Young, decorative and almost without formal schooling, Viola Otway takes a job with a charity working for the conservation of old houses. An assignment at Inskip House in Nottinghamshire brings her into contact with the handsome, lazy and utterly charming Jeremy, and love soon grows.
Corinna Chapman leaves her high-powered career and toxic marriage to embrace a new life as a baker in Melbourne, running her own business, Earthly Delights. Living in a quirky building with eccentric neighbors, she enjoys her fresh start until chaos ensues with the arrival of a junkie, mysterious threats, and a series of bizarre encounters involving Goths and lost girls. As she navigates these challenges, Corinna must balance her new life with the demands of her bakery, all while dealing with unexpected romance and intrigue.
On a warm fall day, a women's reproductive health services clinic becomes the scene of a crisis when a gunman bursts in, taking everyone hostage. Police hostage negotiator Hugh McElroy quickly sets up a perimeter, but his world shatters when he discovers his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside. As tensions rise, Wren encounters a diverse group of individuals: a nurse who must overcome her own fear to save a wounded woman, a doctor whose faith is tested under pressure, a pro-life protester disguised as a patient, and a young woman seeking to terminate her pregnancy. Each character's story unfolds during the standoff, revealing their motivations and struggles that led them to this moment. The narrative, structured to count backward through the hours of the crisis, explores complex themes such as the rights of pregnant women versus the rights of the unborn and the essence of good parenting. This gripping tale, penned by a fearless writer, invites readers to engage in meaningful debate and fosters a deeper understanding of a contentious issue.
Corinna Chapman enjoys her life as a baker until a disastrous chocolate incident leads her to investigate potential tampering at a local chocolatier, Heavenly Pleasures. Concerned about the shop's future, she seeks to uncover whether the mishap is a cruel joke or a forewarning of greater threats. Meanwhile, her lover Daniel returns from a troubling encounter with a self-proclaimed messiah, raising questions about his involvement in the chocolate fiasco. New mysteries also arise with the arrival of a mysterious neighbor in the upper apartment.
"My wife of more than forty-five years shot herself yesterday afternoon. At least that is what the police assume, and I am playing the part of grieving widower with enthusiasm and success... It was I who killed her." Thus begins the much-hyped first novel by 20-year-old Oxford undergraduate Richard Mason. Your typical murder mystery The Drowning People is not, for we are given the identity of the killer--the who --immediately. The puzzle in this introspective novel is why --why did 70-year-old James Farrell murder his aristocratic wife, Sarah? The answer lies nearly 50 years into the past as the book ranges from Prague to London, from France to a remote castle in Cornwall. At its core is an intoxicating love affair between 22-year-old James, a talented violinist and hopeless romantic, and Ella Harewood, an American heiress to an English title, trapped by her heritage and destiny. A beautifully written exploration of self-absorbed first love and its tragic consequences, The Drowning People soars beyond the highest of expectations placed upon it.
Zannah and Adrian are planning to marry in May, the loveliest time of year. Zannah has always wanted a beautiful, traditional wedding and feels she missed out the first time around when she married Cal, father of her daughter Isis. Now two families are to meet for the first time. Will the slightly bohemian Gratrixes from Cheshire and the wealthy Ashtons from the Home Counties like each other? The meeting will take place on neutral territory, at a lunch party in the home of Zannah's Great-Aunt Charlotte in London—but no one anticipates the reaction when Zannah's mother and Adrian's stepfather first meet and the series of events that is set in motion. Full of revelations, reconciliations, and romance, this charming novel shows that not all marriages are made in heaven.
Inspektorin Liu Hulan wird in ein abgelegenes chinesisches Dorf gerufen, wo der vermeintliche Selbstmord der schwangeren Arbeiterin Mioashan mit der amerikanischen Spielzeugfabrik Knight in Verbindung steht. Kurz vor der Aufklärung des Falls bricht ein Feuer in der Fabrik aus, und Hulan gerät in große Gefahr.
