Contemporary Fiction Books

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders... But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves. Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late? 'So smart and funny. Deplorably good' - Ian Rankin. 'A gripping read' - Sunday Times. Product Information: • ISBN: 9780241425442 • Author: Richard Osman • Publisher: Viking • Format: Hardback • Pages: 400 • Dimensions: 24 x 16.2 x 3.5cm

A flick of a feather duster and a sprinkle of Christmas magic ... Cassie Bell is used to mess. Her cleaning business, Bluebell Cleaning, is well known in the Cumbrian village of Red Moss. However, now it's almost Christmas and Cassie has a slightly messier situation to deal with than she's used to. She's been hired to help Stefan Lambert, an injured army helicopter pilot who's staying at the local Belthorn Manor whilst he recovers. Stefan resents Cassie's interference and is definitely not looking for Christmas cheer. But Cassie prides herself on sparkling surfaces so, can she bring some festive sparkle to Stefan's life too? Product Information: •    ISBN: 9781781894460 •    Author: Marie Laval •    Publisher: Choc Lit  •    Format: Paperback •    Pages: 352 •    Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 cm

Emily Parker is set to have the worst Christmas ever! Her flatmate's moved out, she's closed her heart to love and she's been put in charge of the school original Christmas show – with zero musical ability. Disgraced superstar Ray Stone is in desperate need of a quick PR turnaround. Waking up from a drunken stupor to a class of ten-year-olds snapping pics and Emily looking at him was not what he had in mind. Ray needs Emily's help to delete the photos, and she needs his with the show. As they learn to work together they may just open their hearts to more than a second chance... Product Information: •    ISBN: 9781789544329 •    Author: Mandy Baggot •    Publisher: Aria •    Format: Paperback •    Pages: 464 •    Dimensions: 19.81 x 12.83 x 3.18 cm

Escape to Cornwall with this delightful summer romance... Ellie Truman's mum has been struggling to keep the family hotel in Cornwall afloat since Ellie's dad passed away. Ellie is determined to help her mum, even if that means moving back to the sleepy Cornish village of Port Medden she fled from broken-hearted a few years ago. Running the hotel isn't easy and Ellie is grateful for the help from charming guest, Reece Mitchell. Ellie feels herself falling for Reece but should she trust him and risk getting her heart broken again? And will their hard work be enough to save the hotel? Product Information: • ISBN: 9781786150714 • Author: Karen King • Publisher: Accent Press • Format: Paperback • Pages: 319 • Dimensions: 19.84 x 12.85 x 2.03 cm

Where there’s always a second chance at first love… Zoe has spent her life facing battles: fighting her parents for independence, struggling with her feelings for local bad boy Finn and, after a car accident at eighteen, adjusting to the fact she would not walk again. She remained strong until the day Finn, the person she thought she could trust, broke her heart… Now a successful travel writer, Zoe is excited to review a new luxury hotel in the beautiful South Pacific – until she meets its owner… Finn was never good enough for Zoe. He knew it. Zoe’s family knew it. The village of Hawkes Cove made sure he knew it. Proven when he let her down in the worst way possible. Now a successful businessman, he thought his past was behind him, until a journalist turns up to review his new resort… As Finn shows Zoe the exotic wonders of the islands both face the fact their shared past might just be the beginning of a future. But only if Zoe can win the biggest battle of her life…facing up to her heart’s desire. Product Information: • ISBN: 9780008375911 • Author: Georgia Toffolo • Publisher: Mills & Boon • Format: Paperback • Pages: 368 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2.3 cm

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career. Summoned to Evelyn's luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the '80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn's story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique's own in tragic and irreversible ways. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781982147662 • Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid • Publisher: Washington Square Press • Format: Paperback • Pages: 400 • Dimensions: 19.9 x 12.9 x 2.4 cm

From the author of How to Stop Time and Reasons to Stay Alive comes this touching, funny and heartwarming new novel where ―  between life and death ―  there is a library . . . Nora's life has been going from bad to worse.  Then at the stroke of midnight on her last day on earth, she finds herself transported to a library. There she is given the chance to undo her regrets and try out each of the other lives she might have lived. Which raises the ultimate question: with infinite choices, what is the best way to live? ‘An uplifting, poignant novel about regret, hope and second chances’ ― David Nicholls ‘A beguiling read, filled with warmth and humour, and a vibrant celebration of the power of books to change lives’ ― Sunday Times Product Information: • ISBN: 9781786892737 • Author: Matt Haig • Publisher: Canongate Books • Format: Paperback • Pages: 304 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 1.7 cm

A snowstorm. A stranger. A spark. It should be the perfect start to the perfect love story. But real life is far messier and more complicated than in the pages of the books in Megan Taylor's family bookshop – the last few years have left this young widow in no doubt of that. Moving back home to York should have been a fresh start, but all it did was allow her to retreat from the world. When prize-winning author Xander Stone rams his supermarket trolley into her ankles and then trashes her taste in books, Megan is abruptly awoken from her self-imposed hibernation. It's time to start living again, and she's going to start by putting this arrogant, superior – admittedly sexy – stranger in his place. Just as she is beginning to enjoy life again, the worst happens and Megan begins to wonder if she should have stayed hidden away. Because it turns out that falling in love again is about more than just meeting under the mistletoe... Product Information: • ISBN: 9781801100571 • Author: Rachel Burton • Publisher: Aria • Format: Paperback • Pages: 416

As a child, Meg always dreamed of the perfect Christmas... This year, she can make it come true for her own little boy. There will be turkey and all the trimmings, a glittering tree, and a stocking hung up by a roaring fire. Who cares if there's no devoted husband in the picture? She and Lucas will be just fine on their own. But then a chance meeting with a stranger in New York unravels everything she's planned. Will Meg finally get everything she wished for? Or will she be alone this Christmas after all? Product Information: •    ISBN: 9781781856567 •    Author: Amanda Prowse •    Publisher: Head of Zeus •    Format: Paperback •    Pages: 368 •    Dimensions: 20.32 x 12.7 x 2.54 cm

If you leave a door half-open, soon you'll hear the whispers spoken . . . Fifteen years ago, a serial killer known only as 'The Whisper Man' wreaked havoc on the sleepy village of Featherbank. But with the killer behind bars, the village is now a safe haven for Tom and his young son Jake to make a fresh start. Until another boy goes missing. It feels like history is repeating itself. Could the killer still be out there - and can Tom protect his son from becoming the next victim? Product Information: • ISBN: 9781405947084 • Author: Alex North • Publisher: Penguin Books • Format: Paperback • Pages: 386 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2.4cm

Leena is too young to feel stuck. Eileen is too old to start over. It's time for The Switch... After blowing a big presentation at work, Leena takes a two-month sabbatical and escapes to her grandmother Eileen's house for some overdue rest. Eileen is newly single and about to turn eighty. She'd like a second chance at love, but her tiny Yorkshire village doesn't offer many eligible gentlemen . . . A life swap seems the perfect solution. But with a rabble of unruly OAPs to contend with, as well as the distractingly handsome local schoolteacher, Leena learns that switching lives isn't straightforward. In London, Eileen is a huge hit with her new neighbours, and with the online dating scene. But is her perfect match nearer to home than she first thought? Product Information: • ISBN: 9781787475021 • Author: Beth O'Leary • Publisher: Quercus • Format: Paperback • Pages: 368 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 2.8 cm

Escape to Cornwall this summer... When Hattie is made redundant and evicted from her flat in one horrible week, she needs time to rethink. Her Uncle Albert left her and her father each half of Fisherman's Rest, his home in the Cornish town of Port Medden, so this seems the perfect place to escape to until she can figure things out. As Hattie stays in the cottage, clearing it out, tidying it up and getting it ready to sell, she starts to find her feet in Port Medden and making a new home here begins to feel right. If only her dad didn't need a quick sale and things weren't complicated by her unwelcoming neighbour Marcus . . . Product Information: • ISBN: 9781472278715 • Author: Karen King • Publisher: Headline Accent • Format: Paperback • Pages: 336 • Dimensions: 19.69 x 13.02 x 1.91 cm

We all have something to tell those we have lost . . . On a windy hill in Japan, in a garden overlooking the sea stands a disused phone box. For years, people have travelled to visit the phone box, to pick up the receiver and speak into the wind: to pass their messages to loved ones no longer with us. When Yui loses her mother and daughter in the tsunami, she is plunged into despair and wonders how she will ever carry on. One day she hears of the phone box, and decides to make her own pilgrimage there, to speak once more to the people she loved the most. But when you have lost everything, the right words can be the hardest thing to find . . . Then she meets Takeshi, a bereaved husband whose own daughter has stopped talking in the wake of their loss. What happens next will warm your heart, even when it feels as though it is breaking . . . Product Information: • ISBN: 9781786580412 • Author: Laura Imai Messina • Publisher: Manilla Press • Format: Paperback • Pages: 416 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2.64 cm

Issy Randall, proud owner of the Cupcake Café, is in love and couldn't be happier. Her new business is thriving and she is surrounded by close friends, even if her cupcake colleagues Pearl and Caroline aren't quite as upbeat about the upcoming season of snow and merriment. But when her boyfriend Austin is scouted for a possible move to New York, Issy is forced to face up to the prospect of a long-distance romance. And when the Christmas rush at the café - with its increased demand for her delectable creations - begins to take its toll, Issy has to decide what she holds most dear. This December, Issy will have to rely on all her reserves of courage, good nature and cinnamon, to make sure everyone has a merry Christmas, one way or another . . . Product Information: • ISBN: 9780751550337 • Author: Jenny Colgan • Publisher: Sphere • Format: Paperback • Pages: 371 • Dimensions: 20 x 13 x 3cm

Former Olympic gymnast Samantha Evans and her twin sister Sabrina have chosen very different directions in life, but they are still as close as sisters can be. So when Sabrina begs her twin to help out during her pregnancy, Sam leaves her big city life behind for the countryside. Sam thought she knew what to expect on her sister's ranch. But she wasn't expecting to find gorgeous but infuriating Jake Tanner - or have to deal with his teasing. Sam tries to keep her distance, something keeps pulling her back. Perhaps there's more to Jake than meets the eye . . . Product Information: • ISBN: 9780349427072 • Author: Nora Roberts • Publisher: Piatkus • Format: Paperback • Pages: 160 • Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 1.8 cm

There's magic in the Cornish air this Christmas... When Rosie Anderson's boss suddenly assigns her to go incognito and save a tiny inn in Cornwall from being shut down, her dreams of a Christmas holiday with her son are shattered. And, for the life of her, Rosie has no idea why she's got to go. It's chaos from the start – after hours in the car, Rosie arrives at the inn to find that there are no rooms left. She isn't there for more than a minute before she's butting heads with the manager, Irishman Mitchell Fitzpatrick. He seems to dislike her on sight, so it's confusing that he seems to get on so well with Danny... But if he's as terrible as his reputation, Rosie will have to be the one to fire him. This really isn't the Christmas Rosie was dreaming of. But maybe, just maybe, it could be a whole lot more... Product Information: • ISBN: 9781800245969 • Author: Nancy Barone • Publisher: Aria • Format: Paperback • Pages: 320

What do you do when your fake engagement starts to feel too real… Aspiring clothes designer Victoria Scott spends her days working in a bar in Chelsea, and her evenings designing vintage clothes, dreaming of one day opening her own boutique. But these aspirations are under threat from the new department store opening at the end of her road. She needs a Christmas miracle, but one is not forthcoming. Oliver Russell’s Christmas is not looking very festive right now. His family’s new London department store opening is behind schedule, and on top of that his interfering, if well meaning, mother is pressing him to introduce his girlfriend to her. A girlfriend who does not exist. He needs a diversion. Something to keep his mother from interfering while he focuses on the business. When Oliver meets Victoria, he offers a proposition: pretend to be his girlfriend at the opening of his store and he will provide an opportunity for Victoria to showcase her designs. But what starts as a business arrangement soon becomes something more tempting, as the fake relationship starts to feel very real. But when secrets in Victoria’s past are exposed will Oliver walk away, or will they both follow their hearts and find what neither knew they were looking for… Sunday Times Top 20 Bestseller, Meet Me in London is the sparkling new and bestselling romance. Product Information: • ISBN: 9780008375850 • Author: Georgia Toffolo • Publisher: Mills & Boon • Format: Paperback • Pages: 320 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2.2 cm

For years, rumors of the 'Marsh Girl' have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life - until the unthinkable happens. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781472154668 • Author: Delia Owens • Publisher: Corsair • Format: Paperback • Pages: 384 • Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 2.4cm

Malie Pukui doesn’t believe in happy ever after. After a tragedy caused her to flee her family and friends in Devon she found a fresh start in Hawaii. Here, working at a surf school, she can give back to those in need and try to overcome the greatest loss in her life. Moved around foster homes throughout his childhood, Todd Masters has worked hard to be able to offer a brighter future to young disadvantaged children. Now he has his own charitable foundation working with a surf school in Hawaii, but he still can’t put his past behind him. When Malie rescues Todd from the sea a spark ignites between them, and the two wounded souls find a common ground. But amidst the surf, sunsets and sizzling kisses, can Malie let go of her past and risk something she’d locked away forever… her heart? Product Information: • ISBN: 9780008375881 • Author: Georgia Toffolo • Publisher: Mills & Boon • Format: Paperback • Pages: 368 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2.4 cm

While her free-spirited daughter travels the world, Vivienne prepares for a lonely Christmas in Bristol, with her best friend Ellen and her ancient dog Bob. Then a letter arrives that changes everything. Vivienne's daughter is getting married in New Zealand, and she wants her mum and Ellen by her side. Out on the rugged coast of Tutukaka, the sea sparkles, romance beckons - and Vivienne falls under the spell of another life. Will she leave everything she holds dear for a chance at happiness? Or will her daughter be the only one to fall in love this Christmas? Product Information: •    ISBN: 9781784974923 •    Author: Amanda Prowse •    Publisher: Head of Zeus  •    Format: Paperback •    Pages: 368 •    Dimensions: 20.32 x 12.7 x 2.29 cm