Showing results by publisher "Hodder & Stoughton" in Contemporary

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.

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.

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.

Sophy Stevens is moving to Australia. Turning thirty has found her unexpectedly out of a job, out of a relationship, and just in need of Something Different - and Australia, where she can finally meet her grandparents and surprise them on their wedding anniversary, looks like the perfect answer...if she can save up the money for the plane ticket. So when her feckless, absent dad Johnno offers her a job at his vintage clothes shop in Primrose Hill, she can't turn it down.

Newly qualified teacher Tom Dwyer has been given his first post in Risingdale, a sleepy little village at the very top of the Yorkshire Dales. Unsure if he'll ever fit into this close-knit community, Tom joins a motley staff at the village school. With pupils who know more about sheep than they do arithmetic, Tom has his work cut out for him. Add to that an altercation with the beautiful but stand-offish Miss Janette Fairborn and an argument with the local squire's son, and Tom's first term proves a baptism of fire.

The day that changes Lucy's life starts in the worst way possible when she is abruptly fired from her job. Drowning her sorrows in a nearby bar, Lucy spots her ex-boyfriend Max walking past outside. Should she stay where she is and ignore him, or should she step outside and say hello? Everything hinges on the outcome of this one decision. In two storylines, we see what happens when Lucy follows both her head and her heart, and how the ripples from this moment change her whole life.

Liberty has never been a risk-taker. She loves the routine of her quiet life in the charming village of Willowbrook, with her Labrador, Charlie. But the arrival of a mysterious gift prompts Liberty to make some changes: starting with a daily challenge to say yes to everything for the month of December.... Fearless and independent, Alex could hardly be a less obvious fit for peaceful village life. But after an accident cuts short his promising motorcycling career, he finds himself in Willowbrook in search of new direction.

Everyone deserves to find that one person who's meant for them, don't they? Honest and wise, poignant and warm, this is completely absorbing storytelling for fans of Jojo Moyes and Marian Keyes. Vinnie is an ordinary man. Ellen is an ordinary woman. Ellen is unable to move on after a terrible accident that left her mentally and physically scarred. Taxi driver Vinnie is struggling to cope with bringing up two children on his own. Everyone deserves to find that one person who's meant for them, don't they?

When Star Bligh got pregnant at the age of 16, she thought her life was over. Now 33, mother to Skye and owner of the successful jewellery stall in Ferry Lane Market in Hartmouth, Cornwall, she wouldn't change a thing about it. Well, maybe one. A few months ago she fell hard for American visitor Jack, but then he left without even saying goodbye, and ever since she has struggled to get him out of her head. Until the handsome, roguish Conor turns up and sweeps her off her feet.

Thirty-nine-year-old Glanna Pascoe—also known as 'the Rainbow Painter'—runs the Hartmouth Gallery in Ferry Lane Market in Cornwall. She is just getting her head and broken heart around being single, childless and sober when Cupid flies in, shooting arrows all over the place. Meeting the mysterious and fascinating Isaac Benson, famous local artist and recluse, allows Glanna's disillusioned heart and attitude to soften, and she begins to learn more about herself than she ever thought possible.

It's taken years, but Natasha Brown's life is finally on track. Running a florist's in the quaint village of Willowbrook, she's put her short-lived marriage to Luc Duval far behind her. That is, until he unexpectedly walks through her shop door, three years after their divorce. Luc reveals that he never told his family about their split, and now his father is desperately ill and demanding to meet Natasha. Luc needs her to come to France and pretend they're still happily married. Natasha is horrified, but when Luc makes her an offer she can't refuse, reluctantly packs her bags.

Filmmaker Lily's life is all about work and adventure. So when she suffers an accident on her travels and finds herself recuperating in the quiet French seaside village where she spent her childhood, she can't wait to escape. Not least because Olivier - Lily's childhood friend and former crush, who she has spent the last 13 years avoiding - is staying next door....

The first novel in the heartwarming, countryside-set Hope Meadows series. Newly qualified vet Mandy Hope is leaving Leeds - and her boyfriend, Simon - to return to the Yorkshire village she grew up in, where she'll help out with animals of all shapes and sizes in her parents' surgery. But it's not all plain sailing: Mandy clashes with gruff local Jimmy Marsh, and some of the villagers won't accept a new vet. Meanwhile, Simon is determined that Mandy will rejoin him back in the city.

Helen and Ben parted as heartbroken 18-year-olds and went their very separate ways. Twenty years later, mother-of-two-teenagers Helen is still in Manchester, a part-time primary teacher, stunned by the behaviour of her love-rat husband. In an old T shirt and scruffy jeans, she feels at the lowest point in her life. And suddenly, impossibly, Ben is standing on her doorstep. Tired maybe, lonely even, but clearly still the world-famous, LA-based multi-millionaire rockstar he has become. Can you ever go back?

Meet Theo. Handsome, sexy, funny. kind. And he can cook. He's literally the man of Esme's dreams. But Esme's sensible enough to know that you can't just manifest your perfect boyfriend then have him turn up on your doorstep. Or can you?

Christmas has arrived in the little village of Welford. The scent of hot roasted chestnuts is in the air, and a layer of frost sparkles on the ground. This year, vet Mandy Hope is looking forward to the holidays. Her animal rescue centre, Hope Meadows, is up and running - and she's finally going on a date with Jimmy Marsh, owner of the local outward bound centre. But when a mysterious local starts causing trouble, Mandy's plans for the centre come under threat.

Lila Metcalfe is a trainee journalist in Derby and she's very used to being given the stories that no one else wants. So, when her editor tells her that the city's Cossington Park development is being held up by a solitary resident on Hope Street who is refusing to leave, she knows she is going to be the one sent to find out more. Twenty-something Connor is the sole resident of Hope Street and he is not at all what Lila is expecting. And he has a very clear reason not to move: he is waiting for his mum to come home.

It's time for Max and Dylan's book. An opposites-attract, forced-proximity holiday romance.

In this world, Dr Charlotte Stone is an expert psychologist helping to catch serial killers. In the next world, Charlotte's ghostly lover - wrongly executed killer Michael Garland - is facing death yet again: the ultimate annihilation of his soul. Can Charlie prove Michael's innocence and rescue him from total oblivion?

After a disastrous first meeting, Cassie and Marc become arch nemeses. He might have great cheekbones and a sexy French accent but he's a terrible person who did a terrible thing. Too bad that Cassie's best friends Lucy and Russell think he's wonderful. But years later, when an unexpected tragedy strikes their friendship group, Cassie and Marc team up to give Lucy and Russell the best weekend ever so they can make new memories with all of their favourite people. Which means convincing everyone that Cassie and Marc are head over heels in love.