Stephanie

The wonderful new novel from Alex Brown, best-selling author of The Great Christmas Knit Off, perfect for fans of Trisha Ashley and Jill Mansell. April Wilson is wondering what to do next - her life has been turned upside down after the loss of her husband so she's hoping to piece herself together again with a visit to her elderly great aunt, Edith. Arriving in the rural idyll of Tindledale, she's dismayed to find Edith's cottage and the orchards surrounding it in a sorry state of disrepair.

When the Mayor of a picturesque Italian town launches a new scheme to rejuvenate the community, his advertisement is read with interest and excitement by many. Zara is in her thirties and desperate to get on the property ladder. Tim and Lynda are retiring and need a project. Some are looking for a peaceful bolthole. Others hope to make a profit, start a business, escape a dull life or an unhappy relationship. And there is someone who just might be hiding their true motivation...

Marvellously atmospheric tale of strangers summoned to a grand but neglected villa on the Italian coast. Each of them has been named in a will, but nobody knows their benefactress.... Four very different people are named in a will. Delia, an opera singer robbed of her voice by illness; George, an idealistic scientist who cannot face what his skills have created; Marjorie, desperately poor and unable to dislodge her writer’s block; and Lucius, ostensibly in control but whose personal life is in chaos.

What would you do if you were sitting quietly in your living room when a mysterious couple suddenly appeared from out of nowhere, and then told you they were "ascended masters" who had come to reveal some shocking secrects of existence and teach you the miraculous power of advanced forgiveness? Would you call the cops? Call a psychiatrist? Call out for pizza?

In a world where women hold all the power and men have barely been an afterthought, an intrepid shipmistress must put aside everything she knows if she is to save her people. Bela is at the helm of the Sandcrow, a ship sent from calm seas to the far frozen north in search of a legendary power that could turn the tide of war. Locked into ice, the Sandcrow is lost. Now, for the shipmistress and her crew, a desperate voyage becomes a chilling struggle for survival against nature, fear, and prejudice.

For decades we've been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F*ck positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let's be honest, shit is f*cked, and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn't sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is - a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck is his antidote to the coddling, let's-all-feel-good mind-set that has infected modern society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.

The key to weight loss isn't calories. It isn't fat. It isn't protein. It isn't even carbs. You can count them, cut them, and swap them all you want, but you won't lose weight if you're eating foods that your body can't tolerate. And the most common diet foods - like egg whites, wheat bread, and fat-free yogurt - are some of the worst offenders. These "healthy" foods are actually making you fat! In this book, celebrity nutritionist and fitness expert J. J. Virgin pinpoints the 10 foods that sabotage weight loss. Just by eliminating these 10 diet saboteurs, listeners will see incredible results.

Leadership expert Sally Helgesen and best-selling leadership coach Marshall Goldsmith have trained thousands of high achievers - men and women - to reach even greater heights. Again and again, they see that women face specific and different road blocks from men as they advance in the workplace. In fact, the very habits that helped women early in their careers can hinder them as they move up. Simply put, what got you here won't get you there...and you might not even realize your blind spots until it's too late.