English
13 EPUB Books
Collection of E-books by Judy Astley, an English illustrator and author of 18 novels all published by Black Swan.
It Must Have Been the Mistletoe
Thea's parents decide to host a big family Christmas in a house by the sea. even though they are, in fact, about to split up. Thea herself is newly single - her sister and brother are both settled, with children, homes and a future. But Thea's boyfriend has ditched her in favour of his pedigree dogs, and Thea can't decide whether or not she minds.
There will be copious food and drink, holly and mistletoe, lots of bracing walks and a wintry barbecue on the beach. If it seems an odd way to celebrate the final break-up of a marriage and the Moving On to new partners, no- one is saying so. But then no-one had anticipated that the new partners might actually turn up to complicate the sleeping arrangements.
As Cornwall experiences the biggest snowstorm in living memory, the festive atmosphere comes under some strain. Will Thea manage to find some happiness for herself? Will the mistletoe work its magic on them all?
Blowing It
Sorrel is about to go off on her Gap Year. She wants a home to come home to. Ilex, her brother, is trying to upgrade his flat and marry his smart girlfriend Manda. He'd like some immediate equity. Clover, the elder sister, has plans that involve a bijou second home in France. And she wants it now. If only their parents would be sensible. If only they would sell their large, rather grand but somewhat dilapidated home and hand over their inheritance. But parents aren't always as sensible as their children. They are planning on blowing the lot.
Unchained Melanie
Melanie finds herself single again after years of being one half of a couple. Her friends predict loneliness, frustration, and disaster. But Melanie is overwhelmingly excited to be able to do her own thing—she plans a program of behaving badly, after a lifetime of behaving properly.
Just For The Summer
Every July, the lucky owners of Cornish holiday homes set off for their annual break. Loading their estate cars with dogs, cats, casefuls of wine, difficult adolescents and rebellious toddlers, they close up their desirable semis in smartish London suburbs - having turned off the Aga and turned on the burglar alarm - and look forward to a carefree, restful, somehow more fulfilling summer.
Clare is, this year, more than usually ready for her holiday. Her teenage daughter, Miranda, has been behaving strangely; her husband, Jack, is harbouring unsettling thoughts of a change in lifestyle; her small children are being particularly tiresome; and she herself is contemplating a bit of extra-marital adventure, possibly with Eliot, the successful - although undeniably heavy-drinking and overweight - author in the adjoining holiday property. Meanwhile Andrew, the only son of elderly parents, is determined that this will be the summer when he will seduce Jessica, Eliot's nubile daughter. But Jessica spends her time in girl-talk with Miranda, while Milo, her handsome brother with whom Andrew longs to be friends, seems more interested in going sailing with the young blond son of the club commodore.
Unexpected disasters occur, revelations are made and, as the summer ends, real life will never be quite the same again.
All Inclusive
For the last few years, Beth and Ned have gone to the same Caribbean island to the same luxury spa hotel. But this year, home problems have somehow tagged along for the ride. Ned has been playing away—a bit of a drunken fling, that's all, Beth thinks. But although they have put it all behind them, Beth doesn't know that Ned's fling was with the female half of one of the couples they are vacationing with.
The Look of Love
Bella has given up on men. Happily divorced, her latest boyfriend just omitted to tell her about his current wife, so she's back on her own again. Then her ex-husband turns up, wanting to sell the family home in which she and their two teenage children are well settled.
But all their lives are changed when a television company rents the house for a reality TV fashion makeover programme. Against her better judgment Bella finds herself taking part in the programme, and while she learns a little bit too much about what really goes on behind the scenes, she also discovers that love can appear in the most unexpected places…
I Should Be So Lucky
Viola hasn't had much luck with men. Her first husband, Marco, companion of her youth and father of her only child, left her when he realised he was gay. Her second, Rhys, ended his high-octane, fame-filled life by driving his Porsche into a wall. No wonder her family always believes she needs Looking After, and her friends think she really shouldn't be allowed out on her own…
Which is why, at the age of thirty-nine, she finds herself shamefully back at home, living with Mum.
Viola knows she has to take charge; she needs to get a life, and fast. With a stroppy teenage daughter, a demanding mother, and siblings who want to control her life for her, where is she going to turn?
In the Summertime
It's twenty years since Miranda, then sixteen, holidayed in Cornwall and her life changed forever. Now she's back again - with her mother Clare and the ashes of her stepfather Jack, whose wish was to be scattered on the sea overlooked by their one-time holiday home.
The picturesque cove seems just the same as ever, but the people are different - more smart incomers,fewer locals, more luxury yachts in the harbour. But Miranda and Clare both find some strangely familiar faces, and revisit the emotions they both thought had disappeared.
Other People's Husbands
Sue's mother told her that she shouldn't marry Conrad—that the 25-year age gap between them would tell in the end. The end is now, apparently, approaching fast. Conrad, a famous painter, has decided that it would be good to die before he gets seriously old and so spends his time sorting out his chaotic life. Sue, teaching art at a local college, finds that she has plenty of male company—other people's husbands, ones she tells Conrad all about, who are just good friends to her. But there's one she, somehow, doesn't get round to mentioning.
A Merry Mistletoe Wedding
It is almost a year since Sean and Thea met and it's been a roller-coaster ride: they're getting married on Christmas Eve!
Neither Thea or Sean want a big fuss - a simple wedding, with Christmas carols and just a few sprigs of mistletoe for decoration is all they need. But before they know it, things begin to get complicated. Trying to manage a long-distance relationship in the build-up to their Christmas wedding is one thing, but as one challenge after another comes their way, the happy couple begin to wonder if they'll ever make it down the aisle…
Every Good Girl
After 20 years of marriage, Nina has gotten rid of serial-philanderer Joe and is happy coping alone with their two daughters. But then some disturbing elements begin to appear in her new, carefree life—including the flasher on the common and Joe's revelation that his girlfriend wants a baby.
Seven For A Secret
It was Heather's silver wedding anniversary. But this important milestone did not mark her marriage to Tom, her often-absent airline pilot husband and father of their two teenage children. It was for her first marriage - a wildly romantic, secret affair, when she and Iain - twelve years older than her and the heir to a Scottish baronetcy - had eloped immediately after her final school speech day. She was just sixteen at the time. The marriage had not lasted twenty-five weeks, let alone years, and it was, as her mother firmly announced, As If It Never Happened. But secrets have a habit of coming out, and when a film crew arrived in the attractive Thamesside village where Heather and Tom lived, Heather was horrified to find her ex-husband amongst them.
As Heather and Iain met again, many secrets jostled to be revealed, including Tom's own highly secret life. Heather, her daughter Kate - the same age as Heather was when she embarked upon her disastrous elopement - and her mother Delia all had to reveal things which they never thought would need to be revealed, and their peaceful Oxfordshire village community buzzed with speculation and scandal.
Excess Baggage
A family holiday was the last thing Lucy was expecting to have. But as a penniless house-painter with an expired lease on her flat and a 12-year-old daughter, she could hardly turn down her parents' offer to take them on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Caribbean.
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