Showing results by author "Rona Halsall" in All Categories

Ethan slips the ring onto my finger and gently squeezes my hand. My pulse shoots through the roof–how can I be worthy of happiness after what I’ve done? I was driving that night and I’m terrified that I’ve killed someone. I blacked out after the accident and Ethan took me home. I woke up to find him stroking my head on the sofa, telling me it was okay and that an ambulance was helping the person I hit. His kind blue eyes were staring into mine, just like now.

When Mel arrives at the holiday cottage in the Lake District, she expects to find the heating on and her husband Luke and the two children waiting for her. Maybe a bottle of wine open… Instead, there is just a note on the side, saying they’ve gone out for a walk. But they aren’t back several hours later, and Mel knows something is wrong. Really wrong. When a search doesn’t find them, she has to confess to the police that her marriage isn’t all that it seems.

The phone rings. What Eva doesn’t realize is that the call will signal the end of what she knows to be true. The end of trusting her family. And the end of everything keeping her safe. The phone call is from a hospital hundreds of miles away. A woman has been admitted with a serious head injury, saying she’s Eva’s older sister. A sister Eva never knew she had. Whose name - Nancy - has never once been mentioned by her parents. It seems impossible. Could the two people who brought Eva up have lied to her for her whole life?

Sara made one promise to herself when she was growing up in foster care: that if she was lucky enough to have a family, she’d always do whatever it took to protect them. Looking around her home with its cozy kitchen and living room, where her energetic teenage daughters and gorgeous 4-year-old son all eat, play and live together, she knows she’d do anything to keep them safe. So when Sara’s husband Matt loses his job and every shred of his confidence with it, she knows it’s up to her to bring the family back from the brink.

Ever since Steph’s husband walked out after a 30-year marriage, home hasn’t felt like a safe haven. Her daughter Bea thinks she’s imagining things. But Steph knows that the noises in the night, the open windows she knows she left closed, the strange smell in the kitchen - none of it feels right.

When Becca’s first love shows up on her social media feed, she can’t help but smile fondly. Once upon a time Connor was the love of her life, and though it was over 10 years ago, he’s always held a place in her heart. Then he sends her a message. He sounds happy - still kind and funny, still living across the world in Australia. But he wants to know everything about her life now. How can Becca tell him the truth? About her workaholic husband, her stressful job, and the challenges of caring for her elderly father and her three-year-old daughter, Mia?

I have to get my little boy back… I’ll never forget the feeling of holding him in my arms. The softness of his skin. The sweetness of his smile. But my husband took our son away. He said it was for the best. He said he’d keep him safe. And he was always a good father... even if he failed me when I needed him most. I know I should trust him to protect our little boy... so why can’t I?

I know I want to marry Sam the moment I meet him. After I lost my beloved mother so suddenly, this charming, softly spoken architect with his deep-brown eyes is just the fresh start I’ve been searching for. I’m delighted to be expecting our first child before we’ve even had a chance to plan a honeymoon. I want our family to work, so I try to ignore his long work trips. I turn a blind eye to the private calls he takes, and I listen to his excuses about why the money keeps disappearing from my bank account.

Today we move into our new houses, right next door to each other. My ex-husband and me. He’s with someone else. So am I. We’re still the best of friends. We’re making sure we’re not like every other separating couple. We know we will make it work. We’ve even knocked down the fences between the houses, so the children can all run between both homes. But it seems not everyone likes this big, blended stepfamily. I try to ignore the scary note in the "new home" card and the red pen scrawled through my divorce paperwork. 

He was there for her first steps. He helped with her homework. And then, two days before her ninth birthday, Martha’s father walked out. She never knew what went wrong, but she and her mother, Fran, never saw or heard from him again. Fifteen years later, Martha and Fran live in a remote, pretty cottage in Cornwall. Fran paints illustrations for children’s books, while Martha trains as an animal nurse at the local vet’s surgery. But then Martha sees a strange message on her mother’s phone - from her father. Desperate for answers, she tracks him down.