Kirjahaku

Can the past ever really be left behind?Liz Pender has lived alone since her dreams for the future were shattered by the death of her husband. She retreated to Granite Springs where her life now revolves around her bookshop, The Reading Corner, and her cat, Marmaduke.Newly appointed editor of The Granite Springs Advertiser, Sam Walker, recently moved to the small country town to seek a quieter life.When Liz's bookshop comes under threat, Sam and Liz are brought together causing sparks to fly. But a summons for help from overseas threatens to ruin Sam's country idyll and reignites the past for Liz.Can Liz put the past behind her and face a future with Sam, or are her dreams destined to remain just that?

When widow Grace Winter makes the decision to sell the family property in Granite Springs and move to the small coastal town of Bellbird Bay, her children are horrified. Doing her best to ignore their protests, Grace settles into the small-town community and starts creating a new life for herself. However, the surprise arrival of her demanding daughter throws all that she's established into disarray.Retired solicitor Ted Crawford has the ideal life. He surfs, takes care of local turtle hatching and is becoming well known locally as a landscape artist. But his calm existence is upended by the sudden appearance of his son whose professional life is in jeopardy.Happy in their single lives, neither Grace nor Ted is looking for love, but when their paths keep crossing, it looks as if fate has other ideas. However, as their friendship evolves into something more, family issues threaten to derail any hope of a new relationship. Is a second chance at love going to be torn from their grasp?A heart-warming story of families, friends, the importance of living for the present, and how a second chance at love can happen when you least expect it.

Libby Walker never imagined she'd be moving into the dream house she and her husband had purchased for their retirement as a widow. Intent on making a new life for herself in the quiet coastal town of Bellbird Bay, Libby's life is upended by an unexpected call from her daughter.Adam Holland's unhappy childhood and broken home has left him scarred. Content with the life he has built for himself as a journalist and author of political thrillers, Adam arrives in Bellbird Bay to fulfil the deathbed request of an old friend.When Libby and Adam meet, there is an initial attraction. But Libby is grieving for her late husband and trying to help her daughter sort out her life, and Adam has no intention of forming a relationship, wary of commitment because of how his family was torn apart.Will the peace and tranquillity of Bellbird Bay help these two move on from old hurts and make this a Christmas to remember, or will events conspire to keep them apart?A heartwarming tale of family, friends, and how a second chance at love can happen when you least expect it.

Thirty-five years ago, tragedy forced Bev Cooper to cut short her university studies and seek refuge in her hometown of Bellbird Bay. Today, as the owner of the thriving Pandanus Garden Centre and Caf , Bev has moved beyond the past and is happy in her solitary existence.Following the tragic death of his son's wife, Iain Grant takes early retirement and moves with his devastated son and granddaughter to the peaceful coastal town of Bellbird Bay hoping it will provide the change of scene they all desperately need.When Iain's son accepts a position at Bev's garden centre, the pair find themselves drawn into each other's lives. But as they begin to enjoy an unexpected attraction, issues from the past threaten to derail their growing relationship.Will the healing atmosphere of Bellbird Bay work its magic and provide a second chance in life, or will Bev find it too difficult to put the past behind her and enjoy her own happy ever after?A heartwarming tale of family, friends, and how a second chance at love can happen when you least expect it.

Alison Wells has built a successful career lecturing in women's studies at a university in Perth, Australia. When her life unexpectedly falls apart, she decides to escape to the coastal town of Bellbird Bay on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.Neil Simpson loves teaching and his position as principal at a prestigious boy's school in Brisbane. But when scandal rocks the school, and he learns his father's health is failing, he believes he has no choice but to return to Bellbird Bay, the town where he grew up.Determined not to be a burden to her brother and his new partner, Ali is considering her options when her life and Neil's collide. Having avoided commitment all her life, Ali is unprepared for the force of her attraction to the man who is trying to come to terms with the upheaval to his own life.At fate conspires to keep them apart, can these two build a new future together; can this small town work its magic on the two lost souls?

Following her divorce, Greta Roberts has found solace running Birds of a Feather, an upmarket boutique in the seaside town of Bellbird Bay. But when a ghost from her past reappears, Greta's peaceful, single life is sent into a spin.Leo Carlson has built an empire of hotels and resorts but has never forgotten the perfect summer he spent in Bellbird Bay in his teens. When the opportunity to purchase a hotel there arises, he finds it difficult to pass it up.Meeting again, Greta and Leo are quick to discover they are different people from the young couple who kissed on the beach and vowed to love each other for ever. Beset with challenges which threaten to keep them apart, can Bellbird Bay work its magic and provide these two with a second chance at love?

Sandy Elliot is devastated when a fire destroys her new business and doesn't know how she can go on. When she receives a call from her grandmother's old friend seeking her help, a trip to Bellbird Bay seems like the answer to a prayer.Rob Andrews is proud of what he has achieved with Bay Bikes, the business he set up when he returned from Afghanistan. But the memory of his time there still plagues him and has always prevented him from forming any close relationships, afraid his deep-seated guilt and recurrent nightmares would scare off any woman foolish enough to become involved with him.Upon meeting, it's certainly not love at first sight. Sandy hates his beard and tattoos while Rob, though attracted to Sandy, doesn't believe he deserves to find happiness.But Bellbird Bay is a small town, and their paths continue to cross, making it impossible for them to ignore each other or to deny the attraction between them.With the festive season approaching, can Sandy and Rob overcome their pasts and enjoy a celebration of their own?

A heartwarming tale of family, friends, and second chancesDivorced, frustrated by her daughter's matchmaking, and resigned to staying happily single, Liz Phillips thinks she has her life all figured out... until she meets Finn Hunter.Having moved to Pelican Crossing twelve months earlier to support his daughter after a family tragedy, Finn finds himself juggling family obligations and a demanding job as the editor of the local paper. He has little time for romance.When Liz and Finn's paths cross, there's an undeniable spark between them. They quickly form a connection which neither of them anticipates.Amidst the whirlwind of their relationship, a secret from Liz's past resurfaces, threatening the closeness she shares with her daughters. Having Finn to lean on is a godsend, but Finn is concealing a secret of his own. A secret that once revealed could undermine the trust and understanding they share and destroy any chance of a future together.Can Liz find her happy ending or is she destined to face the future with only her family for company?

Two Isobels. A lifetime of regret. A love that spans the yearsIn 1938, as the world hurtled towards war, twenty-year-old Isobel MacDonald fell madly in love. But fate and her own actions conspired to deny her the happiness she yearned for. Many years later, plagued with regrets and with a shrill voice from the past ringing in her ears, she documents the events that shaped her life.In 2015, sixty-five-year-old Bel Davison returns from Australia to her native Scotland to visit her terminally ill aunt. Reading Isobel's memoir, she is beset with memories of her own childhood and overcome with guilt. When she meets her aunt's solicitor, events seem to spiral out of control and, almost against her will, she finds herself drawn to this enigmatic Scotsman.What is it that links these two women across the generations? Can the past influence the future?

A promise for the future. A threat from the past. Can Bel find happiness? Back in Sydney after her aunt's death, sixty-five year-old Bel Davison is making plans to sell up her home and business and return to Scotland where she has promised to spend the rest of her life with the enigmatic Scotsman with whom she's found love.But the reappearance of her ex-husband combined with other unexpected drawbacks turns her life into chaos. As a result, she begins to have doubts about the wisdom of her promise.In Scotland, Matt Reid has no such doubts and he longs for Bel's return.But when an unexpected turn of events leads him to question Bel's sincerity, Matt decides to take a drastic step - the result of which he could never have foreseen.Can this midlife couple find happiness in the face of the challenges life has thrown at them?

Set in Sydney at the height of the same sex marriage debate and the #MeToo campaign, this is the story of a midlife couple - a woman trying to leave a toxic marriage and a man who never imagined he could never want a permanent relationship.

Two old friends. A new relationship. What could possibly go wrong?Growing up in the small Australian country town of Granite Springs, Jo and Col have been lifelong friends.Following Jo's divorce and the death of Col's wife, the pair find comfort in their common grief. But as they tentatively explore their new relationship, they have little idea of the challenges that lie ahead.What they haven't bargained for is Jo's interfering ex, along with their three children, all of whom have their own agendas.Can Jo ride out the storm? Will she be granted the life she deserves?

Two families. Two troubled pasts. Can they find a future together?Following the loss of her husband and the devastating accusations surrounding his death, Kay Jackson has experienced the icy chill of alienation from the close-knit town of Granite Springs. Thrust into the position of personal assistant to a professor at the local university, Kay, who prefers to stay in the background away from the town gossips, is unsure how she will cope.When Nick Kerr's wife leaves him for a younger man, the professor is left nursing a broken heart while struggling to adapt to life as a single parent of two teens. Reeling from the indignity of his wife's actions, Nick has no intention of putting himself in such a vulnerable position again.However, as Kay and Nick's professional relationship develops, they find themselves drawn to each other. As their friendship begins to morph into something more, Kay's daughter arrives in town intent on controlling her mother's life. The combined actions of Kay's daughter and Nick's children reinforces the many doubts the couple have on embarking on a new relationship.Is there a future for Kay and Nick or will their families destroy any chance of happiness?

She's a strait-laced, inhibited career woman. He's an aging hippie who acts without thinking. What could they possibly have in common?Fran Reilly has hidden a secret sorrow for the past thirty years. But turning fifty and losing her mother forces her to re-evaluate her future. Returning to her home in Granite Springs, she's determined to make changes to her well-ordered life. However there are more changes in store than she could ever have imagined.When Owen Larsen applies for the position as Head of the new School of Music and Drama at the university in Granite Springs, his only concern is to leave the rat race of Sydney and find a more peaceful existence in the country.Owen is the exact opposite of everything in Fran's well-ordered world and reminds her of a past she has been at pains to forget. And Owen's country idyll isn't proving to be as peaceful as he imagined.Can these two opposites find common ground and is there a future for them in Granite Springs?