Recommendations based on "Last Letter Home: The Richard and Judy Book Club pick 2018"

The Third Novel From The Phenomenally Talented Alice Oseman, Author Of Solitaire And The Graphic Novel Series Heartstopper - Soon To Be A Major Netflix Series.

'The Amalfi coast setting, the handsome grumpy Italian, this book has it all!!' Lia Bathurst had always dreamed of escaping to the white sandy beaches and turquoise blue seas of the Amalfi coast - but that dream hadn't included meeting her real father. A father she had never even known about until a few weeks ago! Yet here she was, standing outside the gates of a gorgeous pink villa being refused entry by the insufferable - and insufferably handsome - Raphael Knight, her father's business manager. When an old black and white photo proves Lia's claim to be true, Raph is determined to make sure this stranger, with her long caramel waves and infectious smile, doesn't have an ulterior motive. Even if that means not letting her out of his sight. As temperatures rise, and not just from the heat of the Mediterranean sun, could Lia and Raph's forced proximity lead to something more like... amore? Praise for Julie Caplin: 'One unputdownable story' Sunday Times Bestseller Katie Fforde 'An irresistible slice of escapism' Sunday Times Bestseller Phillipa Ashley 'The descriptions of food and drink made me want to visit France immediately, if not sooner. A wonderful, summery treat for every reader' Sue Moorcroft 'A gorgeous book, in which each little detail and plot point adds sparkle to the story - much like the tantalising fizz in a glass of chilled champagne!' Erin Green 'The perfect summer escape' Alex Brown 'A delicious read! I could almost taste the Champagne' Teresa F. Morgan 'Oh la la, joy of a book! A stunning summer escape in the French countryside' Caroline Roberts 'Julie Caplin always sweeps me away to whatever location her stories are set in...a feast for all the senses with a romance that sparkles like the finest champagne!' Sarah Bennett 'Absolutely perfect! Everything you could possibly want from a summer romance' Annabel French 'Made me want to pack my entire life into a suitcase and start all over again in a gorgeous setting, with delicious dining, charismatic characters and fabulous friendships and a swoon-worthy french man to die for' Kim Nash 'With an abundance of chemistry between Hattie and Luc, plus a delicious vineyard setting, The French Chateau Dream is a gloriously satisfying escapist read!' Kate Frost 'A gorgeous slice of escapism to a beautiful chateau. I loved joining Hattie on her summer escape to a dreamy French chateau with an equally dreamy owner. A beautiful setting, wonderful characters, and gorgeous writing' Jessica Redland 'A beautifully romantic read with a fabulous cast of characters, I was totally transported to the delights of a French vineyard in summer alongside Hattie and Luc' Suzanne Snow

Perfect for fans of Cecelia Ahern and Jojo Moyes, a beautiful and moving story about the unbreakable bond between a mother and daughterBrett's Life List1. Go to Paris2. Perform live, on a super big stage3. Have a baby, maybe two4. Fall in loveBrett Bohlinger seems to have it all: a plum job, a spacious loft, an irresistibly handsome boyfriend. All in all, a charmed life. That is, until her beloved mother passes away, leaving behind a will with one big stipulation: In order to receive her inheritance, Brett must first complete the life list of goals she’d written when she was a naïve girl of fourteen.Grief-stricken, Brett can barely make sense of her mother’s decision―her childhood dreams don’t resemble her ambitions at age thirty-four in the slightest. Some seem impossible. How can she possibly have a relationship with a father who died seven years ago? Other goals (Be an awesome teacher!) would require her to reinvent her entire future.As Brett reluctantly embarks on a perplexing journey in search of her adolescent dreams, one thing becomes clear. Sometimes life’s sweetest gifts can be found in the most unexpected places.

A dazzling and sweeping new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry!

After a rough tumble and maybe-serious head injury, a disillusioned trans poet falls for a charming corporate lawyer in a love story that grapples with the explosive ghosts of relationships past, romantic and familial, from the Lambda Award-nominated author of Bellies, Nicola Dinan “Fell down the stairs and woke up a trad wife.” Max is thirty, a published poet and grossly overpaid legal counsel for a tech company. With a lifetime of dysphoria and fuccbois rattling around in her head, Max is plagued with a deep dissatisfaction during what should be the best years of her life. After taking a spill down the stairs at a New Year’s Eve party, she decides to make some changes. First things first: a stab at good old-fashioned heteronormativity. Max thinks she’s found the answer in Vincent, a corporate lawyer and hobby baker, whose trad friendship group may as well speak a foreign language, and whose Chinese parents never pictured their son dating a trans woman. This uncharted territory may have rough terrain, but Vincent cares for Max in a way she’d long given up on as a foolish fantasy. Yet Vincent is carrying his own baggage from his gap year in Thailand a decade prior: an explosive entanglement with a mysterious, gorgeous traveler. Voice-driven, warm, and poignant, Disappoint Me is an exploration of millennial angst, race, trans panic, and the allure of bourgeois domesticity that asks if we are defined by our worst mistakes.

Two Of Cecelia’s Best-loved Novels Available As An Ebook Duo For The First Time! The Gift And Thanks For The Memories Will Make A Wonderful Treat For Any Cecelia Fan This Christmas.

An unmissable novel of love, disaster, heartbreak, and unexpected happy endings, by the bestselling British author of Maybe One Day. “When I was twenty-six years old my world was literally turned upside down and inside out, like a coat pocket being excavated for loose change. It was terrible, and frightening, and it taught me a lot of things I never wanted to know.” Elena Godwin has scrimped and saved for a relaxing dream holiday in Mexico with her handsome but laddish boyfriend Harry. Life has felt a bit less exciting than she’d imagined her twenties would be, and she's hoping the trip will add some sizzle. But on a gorgeous summer evening an earthquake strikes—shattering their peaceful vacation. The trauma changes Elena’s life forever. Ten years later, Elena still can't forget the face of the stranger she met that night—the man who may have saved her life. When they’re suddenly and unexpectedly thrown back together again, Elena starts to uncover the truth around that fateful night, and question whether she should have lived her life differently in the years afterwards. What if it’s not too late?

From the wildly popular bestselling author of The Keeper of Lost Things—an uplifting, slightly magical story about how it’s never too late to find out who you really are."Ruth Hogan is the queen of uplifting fiction and Madame Burova reminds us why. The writing crackles with humor and warmth. I can't imagine a better book in which to lose yourself at the moment. Stunning, immersive and absolutely wonderful." --Annie Lyons, author of The Brilliant Life of Eudora HoneysettMadame Burova—beloved Tarot reader, palmist, and clairvoyant—is retiring and leaving her booth on the Brighton seafront.After inheriting her mother’s fortune-telling business as a young woman, Imelda Burova has spent her life on the Brighton pier practicing her trade. She and her trusty pack of Tarot cards have seen the lovers and the liars, the angels and the devils, the dreamers and the fools. Now, after a lifetime of keeping other people’s secrets, Madam Burova is ready to have a little piece of life for herself. But she still has one last thing to do—to fulfill a promise made in the 1970s, when she and her girlfriends were carefree, with their whole lives still before them.In London, it is time for another woman to make a fresh start. Billie has lost her university job, her marriage, and her place in the world when a sudden and unlikely discovery leaves her very identity in question. Determined to find answers, she must follow a trail…which leads to Brighton, the pier, and directly to Madame Burova’s door.In a story spanning over fifty years, Ruth Hogan has conjured a magical world of 1970s holiday camps and seaside entertainers, eccentrics, heroes and villains, the lost and the found. Young people will make careless choices which echo down the years….but it’s never too late to put things right.

The Unretirement is an uplifting story about the joy of pursuing dreams at any age, full of warmth, heart and community spirit. Meet 65-year-old widow Maggie Lawford. After retiring two years ago and travelling the world with her husband Geoff, she's alone again - and retirement has gone from a never-ending holiday to grief-filled and lonely. Though looking after her gorgeous granddaughter Alice for her high-flying daughter Hannah brings so much joy, Maggie yearns for more. After her ambition of being a chef was deferred forty years ago in favour of a more family-friendly career, Maggie knows it's now or never to chase her dreams. When Maggie and Hannah visit their favourite local Indian restaurant one evening, they are gutted to find the tables all but empty, with a dwindling menu and their old friend and owner Sav at his wit's end. The last straw comes when Maggie hears a cry from the kitchen: she charges in, taking matters into her own hands. Never one to give up without a fight, Maggie resolves to save the beloved but failing restaurant - and with all her years catering for a large family and volunteering for the WI, it's not long before she has a military-grade plan to turn the place around again. After all, Maggie's golden days aren't behind her just yet...

In this #1 bestselling page-turner from "the queen of beach reads" (New York Magazine), a Nantucket novelist has one final summer to protect her secrets while her loved ones on earth learn to live without their golden girl. On a perfect June day, Vivian Howe, author of thirteen beach novels and mother of three nearly grown children, is killed in a hit-and-run car accident while jogging near her home on Nantucket. She ascends to the Beyond where she's assigned to a Person named Martha, who allows Vivi to watch what happens below for one last summer. Vivi also is granted three “nudges” to change the outcome of events on earth, and with her daughter Willa on her third miscarriage, Carson partying until all hours, and Leo currently “off again” with his high-maintenance girlfriend, she’ll have to think carefully where to use them. From the Beyond, Vivi watches “The Chief” Ed Kapenash investigate her death, but her greatest worry is her final book, which contains a secret from her own youth that could be disastrous for her reputation. But when hidden truths come to light, Vivi’s family will have to sort out their past and present mistakes—with or without a nudge of help from above—while Vivi finally lets them grow without her. With all of Elin’s trademark beach scenes, mouth-watering meals, and picture-perfect homes, plus a heartfelt message—the people we lose never really leave us—Golden Girl is a beach book unlike any other.