Book picks similar to
Jumping in Puddles by Claire Allan


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After the Wedding: What happens after you say 'I do'?


Roisin Meaney - 2014
    Now she's preparing for another wedding - to Tim's brother - but as she sets off for an old church in County Clare, a disappearance on Roone throws the island into turmoil.As the days pass and the search continues, the islanders cope as best they can - Nell adjusting to life as a married woman, Imelda and Hugh discovering the trials of fostering, Laura pregnant and under pressure and teenage Andy finding his first love.Every summer on the island is eventful, but this year brings challenges that test everyone's courage. Will happiness be restored before autumn comes, or will Roone's magic finally run out?

Changing Places


Colette Caddle - 2005
    That's until something happens to turn their world upside down. Anna's sister, Rachel is married to Gary, is a stay-at-home mum to Alex and is expecting her second child. Everyone is delighted with the news except Rachel. The truth is she is horrified at the thought of becoming a mum again. Jill is the girls' cousin and best friend and knows exactly what makes them both tick. Unfortunately, she can't seem to help them understand each other. The Gallagher Girls have hard times ahead but when the going gets tough, will blood really prove thicker than water?

A Husband's Confession


Zoë Miller - 2014
    Now, years on, Ali's greatest fear is that her happiness and contentment might be taken away from her. But just as Max's star is rising, unsettling incidents at their artisan bakery in Dublin's creative quarter threaten to damage the reputation of the bakery. Finn and Jo were running away from heartache when they met in Australia over 20 years ago. But now Finn is in shock after the demise of his gritty role in a popular television crime drama, and Jo fears for him and their marriage. Then an accident on a Saturday night has devastating consequences for both families, tearing their lives apart in ways they never imagined.

The Last Of The Great Romantics


Claudia Carroll - 2005
    She and her drop-dead gorgeous husband, Andrew, have just finished ploughing a fortune into renovating her ancestral home, Davenport Hall, and are now planning to unveil it as one of the most fabulous, luxurious, five-star country house hotels in Kildare....But life never turns out like you think, and no sooner has the red ribbon been cut at the grand opening party, than Andrew is jetting off to New York, back to his old job, old apartment, old friends and Portia very much fears, his bachelor ways.....And so the smooth running of Davenport Hall is entrusted to her beautiful younger sister, Daisy, which is a bit like leaving Country Barbie in charge of the United Nations. Especially as Eleanor Armstrong, daughter of the Irish President has chosen the Hall as the perfect backdrop for her society wedding to footballing legend, Oldcastle United's star striker and general all-round sex god, Mark Lloyd...Meanwhile, in Manhattan, Portia meets Lynn Fairweather, a single woman who's looking for Mr Right in much the same way that Scott was looking for the Antarctic. And if he just happens to be married to Portia, then that's her problem...And what is that smell coming from the cowsheds???

The Trouble With Marriage


Debby Holt - 2008
    Ten years on, the sparkle has faded - household bills, household chores, two small children and a dog have seen to that - but Tilly is convinced their love can survive even the attentions of interfering in-laws and a glamorous ex-girlfriend.

Mother of the Bride


Marita Conlon-McKenna - 2010
    So when they announce their engagement their families are over the moon, especially Amy's mother Helen.What could be more exciting than planning a daughter's wedding?But as the countdown to the Big Day begins, and mother and daughter throw themselves into creating the wedding of their dreams, not everyone's prepared for the commotion this involves.Bride-to-be Amy sees her best laid wedding plans start to unravel and things go from bad to worse, as Helen struggles to pick up the pieces and get her family back on track.Amy and Helen each discover what love and marriage is all about... but is it too late?It's not easy being a mother, let alone the Mother of the Bride!

When I Met You


Jemma Forte - 2015
    Sort of. She’s worked at the same job for years (nearly 15, but who’s counting), she lives at home with her mum (who is driving her crazy) and sleeps in a single bed (yep, her love life is stalled). Playing the violin is her only real passion – but nobody like her does that for a living. Then one night everything changes. The father who abandoned Marianne over twenty years ago turns up on her doorstep, with a dark secret that changes her life forever. Suddenly Marianne’s safe, comfortable world is shattered. If her father isn’t the man she thought he was, then who is he? And, more to the point, who is she? It’s time to find out who the real Marianne Baker is.

Happy Families


Janey Fraser - 2013
    Even worse, her mother has a new boyfriend: the notorious child expert Dr Know, who dishes out hard-line advice to the nation. Could parenting classes control her kids – and save her marriage?Andy’s wife is due to run a Perfect Parents course at the local school. But when she scarpers, he’s left to look after their two teenage daughters – and face his own childhood demons.Vanessa has found love, second-time round. But one night, six-year-old Sunshine is deposited on her doorstep with a message from Vanessa’s estranged daughter, 'Please look after her'. This time she's determined to get it right.Can Bobbie, Andy and Vanessa really learn the secret of raising a happy family?

Some Kind of Wonderful


Sarah Webb - 2003
    She's only 28, for heaven's sake, so why does she feel 101?

Seven For A Secret


Judy Astley - 1996
    But this important milestone did not mark her marriage to Tom, her often-absent airline pilot husband and father of their two teenage children. It was for her first marriage - a wildly romantic, secret affair, when she and Iain - twelve years older than her and the heir to a Scottish baronetcy - had eloped immediately after her final school speech day. She was just sixteen at the time. The marriage had not lasted twenty-five weeks, let alone years, and it was, as her mother firmly announced, As If It Never Happened. But secrets have a habit of coming out, and when a film crew arrived in the attractive Thamesside village where Heather and Tom lived, Heather was horrified to find her ex-husband amongst them.As Heather and Iain met again, many secrets jostled to be revealed, including Tom's own highly secret life. Heather, her daughter Kate - the same age as Heather was when she embarked upon her disastrous elopement - and her mother Delia all had to reveal things which they never thought would need to be revealed, and their peaceful Oxfordshire village community buzzed with speculation and scandal.

Hotel Las Flores


Kate McCabe - 2005
    But underneath the surface, all is not what it seems.There's Trish who has arrived with a pressing problem, and her oblivious writing-obsessed husband Adrian in tow. Mollie McGinty and her family are celebrating a win with a trip to Tenerife, even though she cannot stand the heat and her husband will not eat the food. Charlie Dobbins has made the trip to try to overcome his shyness with women. Bobby Bannon is escaping a public humiliation, and society hostess Monica Woodworth is determined to crawl her way back up to the top after a fall.What will happen when this quirky cast of characters all find themselves staying in the Hotel las Flores?Will they return home with a new outlook on life or even with someone new? One thing's for sure - nothing in their lives will ever be the same again.

Life, Part 2: Lydia's Story--The Second Chance


S.W. Hubbard - 2019
     When she married a much older man, Lydia took a shortcut from grad student to middle-aged matron. Do not pass go. Do not drink jug wine or buy Ikea bookshelves. Now Lydia finds herself a 45-year-old widow. She’s got a suburban McMansion she doesn’t want, a hole in her day where her job used to be, and a bunch of married-couple friends eligible for Social Security. Lydia wants to start over and recapture the endless possibilities life offers at age 25. She adopts a shelter dog with issues. Buys a charming little starter home on the verge of collapse. And accepts a job she doesn’t know how to do. Lydia soon learns that youth isn’t for the faint-hearted. Her dead husband is trying to control her future through the terms of his will. And her impulsive decisions may cost her some new friendships she can’t bear to lose. But with the help of a quirky dog trainer, a hilarious colleague, and a hunky young carpenter, Lydia may get a second chance at the life she missed.

Reach For Tomorrow


Rita Bradshaw - 1999
    Her mother falls apart, leaving Rosie in charge of her two sisters. Rosie is determined to keep the family together. She secures a job and finds a man she could love. But life is never that simple.

Safe for Summer


Mandy Baggot - 2020
    A bodyguard. Two people whose hearts need mending.Autumn Raine is an international superstar. She's living the dream, at least that's what she's showing the world. After her safety is threatened Autumn's life begins to unravel and with her world crashing down around her, can she learn to trust anyone again?When Nathan Regan, an ex-elite soldier is assigned to protect her, Autumn might just have to let someone past the barriers she's put up around herself. But with Nathan fighting against his own demons, will they begin to find solace in each other?Two people, from very different backgrounds will have to come together to face their future.Previously published as Security.

What I Left Behind


Jennifer Archer - 2020
    The owner of a successful restaurant and newly engaged to a man she loves, she’s ready to put her regrets behind her and embrace what lies ahead. But when a boy named Nick Pearson shows up at her door claiming he’s her grandson and needing her help, Ally can no longer ignore the questions that have haunted her since she was sixteen.Leaving her fiancé and her life behind, she embarks on a cross-country road trip with the orphaned teen to find his grandfather – Ally’s first love who disappeared without a word thirty years ago, leading her to give up their baby for adoption. But will learning the devastating reason he tore her life apart release her from the past…or draw her back?In What I Left Behind, bestselling author Jennifer Archer offers an emotional page-turner about love and loss, family and forgiveness.