Book picks similar to
One Minute to Midnight by Amy Silver
chick-lit
romance
fiction
contemporary
The Charm Bracelet
Melissa Hill - 2012
Many years ago she was sent one with just a single charm attached. The charms have been appearing ever since, often at challenging times, as if her mysterious benefactor knows exactly when she needs a little magic in her life. As a result, Holly's bracelet is her most prized possession. So when she finds someone else's charm bracelet, she feels she has to try to reunite it with its owner. Even if the only way she can is to use each charm to help discover more about them. In a search that will take her all over New York City at Christmas, Holly becomes ever more determined to piece together the details of this other charmed life. But what she doesn't know is that her quest may also lead her somewhere she never, ever expected...
Honeymoon in Paris
Jojo Moyes - 2012
Sophie, a provincial girl, is swept up in the glamour of Belle poque Paris but discovers that loving a feted artist like Edouard brings undreamt of complications. Following in Sophie's footsteps a hundred years later, Liv, after a whirlwind romance, finds her Parisian honeymoon is not quite the romantic getaway she had been hoping for...This enthralling self-contained story will have you falling in love with Liv and Sophie, and with Paris then and now, and it is the perfect appetizer for the The Girl You Left Behind, a spellbinding story of love, devotion and passion in the hardest of times.
To the Moon and Back
Jill Mansell - 2011
But eventually she’s ready for a new start – at work, that is. She doesn’t need a new man when she has a certain secret visitor to keep her company...Zack McLaren seems to have it all, but the girl he can’t stop thinking about won’t give him a second glance. If only she’d pay him the same attention she lavishes on his dog.Moving to North London, Ellie meets neighbour Roo who has a secret of her own. Can the girls sort out their lives? Guilt is a powerful emotion, but a lot can happen in a year in Primrose Hill...
Puppy Love
Kelly Moran - 2017
All she wants is a little privacy and a quiet place to raise her autistic daughter, Hailey. Redwood Ridge, Oregon, seems to offer all the right ingredients.Except for the problem of the local sexy veterinarian. The last thing she needs in her life is to fall for his irresistible allure, even if he is a nice guy who keeps doing her favors. But the well-meaning patrons of her new hometown have other ideas, and it appears playing Cupid is one of them.Cade O'Grady has never met a woman he couldn't handle, but when Avery Stowe walks into his office late one night cradling an injured puppy, he's struck stupid. Which might explain her total lack of interest in him. But now that she's working for his family's clinic, he doesn't have to lust from a distance.He might just have a chance at convincing Avery--and her too-guarded heart--that falling for the right man isn't a mistake . . .
Pack Up the Moon
Anna McPartlin - 2006
But Can She Find The Courage To Live It?Emma is twenty-six, pretty, intelligent, and happily living with her childhood sweetheart John in a cute little Dublin apartment. Her biggest problem is that her mother won't stop nagging her to get married already. Emma and John feel like the perfect couple, their future alive with possibilities. But out of the blue, a tragedy throws her life into disarray, and Emma is suddenly, incomprehensibly, alone. As she emerges from grief, Emma has to find a whole new way of living, and her loyal friends rally round in an attempt to help. Clodagh, Emma's lifelong friend, with whom she's shared everything from mud pies to dating disasters. Anne and Richard, more-or-less happily married and debating a move to the country. Emma's brother Noel, the young Catholic priest, finding his own faith tested even as he tries to comfort Emma. Sean, the gorgeous bad boy of a thousand one-night stands, uncomfortably aware of his and Emma's growing connection. Witty, acerbic, and sometimes downright shocking, Emma documents the stories of her friends and her own recovery from grief with a candor that engages the reader from the very first page. With an amazing insight into the power of friendship and a wry, irreverent humor that considers no subject off-limits, talented new Irish writer Anna McPartlin tells a heartwarming story of the courage it takes to move past loss and learn to live.
These Days of Ours
Juliet Ashton - 2016
Growing up together, they've shared all the milestones - childhood parties, eighteenth birthdays and now a double wedding day.Kate and Charlie were meant to be. That's what everybody said. So why have things turned out so differently?Best friends are forever, and true love always finds a way. Doesn't it?
Amelia Grey's Fireside Dream
Abby Clements - 2013
Their real life is another world - a cramped one-bedroom flat in Hackney. But when life takes a surprising turn, removal vans are soon heading to the Kent countryside.They soon realise the cottage makeover is a far bigger project than they'd anticipated. On top of that, there's Amelia's newly loved-up mum and her tearaway half-sister, Mirabel, to contend with - pushing Amelia and Jack's marriage to the breaking point.Amelia begins to strip back the wallpaper and fittings in the cottage and discovers the story of the cottage's previous owner - and a hidden secret. As Amelia's ideas about love and family change, will her fireside dream finally come true?
Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend
Jenny Colgan - 2009
But deep down she suspects that her best friends are actually rather nasty, and that her lifestyle doesn’t really amount to much. Her father wants her to make her own way in the world. to make him proud. But after one shocking evening her life is changed for ever.Scraping a living as an assistant to a ‘glamour’ photographer; living in a hovel on the Old Kent Road with four smelly boys; eating baked beans from the can – this is one spectacular fall from grace. Sophie is desperate to get her life back – but does a girl really need diamonds to be happy?Full of warmth and humour, Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend is the charming new comedy from the wonderful Jenny Colgan.
A Spring Affair
Milly Johnson - 2009
What begins as an earnest spring clean of unwanted household debris - a never-touched omelette maker here, a hideous collection of chintz ornaments there - soon spirals out of control. Before long Lou is hiring giant skips, in which to dump the copious amounts of junk she never knew she had. Lou's loved ones grow concerned - and not a little disgruntled. Where has all this energy come from, her husband Phil wonders? Why is clearing out cupboards suddenly more important than making his breakfast? And since when does quiet, meek, down-trodden Lou snap rude retorts at his sister, her mother, and even Phil himself? The truth is, the more skips Lou fills, the more rubbish she lets go off, the more light and air can get to those painful, closed-up places at the centre of her house: a lovingly prepared room for a baby she would never have; an empty space her best friend Deb once occupied; and a gaping wound left by her husband's affair three years ago.Even lovely Tom Broom, the man who delivers Lou's skips, starts to grow worried about his best customer. But Lou is a woman on a mission, and not even she knows where it will end ...
Here's Looking at You
Mhairi McFarlane - 2013
Our heroine Aureliana returns to school after fifteen years for a reunion. School doesn't hold happy memories for her, as being a roly poly Italian (known as the Italian Galleon), and always armed with a Tupperware full of pungent Mediterranean food, she was bullied incessantly throughout her years there. Now in her 30s, Aureliana wants to put the past behind her once and for all and face up to the bullies who made her life hell. But she is much-changed from the girl she once was - all curves and because I'm worth it hair - and no one recognises her when she arrives. Losing her bottle, she backs out on her plan for revenge and slinks off, hoping never to be reminded of her years at school again. But fate gets in the way, and after the reunion her path keeps crossing with James - major hunk and Aureliana's major crush back at school. But alas, as a cronie to the bullies, Aureliana to this day believes that his beautiful exterior hides an ugly interior. As they continue to cross paths a love/hate relationship ensues until eventually something shifts, and they both start to discover what the person underneath is really like...Full of Mhairi's trademark laugh out loud humour, Here's Looking At You is a novel about facing your demons and being happy with who you really are.
One Evening in Paris
Nicolas Barreau - 2012
In his Cinéma Paradis there are no buckets of popcorn, no XXL coca-colas, no Hollywood blockbusters. Not a good business plan if you want to survive, but Alain holds firm to his principles of quality. He wants to show films that create dreams, and he likes most of the people that come to his cinema. Particularly the enchanting, shy woman in the red coat who turns up every Wednesday in row 17. What could her story be? One evening, Alain plucks up courage and invites the unknown beauty to dinner. The most tender of love stories is just getting under way when something incredible happens: The Cinéma Paradis is going to be the location of Allan Woods' new film Tender Memories of Paris. Solène Avril, the famous American director's favourite actress, has known the cinema since childhood and has got it into her head that she wants the film to be shot there. Alain is totally overwhelmed when he meets her in person. Suddenly, the little cinema and its owner are the focus of public attention, and the red-plush seats are sold out every evening.But the mystery woman Alain has just fallen in love with seems suddenly to have vanished. Is this just coincidence? Alain sets off in search of her and becomes part of a story more delightful than anything the cinema has to offer.
Pretending
Holly Bourne - 2020
Hilarious. Reassuring. Brilliant.' Laura Jane WilliamsThe highly-anticipated new novel from Holly Bourne, bestselling author of HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW?He said he was looking for a 'partner in crime' which everyone knows is shorthand for 'a woman who isn't real'.April is kind, pretty, and relatively normal - yet she can't seem to get past date five. Every time she thinks she's found someone to trust, they reveal themselves to be awful, leaving her heartbroken. And angry.If only April could be more like Gretel.Gretel is exactly what men want - she's a Regular Everyday Manic Pixie Dream Girl Next Door With No Problems.The problem is, Gretel isn't real. And April is now claiming to be her.As soon as April starts 'being' Gretel, dating becomes much more fun - especially once she reels in the unsuspecting Joshua.Finally, April is the one in control, but can she control her own feelings? And as she and Joshua grow closer, how long will she be able to keep pretending?
Once Upon a List
Robin Gold - 2012
But if that's what it takes to get past the car accident that changed her life . . . she'll do what she must.Eight months after losing her fiancé just before their wedding, Clara still can't seem to escape her fog of sorrow. On a visit to her childhood home, she encounters her fifth-grade time capsule and a very special bucket list written by her ten-year-old self. When she impulsively fulfills one item, Clara finds that revisiting the woman she thought she'd become may just be her way out of grief and back to life. With Milk Dud the one-eared wonder dog, her zany but loving family, and an unexpected someone from her past by her side, Clara discovers that sometimes life's unplanned moments are the sweetest, and sometimes the only bridge to your future is your past.
One Wish in Manhattan
Mandy Baggot - 2015
With her nine year-old daughter Angel, Hayley is ready for an adventure. From hot chocolates and horse-drawn carriage rides in Central Park, to ice-skating at the Rockefeller Centre, and Christmas shopping on 5th Avenue – they soon fall in love with the city that never sleeps. But there’s more to New York than the bright twinkly lights and breathtaking skyscrapers. Angel has a Christmas wish of her own – to find her real dad. While Hayley tries to fufil her daughter’s wish, she crosses paths with Billionaire Oliver Drummond. Restless and bored with fast living, there’s something intriguing about him that has Hayley hooked. Determined to make her daughter’s dream come true, can Hayley dare to think her own dreams might turn into reality – could A New York Christmas turn into a New York Forever? Travel to the Big Apple this Christmas and join Hayley and Oliver as they both realise that life isn’t just about filling the minutes…it’s about making every moment count.
The Department of Lost & Found
Allison Winn Scotch - 2007
This is a novel that will leave you taking stock of what's important in your own life . . . and never letting it go.It didn't start out as the worst day of Natalie Miller's life. At 30, she is moving up the political ladder, driven by raw ambition and ruthless determination. As the top aide to New York's powerful female senator, she works hard, stays late, and enjoys every bit of it, even if the bills she's pushing through do little to improve the lives of the senator's constituents. And if her boyfriend isn't the sexiest guy alive, at least he's a warm body to come home to.Then he announces he's leaving. But that news is barely a blip compared to what Natalie's doctor tells her: She has breast cancer. And she can't cure it by merely being headstrong. Now the life Natalie must change is her own.All her energy, what little of it she has left, must go into saving herself from a merciless disease. So when she's not lying on the sofa recovering from her treatments and indulging in a curious addiction to The Price Is Right, she realizes it's time to take a hard look at her choices. She begins by tracking down the five loves-of-her-life to assess what went wrong. Along the way, she questions her relationships with her friends, her parents, her colleagues, the one who got away, and, most important, with herself: Why is she so busy moving through life that she never stops to embrace it?As Natalie sleuths out the answers to these questions, her journey of self-discovery takes her down new paths and to unexplored places. And she learns that sometimes when life is at its most unexpected, it's not what you lose that makes you who you are . . . it's what you find.