Showing results by publisher "Hachette UK - Bookouture" in Psychological

When I first set eyes on Westhill House with its breathtaking views of the sea, I knew Jack and I could make this our forever home. It may be falling apart with an overgrown garden, but we can repair this beautiful building and perhaps our relationship, too. But the more time I spend renovating our new house, the more time Jack is spending at work. At least Lori's here to keep me company. She has her own troubles, yet she always listens to mine. She’s helping to restore the house, uncovering its secrets one by one. Lori seems to know a lot about Westhill House. The question is, why?

Two-and-a-half-year-old Holly is playing happily in a pink, plastic playhouse, while her mother Rachel sips coffee and chats with a friend nearby. It should be an ordinary day for all of them. But, in the blink of an eye, it turns into every family’s worst nightmare. Holly is taken by a stranger and never found. Nine years later, Rachel is living a quiet life in Dorset. She’s tried to keep things together since the traumatic day when she lost her eldest daughter.

It’s hard meeting your ex after so much time apart. You remember the tears and accusations, the desperate look on his face as he punched the wall, but you try not to show it. You smile politely, even while your heart beats faster. You watch as he looks down into the stroller, at the beautiful blond-haired, blue-eyed baby kicking his little legs in the sunshine, whose innocent smile lights up your world. You see his face change. You know what he’s thinking. The next day he calls. His voice is shaking. He wants the truth. Is it his child?

Opening the door to her new home, Libby can’t believe she can afford such a beautiful place. As her new landlord follows her into the bright, open living room, watching her every more, she feels so lucky she spotted the ad online. Days later, Libby is woken by the sound of her neighbors arguing through the wall. As she listens to their angry words, she swears she hears her name mentioned. Why would they be talking about her? As the weeks pass, Libby can’t help but feel that someone is watching her.

I can’t believe it when I learn my donor’s identity. The attack on Flora was all over the news. From my hospital bed I read every article, obsess over every word and soon I feel like I know her: the beautiful girl with flame-colored hair, adored by everyone around her. Why would anyone hurt someone so perfect? When Flora’s family reach out to me, I’m unsure. My hands are shaking as I arrive at their grand mansion with its golden stone and sprawling gardens, but they’re warm and welcoming, tears shining in her mother’s eyes as she smiles at me.

I used to have it all. My ex-boyfriend and I were madly in love and dreamed of starting a family. When I found out I couldn’t have children, it broke me. Now, at my job at the fertility clinic, I give other couples what I could never have. The day my ex and his new wife walk into my clinic, my heart shatters all over again. He’s back. Now, I stand here with a syringe trembling in my hand and an impossible decision to make: Do I help them conceive a child—even though I know he’s keeping a dangerous secret? Or do I protect his wife—my patient, now—and take what’s rightfully mine?

When 17-year-old Savannah Devenish vanishes from her family’s remote vacation cabin in Minnesota, FBI Agent Tori Hunter races along treacherous icy roads to be first on the scene. Savannah’s parents are frantic with worry for their beautiful, carefree girl. Haunted by memories of her own missing sister, Tori vows to do whatever it takes to reunite this family. When the police uncover that Savannah’s father, Jacob, was having an affair, they suspect his involvement, but Tori is convinced his despair is genuine.

No relationship is perfect. But since the birth of baby Mabel seven months ago, Amber and George have been in desperate need of a night away. Mabel is all that Amber has ever wanted, but she can’t deny that sometimes she struggles to cope. George has booked them into a luxury hotel, and Amber’s sister is babysitting. Yet just as they are ready to leave, Amber can’t suppress a feeling of worry....

He’s as handsome as I remember: broad shoulders, piercing blue eyes, hair the color of burnt toffee. The man who once meant the world to me. The reason I fled 11 years ago. I’ve never told anyone the terrible mistake I made that night. The secret we share. I’m still haunted by the crashing waves at the bottom of the cliffs, the blood.... But what is he doing at my sister’s house?

I read each letter slowly to make sure I understand it perfectly, one day very soon it will be a matter of life and death.... At the end of each letter, after signing her name, there is always one final sentence: Don’t forget to burn this letter. I’ll let you decide if I do....

Then: Morning light shines into the nursery, casting shadows across the pale pink walls and wooden cot in the middle of the room. She opens the door expecting to hear the soft coo of her daughter, Sofia, stretching herself awake. But the room is silent. The cot is empty. Her little girl has vanished. Now: Twelve years have passed, but Emily will never forget the night her life changed forever, and she’s happy to have her daughter back beside her. A teenager now, Sofia started asking questions about when she was a baby.

Rachel is afraid she may have done something terrible. She's sitting in a room, being asked whether she killed someone. She doesn't understand how her life has changed so completely. When she was younger, heads would turn when she walked into a room. Her children needed her; her husband adored her. But somehow the years wore that all away. She was so busy raising her children, looking after her parents....

My first mistake was raising my daughter to be just like me… His death is reported on the morning news. The man my daughter’s been dating. Dead. Gone… I blink slowly–once, twice, three times. The hair on the back of my neck rises as I grip my coffee harder. My breath comes in short bursts. I didn’t even know he existed until recently. Leah doesn’t tell me anything anymore. But I found the letters she hid. I know she fell head over heels for him. That he broke her heart.

Sean pulls me to him, and we both laugh happily, as we stroll home from our favorite wine bar. It’s our first evening out since our baby girl was born. I’ve only thought about Kitty a couple of times, wondering if she’s settled without my goodnight kiss. But our perfect night is shattered when I see the police car and the two officers on the front steps of our home....

From behind the curtains, Sarah spotted the man coming out of the house, followed by the woman. It would be strange seeing people in the property. She wondered how much it would change their lives. For now, she would bide her time and hopefully get to know them better. She needed to gain their trust.

My hand trembles as I stare at the anonymous text. On this sunny Saturday morning, our twin ten-year-old boys were playing in the park just down our tree-lined street. But only one of them has come home… and it’s all my husband’s fault. I race to Leo’s study and demand answers. As his face turns white, I know: one of his affairs has turned deadly. I always smell the unfamiliar perfume on his shirt. I try to pretend we are a happy family, for the sake of the children… but now, my child is in terrible danger.

Alex and I haven’t been dating for very long when I go to his place for the first time. Feeling self-conscious as I notice a thread coming loose on my dress, he pours me a glass of wine and I take in the pristine room and expensive furnishings. Everything here is perfect, too perfect. Where are the personal touches, the souvenirs from his life? Where are the photos of his friends and family? ‘You can trust me,’ Alex says as he hands me the wine, and my heart beats wildly in my chest. I really want this to work, especially after the disaster of my last relationship.

I nearly threw the letter about the inheritance away with the recycling. Late for work, worrying about how I would afford new school shoes for Kate, I just assumed it was a mistake. But perhaps moving to a new home in a quiet seaside town would be the fresh start we both need. Away from the school bullies making Kate’s life a misery, and out of the clutches of my dangerous ex.

Faye Townsend has planned the perfect summer trip for her family. But returning to the small seaside town her husband grew up in does not go to plan - the rain pours, and the long days become stifling. And then the unthinkable happens.... Her husband, Jake, and her six-year-old son, Dylan, go for an early morning walk along the beautiful, windswept clifftops. They don’t come back.

One hot summer night, 15-year-old Olivia comes home late from a party she was strictly forbidden from going to, and she and her mother, Hannah, start arguing. Soon Olivia speaks the words that every parent has heard from their teenage child.