Now a successful businesswoman, she accepts a challenge from a daytime talk show to compete in a thirty-day battle of the sexes. April is up against a television psychologist who claims her organization hurts the very people she alleges to help. Dr. Jefferson Prentiss, television's Dr. Jeff, is haunted by the loss of his wife and newborn son, and by his role in their deaths. To atone, he's dedicated his professional life to the ideals of family. The talk show challenge presents him with the opportunity to prove not only the sagacity of his self-help book, but the inherent danger of paying strangers to perform those family tasks that should be done out of love and nurture. Once inside an isolated cabin filled with videotaping equipment, April and Jeff learn from each other, tackle their demons, and discover a new awareness between them: love.

    Tracy is gorgeous and famous, Lucy feels distinctly average. Facing life as a single mother living in a tiny house, with a daughter who wants to know who her father is, Lucy begins the search for the man she would rather forget.

    But the only thing she really wants - her heart's desire - is the one thing she can never have. Her sister, the beautiful Susannah, has made a mess of her life. Like a reverse Midas, everything she touches turns to shit. But the Fate puts Grace's future in Susannah's hands, changing the balance of power between the sisters forever.

    Then one day she glimpses a young man's face in the crowd that threatens to change everything. He's a heart-stopping reminder of a dreadful secret she believed she had banished to the past. As a young child, Lydia and her sister were sent to live with grandparents they'd never even met before. It was a cruel and loveless new world for them and it forced Lydia to grow up fast. She learned to keep secrets and to trust sparingly, and through it all she was shadowed by grief and guilt. Now, 28 years later, Lydia is persuaded to leave behind the safe new life she has created for herself and return to England to face the pastand maybe her future."

    So when he crosses the line by telling her that she'll never get into graduate school in the United Kingdom, that's precisely what she does.Armed with imported cigarettes and extra strength coffee, Alex leaves home and crosses the Atlantic to face all that Great Britain and grad school have to offer, including ill-considered romantic interludes, a red-headed nemesis with intellectual pretensions and ulterior motives, a preponderance of eighties music, and more books than she can possibly read in a year. What she discovers, however, is that instead of running away from home - she may have actually found it.

    Perfect for fans of Lindsey Kelk's I Heart... novels.Paris. City of love, city of romance. The last place you want to go to on a work trip when you're in the middle of an epic dry spell. But that's where Poppy is headed, along with her colleague Charlie, who's shallow and annoying but very, very good-looking. During a white-wine-fuelled session with her friend Alice, Poppy concocts the perfect plan: work by day, and have some no-strings fun with Charlie by night. Of course, it might prove a little more complicated than that, but it's nothing Poppy can't handle - or is it?Girls on Tour is an irresistible series of interlinked stories about four friends, ordinary girls who have extraordinary fun in faraway places. Expect the unexpected, the utterly hilarious and unforgettable, on this rollercoaster ride of love, laughs, surprises and sparks. You have a VIP pass to join each girl's adventure, so pack your bags and buckle your seatbelts, because just about anything is possible...

    Exploring this universal longing, Allie Larkin follows up the success of her debut novel, Stay, with a moving portrait of friendship and identity. When Jenny Shaw hears someone shout “Jessie!” across a hotel lobby, she impulsively answers. All her life, Jenny has toed the line, but something propels her to seize the opportunity to become Jessie Morgan, a woman to whom she bears an uncanny resemblance. Lonely in her own life, Jenny is embraced by Jessie’s warm circle of friends—and finds unexpected romance. But when she delves into Jessie’s past, Jenny discovers a secret that spurs her to take another leap into the unknown.

    Now, however, the house has been divided into separate residences for financial purposes. The Lord is forced to live in one of the humble apartments alongside his newly acquired housemates, among them a newly-divorced mother-of-three, a legendary screen goddess of the 1940s, and an American PhD student. Over an eventful year their children, a burglar, a friendly dog, a very capable cleaner, and at least one ghost will transform all of the residents' lives.

    After losing her job and leaving her beloved husband, journalist Gemma Hendricks is sure that scoring an interview with Colin Firth will save her career and marriage. Yet a heart-tugging local story about women, family ties, love, and loss captures her heart— and changes everything. The story concerns Bea Crane, a floundering twenty-two-year-old who learns in a deathbed confession letter that she was adopted at birth. Bea is in Boothbay Harbor to surreptitiously observe her biological mother, Veronica Russo—something of a legend in town—who Bea might not be ready to meet after all. Veronica, a thirty-eight-year-old diner waitress famous for her “healing” pies, has come home to Maine to face her past. But when she’s hired as an extra on the bustling movie set, she wonders if she is hiding from the truth . . . and perhaps the opportunity of a real-life Mr. Darcy. These three women will discover more than they ever imagined in this coastal Maine town, buzzing with hopes of Colin Firth. Even the conjecture of his arrival inspires daydreams, amplifies complicated lives, and gives incentive to find their own romantic endings.

    Starting again with her three-year-old son Oli, Louise's heart is full of apprehension.To make matters worse, Louise's sister Joanne seems far from happy as she watches Louise's little family blossom. But as Joanne grapples with her 'perfect' marriage, is everything as idyllic as it seems?Meanwhile Louise's youngest sister Sian has decided she doesn't want children and wants to dedicate her life to ecological living with husband Andy. But is this a mask to disguise a bigger issue? And is Andy ready to sacrifice parenthood?Join the McNeill family as they attempt to come together to provide the love and support that they all need, whether they know it or not.

    He’s a rat, anyway, and currently attends Sex Addicts Anonymous. He still comes by the house, though, as do her hippie, macrobiotic mother; her feisty, alcoholic best friend; her God-fearing grandmother; and that Perfect Guy, the one with the beatific son who plays with her daughter, the one who happens to have a winning smile, wild black hair, a professorship at Harvard—and (drats!) a gorgeous doctor girlfriend. Told in short takes that perfectly mimic the frantic nature of our busy lives, Hot and Bothered follows its heroine through the streets of Cambridge, where she spends far too much time staring into space and sipping mocha lattes with extra whipped cream; to church, where she prays for a little salvation; to Alaska, where she believes a rugged outdoorsman might just be that salvation; and to Cape Cod, where, in a little house by the sea, she might finally see the light. Annie Downey has written an updated Cinderella story for all single moms.

    Meanwhile, across town, Janine "Nean" Brown couldn't be more thrilled. She just knows that this house is her destiny, the chance to escape the latest in her revolving door of crappy jobs and drunken boyfriends.When both Janine Browns descend on Christmas Cove, Maine, to claim the prize they both think is theirs, however, they discover that more than just a dream home awaits them at the water's edge. Filled with wit and charm, The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane is Kelly Harms's enchanting and heartfelt debut--a testament to the many ways love finds us, the power of a home-cooked meal, and just what it means to be lucky.

    Failing that, run off with your ex-boyfriend, carry suspicious packages through customs, and lie to the person who loves you. . . .Georgie Beauchamp is totally happy and in love with her wonderful, dependable boyfriend, David. So why does she always daydream about running into her gorgeous ex-boyfriend Mike? It can’t mean she’s still in love with him—especially since the cad dumped her so horribly. As luck would have it, when Georgie’s daydream actually comes true, she is dressed in unglamorous sweats and carrying a curtain rod down the street, while Mike is driving an expensive sports car and looking better than Brad Pitt at the Oscars. She longs to have the glamorous life Mike can offer—and starts to think that he might want her back in his arms.But when he invites her for a weekend in Rome, Georgie is torn. David has always said he’d take her there for the romantic getaway of a lifetime, but his work keeps him totally tied up. So she must choose: David, all comfort and reliability, or Mike, all flirtation and butterfly-stomachs. The decision isn’t too hard to make, and faster than she can say Vespa, she’s off to Rome with Mike, full of plans to frolic on the Spanish Steps and sip wine in intimate trattorias. But when David shows up unexpectedly, this roman holiday gets a hell of a lot more complicated. . . .From the Trade Paperback edition.

    But frumpiness has its advantages when you're wielding a secret camera - and sending the damning footage straight to head office. Store manager Sandie has a lifelong love of the world of retail - the glitz, the glamour, the stockroom. Then she's fitted up by an ambitious assistant and secret shopping is the only way to keep her one passion alive. Glamorous widow Grazia can't leave behind the high life, despite her chronically low bank balance. The more she's buying - and spying - the less time she has to mourn her husband or her fair-weather friends who've dumped her. They're Charlie's Shopping Angels, controlled by a mysterious figure who sends them assignments. But when they're sent to stitch up a doomed shop owned by Will, the angels begin to feel divided loyalties.

    Gwyneth Berke has a perfect life…until one day she walks into her pantry, lets out a little scream of disbelief and begins the following list:What to do when you find out that your husband is in love with your interior decorator, Brad (or, A Midlife Crisis Checklist): --Get divorced (this is a must!)--Quickly discover a lifetime supply of humor (this will also help with your children and your mentally deteriorating father) --Stop sulking, show a little spirit and start a new life plan (also a must)--Recruit your two very dear, newly single friends to help you with it--Don’t look back and enjoy the ride!