In this new novel by New York Times bestselling author Fern Michaels, the holidays are also the time to discover a future that, like the perfect gift, is as satisfying as it is surprising . . .   Joy Preston misses her beloved late grandmother dearly. But when she learns the terms of Nana’s will, she’s shocked—and more than a little irked. Joy moved to Colorado years ago and is now CEO of a successful nail polish company. Her life and career are in Denver. How can Nana have expected her to give that up, even temporarily, to take over a bed and breakfast in North Carolina for six months?   Yet there’s no denying Heart and Soul’s charm, especially at holiday time. The B&B is always elaborately decorated for the season, with themed guest rooms and dazzling lawn displays created for the annual Parade of Homes competition. The entire town takes part in the festivities, and soon Joy, too, is joining in the gingerbread house contest and letting her reservations melt away.   There’s another special reason for Heart and Soul’s popularity. Rumor has it that, during holiday season, guests can be reunited with the spirit of a loved one who’s passed on. Joy’s skeptical, yet she feels her beloved Nana’s influence all around her . . . perhaps even indulging in a little matchmaking between Joy and handsome estate attorney Will Drake.   A special homecoming and the glow of new beginnings will combine to make the holiday magical . . .

    Determined to make it just like the ones she remembers as a child, she employs Dido Jones of Heavenly Houseparties to help with the big day.Dido is enchanted by the castle as soon as she steps through the imposing front door. And as Christmas day approaches, her feeling of connection to the old house runs deeper than she first thought. But when the snow begins to fall and Sabine's family arrive at the house - including Dido's teenage crush Xan - tensions rise around the castle's future and long-buried mysteries begin to unravel...As past secrets come to light, can this still be a magical Christmas to remember?_________Praise for Trisha Ashley:'One of the best writers around' Katie Fforde'Full of down-to-earth humour' Sophie Kinsella'A warm-hearted and comforting read' Carole Matthews

    . . but some loves can never be forgotten.Charlotte Gibbs wants nothing more than to put the past behind her, once and for all. But now that she's back at Firefly Lake to sell her mother's cottage, the overwhelming flood of memories reminds her of what she's been missing. Sun-drenched days. Late-night kisses that still shake her to the core. The gentle breeze off the lake, the scent of pine in the air, and the promise of Sean's touch on her skin . . . True, she got her dream job traveling the world. But at what cost? Sean Carmichael still doesn't know why Charlie disappeared that summer, but after eighteen years, a divorce, and a teenage son he loves more than anything in the world, he's still not over her. All this time and her body still fits against his like a glove. She walked away once when he needed her the most. How can he convince her to stay now?

    That’s how long Angela Donovan hoped to know Mark Shafer before they married. But less than a year later, she still fears repeating the mistakes of her previous failed relationship. As Christmas approaches, she senses Mark’s plans for a proposal and wonders if she can learn to trust again.Mark has learned all there is to know about the Shafer miracle trees—or so he thinks. Papa reveals secrets about the trees’ matchmaking power just as a highway expansion threatens to destroy the family legacy. Mark is determined to save the farm and the promise of love stirring in the branches of the Shafer miracle trees. Heartwarming and engaging, The Tree Keeper’s Promise captures the warmth and wonder of the holiday season.

    In No 5 Jubilee Street, Bermondsey, ten-year-old Connie is determined to show her parents that she’s a brave girl and can look after her twin brother, Jessie. She won’t cry, not while anyone’s watching.In the crisp Yorkshire Dales, Connie and Jessie are billeted to a rambling vicarage. Kindly but chaotic, Reverend Braithwaite is determined to keep his London charges on the straight and narrow, but the twins soon find adventures of their own. As autumn turns to winter, Connie’s dearest wish is that war will end and they will be home for Christmas. But this Christmas Eve there will be an unexpected arrival…

    A high-tech serial thriller from the dark side of the net. Episode 1.Welcome to the Deep Web. Those parts of the internet no search engine explores. The place where you can buy anything. Drugs, children, weapons. Anyone can do it. And get away free. Anthony Prince, head of PrinceSec, a firm which provides high-tech security for the government and major corporations, dies in a plane crash when crossing the English Channel. Responsible for Prince's death is a hacker named Strider. His real name is Scott Mitchell and in his day job at the National Cyber Crime Unit he uses legitimate means to get the bad guys. As Strider, his means are less legal. On the same night, PrinceSec is the target of a cyber-attack. When the NCCU is called to assess the damage, a link is found between Prince and a criminal hacker group called Black Flag. The race is on for Mitchell to protect his identity as Strider and to stop Black Flag before it's too late.

    But her sister's stuck with a broken heart and a nonrefundable vacation, so she agrees to Christmas at a rustic Adirondack lodge-as long as she can bring her laptop. Matt's happy to take a break from the city. He and his brother are helping out with their aunt's Romance of Christmas weekend, even though the couples-only guest list at the lodge means all work and no play. When one of the "couples" turns out to be two sisters, Matt's brother calls dibs on the hot one-leaving Matt to deal with a quirky, work-obsessed woman who he's sure would rather get cozy with an electrical outlet than with him. Good thing there's no electricity at Dutch Gorge Lodge. Because sometimes you have to turn out the lights to see what's right in front of you.

    Eugene and Tatiana had fallen in love that summer ten years ago. But certain events stopped them from getting to truly know each other and they separated never knowing what could have been. But one busy morning on the Paris metro, Eugene and Tatiana meet again, no longer the same teenagers they once were. What happened during that summer? Does meeting again now change everything? With their lives ahead of them, can Eugene and Tatiana find a way to be together after everything? Written in gorgeous verse, In Paris With You celebrates the importance of first love. Funny and sometimes bittersweet this book has universal appeal for anyone who has been in love.

    A fateful one in the history of the indigenous tribes of America. Yuma warrior, Night Wolf, is investigating reports of sheep ravaging Indian land. When he rescues a young white woman being attacked by one of the herders, he takes her to the Kumeyaay medicine woman known as Eagle Woman to treat her injuries. Strangely, she is not afraid, is even drawn to this handsome warrior. The Saga continues as Abigail Cassidy Butterfield, now living on a ranch in the San Diego back country with her family. Though this book is a sequel to Where Eagles Dance, it also stands alone. As Abby continues her fight to help the local tribes retain their land, she becomes an Indian Agent to help survey and mark the reservations. She and her family personally deliver the survey records to President Ulysses S. Grant in Washington D.C. On the return to California with the granted reservations, danger stalks them all along the way. For Abby, it will take all her medicine powers to save her people and combat the threat to her family. Enjoy the drama, the romance and a few light hearted incidents along the way.

    A woman who can’t even kill a spider, Hadley soon finds herself pushed to the limits as she fights to protect her family.Grace, new mother of baby Miles, desperately wants to put her rough past behind her for good, but she finds it impossible when her path crosses with Hadley’s, and her quest for a new start quickly spirals out of control and turns into a terrifying flight for survival.Stronger together than apart, the two find their fates inextricably entwined, and as the danger closes in, each must decide how much she is willing to risk for the other.A powerful story of self-discovery, Hadley and Grace is the heart-racing tale of two women facing insurmountable odds, racing to stay one step ahead of the trouble that is chasing them, and discovering new kinds of love and family along the way.

    But despite being an expert in self-improvement, her life still seems to be stuck in a rut. Her designer clothing rental business, even with its well-heeled Orange County clientele, is mysteriously losing money. And although it goes against every fiber in her moral makeup, the one guy she pines for happens to be her best friend’s husband. But are her fortunes about to change? A super-cute mystery guy has just recommended a new book, and from the moment she opens the pages of A Better Life, her world is turned upside down in ways that not even Dr Phil could have predicted.

    Jessie is a pearl diver. She had thought her husband William was a pearl diver too. But when William leaves her for a much younger woman, it’s not just Jessie’s heart that is broken, her ability to trust is shattered too. All Jessie wanted was a love she could believe in. Was that so much to ask? Loyalty it seems has gone out of fashion.Refusing to retire from the battlefield of life, Jessie resolves to put her heartache behind her. She doesn’t want to be that woman who was too scared to love again. There has to be another pearl diver out there; all she has to do is find him. When fate brings handsome flower seller Owen Phillips into her life, Jessie believes he may be the one but is her fragile trust about to be shattered all over again?

    Chronicling the complexities, joys, and challenges of this transitional phase of life, Please Don’t Go Before I Get Better is a powerful, deeply affecting work that pierces your heart with its refreshing candor and vulnerability. A poignant exploration of self-image, self-discovery, and self-reflection, this anthology brilliantly captures the universal experience of growing up, and you are bound to find yourself reflected in these glimmering pages.

    When Josie Messina's wunderkind 12-year-old son earns a full scholarship to one of New Jersey's toniest private schools, this hardworking, cash-strapped single mom is intimidated. Will she ever fit in with the wealthy and fashionable mothers of Little Fawn Country Day? But when Josie runs into Country Day's most famous parent, rock legend Billy Stand - known to her as the boy she used to babysit - their embrace in the school parking lot, viewed by three of the school's most influential social butterflies, rockets her to "A list" status. What happens next will bring truth to the warning, "Be careful what you wish for." This timely, irreverent send-up of contemporary academia -- and the wicked ways of the one percent -- will delight any parent who has ever been dragged to a PTA fundraiser, has sweated out their children's grades and college prospects, or who has wondered what, exactly, their kids are learning at school all day.Editorial Review"A smart, poignant fiction debut...What makes this work stand out is Matthews' handling of social issues such as class boundaries and the state of education in the country...The cause-and-effect relationship intertwined in each plot element creates moments of laughter and societal insight, making the novel an entertaining, shrewd read."- Kirkus Reviews

    Tis the season in Shenandoah Falls and the first time Willow Peterson has been home in years. But she's determined to fulfill the wishes of her recently deceased best friend and restore Eagle Hill Manor to its former glory-all in time to host the perfect holiday wedding. She just has to get the owner of the historic inn to hire her. Unfortunately, that means dealing with Scrooge himself... After the death of his wife, David Lyndon has a bah-humbug approach to Christmas. But as December counts down and the wedding planning is in full swing, it's harder and harder to stay immune to the charms of Willow, especially when he sees how much joy she brings his eight-year-old daughter. After a simple kiss under the mistletoe turns into something more, David is hoping he can turn the magic of the holiday season into the love of a lifetime.