Showing titles in Small Town & Rural

Scarlett Fontaine is a true Hollywood legend—a singer, actress, and beloved fashion icon. But Scarlett dies tragically at just thirty-six years old, leaving behind no children. Or so the story goes… Gwen Hollingsworth is the curator at a museum dedicated to Scarlett’s life. She’s also sole heir to Scarlett’s fortune as a descendant of the star. But all is not well in Gwen’s world. She’s dealing with a messy marital separation and is struggling to move forward.

Long before Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly came to the colourful Irish village of Ballybucklebo, young Surgeon-Lieutenant O'Reilly answered the call of duty to serve in World War II. Fingal just wants to marry his beloved Deirdre and live happily ever after. First, he must hone his skills at a British naval hospital before reporting back to the HMS Warspite, where, as a ship's doctor, he faces danger upon the high seas.

Finding yourself without a home in the weeks before Christmas would break most people, but for Bridget Carrington, it’s a chance to start again. Mulberry-On-Sea has always been her happy place, and she’s hoping it can work its magic this festive season and heal her family after a difficult year. Now, as the community wraps Bridget and her children - six-year-old Freya and 14-year-old twins Oscar and Olly - in their warm embrace, she starts to feel like herself again.

Growing up in 1990s China, in a village where failure to observe the rigidly enforced one-child policy is deemed tantamount to a crime, Chen Di must fight to get the education she craves in a world in which boys are prioritized. Following her mother's untimely death, 16-year-old Chen Di's thirst for vengeance against those she holds responsible brings about her transformation from a gutsy, marginalized child into an aikido-practicing young woman who braves Shanghai.

Retired schoolteachers Liz, Pat and Thelma never expected they would be caught up in a crime even once in their lives, let alone twice. But when poison pen letters start landing on the doorsteps of friends and neighbours in their Yorkshire village, old secrets come to light. With the potential for deadly consequences. It won’t be long until the three friends are out on a case yet again.

Returning home to Ditto, Texas, is bittersweet for Lila Matthews. Her dear and feisty aunt Gracie has passed away, leaving Lila her estate. That includes a centuries-old house, a field of the freshest strawberries in Atascosa County, more money than Lila can count, and a secret Aunt Gracie took to her grave. All the angels in heaven won’t be able to pry it out of her.

Librarian Martha Storm has always found it easier to connect with books than people - though not for lack of trying. She keeps careful lists of how to help others in her superhero-themed notebook. And yet, sometimes it feels like she’s invisible. All of that changes when a book of fairy tales arrives on her doorstep. Inside, Martha finds a dedication written to her by her best friend - her grandmother Zelda - who died under mysterious circumstances years earlier.

When an ex’s heartbreak stirs up some emotions from the past, Phoebe realises she must deal with some unfinished business. It would seem a miracle is needed to pull off a happy ending for everyone – but is it within Phoebe's power to work miracles?

It was always Samantha's dream to run her beautiful rescue centre, Hedgehog Hollow, full-time. But just as her wish comes true, she becomes a victim of her own kindness when she finds herself with a house full of guests - all with their own problems and secrets - looking to her for support. When her self-absorbed cousin, Chloe, unexpectedly turns up at the farm - swiftly handing over her baby to Samantha to care for - trouble is definitely brewing. Especially as Chloe won’t tell anyone why she’s left her husband, James.

Following the unexpected death of her mother, and the breakdown of her relationship, animal loving idealist Jade Foster, uses her inheritance to buy a smallholding in the beautiful Wiltshire countryside hoping to realise her dream of providing a sanctuary for unloved animals in need of a new home. Jade employs the enigmatic Finn McTaggart to help out at Duck Pond Lane Rescue and forms a friendship with both Finn and her local Vet, Aiden Southerland. But Finn is running from his own demons and Aiden longs for a more romantic relationship with broken-hearted Jade.

The town's psychic cat, Irene Peggledrip, is being visited by a band of malevolent spirits who all claim to be murderers. The stage is set for Hettie and Tilly to solve an old murder mystery, where all the cats involved appear to be dead. Will our feline sleuths finally lay the ghosts to rest? Can Molly Bloom’s new cafe survive the seance? And will the moving claw give up its secrets before the gravy congeals? Join Hettie and Tilly for another spirited adventure.

At the end of Hawthorn Close, there is a charming park which boasts two magnificent magnolia trees, and an assortment of houses and apartments. As part of the local council's commitment to a more diverse tenancy in the area, several new occupants are moving into the neighbourhood. From the cottages and farms to the local shop, pub and old manor house, residents' lives are set to intertwine, relationships bloom and both romance and heartache lie ahead.

Readers of Patrick Taylor's books know Mrs. Kinky Kincaid as the unflappable housekeeper who looks after two frequently frazzled doctors in the colourful Irish village of Ballybucklebo. She is a trusted fixture in the lives of those around her, and it often seems as though Kinky has always been there.Nothing could be farther from the truth.

In the idyllic setting of the New Forest, talented vet Phoebe Dashwood envisions a picturesque life alongside her beloved fiancé. However, the course of true love is fraught with unexpected hurdles. Career-wise, Phoebe encounters a goat who is seemingly experiencing a phantom pregnancy, and a highly-strung talking parrot who pushes her professionalism to the limits. Things take an unexpected turn for the worse when Phoebe is confronted with a glamorous love rival, and a surprise Valentine's Day ‘date’ to see a financial advisor! Can things get any worse?

Brothers Alex and Brian have spent their whole life in the town where their father lived and his father, too. Still reeling from the collapse of his personal life, Alex, is now in his middle age, and must reckon with a part of his identity he has long tried to mask. Simon is the only child of Alex and had practically no memory of the mines. Now in his twenties and working in a call centre, he derives passion from his side hustle in sex work and his weekly drag gigs as the extravagant Puttana Short Dress.

Three separate women, living in different locations and eras, are linked by their passion for Virginia Woolf's novel Mrs Dalloway. As they each live through a Tuesday in June, their thoughts and experiences mirror each other and become interwoven. In Richmond in 1923, Virginia Woolf struggles to write a novel whose protagonist is Mrs Dalloway. In Los Angeles in 1949, Laura ignores her chores and small son to sit in bed reading Mrs Dalloway. In 1990s New York, Clarissa goes to buy flowers for a party, mirroring the start of the fictional Mrs Dalloway’s day.

1943: the world is at war, and the villagers of Tyneham are being asked to make one more sacrifice: to give their homes over to the British army. But on the eve of their departure, a terrible act will cause three of them to disappear forever. 2018: Melissa had hoped a break on the coast of Dorset would rekindle her stagnant relationship, but despite the idyllic scenery, it’s pushing her and Liam to the brink.

When Ronnie Percy's gorgeous on-off lover Blair is forced to deep-freeze their affair for the sake of his sick wife, she's delighted to be distracted by charismatic neighbour, Kit Donne, and – more surprisingly – finds herself drawn into a fight for the future of the village. Meanwhile daughter Pax – already besieged by her estranged husband wanting reconciliation – is rattled when new love 'the horsemaker' Luca is visited by his own ex from Canada. The last shoulder on earth she should cry on is Bay Austen's, but his marriage is crumbling and he's lost none of his dangerous charm.

In Troy, Georgia, Lula Dean has decided to cleanse the town’s reading habits. All banned books have been removed from public spaces, and the townspeople are only allowed to read books Lula has deemed ‘appropriate’. But a small group refuse to be told what they can and can’t read. The revolution is coming . . .

A spa stay turns into a homicidal holiday.... A bit snobbish and a trifle high strung, Sybil Foster prides herself on owning the finest estate in Upper Quintern and hiring the best gardener. In fact she is rapturous over the new asparagus beds when a visit from her unwelcome stepson sends her scurrying to a chic spa for a rest cure, a liaison with the spa's director...and an apparent suicide. Her autopsy holds one surprise, a secret drawer a second.