Wedding planner Madeleine lives in a picture-perfect thatched cottage, in a picture-perfect English country village. There's only one problem - dream cottages take a lot of work, and with a leaking roof, and not enough money to pay for it, what Maddie needs now is a big wedding to plan. So she's delighted when she takes on the wedding of Californian heiress Peyton, to all-round good guy Patrick. She's less delighted to find out that she's going to have help - from the admittedly gorgeous, but equally maddening, tall, dark and handsome best man Lorcan. The wedding is set to take place in a castle in rural Ireland, and so, in no time, Maddie and Lorcan are on their way to Ballalee. Life hasn't always been easy for Maddie, and work has become her refuge. But soon the warmth and humour of Lorcan's Irish family and friends start to chip away at Maddie's walls. And as the big day approaches, it might be time for Maddie to focus less on her clients' love life and more on her own... 'Read yourself happy' with Maxine Morrey's latest feel-good and utterly uplifting love story, guaranteed to make you smile. Perfect for fans of Mhairi McFarlane and Sophie Kinsella. Praise for Maxine Morrey: 'An uplifting read that stops you in your tracks and makes you wonder "....but what if?" Absorbing, funny and oh-so-romantic, I loved every page!' Rachel Burton 'A super sweet read, guaranteed to warm any winter evening' Samantha Tonge 'A lovely story that kept me turning the pages' Jules Wake 'A stunning, perfect novel - it literally took my breath away.' The Writing Garnet, 5 stars 'A warm hug of a book.' Rachel's Random Reads, 5 stars

Where and who do we want to be? How might we get there? What might happen if we stay on our current course? In The Future of British Politics, comedian Frankie Boyle takes a characteristically acerbic look at some of the forces that will be key in coming years, from Scottish independence and post-colonial entitlement to big tech surveillance and the looming climate catastrophe. Despite his fears that 'soon the only red tape in this country will be across the finish line of the compulsory Food Bank Olympics', he manages to locate some hopeful signs amid the gloom, reminding us that 'despair is a moment that pretends to be permanent'. This brief but mighty book is one of five that comprise the first set of FUTURES essays. Each standalone book presents the author's original vision of a singular aspect of the future which inspires in them hope or reticence, optimism or fear. Read individually, these essays will inform, entertain and challenge. Together, they form a picture of what might lie ahead, and ask the reader to imagine how we might make the transition from here to there, from now to then.

Sure to be popular in the hipper precincts of Brooklyn (to say nothing of the Pacific Northwest), this eccentric Victorian volume makes a strong case for the universal wearing of beards.
Reminding us that since ancient times the beard has been an essential symbol of manly distinction, Thomas S. Gowing (whom we trust had a spectacular beard) presents a moral case for eschewing the bitter bite of the razor. He contrasts the vigor and daring of the bearded--say, lumberjacks and Lincoln--with the undeniable effeminacy of the shaven. Manliness is found in the follicles, and the modern man should not forget that "ladies, by their very nature, like everything manly," and cannot fail to be charmed by a fine "flow of curling comeliness." Even old men can hold on to their vitality via their beards: "The Beard keeps gradually covering, varying and beautifying, and imparts new graces even to decay, by highlighting all that is still pleasing, veiling all that is repulsive."
A truly strange polemic, "The Philosophy of Beards" is as charming as it is bizarre, the perfect gift for the manly man in your life.