Book picks similar to
Second Chances at Channel View Farm (Channel View Farm, #1) by Jo Bartlett


chicklit-and-romance
light-fiction
needs-a-better-cover
s-p-a-g-eeek

The Little French Guesthouse


Helen Pollard - 2016
    Nothing can spoil the perfect holiday. Or can it?When Emmy Jamieson arrives at La Cour des Roses, a beautiful guesthouse in the French countryside, she can’t wait to spend two weeks relaxing with boyfriend Nathan. Their relationship needs a little TLC and Emmy is certain this holiday will do the trick. But they’ve barely unpacked before he scarpers with Gloria, the guesthouse owner’s cougar wife.Rupert, the ailing guesthouse owner, is shell-shocked. Feeling somewhat responsible, and rather generous after a bottle (or so) of wine, heartbroken Emmy offers to help. Changing sheets in the gîtes will help keep her mind off her misery. Thrust into the heart of the local community, Emmy suddenly finds herself surrounded by new friends. And with sizzling hot gardener Ryan and the infuriating (if gorgeous) accountant Alain providing welcome distractions, Nathan is fast becoming a distant memory. Fresh coffee and croissants for breakfast, feeding the hens in the warm evening light; Emmy starts to feel quite at home. But it would be madness to walk away from her friends, family, and everything she’s ever worked for, to take a chance on a place she fell for on holiday – wouldn’t it?Fans of Jenny Colgan, Lucy Diamond and Nick Alexander will want to join Emmy for a glass of wine as the sun sets on the terrace at La Cour des Roses.

Blood Money


Tom Bradby - 2008
    It's a hell of a time and place for a young cop to be trying to make his way in the world. Joe Quinn's first case is one that could put his name up in lights; a banker takes a dive from a tall building onto Wall Street. All the signs point to murder. Pretty soon, the dead man has company; a group of old buddies is being eliminated, in a particularly gruesome manner. For the young detective a case that starts as an opportunity swiftly becomes a nightmare from which he cannot escape. Joe Quinn is about to discover just how tough being an honest cop in a dishonest world can be...

The Cape May Garden (Cape May Book 1)


Claudia Vance - 2020
    Margaret Wilder's life is about to be turned upside down ......when her husband of fifteen years abruptly leaves without explanation.Now as their young daughters struggle to understand why their dad has been gone for a month without so much as a phone call, Margaret begins to uncover her husband's secrets while unraveling her own long-buried feelings about their marriage.On top of all the personal turmoil, Margaret's job at the wildlife refuge has cut back her hours, and a storm approaches that could ruin all of the hard work she's put into one of her greatest joys, her annual vegetable and flower garden.As she forms an unlikely friendship with her handsome coworker, Dave, things take a turn when she is offered a great opportunity to build the garden of her dreams on a piece of land by the beach.In the first book of the Cape May Series, follow the twists and turns of Margaret's journey as she picks up the pieces of her life with the help of family and friends, set in the beautiful Victorian beach town of Cape May, New Jersey.

The Lady and The Rake: Regency Romance


Agnes Forest - 2018
    She must become the companion of Lady Jane Busick, a close longtime family friend. The job itself will not be difficult for Selina, who loves Lady Jane as she did her own parents. It is the lady’s infuriating nephew who will make her task unbearable. From childhood, Adam Caldwell, the Viscount Hawkridge, has been a thorn in her side, and now she will be forced to spend far more time in his company than she is happy with, as Lady Jane resides in his home. The Lady and The Rake is a clean, stand-alone historical romance.

Just Desserts


Sue Welfare - 1995
    Every time she chops up her delicious home-grown tomatoes she dreams of murdering her husband. Why can’t Harry just have an affair with a younger woman, and leave?Trouble is Harry has no intention of giving up his home comforts. Not when he’s been having his cake and eating it for years. Glamorous banker Carol accompanies him on business trips and the odd weekend away, but she too is beginning to think maybe life with Harry is growing stale.So who’s fooling who? Harry, happy in his illusion that he’s a sex god and all his women love him? Katherine and Carol, unlikely partners in Harry’s parallel lives? Against a background of gleeful coincidences, cute Cambridge cafes and the unexpected joys of unexplored freedom, the women decide that revenge is a dish best eaten cold.First published in 1999, Just Desserts takes us back to an era of shoulder pads and fax machines, and proves that when it comes to love and betrayal some stories are timeless.Pro

A Forget-Me-Not Summer


Sophie Claire - 2019
    A perfect read for fans of Trisha Ashley and Cathy Bramley! It's taken years, but Natasha Brown's life is finally on track. Running a florists in the quaint village of Willowbrook, she's put her short-lived marriage to Luc Duval far behind her. That is, until he unexpectedly walks through her shop door, three years after their divorce. Luc reveals that he never told his family about their split, and now his father is desperately ill and demanding to meet Natasha. Luc needs her to come to France and pretend they're still happily married. Natasha is horrified, but when Luc makes her an offer she can't refuse, reluctantly packs her bags. The deal is two weeks on a vineyard with his family, but will Luc and Natasha be able to play the perfect couple after years apart? And in the glorious Provence sun, will the old spark between them be impossible to ignore?

Him Downstairs: Laugh-out-loud British Chick Lit


Sherill Turner - 2017
    Yes, she’s thirty-three, single, and has had to work as a waitress and children’s party entertainer since her social worker salary suffered from budget cuts, but she stays positive and manages to pay the mortgage on her flat. Her home is her sanctuary – until Tom moves in downstairs. Lucy and Tom quickly fall in love and into a serious relationship, which is complicated by Tom’s recent separation from his wife, who he has two young sons with. Lucy is heartbroken when Tom breaks up with her, saying that something has to give in his busy life. Encouraged/coerced/badgered by her friends into getting ‘back on that horse’, Lucy finds herself at a tacky Singles Night; dating Danny, a Justin Timberlake impersonator; and attempting a rendezvous with her ‘special friend’. Lucy’s quest to move on from Tom would be a whole lot easier if she didn’t have to hear everything he does. After all, how on earth do you get over someone when you can hear them peeing? Him Downstairs is relatable Chick Lit for readers 18+ who have dipped their toe into the world of modern dating and relationships. It contains adult language and humour, and is written in ‘British English’.

A Total Waste of Makeup


Kim Gruenenfelder - 2005
    She owns a nice house in Silverlake, LA's trendiest neighborhood. She has glamorous and loyal friends who accompany her to the hottest clubs in town. And she works as the personal assistant to Drew Stanton, Hollywood's sexiest movie star. But she's also turning 30, chronically single, and faced with serving as maid of honor at her younger sister's wedding. Charlie finds herself struggling to juggle the chaos of wedding planning (while wondering if she'll ever wear the white dress herself), her all-consuming job for lunatic boss Stanton, and a serious crush on Jordan, a photographer on the set of Drew's latest feature--a man who might actually return her feelings. A page-turner from start to finish, A Total Waste of Makeup puts a fresh face on women's fiction.

Ancient Magic


Bob Blink - 2013
    No one would have believed him had he chosen to reveal his true nature, unless he'd showed some of what he could do. Then there would have been problems. The ability to perform magic was the stuff of children's tales, yet for reasons Rigo couldn't understand, he was blessed, or perhaps cursed, with the ability. Asking others why he was different would have been of no use. He had been found at a young age wandering the flats near the isolated village where he grew up, his memory gone. His background, his true family, where he might have come from were all unknown.Wizard! The word hinted at something important. It made no sense that an insignificant orphan could be a person of such power. Yet Rigo could do things that could only be explained as magic. He had an indestructible staff, with its own unusual powers. There had to be a reason he'd been chosen. When the opportunity presented itself to explore the three kingdoms, Rigo set off in hopes of finding answers.Months later he had yet to find anyone who believed in magic. Circumstances pushed him together with another youth, with whom he was forced to share his secret. Together they ventured on. Neither was prepared for what they found, which required abilities far beyond the primitive magic Rigo could muster. Fortunately, someone had a plan, and Rigo was the key to its execution.

Meant for Each Other


Delaney Cameron - 2017
    Here she can forget the episode that nearly ruined her last year of college. Was it unreasonable to suppose that this far from the scene of her crime she would be safe from meeting the man who knew all about her worst moment? After six months of nonstop traveling, Trey is happy to trade living on the road for the peace and quiet of Tybee Island. In such surroundings, he should be able to work undisturbed. These plans are interrupted by the appearance of a former student. Running into Kirsten is a disturbance of the worst kind: a reminder of an encounter he hasn’t been able to forget. Author’s note: This is a revised and expanded version of a novella published years ago under a different title and pen name. It takes place before the events of Dream of Me.

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.

A Date with the Other Side


Erin McCarthy - 2005
    She knows he's no ghost, though he does makes her weak in the knees.

Shirley F'N Lyle: VIVA the REVOLUTION


Clayton Lindemuth - 2019
    She’s a big girl who keeps her profile low. But when a drug lord and his son toss her trailer, she adds a couple letters to her name. Now she’s killed the drug lord’s son and two meth zombies. Fed up, ready to set fire to her past, her job—and her trailer—she’s dragged back into the role she’s forsworn by a man who presses her buttons with a hammer. Shirley realizes she’ll never be more than a four hundred pound hooker. But when her partner-in-revolution, Ulyana the Ukrainian stripper disappears, her car empty and bullet holes in the glass, Shirley reaches deep, finds her sass, puts flame to fuse. Who took Ulyana? The Russian mob? The man who beat Shirley down? The 83 year old drug lord who refuses to die? When all your life you’ve been one thing, but your survival—and your friend’s—demand you be the hero… You put on the F’N cape.

A Potion to Die For


Heather Blake - 2013
    A local soothsayer has predicted that a couple in town will soon divorce—and now it seems every married person in Hitching Post, Alabama, wants a little extra matrimonial magic to make sure they stay hitched.But when Carly finds a dead man in her shop, clutching one of her potion bottles, she goes from most popular potion person to public enemy number one. In no time the murder investigation becomes a witch hunt—literally! Now Carly is going to need to brew up some serious sleuthing skills to clear her name and find the real killer—before the whole town becomes convinced her potions really are to die for!

Board Stiff


Kendel Lynn - 2013
    Usually nothing more serious than retrieving a pilfered Pomeranian. Until Jane Hatting, Ballantyne board chair, is accused of murder. The Ballantyne’s reputation tanks, Jane’s headed to a jail cell, and Elliott’s sexy ex is the new lieutenant in town. Armed with moxie and her Mini Coop, Elliott uncovers a trail of blackmail schemes, gambling debts, illicit affairs, and investment scams. But the deeper she digs to clear Jane’s name, the guiltier Jane looks. The closer she gets to the truth, the more treacherous her investigation becomes: a brutal attack on her own suspect and the murder of a witness. With victims piling up faster than shells at a clambake, Elliott realizes she’s next on the killer’s list.