Showing results by author "Samantha Hayes" in All Categories

I sit little Mila down at my kitchen table with a glass of milk and a plate of cookies. She smiles shyly at me and I reach out to ruffle her hair. Leaving her alone for a moment, I dash upstairs, closing my eyes as I take a deep breath. What have I done? Mila isn’t my child. I should never have taken her home. But what choice did I have? Painting a smile on my face, I head back down to the kitchen.

Me and Will. Will and Me. A perfect match. He said he would always be there for me, but it’s been a year since he drained his coffee, walked out the front door and vanished. Did he leave me? Or did something terrible happen? I’m scared someone finally found out about what happened on the drive home that night...I lie awake at night trawling the internet for rental properties, desperate for an escape. Until I see my husband’s gorgeous face smiling back at me from a photograph on the fireplace in someone else’s home, and something inside of me snaps....

Returning early from a disastrous date night with my husband, I know something is wrong the moment the wheels crunch the gravel drive of our home. Inside, the TV is on and a half-eaten meal waits on the table. My heart stops when I find our little girl is alone in the house and our babysitter, Sasha, is missing....

In the wake of my darling husband’s death, I am so lucky to have my three beautiful, grown-up daughters by my side at our holiday home in Scotland. We need some time together to recover from the shock. But I also need to set some things straight about their beloved father....

She told me she was the housekeeper, and who was I to question? Our stay in this perfectly renovated Victorian house on the rich side of Hastings was a favour from an old school friend while the fire damage to our own little place was being fixed. This is not my house, and they are not my rules. So I step aside, and I let her in. Am I paranoid to think that she’s watching my every move? What am I supposed to do when she rests her head on my husband’s broad shoulder, a glint in her eye that only I can see?

Fiona Fisher lives a quiet and contented existence. A former nurse who married Jason, the doctor of her dreams, she is now a mother to his two daughters and living in the sort of cosy village home she’d always wished for.

My mother is obsessed with every detail of my wedding–controlling my dress, my ring, my happiness. But when the day finally comes, will she really let me go?

"There’s someone I want you to meet," Belle says, as a man draws up to her side. He’s tall with dark hair and stubble on his square jaw. He’s not exactly smiling, but the corner of his mouth curls upwards as he slides his hand around my daughter’s waist.

Then - In charge of her little sister at the beach, Claire allowed Eleanor to walk to the shop alone to buy an ice cream. Placing a coin into her hand, Claire told her to be quick, knowing how much she wanted the freedom. Eleanor never came back. Now - The time has finally come to sell the family farm and Claire is organizing a reunion of her dearest friends, the same friends who were present the day her sister went missing. When another girl disappears, long-buried secrets begin to surface.

When Ella wakes up in a hospital following a hit-and-run incident, she is scared and confused. Close to tears, her eyes fall on a get-well-soon card on the window sill, and the nurse reassures her that her loving husband will be back soon. But Ella has never been married. In fact, she has lived alone her whole adult life; working hard, rarely socializing, quietly harboring a terrible secret from her past.

This is not the happy family you think. The fire crackles, my son smiles, the man jokes whilst I pour drinks. But my husband has disappeared. The man is a stranger. My skin crawls every time he brushes my hand. He says if I don’t play along, he has photos that will destroy my family. What happened the night before my husband disappeared - the night I don’t remember?

I haven’t lived here long. The house is small and a little run-down, but each piece of faded floral wallpaper I peel away feels like unwrapping the second chance I never thought I’d get. I’m finally free to wear what I want, and I don’t flinch when I accidently burn dinner. My new home is warm, and the kids are safe inside. Anywhere would feel idyllic after the nightmare marriage I’ve just escaped.

Mary Marshall would do anything for her daughter, Julia. A devoted grandmother to Julia's children, she's always been the rock her family can rely on. Until now. Mary has a past Julia knows nothing about, and it's come back to haunt her. Julia's husband, Murray French, is walking a tightrope. A solicitor struggling with an alcohol problem, he's about to lose his wife and his children to another man: someone successful, someone they deserve. Someone who's everything he's not. Can he ever get his family back?

January 1992. A baby girl is left alone for a moment. Long enough for a mother to dash into a shop. Long enough for a child to be taken. Thirteen years later, solicitor Robert Knight's stepdaughter wins a place at a prestigious London school for the gifted. The only puzzle is his wife Erin's reaction. Why is she so reluctant to let Ruby go? Doesn't she want what's best for her? As Erin grows more evasive, Robert can't help but feel she has something to hide and when he stumbles on mysterious letters, he discovers she has been lying to him.

I nearly threw the letter about the inheritance away with the recycling. Late for work, worrying about how I would afford new school shoes for Kate, I just assumed it was a mistake. But perhaps moving to a new home in a quiet seaside town would be the fresh start we both need. Away from the school bullies making Kate’s life a misery, and out of the clutches of my dangerous ex.

Everything in Lorna’s life runs like clockwork, from her six a.m. run to the strict 60 minute counselling sessions she gives. It’s the only way she can deal with the terrible secret she carries. When a new client arrives for his first appointment, Lorna feels her perfect life unravel in a matter of seconds. It’s Andrew, the man she’s spent the last year desperately trying to forget. It seems he can’t forget her either....

A assistente social Claudia Morgan-Brown está prestes a realizar o sonho de sua vida: vai dar à luz uma menininha. Apesar da ausência do marido ao longo da gravidez–James é oficial da Marinha e fica semanas e até meses longe de casa–ela mal pode esperar para segurar seu bebê nos braços após várias tentativas e perdas. Porém, as diversas tarefas de Claudia, além da responsabilidade de cuidar dos gêmeos Oscar e Noah, filhos do primeiro casamento de James, deixam o casal preocupado. A próxima partida de James se aproxima, e eles decidem contratar uma babá.

Als ihr Haus abbrennt, wird Ginas Leben und das ihrer Familie auf den Kopf gestellt. Glücklicherweise ist ihre alte Freundin Annie nicht in der Stadt und bietet ihnen an, vorübergehend bei ihr zu wohnen – in einem wunderschönen, renovierten georgianischen Haus. Gina nimmt das Angebot dankend an. Als es bald darauf an der Tür klingelt und Mary auftaucht, die behauptet, die Haushälterin zu sein, stellt Gina das nicht infrage, denn Annie lobt ihre Angestellte in den höchsten Tönen.

Laissez-la entrer chez vous ; elle vous mettra dehors. Si Gina savait qui je suis, elle ne m'aurait jamais confié ses enfants. J'imagine que bientôt, elle ressentira une pointe d'angoisse et enverra un message à son amie, pour que celle-ci confirme que je suis une employée de maison digne de confiance. Et je suis certaine qu'Annie lui confirmera tout ça dans une réponse élogieuse... parce que c'est la vérité. Je suis irréprochable. Une employée exemplaire. Avec son uniforme impeccable et son grand sourire, Mary est une employée de maison parfaite. Trop parfaite ?

Es hätte ein perfekter Abend werden sollen. Eine Chance, unsere Ehe zu retten. Stattdessen hat es unsere Familie zerstört. Sobald ich die Haustür aufschließe, spüre ich, dass etwas nicht stimmt. Als mein Mann Sean und ich das Wohnzimmer betreten, finden wir unsere kleine Tochter vor dem laufenden Fernseher–allein. Keine Spur von unserer Babysitterin Sasha. Ein paar Tage später werde ich wegen Mordes an Sasha verhaftet. Immer und immer wieder gehe ich die Ereignisse des schlimmsten Abends meines Lebens im Kopf durch.