Showing results by author "Santa Montefiore" in Women's Fiction

Ten-year-old Floriana is captivated by the magnificent Tuscan villa near her village. When the owner’s son invites her inside, Floriana knows that her destiny is there, with him. But as they grow up, things begin to change. Miles away on the Devon coastline, Marina’s hotel has fallen on hard times. The arrival of Rafael Santoro, artist-in-residence, seems to bring peace in Marina’s family. But Rafa is not who he seems....

England, 1932: Grace Hamblin, the beekeeper's daughter, knows her place and her future, until her father dies. She’s alone, except for one man who she just can't shake from her thoughts…. Massachusetts, 1973: Grace's daughter Trixie Valentine is in love. But when he has to go home to England, he promises to come back, if she will wait for him. Both mother and daughter are searching for love and happiness, unaware of the secrets that bind them.

Sofia Solanas grows up on a beautiful ranch in the middle of the Argentine pampa. In a world of old-fashioned values, she carves out a place as a rebellious and passionate young woman. But eventually, her stubborn nature leads her to trouble. When Sofia’s mother Anna discovers that Sofia has embarked on a forbidden love affair, she must act in order to save the family from shame. She sends Sofia to Europe - away from her friends and family and the man Sofia loves.

The war has ended, and Rita Fairweather is waiting for George Bolton, her childhood sweetheart, to return home to Devon. She wants their future to be a continuing reassurance of their past. But George comes back as a man changed by the horrors he has experienced. Unable to settle back into a small-town life, George decides to travel to Argentina. And Rita promises to wait. But George faces irresistible temptation and an agonising choice. As the years pass, Rita keeps her word, but how long should she wait for the love of the life?

She hardly knew her Italian mother, and her English father acts as if Valentina never existed. She despises country life almost as much as she despises her stepmother and stepsisters. On board the houseboat named after her dead mother, Alba's life is little more than a selfish search for fun and pleasure. But the discovery of her mother's portrait sends the girl back to Italy to find her family - and the truth about Valentina.

Married couple, Miranda and David, move out of London into a beautiful country house with an idyllic garden. But reality turns out to be very different from their bucolic dream. Soon the latent unhappiness in the family begins to come to the surface, isolating each family member in a bubble of resentment and loneliness. Then a mysterious Frenchman arrives on their doorstep. With the wisdom of nature, he slowly begins to heal the past and the present.

From Sunday Times best-selling author Santa Montefiore comes a novel about losing yourself, but finding your future.… Ellen Trawton is running away from it all - literally. She’s getting married to a man she doesn't love, her job is depressing, and her mother is getting on her nerves. So she escapes to the one place she knows her mother won't follow her - her aunt's house in rural Ireland. Once there, she uncovers a dark family secret - and a future she never knew she might have.

Margot Hart travels to Ireland to write a biography of the famous Deverill family. She knows she must speak to the current Lord Deverill—JP—if she is to uncover the secrets of the past. A notorious recluse, JP won’t be an easy man to crack. But Margot is determined—and she is not a woman who is easily put off.

Arethusa Clayton has always been formidable, used to getting her own way. On her death, she leaves unexpected instructions. Instead of being buried in America, on the wealthy East Coast where she and her late husband raised their two children, Arethusa has decreed that her ashes be scattered in a remote corner of Ireland, on the hills overlooking the sea. All Arethusa ever told Faye was that she grew up in a poor farming family and left Ireland, alone, to start a new life in America, as did so many in those times of hardship and famine.

Federica is moved from Chile to Cornwall when her parents separate, and all she has left of the relationship she cherished with her father is a wooden box, which has a secret beauty hidden within. Swiftly embraced into the eccentric Appleby family, it isn’t long before Federica falls for her friend’s older brother, Sam, who barely notices the little girl until it is too late. Years later, from the sanctuary of a seemingly perfect marriage, Federica embarks on a painful journey of self-discovery. Will she finally learn the true lesson of the butterfly box?

Audrey Garnet lives a sheltered life in the exclusive Argentinian community of Hurlingham. That is, until Cecil and Louis Forrester arrive, travelling from England to make their fortunes. Admired by all for her beauty and grace, Audrey quickly catches the eyes of both brothers, but it is talented-but-troubled outsider Louis with his musical flair whom she is drawn to most. Cecil, however, is a better match – a decorated war hero who has charmed the entire community, including Audrey’s parents, forcing Audrey to keep her true feelings a secret.

It is 1925, and the war is long over. But much has been lost, and life will never be quite the same. Castle Deverill, cherished ancestral home to the Deverill family in the west of Ireland, has burned to the ground. Young and flighty Celia Deverill is determined to restore the sad ruins to its former glory. But dark shadows are gathering once more as the financial markets start to shake, and everything that felt so certain is thrown once again into doubt....

Martha Wallace came to Dublin from her home in America to find her birth mother. But instead she has lost her heart to the impossibly charming JP Deverill. Bridie Doyle, now mistress of Castle Deverill, is determined to make the castle she used to work in her home. But her flamboyant husband, Cesare, has other ideas. Kitty Deverill has come to terms with her life with her husband, Robert. But then Jack O'Leary, the love of her life, returns to Ballinakelly....

Flappy Scott-Booth is the self-appointed queen bee of Badley Compton, a picturesque Devon village. While her husband Kenneth spends his days on the golf course, she is busy overseeing her beautiful house and gardens and organising unforgettable events, surrounded by friends who hang on to her every word. Her life is a reflection of herself—impossibly perfect. Until the day that Hedda Harvey-Smith and her husband Charles move into the village. Into an even grander home than hers. Taking the front seat on the social scene, quite literally.

Best-selling children's book writer Angelica is amused and flattered at the attention of Jack, the owner of a vineyard in South Africa, whom she meets at a dinner party. With his easy charm and reputation as a ladies' man, Jack makes her feel good about herself - surely it can't do any harm to indulge in a mild email flirtation?

De vrouwen van kasteel Deverill proberen zich staande te houden in de roerige jaren voor de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Kitty wordt verscheurd door haar liefde voor Ierland en de wens haar leven met Jack te delen. Celia is vastbesloten kasteel Deverill in zijn oude glorie te herstellen en stort zich vol overgave op de renovatie, zich niet bewust van de rampspoed die onafwendbaar op haar af komt. Bridie probeert wanhopig over het verlies van haar zoon heen te komen, die ze bij zijn geboorte moest afstaan, en verzint de wildste plannen om hem terug te krijgen.