Showing results by publisher "Avon" in Literature & Fiction

When Judith loses her partner, she loses her life in Malta, too - including the beautiful view from her sun-warmed balcony of the sparkling blue waters of Sliema Creek. Back in England, Judith finds a spare room in her sister’s house where she grew up - but with it comes a whole host of family dramas. Nursing a broken heart, Judith knows she must find happiness again - and rebuild her life on her own terms. Could an island in the sun be the answer she is looking for?

When Shantal gets the call to move from London to Brazil, to test out her racing simulator on high performance Formula One racing drivers, she leaves her life behind, and goes. Darien knows one thing in life: passion is everything. It’s his passion for driving that has led him to the heights of motorsport, a coveted seat as a Formula One driver. When his team insists he move to Brazil to trial a new racing simulator and racetrack, he goes. Because the one thing he is more passionate about than cars, is Brazil, his home. When Shantal and Darien meet, sparks aren’t just flying from the gearbox.

Ros is too busy for a boyfriend; between work and looking after her father, there’s no time left for a relationship. But when she overhears her dad's dying wish is for her to find love, Ros is determined to make it happen – or at least, make it look like it has. Enter Cameron, a struggling student with a mountain of debt but a zest for life. Ros, driven by love for her ailing dad, reluctantly agrees to the simple business transaction: paying Cameron to play the role of her boyfriend. Ros meticulously plans their fake relationship – but when Cameron decides to go off-script, chaos ensues.

Luke Craven is convinced that the world is against him; his once-happy life hasn’t been the same since he lost both of his parents and his wife in quick succession, and his everyday has become more about existing than living. But he is forced to reconsider his glass-half-empty outlook when he narrowly escapes a freak accident with his life - pushed to safety by a stranger, who isn’t so lucky.

Suffolk, 1944. American pilot Charlie’s second tour is about to draw to a close, but his heart is forever changed when he meets Kitty, a local girl. As love blooms, the pair are all too aware that every perilous mission Charlie flies may well be his last. Suffolk, 2011. When Kitty’s granddaughter and ambitious tearoom owner Amy meets American tourist and photographer Jack, she agrees to show him around in exchange for his photographic talents. The deal quickly grows into an unexpected bond – but when long-buried secrets emerge, neither of their worlds will ever be the same again.

For three decades, Grace supported her husband Frank’s passion for books, even though her own love for literature paled in comparison. Since his passing, the shelves echo longingly, and Grace's heartache has only grown.​ ​When Grace’s grandson suggests joining Frank’s old book club, she hesitates. How could meeting with a bunch of strangers possibly fill the void he left behind? Despite her doubts – and desperate to feel close to Frank again – Grace decides to attend.​

Rose has always been close to her father. Her mother died soon after she was born, so it’s been just the two of them for as long as she can remember. But a chance encounter days before she's due to get married leaves Rose questioning everything she has ever known. The man she trusts most in the world has been keeping a secret from her. And the truth will leave her with an impossible choice.

On the evening of their wedding anniversary, Ali and Matthew are involved in a fatal car accident. Grief-stricken, Ali can’t bring herself to believe that her beloved Matthew is gone. The smell of his aftershave lingers in their bedroom. His voice still rings out on their answerphone. She sees his face in the eyes of strangers. But as the months pass, and her family and friends rally round, Ali starts to uncover secrets that Matthew kept from her.

Maya loves structure. She loves to plan. She never makes a decision without doing a pros and cons list first. She’s been planning her dream getaway for a long time. Alex is laid back. He’s learnt the hard way that you can’t control what happens in life, so he’s stopped trying. When he sees an incredible offer on a luxury holiday, he books it without a second thought. It is only when they arrive at the 5-star resort that they learn there’s a problem: somehow they’ve ended up booked into the same room.

79-year-old Gloria Frensham is a hoarder. She lives amongst piles of magazines, cardboard boxes and endless knickknacks that are stacked into every room of her home and teeter in piles along the landing and up the stairs. She hasn’t left the house in years, but when a sudden smell of burning signifies real danger, she is forced to make a sudden departure and leave behind her beloved possessions. Determined she’s not ready for a care home, Gloria sets out to discover what life still has to offer her.

Meet the young widows. Together, they’ve shared their grief and emotional healing in the wake of losing their husbands. But whilst these meetings are the only places, they feel they can open up, all is not as it seems. Each woman is hiding something, but one is not who she says she is. In fact, she’s never even been married.

New York City, 1921. The war is over, the twenties are roaring, but in the depths of the city that never sleeps, Dorothy Parker is struggling to make her mark in a man’s world. She’s penniless, she’s unemployed and her marriage is on the rocks when she starts a bridge group with three extraordinary women—but will they be able to save her from herself? When tragedy strikes, and everything Dorothy holds dear is threatened, it’s up to Peggy, Winifred and Jane to help her confront the truth before it’s too late. Because the stakes may be life or death.

Paris, 1941. With Nazi occupation imminent, journalist Elodie Mitchell plans to return home to Chicago. But an unexpected invitation to a Josephine Baker show changes everything. Mistaken for the star, Elodie is whisked backstage, where she uncovers an underground resistance movement hidden beneath the glitz and glamour. Drawn into a whisper network of spies, Elodie accepts a perilous mission: to go undercover as Josephine's cousin and gather vital intelligence.

Lexie loves her home. She feels safe and secure in it - and loved, thanks to her boyfriend, Tom. But recently, something’s not been quite right. A book out of place. A wardrobe door left open. A set of keys going missing.... Tom thinks Lexie’s going mad - but then, he’s away more often than he’s at home nowadays, so he wouldn’t understand. Because Lexie isn’t losing it. She knows there’s someone out there watching her. And, deep down, she knows there’s nothing she can do to make them stop.

The Luftwaffe has been bombing London continuously since September 1940. During a bombing raid, Madeline Fairfax is caught in her kitchen whilst cooking for her husband and children. She becomes trapped in the rear of her home, but regains consciousness just in time to see a familiar face, offering hope of rescue. But instead, Madeline is tragically strangled to death. As a dangerous murderer uses the Blitz to cover their crime, local detective Jamie Barton enlists the help of Madeline’s sister and volunteer firefighter, Penny Fairfax to help.

Mackenzie, Robin and Lily have been inseparable since college. Twenty years on, they all live in the same neighbourhood with their perfect homes, perfect families, perfect lives. But in their idyllic suburban town, no one truly knows what goes on behind closed doors. For each of these women is crumbling under the weight of a secret, a betrayal, a lie. And when the worst happens, will the unbreakable bond of their friendship survive, though it’s started to fray at the edges?

When Romilly says goodbye to her new baby daughter, abandoning her at the hospital hours after giving birth, no one can understand why she would leave - and where she has gone. In those first few hours, she had been the image of a doting mother and would have done anything to protect her baby. Something has clearly gone wrong. Could it be that Romilly is suffering from postpartum psychosis, just as her mother did? Or is something even worse at hand? A danger so grave that she would leave her longed-for daughter to escape it.

Across Europe, a young woman with no name and no fixed appearance hops from empty villa to vacated apartment to dormant summer house under the guise of house sitter. Her agenda? Steal from the rich, and kill anyone who gets in her way. On a stormy night in England, travelling home down narrow country lanes, a fatal car crash leaves Kat’s husband Oliver dead. But as Kat begins to mourn his loss, she discovers something that suggests she never knew her husband at all.

Every Friday Mercy Hamilton goes to the same supermarket. She doesn’t go to buy groceries, instead, she shows a fading photo of a little girl to anyone who’ll look – begging for help to find her daughter. One Friday, Erica Fielding comes across Mercy, and touched by her story, Erica agrees to help. As Erica is drawn deeper and deeper into Mercy’s life, she discovers there is no record of Mercy’s daughter. In fact, there’s no record of a child at all. But who is the girl in the photo if not Mercy’s missing daughter? And what danger will Erica find herself in by pursuing the truth?

After yet another awful date, bookshop owner Lexi Austen turns to her shelves for comfort. There, she finds inspiration: what do many of her favourite literary couples have in common? They started as enemies. Rival bookstore owner Sam Dickens is arrogant, fiercely competitive, and everything Lexi is not looking for – despite his devastating good looks. But if her favourite authors are right, he could be the one…