Showing results by publisher "Hachette UK - Bookouture" in Genre Fiction

As chief bridesmaid, Libby knows she should be having the time of her life at her best friend’s snowy Christmas Eve wedding. But she’s at the mercy of three bossy little flower girls and she’s not looking her best in an enormous fuchsia dress. Which is a shame, as it is the first time she’s going to see her ex Rufus. The man she was supposed to marry. The man who left her alone at the altar....

In beautiful Rathmoney House nestled by the wild Irish Sea, Margo sits in her black suit, three strings of pearls at her neck, nodding at those offering their condolences. She never thought she would be here without her beloved husband. All she has left is their beautiful daughter Elsa and a house full of memories. Then, she receives a letter that turns everything she thought she knew on its head....

As snow begins to fall, and word reaches their town that the Red Army are approaching, German-born mother-of-two Emma knows she has no choice: She must pack their meagre belongings and leave their home, in search of safety. Even if safety is within Nazi Germany. But as the icy grip of winter tightens around them, her four-year-old son—her blue-eyed angel—Jacob becomes ill. Desperate for him to get well enough to continue their journey, she takes him to a hospital, where she hands him to a kind nurse. Then a terrible attack separates mother and son, and their lives change forever.

1942, New York. As war rages in Europe, Lily Rose is grateful for her perfect life: a wealthy family who love her and a dream job working uptown as a restaurant chef. Times are changing for women, and Lily is determined to run her own kitchen one day. She hopes handsome Tom Morelli, son of Sicilian immigrants, will be at her side. Together they work late, dreaming up delicious meals for New Yorkers struggling with wartime rationing and the threat of sons and sweethearts being called up. Then Tom receives a devastating telegram that changes everything: He is drafted to fight in Italy.

When I left my parents’ home in Kentucky, I never thought I’d see my sister again. For years, we kept a terrible secret, and eventually it tore us apart. But when I get the call to say that my sister has been killed and my teenage niece Hannah is coming to live with us, I leave the past behind. Hannah is family, and I need to keep her safe. I know what could happen to her if I don’t. When my niece arrives, she bonds with my daughter Cassie instantly. But then I hear a scream from the girls’ bedroom. And in the garden, someone has lit a fire. It’s a warning.

I thought handsome, charming Blake would be the perfect fit for my quiet and sweet-natured friend Melanie. Widowed far too young, she deserved a second chance at love. So, when he proposed so soon after I set them up on a date, I convinced myself that the timing was just right. But I should have stopped it. I tried to ignore Blake’s controlling behavior. It started small; telling her not to have a glass of champagne to celebrate their engagement, putting cameras up around her house for “safety”. But Mel seemed so happy and in love, I couldn’t bring myself to share my creeping doubts.

Skye Turner’s family fell apart the day her twin sister, Ginny, died. Everyone in their tiny community in the Scottish Highlands accepted it was an accident, but more than one person in town is haunted by a secret from that night.... Skye left after the funeral, believing her mother blamed her for Ginny’s death. Skye should have taken care of Ginny, should have been there to stop her falling from the cliffs that night. Over the years, she’s barely spoken to her mother, until the day she receives a phone call asking her to return home.

Amanda always knew she was adopted, but when she inherits a house in Avalon Springs, it’s the first she hears of her birth mother’s death. The moment she used to imagine meeting her for the first time and staring into the bright blue eyes they might share, will always remain a dream. Heartbroken, Amanda knows she must go there to show her children the home where they should have lived, to go through her mother’s old clothes, sell the house and say goodbye. But as she walks into the stark white house she begins to feel uneasy. 

Maura was perfect. A perfect liar. One humid summer evening, Officer Maura Walsh is lead to her table at a local restaurant - it’s a trendy place with cocktails on the menu, full of office workers leaning across the bar to flirt. She’s prettier than most of the women here, but everybody gives her a wide berth. She doesn’t eat or drink anything. She doesn’t meet anyone’s eye. An hour later, Maura is dead. Her silky red hair swirls in the dirty puddles beneath her body. The dank walls of a forgotten alley are the last thing she ever saw.

This is my first job as a housekeeper, but Evan Warner doesn’t need to know that. It’s the first of many lies I’ll tell him. He just lost his wife, Lola, and now he and his young daughter Jessica are adrift. But no amount of cleaning will rid this house of the secrets that have seeped into the cracks. I never forgave Lola for what she did to me. But I can’t let Evan get away with her murder.

All Ria ever wanted was a family. Growing up alone in foster care, she imagined just how it would be. So when she fell in love with Grayson and had their daughter Shelley, she was determined to make his family love her too. Until one morning, Grayson leaves the house for work and never comes home. Left to raise Shelley alone, Ria is forced to turn to her husband’s family, to let her intimidating mother-in-law into her life, allow her to babysit Shelley, and accept her financial support. But Ria is about to learn that every Parker wife has secrets.

I have the perfect life: a loving marriage and an adorable little daughter, Mia, who is always full of smiles. But when my husband, Keith, is hit by a car, my whole world is turned upside down. With my heart breaking in his cold, white hospital room, I hold his hand and tell him how much I love him. Then just as Keith slips into a coma, I hear him say four words that change everything: I took a life.

Jo is my best friend. From high school to adulthood, we’ve gone through everything together. Even when I made a foolish mistake and betrayed her in the worst way, she forgave me. She’s godmother to my son, and our lives are intertwined. We want the best for each other, always. I hope she approves of my new boyfriend, Noah. How could she not? Noah is kind, attentive, and loves me for who I am. But when I introduce them over dinner one evening, Jo doesn’t look happy. She’s always been protective of me, and as Noah clutches my hand, I force her reaction to the back of my mind.

When Brooke arrives in Paris at Christmas, it feels like the perfect place to escape after being dumped by her long-term boyfriend. And while her head might be turned by the romance of couples strolling arm in arm along the riverbank, and the air scented with chocolat chaud, her heart remains firmly under lock and key—this trip is going to be about her. Brooke might be able to resist the charms of one persuasive Frenchman who takes her to some of Paris’s most romantic spots, but when a chance encounter leads her to green-eyed Armand.

My world shattered when Declan disappeared five years ago. My grown-up children fell apart without their father, and it was up to me to pick up the pieces of our broken lives. I never thought I’d get married again, but then I met George. Some people might think we’re moving too fast. But as I look around on our wedding day at our little family, the sounds of laughter and clinking glasses ringing out, I know that I’ve made the right decision. Until Declan steps out the shadows. He says he still loves me, and now he’s back for good. But where has he been all this time?

Clutching my husband’s hand, I screech with delight as the rollercoaster loops through the air. I feel young and free for the first time in years, but as we roll to a stop and I look for our three beloved children in the crowd, I panic. I can only see two. Where is my daughter? Today was meant to be special. A final fun family day out before five-year-old Summer joins her big siblings at school. But in an instant, we’re plunged into a nightmare. We scream her name as we frantically search the amusement park for a glimpse of her flaming red hair.

I stand at the very edge of the cliff face, looking at the roaring ocean below my feet. I’m in no danger; in fact, my husband and his sister talk just feet away from me, watching my every move. Since the car accident, I’ve struggled to remember a lot of important things in my life, like giving birth to my daughter, Violet. Or how perfect my marriage is. As I stare at the expanse of blue before me, I have a flashback to the crash—a detail so small it might seem insignificant to some, but to me it’s everything. So why is it so different from what everyone is telling me?

I always tried to pretend my life was perfect. A beautiful house, a loving family. But the truth was nobody knew my secret. About the terrible thing that happened when I was a teenager, and the tiny, fragile baby girl who I couldn’t look after. It broke my heart to leave her, as I did, with just a scrawled note tucked into her soft, yellow blanket, saying her name was Hope.

Pulling a batch of my husband’s favorite golden oatmeal cookies from the oven, I smile to hear my daughter Phoebe playing in the treehouse outside. I was once so close to losing everything, but since I married handsome Jackson, I have a perfect life. Jackson might tell me what to wear, but he just likes to buy me nice things. He says I don’t need a job, and why would I want one? I can spend all day taking care of Phoebe and running errands in the fancy car Jackson gave me—he knows everywhere I go. But my whole world shatters when I find out Jackson is a liar.

Then: Three-year-old Ally was found alone in a parking lot. She was barefoot and dressed only in a yellow sundress. In the middle of winter. What kind of person would abandon their daughter? Now: Fifteen years later and Ally has a new family. But her real father has sent her a letter. And now, Ally is missing.