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

Callie Weaver and best friend Olivia Dixon have finally done it: put their life savings into the beach house they admired through childhood summers, on the dazzling white sand of North Carolina’s Outer Banks. They’re going to buff the salt from its windows, paint its sun-bleached sidings, and open it as a bed and breakfast. Callie’s too busy to think about her love life, but when she catches the attention of local heartthrob Luke Sullivan, his blue eyes and easy smile make it hard to say no.

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....

Hallie Flynn’s favorite place in the world is her great Aunt Clara’s beautiful beachside house, with its inviting wraparound porch and enchanting views across the sparkling turquoise ocean. For Hallie, going to Firefly Beach, filled with magical memories, feels like coming home, but in one moment Hallie is left broken-hearted when her adored Aunt Clara passes away. As always, Aunt Clara has thought of everything. In her last letter she included a bucket list Hallie wrote as a child, for Hallie to complete.

Anna and Marley are best friends. So when Anna rings Marley, panicking because she has to miss a tour of an exclusive wedding venue, Marley agrees to go in her friend’s place. After being totally ignored by the glamorous receptionist who can tell she doesn’t belong there, Marley meets handsome hotel manager Cameron. He assumes she’s Anna and instead of admitting that she’s not the blushing bride, but the unlucky-in-love single friend, Marley plays along to see what it’s like to be Anna for a day.

Jenny lost her beloved mother as a teenager and was left devastated. As a parting gift, she left her daughter a bundle of letters, one for each significant day of Jenny’s future. Her mother’s letters are everything to her, but how can Jenny ever become the confident, successful woman her mother wanted her to be when her heart is broken by her loss? When an unexpected meeting has Jenny mistaken for somebody she’s not, Jenny learns that sometimes pretending is the easiest way to tell the truth and that loving someone can mean letting them go....

Tessa has always dreamed of her own business. And when a beautiful run-down house comes up for sale in the Southern town of Bellegrove, she knows it has perfect potential to be an amazing one-stop wedding shop. Teaming up with wedding planner to the stars Stefan, cake-baker extraordinaire Ama, and dress designer Natalie, they’re ready for big things. They’ve even found their first client - a sweet old lady named Bianca, who’s desperate to give her grandson a spectacular wedding. But as the big day approaches, things start to go wrong.

When Julie’s mother falls ill, she has no choice but to return to her parents’ Wisconsin resort, Wood Violet, for the summer. Away from the pressures of their corporate jobs in the city, Julie hopes she and husband, Tristan, can start to heal after another failed pregnancy. But, on arriving home, Julie discovers resort life is anything but peaceful. She has to focus more on saving the business than her marriage, and the appearance of childhood sweetheart Chase throws her into disarray.

Meghan Gray hasn’t returned to the golden sands of Hatteras Island since her beloved Pappy passed away 10 years ago. But with her life in New York falling apart—and her dreams of becoming a successful chef going up smoke—she quits her waitress job and heads back home on a hot summer’s day, hoping she’ll find some answers there.

A Barefoot Summer is a beautiful, touching story about coming home, the importance of family, and the special place that first loves hold in our hearts. Sometimes you find perfect where you least expect it. Libby Potter has just lost the perfect job, the perfect apartment and the perfect boyfriend. Moving back to the home town that she couldn’t wait to escape when she was younger was definitely not on her to-do list. Especially as it means running into the man whose heart she broke when she left.

When Jayne Winters learns that she has inherited half of her grandmother’s oceanside estate in North Carolina, she is stunned. It’s been 20 years since she visited Woodsong Harbor, but Jayne can still remember the taste of saltwater taffy on her tongue, the tangy scent of the ocean blending with freshly baked pastries in the air. But there is a catch: Jayne must spend the next six months renovating the house with her estranged sister, Charlotte.

Summer escapes to Lilac House have always been a source of comfort for Anna Harris. Though things will never be the same since her husband’s death, she knows that it is there, nestled in Lake Summers in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains, that she and her children Zac and Evie can begin to build a new life. The house is just as beautiful as Anna remembers, and caught up in the rhythm of small town life, helping her Aunt Hope run the little shop on Main Street, Anna begins to feel a sense of herself she hasn’t felt in years.

For Sydney Flynn, her treasured family home, Starlight Cottage, is her sanctuary. The house on the beach, surrounded by glittering turquoise waters, is the perfect place for her fresh start, piecing her life back together after it fell apart. That’s until her knees almost buckle at the sight of Nate Henderson. Nate is back to make it up to Sydney, but can she forgive him for all the heartbreak he caused? And it’s not only about her - Sydney is a single mother to Robby, her whole world, and she won’t let just anyone into their lives. Can she trust that Nate has really changed?

Harper Anderson has a to-do list longer than the Colorado river, and fields of tulips to tend to at her family’s flower farm in Hillsboro County, California. It’s her dream to run the business with her sisters when their father retires. That is, if there’s a farm left to run. Rich out-of-towners looking for a slice of country living are hiking up the prices in town and it’s putting her family out of business. So she has no time for the arrogant LA tech mogul who makes her an offer to use their farm as his sister’s wedding venue.

The Alvarez sisters have grown up and moved away - but now their father is in crisis, the family business is collapsing, and it’s time to go home to Lake Chelan.

Let me set the scene for you.... It was my first day working out. Ever. My idea of cardio is lifting Dunkin’ Donuts, but as if exercising wasn’t bad enough, listen to what happened next. In the space of minutes, my boyfriend dumped me over the phone and my boss fired me. Cue a code-red panic attack. Now, no matter how hard I try, I physically can’t walk out of the door, back into the hot mess of my life.

Things are finally working out for Stella Gallagher. Underwhelmed by all the uninspiring men in her small town whom she’s known since grade school, she was beginning to give up on love altogether...until mysterious Italian Paolo Gentillo moved to Chelan. He’s smart, kind, gorgeous, and most importantly, completely obsessed with her: Stella has finally found her match. So why did Paolo have to ruin everything by proposing? It’s way too soon. Stella tries to act thrilled, but there are things she hasn’t told Paolo.