Book picks similar to
Little Village of Second Chances by Gina Hollands
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Hope in a Jar
Beth Harbison - 2009
Throughout high school, they were inseparable…until a vicious rumor about Olivia— a rumor too close to the truth—ended their friendship. Now, on the eve of their twentieth high school reunion, Allie, a temp worker, finds herself suddenly single, a little chubby, and feeling old. Olivia, a cool and successful magazine beauty editor in New York, realizes she’s lonely, and is finally ready to face her demons. Sometimes hope lives in the future; sometimes it comes from the past; and sometimes, when every stupid thing goes wrong, it comes from a prettily packaged jar filled with scented cream and promises. Beth Harbison has done it again. A hilarious and touching novel about friendship, Love’s Baby Soft perfume, Watermelon Lip Smackers, bad run-ins with Sun-In, and the healing power of “Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific.” Hope in a Jar: we all need it.
The Rest of Me
Katie Marsh - 2018
She should be the perfect wife to her chronically ill husband Sam, and the perfect mother to their two daughters. She should be excelling in her high-stress job. And she should be completing the demanding to-do lists she makes to keep herself on track. Even if, just sometimes, she doesn't have time to breathe.When Sam's condition worsens and Alex donates a kidney to save his life, her carefully scheduled existence starts to unravel - eventually forcing her to face up to a past that she has buried for years.As the family she has fought so hard for threatens to fall apart, can Alex finally confront the mistakes that have shaped her - and rediscover what is most important in life?
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The Rest of Me is an emotional and uplifting story which will make you laugh, cry and hug the people you love a little bit tighter.
Blinded
Travis Thrasher - 2006
If the wages of sin is death, Michael Grey is about to get paid. A seemingly innocent phone call begins a chain reaction of suspense that sends a clean-cut businessman hurtling through a fast-paced, breakneck collision with the consequences of desire. Each unexpected twist and shocking turn will leave readers breathless for a resolution, but when it finally arrives you won't see it coming.
That'd Be Right
William McInnes - 2008
Both funny and insightful That'd Be Right is part memoir, part personal history of Australia over the last thirty years. It's a biographical trip told through sport, and families and William's own experiences. He writes: 'As with A Man's Got to Have a Hobby I weave in and around the events that have held such fascination for this country over the last thirty years or so, connecting them all with the progression of a life.' Some of these events would be considered momentous, some small and personal. And all are seen through William's eyes. They range from a day at the Melbourne Cup with his mother where too many champagnes and too few winners were picked; a swimming carnival early in the morning after a gloomy and long federal election the night before; watching truly surreal Grand Final moments in a pub with a group of odd and unknown bar companions. William also writes about a night at the cricket with his son, which shows how things can change and oddly come full circle.
Seeking Forever
Samantha Chase - 2016
Refusing to look back, she’s ready to put her time and focus on helping couples celebrate their happily ever after’s with a new position with Barefoot Brides. Just because she didn’t get her happy ending, doesn’t mean she’s given up on love. Unfortunately, one of the first couple’s she’s up to work with is her ex and the woman he cheated on her with!Max Santos knows every inch of the Casa Blanca Resort & Spa property like the back of his hand – basically because he’s the one responsible for it all. He loves his job. Loves his life on Mimosa Key but…he’s in a rut. Work has become his life and he’s almost desperate for something to come along and shake up his world a little bit. And when Ellie shows up in one of his equipment sheds cursing like a sailor while she’s clearly hiding out, his curiosity is instantly piqued. Soon, he’s helping her in the craziest – and sexiest - game of hide and seek all over Casa Blanca!Ellie knows she’ll never be able to truly move forward until she confronts her ex, but doing that means she won’t have any excuses to keep ‘running’ into Max. She thinks it’s too soon to start thinking about a future with him, but Max keeps proving time and time again that he’ll be there for her. And while Ellie’s been hiding from her past, Max has been anxiously seeking their future – their forever. Seeking Forever is part of Roxanne St. Claire's Barefoot Bay Kindle World
The Little Shop of Hopes and Dreams
Fiona Harper - 2014
Too bad its not her own…Nicole, a born organiser and true romantic, has created her dream job when she sets up the Hopes & Dreams proposal agency – staging YouTube worthy proposals…until she’s hired to plan a proposal by gorgeous photographer Alex Black’s girlfriend.Alex is the New Year’s kiss that Nicole hasn’t been able to forget – and now she’s planning his wedding to someone else! But if she lets herself fall for Alex’s charms, her reputation and business will be ruined before it’s even got off the ground! Suddenly the girl whose always prepared is at a loss…and falling head over heels.
Italian for Beginners
Kristin Harmel - 2009
But after her little sister gets married, Cat wonders if she has condemned herself to a life of boredom by playing by the rules. She decides to take a chance for once, accepting an invitation to spend a month with an old flame in Italy. But her reunion with the slick and gorgeous Francesco is short-lived, and she finds herself suddenly alone in Rome. Now, she must see if she has the courage to live outside the lines for the first time – and to face a past she never understood. It will take an unexpected friendship with a fiery Italian waitress, a whirlwind Vespa tour of the Eternal City with a handsome stranger, and a surprise encounter with an old acquaintance to show Cat that life doesn’t always work out the way you expect, but sometimes you have to have fall in order to fly.
The Year of Taking Chances
Lucy Diamond - 2014
There's music, dancing, champagne and all their best friends under one roof. It's going to be a night to remember.Also at the party is Caitlin, who has returned to the village to pack up her much-missed mum's house and to figure out what to do with her life; and Saffron, a PR executive who's keeping a secret which no amount of spin can change. The three women bond over Gemma's dodgy cocktails and fortune cookies, and vow to make this year their best one yet.But as the following months unfold, Gemma, Saffron and Caitlin find themselves tested to their limits by shocking new developments. Family, love, work, home - all the things they've taken for granted - are thrown into disarray. Under pressure, they are each forced to rethink their lives and start over. But dare they take a chance on something new?
See Me
Nicholas Sparks - 2015
. .Colin Hancock is giving his second chance his best shot. With a history of violence and bad decisions behind him and the threat of prison dogging his every step, he's determined to walk a straight line. To Colin, that means applying himself single-mindedly toward his teaching degree and avoiding everything that proved destructive in his earlier life. Reminding himself daily of his hard-earned lessons, the last thing he is looking for is a serious relationship.Maria Sanchez, the hardworking daughter of Mexican immigrants, is the picture of conventional success. With a degree from Duke Law School and a job at a prestigious firm in Wilmington, she is a dark-haired beauty with a seemingly flawless professional track record. And yet Maria has a traumatic history of her own, one that compelled her to return to her hometown and left her questioning so much of what she once believed.A chance encounter on a rain-swept road will alter the course of both Colin and Maria's lives, challenging deeply held assumptions about each other and ultimately, themselves. As love unexpectedly takes hold between them, they dare to envision what a future together could possibly look like . . . until menacing reminders of events in Maria's past begin to surface.Rich in emotion and fueled with suspense, SEE ME reminds us that love is sometimes forged in the crises that threaten to shatter us . . . and that those who see us for who we truly are may not always be the ones easiest to recognize.
Tempting Fate
Jane Green - 2014
They have two teenaged daughters. They have built a life together. Forty-three year old Gabby is the last person to have an affair. She can't relate to the way her friends desperately try to cling to the beauty and allure of their younger years…And yet, she too knows her youth is quickly slipping away. She could never imagine how good it would feel to have a handsome younger man show interest in her--until the night it happens. Matt makes Gabby feel sparkling, fascinating, alive--something she hasn't felt in years. What begins as a long-distance friendship soon develops into an emotional affair as Gabby discovers her limits and boundaries are not where she expects them to be. Intoxicated, Gabby has no choice but to step ever deeper into the allure of attraction and attention, never foreseeing the life-changing consequences that lie ahead. If she makes one wrong move she could lose everything--and find out what really matters most.A heartfelt and complex story, Tempting Fate will have readers gripped until they reach the very last page, and thinking about the characters long after they put the book down.
The Light We Lost
Jill Santopolo - 2017
Was he meant to be the last?Lucy is faced with a life-altering choice. But before she can make her decision, she must start her story—their story—at the very beginning. Lucy and Gabe meet as seniors at Columbia University on a day that changes both of their lives forever. Together, they decide they want their lives to mean something, to matter. When they meet again a year later, it seems fated—perhaps they’ll find life’s meaning in each other. But then Gabe becomes a photojournalist assigned to the Middle East and Lucy pursues a career in New York. What follows is a thirteen-year journey of dreams, desires, jealousies, betrayals, and, ultimately, of love. Was it fate that brought them together? Is it choice that has kept them away? Their journey takes Lucy and Gabe continents apart, but never out of each other’s hearts.
We Are Family
Josie Lloyd - 2004
Fifty years earlier, in the idyllic coastal village of Stepmouth, a forbidden love affair and a devastating flood drove the Vale family apart, but now her aunt is determined that Laurie should know the truth. Laurie escapes to the balmy warmth of Majorca only to find the hopes and passions buried in the past resurfacing in the present. But the more she seeks to heal old wounds, the more she becomes ensnared in a complex love affair of her own. One that could destroy her family for good.A wonderfully entertaining novel about love, family and the secrets that lie just beneath the surface...
Three Weddings and a Proposal
Sheila O'Flanagan - 2021
1 BESTSELLERS THE WOMEN WHO RAN AWAY AND THE MISSING WIFE'A glamorous, empowering read with a glorious spin on the wedding scene' Veronica Henry'Reading a Sheila O'Flanagan novel always feels like sitting down for a cup of tea with a friend - she writes with such warmth and empathy' Beth O'LearyAt the first wedding, there's a shockThe second wedding is unexpectedBy the third, Delphie thinks nothing could surprise her. But she's wrong . . .Delphie is enjoying her brother's wedding. Her surprise last-minute Plus One has stunned her family - and it's also stopped any of them asking again why she's still single. But when she sees all the missed calls that evening, she knows it can't be good news. And she's right.Delphie has been living her best life, loving her job, her friends, her no-strings relationships and her dream house by the sea. Now she has to question everything she believed about who she is and what she wants. Is her mum right - is it time to settle down? Or does she want to keep on trying to have it all?Each wedding of a glorious summer brings a new surprise. And as everything Delphie thought she had is threatened, she has the chance to reshape her future . . .'One of my favourite authors' Marian Keyes'Sheila's books always make you feel as if you've spent time with a good friend' Carole Matthews
Dirt Rich
Clark Howard - 1986
Crossing America in the early twenties, midwesterners Georgia and Sam Sheridan unknowingly take the first steps on a quest for identity and a search for an ocean of oil that will make them rich.
London Celebrities Collection
Lucy Parker - 2019
Parker… Wit, snark and a good comeuppance are a delight for fans of romantic comedies.” —Harlequin JunkieThe first three full-length novels in Lucy Parker’s delightfully charming London Celebrities series, available together for the first time.ACT LIKE IT
This just in: romance takes center stage as West End theatre’s Richard Troy steps out with none other than castmate Elaine Graham
Have the tides turned? Has English rose Lainie Graham made London’s bad boy a new man?Sources say the mismatched pair has been spotted at multiple events, arm in arm and hip to hip. From fits of jealousy to longing looks and heated whispers, onlookers are stunned by this blooming romance.Could the rumors be right? Could this unlikely romance be the real thing? Or are these gifted stage actors playing us all?PRETTY FACEIt’s not actress Lily Lamprey’s fault that she’s all curves and has the kind of voice that can fog up a camera lens. She wants to prove where her real talents lie—and that’s not on a casting couch, thank you. Luc Savage has respect, integrity and experience. He also has it bad for Lily. He’d be willing to dismiss it as a midlife crisis, but this exasperating, irresistible woman is actually a very talented actress. Unfortunately, their romance is not only raising questions about Lily’s suddenly rising career, it’s threatening Luc’s professional reputation. The course of true love never did run smooth. But if they’re not careful, it could bring down the curtain on both their careers… MAKING UPOnce upon a time, circus artist Trix Lane was the best around. Her spark vanished with her confidence, though, and reclaiming either has proved…difficult. So when she’s unexpectedly thrust into the spotlight, the joy over her sudden elevation in status is cut short by a new hire on the makeup team.Leo Magasiva: disgraced wizard of special effects. He of the beautiful voice and impressive beard. Complete dickhead and—in an unexpected twist—an enragingly good kisser. When it comes to commitment, Trix has been there, done that, never wants to do it again. And Leo’s this close to the job of a lifetime, which would take him away from London—and from Trix. Their past is a constant barrier between them.It seems hopeless.Utterly impossible. And yet…