Showing titles in Contemporary

London, 1935. Ruby is always hungry, but she will go without if it means her young brothers can eat. 1930s Bermondsey might be called the larder of London, with its pie, pickle and jam factories, but for the poor working classes, starvation is often only a heartbeat away. When Ruby's neighbour suggests she ought to go to the Methodist Mission for free food, Ruby knows her father will be furious, but she has no other option.

When Justin walks out on Alice on their honeymoon, with no explanation apart from a cryptic note, Alice is left alone and bewildered, her life in pieces. Then she meets Evelyn, a visitor to the gallery where she works. It's a seemingly chance encounter, but Alice gradually learns that Evelyn has motives, and a heartbreaking story, of her own. And that story has haunting parallels with Alice's life. As Alice delves into the mystery of why Justin left her, the questions are obvious. But the answers may lie in the most unlikely of places...

When you're born, you never know what life will throw at you. You just make the best of it no matter what happens. That's pretty much been my go-to since infancy. Then the charming, bald-headed, blue-eyed Brent came along, and I thought all the suck in life had been flushed down the drain. Ha! That's when my true journey began - motherhood. This is my story of how I took life by the gonads when I decided I needed closure from my past - my father's sudden death in particular. But what happens next wasn't anything I expected....

Tara, Katherine and Fintan have been best friends since they were teenagers. Now in their early thirties, they've been living it up in London for 10 years. But what have they to show for a decade of hedonism? Sure, Tara's got a boyfriend - but only because she's terrified of spending five minutes alone. Katherine, on the other hand, has a neatness fetish that won't let anyone too close to mess up her life. And Fintan? Well, he has everything. Until he learns that without your health, you've got nothing....

A perfect storm led me to this place. Ghosted by my fiance, I was suddenly broke, heartbroken and facing eviction. Enter Mason Leo, the six feet and two inches of pure muscle and arrogance I've hated with a passion since the day we met. The man is cocky, womanizing, and ruinously gorgeous. Worse than that, he's my ex's brother. And for the next two weeks, he gets to do with me as he pleases. I'll explain. With both our exes - wait for it - set to marry each other in St. Lucia, I've agreed to let Mason pay my debts so long as I play his date.

You are cordially invited to the wedding of the decade, when Christian Grey will make Anastasia Steele his wife. But is he really husband material? His dad is unsure, his brother wants to organise one helluva bachelor party and his fiancée won't vow to obey. And marriage brings its own challenges. Their passion for each other burns hotter and deeper than ever, but Ana's defiant spirit continues to stir Christian's darkest fears and tests his need for control. As old rivalries and resentments endanger them both, one misjudgement threatens to tear them apart.

Sisters Jolene, Marsha and Annis have convened at their childhood home the huge and beautiful Fox House following the death of their mother, the cold and impenetrable Eleanor Vamplew, to arrange the funeral and sell up. Born seven years apart, the women have never bonded and are more strangers than sisters. Together, Again is the story of truths uncovered and lies exposed, of secrets told—and kept. It is a novel about sister helping sister to heal from childhood scars, and of finding, in each other, the love they have all been deprived of.

Just round the corner from St Jarlath's Crescent (featured in Minding Frankie) is Chestnut Street. Here, the lives of the residents are revealed in Maeve Binchy's wonderfully compelling tales: Bucket Maguire, the window cleaner, who must do more than he bargained for to protect his son. Nessa Byrne, who's aunt comes to visit from America for six weeks every summer and turns the house - and Nessa's world - upside down. Lilian, the generous girl with a big heart, and the fiancé not everyone approves of.

It started out like any other morning on the train - until I became mesmerized by the guy sitting across the aisle. He was barking at someone on his phone like he ruled the world. Who did the stuck-up suit think he was...God? Actually, he looked like a god. That was about it.

When Eliza Barnes said ‘I do’ to her husband all those years ago, she thought that they’d be together forever. Instead, he’s flown to Abu Dhabi to start a new life, and she’s returning to the little seaside town of Lavender Bay. It’s finally time to chase the dreams she’s put on hold for so long, whipping up luxury bath products and organic soaps using local ingredients. Of course, she didn’t expect to meet local farmer, Jack Gilbert, or for him to be quite so gorgeous!

I fell for the villain. It happened back when I was a clueless girl. But he ruthlessly broke my heart and trapped it in a jar. Since then, I’ve sworn to hate him to the end of my days. Eli King might be a savage devil, but I’m out of his way. And league. That is until I wake up in a hospital and find him holding my hand. He tells me the words that change my life forever. “We got married two years ago, Mrs. King.”So I set out to investigate how I landed myself into this marriage. Turns out, my memories are darker than my present.

It starts like any other Monday for Ty Christianson. Fifty laps in his pool, a suave suit, a chat with his mum on the way to his office, dodging countless calls from women, and his faithful yet cynical assistant waiting for him with a coffee. Then a meeting with his business partner and life-long friend Sal upends everything. Sal's hired a new assistant without so much as consulting Ty. That's a cardinal sin in their world, but it's the least of Ty's worries. Sal hasn't just hired a new personal assistant, he's hired an absolute goddess - and she's off-limits to Ty.

The men in the secret society known as the Lords think they rule the world. And in a way, they do. Each has sold their soul to the devil at a young age in exchange for power and wealth. Like anything else, they have different levels of success. The more they’re willing to serve, the more power they have. Among them are the Spade brothers, who run Carnage. It’s where the Lords who have not held up their oath go to live out the rest of their lives in shackles. Tucked away from the world as if they never existed.

After her divorce, Charlene Dugan vowed never to get married again - a promise she has kept for twenty-five years. Until the fateful day she finds herself uttering the well-known phrase - "Let's get married!" Almost immediately, Charlene's seemingly perfect life begins unraveling at the seams. Daughter Stephanie's own relationship is about to disintegrate, and she might be just a teensy-weensy bit jealous of her mom. And Charlene seems to be spending more time with her ex-husband than with her fiancé, Dennis.

Since the day she married her husband, Lo Harper has watched her happy ever after slip away before her eyes. Feeling lost and alone, she’s stumbling through life, each day getting longer, harder, and more hopeless. She doesn’t know how much longer she can hold on. Until she meets a stranger who ironically becomes a lifeline after he nearly runs her down. He’s charming, kind, and he doesn’t pry. He’s just there, making Lo smile, distracting her, if only briefly. Because she will always return to the pain. To the heartbreak. To the unshakable guilt.

Libby Cooper hasn’t celebrated Christmas since the night her parents died in a terrible accident. She wants to forget that the season of goodwill even exists; but her grandmother has other ideas. It’s time for Libby to start living her life just as her parents would have wanted her to do. First stop New York! What better way to immerse herself in the celebrations, than working in her great aunt’s Christmas shop, just a few blocks from Central Park? Making new friends in the Big Apple is the easy bit, but leaving the past behind proves much harder than Libby imagined.

Ever dreamed of starting over? Issy Randall can bake. No, more than that - Issy can create stunning, mouth-wateringly divine cakes. After a childhood spent in her beloved Grampa Joe’s bakery she has undoubtedly inherited his talent. So when she’s made redundant from her safe but dull City job, Issy decides to seize the moment and open up her own café. It should be a piece of cake, right?

When Clara Delany walks into the Aces High Motorcycle Club's hangout, she's hit rock bottom. She's hiding her car from the repo man, she has less than two dollars in her bank account, and the only employment she can get is delivering messages for a criminal. All because of a man. Therefore, she's sworn them off. And then she meets West "Buck" Hardy, president of the Aces High MC.

The plan is simple: a brand-new, hot, preferably funny, definitely single male will fill one of those seats for every Bears game at Soldier Field. And I'll fill the other. I can't think of a better way to use the season passes I'd bought for my ex-husband. I am a woman of plans, and this one's foolproof. Until Zach Bowen offers to be my practice round.

Ralph and Smith are flatmates and best mates. Nothing can come between them - until the gorgeous Jemima moves in. They're both falling for her, but which one of them does Jem want? Upstairs, Karl and Siobhan are happily unmarried and have been for 15 years - until Cheri moves into the flat above and fixes her sights on Karl. Why should a little problem like his girlfriend get in her way?