A partner she loves, five amazing kids and a house by the sea. But life is never simple and there is more than a little emotional baggage coming along for the ride.Starting with that tw*t of an ex-husband who doesn't pull his weight. Then there's the untrained puppy, the work/life balance, a custody battle for the children and all the everyday ups and downs and chaos of being a patchwork family.Surrounded by family dramas and mums who seem to have all their sh*t together, Jo must find a way to make friends and make it work in this new town.Barbecues on the beach and dog walks open up new conversations, but as Jo gets to know everyone better, the picture perfect families might be in need of more help than she first thought...When normal is not an option, surprises can lead to a different kind of happy family.

    For Lily and Jack, that moment comes when their baby daughter, home alone with Lily, pulls a pot of boiling water off the stove and suffers terrible burns. It is an accident, but the state suspects abuse and takes temporary custody of the child.To win her back, Lily and Jack must prove to strangers that they are good parents and that their daughter belongs with them and their two sons. They must convince others even as they struggle to once again believe it themselves...even as they begin to fall away from each other just when they most need to be together.Rachel Basch's remarkable debut is an eloquent and touching story about family and individuality, guilt and blame, and how love can fail us or save us, often to our great surprise. It is a book to be cherished, a rich novel that will linger in every reader's mind and heart.

    Born to poverty and limited opportunities, they're able nonetheless to enjoy the largely innocent pleasures of childhood, but the adult world around them inevitably impinges. The narrator's elder sister falls pregnant and is sent to Ireland to have and give up the child; newcomer Tony and his mum are in danger of real violence at the hands of Tony's violent Polish stepfather; and no child who plays the part of altar boy at the chapel wants to be left alone with the local priest. Observant, clear-sighted in its portrayal of the darker side of life yet utterly warm-hearted, Spit Against the Wind reminds us of the wonders of childhood without sentimentality but with gentle humor and great charm.

    Everyone dismisses her long-term dream to live in Italy as another ‘mad hippy whim.’ While she’s busy planning other people’s happy endings, grief, eviction and debt nip at her heels. Trying to stabilise her life as an entrepreneur in the middle of an economic crash is almost impossible.When her landlord suddenly doubles the rent, Rosie is left with no choice but to pack up her family, two dogs and possessions into a 20-year-old camper van and head off in search of her own happy ending in sunny Italy.She soon discovers integrating into life in a new country isn’t as easy as it looks on TV, especially when the language is a minefield of accidental sexual innuendo. And trying to buy an abandoned villa in Umbria from eight crazy cousins with a longstanding family battle bubbling under the surface doesn’t make it any easier. While Rosie is determined to create the perfect life for her family in Italy, despite a hurricane, a raucous family dispute and a little thing called a global pandemic to top it all off, she begins to realise that the Italian dream may be too big for her. Will she ever get to live her rosy life in Italy? Or has she bitten off more than she can chew?

    Meet Magdalena as she prepares for the birth of her first child, knowing her family are in another country - but will her fiancé surprise her for Christmas? Share memories of treasured tree decorations and the stories they hold. Delight as Irene remembers her husband on Valentine's Day and fate finds a way to remind her of the love they shared. Cheer along with Sophie as she finally finds the courage to deal with a fairweather friend, and laugh as a grandmother receives a visit from her granddaughter - only to turn the tables on her and show her who is boss! Lose yourself in sublime storytelling - the perfect gift for readers everywhere.

    Particularly by Stephen, one of the directors.But despite her newfound confidence, when things start to go wrong, Sophie can’t help wondering whether she’s lost a bit of herself along the way.

    THE QUEEN OF FEEL-GOOD FICTION!'Every time you discover a new Milly book, it’s like finding a pot of gold'  Heat Four of Milly's bestselling seasonal titles - A Spring Affair, A Summer Fling, An Autumn Crush, A Winter Flame - in one exclusive ebook edition, with an introduction from Milly on the inspiration behind the novels.

    

    But as a penniless and partnerless house-painter with an expired lease on her flat and a twelve-year-old daughter, she could hardly turn down her parents' offer to take them on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Caribbean. She'd just have to put up with her sister Theresa (making no secret of preferring Tuscany as a holiday destination) and brother Simon (worrying that there might be some sinister agenda behind their parents' wish to take them all away) with their various spouses, teenagers, young children and au pair. In a luxury hotel, with bright sunshine, swimming, diving, glorious food and friendly locals, any family tensions should have melted away in the fabulous heat. The children should have been angelic, the teenagers cheerful, the adults relaxed and happy. But...some problems just refuse to be left at home.

    Only Alison is now desperately ill and she needs Fran's help. She wants to find her husband a new wife, and leave her young daughter with a new mother. Fran finds the whole idea deeply uncomfortable, but it's hard to refuse your closest friend at the best of times, let alone ignore her dying wishes.So Fran reluctantly logs on to an internet dating site, where she stumbles across a startlingly familiar profile. 'Footloose' describes himself as divorced, but his photo looks exactly like Fran's husband, Max. What's a wife to do when she suspects her husband's cheating and can't bear to confront him outright? Posing as 'Sassy', Fran sends a reply to 'Footloose' and sets out to date her own husband... But this increasingly crazy plan leads Max to start to have doubts of his own. Torn between suspicion and love, life for Fran just got very complicated - can her marriage survive?

    She hopes a combination of countryside and coast will heal her shattered heart. But she has yet to face tyrannical Tilly Barwise; the 89-year-old she will be looking after. Sharp, cantankerous and with an acid tongue, Tilly is the polar opposite of a sweet old lady. She has lived a thrillingly full life of romance and intrigue - and is determined shy Ava will follow in her doddering footsteps.Through Tilly's outrageous antics and bittersweet reminiscences, she shows Ava what it is to embrace life. As the pair form an unlikely bond, Tilly reveals the details of a wartime love affair with an American that ended in tragedy - but not quite in the way Tilly always believed.M J Greenwood has drawn a rich, funny, and poignant portrait of two women reluctantly bound by circumstance amid a landscape that retains a unique beauty, even in the midst of unwelcome change.

    Brokenhearted and emotionally abandoned by her mother, Hillary consoles herself with city boy Miles, and at sixteen finds herself pregnant and a shame to her family. With few choices available to her—her parents won’t help her raise the child and the baby’s father doesn’t offer any support—she gives her baby boy up for adoption. Hillary endures the next eighteen years anticipating the day her natural-born son can legally contact her.  A touching portrait of a broken family, the effects of an adolescent’s life-altering decision, and survival after the ravages of devastating loss, B-Mother is an exquisitely realized drama featuring a cast of characters you won’t soon forget.

    Mattie Sylvester, a widow of one of America's most celebrated painters, reveals the sordid truth of the past, and of her husband, to her secretary.

    So I’m relieved when he has to work over the holidays.All I want is a low-key Christmas in Alabama with my family. Well, that and the snow I believe is coming. My perfect holiday is ruined the moment Collins shows up in my mama’s kitchen … escorted by my county sheriff ex-boyfriend.I can honestly say I haven’t been this surprised since my cousin went to jail.Collins might be a successful surgeon in Atlanta, but I doubt he can last a few days in the small town of Wisteria, Alabama. However, if our love can withstand my gun-slinging, hog-killing family, then I’m sure we’re destined to be together.We just have to make it through Christmas.

    But six months later, time is running out and Sara turns to the one man she shouldn't--insurance investigator Morgan Daniels. Dangerously attractive, he's a threat to more than just her heart, and if she isn't careful, he'll unearth secrets better left buried. Proving Sara murdered her husband is Morgan's top priority. Helping her find her child is the perfect opportunity to get the proof he needs. But when he starts to think of her as a woman rather than a suspect, she slips under his armor. He can't trust her. Worse, he can't trust himself around her. All evidence points to Sara as a murderer, but Morgan's gut tells him the evidence is wrong. Is his obsession with her blinding him to the facts? Or is the real murderer still out there--stalking Sara? This is a new release of a previously published edition.