'Wickedly funny . . . a delight' Katie Fforde A laugh-out-loud, feel-good festive read filled with characters who will make you feel like part of the family. Perfect for fans of Heidi Swain, Trisha Ashley and Sue Moorcroft. The magic of Christmas has arrived . . . much to William's dismay! William intends to spend Christmas alone with his cat. But with so many empty rooms at the grand Haseley House, William has no excuse when his large and eccentric family invite themselves to stay. As Christmas Day approaches, William's son, daughter and sister arrive, bringing with them partners, children, nannies, friends and hidden agendas ... Surely with a house so large, William and Scratch can keep to themselves. But a quiet Christmas is not to be. Soon William is caught up in his family's dramatic rivalries, and he uncovers some dubious intentions. He knows it wouldn't be Christmas without a bit of mayhem, but this particular family Christmas is going to change everybody's lives . . . What readers are saying about A Proper Family Christmas: 'A truly wonderful light festive read' 'Made me laugh out loud' 'Wonderful cast of characters, clever plot and delightful twists and turns' 'Such a great story, just how Christmas should be. Beautifully written' 'What a lovely book. An absolute delight to read. The characters are all so entertaining - never a dull moment. Even the cat will have you smiling with his antics'

The courage to begin again . . .

In Second Act, the compelling novel from billion copy bestseller Danielle Steel, a top Hollywood movie mogul seeks a new beginning in England when his career takes an unplanned turn.

As the head of a prestigious movie studio, Andy Westfield has every professional luxury: a stunning office, a loyal assistant, access to a private jet and company cars. Andy has always put his career before anything else, and now, besides his daughter and young grandchildren, it’s the only thing he truly loves.

But then Andy’s world is upended. The studio is sold, and the buyer’s son demands the top seat. Out of a job and humiliated, Andy knows he needs to get as far away from Los Angeles as possible until the dust settles and he can find a new way forward.

Andy rents a luxurious home on the south coast of England, and hires a local woman to help get his affairs in order. Violet Smith is at a crossroads as well, but when she leaves the manuscript of her unfinished novel behind after work one day, Andy is captivated by a story that begs to be adapted for the big screen. Could this be the miracle they’ve both been looking for?

A cosy and spicy spellbinding fantasy romance, about a kitchen witch cursed to hurt anyone who falls for her. Perfect for fans of Talia Hibbert and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Dina Whitlock knows her way around a pastry recipe. As a skilled kitchen witch, she runs her very own London café, serving magic-infused pastries to her loyal customers. But only a select few friends know about her magical abilities or the hex that has plagued her love life. It’s hard to fall in love when your partner is guaranteed to have a string of bad luck.

Scott Mason is back from traveling the world and is excited to begin his new job as a curator at the British Museum. After leaving London to heal from a brutal breakup two years ago, Scott only now realizes how much he missed out on. Now that his best friend’s wedding is right around the corner, Scott is determined to be the most amazing best man ever, but he doesn’t expect to be bewitched by the maid of honour, who also happens to be the owner of his new favourite café and, perhaps more surprisingly, a witch.

After a weekend in the countryside full of peculiar hedge mazes, palm readings by candlelight, and a midnight Halloween ritual, there’s no denying the chemistry between them. But there’s just one problem: The hex still holds, and Dina knows that Scott is in danger.

Can Dina break the spell before it breaks both their hearts?

From the renowned, award-winning author Zen Cho comes a delightfully funny romance about family, class, and love in modern London.

From the outside, Renee Goh’s life looks perfect. She’s thirty and beautiful, runs a glamorous―and profitable―women’s clothing company in London, and is dating a hot Taiwanese pop star.

But Renee is lonely. Estranged from her family in Singapore, she practically lives at the office, and now she’s just been dumped by her supposed boyfriend. Who she never saw anyway, so why is she ruining her Instagram-ready makeup by crying?

Before she can curl up on the couch with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, Renee’s father calls. He’s retiring, and, thanks to the screw-ups of her wastrel brothers, he is considering her as the next CEO of the family business: Chahaya Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Southeast Asia. That stamp of her father’s approval would mean everything to Renee, but can she cooperate with the brothers who drove her out of Singapore?

But fate isn’t done with her. That same night, Renee bumps into her first love, Yap Ket Siong, who broke her heart during university. They spend a wonderful night together, but Ket Siong is pursuing a dangerous vengeance for his family. In the light of day is there any hope for the two of them?

Dragons, war and Hunger Games-esque trials. Fourth Wing is a high-stakes, enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Sarah J Maas and dark academia.

Welcome to the brutal and elite world of Basgiath War College, where everyone has an agenda, and every night could be your last . . .

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general - also known as her tough-as-talons mother - has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders. But when you're smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away . . . because dragons don't bond to 'fragile' humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother's daughter - like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant. She'll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Alliances will be forged. Lives will be lost. Traitors will become allies . . . or even lovers. But sleep with one eye open because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

From the #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the genre-breaking international TikTok sensation Butcher & Blackbird and Leather & Lark comes the final book in the Ruinous Love Trilogy―a friends-with-benefits dark romantic comedy packed with murder, mayhem, and spice.

Doctor Fionn Kane is running from a broken heart, one he hopes to mend in small-town Nebraska, far away from his almost-fiancé and his derailed surgical career. It’s a simpler life: head down, hard work, and absolutely no romantic relationships. He wants none of the circus he left behind in Boston.

But then the real circus finds him.

Motorcycle performer Rose Evans has spent a decade on the road with the Silveria Circus, and it suits her just fine, especially when she has the urge to indulge in a little murder when she’s not in the spotlight. But when a kill goes awry and she ends up with a broken leg, Rose finds herself stuck in Nebraska, at the home of the adorably nerdy town doctor.

The problem is, not every broken heart can be sewn back together.

. . . And the longer you stay in one place, the more likely your ghosts will catch up.

With The Princess Diaries author Meg Cabot’s sparkling wit, this Victorian romance follows a young woman looking for lessons in love—now with a stunning new cover.

Lady Caroline Linford is horrified to discover her fiancé, the Marquis of Winchilsea, in the arms of another woman. Unfortunately, the rest of Victorian society doesn’t seem to understand the betrayal. Such extracurriculars are par for the course—society believes there is certainly no reason for Caroline to cancel their imminent wedding.

But Caroline is determined to make sure that the man she is to marry will desire only her, so she enlists the best teacher in the art of romance: London’s most notorious rake, Braden Granville.

As their passionate tutelage begins, sparks fly and the lines between teacher and student get increasingly blurred. Now there is just one last lesson to learn: on the subject of true love, the heart chooses its own unpredictable ways.

Die laaste wens van ’n jare lange vriendin stuur Talla na die Glencoe-vallei in Skotland. Sy neem digbundels saam, asook haar wolkboekie om haar stokperdjie voort te sit – die soeke na seldsame wolke. Sy gaan by Munro’s tuis, ’n onopgesmukte herberg gewild onder bergklimmers, en hoop om stories oor tradisionele tartanwewerye te versamel.

By Munro’s ontmoet sy die koddige rondloper, Mikey, wat die hele Skotland plat stap op soek na sy Kate – ’n geliefde wat hom glo jare gelede sonder waarskuwing verlaat het. Talla word by Mikey se soektog betrek, maar dit blyk gou dat sy gedagtes nie helder is nie, en sy geestestoestand net so troebel.

Intussen duik herinneringe aan Talla se kinderdae in Warmbad, en aan haar eerste liefde, Astian, by haar op. Wat is dit aan die stilte van hierdie vallei wat vergete verledes na die oppervlak laat dryf? Dit help ook nie dat Astian net ’n dag se reis ver, in Shetland, woon nie. Sal sy dit waag om die antwoorde op vrae uit haar eie verlede na te jaag?

Can she reconcile who she's become with who she's meant to be? Accustomed to an opulent life with her aunt, the last thing twenty-five-year-old Isabella Garcia wants is to celebrate Christmas in her parents' small silver-mining desert town, leaving her handsome beau, Diego Morales, behind in California. Adding insult to injury, she must bear the company of Aaron Bailey, the disapproving Santa Fe Railroad businessman her father has sent to escort her home, who clearly finds her spoiled. But she is surprised to see how much the town of Silver Veil has grown and how fragile her father's health has become. Then a surprise visitor shows up with news that entirely upends the comfortable life she's been leading. Faced with all these changes, Isabella struggles to sort through her future and who she wants to be. But trouble is brewing, and there are those who hope she stays just as she is, even if it costs her everything.

In Blessing In Disguise, Danielle Steel's wise, warm-hearted novel, one of her most memorable characters discovers the highs and lows of being a mother to three very different daughters.

As a young intern at an art gallery in Paris, Isabelle McAvoy meets Putnam Armstrong, wealthy, gentle, older and secluded from the world. Her time at his Normandy chateau is the stuff of dreams, for when she learns she is pregnant, she knows that marriage is out of the question. Returning to New York, Isabelle enters a new relationship that she hopes will be more stable but before long she realizes she has made a terrible mistake and once again finds herself a single mother.

With two young daughters Isabelle unexpectedly finds happiness and a love that gives her a third child, a baby as happy as her beloved father. And yet, life brings more change . . .

Her three girls grow up to be very different women and Isabelle's relationship with each of them is unique. When one final turn of fate brings a past secret to light, it bonds mother and daughters closer, turning a challenge into a blessing.

The Sunday Times Number One Bestseller

RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICK 2019

Full of her trademark mix of unforgettable characters and heart-breaking secrets, The Butterfly Room is a spellbinding, multi-generational story from Sunday Times bestseller Lucinda Riley.

Posy Montague is approaching her seventieth birthday. Still living in her beautiful family home, Admiral House, set in the glorious Suffolk countryside where she spent her own idyllic childhood catching butterflies with her beloved father, and raised her own children, Posy knows she must make an agonizing decision. Despite the memories the house holds, and the exquisite garden she has spent twenty-five years creating, the house is crumbling around her, and Posy knows the time has come to sell it.

Then a face appears from the past – Freddie, her first love, who abandoned her and left her heartbroken fifty years ago. Already struggling to cope with her son Sam’s inept business dealings, and the sudden reappearance of her younger son Nick after ten years in Australia, Posy is reluctant to trust in Freddie’s renewed affection. And unbeknown to Posy, Freddie – and Admiral House – have a devastating secret to reveal . . .