Judy Astley Books

Itâe(tm)s twenty years since Miranda, then sixteen, holidayed in Cornwall and her life changed forever. Now sheâe(tm)s back again âe" with her mother Clare and the ashes of her stepfather Jack, whose wish was to be scattered on the sea overlooked by their one-time holiday home. The picturesque cove seems just the same as ever, but the people are different âe" more smart incomers,fewer locals, more luxury yachts in the harbour. But Miranda and Clare both find some strangely familiar faces, and revisit the emotions they both thought had disappeared.

âe~Elegant, witty writing, endearing characters and a wonderful romance. What more could you want?âe(tm) Katie Fforde, bestselling author of A Christmas Feast It is almost a year since Sean and Thea met and it's been a roller-coaster ride: they're getting married on Christmas Day! Neither Thea or Sean want a big fuss - a simple wedding, with Christmas lights and just a few sprigs of mistletoe for decoration is all they need. But before they know it, things begin to get complicated. Trying to manage a long-distance relationship in the build-up to their Christmas wedding is one thing, but as one challenge after another comes their way, the happy couple begin to wonder if they'll ever make it down the aisle . . . With unforgettable characters, charming romance and lots of laughter, A Merry Mistletoe Wedding is a gorgeous Christmas read - perfect for fans of Carole Matthews, Jenny Colgan, Lucy Diamond and Milly Johnson.

This is the story of Stella, an advice columnist for a teenage magazine. Stella's friends assume she doesn't have any problems of her own and deluge her with their woes. Abigail, deserted by her husband, moves in with Stella, but then starts to move in on Stella's husband.

Alice lives a well ordered life with her second husband in a leafy London suburb. However, when her mother falls ill, Alice goes to Cornwall to look after her. Soon she begins to wonder if she has made the right choices in life.

For the last few years, Beth and Ned have gone to the same Caribbean island to the same luxury spa hotel. But this year, home problems have somehow tagged along for the ride. Ned has been playing away—a bit of a drunken fling, that's all, Beth thinks. But although they have put it all behind them, Beth doesn't know that Ned's fling was with the female half of one of the couples they are vacationing with.

Sorrel is about to go off on her Gap Year. She wants a home to come home to. Ilex, her brother, is trying to upgrade his flat and marry his smart girlfriend Manda. He'd like some immediate equity. Clover, the elder sister, has plans that involve a bijou second home in France. And she wants it now. If only their parents would be sensible. If only they would sell their large, rather grand but somewhat dilapidated home and hand over their inheritance. But parents aren't always as sensible as their children. They are planning on blowing the lot.

Jay has always envied her cousin Delphine. While Jay was brought up in a large, chaotic family, Delphine was perfectly dressed with a coordinated bedroom and an immaculate wardrobe. But then Delphine reappears when they are both adults, with a third husband in prospect and the same old air of apparently effortless superiority. Jay never considers that perhaps Delphine is the envious one.

The residents of the Close were much concerned with crime--preventing it, that is. With all those out-of-work teenagers on the nearby council estate hanging around, stealing, joy-riding and goodness knows what else, it was just as well that they were setting up a Neighbourhood Watch scheme.Not that the inhabitants of the Close did not have their own little activities, of course, but these were hardly the same thing. If Jenny and Alan's daughter was caught traveling on the subway without a ticket, and their son was doing a little experimenting with certain substances, and Laura didn't see the need to declare her earnings from hiring out her house to a film crew, and Jenny drove home only just over the legal limit--well, these were quite different matters, not to be compared with what went on in the Estate. And then there was Jenny's discovery, when she advertised flute lessons, that she could work up quite a nice little scheme in a rather unexpected way...As the leafy London street resounded to the efforts of its citizens to keep crime at bay, Jenny realized that it was her marriage, rather than her property, that needed watching.

A counting book of numbers one to ten, following a cat's misadventures. Astley is designer of postcards, greeting cards and clothes whose work has been exhibited in the Royal Academy.

Kitty ist Anfang 40, Malerin, und lebt mit ihrem Mann Gwyn und ihren beiden Kindern in einem kleinen idyllischen Küstenort, wo sie ein beschauliches Leben führt. Doch von Zeit zu Zeit holen die Schatten der Vergangenheit sie ein: Mit 16 Jahren bekam Kitty nämlich von einem anderen Mann ein Kind und gab die kleine Madeleine gleich nach der Geburt zur Adoption frei. Immer wieder denkt sie darüber nach, was wohl inzwischen aus ihrer Tochter geworden ist, und fasst eines Tages den Entschluss, sie über eine Agentur suchen zu lassen. Als Madeleine schließlich leibhaftig vor ihrer Tür steht, ist nichts mehr in Kittys Leben so, wie es einmal war.