Rural Fiction

Twice in her life, college counselor Gayla Oliver fell in love at first sight. The first time was with Brian - a lean, longhaired, British bass player. Marriage followed quickly, then twins, and gradually their bohemian lifestyle gave way to busy careers in New York. Gayla's second love affair is with New Bern, Connecticut. Like Brian, the laid-back town is charming without trying too hard. It's the ideal place to buy a second home and reignite the spark in their 26-year marriage. Not that Gayla is worried. At least, not until she finds a discarded memo in which Brian admits to a past affair....

Deep in the tobacco land of North Carolina, nothing's been the same since the boys shipped off to war and worry took their place. Thirteen-year-old Lucy Brown is precocious and itching for adventure. Then Allie Bert Tucker wanders into town, an outcast with a puzzling past, and Lucy figures the two of them can solve any curious crime they find - just like her hero, Nancy Drew. Their chance comes when a man goes missing, a woman stops speaking, and an eccentric gives the girls a mystery to solve that takes them beyond the ordinary.

The story of a Civil War soldier finding his humanity in the face of horrible savagery. Emerging from the Civil War a shamed and broken man, Stephen Latch turns to a life of thievery and murder. Still hoping to uphold the values of the Confederacy, Latch sets his sights on the wealth of resources pouring westward from the northern United States, putting together a band of ruthless misfits to help him stake his claim of the riches of the caravans.

In a North Carolina mountain town filled with moonshine and rotten husbands, Sadie Blue is only the latest girl to face a dead-end future at the mercy of a dangerous drunk. She's been married to Roy Tupkin for 15 days, and she knows now that she should have listened to the folks who said he was trouble. But when a stranger sweeps in and knocks the world off-kilter for everyone in town, Sadie begins to think there might be more to life than being Roy's wife.

Quentin's at the top of his game. He's the nightly news anchor for the biggest broadcast company in the United States. On top of that, he has three beautiful children and a wonderful wife, Catherine. What more could he want? Life isn't done with him yet. Out of the blue, his wife is diagnosed with cancer, and Quentin finds himself reeling. With Catherine so sick, his career no longer matters to him, and his father's invitation to Nantucket is looking more and more appealing. Maybe he should take his family out of the city for a while.

Samantha has a secret. Returning home from her dream honeymoon to the normality of running her beloved Hedgehog Hollow rescue centre, she's ready for the next chapter of her life with Josh. Or is she? Lauren has given up on love. Twenty-six years ago the love of her life, Shaun, left her a note and was never seen again. Samantha and Lauren will need the love and support from the Hedgehog Hollow family more than ever. After all, some dreams are worth chasing.

With some of the strongest relationships in Shellseeker Beach facing daunting challenges, the family must come together like never before. Budding romances are tested by unexpected arrivals, and major decisions threaten to bring upheaval instead of peace on the beach. Like the tides that bring a bounty of shells every morning and night, change is the only constant…and love is the foundation that holds this found family firmly on the sands of the place they call home.

Cathy Andrews wants it all: a husband, a baby, and a little house in her charming small town of Cadillac, Texas. With all that she’s gone through in her past, she’s earned her happily ever after and is more than ready to put down some long-term roots. The trouble is, she’s no longer sure the reliable man she agreed to marry is the right guy. Sure, he’s got great teeth and hair, but he’s also got dreams of being a politician—and Cathy doesn’t know if she’s ready to be just arm candy to a man who doesn’t stir her blood.

When the exuberant president of Ng'ombwana proposes to dispense with the usual security arrangements on an official visit to London, his old schoolmate, Chief Superintendent Alleyn, is called in to persuade him otherwise. Consequently, on the night of the embassy's reception, the house and grounds are stiff with police.

A spa stay turns into a homicidal holiday.... A bit snobbish and a trifle high strung, Sybil Foster prides herself on owning the finest estate in Upper Quintern and hiring the best gardener. In fact she is rapturous over the new asparagus beds when a visit from her unwelcome stepson sends her scurrying to a chic spa for a rest cure, a liaison with the spa's director...and an apparent suicide. Her autopsy holds one surprise, a secret drawer a second.

Settling down had never even crossed my mind before I laid eyes on her. Survival had always been the goal until I could get my legs under me. Now, I rule my empire that was built on my own blood. I've fought for everything I have, and Willa will be no exception. I won't rest until she's mine, forever.

In this heart-pounding New York Times best-seller by RITA Award finalist Romantic Times Career Achievement Award winner Catherine Anderson, a seasoned horseman and a tenderfoot guide face long odds to rescue an eight-year-old from the Oregon wilderness.

Tess and Simon Sparrow may have a few more grey hairs than they used to, but that doesn’t stop them from being swept up in a whirlwind romance and starting over. Swapping their city lives for an escape to the Cornish countryside, they fall in love with a crumbling hotel and impulsively buy it to renovate as their forever home. But soon the newlyweds have had their first fight (and their second and third...) and building costs are spiralling out of control. Their families think they’re mad and Tess is starting to agree – she just wants to escape back to civilisation.

In the final chapter of the beloved Coral Cottage series, Ginger Delavie takes center stage as the family unravels her grandmother’s extraordinary life. Ginger is a woman whose brilliance in mathematics and codebreaking has taken her around the globe, through corridors of power, and into the heart of high society. Now, in the autumn of her years, Ginger decides it’s time to pen her story. She enlists the help of Marina and her talented grandson-in-law, Jack. Together, they embark on a journey that is as much about recording history as it is about discovering it.

In der englischen Gemeinde Pendle hat jeder ein Geheimnis zu verbergen... Der spannende Auftakt der Cosy Crime-Reihe in trügerischer Kleinstadtidylle Nach dem Tod ihres Vaters erbt Alethea Shaw ein Haus und den Job als Totengräberin auf dem St. Benet’s Churchyard in der englischen Gemeinde Pendle. In ihrer Freizeit verfasst sie Beiträge für ihren True-Crime-Blog und macht einen großen Bogen um die verschrobenen und abergläubischen Einwohner Pendles. Als ein 15 Jahre altes Skelett vor ihren Füßen landet, wittert Thea ein Verbrechen.

This small town second chance romantic comedy features a sassy woman who’s not afraid to speak her mind, a sexy Chief of Police determined to do what’s necessary to win her back, the cutest rescue dog in history, and a whole town full of hippies who think being a busybody is a good thing.

It should be the most wonderful time of the year for Samantha and Josh as they prepare for the arrival of their first baby. But life at Hedgehog Hollow rarely goes to plan and the pair are faced with adversaries, old and new, and unexpected challenges to overcome. Fizz's job at the heart of the rescue centre is a dream come true but her personal life is more like a nightmare. With her love life a disaster and her past about to dramatically catch up with her, she needs the love and support of her Hedgehog Hollow family more than ever.

Hawthorne Mills is supposed to be my chance to start over with my brothers. Becoming their guardian wasn't the plan, but I'll do anything it takes to keep them from being put in the system. Even if it means raising two teenage boys when I'm only twenty-three. There's one thing I don't expect—Caleb Thorne.

George Eliot's first full-length novel is the moving, realistic portrait of three people troubled by unwise love. Adam Bede is a hardy young carpenter who cares for his aging mother. His one weakness is the woman he loves blindly: the trifling town beauty, Hetty Sorrel, who delights only in her baubles - and the delusion that the careless Captain Donnithorne may ask for her hand.

Less than a year after her mother's death, Laura Riehl finds herself burying another loved one: her best friend, Savilla, who has died after a brief and sudden illness. Laura feels heartbroken and alone, but her pain is nothing compared to that of Allen, the husband Savilla has left behind. As Laura and Allen face hardships together, their friendship takes a surprising yet comforting turn, and she discovers an attraction she's never felt with her boyfriend, Rudy. Would falling for Allen betray the people she cares about most, or would denying those feelings betray her heart?