Orion The Dandelion Years James Erica

Mia Channing appears to have an enviable life: a beautiful home, a happy marriage, a job she enjoys and three grown-up children to whom she's devoted. But appearances can be deceptive • When the family gathers for her son's 30th birthday, he brings with him his latest girlfriend who, to their surprise, has a nine-year-old daughter. Then, before the birthday cake has even been cut, Mia's youngest daughter Daisy has seized the opportunity to drop a bombshell. It's an evening that marks a turning point in all their lives, when old resentments and regrets surface and the carefully ordered world Mia has created begins to unravel

The Gardens of Delight brochure promises the opportunity to visit some of the most beautiful gardens in the Lake Como area of Italy. For Lucy, the chance to go to Italy offers more than just gardens. Lake Como is where her father lives and the last time she saw him was when she was just a teenager • Recently married Helen and her wealthy husband have just moved into the Old Rectory. With her husband spending so much time away from home, Helen throws herself into caring for the garden. But Helen needs help - and friends - and so decides to take the plunge and join the local Garden Club • Conrad isn't the least bit interested in gardening. Widowed for five years, his life revolves around work and humouring Mac, his elderly uncle who lives with him, and who has expressed a desire to go on the Gardens of Delight tour

Harriet Swift thinks she has the perfect life - a satisfying career, her own flat and a new boyfriend who respects her need for her own space. But then her only sister is killed in a car crash and Harriet is forced to give up her well ordered life and to help look after her orphaned niece and nephew. Moving back to her childhood home in Maple Drive, and sacrificing so much, doesn't come easy and before long Harriet discovers things about her family she never believed possible • Meanwhile, the shabbiest house in Maple Drive has a new occupant. Will Hart also thinks he has the perfect life. Having swapped his successful career as a lawyer for that of an antiques dealer, he believes in living for the moment and is entirely happy with his lot. Then from nowhere tragedy strikes and he faces the biggest challenge of his life

It's almost Christmas. But for Ali, the season of good cheer is the anniversary of her baby's death. As she stands at her son's grave, she is poignantly aware of how dramatically her life has changed. Determined to stand on her own two feet and get through Christmas alone, Ali turns down her ex-husband's unexpected invitation to spend the holiday with him and his father, only to give in to her best friend's cajoling to share the festive season with her. The only trouble is, it means having to be nice to Sarah's awful husband, Trevor • Sarah may be a saint for putting up with Trevor, but Ali is no such thing, and as his cranky behaviour escalates, she takes it upon herself, in an extraordinary act of daring impetuosity, to play God with her friend's incomprehensible marriage

Ellen has been living on her own in a picturesque if damp cottage in Cheshire since her husband abandoned her to go and live with another woman in Provence. Having married once for love, she is now determined that the second time around it will be for money. Close at hand is Duncan, her not unattractive and enticingly single, divorce lawyer • But then two new people enter her life: Jo-Jo, a homeless girl several months pregnant; and Matthew, an artist who paints murals in country houses and who, on his first meeting with Ellen, openly criticises her for being mercenary and devious. But, as hostility gives way to friendship, Ellen realises that she has wavered off course from her original plan and she has to remind herself very strongly indeed that Duncan is the man for her

Dan and Sally Oliver and their friend Chloe Hennessey are lucky to be alive. Three years on, after surviving one of the world's biggest natural disasters - the Boxing Day tsunami - their lives have changed dramatically • Dan and Sally are now parents. Dan is enjoying being a stay-at-home father taking care of their young son, and Sally is the breadwinner and loves her job as a partner in a Manchester law firm. The arrangement has so far worked well, but when Dan starts to question whether Sally has got her priorities right, the cracks in their marriage begin to appear • Dan and Sally have everything Chloe wishes for in life - a happy marriage and a beautiful child. Dumped by her long-term boyfriend just weeks after the tsunami, she's been on a mission ever since to find the perfect father for the child she craves

Mildred Pierce is the story of a determined and ambitious woman who, after her feckless husband abandons her, by hard work and sacrifice builds a successful business to ensure the future of her pampered and selfish daughter • But she isn't prepared for the intrigues and devastating betrayals of those closest to her • This is James M Cain's most substantial novel and a classic of the Depression years

The Devil Has Come to Edinburgh • An ill-fated grave-robbery unearths a corpse with a most disturbing symbol on it. When a patient in Edinburgh's lunatic asylum is murdered, the same sign is daubed in blood on the walls - the mark of the devil • The prime suspect: inmate Amy McGray, notorious for killing her parents years before. Her brother, Detective 'Nine-Nails' McGray, must prove her innocence - with the help of an old friend • Inspector Ian Frey insists he is retired. But when called upon, he reluctantly agrees to their final case • As twists follow bombshells, leading to secrets that have been waiting in the shadows all along, all will be revealed • This rollicking Victorian sensationalist melodrama is the epic conclusion to the marvellous Frey & McGray mysteries

The stars are coming out to play • Secrets, rivalry, glamour - it's time for the party of the year • Delilah has lived out her tempestuous marriage to hell-raiser Raf in the glare of the media spotlight. Now planning a milestone birthday, she has more on her mind than invitations. Raf has been offered a part in a movie he can't refuse. But will he succumb to the temptations he's struggled to resist for the last ten years? • Delilah's three daughters are building careers of their own, only too aware that the press are waiting for them to slip up. For the Rafferty girls might look like angels, but they are only human. It's the perfect recipe for a party like no other

The story follows the four Robicheaux sisters as they return home for their parents' wedding, at the beautiful Hotel Sorrento where they all grew up as children. For the first time in 15 years, the sisters are back together - and it doesn't take long for long-buried secrets to surface • With her inimitable warmth and wisdom, Cathy Kelly shows us that in the messy reality of marriage, family, and romance, sometimes it's the women in our lives who hold us together

The Chinese government has been keeping a secret for forty years: they have found a species of animal no one believed even existed • Now the Chinese are ready to unveil their astonishing discovery within the greatest zoo ever constructed. A small group of VIPs and journalists has been brought to the zoo deep within China to see its fabulous creatures for the first time. Among them is Dr Cassandra Jane 'CJ' Cameron, a writer for National Geographic and an expert on reptiles • The visitors are assured by their Chinese hosts that they will marvel at these beasts, that they are perfectly safe, that nothing can go wrong

The perfect Christmas gift, full of drama and romance, for fans of ITV's Emmerdale and readers who love heart-wrenching stories set during wartime • December 1944. The residents of Beckindale can't believe they're going through another wartime Christmas, although the success of the D-Day landings earlier in the year has brought some hope to the village. The women of Emmerdale are navigating their own lives, loves and dreams, and as the war draws to a close, they realise things will never be the same again • The Emmerdale girls are going to learn things are never dull where love is involved • Exploring the lives of Emmerdale's much-loved families during World War II, including favourites such as the Sugdens and the Dingles, The Emmerdale Girls is a hopeful and nostalgic novel about community, friendship, and love