Book picks similar to
A Recipe for Disaster: A deliciously feel-good romance by Belinda Missen
romance
chick-lit
contemporary
second-chance-romance
Evie's Little Black Book
Hannah Pearl - 2018
What’s wrong with her and why can’t she keep a man? In between consoling herself with ice cream and chocolate, and sobbing her heart out to her cousin Chamaine, Evie has a brainwave – and it all centres around her ‘little black book’ (well, more floral patterned notebook really) – which contains the details of every man she’s ever kissed or dated. Perhaps the cure for her disastrous love life has been nestled within its pages all along … Does Evie’s little black book really hold the answers, or will she learn that exes are exes for a reason?
Poppy’s Place in the Sun
Lorraine Wilson - 2018
But as the sun shines down on her ramshackle new home, Poppy knows she’s made the right decision. A lick of paint, and some TLC and her rustic farmhouse will be the perfect holiday retreat – Poppy’s dream come true.Poppy is welcomed by her fellow villagers, except for brooding local vet Leo Dubois, who makes it clear Poppy isn’t welcome in his village – or his life! Leo might be gorgeous, but Poppy won’t be told what to do by an arrogant Frenchman – no matter how kind and gentle he is to her dogs!Determined to stay, Poppy tries to understand the enigmatic Frenchman better. But as the two get closer, Poppy sees another side to Leo – a man with heartbreak of his own. Falling in love with Leo is easy, but can he ever return Poppy's love? And what would this mean for her dream life and place in the sun?
Coming Home to Wishington Bay
Maxine Morrey - 2019
But when her job threatens to send her over the brink, her boss insists she take a sabbatical. So she packs her bags and escapes to her beloved grandmother Gigi’s house on Wishington Bay, which has sat empty since Gigi passed away. But Holly’s dreams of a coastal escape take an unexpected turn. Holly didn’t expect to spend time with any man this summer – let alone an Aussie Adonis…but when she meets her next door neighbour Gabe and his little dog Bryan, it’s clear her quiet summer of strolling along the sand and wandering through the seaside village’s tiny streets on her own will come with a hefty dose of distraction. With a summer to fill and Gigi’s wonderful and surprising house to sort through, Holly knew it would be a summer packed with old memories. She just didn’t expect to make so many new ones… Coming Home to Wishington Bay is the new gorgeous uplifting rom-com from Maxine Morrey, perfect for fans of Sarah Morgan and Tilly Tennant!
Amazing Grace
Kim Nash - 2019
Living in the beautiful village of Little Ollington, along with head teacher husband Mark and gorgeous son, Archie, she devoted herself to being the perfect mum and the perfect wife, her little family giving her everything she ever wanted. Until that fateful day when she walked in on Mark kissing his secretary - and her perfect life fell apart. Now she's a single mum to Archie, trying to find her way in life and keep things together for his sake. Saturday nights consist of a Chinese takeaway eaten in front of the TV clad in greying pyjamas, and she can’t remember the last time she had a kiss from anyone aside from her dog, Becks… Grace’s life needs a shake up – fast. So when gorgeous gardener Vinnie turns up on her doorstep, his twinkling eyes suggesting that he might be interested in more than just her conifers, she might just have found the answer to her prayers. But as Grace falls deeper for Vinnie, ten-year-old Archie fears that his mum finding love means she’ll never reconcile with the dad he loves. So when ex-husband Mark begs her for another chance, telling her he’s changed from the man that broke her heart, Grace finds herself with an impossible dilemma. Should she take back Mark and reunite the family that Archie loves? Or risk it all for a new chance of happiness? A funny, feel good romance about finding your own path and changing your life for the better – readers of Cathy Bramley, Jill Mansell and Josie Silver will love this uplifting read.
One Summer in Rome
Samantha Tonge - 2018
And in the heat of the kitchen, it doesn’t take long for long-buried secrets to surface and sparks to fly…A deliciously heartwarming romance to have you dreaming of summer. Perfect for fans of Debbie Johnson and Caroline Roberts.
The Little Theatre on the Seafront
Katie Ginger - 2018
Faced with a decaying building, a mayor who most definitely isn’t on board with the project and a group of actors who just can’t get along, Lottie has her hands full, but with best friend Sid by her side she knows she can do it somehow.But the arrival of Jeremy, a hotshot London developer who sweeps Lottie off her feet, complicates things. Suddenly Sid gets a new girlfriend, the Greenley Players fall apart, and that crumbling building? Well it crumbles a whole lot more. With no one to turn to, Lottie has to find the courage to save the day.
Will Lottie be able to save the theatre and also follow her heart?
The Summer of Falling in Love
Liz Davies - 2020
It’s not that he doesn’t like dogs – he does – but the idea has simply never occurred to him.It has occurred to his mother, though. When she decides to buy him a puppy because she thinks it will “liven him up a bit”, his life is turned completely upside down, and not for the better as far as he’s concerned. But when he discovers that having a cute dog on the end of a lead attracts a great deal of female attention, he soon changes his mind. All kinds of women stop to pet the pup and while they coo over Poppy, they talk to him. A lot. And for Theo, it looks like his love life is taking a very welcome turn for the better.But what about Josie Wilde, his dog sitter?Forced to employ someone to walk his dog when he’s in work, he finds himself increasingly attracted to her, but unfortunately Josie’s interest in him appears to be purely professional. As the summer unfolds and he falls head over heels in love with the sweet and vulnerable pup, he finds himself falling for Josie, too.For Theo, it’s not so much ‘love me, love my dog’, but more like ‘love my dog, love me, too’. Please…
The Gin Lover's Guide to Dating
Nina Kaye - 2019
add a splash of gin
Two parts sparkling comedy. One dose of romantic tension. Mix well with a second chance, a splash of mystery, and garnish with a twist of fate...
When Liv's high-flying career goes off the rails, she finds herself working at a glitzy new gin bar to pay the bills. Yes, she's got a knack for reading the customers, she's finally got time to have some fun, and she might have just found some real friends - but it's just until she gets her life back on track, right? But between humiliating encounters with her old workmates, one very hot bartender, and a lot of soul searching to do, Liv's life is even more muddled than a Blackberry Bramble...Can Liv face up to her past, seize her future, and mix her own recipe for happiness?
A hilarious, feel-good romantic comedy for fans of Mhairi McFarlane and Sophie Ranald
***
The Best Boomerville Hotel
Caroline James - 2018
One hotel refurbishment later and the Best Boomerville Hotel is open for business! Perhaps not surprisingly Boomerville attracts more than its fair share of eccentric clientele: there’s fun-loving Sir Henry Mulberry and his brother Hugo; Lucinda Brown, an impoverished artist with more ego than talent; Andy Mack, a charming Porsche-driving James Bond lookalike, as well as Kate Simmons, a woman who made her fortune from an internet dating agency but still hasn’t found ‘the One’ herself. With such an array of colourful individuals there’s bound to be laughs aplenty, but could there be tears and heartbreak too and will the residents get more than they bargained for at Boomerville?
Sweet Home Summer
Michelle Vernal - 2021
Burnt out and tired of an unfulfilling profession and lousy boyfriends, it’s time for her to go home.Arriving back in cosy Bibury to stay with her grandmother, Bridget, everything is charmingly familiar. Even her childhood sweetheart, Ben, is as handsome as she remembered…And when she discovers a stack of long-forgotten Valentine’s Day cards, Isla, with the help of Ben, begins to realise exactly what is most important in life.
Make or Break at the Lighthouse B&B
Portia MacIntosh - 2020
Can Will help mend Lola’s broken heart as well as her leg? Can she help Dean find love? As a wise man once said, sometimes the one for you is right under your nose, all along…
A Summer to Remember
Victoria Cooke - 2019
After the tragic loss of her husband, Sam built a new life around friends, her cat Coco and a career she loves. Fending off frequent set-ups and well-meaning advice to ‘move on’, Sam is resolutely happy being single.But when Sam gets seconded to her firm’s Boston office for the summer, it is more than her career that is in for a shake-up. A spur of the moment decision to visit the idyllic beaches of Cape Cod could end up changing her life forever.
One thing is for sure, Sam won’t finish the summer the same woman who started it…
Come Away with Me
Maddie Please - 2018
With India constantly obsessing over wedding plans, Alexa has never felt more single, or more of a failure.If only she could find a man who was funny, handsome and faithful. But when she meets the enigmatic (and *gorgeous*) Gabriel Frost on the cruise, he is as cold as his name suggests… Isn’t he?Set sail for an adventure on the high seas, it’s time for Alexa to discover that sometimes romance can surprise you!
Oh Crumbs
Kathryn Freeman - 2018
You'll want to lock yourself away with this one! Sometimes life just takes the biscuit … Abby Spencer knows she can come across as an airhead – she talks too much and is a bit of a klutz – but there’s more to her than that. Though she sacrificed her career to help raise her sisters, a job interview at biscuit company Crumbs could finally be her chance to shine. That’s until she hurries in late wearing a shirt covered in rusk crumbs, courtesy of her baby nephew, and trips over her handbag. Managing director Douglas Faulkner isn’t sure what to make of Abby Spencer with her Bambi eyes, tousled hair and ability to say more in the half-hour interview than he manages in a day. All he knows is she’s a breath of fresh air and could bring a new lease of life to the stale corporate world of Crumbs. To his life too, if he’d let her. But Doug’s harbouring a secret. He’s not the man she thinks he is.
The Man You Meet in Heaven
Debbie Viggiano - 2018
When Hattie Green pops to the shop one afternoon, she never expects her life to flash before her eyes between the tins of baked beans and a special offer on sliced white. One minute she’s loading her trolley and thinking about what to give her son for dinner, and the next she’s speaking to a gorgeous man in a glowing white suit about what her life could have been… If you had the chance to go back and relive it all, what would you do differently? Go on that date, take that promotion… eat that second biscuit? Hattie is about to discover where she went wrong, but will her mystery second chance reveal some STONKING secrets in her past that probably should have stayed hidden? A gorgeous romantic comedy with a few twists that will make you say OMG! Perfect for fans of Tracy Bloom, Marian Keyes and Dawn French.