Perfect for fans of Trisha Ashley and Katie Fforde. Succumbing to a rather clichéd midlife crisis, Dan Haywood swaps his family for an expensive red sports car and a younger woman. After 24 years of marriage, his wife Sarah is left to pick up the pieces. Trying her best to re-style her life, comfort hurt children, make time for 'helpful' friends and maintain her burgeoning career as a dress designer, Sarah feels pulled in a hundred directions. And it doesn't help that obstacles – mostly in the form of other middle-aged men – seem to conspire against her. Proud of herself for moving house and starting to build an independent life, she is shocked when Robert Maynard, her rather dashing new next-door neighbour, insists that the house was promised to him. Now she is destined to be pulled into his life by events beyond her control. After one failed marriage, will she be able to find happiness again? And do second chances really come to those who wait? This book was previously published as The Orchid Lover under the name Mary De Laszlo.

     But, too valuable to discard and too dangerous to set free, an old friend offers him a choice: abandon his identity and become a desk-bound advisor to the National Crime Agency, or go back to the prison he broke out of – a place where he is extremely unpopular. Bracken is forced to accept – and he’s becoming a different man. But all this changes when, days before Christmas, an undercover narcotics officer is murdered in horrific circumstances, and only Bracken has the inside track on the key suspect. Throwing himself into the fray, Bracken finds himself in a very present-day ideological conflict, uncovering a plot which has huge implications for both Manchester’s political, socio-economic landscape, and the nation at large – coming to an explosive conclusion amidst the twinkling fairy lights and frost-tipped boughs of Christmas Eve... Praise for Till Morning is Nigh: ‘Rob Parker has an astute and humorous turn of phrase that never fails to make me smile. A pacy, intriguing, topical plot showing us the softer side of our dutiful, perpetually conflicted ex-soldier Ben Bracken’ - Heleen Kist, Stay Mad, Sweetheart ‘A cracking, pacy blockbuster of a thriller and with its Christmas setting it’s the perfect gift for your crime-loving friends’ - Trevor Wood, The Man On The Street ‘Till Morning Is Nigh, with themes of how populism is the red meat the far right feeds on, is Parker’s most thoughtful novel yet. Layered, well-researched and with a sparkling narrative, this is an author at the very top of his game. Thoroughly recommended’ - M.W. Craven, author of the Washington Poe series ‘Love Reacher? You’ll adore Bracken; Till Morning is Nigh is a gripper you won’t be able to put down.’ Roger A. Price, author of The Badge and the Pen series.

    Be financially responsible. Be your best self. An overworked graphic designer, she’s stretched so thin that she’s about to miss yet another vacation with her beloved group of college friends. But when Liv finally decides to start saying no, it feels good…good enough to leap straight into quitting her job and hopping on a plane to join them in South Africa.Amid the exotic landscape and unforgettable sights, Liv expects sun and safari animals and an easy time with her best friends. But such close proximity makes everything more complicated, especially with the emotionally unavailable Lucas Deiss. Their friendship is the only thing in her life that's still solid, and she vows to do anything she can to keep the group together. But once they get back to L.A., Liv discovers that her leap of faith has become a freefall, sending her crashing into Deiss's arms. With the trust of the people she loves most on the line, Liv must decide between doing what she should … and risking everything for what she shouldn’t want.

    She's an oracle, telling them how to live their lives, how to be happy, how to find and honour their 'truth'. And her career is booming: she's just hit three million followers, her new book Chaste has gone straight to the top of the bestseller lists and she's appearing at sell-out events. Determined to speak her truth and bare all to her adoring fans, she's written an essay about her sexual awakening as a teenager, with her female best friend, Lisa. She's never told a soul but now she's telling the world. The essay goes viral.But then - years since they last spoke - Lisa gets in touch to say that she doesn't remember it that way at all. Her memory of that night is far darker. It's Sam's word against Lisa's - so who gets to tell the story? Whose 'truth' is really a lie? 'You put yourself on that pedestal, Samantha. You only have yourself to blame.'Riveting, compulsive and bold, IDOL interrogates our relationship with our heroes and explores the world of online influencers, asking how well we can ever really know those whose carefully curated profiles we follow online. And it asks us to consider how two memories of the same event can differ, and how effortlessly we choose which stories to believe.

    But when school begins on September 21st, everything goes wrong. She’s humiliated by the know-it-all in her physics class, she botches her interview for the college paper, and at a party that night, she accidentally sets a frat on fire. She panics and flees, and when she realizes her roommate locked her out of their dorm, she falls asleep in the common room. The next morning, Barrett’s perplexed to find herself back in her dorm room bed, no longer smelling of ashes and crushed dreams. It’s September 21st. Again. And after a confrontation with Miles, the guy from Physics 101, she learns she’s not alone—he’s been trapped for months. When her attempts to fix her timeline fail, she agrees to work with Miles to find a way out. Soon they’re exploring the mysterious underbelly of the university and going on wild, romantic adventures. As they start falling for each other, they face the universe’s biggest unanswered question yet: what happens to their relationship if they finally make it to tomorrow?

    More importantly, it'll grant her control over her life, something she's craved for years. But an incident with a rising pop star has gone viral, unfairly putting her deal in jeopardy. Concerned about her image, she's instructed to work on generating some positive publicity... or else.A brilliant professor and reclusive royal, Prince Jameson prefers life out of the spotlight, only leaving his ivory tower to attend weddings or funerals. But with the Queen's children involved in one scandal after another, and Parliament questioning the viability of the monarchy, the Queen is desperate. In a quest for good press, she puts Jameson in charge of a tribute concert in her late husband's honor. Out of his depth, and resentful of being called to service, he takes the advice of a student. After all, what's more appropriate for a royal concert than a performer named "Duchess"?Too late, Jameson discovers the American rapper is popular, sexy, raunchy and not what the Queen wanted, although he's having an entirely different reaction. Dani knows this is the good exposure she needs to cement her deal and it doesn't hurt that the royal running things is fine as hell. Thrown together, they give in to the explosive attraction flaring between them. But as the glare of the limelight intensifies and outside forces try to interfere, will the Prince and Duchess be a fairy tale romance for the ages or a disaster of palatial proportions?

    With no training, no plan, and no idea about the benefits of Lycra, the ride was destined for misadventure.But the men had a purpose, and despite the odds, they survived three countries, thirteen pub-crawls, two storms, and one memorable night in a youth hostel. These 'end-to-enders' also learnt a thing or two about broken spokes.890 miles and twenty years later, it's time to tell their story. For one of the riders, it's a story that changed his life.

    But when she starts receiving notes, she knows her perfect life is under threat. She thought she’d managed to put the past behind her, but someone seems determined to reveal her secret.Meanwhile, girls are vanishing in the area and Olivia fears for her family’s safety.Has someone discovered the real reason she left Scotland all those years ago?And does her secret have links to the recent disappearances? When someone is out to get you, is there anywhere you can hide? Fractured Winter is a compelling and suspenseful psychosocial mystery it will appeal to fans of authors like LJ Ross, Lesley Kara and Faith Martin.

    Fresh out of nursing school, Civil Townsend has big plans to make a difference, especially in her African American community. At the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, she intends to help women make their own choices for their lives and bodies.But when her first week on the job takes her down a dusty country road to a worn down one-room cabin, she’s shocked to learn that her new patients are children—just 11 and 13 years old. Neither of the Williams sisters has even kissed a boy, but they are poor and Black and for those handling the family’s welfare benefits that’s reason enough to have the girls on birth control. As Civil grapples with her role, she takes India, Erica and their family into her heart. Until one day, she arrives at the door to learn the unthinkable has happened and nothing will ever be the same for any of them. Decades later, with her daughter grown and a long career in her wake, Dr. Civil Townsend is ready to retire, to find her peace and to leave the past behind. But there are people and stories that refuse to be forgotten.That must not be forgotten. Because history repeats what we don’t remember.

    Now all I can think is, "These are the hands that buried my mother."For Ning, the only thing worse than losing her mother is knowing that it's her own fault. She was the one who unknowingly brewed the poison tea that killed her—the poison tea that now threatens to also take her sister, Shu.When Ning hears of a competition to find the kingdom's greatest shennong-shi—masters of the ancient and magical art of tea-making—she travels to the imperial city to compete. The winner will receive a favor from the princess, which may be Ning's only chance to save her sister's life. But between the backstabbing competitors, bloody court politics, and a mysterious (and handsome) boy with a shocking secret, Ning might actually be the one in more danger.

    But despite moving up the corporate ladder, her complicated relationship with her estranged elderly father weighs heavily and she can't seem to shake the desire for a new beginning.At least Cadence can always lean on her favorite co-worker and co-conspirator, Matt Escanilla. A top broker with an unsuccessful love life, the forever single Matt is constantly being nagged by his loving Filipino family to settle down.Their relationship takes a turn when a business trip lands them both in their hometown and Matt enlists Cadence as a pretend girlfriend for a family gathering. The new after-hours setting forces the two friends to see each other in a new light, and their previously buried feelings rise quickly to the surface. When competing promotions threaten to separate Cadence and Matt, these office besties must work together to round up their ambitions and families to pursue their overdue romance.

    

    . . and your secrets closer. Four years ago, Brynn left Saint Ambrose School following the shocking murder of her favorite teacher—a story that made headlines after the teacher’s body was found by three Saint Ambrose students in the woods behind their school. The case was never solved. Now that Brynn is moving home and starting her dream internship at a true-crime show, she’s determined to find out what really happened. The kids who found Mr. Larkin are her way in, and her ex–best friend, Tripp Talbot, was one of them. Without his account of events, the other two kids might have gone down for Mr. Larkin’s murder. They've never forgotten what Tripp did for them that day. Just like he hasn’t forgotten that everything he told the police was a lie. Digging into the past is bound to shake up the present, and as Brynn begins to investigate what happened in the woods that day, she begins to uncover secrets that might change everything—about Saint Ambrose, about Mr. Larkin, and about her ex-best friend, Tripp Talbot. Four years ago someone got away with murder. The most terrifying part is that they never left.

    When she comes home to lick her wounds, Jada finds herself working at San Diego's newest cupcake bakery, Sugar Blitz, alongside the uptight owner and professional football player Donovan Dell. When a reporter mistakenly believes Jada and Donovan are an item, they realize they can use the misunderstanding to their advantage to help the struggling bakery and rehabilitate Jada's image. Faking a relationship should be simple, but sometimes love is the most unexpected ingredient. Fake it Till You Bake It is a sweet confection of a novel, the perfect story to curl up with and enjoy with a cupcake on the side.

    Shapiro gives the reader a bit of mystery, a bit of romance, a ghost story and social history both contemporary and pre-Civil War. The diary of Sarah Harden provides insight into the courage, convictions and trials endured by Underground Railroad sympathizers in Lexington, Mass., while a parallel story marks the progress (or lack of) that haunts Lee Seymour, a descendant of the Hardens, a proud abolitionist family. As Sarah's diary reveals details of the tragic love that developed between her and a runaway slave, Silas Person, in the late 1850s, Lee is busy helping her grandmother oversee the paperwork, repairs and reconstruction necessary to have Harden House made part of the Harriet Tubman Network to Freedom National Park. Assisting Lee is Trina Collins, a recovering addict from the Cambridge rehabilitation center where Lee works, SafeHaven. Activities both ghostly and human affect the progress being made on Harden House, and the violent past hidden for more than 100 years seems to have given birth to a new cycle of violence. An effective writer, Shapiro handles the strains of her story quite well, though her reliance on the paranormal aspects of her plot may not appeal to mystery purists. Agent, Nancy Yost.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.