Contemporary Family Life

In Benevolence, Washington, the Lamont family's irresistible handmade chocolates are a cherished tradition - and always a reason to celebrate. And now they're giving the three Lamont sisters, one by one, delicious chances to start again, make a change, and have their sweetest dreams come true....

Sex, love, and forgiveness - can they coexist, and can romance author Sarah write them into her life? Although best-selling author Sarah O’Malley is sure her next erotic-romance novel will be another hit, she finds it near to impossible to replicate the same results in her personal life. At 45 years old, Sarah now finds herself divorced and a single mother of two. Sarah journeys back to her childhood home to nurse her mother who is suffering from Alzheimer's, and she inevitably encounters the ghosts of her past.

Thinking no one is reading, a blogger who calls herself LBH writes about her most personal feelings, especially her overwhelming loneliness. She goes from day to day showing a brave face to the world while inside she longs to know how it would feel if one person cared about her. Alex Bartlett cares. He's reading her posts in Daytona Beach, Florida. Nursing his own broken heart and trust issues, he finds himself falling for this sensitive, vulnerable woman whose feelings mirror his own.

At 11, Pip Mackenzie's young life has already been touched by tragedy; nine months before, a terrible accident plunged her mother into inconsolable grief. But on this chilly July afternoon, Pip meets someone who fills her sad, gray world with color and light. And in her innocence and in his kindness, a spark will be kindled, lives will be changed, and a journey of hope will begin.

Pay It Forward, is the moving story of Trevor McKinney, a 12-year-old boy who accepts his social studies teacher’s challenge to come up with a plan to change the world. Trevor’s idea is simple: Do a good deed for three people and ask them to "pay it forward" to three others who need help. He envisions a vast movement of kindness and goodwill spreading beyond his small California town and across the world.

The warm and wonderful new novel from the natural heir to Maeve Binchy.... Tess used to be happy with her lot: she lives in the idyllic Irish coastal village, Avalon, with her teenage son, Zach, and nine-year-old Kitty, and works in the local antiques shop. Her only regret in life is that everything went so horribly wrong with her first love. Then her marriage falls apart and her first love returns to Avalon.

Elsie Lavender and Homer Hickam (the father of the author) were high school classmates in the West Virginia coalfields, graduating just as the Great Depression began. When Homer asked for her hand, Elsie instead headed to Orlando, where she sparked with a dancing actor named Buddy Ebsen (yes, that Buddy Ebsen). But when Buddy headed for New York, Elsie's dreams of a life with him were crushed, and eventually she found herself back in the coalfields, married to Homer.

A tale of family and friendship, tragedy and triumph, loss and love, The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder features the warmth, humor, soul, and wonder that have made Wells one of today's most cherished writers, and gives us an unforgettable new heroine to treasure.

Kun poimittaislinjan bussi syöksyy esiin pimeydestä ja pysähtyy kirskuen hänen edessään, Harry Potterilla on taas alkamassa kaikkea muuta kuin tavanomainen kouluvuosi Tylypahkassa. Sirius Musta, vankilasta paennut massamurhaaja ja lordi Voldemortin seuraaja, on pakosalla - ja huhujen mukaan Harryn kintereillä. Hänen ensimmäisellä ennustustunnillaan professori Punurmio näkee teelehdissä enteitä Harryn kuolemasta. Mutta ehkä kaikkein kamalimpia ovat koulun alueella partioivat Ankeuttajat, joiden suudelma vie sielun mukanaan....

May's second marriage to Colonel Herbert Brown-Lacey is turning out to be a terrible mistake. Her children find the Colonel's presence oppressive.

Seventeen-year-old Maddie is left reeling after the unexpected passing of her beloved father. No one has any idea why he betrayed them all so spectacularly, but that’s exactly what his death feels like: a betrayal. With their world shattered, Maddie’s grieving mother sends her to spend a few months with her grandparents, thinking a change of scenery will do her good. Susan and Frank, Maddie’s grandparents, are heartbroken over the loss of their son, but they welcome Maddie as an addition to their long-empty nest.

Twelve Years. It’s been twelve years since the last time I heard from the Aldridge family. That one voicemail changes everything - I need the money the late William offers. In exchange, I have to live eighteen months in Baker’s Creek. I’ve survived cancer, the jungle, and the plague. This should be easy compared to all that, right? Or so I think until...I see him.

Lucia has worked hard as a lawyer in Wales, aiming for a big promotion she hopes will shortly come her way. Finally taking a well-earned break at her grandparents' house in southern Italy, the sunshine, lemon trees and her nonna's mouth-watering cooking make her instantly feel at home. But she's shocked to learn that her grandfather is retiring from the beloved family pizzeria and will need to sell. Lucia can't bear the thought of the place changing hands - especially when she discovers her not-quite-ex-husband, Giacomo, wants to take it over!

Kitchens of the Great Midwest is about a young woman with a once-in-a-generation palate who becomes the iconic chef behind the country's most coveted dinner reservation. When Lars Thorvald's wife, Cynthia, falls in love with wine - and a dashing sommelier - he's left to raise their baby, Eva, on his own. He's determined to pass on his love of food to his daughter - starting with puréed pork shoulder. As Eva grows, she finds her solace and salvation in the flavors of her native Minnesota.

Noah Wilson isn't exactly "life partner" material, and he sure as hell isn't "father material." He's my older brother's best friend, and has been off limits, sworn off, locked in the highest tower and out of reach since we met over 10 years ago. With his devilish good looks, tattoos, motorcycle, and trail of broken hearts and tears, I've had good reason to stay away from the bad boy my mother warned me about. Until one night. One stupid, regrettable night that changed both of our lives forever.

On a leafy suburban street in Dublin, beautiful, poised Stella Greene lives with her successful husband, Matt. They're the perfect couple in every way, and Stella appears to have it all. Next door, at number 72, however, lives Rea Brady. Gruff, bad tempered and rarely seen besides the twitching of her net curtains, rumour has it she's lost it all...including her marbles, if you believe the neighbourhood gossip. But appearances can be deceiving, and when Stella and Rea's worlds collide they realise they have much in common.

On the anniversary of his beloved wife’s death, Dr. Michael Everett receives a letter Hannah had written him. In it she reminds him of her love and makes one final request. An impossible request. I want you to marry again. She tells him he shouldn’t spend the years he has left grieving her. And to that end she’s chosen three women she asks him to consider. During the months that follow, he spends time with Winter, Leanne, and Macy, learning more about each of them…and about himself.

Set in a Scottish caravan park during a freak winter - it is snowing in Jerusalem, the Thames is overflowing, and an iceberg separated from the Fjords in Norway is expected to arrive off the coast of Scotland - The Sunlight Pilgrims tells the story of a small Scottish community living through what people have begun to think is the end of times. Bodies are found frozen in the street with their eyes open; midst economic collapse, schooling and health care are run primarily on a voluntary basis.

Tall and thin, twenty-eight-year-old Bronwyn Palmer has become positively gaunt, a ghost of her former self. That self was - and still is - the wife of a rich, handsome executive with an ocean-view house and his own security staff. It was in that house, two years ago, that Bryce Palmer learned Bronwyn was pregnant with their first child. But Bryce’s rage over his impending fatherhood touched off a chain reaction of emotional and physical traumas that wounded them both.

Yousef is the golden child to his strict Pakistani parents, overshadowing his younger sister, Rehana. As he finishes his medical degree in London, Yousef’s life appears to be mapped out for him: become a doctor, marry a suitable girl of his parents’ choosing and, above all, make his family proud. Then Yousef meets Jess. A fellow medical student, Jess presents a complication to the plan. Suddenly, Yousef finds himself torn between two worlds – keeping each a secret from the other. Then, as graduation day looms, Yousef’s mother informs him that she’s started looking for his wife.