Showing titles in Small Town & Rural

In the ruggedness of the beautiful Kentucky mountains, Honey Lovett has always known that the old ways can make a hard life harder. As the daughter of the famed blue-skinned Troublesome Creek packhorse librarian, Honey and her family have been hiding from the law all her life. But when her mother and father are imprisoned, Honey realizes she must fight to stay free, or risk being sent away for good.

When Poppy’s boyfriend Harrison proposes the week before Christmas and gives her 12 days to decide, she doesn’t know what to do. With the festive season in full swing, it’s make or break time for the couple, and the clock is ticking.... Meanwhile, Poppy’s best friend Erin is desperate for the pair of them to fulfil their dream of setting up a dinner party catering company - and when an opportunity arises at a luxury log fire cabin, the girls take their chance to impress. But they hadn’t bargained on the owner of the cabin being quite so attractive....

When the Reverend Elaine Metcalfe is inducted as the vicar of Pontvale, she hopes the job will have more to it than lending out spare sets of keys. She soon discovers there's plenty of challenges in her new home - not least the daily needs of her parishioners, which range from community theatre productions, arranging a wedding and a funeral for the same day, and local scandal over the vicar's culottes.

A charming, uplifting, romantic novel that will warm your heart - perfect for fans of Trisha Ashley, Debbie Johnson and Cathy Bramley. Beth Williams is finally coming home for Christmas. After falling pregnant at sixteen, she ran away from her family and the imposing Scottish estate where she grew up, working hard to build a life for herself and daughter Isabelle - but now she’s returning to Glendale Hall.

Brooklyn, New York. Bea has grown up in the heart of the Irish community, always hearing stories of home. When she discovers a letter from her younger self, written years before, it sends her deep into her own family history. Kilmore Quay, Ireland. Years earlier, Lucy Mernagh leaves her much-loved home and family in search of the New York dream. The Big Apple is a world away from the quiet village she grew up in, and the longing for home aches within her.

Jack tells the story of John Ames Boughton, the loved and grieved-over prodigal son of a Presbyterian minister in Gilead, Iowa, a drunkard and a ne'er-do-well. In segregated St. Louis sometime after World War II, Jack falls in love with Della Miles, an African American high school teacher, also a preacher's child, with a discriminating mind, a generous spirit and an independent will. Their fraught, beautiful story is one of Robinson's greatest achievements.

On the quayside next to the Endless Beach sits the Summer Seaside Kitchen. It's a haven for tourists and locals alike, who all come to eat the freshest local produce on the island and catch up with the gossip. Flora, who runs the café, feels safe and content - unless she thinks too hard about her relationship with Joel, her gorgeous but emotionally (and physically) distant boyfriend. While Flora is in turmoil about her relationship, her best friend, Lorna, is pining after the local doctor.

When Pixie Sampson's husband tragically dies, she inherits the beautiful Château Quiltu in Brittany, Northern France. But unbeknown to her, she also inherits a mysterious lodger, Justine Martin and her four-year-old son, Ferdie. Heartbroken and with her adventurous mum, Gwen, in tow, they travel to France to put the château on the market but are soon drawn into a quest to seek the château's secrets. Who is Justine? Why is she living at the château? How did she know her husband?

Librarian Martha Storm has always found it easier to connect with books than people - though not for lack of trying. She keeps careful lists of how to help others in her superhero-themed notebook. And yet, sometimes it feels like she’s invisible. All of that changes when a book of fairy tales arrives on her doorstep. Inside, Martha finds a dedication written to her by her best friend - her grandmother Zelda - who died under mysterious circumstances years earlier.

I’d been in Curmudgeon Bakery for one of those lemon baby-Bundt cakes I’d been craving since I found out I was pregnant. The draw had nothing to do with the baker himself. Tall, tatted, and edgy, he looked more like a biker than a man who makes baked goods. I hardly knew him other than taking a tumble in a rainstorm in front of his shop... and then tossing myself at him after he rescued me. We shared a moment, but it’s not what you’d think. Months later, he delivered my baby among his cookies and cakes. Talk about a second chance encounter.

The fourth book in Anna Jacobs' beloved Ellindale series. Lancashire, 1934. When Tam Crawford is unexpectedly bequeathed some money, he can finally realise his dream of settling down in the beautiful village of Ellindale. Tam knows he can be impulsive - his nickname isn't Crazy Tam for nothing! - but this time he is determined not to be ruled by his big heart and hot head. Yet somehow, within just one day, he has taken on a fiancée and two children to keep them out of the poorhouse - or worse.

Journalist Eleanor McCartney leads a glamorous life in London exposing the sordid secrets of famous celebrities for Hot Gossip! magazine. But her perfect life is a sham. So when her world collapses, she has to reluctantly head home to her mum and friends in the quiet country village of Cranley. Willow Tree Hall is still in the midst of extensive renovations under the careful eye of Eleanor's best friend, Annie, and her fiancé, record producer and future Earl of Cranley Sam Harris.

A chilling debut for fans of Mo Hayder and Sharon Bolton, The Binding Song takes you on a trip to Halvergate Prison. If you're lucky, you'll get to leave.... Dr Janet Palmer is the new lead psychologist at HMP Halvergate in a remote, bleak area of Norfolk. At first she was excited by the promotion. Then she starts to see how many secrets are hiding behind the high walls. A string of inmates have committed suicide, leaving no reasons why, and her predecessor has disappeared - along with his notes.

Olivia Bingham has bad luck with men. She’s been ghosted more times than she can count, but this Christmas she’s finally met someone really special online: Fraser Douglas, a Scottish chef working at an idyllic hotel in the Highlands. He’s sweet and sensitive, thoughtful and funny – not to mention incredibly good looking. But just when she thinks things couldn’t be going any better, Fraser’s dating profile vanishes, and Olivia fears the worst.

Blessing and her brother Ezikiel adore their larger-than-life father, their glamorous mother and their comfortable life in Lagos. But all that changes when their father leaves them for another woman. Their mother is fired from her job at the Royal Imperial Hotel - only married women can work there - and soon they have to quit their air-conditioned apartment to go and live with their grandparents in a compound in the Niger Delta.

On the banks of the River Deben in Suffolk lies a set of barns dating back to the Anglo Saxons. Within their walls, secrets have been buried deeply. Zoe and Ken have just moved into one of the barns, ready to start a new life away from the hustle and bustle of the city. To the outside world they seem like an ordinary couple, but underneath they are growing more distant by the day. And when Zoe becomes close to local recluse, Leo, she finds her attraction to him undeniable.

Barry Laverty, M.B., can barely find the village of Ballybucklebo on a map when he first sets out to seek gainful employment there, but already he knows that there is nowhere he would rather live than in the emerald hills and dales of Northern Ireland. The proud owner of a spanking-new medical degree and little else in the way of worldly possessions, Barry jumps at the chance to secure a position as an assistant in a small rural practice. At least until he meets Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly.

The body of Reginald Williamson had been well concealed under a bush in Middlesbury Common and the murder efficiently carried out - a single stab wound to the chest. Reggie’s dog had been killed just as efficiently. With no clues or obvious motive, the case is going nowhere. Then he gets a break. Warren’s instincts tell him that the informant is dodgy - a former police officer under investigation. But when Warren hears the incredible story he has to tell, he's glad to have given him a chance to speak.

An early morning adventure out stealing horses leaves Trond bruised and puzzled by his friend Jon's sudden breakdown. The tragedy which lies behind this scene becomes the catalyst for the two boys' families gradually to fall apart. As a 67-year-old man, and following the death of his wife, Trond has moved to an isolated part of Norway to live in solitude. But a chance encounter with a character from the fateful summer of 1948 brings the painful memories of that year flooding back, and will leave Trond even more convinced of his decision to end his days alone.

Margot Hart travels to Ireland to write a biography of the famous Deverill family. She knows she must speak to the current Lord Deverill—JP—if she is to uncover the secrets of the past. A notorious recluse, JP won’t be an easy man to crack. But Margot is determined—and she is not a woman who is easily put off.