Books

I remember the moment I handed her to Suzanne, wrapped in a soft pink blanket. I’d wept while I’d put it around her and she’d blinked up at me with her big blue eyes. The moment she left my arms I wanted to cry out. Suzanne had tears in her eyes as she took hold of my daughter. “Thank you,” she whispered.

It’s a warm early summer’s evening when Mia’s doorbell rings unexpectedly. She opens the door to see the silhouette of a teenage girl standing in the shadow beyond the porch light—and in an instant she realises who it is. Daisy, the daughter she gave up as a baby. Daisy steps forward, trembling as she says “I’m sorry I didn’t call first. But something happened. And I really needed… you.”

Seventeen years before, knowing she couldn’t possibly give her beautiful little girl Daisy the future she deserved, Mia made the hardest decision of her life—to give her up. And Suzanne seemed the perfect adoptive mother: calm, stable, and full of love for the daughter she’d always dreamed of having.

The two mothers promised to keep communication open, so Daisy could have Mia’s love and support along with Suzanne’s. But as the years passed, those visits happened less and less, and now Daisy seems almost like a stranger to Mia.

But she has arrived on Mia’s doorstep, and she says she has a terrible secret. And she believes the only person who can help her is Mia. Her birth mother.

Mia, however, has secrets of her own. Ones she is afraid to let Daisy or anyone else know. And while Suzanne desperately seeks a way back to her estranged child, can Mia overcome her past to help the girl they both call their daughter in her darkest hour?

I look at my daughter. My darling girl. I remember her tiny hand in mine, her first smile. I recall her tears when she’d tumble over, healed instantly with a band-aid and a little kiss. I have to keep her safe. Even if it means someone else gets hurt…

In the pretty, privileged college town of Milford, New Hampshire, everyone is friendly, everything is safe. And on this cold autumn day, as red and yellow leaves begin to fall from the trees, and everyone wraps up for the first time, it would be easy to believe nothing bad could ever happen here.

Until a screech of tires is heard, a thud, a child’s scream. The crash that sees Jenna’s six-year-old daughter Amy Rose being hit by a car driven by seventeen-year-old Maddie.

Maddie’s mother, Ellen – a college professor with a warm, approachable reputation – insists it must have been an accident. Her daughter is always safe on the road—and she’s vulnerable herself.

But as Amy Rose lies unconscious in hospital, the town begins to take sides. With Ellen, who just wants to defend her daughter. Or with Jenna, a single mother with a past, whose child hovers between life and death…

The truth is that both mothers have secrets they’re trying to keep. And, with Amy Rose’s life hanging in the balance, one of them will stop at nothing to protect the person she loves—her daughter.

An incredible, powerfully emotional and heartbreaking read, with a dilemma that will make everyone wonder what they would do, in either mother’s shoes. Perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, Jojo Moyes and Diane Chamberlain.

Mother-of-two, Ally has always dreamed of fostering—it feels like her chance to give back when she has been so lucky in life. But when seven-year-old Dylan joins her family in their big, spacious, suburban home, Ally isn’t prepared for the responsibility—or for the love—she will feel for him.

Life with Dylan isn’t easy though. He refuses to speak and Ally finds herself only able to guess what his needs might be. And, as her family feels the impact of his arrival, she is forced to question whether she really is a good enough parent to help another woman’s child.

Dylan’s mother, Beth, then begins her fight to reclaim the son who she says is her whole world. With everything at stake for this small, silent, beautiful boy—which mother can truly give Dylan the love, the security, and the home he deserves? Ally knows her life could never be the same again without Dylan in it. But would she really consider letting a child be taken from his own mother forever?

A beautiful, powerful and ultimately uplifting story about the heartbreaking power of motherly love, for fans of Diane Chamberlain, Jodi Picoult and Jojo Moyes.

Looking back, I wish I could find my way back to that moment. I’d snatch it and hold onto it and live in it for the rest of my life, if I could. When Emily could still throw her arms around me. Oh God, just give me that moment, or one like it again. That’s all I want.

From the moment Emily was born, reaching out with her tiny little star-shaped hand towards her mother, blinking with long eyelashes over soft blue eyes, she became Rachel’s whole world.

But Rachel’s worst nightmare comes true when a rare auto-immune illness leaves four-year-old Emily in a coma the doctors say she may never come out of. And Rachel has to make a heartbreaking decision – one that her ex-husband, Emily’s dad James, doesn’t agree with.

Terrified she’s going to lose her daughter for good, Rachel knows she must find a way to keep the hope alive for Emily. But there is only one person she can turn to for help to convince James––and it’s his new wife, Eva.

As an unlikely but powerful friendship develops between the two women, both Rachel and Eva will have to ask themselves––what is truly the right choice for the tiny, fragile little girl who lies between them?

It hit me, the reality of it, in a way it hadn’t before like a sledgehammer straight to the chest. Laura was gone. She was never coming back. I’d never see her again; she’d never hum in the kitchen, she’d never pull Ruby onto her lap and tickle her tummy as she buried her face in the sweet curve of our daughter’s shoulder. Nathan West loved his wife Laura with all his heart. But now she’s gone, taken from him in a seemingly random act of violence. Laura was the glue that held their family together. And for Nathan, life without her feels almost meaningless. As he tries to find hope in the darkness, his three young daughters express their grief in different and challenging ways – with one set on a path of self-destruction that could devastate their family all over again. Desperate to understand his own heartbreak better, he reaches out to others who had known Laura. Including her new friend Maria, whose light and warmth are exactly what their grieving family needs, and who is soon helping out and providing emotional support for them all.But the picture Maria paints of Laura is unfamiliar to Nathan – of a wife who felt ignored, a mother who felt she couldn’t do enough – and he struggles to reconcile it with his own memories of the woman he loved. Is it possible he didn’t know his wife after all? And can he trust Maria? He can’t escape the feeling that she’s keeping something from him.Maria is hiding a secret with the power to rock Nathan’s family to its core. Because it is about what happened the day that Laura died…An insightful and powerful novel guaranteed to break your heart, about how the unthinkable can sometimes help us see the world in a powerful new way. Perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, Diane Chamberlain, and Susan Lewis.

Is her life as easy and effortless as it seems from the outside? Or is she feeling lonely, all by herself in that big house, an evening stretching out in front of her just as it is for me?’

When Tessa arrives at the little house by the lake with her two children Ben and Katherine, it is an escape. For all of them. Never mind that the rental house is a bit small – it’s theirs for the summer. A place to hide…

Their isolation is disrupted when they meet the family from the big house next door. Three children Charlotte, Zoe and Max and their glamorous mother Rebecca – who seems absolutely determined to invite Tessa in to their lives.

But Rebecca is harbouring a dark secret of her own. One that will put not only her family at risk, but Tessa’s too. And when she discovers she has no option but to leave her children for several weeks, Tessa feels like the only person she can trust.

Suddenly Tessa finds herself living a life she could only have dreamed of. Wealth, a large brood of children, and Rebecca’s handsome husband Josh visiting at weekends.

But even as powerful bonds are forming between them, secrets have a way of catching up with people. And as the summer comes to an end, who will learn to love again and who will risk losing everything?

A gripping, twisty emotional page turner with a heartbreaking twist, for fans of Jodi Picoult, Emily Bleeker and Diane Chamberlain.

You know you can’t keep your baby.
But can you trust someone else with their life?

When Heather finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, she knows there is no way she can keep her baby. She can barely manage to stay afloat as it is. But how can she stop herself loving the child as it grows inside her?

She thinks she’s found the perfect adoptive mother in Grace: confident, wealthy – Grace has everything that Heather doesn’t. But when the heartbreaking moment arrives, will Heather be able to give up her baby? And if she can’t, what will this mean for Grace?

Two women’s lives, forever entwined by the love for the same child and by the agonizing choices they will both have to make. A Mother’s Choice will make readers ask themselves what it truly means to be a parent, and whether they could make an ultimately selfless decision when it comes to their child’s future.

A Mother’s Goodbye is a heartbreaking and compelling emotional drama with a tear-jerking twist – perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, Kelly Rimmer and Diane Chamberlain.

The powerfully gripping new book from USA TODAY bestselling author Kate Hewitt.

Josh and Ben are nine years old and best friends, until a single, careless act in the school playground destroys the lives of both families – and wrenches their small Manhattan school apart as the close-knit community choose which mother to side with…

And when tragedy strikes again in the most unexpected of ways, the lives of these two women will be changed once more, and this time forever. WHEN HE FELL explores the issues of parental responsibility and guilt, and whether there are just some acts that human nature just cannot forgive…

You love your best friend. You trust her with your life. But could you give her the most precious gift of all? Alex’s life is a mess. She’s barely holding down a job, only just affording her apartment, and can’t remember when she was last in a relationship. An unexpected pregnancy is the last thing she needs. Martha’s life is on track. She’s got the highflying career, the gorgeous home and the loving husband. But one big thing is missing. Five rounds of IVF and still no baby. The solution seems simple. Alex knows that Martha can give her child everything that she can’t provide. But Martha’s world may not be as perfect as it seems, and letting go isn’t as easy as Alex expected it to be. Now they face a decision that could shatter their friendship forever.

Anna’s hands tense on Alice and she hesitates. In that endless pause, I see all I need to know. She doesn’t want to give Alice to me – not now, and not ever. And part of me doesn’t even blame her…

Milly always dreamed of being a mother. Adopted herself, she has always imagined a powerful intimate connection with a child of her own. So when she and her husband Matt are told they can’t have children, her dreams are shattered.

But then their loved ones offer the ultimate gift – Milly’s best friend Anna and Matt’s brother Jack will be donors so that Milly can carry a child and finally have a chance to be a mother. And with everyone accepting and open, Milly believes that nothing could could go wrong.

Except none of the four people involved are prepared for the feelings that will threaten their most important relationships as their precious, longed-for daughter Alice grows up and receives a heartbreaking diagnosis.

Then those who love her best will have to decide what it means to be a parent, and to make decisions with far-reaching and devastating consequences… for Alice, and for themselves.

A powerful, heart-breaking novel guaranteed to make you cry, for fans of Jodi Picoult, Diane Chamberlain, and Gracie’s Secret.