That’s how long Angela Donovan hoped to know Mark Shafer before they married. But less than a year later, she still fears repeating the mistakes of her previous failed relationship. As Christmas approaches, she senses Mark’s plans for a proposal and wonders if she can learn to trust again.Mark has learned all there is to know about the Shafer miracle trees—or so he thinks. Papa reveals secrets about the trees’ matchmaking power just as a highway expansion threatens to destroy the family legacy. Mark is determined to save the farm and the promise of love stirring in the branches of the Shafer miracle trees. Heartwarming and engaging, The Tree Keeper’s Promise captures the warmth and wonder of the holiday season.

    It seems that Amadea has finally found someone who appreciates her for her kindness and cultivation. She begins to enjoy her new occupation and the first human warmth she has encountered in years. Unfortunately, the village is not as peaceful as it appears and her path is soon crossed by a number of undesirables, including a charming, married lawyer and a scholarly alcoholic with a problem—and it isn’t his drinking. His son Hugo is trying to force him to sell the family land and has sent round a young thug to keep the pressure on. Hugo never expects, however, that his father will try to reform the fellow. Raymond may be an alcoholic, but like Amadea, he has inner strengths in spite of his failings, and he believes in the power of words. Hugo isn’t happy and when Amadea inadvertently gets involved matters spin out of control. This is a lighthearted story about the value of saying no and also about the sometimes unexpected nature of sustaining relationships.

    But the reality of running a business hits Katie hard and whilst her partner, Steve, tries to help she can t help but feel that the situation is driving them further apart. Could Katie be set to lose her relationship and her dream job? Then, one winter s day, a man walks into her shop and, in the space of that moment, the course of Katie s life is changed. But nobody finds happiness in the blink of an eye. Sometimes it takes two Christmases, three birthdays and a whole lot of cake to get there REVIEWS What a gorgeous, feel-good read this was. A Little Sugar, A Lot of Love will hit just the spot when you need to while away the winter hours with a handsome hero, lots of cakes and a slow-burning, heartfelt romance. Sorcha O' Dowd, Book Blogger at Old Victorian Quill and Waterstone's BooksellerThis was a sweet romance, in more senses than one! Katie runs a cake shop and meets Adam when he calls in for a cake for his Grandma. The book then follows their lives as they occasionally meet and then part once more. - Ann Cooper, Annie's Book CornerHaving read a few of Linn B Halton's books in the last year, I feel very confident in saying that A Little Sugar, A Lot of Love is her best yet. It is such a sweet, touching and loving romantic story, told from various perspectives. - Rachel Gilbey, Rachel's Random Reads"

    When she learns that the boy in the painting was deaf, like her dead son, she starts to try to communicate with his ghost.Meanwhile, Clayton finds himself entangled in an equally undesirable friendship with a retired fire chief who knows more about the painting than he is prepared to let on.Is The Crying Boy painting cursed, and can numerous house fires be linked to it?Struggling with their unstable marriage, the couple find themselves in further danger as an increasingly disturbing bond develops between Avril and The Crying Boy.In a twist of events Avril's irrational behavior is brought to a dramatic halt when she discovers she is pregnant. With her affections once again restored for Clayton, she decides to dispose of the sinister portrait. But the cast off painting wants revenge and its anger towards Avril's unborn child might just prove immeasurable.

    Things no man has seen before haunt the woods. Strange animal species creep behind pine trees, some of them with flashing red tags that blink faster and faster. Giant birds mimic the sound of humans and lord over the sky. Leaf-shaped creatures attack anything that moves and flash vivid colors across their glistening backs. As Bishop and his companions scramble across the Montana wilderness, they find human remains and animal carcasses littering the woods. The small town of Elmore is empty, the windows broken and streaked with blood. Trout Bridge-their only way out-is blocked by abandoned cars, none that were inbound. With the strange animals species closing in, Bishop realizes his group must take a stand. He's got a plan, and maybe they've got one last shot before the invasive species spread to the rest of the U.S.

    But once back she finds a cuckoo in the family nest – a dope-smoking 'businessman' called Leroy. Worse, he is her sister Jenny's boyfriend, and father of her unborn child. Rita and Yansis retreat to stay with friends Julie and Vinny, now living in a comfortable suburb of the city. But Rita is anxious to find out just what hold Leroy has over her family, and she'll stop at nothing to find out. The more she learns about Leroy, the more she realises her family are playing a very risky game. Rita's quest is pitting her against some of the most ruthless men in a very dangerous city, but ultimately she knows it is up to her to expose the truth, whatever the consequences might be.

    A traveler that infected everyone aboard and raced across the world while those in charge of its containment denied the real danger. Few survived the carnage, fewer left any record. Moss Valley was one of them.

    Of endless weekdays, working weekends, making presentations, working with complicated Excel sheets, handling a boss with time-management issues and the general politics of the workplace. Sigh! After eight years of this life, her only personal insight is that she's terribly unambitious and constantly struggling to be an average performer in the competitive corporate world. When a colleague flashes the glint of a golden sabbatical she catapults into it headfirst. After all, one has to find one's calling at some point in one's life. So will the sabbatical miraculously change her life forever? Or will she go rushing back to her pocket money-generating job?

    But they have one thing in common: they need a scholarship to college. And they're ready to battle seven other contestants on a reality TV show to get it. There's Mei, a budding artist with a secret disability; Henry, not in it for the money but for the chance to follow his true dream; Lucy, a tough Texan from a new kind of family; Tyrell, an injured football star with a sick sister at home; Sam, a musician with no family to fall back on; Allyson, a devout Christian with a good reason to pray; Cassidy, a beauty with a secret; and Hiroshi, a varsity swimmer who left behind his true love. But only one contestant can win on The Benefactor. Who will take home the big prize? Tune in to find out.

    Jonas Speller still has a lot to learn when he meets college student Victoria Schone, whose troubled relationship with her parents has her teetering on the verge of suicide. As Jonas struggles to make sense of his feelings for Victoria, he helps her become her own person and stand up to her overpowering mother, while she challenges the budding doctor to become more emotionally forthcoming and involved with her. Years later, a crisis in Victoria’s life reunites doctor and patient, forcing them to confront poignant truths about themselves, their families, and their powerful feelings for each other. Intensive Therapy: A Novel takes readers deep inside the hearts and minds of analyst and patient as they grapple with the limits of doctor-patient propriety. The novel, Deitz’s first, has garnered widespread praise both within the therapy community and the literary world.

    Unfortunately, a stint at the airport lounge's tea vending machine does not seem to be getting her any closer to her dreams. To pass the time she daydreams, chats with air-hostesses and takes part in mock anti-terrorist drills. At home, she studies her English, fights with her twin and engages in a secret love affair with her cousin and neighbour, Eza. But when a scandal threatens her tenuous happiness, she must pull out all stops on her overactive imagination, and seek a terrible revenge.

    Her once angst ridden teenage daughters, now grown and in their twenties, have flown the nest, Cassie to London and Maisy to Australia. And, although Connor, Lizzie’s sulky, surly teenage son,is now on his own tormented passage to adulthood, his quest to get there, for the most part, is a far quieter journey than that of his sisters. The hard years, Lizzie believes, are behind her. Embracing her new career as a writer; divorce, money worries and the constant battle to weather the stormy complexities of the blended family, are all but a distant memory. It’s time for Lizzie to focus on herself for a change. Stepdaughter Maisy is embracing life down under and daughter Cassie is working for a famous record producer in London. Lizzie’s only concern, albeit a mild one, is for the arrested development of her Facebook-Tweeting, Snapchatting, music and mobile phone obsessed, teenage son. With communication skills, more akin to an intermittent series of unintelligible grunts, conversation is futile. However, Lizzie is not particularly perturbed. With deadlines to meet and book tours to attend, Lizzie has other distractions to concentrate on. But all in all, life is good. Life is very good. Only, things are never quite as black and white as they seem… A visit to her daughter in London leaves Lizzie troubled. Cassie is still the same incessant chattering Queen of malaprops and spoonerisms she ever was, however something is clouding her normally cheery disposition. Not to mention her extreme weight loss. And that is just the start. Add to that an unexpected visitor, a disturbing phone call, a son acting suspiciously, a run in with her ex husband and a new man in her life who quite simply takes her breath away; Lizzie quickly realises life is something that happens while plans are being made. Harsh but tender, thought provoking but light-hearted, dark but brilliantly funny, this is a story of contemporary family life in all its 21st century glory. A story of mothers and sons, of fathers and daughters, of brothers and sisters, and friends. A tale of love and loss, of friendships and betrayals and a tale of coming of age and end of life. Nobody said it would be easy and as Lizzie knows only too well, life is never straightforward when you see all the colours in between.

    By the river. On her own.After finishing her six-year long affair with her boss, Rosa is desperate to avoid him in the workplace and determined to forge a new life for herself.Harry Kennedy has sailed away from a messy Sydney divorce and is resolute in kick-starting a new life on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.Thrown together at work, Rosa and Harry discover a secret. One that their employer is desperate to keep hidden. To reveal it they must work together, but first they must learn to trust not only each other but their own rising attraction.Are these two damaged people willing to risk their hard won independence for the promise of love again?

    But despite being an expert in self-improvement, her life still seems to be stuck in a rut. Her designer clothing rental business, even with its well-heeled Orange County clientele, is mysteriously losing money. And although it goes against every fiber in her moral makeup, the one guy she pines for happens to be her best friend’s husband. But are her fortunes about to change? A super-cute mystery guy has just recommended a new book, and from the moment she opens the pages of A Better Life, her world is turned upside down in ways that not even Dr Phil could have predicted.

    In a bid to reassess her life, she heads off to the only place she has ever felt content - her brother’s farmhouse retreat in rural France.Marcie isn’t the only one looking to escape. Ex-soldier Will hopes the gentle pace of French life will help to banish the ghosts of his past and offer him the fresh start he desires.However, all is not what it seems at The Retreat. Fuelled by a string of strange happenings and local rumours, Will and Marcie are pushed together as they try to discover who or what is behind it all. In so doing, they are faced with a moral dilemma and question if doing wrong is doing right?The French Retreat is a story of human compassion, hope and love.