Still wondering which books to add to your summer holiday reading list? Be sure to check out all the fabulous upcoming July releases; there are quite a lot of titles which I'm personally really excited about and can't wait to read. Which books will you be picking up this summer?
Wendy Wax - 'The House on Mermaid Point' (1st of July)
Maddie, Avery, and Nikki first got to know one another—perhaps all too well—while desperately restoring a beachfront mansion to its former grandeur. Now they’re putting that experience to professional use. But their latest project has presented some challenges they couldn’t have dreamed up in their wildest fantasies—although the house does belong to a man who actually was Maddie’s wildest fantasy once...
Rock-and-roll legend “William the Wild” Hightower may be past his prime, estranged from his family, and creatively blocked, but he’s still worshiped by fans—which is why he guards his privacy on his own island in the Florida Keys. He’s not thrilled about letting this crew turn his piece of paradise into a bed-and-breakfast for a reality show... though he is intrigued by Maddie. Hard as that is for her to believe as a newly single woman who can barely manage a dog paddle in the dating pool.
But whether it’s an unexpected flirtation with a bona fide rock star, a strained mother-daughter relationship, or a sudden tragedy, these women are in it together. The only thing that might drive them apart is being trapped on a houseboat with one bathroom...
Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads
Maddie, Avery, and Nikki first got to know one another—perhaps all too well—while desperately restoring a beachfront mansion to its former grandeur. Now they’re putting that experience to professional use. But their latest project has presented some challenges they couldn’t have dreamed up in their wildest fantasies—although the house does belong to a man who actually was Maddie’s wildest fantasy once...
Rock-and-roll legend “William the Wild” Hightower may be past his prime, estranged from his family, and creatively blocked, but he’s still worshiped by fans—which is why he guards his privacy on his own island in the Florida Keys. He’s not thrilled about letting this crew turn his piece of paradise into a bed-and-breakfast for a reality show... though he is intrigued by Maddie. Hard as that is for her to believe as a newly single woman who can barely manage a dog paddle in the dating pool.
But whether it’s an unexpected flirtation with a bona fide rock star, a strained mother-daughter relationship, or a sudden tragedy, these women are in it together. The only thing that might drive them apart is being trapped on a houseboat with one bathroom...
Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads
When Lauren and Ryan’s marriage reaches the breaking point, they come up with an unconventional plan. They decide to take a year off in the hopes of finding a way to fall in love again. One year apart, and only one rule: they cannot contact each other. Aside from that, anything goes.
Lauren embarks on a journey of self-discovery, quickly finding that her friends and family have their own ideas about the meaning of marriage. These influences, as well as her own healing process and the challenges of living apart from Ryan, begin to change Lauren’s ideas about monogamy and marriage. She starts to question: When you can have romance without loyalty and commitment without marriage, when love and lust are no longer tied together, what do you value? What are you willing to fight for?
This is a love story about what happens when the love fades. It’s about staying in love, seizing love, forsaking love, and committing to love with everything you’ve got. And above all, After I Do is the story of a couple caught up in an old game—and searching for a new road to happily ever after.
Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads
Sue Margolis - 'Best Supporting Role' (1st of July)
When her gambling addict husband died, Sarah Green was left penniless—and with two children to raise. Since then, she’s been desperate to keep her professional and personal lives on firm financial footing. And what could be safer than dating an accountant and working at a non-emergency crime help line?
But then Sarah’s aunt dies, leaving Sarah her once famous—now flailing—lingerie shop. With her fashion background, Sarah reluctantly decides to make a go of it, even if that means breaking up with her too-prudent boyfriend over the risk.
Suddenly Sarah finds herself falling for Hugh, the handsome struggling actor she hired to renovate her new boutique, and entering a prestigious lingerie competition. Taking chances has never been her forte, but the built-in support of family and friends could give her the boost she’s been looking for....
Everyone remembers their first love.
Holly has learnt that life isn't about seizing the moment. She might have harboured dreams about travelling the world as a teenager, but she let go of those - just as she let go of Alex.
But what if the feelings never really went away?
Alex wants to make every moment of his new job count. It's a fresh start in a new city, and he knows that moving to London has nothing to do with Holly. Well, probably.
How do you know if it was meant to be. or never meant to happen at all?
Lisa Jewell - 'The Third Wife' (3rd of July)
London 2011: In the early hours of a summer morning, a young woman is killed by a bus. A tragic accident? Or suicide?
A year later, her devastated husband, Adrian Wolfe, is determined to find out. Adrian and Maya had only recently married, and he'd always believed they were happy together. His children from his two previous marriages loved her. And Maya loved them. She had a job she enjoyed, she had plenty of friends, and she and Adrian were trying for a baby. They seemed to have the perfect life.
Why then might she have wanted to kill herself?
When Adrian finds a hidden stash of poisonous emails on Maya's laptop he begins to identify the dark cracks in her life.
Because everyone has secrets.
And secrets have consequences.
Some of which can be devastating.
Lucinda Riley - 'The Italian Girl' (3rd of July)
Rosanna Menici is just eleven years old when she meets Roberto Rossini, the man who will change her life forever.
In the years to come, their destinies are bound together by their extraordinary talents as opera singers and by their enduring but obsessive love for each other - a love that will ultimately affect the lives of all those closest to them.
For, as Rosanna slowly discovers, their union is haunted by powerful secrets from the past...
In the years to come, their destinies are bound together by their extraordinary talents as opera singers and by their enduring but obsessive love for each other - a love that will ultimately affect the lives of all those closest to them.
For, as Rosanna slowly discovers, their union is haunted by powerful secrets from the past...
Meanwhile, Leila Morton has just lost her job; and if Elizabeth Clancy had known today was the day she would appear on the nightly news, she might at least have put on some clothes. Both need to start again.
When Kate's, Leila's and Elizabeth's paths unexpectedly cross, they throw themselves into realising Kate's magical vision of London's branch of the newest and most delectable tea shop, The Tea Chest. But every time success is within their grasp, increasing tensions damage their trust in each other.
With the very real possibility that The Tea Chest will fail, Kate, Leila and Elizabeth must decide what's important to each of them. Are they willing to walk away or can they learn to believe in themselves?
Cathy Bramley - 'Ivy Lane: Summer' (3rd of July)
Ciara Geraghty - 'Now That I've Found You' (3rd of July)
Forty-two-year-old Vinnie knows lots of things.
He knows new books and school shoes are expensive. He knows his teenage daughter keeps getting into trouble and he knows his eight-year-old has wet the bed every night for the past year.
What Vinnie doesn't know is where his wife is, or how he will ever get better at single fatherhood.
Ellen knows how much it costs to take a taxi to the cemetery. She knows she's too scared to get behind the wheel of a car ever again and she knows that what happened was all her fault.
What Ellen doesn't know is that Vinnie is about to need her to face her fears. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other's life forever.
What Ellen doesn't know is that Vinnie is about to need her to face her fears. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other's life forever.
Maria Duffy - 'One Wish' (3rd of July)
Fast-forward four years and now her daughter Lilly is asking questions about her father. While tracking down high-flying property developer Dennis Prendergast is the last thing Becky wants to do, she knows that Lilly has a right to know who her father is. But when Becky finally locates Dennis, she discovers that his life has taken a very different route. And finding out he has a daughter is definitely not in his five-year plan.
Can people ever really change? As Becky comes to know the person Dennis is now, and a little more about herself, she begins to think that maybe people can.
Katy Regan - 'The Story of You' (3rd of July)
I want to explain it all to you. How this happened. How that summer – the summer I was 16 – made me the person I am today.
I want to share my memories with you: the happy memories are like sunbursts, sparkling on the sea. But then, like a current dragging me under, there's that summer of 1997.
The summer my life exploded.
The summer I had to grow up.
The summer you came into my life.
And so this is the story of you.
Tess Stimson - 'An Open Marriage' (3rd of July)
Mia Allen has never quite adjusted to living in England. She misses her friends in the States and feels restrained by small-town family life near Oxford. Her husband Kit, on the other hand, loves the sense of community here and his job as a school teacher in a private school. Like Mia, Kit's boss Charlie is also looking for more excitement in her life. Her marriage to emotionally-distant Rob has left her frustrated and yearning for more.
So when she and Rob are invited to dinner with Mia and Kit, she jumps at the chance to make new friends. One evening, the increasing attraction between all of them moves up a notch, and it's not long before the seductive highs of these new friendships lead to desperate lows. Can any of their relationships survive this unconventional arrangement?
Kerry Fisher - 'The School Gate Survival Guide' (3rd of July)
But an unusual inheritance catapults her into a different world where no child can survive without organic apricots and Kumon maths classes – and no woman can contemplate a week without Pilates and pedicures.
As she blunders through a middle class minefield, dashing from coffee mornings to her mops and buckets, she is drawn to the one man who can help her family fit in. But is his interest in her purely professional or will her modern My Fair Lady experiment end in disaster?
As the months roll on towards the last weekend in July, the Daisybank Festival begins to take shape, especially when the gorgeous Liam Maxwell, a guitarist in a local band, agrees to play. And as the hot and sunny weekend dawns, life for Tiggy, Cordelia -- and Daisybank -- will never be the same again.
Then, on a trip to Seville, Carlotta runs into Luke Evans. Luke broke her heart so long ago she'd almost convinced herself she'd forgotten him. Now, he's not that boy any more, but an attractive and intriguing man. And he can explain everything that happened way back when.
Suddenly Carlotta's not so sure of anything any more. Except that what she decides now will shape the rest of her life...
For Elodie, returning to Everdene means re-awakening the memories of one summer fifty years ago. A summer when everything changed.
Vince and his brother are struggling to come to terms with the death of their father - but they have very different ways of coping.
And for Jenna, determined to put the past behind her, the opportunity to become 'the ice cream girl' once again might just turn her life around.
But this summer is not all sunshine and surf - as secrets unfold, and some lives are changed for ever...
Victoria Fox - 'Power Games' (4th of July)
The most exclusive invitation of the year has been issued; the supermodel, the thief, the senator, the heiress, the paparazzo, the pop prince and the playboy board a private jet. Destination: paradise.
SEVEN DEADLY SINNERS
Someone is watching. Someone who knows the dark secrets and the wicked reputations lurking beneath their glamorous facades. When it comes to revenge, knowledge is power. Vanity, pride, lust, greed - whatever their crime…
ONE PUNISHMENT FITS THEM ALL
No one sees the plane go down, but everyone knows who was on board. Seven notorious passengers, on an island that does not welcome visitors. The challenge is to survive. Let the power games begin.
Being back in Vermont - even temporarily - is surgeon Sean O'Neil's worst nightmare. Returning home to the Snow Crystal Resort means confronting the guilt he feels about rejecting his family's lifestyle years ago. But discovering that Élise is still in Vermont and still sets his blood racing is a very welcome distraction! Remembering last summer and how good they were together is going to make walking away more difficult than he could imagine….
Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it's been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and he still loves her - but that almost seems besides the point now.
Two days before they're supposed to visit Neal's family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells him that she can't go. She's a TV writer, and something's come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her - he is always a little upset with her - but she doesn't expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.
When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she's finally done it. If she's ruined everything.
That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It's not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she's been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts...
Is that what she's supposed to do?
Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?
Two days before they're supposed to visit Neal's family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells him that she can't go. She's a TV writer, and something's come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her - he is always a little upset with her - but she doesn't expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.
When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she's finally done it. If she's ruined everything.
That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It's not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she's been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts...
Is that what she's supposed to do?
Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?
Lindsey Kelk - 'What a Girl Wants' (17th of July)
Should she stay in London and start her own advertising agency with her best friend and potential boyfriend Charlie? Or should she head to exciting Milan to pursue both a new career as a photographer and a new man, the enigmatic and elusive (and highly irritating) Nick?
For the first time, Tess has to choose between the life she always dreamed of and a future she never imagined possible. With her heart and her head pulling her in different directions, Tess has to make a life-changing decision about What a Girl Wants.
She also has great friends. Granted, they’re sometimes a bit superficial, but who wants to discuss a global crisis on a Friday night?
And she’s enjoying her single life. Eighteen months of celibacy, and not a hot prospect in sight.
Perhaps life’s not quite what she was hoping for...
But how can she change it, and what does she really want? Stuck somewhere between a quarter-life crisis and self-fulfillment, Georgie is determined that this year, everything will be different. Armed only with her sense of humour, some black eyeliner and her best attempt at ‘charming’, she’s on the way. But just how long will the new improved Georgie last?
Nicola Doherty - 'Poppy Does Paris' (17th of July)
Paris. City of love, city of romance. The last place you want to go to on a work trip when you're in the middle of an epic dry spell. But that's where Poppy is headed, along with her colleague Charlie, who's shallow and annoying but very, very good-looking. During a white-wine-fuelled Skype session with her friend Alice in LA, Poppy concocts the perfect plan: work by day, and have some no-strings fun with Charlie by night. Of course, it might prove a little more complicated than that, but it's nothing Poppy can't handle - or is it?
Then Felicity experiences something extraordinary: a scent of perfume in the air which evokes memories that have been settled within her for a long time, untouched and undisturbed. As it happens again and again, the memories of a man Felicity hasn't seen for ten years also flutter to the surface. And so do the feelings of being deeply, exquisitely in love ...
Overwhelmed and bewildered by her emotions, Felicity tries to resist sinking blissfully into the past. But what if something truly isn't as it should be? What if her mind has been playing tricks on her heart?
Which would you trust?
Since the events of that day he hasn't truly got close to anyone.
He made a promise that love was the price he would pay for his mistakes.
When Effy Jones - a bright, ambitious charity founder - walks into the PR firm where Ben works, neither realise that their lives are about to be turned upside down.
Paper Swans tells of how love can conquer all, and how when everything is broken one person can help to put the pieces together...
Claire Sandy - 'What Would Mary Berry Do?' (31st of July)
Marie can't ignore the disappointed looks any more, or continue to be shamed by neighbour and nemesis, Lucy Gray. Lucy whips up perfect profiteroles with one hand, while ironing her bed sheets with the other. Marie's had enough: this is the year it all changes. She vows to follow - to the letter - recipes from the Queen of Baking and at all times ask 'What would Mary Berry do?'
Husband Robert has noticed that his boss takes crumb structure as seriously as budget sheets and so puts on the pinny: serious redundancies are on the horizon. Twins Rose and Iris are happy to eat all the half-baked mistakes that come their way, but big brother Angus is more distant than usual, as if something is troubling him. And there is no one as nosey as a matching pair of nine-year-old girls...
Marie starts to realise that the wise words of Mary Berry can help her with more than just a Victoria Sponge. But can Robert save the wobbling soufflé that is his career? And is Lucy's sweet demeanour hiding something secretly sour?
When Louise Fenton flies to Thailand to find her mother, Nora, after the Boxing Day tsunami, she fears the worst when the only trace she can find is her mother’s distinctive bag. In the bag is a beautifully crafted atlas owned by travel journalist Claire Shreve, with her notes and mementos slipped in-between the pages. The journal tells the story of Claire’s struggle to find her place in the world following a life-altering revelation, and a tumultuous love affair.
Louise treks across Thailand's scarred landscape, exploring Claire’s atlas to try to make sense of the connection between this woman and the mother she is so desperate to find.
As devastated people are beginning to put their lives back together, Louise uncovers the secrets that nearly destroyed Claire and the man she loved – the same secrets her mother has been guarding all these years …
Mum-of-four Julie thought that if her family had more money, life would be easier. But now that they've inherited a fortune, her problems are only starting.
Lawyer Louise is used to having life go exactly as she wants it to. So accepting that she cannot control everything in her world is beyond her.
And former model Sophie can just about cope with getting older - that's until her ex-husband finds a younger model.
All three women think that some battles are best fought alone. Maybe they need to think again ...
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