Showing titles in City Life

Her daughter has just flown the nest and her pensioner mum has dived headlong into internet dating - can Hattie hold on to her sanity? Hattie is a 47-year-old mother whose daughter, Layla, is just about to head off to university. She's not coping terribly well (Hattie that is - Layla seems to be...

When disgraced journalist Jen Hunter witnesses a horrific murder-suicide on Hampstead Heath one February alongside four strangers, she is compelled to find out what really happened that day. They all saw Daniel kill his girlfriend, Vicky - but can they trust their own memories? Jen’s best friend, Bex, is worried about her. She knows Jen hasn’t always been the most stable of women. She knows about the lies. She knows why Jen lost her job at the paper.

After a whirlwind romance and a dream beachside wedding, Lucy Brightman returns home brimming with hope for her future. But as the honeymoon glow fades, small cracks begin to show. Life quickly shifts into something far darker, and Lucy finds herself trapped in a controlling, abusive marriage with her husband, David. As the illusion of marital bliss crumbles, David tightens his grip using his wealth to control Lucy by funding the care of her critically ill mother, ensuring she cannot leave their marriage.

It's the turn of the millennium and, landing in London with nothing but her CD collection and demo tape, Orla Quinn moves into a squalid Kilburn house with her best mate and a band called Shiva. Orla wants to make music, but juggling two jobs and partying every night isn't helping. Back in Ireland her parents' marriage has crumbled, she's not speaking to her father, and her mother and sister are drinking too much.

'I hope the lights are on when we finally have sex so he can see how young I am compared to his wife.' Readers are loving Everyone I Know is Dying: 'An important, electric portrayal of mental health' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Brutally relatable' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'One of the most powerful books I've ever...

Trapped in an abusive marriage to Lord Caraway with her beloved daughter Melissa, 24-year-old Lady Elodie Caraway knows she has to escape before her deepest and darkest secrets are revealed giving her husband every reason to seek his revenge. But time is of the essence, if she is to save herself and Melissa. With the help of lifelong friend Aiden Newman, they swiftly leave Oakland Hall for a new life in Liverpool's docklands. On arrival, Elodie and Melissa are welcomed as lodgers by Molly Haywood’s family, Aidens aunt – no questions are asked.

When I discover my boyfriend is cheating on me, I quit my job, and move to take up a role as the PR manager for a hockey team. Only problem? There’s a mix up. Now I’m stuck sharing a flat with the grumpy, hockey captain who's a former marine. Worse? (or is that better?) there’s only one bed! Even worse? My ex too has moved, as the captain of the rival team, ugh! When my enigmatic roomie realizes how much I want revenge he comes up with a plan.

Sometimes the key is letting go… Melody has vowed never to fall in love again. Al is a hopeless romantic. So, when they quite literally bump into each other, there's no reason sparks should fly. But the world seems a little upside down lately. A few weeks ago, Al ordered the removal of all the...

Ten-year-old Magda Brodie’s world is torn apart when her mother dies in the workhouse two weeks before Christmas. Her wastrel father arranges for her sisters to be sent to their grandparents in Ireland and for her younger brother to be adopted, leaving Magda distraught with worry as her family are scattered far and wide. Magda, as the eldest girl, is sent to live with her Aunt Bridget who, for whatever reason, holds a bitter resentment towards Magda. But adversity makes Magda strong and determined.

Lady Georgiana Pendlebury is no stranger to breaking the rules of polite society. But when a so-called ‘friend’ invites her to a clandestine party, Georgiana is shocked to discover the event is more scandalous than even she could have imagined. So when a mysterious stranger offers help, she accepts, not realising their encounter will turn her life upside down.

Raymond Jaffe feels like he doesn’t belong. Not with his mother’s new family. Not as a weekend guest with his father and his father’s wife. Not at school, where he’s an outcast. After his best friend moves away, Raymond has only two real connections: to the feral cat he’s tamed and to a blind ninety-two-year-old woman in his building who’s introduced herself with a curious question: Have you seen Luis Velez?

A young man, the son of an influential businessman, is discovered dead in his Central Aberdeen apartment. Hours later, a teenaged girl with no identification is found hanged in a suspected suicide. As DI Eve Hunter and her team investigate the two cases, they find themselves in a tug-of-war between privilege and poverty; between the elite and those on the fringes of society. Then an unexpected breakthrough leads them to the shocking conclusion: that those in power have been at the top for too long - and now, someone is going to desperate lengths to bring them down.

Post-war London is a city in flux, with burned-out buildings serving as vivid reminders of the past. But beneath those scars is a sense of resurging optimism. Chrissie Walker, a new student at Goldsmiths arts college, feels it keenly. So does Mary Quant, the auburn-haired classmate who becomes...

Written entirely in East Coast Scots, A Working Class State of Mind, the debut book by Colin Burnett, brings the everyday reality and language of life in Scotland to the surface. Colin's fiction takes themes in the social sciences and animates them in vivid ethnographic portrayals of what it means to be working-class in Scotland today. Delving into the tragic exploits of Aldo, as well as his long-suffering best friends Dougie and Craig, the book follows these and other characters as they make their way in a city more divided along class lines than ever before.

Serena Mills should be at her wedding. Instead, she’s eating an ice cream sundae and drinking an obscenely large glass of wine in a Harvester off the M25. She’s left the man everyone told her she was ‘so lucky’ to find–because she’s realised that she wants to find love. Real love. So she sets herself a challenge: 52 weeks. 52 dates. 52 chances to find real love. But sometimes even the best laid plans don’t work out. And it’s the people that take you most by surprise who can really sweep you off your feet . . .

Librarian and history enthusiast Jess Yates has hit rock bottom. With her ex behind bars for fraud, Jess needs to lay low – easier said than done with a celebrity sister. But Tavy has her uses. Her latest TV project involves renovating Fortune Hall, and she needs a house sitter while she’s jetting around the world. The opportunity is too good to miss, especially when Jess discovers that Fortune Hall has links to the infamous Nell Gwyn. Slowly the house begins to reveal its mysteries, and secrets that have laid buried for centuries can no longer be ignored.

The fourth book in the multi-million-copy bestselling series about a cosy Tokyo cafe that offers its visitors the chance to travel back in time. Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s poignant Before We Say Goodbye, translated from Japanese, explores the age-old question: what would you do if you could travel...

1884 - When Betsan Morgan’s mother succumbs to a devastating illness, she doesn't think her life could get much worse. But then her father moves in his new beau, an unserious flitty woman and coincidentally also the bargirl in the pub he works in, and she soon learns her house is no longer a home. All she can do is sit in the attic and stare at the portrait of her mother. Her new stepmother, Elinor, couldn’t even let them have the grace of keeping it in the hallway.

When several young prostitutes are found murdered in Liverpool, DI Leigh Moss knows there is only one person she can turn to for help with the case. Gangland queen Grace Carter knows the streets of Liverpool better than anyone and can ask questions Leigh can’t...but will Grace help? Grace doesn’t trust easily, but when she discovers that her family might be linked with the gruesome murders, she decides to give Leigh a chance. But helping Leigh is risky, and as Grace is dragged deeper into the murky world of vice, her own life is put in danger.

The next purrfect read from Rachel Wells – a true festive treat! Christmas is around the corner, and Alfie and George can’t wait. This year, the residents of Edgar road have come together to put on a festive show and raise money for a local homeless shelter. As December approaches, plans are...