Showing results by publisher "Boldwood Books" in Contemporary

Rule one of the Bachelor Pact is simple: Never fall in love. Temporarily returning home to Cedar Falls comes with mixed emotions. But having to work alongside the distractingly beautiful Pia, hired by my father before his unexpected death to run and restore my family’s inn, is a test I could do without. I don’t need help, especially from a stranger whose delectable body is inviting me to forget the most important rule of the Bachelor Pact.

Laura Gilchrist has always made sensible choices. But a trip to Provence to sell an inherited stone house leads her face to face with Noah Dufour. Her wild, irresistibly attractive real estate agent. And within an instant she’s bewitched. Without a second thought, she decides she’s going to accept his offer to ride on the back of his motorbike and see the beauty of the South of France though his eyes. She’s never acted on impulse before, but Noah makes her feel spontaneous and free – and a little bit excited.

Recently single, Kate is struggling. Clinging on to a career and bringing up her two-year-old daughter leads to nights alone drowning her sorrows in the cheapest white wine she can find. Forced to find a man at the last minute to accompany her to a professionals' dinner, Kate somehow ends up in the middle of a relationship contest, competing for a £100,000 prize alongside someone she barely knows. With her boss, the Lady Dragon Miranda, desperate for Kate to flounder, can Kate keep her life on an even keel?

Best friend Faith rescues her place on the small screen when she unwittingly lands them both starring roles in a steamy spin-off that becomes an instant hit. The new show is more about relationships, sex and stonking big vegetables than cooking. Throw in a fluctuating crush on her surprisingly irresistible agent, Harry Hipgrave, an unlikely friendship with a pair of D-list models and a gossip journalist intent on making her life miserable, Grace wonders if becoming famous is all it’s cracked up to be?

When local baker Essie Browne discovers that Mistletoe Gardens is to be demolished in January, she’s determined to save the place she loves so much. So Essie proposes building a life size gingerbread house to bring in the crowds...just how hard can it be? Well, quite hard actually. Essie can bake gingerbread blindfolded, but she hasn’t got a clue how to build an actual house with it! She needs help - and fast! Enter local builder, Joss Hallissey. Essie is convinced that with Joss’s help they can pull this off. There’s just one tiny problem: Joss hates Christmas.

Cleo Jordan has only ever wished for one thing – to open her own teashop in memory of her lovely gran. So when she accidentally fools the interview board into thinking she's a brilliant baker and is offered a prime spot on Ever After Street, she knows her dream is about to come true! Stepping into The Wonderland Teapot is like falling down the rabbit hole - magical! But there’s a catch: Cleo has completely lost her love of baking! With her little white lie ticking in her ear, it seems her dream is over before it’s begun. Until she meets her very own Mad Hatter.

After 20 years of contentedly playing the role of home-maker and mother, Frances Copeland's life is shattered by the sudden death of her husband. With no career to fall back on and her son and daughter leaving home, the solitude of bereavement hits particularly hard. When new love beckons, in the form of a handsome young man 15 years her junior, Frances is torn. She longs to open her heart again but does not dare to trust her feelings. Turning to her closest friends for help, she is met by a wall of judgemental attitudes and envy.

Headteacher Ella Lucas and football star Jake Prince have a very complicated history! Their mind-blowing encounter two years ago is proving impossible to forget now Jake has reappeared in Ella’s life after being booted out of the NFL. She knew he was trouble back then but Ella has enough on her plate right now to worry about Jake and his shenanigans. Except, her school’s on the brink of closure, and it appears he’s the one person who can actually help. All he has to do is coach the underdog football team to a winning streak and maybe Ella can help Jake restore his reputation in the process.

Since her mum’s death, Marnie Platt has shut herself away from everyone who cares about her. Worse, her beloved bookshop on Ever After Street is suffering too. With sales down and the shop’s garden falling into disrepair, Marnie risks losing the very last thing she loves. Until a chance encounter with her surly and reclusive neighbour. Dark and brooding, Darcy O'Connell likes to keep himself to himself. But when he hears Marnie needs help, he can’t turn his back on her. Soon they are spending most evenings together in her enchanted garden and a friendship starts to bloom.

One year ago, Casey Cassidy was happy. She had great friends, a wonderful teaching job and a busy life - until with one missed flight, everything changes. One year later, Casey knows what it means to find that once-in-a-lifetime love people dream of. But when Ben leaves, her heart is shattered. Left facing a year of firsts without him, piecing her life back together seems impossible. But then a friend offers her a home in rural France. In the solitude and emptiness, Casey needs to comes to terms with what’s happened and find a way to move forward.

Tired of being underestimated, Annie Valentine is determined to prove to everyone that she can make her life a success. Her job as a personal shopper is brilliant, but she’s now intent on setting up a shoe and handbag empire of her own. To get there, she’ll do anything and go anywhere—the handbag factories of Italy are calling! But what started out as a fun after hours project is getting slightly out of hand. Because Annie is working around the clock to bag the perfect bargain, and her family life and relationship with adorable Ed is feeling the strain.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, but Franca Andrews has never felt more miserable. With business far from bustling, she needs a Christmas miracle to keep her beloved nutcracker shop open... But there’s one man standing in her way - expert snow globe maker Raff Dardenne. Dardenne Snow Globes have a magical reputation for bringing lovers together, a myth Raff continues to exploit. But this Christmas their shops are pitted against each other and only one gets to stay on Ever After Street. As these two enemies get to know each other, Franca discovers another side to Raff.

One New Year’s Eve, Georgie James and her friends come up with a genius plan to help them stick to their resolutions… They all write down secrets, seal them in envelopes and then post them to each other. The secrets will be revealed at the end of the year if they haven’t kept their resolutions. It’s perfect. Except…Georgie's secret is BIG... and revealing it could destroy their friendships. She has no idea why she chose that one to write down. There are plenty of innocent things she could have said – even admitting she finds newcomer Raf incredibly annoying would have been better.

Aware that some people consider her unworthy of the title Mrs Darcy, Lizzy is determined to prove her detractors wrong by throwing a magnificent house party at her new home, Pemberley. Nothing can possibly go wrong…can it? Miss Caroline Bingley is quite determined to rescue Darcy from his reckless marriage. Convinced he must now regret his choice, she finds an unlikely ally in George Wickham who also wishes to avenge Lizzy, albeit for a very different reason. If Darcy were to find his ‘fine-eyed’ wife in a compromising position with Wickham of all people, he would surely never forgive her.

When singer Cara is invited to a big, fat Greek wedding in Corfu, she sees it as a mixed blessing: some time to heal on the beautiful Greek island with her aunt will be a tonic, but it’s going to stir up memories – of before Seb ghosted her and disappeared off the face of the earth. Akis Diakos, brother of the groom, should be looking forward to planning the bachelor party, but burdened by the weight of family expectation, his mind is elsewhere: he has a decision to make – one that could, apparently, ruin his little brother’s life forever.

When the ceiling of preloved clothing shop Roseford Reloved falls in at the height of Christmas season, owner Polly Parrott is in despair. She can see her fortunes draining away as quickly as the water is pouring through her roof. What makes it worse is that standing right underneath the deluge is Will Sutherland, sporting hero and new owner of Parson’s Grange, the new modern mansion in Roseford.

Daisy’s perfectly content with her life. She’s got a job she likes, a nice enough flat, and in a relationship with childhood best friend Adam. She’s got used to the lack of fireworks – after all, you can’t put a price on friendship being the foundation of everything. But they say you never forget your first, and Daisy has never forgotten how she felt that one summer with Zach - one electrifying, yet slightly embarrassing fumble in the dark. The catch? Zach was also her and Adam's best friend growing up. Now he’s back, after making his fame in Hollywood.

Mickey Teasdale loves her quaint curiosity shop, where every item feels magical to her. She loves imagining the past owners of her knick-knacks and telling her made-up tales to customers, but lately, the magic has dimmed; the shop feels cluttered, and even her stories seem as worn as the items she sells. Everything changes when the grumpiest customer Mickey’s ever met walks in with his surly teen daughter, Ava. Ren hates mess and clutter and prefers order and calm, but he'll do anything to see Ava smile.

When Alessia accompanies her Italian grandmother, Ornella, on a trip to the beautiful island of Ischia, she’s amazed to discover Ornella worked on the set of the 1950s movie, Castello D’Amore. Getting to know charismatic journalist Roberto, Alessia starts to suspect a link between the film set and the untimely death of Ornella’s teenage sister Maria. As Roberto digs deeper, Alessia is torn between helping the man she is falling in love with and guarding her grandmother’s secrets.

New Yorker Jake Harrington loves a lot of things about living in London: his lucrative hedge fund job, the way British women melt at the sound of an American accent, being thousands of miles away from the girl who betrayed him. And, oh yes, his just-sex arrangement with his gorgeous roommate, Jess.