Showing results by author "Kate Hewitt" in All Categories

The year 1819, Isle of Mull, Scotland: When Allan MacDougall tells his sweetheart, Harriet Campbell, he loves her on the eve of his departure to the New World, it breaks her heart. Because there is no way for her to go with him. She promises to wait for him, even though it could be years before they are reunited. They vow to write, but when crucial letters go astray, they feel further apart than either could have imagined. 

1904: Ellen Copley is still a child when she leaves behind the sooty rail yards of Glasgow and crosses the Atlantic Ocean with a heart full of dreams. Yet within weeks of their arrival in America, her father has disappeared - leaving Ellen with resentful relatives, feeling alone and scared for her future. But then her kind Aunt Rose invites Ellen to stay with her large family in their rambling house on beautiful Amherst Island, which nestles like a jewel in the blue waters of Lake Ontario.

Single mother Beth loves her seven-year-old son Dylan with all her heart. He’s her world. But life with Dylan isn’t easy — and his emotional issues push Beth to her very limit. When a misunderstanding leads Dylan to be taken into foster care, she is determined to do whatever she can to get him back. Mother of two, Ally has always dreamed of fostering — it feels like her chance to give back when she has been so lucky in life. But when Dylan joins their family, Ally finds herself struggling to balance his needs with those of her own children and husband.

The First World War is over, and those who have been fighting in Europe are heading for home, forever changed. Among the lost, the damaged, and the broken is former nurse Ellen Copley, who finds herself returning - not to her house in Glasgow, but to her childhood home on Amherst Island. There, she feels sure, in the warm embrace of the McCafferty family, with her beloved aunt Rose and her cousins, she will feel safe and loved. She will be able to escape the ghosts of the past and her loss and find peace.

When a chance encounter takes Ellen Copley away from the beautiful island she has called home since she was orphaned as a child, she believes it is the new start she has been waiting for. She settles into an exciting, creative new life in Glasgow, feeling like she’s finally finding her independence. And even though she left a part of her heart back on the island, she’s flattered by the attentions of her handsome, charming benefactor, Henry McAvoy. But tragedy strikes their fledgling relationship, and soon after, war looms over Europe.

1832, Scotland: When Caroline Reid is offered the chance to travel to America to live with her estranged uncle, she has only two things on her mind: to become the belle of Boston society and to make an enviable - and financially advantageous - match. But from the moment her journey begins, things do not go as she expects. From the seasickness on her Atlantic crossing, to the unexpected friendship she strikes up with a young widow named Eleanor, the Caroline who set sail for the New World isn’t quite the same person who arrives there.... 

Boston, 1838: Once upon a time Isobel Moore was thought to be one of Boston’s most eligible young women. But, after a marriage proposal gone wrong, she is now at threat of being labelled a spinster. And, though her work at a small school for impoverished immigrants brings her great joy, she can’t help but wish for more in life. When her dream of finding love fails to come true, she knows - if she’s to have the family she dreams of - it will take desperate measures. 

Alice James has been a drifter her whole life, working her way through several foster homes before ending up in Wychwood-on-Lea, feeling anchorless and invisible. When a chance encounter leads to Alice accepting a position as a caretaker and companion to Lady Stokeley, she starts to feel as if she might finally be able to put down some roots and live the way other people do. Then, Lady Stokeley’s nephew, city banker Henry Trent, storms into Willoughby Manor, seeming to find fault with everything, including Alice. 

Milly always dreamed of being a mother. Adopted herself, she has always imagined a powerful, intimate connection with a child of her own. So when she and her husband Matt are told they can’t have children, her dreams are shattered. But then their loved ones offer the ultimate gift - Milly’s best friend Anna and Matt’s brother Jack will be donors, so that Milly can finally have a chance to be a mother. Except none of the four people involved are prepared for the feelings that will threaten their most important relationships as their daughter receives a heartbreaking diagnosis.

After her husband unexpectedly dies, Ava moves to Willoughby Close, trying to keep her chin up and to herself as she’s always done - not answering questions, not making friends, and not seeing much of a future. Her marriage was far from perfect, but it offered her a much-needed security that has now been ripped away. She’s not sure what to do now that she’s 35, widowed, penniless...and unexpectedly pregnant with her late husband’s child. 

When Tessa arrives at the little house by the lake with her two children, it is an escape. The rental house may be a bit small – but it’s theirs for the summer. A place to hide.... However, their isolation is disrupted by the family from the big house next door. Three children and their glamorous mother Rebecca – who seems determined to invite Tessa into their lives.

Two women’s lives are forever entwined by the love for the same child and by the agonizing choices they will both have to make. A Mother’s Choice will make listeners ask themselves what it truly means to be a parent and whether they could make an ultimately selfless decision when it comes to their child’s future.

Belinda "Lindy" Jamison has moved to the Cotswolds for a fresh start and to open a dancing school - her lifelong dream. Pushing 40 and still looking for Mr. Right, Lindy is determined to no longer wait for happiness but to reach for it with both hands. Soon Lindy has a motley crew of would-be dancers. But her most intriguing pupil is Roger Wentworth, a 40-something bachelor with a shy and awkward manner, but a heart of blazing gold.

Nathan West loved his wife Laura with all his heart. But now she’s gone, taken from him in a seemingly random act of violence. Laura was the glue that held their family together. And for Nathan, life without her feels almost meaningless. As he tries to find hope in the darkness, his three young daughters express their grief in different and challenging ways - with one set on a path of self-destruction that could devastate their family all over again. 

Anna Vere has escaped to the Cotswolds for Christmas to try to heal from her broken engagement and, far worse, her broken dreams. When her reserved room at a bed-and-breakfast is flooded, she takes up the offer of camping out in Willoughby Close, the converted stables of the nearby manor house...and is taken under the wing of sexy local carpenter Colin Heath. What starts out as merely helping a neighbor in need turns into far more as Colin and Anna share a surprisingly intense and emotional connection, weaving their own Christmas magic as they spend the holiday together. 

Harriet Lang had the perfect life, so she’s left reeling when everything is taken from her in one fell swoop. Suddenly, Harriet learns her beautiful farmhouse in the Cotswolds is double mortgaged, her husband Richard’s been unceremoniously fired - and he’s become a little too close to his young, sexy assistant. Harriet moves into Willoughby Close with her three children, trying to hold her head up high. With the help of her neighbor and newfound friend Ellie Matthews, Harriet starts to rebuild her life - but dipping a toe in the dating pool feels strange.

Rachel’s worst nightmare comes true when a rare auto-immune illness leaves 4-year-old daughter Emily in a coma the doctors say she may never come out of. And Rachel has to make a heartbreaking decision - one that her ex-husband, Emily’s dad James, doesn’t agree with. Terrified she’s going to lose her daughter for good, Rachel knows she must find a way to keep the hope alive for Emily. But there is only one person she can turn to for help to convince James - and it’s his new wife, Eva. 

When Laurel West discovers her estranged sister Abby has checked herself into rehab and wants her to take care of her 14-year-old son, she doesn’t hesitate to step in. Abby was there for Laurel a long time ago, and she longs to be able to offer the same. However, as a single woman who still dreams of the fairy tale, Laurel isn’t prepared for teenaged Zac’s sullen moods or silent rage. When he’s expelled from school, she decides to take drastic measures and temporarily relocate them to her great aunt’s cottage on the windswept hills of the Orkney islands north of Scotland?

Ellie Matthews has come to Wychwood-on-Lea to find a new start for her and her daughter Abby. But, life there doesn’t start out as idyllic as she had hoped. While Ellie loves her cute cottage in Willoughby Close, the Yummy Mummies at the primary school seem intent on giving her the cold shoulder, Abby has trouble fitting in, and her boss, Oliver Venables, is both surprisingly sexy and irritatingly inscrutable.

1944, London. When Lily meets enigmatic GI Matthew in war-torn London, she doesn’t expect to fall in love. While her sister starts a reckless affair with another GI, Lily tries to hide her growing feelings for Matthew. But Matthew has a devastating secret. One that could change their lives forever.