Judy Astley

Melanie finds herself single again after years of being one half of a couple. Her friends predict loneliness, frustration, disaster. Her parents are convinced she’s a failure in life....

Sara’s mother told her that she shouldn’t marry Conrad – that the twenty-five-year age gap between them would tell in the end. The end is now (apparently) approaching fast....

Thea’s parents decide to host a big family Christmas in a house by the sea… even though they are, in fact, about to split up....

Viola hasn't had much luck with men....

Have you ever wondered what your ex is up to? When Nell was a student, she and Patrick were a serious item. They were inseparable, and she really thought he was The One. But then Alex came along....

It’s 20 years since Miranda, then 16, holidayed in Cornwall and her life changed forever.....

It is almost a year since Sean and Thea met, and it's been a roller-coaster ride: they're getting married on Christmas Day....

Funerals are strange things. Kitty hadn't really wanted to go to this one - a old school friend she hadn't seen for years....

A Proper Family Holiday was the last thing Lucy was expecting to have....

Do the friendships you make on holiday have anything to do with real life? It might be sensible to hope that they don’t....

Jay has always envied her cousin Delphine. While Jay was brought up in a large, noisy and chaotic family, Delphine was indulged, perfectly dressed with a co-ordinated bedroom...

Every July, the lucky owners of Cornish holiday homes set off for their annual break....

Alice has a scrupulously organised, comfortable life in West London with Noel - her second husband whose main ambition in life is to sharpen his golf handicap in time for retirement....

After 20 years of marriage, Nina had offloaded serial philanderer Joe and was happy enough. But into Nina's new, carefree life some disturbing elements began to appear....

Bella has given up on men. Happily divorced, her latest boyfriend just omitted to tell her about his current wife, so she’s back on her own again. Then her ex-husband turns up....

It was Heather's silver wedding anniversary. But this important milestone did not mark her marriage to Tom....

Stella works as an agony aunt for a teenage magazine....

Jess has just waved goodbye to her darling son, off backpacking to Oz.....

Imagine – you’re in your early thirties, settled and sensible, and wanting to move up the property ladder....

Thea hat an Weihnachten vor einem Jahr in Cornwall den unwiderstehlichen Sean kennengelernt und sich Hals über Kopf in ihn verliebt...