Happiness for Beginners


Carole Matthews - 2019
    There's Anthony the anti-social sheep, Tina Turner the alpaca with attitude, and the definitely-not-miniature pig, Teacup.Molly runs the farm as an alternative school for kids who haven't thrived in mainstream education. It's full on, but she wouldn't have it any other way. So when the well-groomed Shelby Dacre turns up at Hope Farm asking to enrol his son Lucas, Molly isn't fazed.But Lucas is distant and soon Molly realises he might be more of a handful than she anticipated. And then there's the added problem that his dad is distractingly handsome. Molly has her beloved farm to think of - could letting Lucas and Shelby in be a terrible mistake, or the start of something wonderful?

I'll Know Me When I Find Me


Helen J. Darling - 2018
    That's the problem. Jane Desmond feels like a failure. Sure, she has a good job and a roof over her head, but nothing else seems to ever go her way. Unwanted attention from an infatuated coworker and meddlesome matchmaking from her mother has her professional and social life in tatters. When her best friend Thea loses her job a few days after purchasing her dream home, Jane steps in to help. But when her good intentions backfire, she realizes she’ll need to make a few sacrifices to find happiness for both of them. Before Jane can follow her dreams, she may just need to risk everything she knows… I’ll Know Me When I Find Me is a novel for the modern, career-minded woman. If you like well-rounded characters, relatable situations, and energetic prose, then you’ll love this women’s fiction tale of self-discovery from Helen J. Darling.

#No Filter


Maxine Morrey - 2019
    Libby’s determined to keep it at ‘just good friends’ – she’s dated someone from ‘Corporate Land’ before and it didn’t end well. As she and Charlie begin spending more time together, Libby is starting to waver  – until she discovers something which makes her question if she’s ready for love.Still reeling, she suffers another blow as her blog is attacked in a national newspaper, for promoting unachievable perfection. Libby knows it’s not true – but the only way to prove that is to strip off the armour she’s been wearing for years. Is she brave enough to show the world she’s far from perfect? And will Charlie be by her side if she does… A gloriously funny, wise, heart-warming and romantic read for all fans of Lindsey Kelk and Mhairi Macfarlane, from the author of the bestselling Winter’s Fairytale.

Just South of Paradise


Grace Palmer - 2020
    Can she find the love she’s looking for?Georgia had the perfect life—until her husband of nearly forty years leaves her for their inn’s much younger housekeeper.Starting over at fifty-eight is a terrifying prospect. And that’s not all.Her oldest child, Melanie, is trying to pick up the pieces of her broken heart after a difficult break-up.Georgia’s other daughter, Tasha, left Willow Beach to make it in Hollywood, but she’s having an awfully hard time coping with failure.Golden child Drew thought he was headed for the baseball Hall of Fame. But when he’s unexpectedly cut from his minor league team, he is forced to take a long, hard look in the mirror.Running the Willow Beach Inn, helping her grown children navigate the choppy waters of life, and rediscovering her own passions is no easy feat. Is there hope for Georgia to find happiness in the wake of heartbreak?

Heart of Palm


Laura Lee Smith - 2013
    Once enlivened by the trade in Palm Sunday palms and moonshine, Utina hasn’t seen economic growth in decades, and no family is more emblematic of the local reality than the Bravos. Deserted by the patriarch years ago, the Bravos are held together in equal measure by love, unspoken blame, and tenuously brokered truces.The story opens on a sweltering July day, as Frank Bravo, dutiful middle son, is awakened by a distress call. Frank dreams of escaping to cool mountain rivers, but he’s only made it ten minutes from the family restaurant he manages every day and the decrepit, Spanish-moss-draped house he was raised in, and where his strong-willed mother and spitfire sister—both towering redheads, equally matched in stubbornness—are fighting another battle royale. Little do any of them know that Utina is about to meet the tide of development that has already engulfed the rest of Northeast Florida. When opportunity knocks, tempers ignite, secrets are unearthed, and each of the Bravos is forced to confront the tragedies of their shared past.Reminiscent of Kaye Gibbons, Lee Smith, Anne Tyler, and Fannie Flagg, Heart of Palm introduces Laura Lee Smith as a captivating new voice in American fiction.

The Empty Nesters


Carolyn Brown - 2019
    But none of the women are prepared when their daughters decide to enlist in the army together. Facing an empty nest won’t be easy. Especially for Carmen. With emotions already high, she suffers an even greater blow: divorce papers. Diana understands the fury and tears. She’s been there.With nothing to lose and no one at home, the girlfriends impulsively accept an unexpected offer from their elderly neighbor. The recently widowed Tootsie has an RV, a handsome nephew at the wheel, and an aim for tiny Scrap, Texas, to embrace memories of her late husband. Still grieving, she can use the company as a balm for her broken heart. So can the empty nesters.Embarking on a journey of hope, romance, and healing, Diana, Carmen, and Joanie are at a turning point in their lives. And with the open road ahead of them, it’s just the beginning.

The Story of Us


Dani Atkins - 2014
    But then a tragic accident changes everything, and introduces a stranger, Jack, into her life. Gorgeous and mysterious, Jack is like no-one Emma has met before. But Richard is the man she loves...Two different men. Two different destinies. How will Emma end her story?

The Authenticity Project


Clare Pooley - 2020
    But what if they were? And so he writes--in a plain, green journal--the truth about his own life and leaves it in his local café. It's run by the incredibly tidy and efficient Monica, who furtively adds her own entry and leaves the book in the wine bar across the street. Before long, the others who find the green notebook add the truths about their own deepest selves--and soon find each other in real life at Monica's café.The Authenticity Project's cast of characters--including Hazard, the charming addict who makes a vow to get sober; Alice, the fabulous mommy Instagrammer whose real life is a lot less perfect than it looks online; and their other new friends--is by turns quirky and funny, heartbreakingly sad and painfully true-to-life. It's a story about being brave and putting your real self forward--and finding out that it's not as scary as it seems. In fact, it looks a lot like happiness.The Authenticity Project is just the tonic for our times that readers are clamoring for--and one they will take to their hearts and read with unabashed pleasure.

The Seven Day Switch


Kelly Harms - 2021
    What a difference a week makes in a heartfelt, laugh-out-loud novel by the Washington Post bestselling author of The Overdue Life of Amy Byler.Celeste Mason is the Pinterest stay-at-home supermom of other mothers’ nightmares. Despite her all-organic, SunButter-loving, free-range kids, her immaculate home, and her volunteering awards, she still has time to relax with a nice glass of pinot at the end of the day. The only thing that ruins it all is her workaholic, career-obsessed neighbor, who makes no secret of what she thinks of Celeste’s life choices every chance she gets.Wendy Charles is a celebrated productivity consultant, columnist, and speaker. On a minute-by-minute schedule, she makes the working-mom hustle look easy. She even spends at least one waking hour a day with her kids. She’s not apologizing for a thing. Especially to Celeste, who plays her superior parenting against Wendy whenever she can.Who do Celeste and Wendy think they are? They’re about to find out thanks to one freaky week. After a neighborhood potluck and too much sangria, they wake up—um, what?—in each other’s bodies. Everything Celeste and Wendy thought they knew about the “other kind of mom” is flipped upside down—along with their messy, complicated, maybe not so different lives.

A Crowded Marriage


Catherine Alliott - 2006
    But that’s about to change...When the Camerons hit dire financial straits they’re forced to leave London and accept Eleanor Latimer’s offer of a rent-free cottage on her country estate. Ordinarily, such an offer is not to be sniffed at but, as Eleanor happens to be Alex’s beautiful, rich and frankly flirtatious ex, Imogen is very sniffy indeed.And with good reason. Once installed in Shepherd’s Cottage, Imogen’s life is suddenly full to bursting with surly locals, psychotic chickens, a maddening (if handsome) headmaster, mountains of manure, visits from the infuriatingly bossy vet, and Eleanor, who seems to be glued to Alex’s side.As far as Imogen’s concerned, two’s a marriage, three’s a family and this...well, this is just silly, someone’s going to have to go. The question is who?

Only For You


E.L. Todd - 2013
    Penelope was the love of his life, the woman of his dreams. Scarlet knew how far her best friend was going to fall and she had to catch him. Scarlet became Sean’s rock and helped him through a very painful breakup, but her own hidden desires bubbled to the surface in the process. When they finally gave in and slept together, she thought it was the start of their new relationship. Unfortunately, Sean didn’t feel the same.Humiliated and heartbroken, Scarlet moved across the country and found what she least expected. She rekindled her damaged relationship with her brother, who she hadn’t spoken to in a year, and her brother’s best friend was attractive and interesting. Their relationship was natural and unforced, and she was immediately drawn to him. Would she be able to get over Sean, forget about him, by sleeping with Cortland, or would that just be another repeated mistake?THIS IS NOT A CLIFFHANGER*Recommended for mature audiences 17+ due to strong language and sexual content.*

The Girl in Seat 24B


Jennifer Peel - 2014
    Her journalist husband and her two adorable children were everything to her. But soon she would find out that her dream life didn't fall in line with her husband's expectations. Left alone to sort out the pieces of her crumbling life, Carly finds strength in her children and her growing relationship with her in-laws. Most importantly, she finds her greatest strength as she builds a friendship with herself. This is a beautiful story of one woman's strength and determination as she finds the will to move forward and be happy while the life she had grown to love crumbles around her. It is a story of a man who has lost his way and may lose it all if he can't find his way back. The Girl in Seat 24B is a story of love and forgiveness.

The Year I Met You


Cecelia Ahern - 2014
    Two, she's only ever been good at one thing – her job helping business start-ups.So when she’s sacked and put on gardening leave, Jasmine realises that she has nothing else to fill her life. Insomnia keeps her staring out of her bedroom window, and she finds herself watching the antics of her neighbour, shock jock Matt, with more than a casual eye. Matt is also taking a forced leave of absence from work, after one of his controversial chat shows went too far…Jasmine has every reason to dislike Matt, and the feeling appears to be mutual. But not everything is as it seems, and soon Jasmine and Matt are forced to think again…

You Had Me At Hello


Mhairi McFarlane - 2012
    Ben and Rachel. It was them against the world. Until it all fell apart.It’s been a decade since they last spoke, but when Rachel bumps into Ben one rainy day, the years melt away.From the moment they met they’d been a gang of two; partners in crime and the best of friends. But life has moved on. Ben is married. Rachel is definitely not. In fact, the men in her life make her want to take holy orders…Yet in that split second, Rachel feels the old friendship return. And along with it, the broken heart she’s never been able to mend.If you love David Nicholls and Lisa Jewell then this is the book for you. Hilarious, heartbreaking and everything in between, you’ll be hooked from their first ‘hello’.

The One Real Thing


Samantha Young - 2016
    Loss and betrayal taught her that lesson long ago. But when she comes across a set of old love letters in the prison’s library and visits the picturesque town of Hartwell to deliver them to their intended recipient, she finds herself unable to resist the town’s charm—and her attraction to the sexy owner of a local bar proves equally hard to deny.Since his divorce from his unfaithful ex-wife, Cooper Lawson has focused on what really matters: his family and the boardwalk pub they’ve owned for generations. But the first time Jessica steps into his bar, Cooper is beyond tempted to risk his heart on her. Yet as their attraction grows hotter and Jessica remains stubbornly closed off, he begins to realize it will take more than just passion to convince her there’s only one real thing in life worth fighting for….