Publication Day – Page 3

Happy Publication Day – 11 September 2026

Christmas Actually By Donna Ashcroft

Welcome to Hollythorpe, a quaint village in the Cotswolds, where the locals are stringing lights around their village tree. And meet Clara as she pulls her suitcase through the snow, hoping for a new start…

This isn’t the Christmas that Clara was hoping for. Twenty-four hours ago, she was engaged, a shiny diamond on her wedding finger and a gorgeous husband-to-be by her side. Only now, the ring is gone and so is he. She’s almost given up on Christmas magic completely – until she arrives in Hollythorpe.

Clara waits outside of her kindly Aunt Eleanor’s red front door, knowing that a warm welcome will help heal her aching heart. Snowflakes are falling gently on her long dark hair when a car sprays her with slush and then, unexpectedly, stops to help. Clara lays eyes on Liam stepping out of his car, six feet of gorgeousness. She realises maybe there could be upsides to a cosy Cotswolds Christmas…

Except Liam is closed off to everyone and Clara knows she should be protecting her heart too, so she tries to put him out of her mind. When the village’s usual Mrs Christmas calls in sick before Hollythorpe’s winter fair, Clara steps into the role to help Aunt Eleanor. Only, she hasn’t realised who Mr Christmas is… none other than Liam himself.

As the two are thrown together to bring Christmas to Hollythorpe, Liam’s icy exterior starts to thaw. And Clara can’t deny she’s falling for him. But then the past comes back to haunt them, changing everything…

The Way We Are Now By Julie Houston

First love, long-hidden secrets and second chances.

Anna Piasecki thought she had left her university heartbreak behind. After spending decades building a successful life, she arrives at sixty with everything as she wants it – a glittering career, a devoted partner and brightest star of all, her brilliant son Noah, the apple of her eye.

Theo Mandeville is trapped. Bound by aristocratic duty to his sprawling Yorkshire estate, he has spent decades living the life that was expected of him while regretting the star-crossed romance he walked away from.

When their children meet at college, Anna and Theo suddenly find their carefully constructed lives colliding. With a devastating forty-year-old secret hanging over them, can their families survive the truth and do they dare to trust that fate has other plans for them?

Happy Publication Day – 10 September 2026

A Curious Ending By Sally Page

Thirty-four-year-old Gabriella Felix has written this season’s go-to self-help book and now she’s heading to New York to capture the hearts – and dollars – of the US market. With her niece Phoebe coming along too, Gabriella hopes this trip can also be the festive holiday they both badly need after suffering an unbearable loss – Phoebe’s mum, Lulu.

Luca Manning is a stylist at the top of his game, completely focussed on his career, and hiding a big secret about his family. But when his next job is to curate a wardrobe for this British author, will the guard around his heart slowly start to drop?

As Gabriella and Luca bond in between book signings, celebrity talk shows and the snow-kissed streets of Manhattan, it’s clear that this is more than just attraction. But as they navigate past heartbreak and old wounds, will they be able to find a new beginning? And will it be together?

Winter With You By Mandy Baggot

Happy Publication Day – 9 September 2026

Winter Magic At Hollybrae Castle By Jaimie Admans

A Scottish castle, a fake marriage… and one very real Christmas romance?

After a window display goes disastrously viral – thanks to a malfunctioning animatronic Santa and an unfortunate encounter with Paddington Bear – Lula Haines finds herself without a job just weeks before Christmas. So she jumps at the chance to decorate Hollybrae Castle in Scotland for the holidays.

There’s just one complication: her handsome new boss, Oliver Bracewell, needs a fake wife for the festive season. To secure a promotion that could save his family’s castle, Ollie has been pretending to be a married father-of-two to impress the family-focused firm where he works. Now his bosses are coming to stay at Hollybrae over Christmas… expecting to meet his non-existent wife and children.

At first, playing along is easy as Lula is swept up in the magic of turning Hollybrae into the perfect festive escape with Ollie. But as Christmas draws nearer and she and Ollie grow closer, Lula begins to wonder if Hollybrae could become more than a temporary escape… and if the man she’s only pretending to love might actually be the one she’s been waiting for all along.

Happy Publication Day – 7 September 2026

Could You Be Mine? By Sophie L. Henderson

She’s the boss of the Vancity Tide lacrosse team. He’s the team captain—and the firefighter who’s never failed anyone. There are a hundred reasons why their steamy encounter has to stay a secret. But number one? Her dad owns the team…

Seren is on the brink of career disaster. The general manager job she’s worked her entire life for is about to slip away. The season is unraveling and she’s been given an ultimatum—make it to the playoffs or lose her dream job forever. But keeping her head in the game would be so much easier if she wasn’t falling for her star player. And he hadn’t told her he was falling too…

Brad Holt is the team captain. Nicknamed ‘Fixer’, he holds everything together, whether it’s on the lacrosse floor, at the fire hall or at home with his family. Being steady was his whole identity—until the night things crossed the line with Seren. Now he’s in a tailspin, failing in every arena that matters. All because she’s the one problem he can’t fix. And the one person who might actually break him for good.

As the final games of the season loom over Seren and Brad, and a clip of a heated kiss goes viral, their carefully crafted defence crumbles around them. With seconds left on the clock, a win could change everything. But if they lose, they lose it all…

Happy Publication Day – 6 September 2026

The Day Our Lives Collided By Laura Pearson

How do you know when you’ve met your soulmate?

It’s the first day of term, and the lives of three new university students are about to collide. They’re going to introduce each other to more friends too. People who will be in their lives forever.

They’re young when the weddings start. Tash and Adam seem destined for each other, only 22 but with a baby already on the way. Even when a chance remark from Adam’s best man about their other friend, Hayden, puts everything at risk.

By the time the second wedding comes around, everything’s changed. And even more by the third…

Because it turns out, our soulmates aren’t always who we think they’ll be. And life has a funny way of switching things around. Just when you least expect it.

Happy Publication Day – 4 September 2026

The French Christmas Market By Gillian Harvey

Nicola’s move to France is not going to plan. Her husband Steven’s job meant he couldn’t join her for the first few months. Now he has to work at Christmas too, and she’s facing the season alone.

She’s finding life in the tiny French village harder than expected. The house feels more remote than she remembered, and the cold weather makes going out a challenge. Plus the neighbour she’d hoped to befriend seems to be doing everything he can to avoid her friendly ‘bonjours’.

Things begin to look up when she takes on an art student named Lucien who introduces her to life beneath the village’s sleepy façade. Then – at the local Christmas market – she’s given a ceramic angel and told to make a wish…

Nicola doesn’t believe in magic. But as things in her life begin to change, she starts to wonder whether wishes really can come true?

Happy Publication Day – 3 September 2026

The Twilight Garden By Emma Davies

A secret garden. A moonlit reunion. And a chance to start again…?

Perched on a hilltop in the Cornish countryside, with the sea sparkling in the distance, lies a garden, once forgotten but recently rediscovered. As the sun sets over its gently crumbling walls every evening, two figures appear and quietly tend the soil at dusk. This is a place that heals the soul.

Gemma is here to find the version of herself she lost long ago. What she hasn’t expected to find is someone who understands her heartbreak all too well.

Leo is also trying to rebuild his life. He knows how to fix things around him with nails and a hammer. But if he tries to mend Gemma’s heart as he mends the garden, could he heal himself too?

Working side by side to uncover long-forgotten flowers in the garden, Gemma wonders if she’s planting the seeds for a whole new future for herself too.

But then one evening, it’s clear somebody else has been to the garden. Someone intending to destroy what they’re creating. Someone who needs to be stopped….

Can Gemma and Leo save the tumbledown, magical place that has saved them? Or will they lose the twilight garden forever?

Head Over Skis By Sophie Davies

One ex, one ski-instructor and one holiday that’s about to go off-piste…

The trip finally made it out of the group chat! Lottie and her friends have been planning – and saving – for their ski trip for ages and everything is going to be perfect. Until it isn’t.

After her boyfriend, Adam, cheats on her, Lottie can’t think of anything worse than being stuck on the slopes with him. The night before the trip Lottie decides to do something crazy to distract herself from thinking about Adam. A hot hook-up with someone she’ll never have to see again seems like just the solution.

Except her one-night stand turns out to be her ski instructor, Rory. Adam is oblivious, Rory is interested, and Lottie is left asking not only if she should forgive Adam, but what is love, actually?

Happy Publication Day – 1 September 2026

The Work Husband By Sophie Ranald

You’re just friends that work together. Nothing more. Riiiiiiiiight?

When Georgia’s boyfriend Sam tells her he’s meeting up with his ex, she’s living every girlfriend’s worst nightmare. Because it’s not just any ex, it’s his first love – the relationship everyone thought would last forever. Convinced she’s one pinot-grigio-fuelled evening away from having to argue custody of their beloved cat, she turns to her work husband for help.

Jamie fixes all Georgia’s work crises (like that time she jammed the printer so badly it started smoking…) so when he suggests faking a romance to make Sam jealous, she’s all ears. After all, he’s already her work husband, how hard can it be to pretend he’s something more?

From flirty texts to a dangerous number of G&Ts in the local pub, Jamie’s declarations of love soon start to get out of hand. Suddenly, Georgia’s not sure her work husband was the best choice to help her keep hold of her (hopefully) future husband.

Georgia has watched enough romcoms to know office romances are not a good idea and, as she soon finds out, even fake ones can be dangerous… Is she prepared for what happens when fake dating turns out to be not so fake after all?

The Billionaire And The Runaway Bride By VH Nicolson

I’m Leon Hill, ex-hockey player, sports agent, and in so much trouble! I have been in love with my best friend’s little sister for as long as I can remember. But she’s off limits. Forbidden. And now she’s getting married. Until she’s not.

Erika Johansson becomes a runaway bride, ending up in my arms. I should turn her away. Tell her no, but the idea of having her is all too tempting. Instead, we do something crazy and I finally get the woman I’ve craved all these years. But if I’ve learned one thing, it’s that our timing is never right. And a bang on the head, where I forget everything, is just another reminder of that.

Right now, my heart is as battered as the puck in the closing minutes of the Stanley Cup, and I’m starting to wonder if maybe this love story was just never meant to be.

A Fall To Remember By Ellie Alexander

Miranda Brown never meant to become famous. She just wanted a quiet vacation—a rare break from running The Green Grocer, the cozy market that’s been the heart of Half Moon Bay, California, for three generations. But when her spectacularly terrible travel photos go viral, Miranda becomes an unlikely internet sensation.

Now a major travel company wants her to cover her hometown’s beloved Fall Harvest Festival, sending the charming (and undeniably handsome) Jim Cole to help capture her authentic, imperfect magic on camera.

As golden leaves fall and the scent of apple cider fills the air, Miranda finds that being yourself is harder than it looks—especially when she’s falling for Jim. But when she learns his job depends on this campaign’s success, she must decide: are his feelings real, or is she just part of his marketing plan?

A Honeymoon In Venice By Veronica Henry

November in Venice, and amid the rose-gold rooftops and canals, Olivia is enjoying a blissful honeymoon with Christopher—husband of her dreams. But while exploring the wonders of the city, Olivia makes a discovery no guidebook could prepare her for: the conman who broke her heart fifteen years earlier—and stole every penny she had.

Olivia knows she should walk away. She’s happily married now. Over it. Isn’t she?

Still, when fate offers her a chance to get her own back, she can’t resist…and with a little help from some unexpected new friends, an ingenious plan begins to take shape…

Throwing caution to the wind, Olivia presses ahead—only to find herself in far deeper than she intended. Is revenge within her grasp, or will her scheme destroy the marriage she’s only just begun?

The Summer Between Us By Jennifer Probst

Once a rising surf champion, Rowan Delaney now works at a Waikiki surf shack, her ocean view a constant reminder of the injury that ended her career. Then she meets Kelsey, a lonely young girl on vacation who has her eyes on the whitecaps and a hunger to ride them. Teaching her is the first thing that’s felt right in months. The only problem? Kelsey’s controlling, workaholic single father—who’s far too attractive for Rowan’s peace of mind.

Hawaii is strictly business to Everett Hale. Open a luxury hotel, secure his promotion, and return to New York with the moody daughter he’s struggling to reach. The last thing he needs is a stubborn free spirit like Rowan teaching Kelsey to chase waves instead of opportunities. But she’s showing his daughter how to be fearless—and making him fall for the one woman he can’t take home.

Like the perfect wave, one summer could change everything…and neither of them is ready for the fallout.

Happy Publication Day – 31 August 2026

The Cotswold Christmas Bookshop By Jill Steeples

Isla Stewart has a glittering publishing career in London, but when she’s unexpectedly made redundant, she faces an uncertain future.

Licking her wounds, Isla heads home to the Cotswolds. Keeping her devastating redundancy a secret from her proud parents, she seeks refuge at Finch’s, the enchanting bookshop she worked in as a teenager. With the owners struggling with their health, Isla steps in to manage the shop hoping to convince them that the business has a future.

Isla likes nothing more than chatting to people about books, but her safe haven is soon disturbed when she comes face-to-face with her first love, Charlie Brace, made worse by the arrival of Guy Madley, the incredibly handsome property consultant who has advice for owners Jon and Miriam.

As Christmas approaches, Isla has decisions to make. Does her future lie in London or can a whole heap of books and a sprinkling of festive magic offer a life that she could never even have dreamed of?

A Body In The B & B By Katie Marsh

It’s a perfect location for… murder

When sisters Jennifer and Lizzie Christie inherit their aunt’s dilapidated B&B, in the beautiful Lake District village of Lupton Water, the only thing they have in common is how much they hate their housemate, a Declan Moss.

The two of them fell out thirty years before, and now they’re mid-life, mid-menopause, and about to be mid-disaster. And not just because Jennifer’s cat Clementine and Rose’s dog Gizmo have taken an instant dislike to each other.

But when Declan’s body is found in the bathtub, the sisters are top of the suspect list. Can they and their pets bury the hatchet long enough to find out who the killer is? Or will they become the next victims?

Happy Publication Day – 30 August 2026

The Nightshift Before Christmas By Amy Andrews

This Christmas things are about to get steamy

Maggie Green thought she had her life under control. After years of heartbreak, the Peadiatric nurse has built a world that’s safe with strictly no complications.

Then Dr. Nash Reece crashes into her nightshift. Charming and dangerously attractive, Nash is only in Brisbane for three months before heading to London. No ties, no promises… and no intention of behaving. From their first clash the sparks between them are impossible to ignore and far too hot for comfort.

Maggie knows better than to risk her hard-won peace on a younger man with one foot out the door. But long nights and undeniable chemistry begin to erode her resolve. And then one night changes everything.

Their secret becomes a surprise neither can ignore, and as Christmas approaches, Maggie must decide if she can risk her heart again… or watch Nash walk away.