Book picks similar to
The Diary of Madison Brown by S.J. Crabb
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The Santa Suit
Mary Kay Andrews
The Four Roses, as the farmhouse is called, is a labor of love--but Ivy didn't bargain on just how much labor. The previous family left so much furniture and so much junk, that it's a full-time job sorting through all of it.At the top of a closet, Ivy finds an old Santa suit--beautifully made and decades old. In the pocket of a suit she finds a note written in a childish hand: it's from a little girl who has one Christmas wish, and that is for her father to return home from the war. This discovery sets Ivy off on a mission. Who wrote the note? Did the man ever come home? What mysteries did the Rose family hold?Ivy's quest brings her into the community, at a time when all she wanted to do was be left alone and nurse her wounds. But the magic of Christmas makes miracles happen, and Ivy just might find more than she ever thought possible: a welcoming town, a family reunited, a mystery solved, and a second chance at love.
Letting In Light
Emma Davies - 2014
Putting her life back together after a break-up is going to take time, but the crumbling country estate—as much in need of TLC as she is—seems the perfect place to do it.But Ellie is not the only person for whom Rowan Hill is a refuge. There’s Will, damaged and complicated, whose secrets almost nobody knows. And Finn, his brother, who’s finally decided to stop running from his own past. As Ellie is drawn further into saving the estate, she can’t help but try saving the brothers too—and she’s sure she knows just how to go about it. The trouble is, she’s been accused of meddling before…By turns heartwarming and heartbreaking, this story of friendship, forgiveness and unexpected romance reveals the lies we tell to hide dark secrets—and what can happen when we let in a little light.
The Royal We
Heather Cocks - 2015
I guess it depends on what I do next."American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister, Lacey, has always been the romantic who fantasized about glamour and royalty, fame and fortune. Yet it's Bex who seeks adventure at Oxford and finds herself living down the hall from Prince Nicholas, Great Britain's future king. And when Bex can't resist falling for Nick, the person behind the prince, it propels her into a world she did not expect to inhabit, under a spotlight she is not prepared to face.Dating Nick immerses Bex in ritzy society, dazzling ski trips, and dinners at Kensington Palace with him and his charming, troublesome brother, Freddie. But the relationship also comes with unimaginable baggage: hysterical tabloids, Nick's sparkling and far more suitable ex-girlfriends, and a royal family whose private life is much thornier and more tragic than anyone on the outside knows. The pressures are almost too much to bear, as Bex struggles to reconcile the man she loves with the monarch he's fated to become.Which is how she gets into trouble.Now, on the eve of the wedding of the century, Bex is faced with whether everything she's sacrificed for love-her career, her home, her family, maybe even herself-will have been for nothing.
Getting Over It
Anna Maxted - 2000
She's a lowly assistant editor at GirlTime magazine, she drives an ancient Toyota, and she has a history of choosing men who fall several thousand feet below acceptable boyfriend standard. Not to mention that she shares an apartment with a scruffy , tactless roommate, her best girlfriends are a little too perfect, and the most affectionate male in her life—her cat, Fatboy—occasionally pees in her underwear draw.Then Helen gets the telephone call she least expects: Her father has had a massive heart attack. Initially brushing off his death as merely an interruption in her already chaotic life (they were never very close, after all), Helen is surprised to find everything else starting to crumble around her. Her pushy mother is coming apart at the seams, a close friend might be heading toward tragedy, and, after the tequila incident, it looks as though Tom the vet will be sticking with Dalmatians. Turns out getting over it isn't going to be quite as easy as she thought.
The Happy Home for Broken Hearts
Rowan Coleman - 2010
But her reality is somewhat less rose-tinted. Once upon a time, Ellie had her 'happily ever after' moment when she married her beloved Nick, but fifteen years later her husband's tragic death leaves her alone with their soon-to-become-a-teenager son, faced with a mountain of debt, and on the verge of losing the family home.On the brink of bankruptcy, Ellie finally succumbs to her sister's well-meant bullying and decides to rent out some rooms. And all too soon the indomitable Allegra with her love for all things lavender, Sabine on secondment from Berlin and estranged from her two-timing husband, and unreconstructed lads' mag aficionado Matt enter her ordered but fragile existence - each with their own messy life in tow. And Ellie finds herself forced to step out of the pages of the romantic novels she hides behind, and learn to live - and love - again.Maybe a new chapter is about to begin for them all...
Another Woman's Child
Kerry Fisher - 2020
With a busy job, a husband and a teenage daughter who is going off the rails, keeping her life running smoothly had already felt hard enough.But now Jo sits at the funeral of her best friend, Ginny, crushed by the loss of a friendship that had endured for 30 years: from college and their first days at work through to settling down and raising their own children. Against her husband’s wishes, Jo has made a life-changing decision: to take in Ginny’s teenage son, Victor, and raise him as her own. Despite her misgivings, Jo feels she had no choice: Ginny was a single parent, and Victor had no other family who could take care of him. But Victor’s arrival is about to break open the fragile cracks that were already forming on the surface of Jo’s family life and in her small rural community ... and expose a secret that has remained hidden for many years, with devastating consequences.
Edie Browne’s Cottage by the Sea
Jane Linfoot - 2019
But when she falls head over champagne bucket while celebrating her successful landing, her life is changed in an instant. But starting over has its benefits, and as Edie relearns the basics under the watchful eye of her Aunty Josie and an entire Cornish village of new friends and neighbours, she finds love and joy she never could have imagined in the unlikeliest of places…
Rosie Meadows regrets...
Catherine Alliott - 1998
'Well. What could I say? If he was smitten then I could be too, and I sank back into the whole cosy relationship with a monumental sigh of relief. I didn't have to try too hard, didn't have to be too witty, too amusing, too beautiful... It was like landing on a feather mattress after all those years of being Out There.' Two years down the line, however, Rosie's beginning to think that 'cosy' isn't all it's cracked up to be. Bridge parties have never really been her thing, and it would be nice to feel beautiful just once in a while. Enough is enough. It's time to get her life back.
Happily Ever After
Harriet Evans - 2012
At twenty-two, Eleanor Bee is sure about three things: she wants to move to London and become a literary superstar; she wants to be able to afford to buy a coffee and croissant every morning; and after seeing what divorce did to her parents—especially her mum—she doesn’t believe in happy endings. Elle moves to London. She gets a job at Bluebird Books, a charmingly old-fashioned publisher. She falls out of bars, wears too-short skirts, makes lots of mistakes, and feels like she’s learning nothing and everything at the same time. And then, out of the blue, she falls in love, and that’s when she realizes just how much growing up she has to do. Ten years on, Elle lives in New York, and you could say she has found success; certainly her life has changed in ways she could never have predicted. But no matter where you go and how much you try to run away, the past has a funny way of catching up with you...
A House by the Sea
Elvi Rhodes - 2008
Friends, though sympathetic, have moved on, her daughter seems so far away and life just seems to be passing her by.
An impulsive moment sees her buying a dilapidated house in Brighton, a place that holds happy memories for her, and soon she is ensconced in a new life in her house by the sea.But these things are never that simple.Caroline's decision is met with outrage and incredulity from those who care about her and at times there seem to be insurmountable obstacles ahead.Can she overcome these difficulties, find happiness in her new life and even leave a little room for love?
What Became of You, My Love?
Maeve Haran - 2016
Stella Ainsworth has settled for suburban peace with a pedantic husband, a dissatisfied daughter and a clutch of beloved grandchildren - who all take her presence in their lives for granted.Then Cameron Keene, her boyfriend from her teenage years who'd left for America to become a rock icon of the Sixties, returns to England.Much to Stella's astonishment, Cameron announces in an interview that his most famous song, which became a legendary love anthem across the world, was written about Stella, and that he has come back to find her.What Became of You, My Love? explores the power of music to take us back to our youth, and asks if we can ever relive those giddy times when everything seemed possible
Love and Decay: Revolution, Volume Two
Rachel Higginson - 2016
But somebody’s got to do it. Page Parker finally convinced her family to return to the former United States and fight the battle she’s been dying to finish. She finally gets to hunt down the man she blames for so much evil and make him pay for his sins. They just have to travel across jungles and barren wastelands and survive Mexico first. When she finally reaches the Colony, she hopes to have all her family with her. She hopes Luke is who she remembers him to be. She hopes this war is everything she expects it to be. But the thing about the end of the world? Nothing ever goes like it should. Love and Decay: Revolution is a Dystopian Romance Novella Series about Zombies, the end of the world and finding someone to share it with. Every L&D Volume is a compilation of four episodes and approximately 80,000 words long. Look for Love and Decay: Revolution, Volume Three coming June 3rd, 2016.
Wedding bells at the Signal Box Cafe
Annette Hannah - 2020
After moving her eight-year-old son to the countryside she's surprised to find the perfect location and her best friend, Abbie, eager to help make that dream a reality! Too bad Abbie's older brother Dominic isn't keen on Lucy or their big idea!As a divorce lawyer Dominic doesn't believe in love at first sight or wedding vows, he's seen them broken more times than he can count. But when Lucy arrives back in town, his hardened heart begins to crack.Making her dream come true is a huge undertaking, but Lucy knows that The Signal Box Café is her chance to finally make something of her life. If only the irritating (and oh-so-gorgeous) Dom didn't make her imagine wearing a white dress and walking down the aisle...Can Lucy and Dominic find a way to each other this summer or will the wedding bells chime for another couple?
A Proposal to Die For
Vivian Conroy - 2016
Because this death sounds a lot to her like murder…Desperate to uncover the truth, Lady Alkmene begins to look into Ms Steinbeck’s past – only to be hampered by the arrival of journalist, Jake Dubois – who believes she is merely an amateur lady-detective meddling in matters she knows nothing about!But Lady Alkmene refuses to be deterred from the case and together they dig deeper, only to discover that some secrets should never come to light…
The twenties have never been so dangerous
Don’t miss the next Lady Alkmene Mystery 1. A Proposal to Die For2. Diamonds of Death3. Deadly Treasures