Portfolio

The Queen of New Beginnings

Alice Shoemaker habitually goes to great lengths to avoid telling the truth about herself and her past. After agreeing to help out a friend, by shopping and cleaning for the unknown man staying at Cuckoo House, she soon becomes suspicious that her strange and obnoxiously rude client has something to hide...

Clayton Miller's life is a mess. His career as one of the country's best comedy scriptwriters has stalled and his long-term girlfriend has left him for his ex best friend and ex writing partner. Just when he thinks his life couldn't get any worse, he commits a spectacularly public fall from grace and with the press hounding him, his agent banishes him to the middle of nowhere until the dust has settled. And there he meets Alice...

When Alice and Clayton discover the truth about each other they form an unlikely friendship – until Alice discovers Clayton has betrayed her in the worst possible way.

Published by Orion Books in 2011. View online retailer buying links.

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ISBN: 9781409102571

It’s the Little Things

Dan and Sally Oliver and their friend Chloe Hennessey are lucky to be alive. Three years on, after surviving one of the world's biggest natural disasters – the Boxing Day tsunami – their lives have changed dramatically.

Dan and Sally are now parents. Dan is enjoying being a stay-at-home father taking care of their young son, and Sally is the breadwinner and loves her job as a partner in a Manchester law firm. The arrangement has so far worked well, but when Dan starts to question whether Sally has got her priorities right, the cracks in their marriage begin to appear.

Dan and Sally have everything Chloe wishes for in life – a happy marriage and a beautiful child. Dumped by her long term boyfriend just weeks after the tsunami, she's been on a mission ever since to find the perfect father for the child she craves.  When she meets Seth Hawthorne, she thinks she may have hit the jackpot.  But is Seth the man she thinks he is?

It's the Little Things is a moving, compelling story of how a life can change in a heartbeat.

Published by Orion Books in 2011. View online retailer buying links.

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ISBN: 9780752884332

Tell it to the Skies

The beautiful city of Venice has been Lydia's home for many years, a place where she has found peace and fulfilment. Then one day she glimpses a young man's face in the crowd that threatens to change everything. He's a heart-stopping reminder of a dreadful secret she believed she had banished to the past...

As a young child, Lydia and her sister were sent to live with grandparents they'd never even met before. It was a cruel and loveless new world for them and it forced Lydia to grow up fast. She learned to keep secrets and to trust sparingly, and through it all she was shadowed by grief and guilt.

Now, twenty-eight years later, Lydia is persuaded to leave behind the safe new life she has created for herself and return to England to face the past. And maybe her future.

Published by Orion Books in 2017. View online retailer buying links.

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ISBN: 9780752893365

Gardens of Delight

Romantic Novel of the Year, 2006.

The Gardens of Delight brochure promises the opportunity to visit some of the most beautiful and enchanting gardens in the Lake Como area of Italy. For Lucy, the chance to go to Italy offers more than just gardens. Lake Como is where her father lives and the last time she saw him was when she was just a teenager.

Recently married Helen and her wealthy husband have just moved into the Old Rectory. With her husband spending so much time away from home, Helen throws herself into caring for the garden that was the pride and joy of its previous owner. But Helen needs help – and friends – and so decides to take the plunge and join the local Garden Club.

Conrad isn't the least bit interested in gardening. Widowed for five years, his life revolves around work and humouring Mac, his curmudgeonly elderly uncle who lives with him, and who has expressed a desire to go on the Gardens of Delight tour. But only if Conrad will accompany him. Reluctantly, Conrad agrees. 'Anything for a peaceful life,' he concedes.

But a peaceful life is the last thing any of them are in for...

Published by Orion Books in 2014. View online retailer buying links.

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ISBN: 9780752883519

Love and Devotion

Harriet Swift thinks she has the perfect life – a satisfying career, her own flat and a new boyfriend who respects her need for her own space. But then her only sister is killed in a car crash and Harriet is forced to give up her well-ordered life and to help look after her orphaned niece and nephew. Moving back to her childhood home in Maple Drive, and sacrificing so much, doesn't come easy and before long Harriet discovers things about her family she never believed possible.

Meanwhile, the shabbiest house in Maple Drive has a new occupant. Will Hart also thinks he has the perfect life. Having swapped his successful career as a lawyer for that of an antiques dealer, he believes in living for the moment and is entirely happy with his lot. Then from nowhere tragedy strikes and he faces the biggest challenge of his life.

Harriet and Will have no choice but to piece together a new future for themselves, but can they see it through?

Published by Orion Books in 2011. View online retailer buying links.

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ISBN: 9780752883410

Paradise House

Re-issued in Paperback July 2022.

Angel Sands is a traditional seaside resort of bed and breakfasts, cottages to let and teashops.  And with the best views of the tiny beach and surrounding coastline is Paradise House, home to the Baxter girls – or the Sisters of Whimsy as they're known locally.

With their mother taking time out to find herself, it's down to Genevieve to maintain the smooth running of the family-owned B&B.  Not an easy task given that their father – now that his wife isn't around – has suddenly become a magnet for the opposite sex.  And there's little help from her sisters: Nattie is too busy offending her long time admirer, and Polly spends most of her days with her head in the clouds or in a book. But when news spreads in the tightly knit community that a nearby dilapidated barn has been sold, Genevieve finds that a bittersweet trip down memory lane is unavoidable . . .

Re-issued by Orion Books in 2022. View online retailer buying links.

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ISBN: 9781398710726