Julie and Romeo


Jeanne Ray - 2000
    Romeo Cacciamani and Julie Roseman are rival florists in Boston, whose families have hated each other for as long as anyone can remember (what they can't remember is why). When these two vital, lonely people see each other across a crowded lobby at a small business owners' seminar, an intense attraction blooms that neither tries to squelch. They're not sure what fate has in store for them, but they're not about to let something as silly as a generations-long feud stand in the way of finding out. That is, not until Romeo's octogenarian mother, Julie's meddling ex-husband, and a cast of grown Cacciamani and Roseman children begin to intervene with a passionate hatred that matches their newly found love, stroke for stroke. Think Montagues and Capulets, think wise and witty and thoroughly modern. Julie and Romeo is a love story for the ages.

Southern Fatality


T. Lynn Ocean - 2007
    But don't get too comfortable, because when the sexy and hard-hitting security specialist Jersey Barnes stumbles into a scheme that will steal millions of dollars from American taxpayers, you'll want to go along for the ride! Who has kidnapped the son of Samuel Chesterfield, celebrity owner of a nationally known brokerage firm chain? Who plans to steal a fortune from innocent, hard-working citizens? And why do people around Samuel Chesterfield keep dropping dead? Find out by reading the first Jersey Barnes mystery--available now!

Housewife Down


Alison Penton Harper - 2005
    When Robert is killed in a freak accident, Helen begins to rekindle relationships with old friends and close family.

For Better, for Worse


Carole Matthews - 2000
    In her present ‘love stinks’ frame of mind, the last person she expects to be seated next to on the flight is someone like Matt Jarvis. A recently divorced rock journalist, Matt is sensitive, good-looking and remarkably attentive – and before their plane touches down, Josie’s smitten. So how can she hope to convince her cousin to cut and run when Josie is all ready to leap into love again – with a stranger, no less, who might be just another Mr Totally Wrong in Mr Seductively Right’s clothing?The point is rendered moot, of course, once they land in New York and she and Matt go their separate ways. After all Josie’s got prenuptial confabs to worry about and that dreaded lilac chiffon bridesmaid’s dress to wear. But Dante himself couldn’t have dreamed up the hell this wedding is proving to be – and when her dream hunk reappears and throws himself into the mix, Josie finds herself wondering how she – or any unattached modern woman – can hope to survive the new romantic rules of the twenty-first century.A bestseller in the UK, Carole Matthews ‘For Better, For Worse’ is a deliriously droll, dead-on tale of marriage, sex, monogamy and modern love…

Welcome to My Planet: Where English Is Sometimes Spoken


Shannon Olson - 2000
    Credit cards don't pay themselves, no obvious mate has appeared with her name pinned to his collar, and a job doing new-product research for a fledgling software company doesn't quite make ends meet in the meaning-of-life department. Then there's the loser boyfriend, another boyfriend, her therapist, and unforgettably, Shannon's mom, Flo, with her unrecognizable leftover casseroles and quirky advice for her daughter. In a fit of debt and with a bruised heart, Shannon moves back home to witness the day-to-day tremors of her parents' own marriage. This is a dark-and-light tale-freshly witty and poignant-told by a young woman with a universal touch.

The Honk and Holler Opening Soon


Billie Letts - 1998
    But a fateful misunderstanding gave Vietnam vet Caney the flashiest joke in the entire state. Twelve years later, the once-busy highway is dead and the sign is as worn as Caney, who hasn't ventured outside the diner since it opened. Then one blustery December day, a thirtyish Crow woman blows in with a three-legged dog in her arms and a long-buried secret on her mind. Hiring on as a carhop, Vena Takes Horse is soon shaking up business, the locals, and Caney's heart...as she teaches them all about generosity of spirit, love, and the possibility of promise-just like the sign says.

Looking for Fireworks


Holly Cavendish - 2012
    She’s been looking for fireworks in her love life ever since she broke up with her predictable ex-boyfriend Giles, but she has no thoughts of kindling the spark she’s looking for here. If she can’t find love in a big city like London – with all its internet dating, singles nights, and socials – how can she ever hope to meet the man of her dreams in the tiny village of St Pontian? But there are two prospects when she gets there: Martin who can always be depended on for a kind word of advice. And Toby, who is distant, but who sets her heart ablaze. When it comes to love, should Laney trust the logic of her head or the racing of her heart?

Talk of the Town


Karen Hawkins - 2008
    After years of being the perfect Southern lady, all she ended up with was a cheating husband. So she goes bombshell blond, gets a provocatively placed tattoo, and prepares to live it up as a Bad Girl. But then her mother falls ill...and Roxie is forced to return to Glory, North Carolina. He'd Love to Know.Once the town bad boy, Nick Sheppard is now Glory's highly respected sheriff. When the hot blonde he stops for speeding turns out to be formerly prim Homecoming Queen Roxanne Treymayne, Nick doesn't quite know where to look -- though he'd like a much closer one at the tattoo peeking from her shorts. But It Takes Two to Tango.Roxie and Nick had a steamy fling in high school, but a love affair between a Southern princess and a boy from the wrong side of the tracks was doomed from the start. Now they have a second chance. Can they get it right? Or will they just end up...the talk of the town?

When She Was Bad


Louise Bagshawe - 2001
    From the tough streets of the Bronx, Lita is determined to succeed - whatever the cost. Privileged Rebecca has never wanted for anything. And when she inherits an estate in England, it's just the start of a whole new life. Linked by betrayal, Rebecca and Lita are set against each other. Until they discover that revenge can be very sweet indeed . . .

Tied to the Tracks


Rosina Lippi - 2006
    But a new project has brought her to this small Southern town, where she stands out like a fire truck in a flower garden.She's been invited to Ogilvie by Miss Zula Bragg, the intensely private literary legend who's agreed to appear in a documentary made by Angie's highly unconventional crew. And there's someone else in own Angie looks forward to seeing: John Grant, a descendant of Ogilvie's founders with whom she had a long-ago summer romance. But John's wedding-to the daughter of a prominent local family-is just days away, and promises to be the sleepy town's social event of the year.What could possibly go right?

How to Hook a Husband


Sarah Harvey - 2000
    Realising her friend has a talent for spotting men with a roving eye, Nicky puts her friend to work helping others and soon Belle is hanging out in bars and hiding in bushes, hoping to catch unsuspecting Casanovas. Then she is hired to follow the elusive Eddie Farrar and everything changes as Belle finds herself falling under his spell. Will she be able to resist his charms or is there more to him than it seems?

A Free Woman


Libby Purves - 2001
    Sarah has married and settled contentedly into small-town life. Maggie has spent fifteen years drifting around the world with a backpack. Now Maggie has come home to a dank, dull British winter, supposedly for just a few months. The Penn children are delighted to have their exciting aunt stay with them, but fate has an unexpected adventure in store. It rocks the whole family, bringing up dark shadows from their common past, and confronts Maggie with the hardest decision of her life.

The Public Confessions of a Middle-aged Woman


Sue Townsend - 2001
    Over the last decade, Sue Townsend has written a monthly column for "Sainsbury's Magazine", which covers everything from hosepipe bans and Spanish restaurants to writer's block and the posh middle-aged woman she once met who'd never heard of Winnie-the-Pooh. Collected together now for the first time, they form a set of pieces from one of Britain's most popular and acclaimed writers that is funny, perceptive and touching.

Paradise Bay


James Michael Pratt - 2002
    For all of Jack Santos' life, he was told that his father was killed in the Vietnam War. Then a twist of fate changes everything he thought he knew, and he discovers that his father isn't dead after all. Now Jack is hungry for everything he can find out about this father, Levi Harper. And the only link he has to the past is through Levi's journals. It is through these journals that Jack discovers who his father really is: his loves, dreams, hopes...and secrets. Can Jack discover the truth about his own life? And can he find the love that will always bring him back to Paradise Bay?

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.