Showing results by publisher "Hodder & Stoughton" in Romance

Where Nirrim lives, crime abounds, a harsh tribunal rules and society's pleasures are reserved for the High Kith. Life in the Ward is grim and punishing. People of her low status are forbidden from sampling sweets or wearing colours. You either follow the rules, or pay a tithe and suffer the consequences. Nirrim keeps her head down and a dangerous secret close to her chest.

The convention of a book synopsis is fundamentally ridiculous. How can I adequately convey in only 150 words the complexity and bewilderment of the past 10 months and the effect the events that occurred have had on my perfectly regulated existence? One would need much longer to record in detail how I was blackmailed into demonstrating the efficacy of my soulmate programme and forced to participate in a series of ridiculous dates. How my life has been forever altered as a consequence.

Prue is intelligent, artistic, independent - and bored. Pressured by her mother to make a conventional and dull marriage, she is delighted to escape London and seek retreat with her eccentric and bohemian aunt in Cornwall. A chance encounter with an attractive young artist on the seashore leads to day after idyllic summer's day of exploring the Cornish countryside and coast. But there is something troubling Daniel, and Prue - now deeply entangled - feels compelled to discover what it is.

When Ava's flatmate challenges her to make a new friend, Finn happens to be in the right place at the right time. In exchange for his friendship, Finn persuades Ava to work through his London summer bucket list before he leaves the city for good. With every passing day, their fake friendship turns into something more. But the problem with summer is that it always ends.

Amelie has always been a survivor, from losing her parents as a child in Paris to making it on her own in London. Then she meets Carolyn and is soon swept up in a glamorous London lifestyle. Until it starts to go wrong.

Are you brave enough to wake the sleeping tiger? Selina Bruce has impulsively left behind her lawyer fiancé in London and flown alone to a tiny island off the Spanish coast. She is searching for the father she has never known, but what she finds is an unexpected truth about herself and the man she plans to marry. For exotic San Antonio offers Selina more than the penetrating brilliance of the noonday sun. It offers the mysterious George Dyer, who holds the key not only to her past...but to her heart.

Six months after a life-changing accident, Carys is looking for a fresh start. Feeling restless, she jumps when she is offered the chance to run The Red Cat Café, an eccentric neighbourhood eatery in the centre of Paris, over the busy festive period. Mathieu needs a change of pace. Stuck in a job he hates, the only time Mat feels truly in control is when he posts scathing anonymous restaurant reviews on his blog, Madame Incognito. When a chance encounter leads the two to meet, their connection is instant, and it seems like everything might fall into place.

Still grieving the death of her best friend, Erin knows she needs to start living - but has no idea how. Then she loses her favourite book, a heavily annotated copy of To Kill A Mockingbird containing her friend's last gift. When James finds Erin's note-filled book in his local community bookshelf, it sparks a life-changing conversation. He writes his own message for her to find, inviting her to meet him in the margins of Great Expectations. As the book exchange continues, they both begin to open up . . . and perhaps fall in love.

Beloved author Mary Stewart's long-lost novella, now available again for the first time in 40 years. In 1879 a wealthy young woman elopes with an impoverished fisherman, leaving her family, who live on the volcanic island of Lanzarote, distraught. In 1968, 23-year-old Perdita West, secretary to the famous author Cora Gresham, visits Lanzarote, the strangest and wildest of the Canary Isles, on a research trip. They meet Cora's estranged son, Mike, and fall in love with the unusual, beautiful little island.

When Charlotte Lucas chooses security over romance, her eyes are wide open to the decision she is making. Marriage to Mr Collins offers stability, if not passion, and she is determined to make the best of it. While Elizabeth Bennet turns away in judgement of her choice, Charlotte builds a life in Kent—one of duty, routine and quiet contentment. But everything changes when an unexpected visitor arrives at Rosings Park. A spark is lit, an impossible longing awakened.

A year ago, Irene Steele had the shock of her life: her loving husband, father to their grown sons and successful businessman, was killed in a plane crash. But that wasn't Irene's only shattering news: he'd also been leading a double life on the island of St. John, where another woman loved him, too. Now Irene and her sons are back on St. John, determined to learn the truth about the mysterious life - and death - of a man they thought they knew. Along the way, they're about to learn some surprising truths about their own lives, and their futures.

Literary agent Zoey Moody doesn't like small town life, but here she is: exiled from Manhattan's publishing scene and trapped in a tiny Pennsylvania town with her BFF and only remaining client, Hazel. The problem? She's totally broke. All she needs is for Hazel's next romance novel to become a gigantic hit and Zoey will be back in New York. Nothing will stand in her way. Nothing except her six-foot-two-inch landlord, Gage Bishop. He's smart, serious and sexy. Worst of all, he's ready to settle down.

As the only female cabinet maker in the valley in 1935, Frankie Redfern is unusual. She faces prejudice even from her own mother. But she's content working for her father and is unwilling to give up her independence or the work she loves for marriage. When her husband falls gravely ill, Frankie's mother takes over, causing serious trouble for her daughter. And her cousin, an unscrupulous local builder, starts to help her for his own reasons.

Unbeknownst to their friends, Bennett and Paloma were each other's first real love, which ended in crippling heartbreak. Bennett still doesn't know what happened, and Paloma is determined to stay away from the comfort she used to find only in his arms. As Bennett discovers the truth about Paloma's past, the threads to his careful control start to come unbound, and both begin to realize that letting go of everything else might be worth it, if it means they both get the real love they once shared again.

Harper Jenkins has her dream job. As Celebrity Editor at a glossy weekend magazine, she's known for persuading tight-lipped Hollywood stars to open up, landing her exclusive stories and a great reputation. Everything's perfect - that is, until her awful boss hires hotshot reporter Ryan as the new Features Editor. Harper is furious: she remembers Ryan from a decade ago, when they were both interns together. Harper had mistakenly thought Ryan was someone she could trust - until he betrayed her in the worst way possible. They've never spoken since.

It's the summer of 1822, and Edinburgh is abuzz with rumours of King George IV's impending visit. In botanical circles, however, a different kind of excitement has gripped the city. In the newly installed Botanic Garden, the Agave Americana plant looks set to flower - an event that only occurs once every few decades. When newly widowed Elizabeth arrives in Edinburgh to live with her late husband's aunt, Clementina, she's determined to put her unhappy past in London behind her. As she settles into her new home, she becomes fascinated by the beautiful Botanic Garden.

Inspired by a box of mementos found abandoned in a skip following a house clearance, The Museum of Ordinary People is a poignant, thought-provoking but ultimately uplifting story of memory and love, grief, loss and the things we leave behind. It is another brilliant novel from an author who seems to have the absolute knack of writing topical, engaging, heartwarming stories which really connect with listeners.

For the millions addicted to Strictly Come Dancing - a debut tapping in to the world's latest craze. When three couples join a new ballroom class, they're all looking for some magic in their lives. Lauren and Chris are getting married, and Lauren's dreaming of a fairytale wedding with a first dance to make Cinderella proud. Not wanting to be shown up on the dance floor, her parents, Bridget and Frank, have come along, too.

Bernadette is expert at hiding the truth. She has built her career as a journalist on her talent for lulling powerful men into a false sense of security, then exposing them in her ruthless profile pieces. But in Radley Blake, she may have met her match. Immune to her charms, he seems to see through every layer of her carefully constructed act, right to the truth of who she is inside. We think we're looking for love - but what if it's ourselves we need to find?

Freya Scott is getting married. Her wedding to Matthew, her long-term boyfriend, is the first of eight in her calendar this year, and as someone who prides herself on being meticulously organised, Freya is intent on making it the perfect day to remember. But when Matthew calls things off hours before they walk down the aisle, Freya's entire life plan goes up in smoke. Humiliated and heartbroken, the last thing she wants is to attend a summer of other peoples' nuptials on her own.