Natalie and Tom have been best friends forever, but Tom wants them to be much more. When Natalie's longtime boyfriend walks out on her just when she thinks he's going to propose, Tom offers her a different and wildly romantic proposition. He suggests that they spend twenty-six weekends together, indulging in twenty-six different activities from A to Z, and at the end of that time Tom's convinced they'll be madly in love. Natalie, however, is not so sure.

As Natalie's touring the alphabet with Tom, her mother's going through her own romantic crisis--while Tom's unhappily married sister-in-law, Lucy, struggles with temptation. And over the course of six amazing months, three generations of passionate dreamers are going to discover that, no matter how clever they are, love--and life--is never as easy as A, B, C . . .

One late wine- and gossip-fueled night, four friends on a lark create a fateful test of friendship -- one that challenges the very principles and boundaries of their alliance. To pass it means to never, at any cost, betray one another. Twenty years later, they must face that ultimate test.

We meet them at the dawn of their camaraderie in the 1980s and already each woman is distinguished from the other: Tamsin, the compassionate mother hen; Reagan, the brazen and clever overachiever; Sarah, the seemingly perfect beauty; and Freddie, who despite being far from her U.S. home, finds strength in her friends. We forward to today, and as promised they are still firm friends . . . that is until a crisis occurs and the principles that define their friendship test are challenged. Exquisitely rendered by Elizabeth Noble, The Friendship Test is a powerful testament to the depth and capacity of female relationships.

The compelling and gripping new novel from the author of Love, Iris and The Family Holiday 'A gorgeous read. Beautifully insightful' JANE FALLON 'A fascinating insight into contemporary coupledom and family politics. A pageturner' DAILY MAIL 'Perfectly observed, a reflection of real life we can all learn from' KATIE FFORDE 'A frank and believable account of friendship and a marriage under stress' ADELE PARKS, SUN _______ Sometimes friendship crosses a line . . . A group of close friends, their bonds forged at the nursery gates two decades ago, have celebrated, commiserated and grown together: they thought they all knew each other so well.Until the affair. Now a crack appears in everything. Could one betrayal really destroy it all?_______ 'Rich and riveting . . . A perfect observation of the complexities and pitfalls of long-lasting friendships and their impact on family life' HEIDI SWAIN 'Almost painfully real and thoroughly well-written' SUN 'What a stunning story! I absolutely loved this twisty, intriguing tale of strong, loving relationships that begin to buckle under the strain of real life when emotions run out of control. Evocative and intensely moving' CELIA ANDERSON 'Almost painfully real and thoroughly well-written' FABULOUS PRAISE FOR ELIZABETH NOBLE: 'Elizabeth Noble's unerring eye depicts family life in all its forms, good and bad, in a way we will all recognise' KATIE FFORDE 'A great writer. You'll be rooting for Noble's protagonists as soon as you meet them' DAILY MAIL 'A moving and warm-hearted novel about love in all its forms' SUNDAY EXPRESS

Conquer SQL Server 2022 and Azure SQL administration from the inside out! Dive into SQL Server 2022 administration and grow your Microsoft SQL Server data platform skillset. This well-organized reference packs in timesaving solutions, tips, and workarounds, all you need to plan, implement, deploy, provision, manage, and secure SQL Server 2022 in any environment: on-premises, cloud, or hybrid, including detailed, dedicated chapters on Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance. Nine experts thoroughly tour DBA capabilities available in the SQL Server 2022 Database Engine, SQL Server Data Tools, SQL Server Management Studio, PowerShell, and much more. You'll find extensive new coverage of Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance, both as a cloud platform of SQL Server and in their new integrations with SQL Server 2022, information available in no other book. Discover how experts tackle today's essential tasks and challenge yourself to new levels of mastery. Identify low-hanging fruit and practical, easy wins for improving SQL Server administration Get started with modern SQL Server tools, including SQL Server Management Studio, and Azure Data Studio Upgrade your SQL Server administration skillset to new features of SQL Server 2022, Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and SQL Server on Linux Design and implement modern on-premises database infrastructure, including Kubernetes Leverage data virtualization of third-party or non-relational data sources Monitor SQL instances for corruption, index activity, fragmentation, and extended events Automate maintenance plans, database mail, jobs, alerts, proxies, and event forwarding Protect data through encryption, privacy, and auditing Provision, manage, scale and secure, and bidirectionally synchronize Microsoft's powerful Azure SQL Managed Instance Understand and enable new Intelligent Query Processing features to increase query concurrency Prepare a best-practice runbook for disaster recovery Use SQL Server 2022 features to span infrastructure across hybrid environments

First full-length survey of the Stonors, an important gentry family during the middle ages, exploring the wide connections they fostered. The Stonor letters and papers are second in quantity only to the Paston letters. Nevertheless, while studies of the parvenu Pastons of Norfolk abound, no historian has used the Stonor archive to write about this significantly longer-established gentry family from Oxfordshire, despite the fact that their letters and papers have been available in print since the early twentieth century and have been recently re-issued. This present study helps to rectify that oversight. It argues that lineage, land and lordship were crucial elements in the Stonors' world, both materially and culturally, providing them with status and identity. They asserted their gentle lineage using a range of symbolic and other means, but did not neglect the more mundane management of their scattered lands. Ties of lordship with the influential helped them to retain these lands, and it is clear that the Stonors worked hard to fosterrelationships with kin and neighbours: indeed, their letters and papers allow us a far more extensive yet intimate view of all these social ties [extending over several counties] than is usually possible for the gentry. Dr ELIZABETH NOBLE teaches in the School of the Humanities, University of New England, New South Wales.

Learn how to write and design simple and efficient T-SQL code. This is a hands-on book that teaches you how to write better T-SQL with examples and straightforward explanations. New in this edition is coverage of Parameter Sensitive Plan (PSP) optimization, Azure Synapse Link for real-time analytics, integration with S3-compatible object storage, and SQL Ledger tables based on blockchain. You’ll learn to improve your T-SQL design in ways that provide faster performance, stronger security, and easier comprehension. The book identifies common anti-patterns in writing T-SQL and instructs you on how to change your code so you can be more confident in writing T-SQL code that is reliable and performs well. Pro T-SQL 2022 is focused on the problems that developers are faced with and must solve in delivering successful applications. The content begins from a foundation of writing T-SQL that is clear and understandable. The book then takes you through writing SQL that performs well, is easy to manage through coding standards and version control, can be maintained and modified as business requirements change over time, scales as your business grows, and takes advantage of the full range of security features built into the SQL Server and Azure SQL database engines.  What You Will Learn Choose the correct data types and database objects when designing your T-SQL Write T-SQL that accesses your data efficiently and uses hardware effectively Implement source control and testing methods to streamline your deployment process. Design T-SQL that is flexible and can be enhanced or modified with little effort Plan for long-term data management, including growth and purging of older data Enhance database security through features such as encryption, data masking, row-level security, and the SQL Ledger blockchain table type Who This Book Is For Database developers who want to improve the efficiency of their applications with better T-SQL; developers who want to know more about T-SQL so they can be prepared to solve complex problems more easily; data professionals who want to write high-quality T-SQL that performs well, is flexible to changing needs, and is easy for others to understand

The compelling new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Love, Iris and The Family Holiday 'Beautifully insightful on long term relationships and friendships and the fractures a betrayal can cause. A gorgeous read' JANE FALLON 'A fascinating insight into contemporary coupledom and family politics. A pageturner full of emotion and fabulous lifestyle detail' DAILY MAIL 'Perfectly observed, a reflection of real life we can all learn from' KATIE FFORDE 'A frank and believable account of friendship and a marriage under stress. I was moved' ADELE PARKS, SUN _______ Sometimes friendship crosses a line . . . A group of close friends, their bonds forged at the nursery gates two decades ago, have celebrated, commiserated and grown together: they thought they all knew each other so well. Until the affair. Now a crack appears in everything. Could one betrayal really destroy it all? Other People's Husbands is a story of friendship and love, crossing boundaries and breaking vows, of trying to fix what you believed could never be broken. _______ 'Rich and riveting . . . A perfect observation of the complexities and pitfalls of long-lasting friendships and their impact on family life' HEIDI SWAIN 'Almost painfully real and thoroughly well-written' SUN 'What a stunning story! I absolutely loved this twisty, intriguing tale of strong, loving relationships that begin to buckle under the strain of real life when emotions run out of control. Evocative and intensely moving' CELIA ANDERSON 'Almost painfully real and thoroughly well-written' FABULOUS PRAISE FOR ELIZABETH NOBLE: 'Elizabeth Noble's unerring eye depicts family life in all its forms, good and bad, in a way we will all recognise' KATIE FFORDE 'A great writer. You'll be rooting for Noble's protagonists as soon as you meet them' DAILY MAIL 'A moving and warm-hearted novel about love in all its forms' SUNDAY EXPRESS

The love of a family is stronger than even the greatest tragedy . . .
Twenty years after their impulsive marriage, Maggie and Bill Barrett are happily settled into the quiet comfort of their dream home with their three beautiful children. Then, the day after Christmas 2004, their world is shattered apart.
Feeling isolated, Bill leaves to try to discover peace on his own. Maggie shuts down, incapable of connecting with her children or even sleeping most nights. Getting by in a daze, she has no idea how to begin picking up the pieces of their lives.
Enter Kate: a woman who placed an ad in the paper to be a housekeeper and companion to a family. Kate has secrets and sorrows of her own, but her gentle caring has an immediate effect on the children--and on Maggie herself. When Bill announces that he's fallen for another woman, Maggie realizes that she will have to fight to put her family back together. But after all they've been through, can anything truly fix their broken ties?

Cosy up in the Cotswolds with the heartwarming new novel that will make you laugh, cry and feel truly uplifted, from the bestselling author of the Richard & Judy selection Love, Iris 'Wisdom, warmth and wit in a sumptuous setting - you won't be able to tear yourself away' Veronica Henry 'Perfect to cuddle up with and escape from reality for a while' 5***** Netgalley Reader Review 'I loved this book' Katie Fforde ________ The only gift Charlie wants for his 80th birthday is his family all together again. Ever since his wife Daphne passed away, and the children grew up into their own busy lives, it's felt like they've drifted apart. So he's invited them all on a family holiday - their first in years. And by some miracle, everyone has said yes. Ten days all together in the Cotswolds . . . how hard can it be? ________ 'Tender, thoughtful and heartrending. The Chamberlains remind us of the strength and comfort of family bonds' Beth Morrey 'The Family Holiday is a perfect read for those who can't be with our own families or go on holiday to get away from them' Red Online 'An utterly absorbing multi-generational tale . . . her best yet. I adored it' Penny Parkes 'With a charming storyline, a fantastic mix of characters and beautifully written prose, this book is perfect' 5***** Netgalley Reader Review 'A fantastic feel good read about family, love, trust, letting go and moving on' 5***** Netgalley Reader Review Praise for Elizabeth Noble: 'Nobody weaves a complex web of stories with quite the same skill as Elizabeth Noble' Sunday Express 'Witty, pacy and immediately engaging' Glamour 'Noble is a mistress of the tearjerking message of love' Express

IS A SECOND CHANCE AT HAPPINESS WORTH RISKING EVERYTHING? EVEN A BEST FRIEND?
Susannah has been living with Doug for eight years, acting as stepmother to his three unappreciative children and wondering why she doesn't mind much when he sometimes sleeps in his study. She's known her best friend Amelia since they were teenagers. Amelia never minces words, and Susannah doesn't like hearing what Amelia has to say about her noncommittal relationship.
At her brother's wedding, Susannah runs into Rob--her first love, the love of her life. There's no band on his ring finger, and Susannah begins to fantasize. Her fantasies turn to reality when Rob gives her a call. Susannah's world is rocked by her rekindled feelings for Rob, then totally turned upside down by a revelation from Amelia. Just when Susannah and Amelia need each other the most, they are facing a crisis that threatens to tear their friendship apart. Without her familiar guiding star, Susannah must finally make some hard choices in order to grow up for good, no matter who or what she has to leave behind.
Heartwarming, wise, and sophisticated, "When You Were Mine "is a story about first loves, best friends, and choices that will resonate with readers everywhere.

How do you cope in a world without your mother?

When Barbara realizes time is running out, she writes letters to her four daughters, aware that they'll be facing the trials and triumphs of life without her at their side. But how can she leave them when they still have so much growing up to do?

Take Lisa, in her midthirties but incapable of making a commitment; or Jennifer, trapped in a stale marriage and buttoned up so tight she could burst. Twentysomething Amanda, the traveler, has always distanced herself from the rest of the family; and then there's Hannah, a teenage girl on the verge of womanhood about to be parted from the mother she adores.

But by drawing on the wisdom in Barbara's letters, the girls might just find a way to cope with their loss. And in coming to terms with their bereavement, can they also set themselves free to enjoy their lives with all the passion and love each deserves?

This heartfelt novel by bestselling author Elizabeth Noble celebrates family, friends . . . and the glorious, endless possibilities of life.

The bestselling author of "The Reading Group" returns with her most engaging novel yet, about four sisters who find hope and laughter in the wisdom their mother left behind

Warm, funny, and loving, Barbara had always been the backbone of her family. Her four daughters adored her and relied on her. Faced with the reality of leaving them before any of them are ready, Barbara writes letters to each of them, and a journal about the things she wants them to know.

Facing their first year without her, drawing on the wisdom in the legacy she has left behind, her girls might just find a way to cope with their loss. And in coming to terms with their bereavement, can they also set themselves free to enjoy their lives with all the passion and love each deserves?

As she did in "The Reading Group," "The Friendship Test," and "Alphabet Weekends," Elizabeth Noble pairs humor and poignancy in a tale about love, loss, and family.

Now in a third edition, the best-selling guide on multiple births, Having Twins - and More, covers everything from conception through childhood.

With ongoing advances in assisted reproduction, increasing numbers of women are having twins, triplets, and more, and they're having them later in life. Having Twins -- and More is the original source parents consult for guidance through the multiple birth experience. For three decades Elizabeth Noble, a respected name in the field, has provided expectant parents with everything they need to make informed, safe choices and give birth to healthy babies. This comprehensive handbook emphasizes optimal health as well as physical and emotional adjustments to bearing and raising multiples, and it offers striking new insights into risks, complications, and treatments -- candid information that is gathered only in this book.

Featuring tips on setting goals, assembling help, and reducing anxiety the latest nutritional information for mother and child details about the dangers of drugs and bed rest essential exercises for pregnancy and recovery information on the benefits of vaginal birth and breastfeeding facts about cesarean section and recovery tips for helping siblings adjust recommendations for parenting multiples with special needs more than 100 new photographs, charts, and tables exhaustive resources, expanded to include the Internet