't complete until he turns around to pick up the pieces and sees a beautiful brunette who just witnessed his Dear John moment.Caught in an awkward situation, the two backpedal into their separate worlds. But fate seems determined to make their worlds collide on a regular basis. Is it destiny just being clumsy when it comes to the two unlikely neighbors or is it the start of something good?(love story, contemporary romance, beach reads, sweet romance, falling in love)

A Place for Us


Olivia Miles - 2020
    When Britt Conway was eighteen, she left Blue Harbor without a glance back, telling herself that she was closing the door to her painful past for good. But when her father takes a fall and needs her help to oversee the family business until he is back on his feet, Britt can’t refuse, especially when her current unemployment status gives no room for excuses.Britt knows that returning to her hometown won’t be easy, but does it really need to be so difficult? Her widowed father is smitten with his pushy caregiver, her youngest sister doesn’t seem to be speaking to her at the moment, and everyone conveniently failed to mention that her first (okay, only) love is back in town and working at her family’s orchard. With the business struggling, Britt and Robbie come together to give it a better chance for the future—and find their own second chance along the way. For years, Britt was determined to harden her heart, but the more time she spends in Blue Harbor, the more she realizes that some traditions—and people—are not meant to be forgotten.

Sex Lies and Bonsai


Lisa Walker - 2013
    But in this small coastal town, shy, awkward Edie has always lived in the shadow of her surf champion father. How can she move on from her ex -- and from her past?Her best friend and life-coach, Sally, is full of dubious advice, but Edie finds there are many ways to mess things up all by herself. A new-found talent for erotic writing, a job drawing crab larvae, unrequited lust for a professor with hidden depths and a maddening musician with troubles of his own add to her swag of problems. And then things get complicated ...A tender and witty tale about finding your voice, falling in love ... and crab sex.

Alice Bliss


Laura Harrington - 2011
    Alice idolizes her father, loves working beside him in their garden, accompanying him on the occasional roofing job, playing baseball. When he ships out, Alice is faced with finding a way to fill the emptiness he has left behind. Matt will miss seeing his daughter blossom from a tomboy into a full-blown teenager. Alice will learn to drive, join the track team, go to her first dance, and fall in love, all while trying to be strong for her mother, Angie, and take care of her precocious little sister, Ellie. But the smell of Matt is starting to fade from his blue shirt that Alice wears everyday, and the phone calls are never long enough. Alice Bliss is a profoundly moving coming-of-age novel about love and its many variations--the support of a small town looking after its own; love between an absent father and his daughter; the complicated love between an adolescent girl and her mother; and an exploration of new love with the boy-next-door. These characters' struggles amidst uncertain times echo our own, lending the novel an immediacy and poignancy that is both relevant and real. At once universal and very personal, Alice Bliss is a transforming story about those who are left at home during wartime, and a teenage girl bravely facing the future.

Come Away with Me


Maddie Please - 2018
    With India constantly obsessing over wedding plans, Alexa has never felt more single, or more of a failure.If only she could find a man who was funny, handsome and faithful. But when she meets the enigmatic (and *gorgeous*) Gabriel Frost on the cruise, he is as cold as his name suggests… Isn’t he?Set sail for an adventure on the high seas, it’s time for Alexa to discover that sometimes romance can surprise you!

After Hello


Mhairi McFarlane - 2017
    But now happily in love and partners in crime once more, it feels like it’s all been worth it.But when a face from the past reappears, misunderstandings come between them once more.Can they hold on to their happy ever after?

Confessions of a First Time Mum


Poppy Dolan - 2018
    Stevie loves being a mum, but between the isolation and being vomited on five times a day, she really wishes she had someone to talk to.With husband Ted working hard to keep the family afloat, Stevie really doesn’t want to burden him with her feelings. Turning to the internet, Stevie starts the anonymous First-Time Mum blog and blasts the rose-tinted glasses of parenthood right off her readers.In the real world, Stevie meets the formidable Nelle and gorgeous Will, along with their own little treasures, and starts to realise that being a ‘perfect mum’ isn’t everything. But when the secret blog goes viral, Stevie must make some tough choices about who she wants to be, and whether she’s ready for the world to know the truth…A perfect laugh-out-loud read for fans of The Unmumsy Mum, Gill Sims and Emma Robinson.