Showing results by author "Helen Rolfe" in All Categories

As young women, Lise and Emma had the kind of friendship people dream about. While Lise's own family was distant and disengaged, Emma's was welcoming and warm, and for the first twenty-six years of their life, growing up together in a close-knit community, the duo were inseparable. But when they decide to spend one year living together in Paris, what starts as the adventure of a lifetime becomes a disaster that changes everything. And when Emma returns to Bath the following summer, Lise stays behind in France, their friendship in tatters.

It's December in Heritage Cove, and along with the village Christmas tree, frosty mornings and the promise of the most wonderful time of the year, the new waffle shack is about to open. And its owner isn't a stranger to the Cove, because after all this time, Daniel is back to make amends with his brother Harvey—as well as a few other locals he might have offended along the way.

A shaky upbringing has left Rosie Stevens craving safety and security. She thinks she knows exactly what she needs to make her life complete - the stable job and perfect house-sit she’s just found in Magnolia Creek. The only thing she wants now is for her long-term boyfriend, Adam, to leave his overseas job and come home for good. Owen Harrison is notoriously nomadic, and he roars into town on his Ducati for one reason and one reason only - to search his parents’ house while they’re away to find out what they’ve been hiding from him his entire life.

Live every day as if it were your last – that’s the motto Bess has lived by since her father died unexpectedly. As a critical care paramedic, Bess sees every day just how easily life can be taken away. But carefree living has risks, and as Bess’s debts mount, she discovers her actions could have terrible consequences.

Melissa rushes back to Heritage Cove when Barney, the man who’s been like a father figure to her since she was a little girl, ends up in hospital. After an absence of five years, her return isn’t going to be easy, especially when she bumps into Harvey, the love of her life and the man she’s never been able to forget. For reasons he couldn't explain at the time, Harvey changed his mind about going with Melissa to start afresh as they'd planned. But with Melissa back in the village and determined to stick around to help Barney, they can't avoid each other forever.

The Heritage Bakery is finally getting the makeover it deserves, with sisters Jade and Celeste modernising the place and putting their own stamp on it while retaining all the charm of days gone by. But Jade has far more planned than a brand-new kitchen and fancy cake designs. She’s ready for an even bigger change in her life. It’s almost time to take the next step and she knows just what to do to make that happen.

Running Heritage View Stables is everything Hazel ever dreamed of. She loves working with the horses and managing the business with her brother. But after a terrible incident, she’s not sure whether she'll ever be able to put things back the way they were. Gus is ready to start over. He’s moved him and his ten-year-old daughter, Abigail, to Heritage Cove, where he’s opening his own vet practice. Everything is falling into place, especially as he watches Abigail start to come out of her shell for the first time since the accident.

Tilly is overjoyed when an estranged relative comes to Heritage Cove wanting to make amends. But as she lets him in to her life and Tilly’s Bits ‘n’ Pieces—the shop she owns and loves—her friends aren’t so sure whether everything is quite as it seems. Benjamin’s parents run Mistletoe Gate Farm, selling Christmas trees, wreaths and mistletoe. Benjamin and Tilly have been falling for one another since the summer but will family complications put an abrupt stop to what is looking like a burgeoning romance?

All it takes is a cozy cottage, nostalgia for her family, and the unexpected presence of a tall, handsome man to make Belle realize the true meaning of Christmas.

Loretta has run the little sewing shop in Butterbury for years, while bringing up her three headstrong daughters. Her own grandmother taught her how to quilt, and Loretta always found time to sit with Daisy, Ginny and Fern, pulling together scraps of material - and their hopes and dreams - into a beautiful whole. But this Christmas the family is coming apart at the seams.

When Noah and Maya find themselves on the same rescue team, they’re immediately drawn to each other. Yet, with so many complications in their personal lives, do they have time to open their hearts to someone new? As their friendship grows, Noah and Maya are both about to discover that life is worth nothing unless you share it with the people you love.

When Cleo and Dylan find each other at a Christmas party, will they be able to make the necessary choices in order to find happiness and love for themselves?

The Copper Plough is at the heart of village life for the residents of Heritage Cove, and never more so than at Christmas, when the tree glows in the alcove and the smell of mulled wine carries out onto the street. So when new owners for the beloved pub arrive and decide to shake things up, not everyone welcomes the changes with open arms. Local bakery owner Celeste is ready to keep an open mind. But she’s shocked to discover that one of the new landlords is Quinn, a former Navy sailor with whom she had a short but powerful romance years earlier.

Darcy is hosting Christmas at the Inglenook Inn, when someone from her past shows up and complicates things. Can they put their differences aside to make Christmas a success?

When busy lives, a crisis, and what seems like a wedding that's never going to happen put a strain on two couples, they must rely on friendship to get past it all....

When Jo's beloved grandparents ask for her help in running their little café at the end of the pier in Salthaven-on-Sea, she jumps at the chance. The café is a hub for many people: the single dad who brings his little boy in on a Saturday morning; the lady who sits alone and stares out to sea; the woman who pops in after her morning run.

Holly is looking for a change, and, even though not everyone agrees with her career choices, she’s determined there’s more to this life than the long hours she works as an editor in New York City. What she doesn’t expect is to meet Mitch, a recluse who’s hiding more than she realizes. Mitch spends his days hidden away in a little log cabin in the woods out in Inglenook Falls where he owns a Christmas-tree farm. He speaks to people only when and if it’s necessary, so when Holly falls into his life, he’s not sure how to react.

Morgan Rosewood finds herself at a crossroads in her life after returning home to Forget-Me-Not Cottage to care for her ailing mother. She and boyfriend Ronan, had plans, big plans, but all these hopes and dreams are put on hold when Morgan's mum suddenly dies. Morgan’s emotions are in turmoil but she sets about the task of clearing the house and running her late mother’s vintage market stall.

Working with the Whistlestop River air ambulance is Nadia's whole world. She adores her job and the team – they’re family. But when a baby is abandoned on the steps of the base, Nadia is forced to confront events from her past she’d rather forget. Hudson is trying to get his life back on track after his divorce. It’s not easy juggling his work as a patient and family liaison officer and being the primary parent for his children. He wouldn’t change it for the world. But when his teenage son’s behaviour spirals out of control, Hudson begins to wonder if he can really be there for everyone.

Veronica Beecham's cottage is the neatest house on Mapleberry Lane. A place for everything, and everything in its place—that's her motto. But within her wisteria-covered walls, Veronica has a secret: she's hardly left her perfect home in years. Then her teenage granddaughter, Audrey, arrives on the doorstep, and Veronica's orderly life is turned upside down.