Book picks similar to
Just For The Summer by Judy Astley


chick-lit
fiction
modern
coastal-beach-living

After You'd Gone


Maggie O'Farrell - 2000
    A few hours later, Alice is lying in a coma after an accident that may or may not have been a suicide attempt. Alice's family gathers at her bedside and as they wait, argue, and remember, long-buried tensions emerge. The more they talk, the more they seem to conceal. Alice, meanwhile, slides between varying levels of consciousness, recalling her past and a love affair that recently ended. A riveting story that skips through time and interweaves multiple points of view, After You'd Gone is a novel of stunning psychological depth and marks the debut of a major literary talent.

Nice Girls Finish First


Alesia Holliday - 2005
     Kirby Green didn't get to be a Vice President of Marketing by being nice. But when she fires her entire staff within a few weeks (they all deserved it, really), her new boss is hardly impressed. Wanting to prove his point, he issues a bet: If Kirby can get someone-anyone-to call her nice, she can take that long-awaited dream vacation to Italy with her best friend, Jules. If she can't, she can kiss the Coliseum goodbye. Oh, and her job too. Now Kirby has exactly thirty days to bully someone into saying she's nice-and to show her boss who's boss. If she doesn't fall hard for him first...

A Not Quite Perfect Family


Claire Sandy - 2017
    It’s a good thing she loves her big, imperfectly perfect family, because she’s the one who washes their pants, de-fleas the dog and runs her own business. A hearty meal is the one thing that brings the Carliles together – but over the course of a year, the various courses also pull them apart.Around the table sits an eight-year-old militant feminist, a pair of teenage accidental parents, and a cantankerous OAP. Fern’s husband needs an extra seat for his spectacular midlife crisis.Will Fern’s marriage be over by the time coffee is served? Perhaps she’ll give in and have the hot new dish that looks so tempting. Decisions, decisions . . .

Babyville


Jane Green - 2001
    But beneath the surface, things are not as perfect as they seem. Stuck in a loveless relationship with her boyfriend, Mark, Julia thinks a baby is the answer . . . but she may want a baby more than she wants her boyfriend. Will a trip to New York City with a jet-setting friend—and all the glittering energy and eligible men the city brings—help her discover what she really needs? Maeve, on the other hand, is allergic to commitment. A feisty, red-haired, high-power career girl, she cherishes her ability to do just as she pleases and breaks out in a rash every time she passes a stroller. But when her no-strings-attached nightlife leads to an unexpected pregnancy, her reaction may be just as unexpected.And then there’s Samantha—happily married and eager to be the perfect June Cleaveresque mother. But baby George brings only exhaustion, extra pounds, and marital strife to her once tidy life. Is having an affair with a friend’s incredibly sexy husband the answer?

Feels Like Maybe


Claire Allan - 2008
    When she finds out she is pregnant, he decides the relationship is most definitely off and leaves her before she has time to say 'Mothercare'.Desperate to get him back – and convinced she can – Aoife doesn’t tell her family back home in Derry about her impending arrival until she is cradling newborn Maggie in her arms. She then has to return home to face the music – baby in tow and sanity absent without leave.Meanwhile her best friend has been keeping a secret of her own. Beth and her husband Dan have been trying to get pregnant for the past two years. According to the doctors there is no medical reason for their failure to conceive. And if there is no reason, there can’t be a problem, can there? Add a gorgeous gardener, an overbearing mother, a perfectly annoying sister-in-law and a well meaning aunt – all with secrets of their own – into the mix and you have 'Feels Like Maybe'.

Three Men on a Plane


Mavis Cheek - 1998
    She now feels a certain freedom -- and also certain restlessness. There have been three significant men in her life -- Peter, her ex-husband; Douglas, a style guru; and Dean, a beautiful younger man -- all of whom have begun to think of Pamela in romantic terms once more. But Pamela wants to get to know herself again and can't quite decide with which of her three suitors (if any) she should take up.

Shooting Butterflies


Marika Cobbold - 2003
    Talented, awkward and a little fierce, she can't help thinking that she's managed to lose anything she's ever loved. So she decides to revisit her past in America, and she's brought her camera - she's going to catch these memories.

Just My Type


Hannah Doyle - 2019
    - The quirky/cool photographer to a superstar blogger - She's going on a date with a SUPER hot guy on the London Eye tonight - Best friend Mila is her wifey for life - This millennial is #LivingHerBestLife But fast-forward a few hours, and the reality isn't quite so picture perfect. Jasmine hates her stuck-up blogger boss. She can barely afford rent in her stupid London flat. Her best friend seems to have all her sh*t together. Oh, and that date she was so excited about? She got dumped. On the London Eye. In the middle of a thunderstorm. With a bunch of tourists watching... Best friend Mila decides that Jasmine needs a new 'type on paper', because Jasmine's current criteria is so off that her dating history is one long line-up of fools. So Mila challenges Jasmine to look once, if not twice, at the guys who wouldn't normally fit her 'type'. With nothing to lose, Jasmine accepts. Maybe, just maybe, she'll surprise herself.

Finishing Touches


Patricia Scanlan - 1992
    Cassie put her life on hold to attend to her family's needs while Laura and Aileen soared in their careers. Now they were together again as Cassie dared to start her own business and make her impossible dream come true.

The House at Hope Corner


Emma Davies - 2019
    The farmhouse behind her glows pink in the morning sun. It’s like stepping into a postcard, except that this magical place is real. It’s her new home. With her beloved shop in danger of shutting down, meeting Ned, a gorgeous farmer with an irresistible twinkle in his eye, couldn’t have come at a better moment for free-spirited florist, Flora Dunbar. But no one is more surprised than her when their whirlwind romance leads to the offer of a new life on Ned’s farm. Arriving at Hope Corner, Flora sets about becoming the perfect farmer’s wife, but her creative, alternative thinking falls flat in a household built on tradition and strict routine. Even Ned is becoming more distant by the day… Pulling up her signature striped socks and throwing herself into her chores, little by little Flora learns to love the order and patterns of life on the land. But the more she learns about her new home, the more she suspects it’s under threat, and worse, that Ned is hiding a heartbreaking secret from her. But this time, Flora’s not going to run from her problems. Do Ned and his family trust her enough to let her stay and fight for love and the first house she’s ever truly called home? Does she trust herself? An absolutely gorgeous and utterly uplifting romance to sweep you off your feet! Perfect reading for fans of Jenny Colgan, Lucy Diamond and Debbie Johnson. What readers are saying about Emma Davies: ‘Simply brilliant… hooked from the first page and wanted to give it far more than the five stars… so heart-warming and romantic and uplifting and such a delight to read… has you in tears… An amazing read and so uplifting. I highly recommend I couldn't put it down at all.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ‘A heart-warming, feel-good tale that will have you staying up all night to finish… A wonderful read.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ‘If you need something to put a smile in your heart this summer, this is it!... A sumptuous read and a first-class series, this is one for your reading list. Without any doubt, it is completely worthy of a full five stars!’ Reviewer Lady Good ‘n’ Read-y, 5 stars ‘I really, really loved this book. It's so full of warmth, it just leaves you feeling all gooey in the middle… Emma's writing is so easy to read and her stories flow along at a wonderful pace... I just LOVE this series and can't wait for the next one!’ Rona Halsall, 5 stars ‘Tears in my eyes and goose pimples galore!’ B Is For Book Review ‘Such a lovely read! Heart-warming and uplifting… A delightful feel-good story that will leave you with a smile on your face.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ‘A charming story that I enjoyed reading every second of.

Six Steps To Happiness


Suzie Tullett - 2019
    But Nick and Gaye won’t budge.To add to her problems, Ronnie’s daughter and mother-in-law decide to stage an intervention. With her family keeping a close eye on her, Ronnie is forced to become more devious in her actions to get rid of Nick and Gaye.But just how far will she go?And is moving on ever that easy? Six Steps to Happiness is a hilarious look at just how far one woman will go to recover from a broken heart and find happiness again. What everyone is saying about Six Steps To Happiness: "I highly recommend this hilarious romance." "I definitely recommend this book, you won’t be disappointed!" "Some parts had me laughing and some parts left me wanting to cry." "A great happy read, with fun and laughter thrown in!" "A book with a message and also one with lots of smiles. Loved it." Suzie Tullett is the bestselling author of The French Escape, Little White Lies and Butterflies and The Trouble With Words. Six Steps To Happiness is an uplifting and laugh-out-loud Romantic comedy which will appeal to fans of authors like Sue Roberts, Marian Keyes and Sarah Morgan.

Coming Home to Holly Close Farm


Julie Houston - 2019
    Charlie's sister Daisy, a landscape gardener, is also back home in desperate need of company and some fun. Their great-grandmother, Madge – now in her early nineties – reveals she has a house, Holly Close Farm, mysteriously abandoned over sixty years ago, and persuades the girls to project manage its renovation. As work gets underway, the sisters start uncovering their family's history, and the dark secrets that are hidden at the Farm. A heart-breaking tale of wartime romance, jealousy and betrayal slowly emerges, but with a moral at its end: true love can withstand any obstacle, and, before long, Charlie dares to believe in love again too... Julie Houston's novels are heart-warming, full of joy and completely addictive. Perfect for all fans of Katie Fforde and Jill Mansell.

House of Trelawney


Hannah Rothschild - 2020
    By 2008, it is in a complete state of ruin due to the dulled ambition and the financial ineptitude of the twenty-four earls, two world wars, the Wall Street crash, and inheritance taxes. Still: the heir to all of it, Kitto, his wife, Jane, their three children, their dog, Kitto's ancient parents, and his aunt Tuffy Scott, an entomologist who studies fleas, all manage to live there and keep it going. Four women dominate the story: Jane; Kitto's sister, Blaze, who left Trelawney and made a killing in finance in London, the wildly beautiful, seductive, and long-ago banished Anastasia and her daughter, Ayesha. When Anastasia sends a letter announcing that her nineteen-year-old daughter, Ayesha, will be coming to stay, the long-estranged Blaze and Jane must band together to take charge of their new visitor--and save the house of Trelawney. But both Blaze and Jane are about to discover that the house itself is really only a very small part of what keeps the family together.

The Cornish Confetti Agency


Daisy James - 2020
    What she wasn’t expecting was to bump into her fiancé cosied up with an attractive blonde in the restaurant opposite their apartment!Desperate to escape her heartbreak, Lexie flees to her childhood home of St Ives to hold the fort at The Cornish Confetti Agency for her best friend Freya, leader of the yummy mummy network and firm believer in ‘happily ever afters’. Little did she know that delivering a Caribbean-themed wedding in sunny Cornwall would rival the fashion industry for drama, tantrums and mysterious goings on.Who is responsible for dousing the bridesmaid’s dress with tomato ketchup? Or hiding the bride’s beloved Jimmy Choos? Or attaching googly eyes to everything in sight?The perfect Cornish wedding? Is there such a thing for The Cornish Confetti Agency?

The Little Cottage On Lovelace Lane


Alice Ross - 2016
    But after months together in a caravan while the renovations take place, boyfriend, Luke, is not quite so enamoured with the place.With Lily and Luke's relationship stretched to the limit, a dishy builder taking over the project, Luke's two precocious kids to deal with, and her gran acting very strangely, will Hollyhocks ever become Lily's dream home? Or will it be a bit of a nightmare?