Uplifting Women

After losing her husband, writer Abigail Carson has all but given up on life. Having spent the last year cocooned in her Manhattan apartment, Abigail is suddenly forced to find a new home where she can stretch her dwindling savings. Intent on isolation, she moves to a tiny village in Nova Scotia where she'll have no one to interrupt her solitude. Little does Abigail realize that small-town life offers far less privacy than the big city. With neighbors knocking on the door bearing homemade treats and invitations, Abby soon finds herself immersed in the lives of the people of South Haven.

The accidental governess...After her livelihood slips through her fingers, Alexandra Mountbatten takes on an impossible post: transforming a pair of wild orphans into proper young ladies. However, the girls don’t need discipline. They need a loving home. Try telling that to their guardian, Chase Reynaud. The ladies of London have tried - and failed - to make him settle down. Somehow, Alexandra must reach his heart...without risking her own.

Josie Beaumont is a free spirit. She changes jobs about as often as she changes her relationship status. Frequently! The only constants in her life are the comfy old shoes that she refuses to part with. When unemployment looms again, she’s intrigued by a job opportunity at a dog kennels in rural Devon. As someone who thrives on change, a move to the sticks doesn’t faze her at all. She’s expecting life in the country to be quiet and uneventful. What she’s not expecting is Sam.

When Amy Ashton's world fell apart 11 years ago, she started a collection. Just a few keepsakes of happier times: some honeysuckle to remind herself of the boy she loved, a chipped china bird, an old terracotta pot.... Things that others might throw away, but to Amy, represent a life that could have been. Now her house is overflowing with the objects she loves - soon there'll be no room for Amy at all. But when a family move in next door, a chance discovery unearths a mystery, and Amy's carefully curated life begins to unravel.

Artist Zoey Flynn hadn’t planned to spend her favourite holiday on the shores of Jewel Island, but when her fiancé breaks off their engagement before their Christmas Eve wedding, this Cornish paradise is just the distraction she needs. With a cosy cottage to call home for a month and a stall at the island’s famous Christmas market to sell her paintings, Zoey quickly puts her heartbreak behind her. Love is the last thing on her mind. That is until the handsome Kit Lewis crosses her path....

Florence Butterfield has lived an extraordinary life full of travel, passion and adventure. But, at eighty-seven, she suspects there are no more surprises to come her way. Then, one midsummer's night, something terrible happens - so strange and unexpected that Florrie is suspicious. Was this really an accident, or is she living alongside a would-be murderer? The only clue is a magenta envelope, discarded earlier that day. And Florrie - cheerfully independent but often overlooked - is the only person determined to uncover the truth.

The life of 79-year-old pensioner Peggy Smart is as beige as the décor in her retirement village. Her week revolves around aqua aerobics and appointments with her doctor. The highlight of Peggy's day is watching her neighbour Brian head out for his morning swim. Peggy dreams of inviting the handsome widower to an intimate dinner. But why would an educated man like Brian, a chartered accountant no less, look twice at Peggy? As a woman of a certain age, she fears she has become invisible, even to men in their 80s.

Seventeen-year-old Liza is happy working as a lady's maid - until her employers decide to emigrate and her father makes up his mind that she is to wed an older widower whom she detests. Determined to avoid a loveless marriage, Liza plans to run away. But when the widower rapes her to force her to marry him, she flees back to the family for whom she worked. She feels she has no choice but to go with them to Australia, and they all set out on the long voyage. On board ship, Liza discovers to her horror that she has fallen pregnant.

Eve, Nessa, and Molly are all in their 70s. Over the years, they’ve laughed and cried and they’ve been by each others’ sides as colleagues, flatmates, and mothers. And they’ve grown old disgracefully together in their golden years....

But all good things must come to an end. As one of their trio takes her final journey, a very large glass is raised to fun, frolics, and–most importantly–friendships.

Esther's life isn’t perfect (whose is?) - but she’s happy enough living in her little flat with her boyfriend, Josh. But that’s about to change. Bored at work, she wishes that something, anything, would happen to liven her life up. Unfortunately, her wish comes true: when Josh calls her from the airport to tell her he’s going to work in a bar in Spain and that she’s not invited, Esther is devastated, and her unhappiness is compounded when she discovers she can actually view the bar via a webcam link and watch him chatting up other girls.

All Emily wants for her wedding is a low-key celebration with family and friends. But with a best friend like Josie, it’s no surprise that there’s a touch of drama to the day. Meanwhile, Tara is dealing with problems of her own. In a bid to face up to her past, she sets out to make amends with her estranged father and reunite with her half siblings. Thankfully, she has James to support her when times get tough.

When the Mayor of a picturesque Italian town launches a new scheme to rejuvenate the community, his advertisement is read with interest and excitement by many. Zara is in her thirties and desperate to get on the property ladder. Tim and Lynda are retiring and need a project. Some are looking for a peaceful bolthole. Others hope to make a profit, start a business, escape a dull life or an unhappy relationship. And there is someone who just might be hiding their true motivation...

Spring 1986, Oxford. Rachel has landed on her feet: engaged to handsome author Jonny, soon to be stepmother to his young daughter Teddy, and with a dream to open her own art gallery. It’s everything she wished for during her unsettled childhood. So when she meets candid and carefree American artist Gabe at a party and feels a familiar spark, she knows she needs to resist. But as her perfect life moves forward, Gabe is never far away, and there’s no denying the lure of the spontaneous, wildly adventurous existence he seems to offer.

For elderly churchwarden Arthur Calderbank, there's no place like home. His home just so happens to be a graveyard. He keeps himself to himself, gets on with his job, and visits his wife everyday for a chat. When one day he finds someone else has been to see his wife - and has left flowers on her grave - he is determined to solve the mystery of who and why.

Ariella Mason has the perfect life. Perfect job? Check. Perfect home? Check. Perfect fiancé? Check. None of this is by accident. Ariella is a card-carrying perfectionist. On the other side of the city lives Ariella’s polar opposite. Caleb Black is an unrepentant smart-ass, seat-of-his-pants, arrogant party-boy getting through life on charisma and raw sex appeal (his words).

Baked, mashed, boiled or fried, Mr Doubler knows his potatoes. But the same can’t be said for people. Since he lost his wife, he’s been on his own at Mirth Farm - and that suits Doubler just fine. Crowds are for other people; the only company he needs are his potato plants and his housekeeper, Mrs Millwood, who visits every day. So when Mrs Millwood is taken ill, it ruins everything - and Mr Doubler begins to worry that he might have lost his way. But could the kindness of strangers be enough to bring him down from the hill?

Ever since Ruby was tiny, she has been unique. Her smiles are magically rare, and she likes things done in a very particular way - her blocks are always color-coded, and her toy animals stand in regimented lines. She’s also the daughter of Sara’s dreams - even on days when being a mother to a three-year-old is exhausting. Not everyone understands Ruby like Sara does though. Not Sara’s husband Mike, and certainly not her disapproving mother-in-law, Barbara. So when circumstances force their family to move in with Barbara, Sara knows it’s going to make motherhood even harder.

Gemma knows perfectly well how one moment can change your life forever. That's why, for two decades, she's lived life by the rulebook. But this year, everything is different. The beloved daughter she gave up for adoption all those years ago is about to turn 18—and that means, there's a chance of being found. For the first time in her life, Gemma can no longer run from her secrets. And she begins to realise that when everything is falling apart, love can be found in the unlikeliest of places.

Josie is assigned to mystery-shop a chain of lingerie stores, and she’s surprised to find her high school gym teacher, Mrs. Hayes, working as a shop manager and “C-cup counselor.” Even worse, Josie finds a high school acquaintance murdered in a restroom near the shop, her hands bound with the bra she just purchased. Thanks to a secret from her past, Mrs. Hayes has a motive for this murder, and a flimsy alibi. Josie has to find the real killer to save Mrs. Hayes.

Jessica Bradley has it all: the perfect boyfriend; influential healthy eating blog; successful PR company; and wonderful daughter, Anna. Or at least that is what her thousands of followers believe. The truth is, her boyfriend just broke up with her in four words on a Post-it; her zest for healthy eating has all but disappeared; her PR success is all reliant on her now not-so-honest online life; and she just got caught eating her daughter's Coco-Pops.