Hope in a Jar


Beth Harbison - 2009
    Throughout high school, they were inseparable…until a vicious rumor about Olivia— a rumor too close to the truth—ended their friendship. Now, on the eve of their twentieth high school reunion, Allie, a temp worker, finds herself suddenly single, a little chubby, and feeling old. Olivia, a cool and successful magazine beauty editor in New York, realizes she’s lonely, and is finally ready to face her demons. Sometimes hope lives in the future; sometimes it comes from the past; and sometimes, when every stupid thing goes wrong, it comes from a prettily packaged jar filled with scented cream and promises. Beth Harbison has done it again. A hilarious and touching novel about friendship, Love’s Baby Soft perfume, Watermelon Lip Smackers, bad run-ins with Sun-In, and the healing power of “Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific.” Hope in a Jar: we all need it.

Cupcakes at Carrington's


Alex Brown - 2013
    And when hot newcomer Tom arrives, who may or may not be the best thing since sliced bread, Georgie must decide where her loyalties really lie…'A sparkling debut…funny, romantic and utterly charming. Devour in one sitting like a delicious, indulgent cupcake then go back and startagain.' Sasha Wagstaff'From the moment I read the first page of Alexandra's book, I knew I was being allowed to see something special. I believe that Alexandra has created a very real and likeable cast of characters that will appeal to a wide audience. Her writing style is crisp and funny and compels you to keep turning the page.' Chrissie Manby'Cupcakes at Carrington's is deliciously delightful from start to finish, sprinkled with magic and full of heart.' Miranda Dickinson

The Other Half of Augusta Hope


Joanna Glen - 2019
    At seven, she’s correcting her teachers. At eight, she spins the globe and picks her favourite country on the sound of its name: Burundi. And now that she's an adult, Augusta has no interest in the goings-on of the small town where she lives with her parents and her beloved twin sister, Julia.When an unspeakable tragedy upends everything in Augusta's life, she's propelled headfirst into the unknown. She's determined to find where she belongs – but what if her true home, and heart, are half a world away?

Manhattan


Ronni Cooper - 2011
    Mei-Lin: The beautiful, enigmatic madam moves in all the right circles - but it wasn't always that way. Now her American dream has become a nightmare and she may have to pay the ultimate price for freedom. Stevie: Once the lead singer of the biggest female rock band in the world, Stevie is now flying solo – but she has a secret that could destroy her. Now all three women are about to discover that payback is the biggest bitch of all…

The Versions of Us


Laura Barnett - 2015
    One Day meets Sliding Doors in this outstanding debut that is causing a buzz across the publishing worldSome moments can change your life for ever. Have you ever wondered, what if...?A man is walking down a country lane. A woman, cycling towards him, swerves to avoid a dog. On that moment, their future hinges. There are three possible outcomes, three small decisions that could determine the rest of their life.Eva and Jim are nineteen and students at Cambridge when their paths first cross in 1958. And then there is David, Eva's then-lover, an ambitious actor who loves Eva deeply. The Versions of Us follows the three different courses their lives could take following this first meeting. Lives filled with love, betrayal, ambition but through it all is a deep connection that endures whatever fate might throw at them.The Versions of Us explores the idea that there are moments when our lives might have turned out differently, the tiny factors or decisions that could determine our fate, and the precarious nature of the foundations upon which we build our lives. It is also a story about the nature of love and how it grows, changes and evolves as we go through the vagaries of life.

Reputation


Lex CroucherLex Croucher
    A classic romcom with a Regency-era twist, for fans of Mean Girls and/or Jane Austen.Abandoned by her parents, middle-class Georgiana Ellers has moved to a new town to live with her dreary aunt and uncle. At a particularly dull party, she meets the enigmatic Frances Campbell, a wealthy member of the in-crowd who lives a life Georgiana couldn't have imagined in her wildest dreams.Lonely and vulnerable, Georgiana falls in with Frances and her unfathomably rich, deeply improper friends. Georgiana is introduced to a new world: drunken debauchery, mysterious young men with strangely arresting hands, and the upper echelons of Regency society.But the price of entry to high society might just be higher than Georgiana is willing to pay ...

Italian for Beginners


Kristin Harmel - 2009
    But after her little sister gets married, Cat wonders if she has condemned herself to a life of boredom by playing by the rules. She decides to take a chance for once, accepting an invitation to spend a month with an old flame in Italy. But her reunion with the slick and gorgeous Francesco is short-lived, and she finds herself suddenly alone in Rome. Now, she must see if she has the courage to live outside the lines for the first time – and to face a past she never understood. It will take an unexpected friendship with a fiery Italian waitress, a whirlwind Vespa tour of the Eternal City with a handsome stranger, and a surprise encounter with an old acquaintance to show Cat that life doesn’t always work out the way you expect, but sometimes you have to have fall in order to fly.

Ghosts


Dolly Alderton - 2020
    When she meets Max, a beguiling romantic hero who tells her on date one that he's going to marry her, it feels like all is going to plan.A new relationship couldn't have come at a better time - her thirties have not been the liberating, uncomplicated experience she was sold. Everywhere she turns, she is reminded of time passing and opportunities dwindling. Friendships are fading, ex-boyfriends are moving on and, worse, everyone's moving to the suburbs. There's no solace to be found in her family, with a mum who's caught in a baffling mid-life makeover and a beloved dad who is vanishing in slow-motion into dementia.Dolly Alderton's debut novel is funny and tender, filled with whip-smart observations about relationships, family, memory, and how we live now.

Summer at the Lake


Erica James - 2013
    If she hadn't been so distracted at the thought of having to witness the one true love of her life get married, she would have seen the car coming and there would have been no need for elderly spinster Esme Silcox and local property developer Adam Strong to rush to her aid. If she hadn't met them she would never have had the courage to agree to attend Seb's wedding in Lake Como. For Esme, Lake Como awakens memories of when she stayed at the lake as a 19-year-old girl and fell in love for the first time. So often she's wondered what happened to the man who stole her heart all those years ago, a man who changed the course of her life.

The Christmas Tea Shop & Bakery


De-ann Black - 2013
    She moves to a lovely Scottish seaside town and opens up a vintage tea shop and bakery selling cakes, bread, scones and tea.It's Christmas time, and although Erith wants a quiet life, baking during the day and sewing her quilts in the evenings in her house above the shop, the local shopkeepers soon involve her in their festive plans.Stuart, who owns the shop that sells everything, flirts with her. Handsome interior designer, Muir, takes an interest in her, but is she interested in him? And what about Zack, the gorgeous bad boy?In this Christmassy romance, Erith bakes everything from chocolate bread to traditional Victoria sponge cakes. She blends her special selection of teas. She becomes friends with the local sewing bee women, Doreen, Millie and Belle. She also realises that when it comes to love, she has to trust her instincts rather than listen to local gossip.Set in a Scottish seaside town in a snowy December, there's baking, sewing, snogging and sexy men in this light-hearted romance novella. It's 22,000 words of Christmas cheer.Amid the chaos of Christmas, will Erith find time for love? Will there be a festive proposal? Who will be Santa and switch on the town's Christmas tree lights? In the busy little town there's only one thing for sure - no one wants to dress up as the reindeer's bum.

Names My Sisters Call Me


Megan Crane - 2008
    Norah, the oldest, is a type A obsessive who hasn't forgiven Raine, the middle sister, for ruining her wedding day six years ago. Raine is Norah's opposite, a wild child/performance artist/follow-your-bliss hippie chick who ran off to California. The only thing the two have in common is their ability to drive Courtney, their youngest sister, crazy.When her longtime boyfriend proposes, Courtney decides it's finally time to call a truce and bring the three sisters together. After all, they're grown-ups now, right? But it turns out that family ghosts aren't easily defeated—and neither are first loves. Soon Courtney finds herself reexamining every choice she has made in the past six years—including the man she's about to marry—and the value of reconnecting with the sisters she knows she needs, in spite of everything.

If I Can’t Have You


Charlotte Levin - 2020
    I can honestly say it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read - it is without shadow of a doubt, EASILY up there with Girl On a Train and Eleanor Oliphant.' - Ruth JonesSamuel, the day we met I knew I’d finally found what I’ve been waiting for.You.Happiness, at last.Then you left me.And now I am alone.Everyone I love leaves in the end.But not this time.I’m not giving up on us.I’m not giving up on you.When you love someone, you never let them go.That’s why for me, this is just beginning.

The Love Season


Elin Hilderbrand - 2006
    Over the course of the next 24 hours, two lives will be transformed forever.Marguerite Beale, former chef of culinary hot spot Les Parapluies, has been out of the public eye for over a decade. This all changes with a phone call from Marguerite's goddaughter, Renata Knox. Marguerite has not seen Renata since the death of Renata's mother, Candace Harris Knox, fourteen years earlier. And now that Renata is on Nantucket visiting the family of her new fiancé, she takes the opportunity, against her father's wishes, to contact Marguerite in hopes of learning the story of her mother's life--and death. But the events of the day spiral hopelessly out of control for both women, and nothing ends up as planned.Welcome to The Love Season--a riveting story that takes place in one day and spans decades; a story that embraces the charming, pristine island of Nantucket, as well as Manhattan, Paris and Morocco. Elin Hilderbrand's most ambitious novel to date chronicles the famous couplings of real lives: love and friendship, food and wine, deception and betrayal--and forgiveness and healing.

The Vets at Hope Green


Sheila Norton - 2017
    Unsure whether a busy city life is for her, she flees to her Nana Peggy’s idyllic country village.But despite the rolling hills and its charming feel, life in Hope Green is far from peaceful. On first meeting Joe, the abrupt and bad-tempered local vet, Sam knows she must get him on side, but that is easier said than done...With her dream close enough to touch, will she get there, or will events conspire against her...?

The Weekend Wives


Christina Hopkinson - 2016
    1 a wife whose husband works away and only comes home at the weekends. 2 a wife who misses her husband when he's gone, but wants him gone when he's at home.Emily's vision of country life was building dens with the children, walking a glossy hound and cosy nights in by the fire. But her kids are more interested in their smartphones, the family dog has 'issues' and she's permanently freezing. And when husband Matt is home, he still seems worryingly distant.Sasha and her husband Ned used to have a great connection, but nowadays the only connection between them is via Skype. And when a woman from Ned's past comes with news that threatens the perfect life she's built for her children, Sasha feels further from her husband than ever before.Tamsin's husband might be away during the week, but he's never truly gone. He seems to know her every move, which is fine, sort of - until her first love reappears in the most mysterious of ways...