Book picks similar to
Forbidden Pleasures by Jo Rees


fiction
chick-lit
romance
summer-reading

Did I Mention I Was Getting Married?: A Romantic comedy about weddings, new starts and taking a chance on love!


Julie Butterfield - 2018
    She had every intention of putting the past behind her and starting again, but it turned out to be so much more difficult than she had imagined. Then Daniel announces he is getting married again and as Rebecca broods over how he has found it so easy to move on her daughter phones with good news - she’s getting married too! Determined not to be left behind Rebecca throws caution to the wind and finally meets someone who can give her the new start she so desperately wants. Now her ex-husband is back in her life, the future Mrs Miles wants to be her best friend, she has her daughter’s wedding to plan and a ramshackle old wedding venue to renovate to its former perfection in just a few months, if only she can find a builder who will take on the job. There are challenges, surprises, love and heartbreak ahead but at the end of a long, hot summer, will there be any weddings? ‘ a very enjoyable captivating romance which keeps you wondering what will happen next’ MoMoBook Diary I adored Did I Mention I Won the Lottery? and was thrilled when I saw there was a sequel. Did I Mention I Was Getting Married? is every bit and good. Funny, intelligent, covering all the emotions and with the absolutely perfect ending -Tina J Sequel to ' Did I mention I won the lottery?' & it's just as good. I want to read more from This author as it took me another place. Thank you’ Christine Davies ‘This is the third book I’ve read by this author and they are all as fantastic as each other.’ Sarah Devine Amusing, insightful, memorable. A delightful follow up to 'Did I Mention I Won the Lottery?' Netnoggin

Straight on Till Morning


Lynne Barrett-Lee - 2004
    Until this date with destiny, she had a very busy and happy family life. She didn't really mean to fall in love.

Poppyland


Raffaella Barker - 2008
    Both of them are loners, damaged by tragedy in their lives, both sceptical about love. But they have a connection that can't be broken, which takes them from their separate lives to Norfolk, where they both end up at the same time, bound together by a family event that neither of them knew the other was connected with.Romantic, elegiac, absorbing and quixotic, this love story for difficult people is a testament to the power of attraction. It's about the sea and land, about the past and how it shapes our futures, about how we find the right person to be with - a truly universal story.

Feels Like Maybe


Claire Allan - 2008
    When she finds out she is pregnant, he decides the relationship is most definitely off and leaves her before she has time to say 'Mothercare'.Desperate to get him back – and convinced she can – Aoife doesn’t tell her family back home in Derry about her impending arrival until she is cradling newborn Maggie in her arms. She then has to return home to face the music – baby in tow and sanity absent without leave.Meanwhile her best friend has been keeping a secret of her own. Beth and her husband Dan have been trying to get pregnant for the past two years. According to the doctors there is no medical reason for their failure to conceive. And if there is no reason, there can’t be a problem, can there? Add a gorgeous gardener, an overbearing mother, a perfectly annoying sister-in-law and a well meaning aunt – all with secrets of their own – into the mix and you have 'Feels Like Maybe'.

The Accidental Mother


Rowan Coleman - 2005
     Sophie and Carrie were childhood best friends, but in the last few years they've lost touch. While Carrie chose motherhood in a small town, Sophie is powering up the London career track. She's a corporate manager poised for her next promotion. Sure, she doesn't have much time for men, but she has a great shoe collection and a cat who's never going to let her down. And then Sophie is told that Carrie has died, with nobody left to care for her two daughters, Bella and Izzy, aged six and three. Their father, who left before Carrie's death, is nowhere to be found; their grandmother is moving into assisted living. Sophie once promised Carrie she would take care of her children if the worst ever happened...and now that day has come. Witty, wise, and filled with genuinely powerful emotion, The Accidental Mother is the heartwarming, heartbreaking story of a woman who is woefully under-equipped to be suddenly thrown into motherhood, but who through the eyes of two little girls learns more about loss, commitment, and true love than she had ever realized existed.

The Secrets We Keep


Colette Caddle - 2000
    The Gatehouse attracts a strange clutch of guests who, once ensconced, never want to leave. There's Hazel, a shy artist, and her sweet, silent daughter Gracie. Sandra, a brash American, wants to know everything about everyone. Then there's wise old easy-going PJ, who's seemingly part of the furniture. But Erin's fragile happiness is thrown off-balance by the arrival of A-list Hollywood actor Sebastian Grey. Erin finds herself drawn to this handsome enigmatic man, who used to walk with a swagger but now prowls the country lanes with haunted eyes. What trauma could have brought about this devastating change? Sebastian isn't the only one in the Gatehouse with a secret. Why is Hazel cast so adrift? Where does PJ go each week without fail, and what really brought Sandra to Dunbarra? As Erin finds herself embroiled in her guests' secrets she starts to ask herself: will she be ready to reveal her own?

The Apology Project


Jeanette Escudero - 2021
    She’s been fired for not compromising her principles in a high-profile case and then punching her partner in the nose for the misogynistic comment he made in retort (not her finest moment). Leaving a career that gave her purpose, Amelia can only ask, What next?Let it be better than her epic failure of a fortieth birthday party: an open bar full of no-shows except for John Ellis, a total stranger and the new associate at her ex-firm. As it turns out, though, he’s very good company—and a wake-up call. With the help of John and a lot of champagne, Amelia considers the people she’s wronged, from old besties to former boyfriends to coworkers. Amelia resolves to make amends—to those who really deserve it.One apology at a time, Amelia’s looking at the choices she’s made in the past, the new ones she’s making with John, and those she’s making for herself. What next? Maybe a second chance she never expected.

It Started in June


Susan Kietzman - 2018
    After a few weeks of exhilarating secret dates, Grace--forty-two and divorced--realizes she's pregnant.For Grace, whose estranged mother refers to her own teenage pregnancy as her biggest mistake, the prospect of parenthood is daunting. She's just been made vice president of a media relations company and is childfree by choice. Still, something deeper than her fear makes her want to keep the baby. She knows she can be a better, more capable parent than her mother was to her.As months pass and seasons change, Grace questions her decision to include Bradley in her plans. But they continue to navigate their complicated relationship, each struggling with what it means to make a commitment to someone. Most importantly, Grace begins trusting her instincts--maternal and otherwise--finding courage that will guide her through an uncertain future ripe with new possibilities . . .Praise for the novels of Susan Kietzman "Beautifully written and closely observed . . . captures the deep and complicated love of family. Reading this lovely novel, I felt the embrace of summer on the shoreline."--New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice on The Summer Cottage "Readers will find themselves drawn into the tragedies and triumphs of this fictional family--distinct and yet utterly relatable." --Hartford Books Examiner on The Good Life

When in Doubt, Add Butter


Beth Harbison - 2012
    She's got six steady clients that keep her hands full. There's Lex, the fussy but fabulous department store owner who loves Oysters Rockefeller and 1950s comfort food; Willa, who needs to lose weight under doctor's orders but still believes butter makes everything better; a colorful family who may or may not be part of the Russian mob; an uberwealthy Georgetown family; the picture-perfect Van Houghtens, whose matriarch is allergic to everything; and finally, a man she calls "Mr. Tuesday," whom she has never met but who she is strangely drawn to. For Gemma, cooking is predictable. Recipes are certain. Use good ingredients, follow the directions, and you are assured success. Life, on the other hand, is full of variables. So when Gemma's takes an unexpected turn on a road she always thought was straight and narrow, she must face her past and move on in ways she never would have imagined. Because sometimes in life, all you need is a little hope, a lot of courage, and---oh yes---butter.

The Summer That Made Us


Robyn Carr - 2017
    The Summer That Made Us is an unforgettable story about a family learning to accept the past, to forgive and to love each other again.That was then…For the Hempsteads, two sisters who married two brothers and had three daughters each, summers were idyllic. The women would escape the city the moment school was out to gather at the family house on Lake Waseka. The lake was a magical place, a haven where they were happy and carefree. All of their problems drifted away as the days passed in sun-dappled contentment. Until the summer that changed everything.This is now…After an accidental drowning turned the lake house into a site of tragedy and grief, it was closed up. For good. Torn apart, none of the Hempstead women speak of what happened that summer, and relationships between them are uneasy at best to hurtful at worst. But in the face of new challenges, one woman is determined to draw her family together again, and the only way that can happen is to return to the lake and face the truth.

To Italy, With Love


Nicky Pellegrino - 2021
    She might run her little trattoria in the most romantic mountain town in Italy, but love just seems to have passed her by.Sarah-Jane is finished with love. She's buying an old convertible and driving around Italy this summer - it's the perfect way to forget all about her hot celebrity ex-boyfriend!But when Sarah-Jane's car breaks down in Montenello, she has to stay longer than she intended! And the trouble is, love is everywhere...

Triangles


Ellen Hopkins - 2011
    Will it bring the fulfillment she is searching for?Andrea: A single mom and avowed celibate, she watches her friend Holly's meltdown with a mixture of concern and contempt. Holly is throwing away what Andrea has spent her whole life searching for - a committed relationship with a decent guy. So what if Andrea picks up Holly's castaway husband?Marissa: She has more than her fair share of challenges - a gay, rebellious teenage son, a terminally ill daughter, and a husband who buries himself in his work rather than face the facts. As one woman's marriage unravels, another's rekindles. As one woman's family comes apart at the seams, another's reconfigures into something bigger and better. In this story of connections and disconnections, one woman's up is another one's down, and all of them will learn the meaning of friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness.Unflinchingly honest, emotionally powerful, surprisingly erotic, Triangles is the ultimate page-turner. Hopkins's gorgeous, expertly honed poetic verse perfectly captures the inner lives of her characters. Sometimes it happens like that. Sometimes you just get lost. Get lost in the world of Triangles, where the lives of three unforgettable women intersect, and where there are no easy answers.

Under a Starry Sky


Laura Kemp - 2020
    I loved it!' MILLY JOHNSONon The Year of Surprising Acts of KindnessOne summer to change her life...Wanda Williams has always dreamed of leaving her wellies behind her and travelling the world! Yet every time she comes close to following her heart, life always seems to get in the way.So, when her mother ends up in hospital and her sister finds out she's pregnant with twins, Wanda knows that only she can save the crumbling campsite at the family farm.Together with her friends in the village, she sets about sprucing up the site, mowing the fields, replanting the allotment and baking homemade goodies for the campers.But when a long-lost face from her past turns up, Wanda's world is turned upside-down. And under a starry sky, anything can happen...Praise for Laura Kemp:'Warm, funny, sweet...what a fab read' LUCY DIAMOND'A truly wonderful and heart-warming read' HEIDI SWAIN'An absolute joy' ISABELLE BROOM'I loved it' CLARE MACKINTOSH'An adorable life-affirming book' ROWAN COLEMAN'Moments that will steal your heart' MIRANDA DICKINSON

Those Other Women


Nicola Moriarty - 2018
    .Poppy's world has been tipped sideways: the husband who never wanted children has betrayed her with her broody best friend.At least Annalise is on her side. Her new friend is determined to celebrate their freedom from kids, so together they create a Facebook group to meet up with like-minded women, and perhaps vent just an little about smug mummies' privileges at work.Meanwhile, their colleague Frankie would love a night out, away from her darlings - she's not had one this decade and she's heartily sick of being judged by women at the office as well as stay-at-home mums.Then Poppy and Annalise's group takes on a life of its own and frustrated members start confronting mums like Frankie in the real world. Cafés become battlegrounds, playgrounds become war zones and offices have never been so divided.A rivalry that was once harmless fun is spiraling out of control.Because one of their members is a wolf in sheep's clothing. And she has an agenda of her own . . .

The Debutante


Kathleen Tessaro - 2010
    Cate is sent to Devon with Rachel's colleague Jack to value the contents of Endsleigh, the grand Georgian home of a former socialite. But inside, its once elegant interiors are now worn with age and dust. Then Cate discovers hidden in the back of one of the bookshelves, an old shoebox containing an exquisite pair of silk dancing shoes from the 1930's along with a mysterious collection of objects - a diamond brooch, a photograph of a handsome young sailor, a dance card, and a beautiful pearl and emerald bracelet from Tiffany's. Unable to solve the questions in her own life, Cate quickly becomes engaged in solving the mystery of the shoe box and begins to unravel the story of Baby Blythe; bright, beautiful and reckless, she was the most famous debutante of her generation. The clues in the box reveal a tale of a dark, addictive love, a tale that will lead Cate to uncover some secrets of her own. A timeless novel from the bestselling author of Elegance.