Showing results by author "Karen Clarke" in All Categories

When Cassie Maitland needs a holiday from her glamorous but stressful job in event management, she escapes home to gorgeous Seashell Cove, where her family’s cosy café sits perched on the cliffs above sparkling waves and golden sand. But a lot has changed while Cassie’s been away: her parents have transformed their tired café into a welcoming haven, her friends Meg and Tilly have whole new lives, and old flame Danny’s twinkling eyes and winning smile make Cassie feel even more flustered than they used to....

Sophy Pemberton is struggling to cope with the pressures of becoming a new mother. Her nine-month-old son never settles in her arms, and the unrelenting tiredness from late-night feeds is all consuming. So, when Liv Granger from the mother and baby group offers her services as a nanny, Sophy is overcome with relief. Now she can finally get some sleep. She can stop failing at being a mother. But Liv has a secret. She didn’t become Sophy’s nanny by accident.

When Rose’s old friend Elise suddenly arrives on her doorstep having just escaped a controlling marriage, she offers her a place to stay. But Elise wants more than a safe refuge, she wants Rose to help her get her daughter back, so that she can truly start afresh with five-year-old Daisy safely in her arms. Every little girl needs her mother, after all. Ready to insert herself into Elise’s old home, Rose gets a job as a teacher, home-schooling Daisy. But when Rose is asked to take the little girl and bring her to Elise, she gets cold feet. Elise’s behaviour is becoming increasingly erratic.

Meg Larson thought she had everything she wanted: she works in the local bakery, she’s months away from marrying her high-school sweetheart, and home is beautiful, sunny Seashell Cove, where the sky is blue, the sea is turquoise and the sand is golden. Except that the bakery is up for sale, and her fiancé Sam’s more interested in bikes than their relationship. When Meg receives shocking news about her family, he’s on a cycling tour and ignoring her calls - and posting selfies on Facebook with a female cyclist he looks far too cosy with....

Five years ago, my sister, Rachel, left her baby boy on my doorstep. A little bundle wrapped in blankets. I loved him. I cared for him. I called him Noah and raised him as my own. Rachel was full of secrets, and the truth about Noah was one we shared. A secret just between sisters. Now, my sister is dead. The police say it was an accident...but I’m convinced that’s a lie. I owe it to Rachel to uncover the truth...even if I risk losing the family I’ve fought so hard for.

A stranger died to save you...now it’s your turn. Meet Beth Turner. From the outside she looks like any other 33-year-old woman, with a gorgeous house and beautiful daughter. But Beth has a secret that has haunted her past for as long as she can remember. A secret that only those closest to her know. Aged seven, she almost drowned on a family holiday...and a stranger died saving her life. Survivor's guilt has been the defining characteristic of her life ever since.

When Sasha meets Elliot a month before her wedding to Pete, the news he brings seems incredible. He claims to have arrived from the future, explaining that their timeline was knocked off course in 2010, preventing them from meeting, and begs her to find him in the present day. But Sasha’s wedding plans are underway, and though she’s curious, Elliot turns out to be feckless, rebellious, and engaged to a glamorous and pregnant Belle.

Who better to narrate today's best science-fiction stories than today's favorite science-fiction stars? This exciting collection features many.

On the eve of her 27th birthday, Josie Goodwin is feeling harassed. Her boyfriend, Will, has become a donkey-loving hippy, and her best friend, Lara, has baby brain. She desperately needs to find the perfect location for a film shoot, or her career may implode. Her eccentric grandma has always said that Josie will inherit a book of spells on her birthday, but since she doesn’t believe in magic, nothing will improve; or will it?

Ella Matthews has it all. A beautiful house, a charming husband and a precious baby daughter – her life has pretty much turned out exactly as she planned. But when Ella’s mother tragically dies, her perfect life starts to crack. Her mother had been harbouring a life-long secret. Ella has a sister – an older sister – called Colleen. Excited by the thought of no-longer being an only child, Ella can’t wait to find her.

Interior designer Tilly Campbell loves being carefree and single. But her latest job is redecorating the cosy local café for a Christmas party, and when her friends confess their plans for the big night - including a proposal, a declaration of love and a pregnancy announcement - Tilly starts to wonder if she might be missing out.... Transforming the café into a winter wonderland is more of a challenge than she thought, so when she bumps into gorgeous newcomer Seth, Tilly welcomes the distraction.

Abby Archer, a smart and savvy woman who refuses to be taken in by celebrity culture, becomes fascinated with it girl and media darling Brooke Simmons after she falls into a coma following a car crash. Her loyal security-guard-turned-lover Nick Lawson is implicated in the accident - someone Abby met just days before. One day Abby begins to feel unwell and is shocked to see the face looking back at her in the mirror is no longer her own but that of Brooke Simmons.

Nell Cosgrove is the new wife who got it all. She married her handsome, wealthy boss within six months of meeting him. They live in a beautiful riverside home. She has a flourishing career. The only problem is her two stepdaughters, Ruby and Poppy, who are fiercely loyal to their mother and reject all of Nell's overtures.

Kate and her husband are expecting their first child. Even though it was a surprise, Kate is thrilled and so is her mother, Helen. Kate just needs Helen’s anxieties to ease and for Dan to be on board. Dan is struggling – he loves Kate, but he is not ready to be a father. With relations between them feeling hostile, the attractive lead singer in Dan’s band offers him a tantalizing escape.

Grace bundled her eight-week-old daughter into her carry cot, opened the door and ran. Her life in New York faded into the background - she needed to keep her baby safe. She needed to get as far away from Patrick as possible. Now, staying in a remote cottage in Wales, Grace is trying to start again. But she can’t shake the uneasy feeling that she’s been followed. And then she finds a note. Left on her bed. A tiny scrap of paper with scrawl in bright red pen.

On the beautiful French coast lies the Café Belle Vie, a peaceful haven offering a warm welcome and delicious pains au chocolat – and where Natalie’s quiet life is about to be turned upside down... When thirty-one-year-old Natalie Bright’s boyfriend dumps her and immediately gets engaged to his ex-girlfriend, she escapes her heartbreak and moves to the charming village of Chamillon on the Île de Ré. She’s determined to build a new life there: writing about farmer’s markets for a local magazine, exploring the local vineyards on her bike, and taking advantage of the sunshine.

Caitlin Garvey has longed for this moment. The day her husband, Jack, would walk back through the door, and tell her all he ever wanted was to be with her. Only this isn’t quite the reunion she had in mind. Jack has been in a hit-and-run accident. He has no memory of why he left Caitlin, no clue about his new family who are worried he’s missing and no recollection of the phone call he made two weeks ago—I made a terrible mistake that I can’t put right. All I can do is get out.

When Marnie Appleton inherited a sweet shop from her grandfather she was determined to do his legacy proud. The shop has been a much-loved feature of the little seaside town of Shipley for years, but now Marnie needs to bring it up to date, and she’s recruited gorgeous new assistant Josh to help. Marnie gets busy redecorating the shop and choosing delicious new sweets to stock, but things are never that simple: new neighbour Isobel, a fame-hungry blogger, is on a crusade against sugar, and she’ll go to any lengths to secure bad publicity for Marnie’s shop.

Carrie Dashwood fled Dorset ten years ago when her best friend Megan stole her love, local heart-throb Tom. Now she’s back to help run her aunt Ruby’s flower stall in idyllic Shipley. Trying to persuade herself that her feelings for Tom are in the past, Carrie plans to avoid him and Megan completely. But it’s not to be, because Ruby’s Blooms are arranging the flowers for Megan and Tom’s wedding.

Snow is falling and there’s romance in the air. Curl up for a cosy Christmas by the fire at Seaview Cottage... When thirty-year-old Lily Ambrose’s latest relationship ends in disaster, she remembers happy childhood holidays in the seaside town of Shipley and decides it’s the perfect place for a fresh start. But when Lily arrives, the town’s spirits are as low as her own: the local celebrity due to turn on the Christmas lights has gone on a cruise instead. Keen to prove herself, she calls in a favour and secures gorgeous reality star Ollie.