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Mums@Home


Sophie King - 2006
    At first they are cynical about the site - how can faceless people possibly help or understand what they are going through? But as the weeks pass and their family problems escalate, each of them begins to realise that Mums@Home has become a lifeline - somewhere to go for advice, to be heard, to escape, or to belong...Sophie King captures the zeitgeist once again with this warm, moving and engaging look at modern parenting and finding friends.

Life, Part 2: Lydia's Story--The Second Chance


S.W. Hubbard - 2019
     When she married a much older man, Lydia took a shortcut from grad student to middle-aged matron. Do not pass go. Do not drink jug wine or buy Ikea bookshelves. Now Lydia finds herself a 45-year-old widow. She’s got a suburban McMansion she doesn’t want, a hole in her day where her job used to be, and a bunch of married-couple friends eligible for Social Security. Lydia wants to start over and recapture the endless possibilities life offers at age 25. She adopts a shelter dog with issues. Buys a charming little starter home on the verge of collapse. And accepts a job she doesn’t know how to do. Lydia soon learns that youth isn’t for the faint-hearted. Her dead husband is trying to control her future through the terms of his will. And her impulsive decisions may cost her some new friendships she can’t bear to lose. But with the help of a quirky dog trainer, a hilarious colleague, and a hunky young carpenter, Lydia may get a second chance at the life she missed.

The Christmas Contract


Jan Romes - 2013
    While he's generous with his money, he also makes the community work for it. He's the same with his family. No free handouts. What he gives has strings attached. Dax decides it's time for his fiercely independent, almost-thirty year old granddaughters to settle down. He wants them to find love and give him great-grandchildren before his lights go out. And he knows how to make it happen. Prompted by love, guilt and a desire to own their own business, the Dawson triplets -- Joy, Noelle and Christi -- enter into a Christmas contract that will change their lives forever. Finding true love is a unique adventure, so each girl has their own story. The outcome for all three, however, funnels into one giant happily-ever-after.

The Dog's Bollocks


Lynda Renham - 2013
    Feisty and with a great sense of humour, she has some fabulous one liners and is a great main character for this book. Unfortunately she is partnered with a bit of a smarmy loser, Julian, who has done the dirty on her big time but not in the way you might think. Having given up on her dream to nurse in underprivileged areas abroad in order to support Julian in his new venture, and having to work in a launderette whilst trying to keep up with her studies, Harriet is frustrated and just trying to make the best of a bad situation a situation that is going to get a whole lot worse. In the meantime the very rich and pompous Hamilton Lancaster is in a fix as he is desperate to inherit his grandmothers shares but has to show himself to be responsibly settling down as soon as possible in order to do so. After all, his grandmother only has six months to live.... A chance meeting at a mutual friend s wedding leads to Harriet receiving a very interesting proposition and while she feels uncomfortable with it it could solve her increasingly mounting problems. What could go wrong? And who is the very gorgeous guy she also met at the wedding who caused her to tingle in all sorts of places?! This was an hilarious read. Harriet s character is brilliant and she had me in stitches. She is very much your normal average girl thrust into a ridiculous situation and trying to muddle her way through it. Just when you think things can t get any worse they do. Initially I felt sorry for her as she is seemingly blinded by her love for Julian but thankfully as events transpire she comes to realise that what she thought was love, really isn t at all. More a relationship of convenience and mostly convenient for Julian. There is a delightful selection of characters from the faithful and all over the place best friend Fi and her stuttering boyfriend Alistair, who is the butt of many a joke, to the bumbling wannabe East End gangsters and the very upper class family to which Hamilton belongs and who are all hiding secrets of their own. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A carefully written story with many intricacies woven in and yet told in such a witty and relaxed style that as the reader I was pulled in and kept there wanting to keep turning the page to find out what was going to happen next. Verdict: I was already a fan of Lynda Renham having read and enjoyed Pink Wellies and Flat Caps , Wedding Cake to Turin and Coconuts and Wonderbras . Her latest release therefore, The Valentines Present has firmly established her as one of my favorite authors. --BigBookLittleBook.comProduct DescriptionOn arriving home after a friend’s posh wedding, launderette worker Harriet finds her life irrevocably changed as she discovers her flat ransacked and her boyfriend missing. In a matter of hours she is harassed by East End gangsters and upper crust aristocrats. Accepting an offer she can’t refuse, Harriet, against her better judgement becomes the fiancée of the wealthy Hamilton Lancaster, with dire consequences. What she had not bargained on was meeting Doctor Brice Edmunds. The Dog’s Bollocks is Lynda Renham’s funniest novel so far. A cocktail of misunderstandings, three unlikely gangsters, a monkey and a demented cat make this novel a hysterical read. Follow Harriet’s adventure where every attempt to get out of trouble puts her deeper in it. THE DOG'S BOLLOCKS WAS PREVIOUSLY NAMED 'THE VALENTINE PRESENT AND OTHER DIABOLICAL LIBERTIES'.

Flabbergasted


Ray Blackston - 2003
    What he finds is a lovely-yet-unusual missionary with a warped sense of humor and a wicked throwing arm. She and a wacky assortment of friends turn Jay's perceptions of life upside down, launching events that leave him and those around him thoroughly Flabbergasted.By the way, when relational gumbo is on the menu, a South Carolina beach makes for great mood lighting.

Up Island and Low Country


Anne Rivers Siddons - 2006
    Now two of the author's most beloved and critically acclaimed masterworks have been combined in one volume.In Up Island, Molly Bell Redwine -- who has always believed that "family is everything" -- is abruptly set adrift by the abandonment of a faithless husband, the death of her domineering mother, and the scattering of her Atlanta clan. Taking refuge with a friend on Martha's Vineyard, Molly's search for strength and a new identity must sustain her through the harsh island winter until she finds renewal in the healing spring.Low Country is the story of Caroline Venable, wealthy, pampered, and dutiful Southern wife, who must make hard decisions and reimagine the life she's never questioned when the beloved wild island that is her heritage and her refuge is suddenly threatened.

While You Walked By


Regina Felty - 2020
    A FINALIST and highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf Book AwardsA young homeless boy. An old man who had lost everything. An unlikely friendship that brought healing to both.Ben doesn’t know what to think when a homeless boy shows up late one night behind Angelo’s Bakery where he works as a handyman. He’d seen his share of suffering humanity on the streets of Philadelphia, but there was something about this boy—so young, so vulnerable. Pushing sixty and feeling as if his life has no purpose, Ben struggles with his own problems. A recovering alcoholic, he is gripped with remorse over the loss of his wife and son, but determined to stay sober. Twelve-year-old Aden starts to run when an old man comes out of Angelo’s Bakery and catches him hiding, but something about the man draws Aden to him. Terrified and naive to life on the streets, Aden was forced to forge his own survival in the face of dangerous predators and violence after his mother abandoned him almost a year ago. Can Aden trust the gentle old man who offers him food and a hand of friendship? Will Ben be able to forgive himself and look for his son? While You Walked By delivers a heartfelt, coming-of-age story about the hope that can be found even in the most desperate circumstances.

A Secret Worth Keeping


Lakisha Johnson - 2013
    They are all career women with different businesses or careers, husbands and even children but something is missing, something they can't find at home, in a store or even in a book. So, they search for this missing piece in the beds, arms, cars, offices and even in storage rooms of other men who don't mind paying for what Dem Dam Divas can offer. They enjoy the thrill of sneaking, creeping and even vacationing on someone else's dime but what happens when it all becomes too much? From being found guilty with no evidence, secretly wanting someone who doesn't want you, loving only to not be loved back, caught up in a dream that you're about to be awaken from; will it be worth it in the end? Will their secret lives be revealed and will it become too much to handle? Will they regret their actions or stand by them? Will they finally question whether this secret is really worth keeping?

You Found Me: New beginnings, second chances, one gripping family drama


Virginia Macgregor - 2018
    They ask him if he's okay. But he doesn't know. He doesn't know the answer to any of their questions - not even his name. Isabel takes him to the hospital she works at, but when the tests show there's nothing physically wrong, she realises she can't walk away. She promised River that they would help this man, but with no way to identify him, Isabel worries about what secrets his memory loss might be hiding. Can they trust him? ? Virginia Macgregor, 2018 (p) Oakhill, 2019

Right Before Your Eyes


Ellen Shanman - 2007
    So why, nearly a decade later, is she still waiting for her “real” life to finally begin? But like any great drama, Liza’s life only needs one good twist. And that’s what happens when she turns her ankle on the way out of a downtown nightspot and falls into the arms of a suspiciously gallant Wall Street prince and a practically perfect ER doc. Suddenly Liza not only has a couple of men in her life, but her play has fallen into the hands of a über-hip theater director. Now Liza’s about to discover how much mess she can make of a seemingly good thing…and how terrifying, slightly tragic, and utterly hilarious a little success can be.

The Fabric of Us


Kimberly Wenzler - 2018
    Their children are settled; Ella is married and planning a family and Nick is starting his senior year at college. After thirty years of sacrifices and struggles for their family, it is finally time to do all the things they've dreamed to do as a couple.Always unpredictable, life has other plans for the Bennets when Olivia gets shocking news that threatens all that she and Chris have built together.* * *Alternating between the past and present, THE FABRIC OF US beautifully unfolds the layers of a devoted marriage, exposing an interwoven thread of secrets and consequences that threaten to unravel a relationship once believed to be built on love, trust and faith.

Three Nights in New York


Michelle Jackson - 2009
    As a director of Just for Coffee dating agency she reckons you need the correct profile and bank balance to find love. Fate, however, does not agree!This is single mum Nicky’s first time in New York and she has come to shop! But she gets more than she bargains for! For Rachel it’s time out from her stressful marriage and a chance to visit her hunky brother Conor. A holiday fling is the last thing she needs. Until she meets sexy Alex who uncovers the dark secret she lives with in her cosy secure life back in Dublin.From the High Line to SoHo and the Boathouse to Chelsea – the magic of New York transforms their lives forever!

Nice Girls Finish First


Alesia Holliday - 2005
     Kirby Green didn't get to be a Vice President of Marketing by being nice. But when she fires her entire staff within a few weeks (they all deserved it, really), her new boss is hardly impressed. Wanting to prove his point, he issues a bet: If Kirby can get someone-anyone-to call her nice, she can take that long-awaited dream vacation to Italy with her best friend, Jules. If she can't, she can kiss the Coliseum goodbye. Oh, and her job too. Now Kirby has exactly thirty days to bully someone into saying she's nice-and to show her boss who's boss. If she doesn't fall hard for him first...

Spooky Little Girl


Laurie Notaro - 2010
    With her world spinning wildly out of her control, Lucy decides to make a new start and moves upstate to live with her sister and nephew.But then things take an even more dramatic turn: A fatal encounter with public transportation lands Lucy not in the hereafter but in the nearly hereafter. She’s back in school, learning the parameters of spooking and how to become a successful spirit in order to complete a ghostly assignment. If Lucy succeeds, she’s guaranteed a spot in the next level of the afterlife—but until then, she’s stuck as a ghost in the last place she would ever want to be.Trying to avoid being trapped on earth for all eternity, Lucy crosses the line between life and death and back again when she returns home. Navigating the perilous channels of the paranormal, she’s determined to find out why her life crumbled and why, despite her ghastly death, no one seems to have noticed she’s gone. But urgency on the spectral plane—in the departed person of her feisty grandmother, who is risking both their eternal lives—requires attention, and Lucy realizes that you get only one chance to be spectacular in death.

The Garden of Small Beginnings


Abbi Waxman - 2017
    One mental breakdown and some random suicidal thoughts later, she’s just starting to get the hang of this widow thing. She can now get her two girls to school, show up to work, and watch TV like a pro. The only problem is she’s becoming overwhelmed with being underwhelmed. At least her textbook illustrating job has some perks—like actually being called upon to draw whale genitalia. Oh, and there’s that vegetable-gardening class her boss signed her up for. Apparently, being the chosen illustrator for a series of boutique vegetable guides means getting your hands dirty, literally. Wallowing around in compost on a Saturday morning can’t be much worse than wallowing around in pajamas and self-pity. After recruiting her kids and insanely supportive sister to join her, Lilian shows up at the Los Angeles botanical garden feeling out of her element. But what she’ll soon discover—with the help of a patient instructor and a quirky group of gardeners—is that into every life a little sun must shine, whether you want it to or not…READERS GUIDE INCLUDED*HelloGiggles**Bustle