Orion Gardens Of Delight James Erica

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

'Someone had made a perfect job of creating a place in which to hide a notebook . . . there was no address, only a date: September 1943 . . .' • Ashcombe was the most beautiful house Saskia had ever seen as a little girl. A rambling cottage on the edge of a Suffolk village, it provided a perfect sanctuary to hide from the tragedy which shattered her childhood • Now an adult, Saskia is still living at Ashcombe and as a book restorer devotes her days tending to broken and battered books, daydreaming about the people who had once turned their pages. When she discovers a hidden notebook - and realises someone has gone to a great deal of trouble to hide a story of their own - Saskia finds herself drawn into a heart-rending tale of wartime love

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

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

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

In the heart of the Cheshire countryside, Cholmford Hall Mews, a converted eighteenth-century barn, is far more than an exclusive home to its new inhabitants • For Jessica Lloyd, it is a haven where she can recover from a love affair long past its sell-by date; Amanda Fergusson, whose marriage is one of straightforward convenience, is determined to get the most out of the situation; for Kate Morris it offers a fresh start where her love for newly divorced Alec can flourish; and for Josh Crawford, his new home offers a sanctuary where he can come to terms with the most devastating news of his life • In their different ways, all the newcomers to Cholmford Hall Mews are searching for something - love, peace, a sense of belonging. But will they find rather more than they bargained for...?

Torn between struggling to live up to the expectations of being a Modern Woman and ridding herself of the effect of a repressed upbringing, Izzy Jordan would be the first to admit that it's time to take stock of her life. She's thirty-one, with a teaching career on the skids - not surprising, really, given that she harbours a strong desire to lock her pupils in the art room cupboard and throw away the key. She also has a manipulative mother and an ex-boyfriend whose parting shot was to tell her she was boring in bed! • So when she's invited to spend the summer on Corfu and is offered the chance of a no-strings holiday romance with the irresistible Theo, what should she do? Go for it, or listen to the voice of Modern Woman and tell him to sling his hook? Just as she thinks she's made up her mind, along comes Mark, whose turbulent past sets in motion a series of dramatic events

Charlotte Lawrence, widowed at thirty-four, decides to return to all things pre-Peter, and that means moving back to the Cheshire village of her childhood • It also means exchanging a clinical company flat for the pretty but overgrown garden of Ivy Cottage, and the constant attentions of her interfering sister Hilary • Most of all it means Alex, Ivy Cottage's drop-dead-gorgeous tenant, with whom Hilary is determined Charlotte should find love anew, and whose charming exterior hides his own secret tragedy

In order to spend more time with her four-year-old son Ned, Clara Costello trades in her secure, well-paid job and two-seater sports car for a camper van called Winnie and sets off in search of adventure. Of course, her friends and family think she's gone mad • But when they arrive in Deaconsbridge, a small market town on the edge of the Peak District, Clara and Ned become drawn into the lives of the locals. Two in particular seem destined to get under Clara's skin: Gabriel Liberty, a cranky widower who terrifies his family; and Archie Merryman, a local dealer in second-hand furniture, who possesses a heart of gold • Then Clara finds herself having to confront a dilemma much closer to home and one she had hoped she would never have to face

Home is where the heart is • Paradise House, with its gorgeous views of the sea, was the perfect home for the Baxter girls to grow up in - that was, until their mother ran away to 'find herself' • Since then, it's been down to Genevieve to keep the family-owned B&B afloat - which hasn't always been easy, when her father spends most of his time hiding away from the flirtatious local women! • And there's little help from her sisters, either. Nattie is too busy offending her long-term admirer and Polly spends most of her days with her head in a book • But when Genevieve hears that a nearby tumbledown barn has been sold, she's forced to take a bittersweet trip down memory lane • Because sometimes coming home means facing the secrets of the past

It's the summer of 1939, and after touring an unsettled Europe to promote her latest book, Romily Temple returns home to Island House and the love of her life, the charismatic Jack Devereux • But when Jack falls ill, his estranged family are called home and given seven days to find a way to bury their resentments and come together • With war now declared, each member of the family is reluctantly forced to accept their new stepmother and confront their own shortcomings. But can the habits of a lifetime be changed in one week? And can Romily, a woman who thrives on adventure, cope with the life that has been so unexpectedly thrust upon her?

Alice Shoemaker habitually goes to great lengths to avoid telling the truth about herself and her past. After agreeing to help out a friend, by shopping and cleaning for the unknown man staying at Cuckoo House, she soon becomes suspicious that her strange and obnoxiously rude client has something to hide • Clayton Miller's life is a mess. His career as one of the country's best comedy script writers has stalled and his long-term girlfriend has left him for his ex best friend and ex writing partner. Just when he thinks his life couldn't get any worse, he commits a spectacularly public fall from grace and with the press hounding him, his agent banishes him to the middle of nowhere until the dust has settled. And there he meets Alice • When Alice and Clayton discover the truth about each other they form an unlikely friendship - until Alice discovers Clayton's betrayal