Showing titles in Holidays

Christmas is the perfect time to curl up with a good story, and this cracking collection brings you 30 wonderfully diverse tales inspired by this most special of seasons. From Santa Claus, gift-giving and family gatherings, to an unexpected encounter in a snowstorm and an alternative take on the Nativity, they're sure to get you in the festive mood.

Marvellously atmospheric tale of strangers summoned to a grand but neglected villa on the Italian coast. Each of them has been named in a will, but nobody knows their benefactress.... Four very different people are named in a will. Delia, an opera singer robbed of her voice by illness; George, an idealistic scientist who cannot face what his skills have created; Marjorie, desperately poor and unable to dislodge her writer’s block; and Lucius, ostensibly in control but whose personal life is in chaos.

If Silas St. Nick thinks I’m going to pack up my twinkle lights and peppermint-scented joy just because he’s banned Christmas in his small town, he’s in for a very festive surprise. He thinks he can do whatever he wants because he’s handsome and rich, but my kindergarteners don’t call me Ms. Christmas for nothing.

Christa Playfoot is looking for a fresh start after her divorce. Having lost her Michelin-starred restaurant, she hadn't expected to be job hunting and single just before Christmas. When her best friend says she's recommended Christa for a gig as a private chef over the Christmas period, Christa can't think of a reason to say no. Christa has no idea what to expect but it's certainly not grumpy billionaire divorcee Marc Ferrier and his rambunctious twin sons, or the beautiful but cheerless country estate, Pudding Hall, that they inhabit.

A sexy cinnamon-roll lumberjack offers me a ride into town, a stay at his cozy cabin, and eventually his bed. All things I can't refuse. After several flirty glances and heated mistletoe kisses, we create rules: no strings attached and no falling in love. Agreeing to the impossible might be my biggest mistake yet. I visited the small town for one reason only: to prove a point to my father. Now I've got a fake boyfriend.

Rosa Larkin is down on her luck in London, so when she inherits a near-derelict corner shop in a quaint Devon village, her first thought is to sell it for cash and sort out her life. But nothing is straightforward about this legacy. While the identity of her benefactor remains a mystery, he - or she - has left one important legal proviso: that the shop cannot be sold, only passed on to somebody who really deserves it. Rosa makes up her mind to give it a go: to put everything she has into getting the shop up and running again in the small seaside community of Cockleberry Bay. But can she do it all on her own?

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER #1 New York Times bestselling author Jan Karon gives her beloved fans what they want for Christmas: a new Mitford novel. When Father Tim’s wife, Cynthia, asks what he wants for Christmas, he pens the answer in a love letter that bares his most private feelings...

Ivy Noelle Winter is content with being a thirty-one-year-old unbonded omega with no prospects of a pack. She adores teaching fifth grade, she has wonderful friends—and that baking show marathon isn't going to watch itself. Until a snowstorm and power outage traps Ivy in her classroom after hours… with three men. Rome, the new alpha music teacher. James, the flirtatious beta vet he's bonded to. And Logan, the town's grumpy alpha electrician. Their scents call to Ivy and her body answers, setting off her first-ever mini-heat.

St Aidan: a cosy Cornish village where friendships are made for life and it’s always cocktail hour somewhere… ‘A pure delight…fabulous, fun and unforgettable’ – Debbie Johnson, bestselling author of Summer at the Comfort Food Cafe The snow is falling around Brides by the Sea...

Becca Fletcher has always hated Christmas, but she has her reasons for being Little Miss Grinch. Now, though, she can’t avoid her version of ho-ho-hell - because she’s travelling to the Comfort Food Cafe to spend the festive season with her sister Laura and her family. She’s expecting mulled wine, 24-hour Christmas movie marathons and all kinds of very merry torture. Little does Becca know that the Comfort Food Cafe is like no other place on earth.

When Isla reluctantly accepts her estranged sister Clara's invitation to spend Christmas at a luxury mountain retreat, she expects awkward family tension – not a fight for survival. After years of silence following their mother's death, this holiday reunion seems too good to be true. And it is.

As a published novelist, Lila Rose has been writing about fictional weddings all her life. But disaster strikes on her own big day when she hears her philandering fiancé, Daniel, whispering sweet nothings to someone else. With her dream day shattered, all Lila wants to do is run and hide, so she decides to fly solo on her own honeymoon. When Daniel arrives in the resort with his new squeeze, Lila strikes up a ‘showmance’ with hot new movie star Freddie Bianchi. Freddie is perfect for the part, and Lila soon relaxes into her leading lady role.

When Connor Finch insists his one-time Tinder match Shae comes to his dad's house for Thanksgiving with her two daughters, it's because he refuses to let them be alone on her first holiday post-divorce. When she arrives at the Christmas tree farm and ranch he grew up on, she meets his father—the crazy tall, built, golden retriever cowboy who tells her girls all about the magic of the stupid elf on a shelf.

When young Dylan Harris's former babysitter (and soon to be step-sister), Harriet, needs a last-minute venue for her acting troupe's outdoor production of Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale, the staff at Mill Grange throw open its doors, keen to fill their halls with guests over the holiday season but they may get more drama than they'd bargained for! With pageants and plays to arrange, a much-anticipated book launch, an unexpected arrival, a heart-warming offer, and a little bit of the manor's magic, this Christmas is one that Thea, Tina, Sam, Shaun, Helen and Tom won't soon forget.

Olivia Shields is back in Carlisle Bay, Connecticut, after having traveled the world as a professional ballet dancer. Dancing was her life. Chasing performance dreams is all she's ever known or planned for. One summer she spent in Carlisle Bay before heading to Juilliard left her both heartbroken and more focused on her career than ever. A back injury has forced some changes. She'll take on a new role as the manager of her aunt's coastal boutique. After all, she's completely over the boy who broke her heart forever ago.

Charles Dickens' story of solitary miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who is taught the true meaning of Christmas by the three ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, has become one of the timeless classics of English literature. First published in 1843, it introduces us not only to Scrooge himself but also to the memorable characters of underpaid desk clerk Bob Cratchit and his poor family, the poorest amongst whom is the ailing and crippled Tiny Tim.

Take a trip to the best little bakery in Brooklyn, where there’s more than a sprinkle of romance and a slice of pie makes it feel like home! When Sophie Bennings arrives in New York, love is the last thing on her mind. Still reeling from a painful breakup, she throws herself into her work as a food editor on a top-notch magazine. Columnist Todd McLennan is everything that Sophie wishes she didn’t want. Like the gorgeous bakery below her Brooklyn apartment, he’s as tempting as the delicious cupcakes on display. Surely a little of what you fancy can do you good?

Maggie Coates is frustrated. Her longterm boyfriend, Dirk, recently moved to London to take a job she fears puts him out of her league. Despite the assurances of her best friend Renee, Maggie is convinced Dirk is slowly drifting away. All Maggie wants is to get married and settle down, but maybe Dirk has other ideas. Convinced by Renee to make one last throw of the dice, Maggie books a romantic holiday for two in the quaint Scottish village of Hollydell. But will Dirk show up? And if he doesn't, what if there is a perfect man waiting for her?

Emily Anderson adores romance—both in books and in real life (though her own love life is more ‘tragic subplot’ than ‘happily-ever-after’). As an audiobook narrator, she spends her days bringing love stories to life, convinced that one day, her own perfect romance will come true. Jude Cavendish, thinks romance is a fairy tale for fools. A crime author with a serious case of writer’s block, he’s horrified when his publisher asks him to add a love story to his latest novel. He knows murders, mysteries, and mayhem—not grand gestures and stolen kisses.

Beautifully told with humor and tenderness, a Norwegian Christmas tale of sisterhood, financial hardship, and far-off dreams, acclaimed by reviewers and beloved by readers across Europe, where it has been a major bestseller. Christmas is just around the corner, and Ronja and Melissa’s dreamer...