Showing results by publisher "HarperCollins" in Contemporary

Harriet Hatley is running away from everything. Getting married. Her boyfriend’s family. Her past. A dream house-share seems like the perfect place to hide, but her unlikely housemate Cal is no stranger to running away himself. And he's also hiding secrets of his own. Can these two take a crazy risk, face the past and finally find a reason to stay?

When Laurie is dumped by her partner of 18 years, she’s blindsided. Not only does she feel humiliated, they still have to work together. So when she gets stuck in the lift with handsome colleague Jamie, they hatch a plan to stage the perfect romance. Revenge will be sweet.... But this fauxmance is about to get complicated. You can’t break your heart in a fake relationship - can you?

When there’s a ring on her doorbell on Christmas Day, there’s only one person Edie Thompson wants it to be. The person who’s still in her heart. The person who just might be The One. She and Elliot Owen called it quits once before – but aren’t they too good together not to try? And here he is – offering her everything she dreamed of. But dating Elliot, an actor, is anything but plain sailing. Being an ocean apart and followed by the press is one thing, but when Edie’s friends and Elliot’s family are drawn in, things get messy.

Eve, Justin, Susie and Ed have been friends since they were 18. Now in their 30s, the four are still as close as ever, Thursday pub quiz night is still sacred and Eve is still secretly in love with Ed. Maybe Eve should have moved on by now, but she can’t stop thinking about what could have been. And she knows Ed sometimes thinks about it, too. Then one night, in an instant, all their lives change forever. And, as Eve learns she didn’t know her friends as well as she thought, she also discovers she isn’t the only person keeping secrets.

Even the greatest love stories end. But what if this one didn’t have to? Emma is having the worst day of her life. Frustrating. Chaotic. And the only person who could make it better is dead by the end of the day. Yet even worse than all of that: Emma keeps waking up to the same day, over and over again. But what if this is a sign things could be different? Can Emma change the heartbreaking end to this love story?

When Ama lands the job of her dreams, a headline-grabbing wedding for a glamorous Instagram star and her fiancee, it’s her biggest job yet. But the florist is none other than Elliot Bloom – Ama’s ex, the man whose heart she broke two years ago. The man she hasn’t spoken to since. Can they get through the wedding without killing – or kissing – each other?

Greetings card copywriter Phoebe Chapman knows a good romantic line or two – and it makes her a fantastic Cupid. So when she lands in the Hollywood Hills – a place that proves film stars, golden beaches and secret waterfalls don’t just exist in the movies – she can’t resist playing matchmaker for her handsome neighbour, carpenter Ren. But you can’t hide from love in La La Land. And isn’t there something a little bit hot about Ren, her own leading man next door?

Caroline Shelby has come home to Oysterville. And in the backseat of Caroline's car are two children who were orphaned in a single chilling moment - five-year-old Addie and six-year-old Flick. She's now their legal guardian - a role she’s not sure she’s ready for. But Oysterville has changed. Her siblings have their own complicated lives, and her aging parents are hoping to pass on their thriving restaurant to the next generation. And there's Will Jensen, a decorated Navy SEAL who's also returned home after being wounded overseas.

Beth Reynolds loved growing up close to Eleanor's Emporium – a bric-a-brac shop full of wonders on Lavender Bay. Devastated to learn that Eleanor has died, she returns home from London immediately and is shocked to discover that the elderly lady has left the shop to her! Vowing to restore it to its former glory, she only intends to stay until the end of the season. Although the longer she spends in the colourful seaside town, the more she falls back in love with everything she left behind... and quite possibly, with her best friend Eliza's older brother, local chef Sam Barnes!

When Joe and Roisin join their group of friends for a weekend away, it’s a triple celebration – a birthday, an engagement and the launch of Joe’s new crime drama. For Roisin, it’s a chance to connect with old friends. But for Joe, it’s a distraction as his writing career soars. As the weekend unfolds Roisin’s sense of foreboding buildings. And when she sees secrets she shared with Joe play out on the TV screen, she knows that between us means nothing at all. Searching for clues to the truth, about her life and the man she thought she loved, Roisin finds the most unexpected twist of them all.

Olive is many things. Independent. Adrift. Anxious. Loyal. Kind. Knows her own mind. It’s okay that she’s still figuring it all out, navigating her world without a compass. But life comes with expectations, there are choices to be made, boxes to tick and - sometimes - stereotypes to fulfil. And when her best friends’ lives start to branch away towards marriage and motherhood, leaving the path they’ve always followed together, Olive starts to question her choices - because life according to Olive looks a little bit different.

We’ve all known a cat lady - and we’ve probably all judged her too. But behind the label - the one that only sticks to women - what if there’s a story worth nine lives? Told with Dawn’s trademark warmth, wit and irreverence, Cat Lady is a story about defying labels and forging friendships. It’s for the cat lady in all of us - because a woman always lands on her feet....

After eight years together, Lil Bailey thought she’d already found ‘the one’ - that is, until he dumped her for a blonde 20-something colleague. So she does what any self-respecting singleton would do: swipes right, puts on her best bra and finds herself on a first date with a handsome mountaineer called Max. What’s the worst that can happen? Well it’s pretty bad actually. First Max ghosts her and then, after weeing on a stick (but mostly her hands), a few weeks later Lil discovers she’s pregnant.

April Sinclair, a Hollywood actress whose fame is starting to dry up, has returned to her tiny Scottish hometown on the Isle of Skye, the location of her family's local whisky business, following her grandfather's death. But she hadn't banked on silent and grump Malcolm Macabe being the one in charge. Mal loves his own company, and he doesn't appreciate glamorous film star April's presence – or the way she's trying to take back control of the whisky distillery. But their shared desire to save the struggling family business will mean working a lot closer than either of them might wish.

When Fran Cooper accepts a mysterious temporary job as a PA to a celebrity, she is swept off her feet overnight. Working with internationally famous singer Juliette, Fran is the person charged with getting Juliette to the Crystal Ball, the glittering event when the world’s rich and famous gather on Panarea, a beautiful Mediterranean island, for a night like no other. What Fran doesn’t know is that on this one night, everything will change for her, too.

Serial monogamist Fran has waited years for her chance to be single, and now’s her time to shine. She wants to date as much as she can. She’s got Big Date Energy. But her Mum has other ideas. She’s desperate for Fran to find real love and nominates her for a new TV dating show, The Meet-Cute, which promises to pair people with their perfect match. And when Fran walks onto the set, hoping for a bit of a laugh and a story to tell, she’s confronted with Ivy. Her first love, her high school romance. And the one that got away.

An hour after meeting a hot stranger at a bar, Max is with him on the rooftop of his Manhattan apartment, making out. Just five minutes later, Max is bolting back down twelve flights of stairs, hoping never to see him again. So the last person Max wants to turn up at his best friend’s wedding – where he is official Gay of Honour to the bride – is that very same hot stranger. Or for him to be a Best Man too – for the groom. Now the co-Best Men are in a fight to the death over who will be the actual best.

Gwen Jackson is a musical prodigy – but she fought hard for everything she now has. Xander Thorne comes from musical royalty – he’s a genius but it all fell in his lap. Already tensely opposed, when Gwen takes the spot of First Chair in the New York Pops Orchestra – a position Xander has coveted for years – their hostility goes up a notch… and their chemistry on stage goes off the scale.

Meet Tom. Or Dr O’Grady, as he used to be called. When you pass him on the street, most people don’t even give him a second glance. You see, Tom isn’t living his best life. Burdened by grief, he’s only got his loyal dog, Bette Davis, for company and a rucksack containing his whole world. Then there’s Ruth and her son, DJ, who no longer have a place to call home. But Ruth believes that you can change the world by helping one person at a time - and Tom needs her help. There are a thousand ways to find your home - you just need to be brave enough to look for them.

Fifty-year-old Agatha Doyle loves her empty nest – until hot flushes, a pair of killer heels and an overbearing man who won’t stop talking conspire to change her life. In one moment of madness, she unwittingly becomes a heroine to women everywhere. But can she become the heroine of her own life? Sometimes you just have to wing it.