Showing results by author "Katie Fforde" in All Categories

When Hetty Longden, freshly dumped and brokenhearted, agrees to look after her greatuncle’s dilapidated mansion in the English countryside, she’s at something of a lifetime low. With no job, no lover, no prospects, and no particular talent for resuscitating crumbling estates, she hopes for nothing more than some good oldfashioned escape.

Althea Farraday, a 38-year-old divorced mother of three, has a teenage son who’s a Buddhist, a hypercritical sister who knows how to push all her buttons, a job on the endangered species list, and a love life to match. Just as she’s settling in to a comfortable level of chaos, a near-perfect man enters her life. Equipped to steal her heart and help turn her passion for designing gardens into a new career, Patrick Donahugh may be too good to be true.

Suddenly released from her engagement and out of work, Julia Fairfax is looking for a new direction in life. When a classified ad catches her eye, she embarks on a hilarious trip through the English canals in a rickety hotel boat. Along the way, she encounters hard-to-please guests, an unsettling ex-boyfriend, and the challenges of cooking in a tiny galley with rattling crockery.

Hattie finds other people their dream homes for a living. Surely she, of all people, has the connections and the knowledge to find her own forever home? Instead, she baffles those closest to her by choosing to pack up and move every few months from one housesitting job to the next. Of course, that’s because she knows where she wants to live. It’s a beautiful house owned by a lovely old woman who’d simply love for Hattie to have it. But nothing is ever that simple.

A seriously entertaining collection of feelgood stories guaranteed to put the smile back on your face written especially by 10 best-selling novelists. From a hilarious race against time to a moment of unexpected eavesdropping, from righting wrongs in rural India to finding joy in unlikely places, these stories are all rich in wit and humour, guaranteed to lift your spirits and warm your heart.

Fran has always wanted to be a farmer. And now it looks as if her childhood dream is about to come true. She has just moved in to a beautiful but very run-down farm in the Cotswolds, currently owned by an old aunt who has told Fran that if she manages to turn the place around in a year, the farm will be hers. But Fran knows nothing about farming. She might even be afraid of cows.

Emily is happy with her life just as it is. She has a career as a midwife that she loves . She enjoys living on her own as a single woman. But she also feels it's time for a change and a spot of some sea air. So when her best friend, Rebecca, asks whether she'd like to spend the summer cooking on a 'puffer' boat just off the Scottish coast, she jumps at the chance. But she barely has time to get to grips with the galley before she finds herself with a lot on her plate.

Ever since she can remember, Meg has wanted to be a professional cook. But it's 1964, and in restaurant kitchens all over England it is still a man's world. Then she gets a call from her mother who is running a small hotel in Dorset. There's an important banqueting event coming up. She needs help and she needs it now! When Meg arrives, the hotel seems stuck in the past. But she loves a challenge, and sets to work. She has reckoned without Justin, the son of the hotel owner, however, who seems determined to take over the running of the kitchen.

Late summer, 1963. Fresh from London and a recent cookery course, Alexandra has always loved a challenge. Which is why she now finds herself standing outside an imposing chateau in Provence. Waiting for her inside is three silent, rather hostile children who are to be her charges for the next month. They will soon be more friendly, she tells herself. All they need is some fun, good food and an English education. Far more of a challenge though is their father—an impossibly good-looking French count with whom she is rapidly falling in love.

When Cass is asked by her father to take on a rare photography project in the Caribbean islands, she really can't see a reason to say no. But she soon discovers she has more on her plate than photographs, as the remote island has just been hit by a severe hurricane, leaving mass destruction in its wake. And then she meets Ranulph who it turns out is a bit of an expert in finding the rare rock carvings her father wants her to photograph. Ranulph insists they must first help the locals in clearing the island and re-building it before they begin their own expedition.

Sophie Apperly has spent her whole life pleasing others - but when she realises her family see her less as indispensable treasure and more as general dogsbody, she decides she's had enough. So when an old friend offers her the chance of a lifetime, she decides to swap Little England for the Big Apple, and heads off to the land of opportunity.

From the moment Sophie hits the bright lights of Manhattan she's determined to enjoy every minute of her big adventure.

Allie is bored with her job and starting to wonder whether she even likes her boyfriend, Ryan. The high point in her day is passing a café on her walk home from work. It is the sort of place where she'd really like to work. Then one day she sees as advert on the door: assistant wanted.

Gilly runs her own B&B business from her much-loved family home, which she doesn’t want to part with - at any price. But that's before she meets handsome estate agent Leo. Soon he has her wondering whether it's finally time to sell up and try something new in life. Meanwhile, Gilly's daughter Helena has a budding romance of her own. A talented weaver, she's becoming very close to her new landlord, Jago, who's offered to help her at an upcoming craft fair that could give her dream career a major boost. It’s what friends do, and they are just friends. Aren’t they?

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Living Dangerously by Katie Fforde. Polly Cameron is happy being 35 and celibate, living in a small Gloucestershire town with a possessive cat for company and a Rayburn for comfort. After all, a relationship would only complicate things...but Polly's life is already complicated. In addition to her job in the Whole Nut cafe - and her part in the 'Save Our High Street' campaign - there's her pottery career to get off the ground. Not to mention dodging the efforts of her friends and mother to find her a husband.

Lorna is a talented gardener, and Philly is a plantswoman. Together they work in the grounds of a beautiful manor house in the Cotswolds. They enjoy their jobs and are surrounded by family and friends. But for them both, the door to true love remains resolutely closed. So when Lorna is introduced to Jack at a dinner party and Lucien catches Philly's eye at the local farmers market, it seems that dreams really can come true, and happy endings lie just around the corner.... But do they?

Weddings, romance, humour ,and happy-ever-after endings. The deliciously romantic new novel from the number-one Sunday Times best-selling author of Recipe for Love, A French Affair, and The Perfect Match.

In a small Cotswold country town, Beth, Lindy, and Rachel are looking for new beginnings. So they set up in business, organising stylish and perfectly affordable vintage weddings.

Take one aspiring cook, one judge, and a spoonful of romance...When Zoe Harper wins a coveted place in a televised cookery competition she's thrilled. It's a chance to cook her way to fame and fortune and the little delicatessen she's set her heart on. The first task has hardly begun when she finds herself with rather too much on her plate. Not only has she got to contend with the fiercely competitive and downright devious Cher, but she's fast developing an inconvenient crush on one of the judges - the truly delicious Gideon Irving.

Anna, a newly qualified interior designer, has decided it's time to put her money and her expertise where her mouth is. She's risked everything on buying a tiny but adorable cottage so she can renovate it, sell it on and prove to her family that she can earn her own living. Outside, the chocolate-box cottage is perfect, but inside all is chaos: with a ladder for a staircase, no downstairs flooring, candles the only form of lighting and a sleeping bag and camping mat for a bed, Anna's soon wondering whether she's bitten off more than she can chew.

Althea is the mother of three strong-minded children - one of whom is a Buddhist - and owner of a finicky dog named Bozo. Saddled with too large a house (albeit in a beautiful Cotswold village), worrisome mortgage payments, a bossy younger sister and irksome ex-husband, Althea still manages to muddle through life comfortably enough. Until she loses her job....

A delicious Christmas feast of short stories from the Sunday Times number one best-selling author of A French Affair and The Perfect Match. Add some extra sparkle to your Christmas by joining Katie Fforde for a perfect, romantic Christmas feast of short stories. Collected together for the first time and including one brand-new story. Make your Christmas wishes come true....