Rural Life

In small towns between the North Carolina Piedmont and the coast, the best scenery is often in the sky. On flat sweeps of red clay and scrub pine, the days move monotonously, safely, but above, in the blink of an eye, dangerous clouds can boil out of all four corners of the sky. The flat slow land starts to shiver and anything can happen. In such a storm, on Annie Peregrine’s seventh birthday, her father gave her the airplane and minutes later drove out of her life.

For Grace Dalton, her sister, Sarah, and her cousin Macy, the Devine Doughnut Shop is a sweet family legacy and a landmark in their Texas town. As the fourth generation to run the Double D, they keep their great-grandmother’s recipe secret and uphold the shop’s tradition as a coffee klatch for sharing local gossip, advice, and woes. But drama brews behind the counter, too.

It’s summer and holidaymakers are flocking to the idyllic Brittany coast. But when first an old traveller woman dies in suspicious circumstances, and then a campaign of hate seemingly drives another victim to take his own life, events take a very dark turn. Mila Shepherd has come to France to look after her niece, Ani, following the accident in which both Ani’s parents were lost at sea. Mila has moved into their family holiday home, as well as taken her sister Sophie’s place in an agency which specialises in tracking down missing people, until new recruit Carter Jackson starts.

Single mom Heather Donovan’s dreams of home and family are tantalizingly within reach when she settles in Chesapeake Shores. The welcoming arms of the boisterous, loving O’Brien clan embrace her and her son. But accepting their support seems to further alienate her son’s father, Connor O’Brien. His parents’ divorce and his career as a high-powered divorce attorney have left him jaded about marriage. Then everything changes. Will the possibility of a future without Heather make Connor look at love and his career differently?

For Ruthie, the frozen town of Waitsfield, Massachusetts, is all she has ever known. Once home to the country’s oldest and most illustrious families—the Cabots, the Lowells: the “first, best people”—by the tail end of the twentieth century, it is an unforgiving place awash with secrets. Forged in this frigid landscape Ruthie has been dogged by feelings of inadequacy her whole life. Hers is no picturesque New England childhood but one of swap meets and factory seconds and powdered milk. Shame blankets her like the thick snow that regularly buries nearly everything in Waitsfield.

When sisters Ivy and Shelly Bay form a book club to help support a local bookshop on the beach, friends and guests of the old beach house inn are eager to join, although one new member harbors a potentially devastating secret. Meanwhile, a discovery in the historic beach house inn brings the past to light, and recently widowed Ivy grapples with the idea of a new marriage. But when a threat arises during a book club meeting that could harm the entire beach community, members pull together, proving that the bonds of family and friendship are more important than ever in Summer Beach.

At the historic Seabreeze Inn, sisters Ivy and Shelly Bay are busy with wedding plans of their own, although challenges threaten to derail the special events. New guests are also throwing a wedding at the inn, bringing a host of trials and chaos. As Ivy prepares the old beach house for a season of weddings, surprising discoveries from decades past arise. RSVP now and join the party on the beach.

Edgewood Rectory may be set in an ancient landscape, but the Grantly family are very much of their time. Caught up in the uncertain world that has emerged since the outbreak of peace, the Rector and Mrs Grantly are bewildered by the challenges facing their eldest children: Eleanor, longing for more excitement than can be found in the Red Cross Library; and Tom, struggling to readjust to student life at Oxford after his military service.

Fueled by a newfound strength and independence, Sam is certain she’s up to the task of bringing her family's inn back to life, no matter what unexpected challenges they might encounter. While Sam and Dottie are focused on the inn, the family around them is facing new tests and trials. Sam’s daughter has a broken heart that needs mending, her sister is struggling with a daunting new addition to her family, and John, the eldest Sweeney, finds his perfect marriage as rocky as the shell-covered sands of Cocoa Beach.

Devastated by the sudden death of her mother—a quiet, loving and intensely private Southern seamstress called Miss Mabel, who overflowed with pearls of Ozarks wisdom but never spoke of her own family—Sutton Douglas makes the impulsive decision to pack up and head north to the Michigan resort town where she believes she’ll find answers to the lifelong questions she’s had about not only her mother’s past but also her own place in the world.

For twelve-year-old Martha "Sonny" Creech, there is no place more beautiful than her family's cotton farm. She, her two brothers, and her parents work hard on their land - hoeing, planting, picking - but only Sonny loves the rich, dark earth the way her father does. When a tragic accident claims his life, her stricken family struggles to fend off ruin - until their rich, reclusive neighbor offers to help finance that year's cotton crop.

When her grandfather Marley passes away Grace Power discovers she’s been left the beautiful but crumbling estate of Heartcross Castle. As a single mum of three, Grace has no idea what she’s going to do with it - but who can say no to a roof over their kids’ heads and a chance to get away from past hurts? Heartcross Castle is full of secrets - especially a lost security deposit box that holds the truth to everything. But when celebrity chef Andrew Glossop sets his eyes on the castle, Grace tells him there is absolutely no chance he is getting his hands on her home.

The formerly distant Julie Sweeney is home with her daughter, Bliss, and asking for far more than a casual reunion. As the family navigates this new hurdle, John faces troubles of his own while his wife is across the country.\ The renovation of the inn continues, and Sam's relationship with the carpenter deepens. Through it all, Dottie holds the family together, determined to prove that she should be the one to give her granddaughter the greatest gift of all... a second chance at life.

Linston End on the Norfolk Broads has been the holiday home to three families for many years. The memories of their time there are ingrained in their hearts: picnics on the river, gin and tonics in the pavilion at dusk, hours spent seeking out the local swallowtail butterflies. Everyone together. But widower Alastair has been faced with a few of life's surprises recently. Now, he is about to shock his circle of friends with the decisions he has made - and the changes it will mean for them all. For some, it feels like the end. For others, it might just be the beginning....

The Lowcountry of South Carolina is where By Invitation Only begins, at a barbecue engagement party thrown by Diane English Stiftel, her brother Floyd, and her parents to celebrate her son’s engagement. On this gorgeous, magical night, the bride’s father, Alejandro Cambria, a wealthy power broker whose unbelievably successful career in private equity made him one of Chicago’s celebrated elite, discovers the limits and possibilities of cell phone range.

Beekeeper Holly McNee Kensen quietly lives in a world of her own on Sullivan’s Island, tending her hives and working at the local island library. Holly calls her mother "The Queen Bee" because she’s a demanding hulk of a woman. Her mother, a devoted hypochondriac, might be unaware she’s quite ill, but that doesn’t stop her from tormenting Holly. To escape the drama, Holly’s sister, Leslie, married and moved away, wanting little to do with island life. Holly’s escape is to submerge herself in the lives of the two young boys next door and their widowed father, Archie.

Sarah Turner's led a very sheltered life. So when her parents pass away tragically, suddenly she’s left in charge of the family ranch with little know-how but plenty of will to keep it afloat. Determined not to lose her parents’ legacy or her newfound independence, she needs a hero fast - not to save her, but to show her how to save herself. But she’s unprepared for the ruggedly handsome cowboy who answers her ad. “Cowboy for Hire,” the ad said, and Cade Walker's quick to respond. Betrayed as ranch manager by his former boss, he’s looking for a new place to put down roots.

From the beloved and best-selling author of Plainsong and Eventide comes a story of life and death, and the ties that bind, once again set out on the High Plains in Holt, Colorado. When Dad Lewis is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he and his wife, Mary, must work together to make his final days as comfortable as possible. Their daughter, Lorraine, hastens back from Denver to help look after him....

Julia Chapman’s sixth Dales Detective Agency novel, Date with Deceit, sees Delilah going undercover at a shoot involving dangerous criminals. An enthralling cosy crime mystery, perfect for fans of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club and M.C. Beaton. A woman in tears in the Dales...

Born and raised in idyllic Sullivan's Island, Susan Hayes navigated through her turbulent childhood with humor, spunk, and characteristic Southern sass. But years later, she is a conflicted woman with an unfaithful husband, a sometimes resentful teenage daughter, and a heart that aches with painful, poignant memories. And as Susan faces her uncertain future, she realizes that she must go back to her past. To the beachfront house where her sister welcomes her with open arms.