Heidi Perks is the Sunday Times bestselling author of Now You See Her, which was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick, Come Back for Me, Three Perfect Liars, The Whispers and The Other Guest. The Last Resort is her sixth novel. Heidi is a voracious reader of crime and thrillers and is fascinated by the darker side of our closest relationships. Heidi lives in Bournemouth with her husband and two children.

Heidi Perks

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Sally Stewart

'Long-shanks Gertie' the village children called her, chasing her all the way to school. It was because she was different, with her long legs and long dark hair and clean pinafore. And, as the daughter of the land-agent on Providence, she accepted that she didn't belong anywhere - not part of the village, and not part of the Squire's family at the Big House. 
 
But she was fascinated by Squire Wyndham's family - Louise, the arrogant daughter of the house who never missed an opportunity of snubbing her. James, who was handsome and wonderful and charming - and who was one day to break her heart. And William, the heir, quiet, bookish, and almost as much as misfit as she was. But above all there was Lady Hester. It was Lady Hester who saw something in Gertrude that no one else had perceived - a quality of strength and endurance that would serve the family well. 
 
Between them Lady Hester and Gertrude Hoskins were to be the salvation of Providence.

The Women Of Providence

Jilly Cooper

Set against the glorious Cotswold countryside and the playgrounds of the world, Jilly Cooper's Rutshire Chronicles offer an intoxicating blend of skulduggery, swooning romance, sexual adventure and hilarious high jinks. 
 
This special 2-for-1 collection features two of these classic titles: Riders and Rivals. 
 
Riders 
 
Riders takes the lid off international showjumping, a sport where the brave horses are almost human, but the humans behave like animals. 
 
The brooding hero, gypsy Jake Lovell, under whose magic hands the most difficult horse or woman becomes biddable, is driven to the top by his loathing of the beautiful bounder and darling of the show ring, Rupert Campbell-Black. Having filched each other's horses, and fought and fornicated their way around the capitals of Europe, the feud between the two men finally erupts with devastating consequences during the Los Angeles Olympics. 
 
Rivals 
 
Into the cut-throat world of Corinium television comes Declan O'Hara, a mega-star of great glamour and integrity. Living rather too closely across the valley is Rupert Campbell-Black, divorced and as dissolute as ever, and now the Tory Minister for Sport. 
 
Declan needs only a few days at Corinium to realise that the Managing Director, Lord Baddingham, is a crook who has recruited him merely to help retain the franchise for Corinium. Baddingham has also enticed Cameron Cook, a gorgeous but domineering woman executive, to produce Declan's programme. Declan and Cameron detest each other, provoking a storm of controversy into which Rupert plunges with his usual abandon. 
 
As a rival group emerges to pitch for the franchise, reputations ripen and decline, true love blossoms and burns, marriages are made and shattered, and sex raises its (delicious) head at almost every throw as, in bed and boardroom, the race is on to capture the Cotswold Crown.

Jilly Cooper: Rivals and Riders

Ebook Bundle

Max Barry

A wickedly observed, disturbing, darkly funny and surprisingly moving parable for a new tech-obsessed age by the acclaimed author of Jennifer Government. 
 
Scientist Charles Neumann loses a leg in an industrial accident. It’s not a tragedy. It’s an opportunity. Charlie always thought his body could be better. He begins to explore a few ideas. To build parts. Better parts. 
 
Prostheticist Lola Shanks loves a good artificial limb. In Charlie, she sees a man on his way to becoming artificial everything. But others see a madman.Or a product.Or a weapon . . . 
 
A story for this age of pervasive technology, Machine Man is a darkly funny unravelling of one man’s quest for ultimate self-improvement.

Machine Man

Janet Haslam

Rachel Cooper's father kept his family in a state of terrified subservience. When he died - apoplectic with rage at having been crossed, at last, by his son - Rachel was left to care for her helpless mother and difficult young sister. Raped by a local youth whose love she thought she had gained, she gave birth in secret to a daughter who had to be given away for adoption. 
 
Hating and mistrusting all men, Rachel's only friend was Polly, the local wise woman whose support and counsel was to bring her through the worst of times. She managed to develop a successful career and to win the love of a good, kindly man, but her sufferings were not yet over. At last, with courage and the will to survive, Rachel found true fulfillment and reconciliation with the daughter she thought she had lost forever.

Rachel's Daughter

Claudia Carroll

Fans of Sophie Kinsella, Milly Johnson, Heidi Swain and Holly Martin will love this wonderfully upbeat and unputdownable romantic comedy from bestselling author Claudia Carroll - the ultimate feel-good read. 
 
'A fab tale!' -- OK! 
'It bubbles and sparkles like pink champagne. A hugely entertaining read' -- Patricia Scanlan 
'Claudia Carroll has done it again, with a cracking cast of supporting characters and a heroine you just want fate to smile on. Hugely enjoyable.' -- HEAT 
'Very entertaining' -- ***** Reader review 
'Hilarious!' -- ***** Reader review 
'Couldn't put it down' -- ***** Reader review 
************************************************************************* 
WELL COME A LITTLE CLOSER... 
 
Vicky Harper is still hopelessly single and having to face up to the depressing fact that the last time she had a relationship with a decent single man was, well...she can't even remember... 
 
So, having discovered an ancient book, which says that all you need do is focus on thinking your wildest fantasies into reality and you'll get anything you want, she decides to give it a whirl. Kind of like Pollyanna, except with a mortgage and a lot of vodka. 
 
So, along with her two beyond-fabulous best friends, Vicky decides to put her plan into action. Trouble is, there is no instruction manual and Vicky soon realizes that you have to be very, very careful what you wish for...

Do You Want to Know a Secret?

a fantastically funny and feel-good rom-com guaranteed to keep you hooked from bestseller Claudia Carroll

Ayn Carrillo

It all started when Ayn's boyfriend pronounced her pornophobic - in defence of his own eyebrow-raising reading material. In order to prove that she wasn't a prude (just enlightened), this self-confessed Good Girl found herself jumping headlong into the booming sex industry in order to understand what her boyfriend was so interested in. 
 
She was intrigued to hear that "Porn is not merely acceptable, it's hip" (New York Magazine) and that women were the fastest growing segment in the porn industry. Ayn's quest soon aroused the curiosity of her female friends: and it transpired that the girls - single or married, involved or not - were desperate for information. And so, (in the name of research!) Ayn created her own "porn-to-do list." The items on the list ranged from: 
 
· Reading erotica 
· Meeting a porn star 
· Going to a sex store 
· Testing vibrators 
· Visiting a strip club 
 
Along the way, Ayn ditched the porn-obsessed boyfriend, and learned that one should not try to take change from a stripper's G-string tips, nor is the Hustler store the best place to make a first impression on a hot guy. This is the result of one woman's attempt to pierce the veil that modestly covers something many women are actually fascinated by. Surprising, hilarious, informative, and ultimately non-judgmental, this is one book you won't put down - once you admit you're curious enough to pick it up!

Good Vibrations

Anita Notaro

Ever had your heart blown to smithereens? 
 
Ever wondered if happy-ever-after only happens to other people? 
 
Lindsay Davidson is not your usual angst-ridden thirty-something. She's got life sussed. She's just about to marry Paul Hayes - think Johnny Depp meets Colin Firth with a hint of Brad Pitt - when a phone call rips her life apart. Cue bucketloads of tears and self-doubt, until, amazingly, a chink of light in the form of the job of a lifetime. 
 
Working behind the scenes on one of the top-rated TV chat shows opens up a fascinating new world, with as much sex and scandal off-screen! A fairytale weekend with a hot new presenter gives Lindsay reason to hope again, until a misunderstanding means her heart takes another battering. Soon, there's a life-changing decision to be made and meanwhile, Paul wonders if he's made a mistake...

Back After The Break

Patricia Burns

They were the talented ones - young, fresh, arrogant, with a bright golden world swinging ahead of them. Then came that terrible, traumatic summer, their last summer together, the summer that had savagely thrust them into the adult world. 
 
Jill - the leader, brilliant, ambitious. She made it to the top but never recovered from that nightmare summer. 
 
Carol - lovely, languid, destined to be a great artist until her own sexuality destroyed her dreams. 
 
Penny - determined to drag herself from a council estate and a scrounging father to the glittering world of the stage. 
 
Andrea - loyal, obedient, self-effacing - and dazzled to be part of the clever set. She never realized her life was a lie. 
 
They never really knew the truth about that summer - just that it had changed their lives.

With A Little Help From My Friends

Joanne Harris

In 'Faith and Hope Go Shopping', Faith has spent twenty years in a wheelchair. Together with her blind friend Hope, she lives in a nursing home. Their favourite carer calls them Butch and Sundance, and like their namesakes, they make a final dash for freedom - in pursuit of a copy of Lolita and a pair of slick red high heels. 
 
In 'Hello, Goodbye', Angela K. is a society columnist for Goodbye! Magazine, and gets to attend all of the season's most sensational Dernières: the most exclusive celebrity funerals. She prides herself on finally having joined the ranks of the Immortals - until a sad, badly-dressed old couple arrives to disrupt her world. 
 
Part of the Storycuts series, these stories were previously published in the collection Jigs &amp; Reels.

Faith and Hope Go Shopping/Hello, Goodbye (Storycuts)

Priya Basil

It's a hot, crowded train. Helen Summers is on her way to see her sister Jill to tell her an awful secret. Another passenger, Kerm, is on his way back from his grandfather's funeral. 
 
They are strangers, jammed against each other in a crowded carriage. Noisy school kids fill the train - and three of them are about to cause a whole heap of trouble. In the chaos, Helen and Kerm are thrown together in a way they never expected. 
 
Catching a train? Read Strangers on the 16:02 and you'll never feel the same way about your fellow passengers again.

Strangers on the 16:02

Rossalyn Warren

A feminist campaigner is sent death threats online at a rate of over fifty-per-hour. A woman who shares on social media her experience of rape, so that others might feel brave enough to speak out, is bombarded with abusive messages. More than a hundred female celebrities have their personal nude photographs stolen and published by hackers. The victims of these stories of trolling and internet crimes have just one thing in common: their gender. 
Most of us use the internet every day, but we rarely stop and think about the way we are received there and whether the treatment of women online differs from the treatment of men. As a Buzzfeed journalist, Rossalyn Warren has first-hand experience of the sexism and misogyny targeted at women online – the insults about their appearance, the rape threats, and in some instances even stalking. 
In Targeted and Trolled, Warren exposes the true extent of the global problem. Informative, empowering and inspiring, this book is both a shocking revelation of the scale of the problem and a message of hope about how men and women are working together to fight back against the trolls.

Targeted and Trolled

The Reality of Being a Woman Online (an Original Digital Short)

Elvi Rhodes

In 'Meet the New Caroline Pritchard', Caroline Pritchard thinks her boyfriend Richard is going off her. And she's addicted to makeover shows on the television - imagine if that could happen to her! That would surely solve everything. And then her dream comes true - she is selected by a magazine for a makeover. As she is having her set of 'Before' photographs taken, she is secretly glad Richard is away. Although she doubts he is where he said he would be, this gives her the chance to have her makeover completed! Hairstyles, facials, and many beauty treatments later, Caroline is a new woman - ready to present herself to Richard. But will he like the new Caroline? And more importantly, will she still like him? 
 
In 'The Centre of Attraction', Mel Salter is peacefully painting in the town square when his landscape is ruined by the arrival of Bertha Conway. She introduces herself and orders sangria. Mel is all the more irritated when Bertha returns the following day with her needlework - at siesta time, when he usually relies on the plaza to be empty as the locals rest for a few hours of the afternoon. But then Mel catches sight of her work, and is astounded by its beauty. And soon finds that the source of his irritation may not be that much of a nuisance after all... 
 
Part of the Storycuts series, these two short stories were previously published in the collection Summer Promise and Other Stories.

Meet the New Caroline Pritchard/The Centre of Attraction (Storycuts)

Lucy Fitzgerald

Oonagh, Rose and Teresa really only took one thing seriously - having fun.At school they had enjoyed upsetting the nuns by deliberately sticking up for abortion, homosexuals, and Sinead O'Connor, and wearing their school skirts either too long or too short.Big time girls in the small town of Ballycanty, they relieved the monotony of their lives by repeating gossip, and when there wasn't any, by making it up.And when one of them heard that someone in town had an unmentionable disease, well, it was too much of a temptation not to embroider the story a little, just to make it more exciting. 
 
It was Teresa on whom the gossip would backfire.And when her fast-living sister turned up from England amidst a positive welter of rumours, Teresa found life exploding round her.Suddenly 'having fun' was no longer enough and as sadness touched her life for the first time she grew increasingly disturbed - about her friends, sex, the Church, and indeed her whole life.At the end of that burning summer, Teresa faced up to some painful decisions and decided that things must change.

Liar Birds

Jane Wenham-Jones

Cari is devastated when her husband Martin leaves her for another woman. 
Her friend, wide-boy Nigel, persuades her to get a bank loan and buy a house to do up for rental, but it soon becomes apparent that he's contravened every rule and regulation in the book. 
She's lumbered with an infuriating mother, a friend who's permanently pregnant, and a friend who may be pregnant - but not by her husband - and her neurotic sister Juliette is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. 
Her first tenant, Gary, turns out to be a drug addict on benefit. He moves in a dozen mates and barricades Cari in the flat while the police are battering the door down, ensuring that she's arrested along with the squatters. 
And then her estranged husband announces that he wants to sell the house she's living in. 
Could life get any worse? 
At least her love life begins to get interesting. Pursued by spinsterish Henry, she has a fling with TV interviewer Guy, and then there's closet opera fan Ben the Builder, reassuring and more than presentable. 
Cari writes a wish list: (a) Make some money (b) Lose some weight (c) Find someone to have a grand passion with and (d) Become so rich and successful that Martin is consumed with jealousy. 
And suddenly, all her wishes begin to be answered...

Raising The Roof

In 'Forsaking All Others', Julia Nicholson is blissfully happy. She's married to the wonderful David, they have a gorgeous home and a ginger kitten called Kitchen, and she wouldn't change a thing. Until a chance encounter with the devastatingly attractive film director, Richard de Lisle, shows her what she never knew she was missing. 
 
In 'Temporary Set-Back', for Jenny, the only good thing about working at fusty publishers Mildew &amp; Rambridge is the delectable editor Rupert Rambridge. Jenny is desperate for him to notice her - if only he'd pay her a fraction of the attention that handsome but sleazy Mr Curtis does. The chance to temp for Mr Rambridge's usual secretary might just see her daydreams become reality - but does she really know the type of man she's dealing with? 
 
Part of the Storycuts series, these two short stories were previously published in the collection Lisa &amp; Co.

Forsaking All Others/Temporary Set-Back (Storycuts)

Diana Appleyard

Sara never doubted her husband, the successful, handsome Matt. Then his best friend blurts out the horrible truth - that he has a bright young girlfriend to match his glittering career. 
 
Unable to bear the pain and humiliation, Sara decides to get away. To get right away - to Cornwall, where in a dilapidated cottage by the sea she hopes to find... healing? Ora new life? 
 
With a surprised urban dog and the minimum of baggage, she discovers that she can manage on her own. That she is still an attractive, desirable woman. That she can be her own person, and dance to her own music. 
 
She might go back. Maybe. Or perhaps the future lies in a quite different direction altogether ......

Too Beautiful To Dance

Amanda Hearty

Ready for... love? 
Ready for.... a new job? 
Ready to... grow up? 
Ready for... change? 
Ready for...life? 
 
Life has been good for Ali, Molly, Ben and Sarah, things have seemed easy and uncomplicated and they have had the world at their feet. But now as they say goodbye to their twenties and thirty looms they begin to question themselves... 
 
Is Ali really ready to get married and become a wife, or is everything moving too fast? Molly has followed her dreams and changed jobs, but has she made a big mistake? Ben is still living at home - surely it's time he moved out? And will Sarah ever find someone to love or will she always be single? 
 
Life is full of twists and turns and change is inevitable. Now they must ask themselves... are they ready for it?

Are You Ready?

When Lulu wakes up one morning and realises that she's in crisis, she knows she must rethink her life completely. She just needs more time - time to relax, time to have fun with her friends and, most importantly, time to find the perfect man who's eluded her for far too long. So she packs in her job as a therapist, ditches the swanky apartment, waves goodbye to her soft-top car and embraces a simpler life. 
 
But then a terrible tragedy strikes and Lulu realizes that it isn't that easy to escape the past after all. Can she deal with her unfinished business and make the perfect life she longs for?

No Ordinary Love

L. Marie Adeline

Cassie’s life rarely takes her by surprise. She waits tables at the rundown Café Rose in New Orleans, heading home alone each night, yearning for more from her life and wishing she could make it happen. 
 
But when Cassie discovers a notebook left behind by a mysterious woman at the café, her world is changed forever. The notebook’s stunningly explicit confessions shock and fascinate her, and eventually lead her to S·E·C·R·E·T, an underground society dedicated to helping women realize their wildest, most intimate sexual fantasies. At the heart of the society is three rules: 
 
NO JUDGEMENTS. NO LIMITS. NO SHAME. 
 
As Cassie is set free from her inhibitions, she is transformed by the confidence she didn't know she had. And so begins the most surprising experience of Cassie's life as she finds her place in an enticing world of passion and danger, with the power to have any secret wish become a reality... 
 
If you can't wait to see the Fifty Shades film and have devoured all of Sylvia Day's Crossfire series, the SECRET trilogy will become your new addiction.

The Secret Trilogy: Secret / Secret Shared / Secret Revealed

Shyam Selvadurai

Selvadurai has captured horrifyingly well the airlessness of a society in which only a few are truly able to breathe, and deeply' Mary Loudon, The Times 
 
In Shyam Selvadurai's masterful second novel, set in repressive and complex 1920s Ceylon, the Cinnamon Gardens is a residential enclave of wealthy Ceylonese. Among them is Annalukshmi, an independent and high-spirited young teacher intent on thwarting her parents' plans to arrange her marriage. In a parallel narrative, her uncle, Balendran Navaratnam, respectably married but secretly homosexual, has his life disrupted by the arrival in Ceylon of Richard, a lover from long ago. 
 
'Richly rewarding . . . this is, in many ways, an old-fashioned novel, brimming with old-fashioned virtues. The characters and setting are established in a measured, finely judged manner, allowing us to feel at home with them. Annalukshmi's Jane Austen-ish domestic life -- anxious mother, bossy aunt, catty sisters, endless talk of prospective husbands -- is brought to life with glancing humour. Not least of the novel's virtues is the way he seems to conjure up a whole social panorama. With its vivid evocation of time and place, its wise characterisation, its involving emotional dramas, this is a novel that deserves, and will surely gain, a wide readership' Adam Lively, Sunday Times 
 
'Subtle and deeply humane . . . a fine novel that is both delicately written and very, very wise . . . Selvadurai has established himself firmly as an important chronicler of the complexities of social and cultural difference' Books in Canada 
 
'This is a distinctive voice and the author is a talent to be reckoned with' Telegraph, India

Cinnamon Gardens

Amanda Brunker

After filming a group of footballers' wives in a bust-up on a plane using only her camera phone, Eva Valentine is offered the chance of a lifetime - a job as an undercover TV reporter. 
 
But, as always, there's a downside - the fabulous offer means uprooting little daughter Daisy and moving to London. And, if she's to succeed, Eva must keep her dangerous career secret from her closest friends, just when she needs them most. Even her new man doesn't know what she's up to... 
 
As the deception deepens and life in the big city takes its toll, Eva is forced to tell more and more lies to hold her cover. But how long can she keep up the pretence? Will her secrets finally get the better of her? And is she ever likely to uncover the real Mr Right?

Champagne Secrets

Jane Feather

Clad in black velvet and posing as a widowed French comtesse, Gabrielle de Beaucaire had returned to England for one purpose only - to ruin the man responsible for her young lover's death. But convincing the forbidding Nathaniel Praed, England's greatest spy master, that she would make the perfect agent for his secret service would not be easy. And even after Gabrielle had lured the devastatingly attractive lord to her bed, she would have to contend with his distrust - and with the unexpected hunger that his merest touch aroused. 
 
From the moment he met her, Nathaniel Praed knew that the alluring Gabrielle de Beaucaire spelled trouble. But though he fought her outrageously bold advances, he could not stem the turbulent hunger that swept through him when the tall, titian-haired vixen pressed her lips to his. Now, against his better judgement, she is in his employ. And as Europe trembles at a tyrant's war and sinister minds plot against them, Nathaniel and Gabrielle fing themselves at the mercy of an exquisite passion and a love that could save - or destroy - both their lives.

Velvet

Lissa Evans

'Evans is very funny . . . the Tom Sharpe for the next generation' Sunday Express 
 
Some are born odd, some achieve oddness and some are just in the wrong place at the wrong time… 
 
Netta Lee had always felt like the odd one out growing up. But when, as an adult, she returns to the Midlands to help her family move house, it becomes apparent that perhaps she isn’t the unusual one after all. A brother with a penchant for rubbish collection, a mother who seems to think she’s running the Bolshoi Ballet rather than the local junior dance school and a hoard of questionably competent friends challenge Netta’s ordered world. 
 
Perhaps the life – and the people – she tried so hard to leave behind are not as distant as she thought.

Odd One Out

Cathy Bramley

Holly Swift has just landed the job of her dreams: events co-ordinator at Wickham Hall, the beautiful manor home that sits proudly at the heart of the village where she grew up. 
Her first major event is a spring wedding of royal proportions. Holly has every detail covered, so all she has to do is keep calm and carry on… Easier said than done! 
As the church bells ring, little does Holly know that come Monday, she’ll have a new boss. And it might not exactly be a match made in heaven… 
Wickham Hall is an utterly feel-good story told in four parts – following Holly Swift’s attempt at organising her own happy-ever-after, one catastrophe at a time – beginning with Hidden Treasures. 
 
Your favourite authors have loved reading Cathy Bramley: 
‘Delightfully warm with plenty of twists and turns’ Trisha Ashley 
‘A perfect blend of the two greatest pleasures in life – love and gardening!’ Fern Britton 
'A witty, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy' Miranda Dickinson

Wickham Hall - Part One

Hidden Treasures

Katy Morgan-Davies

'I was the shadow child no one ever saw...' 
 
From the day she was born until she escaped aged 30, Katy Morgan-Davies knew nothing but a life in captivity. Her father was the deluded and cruel leader of a cult based in South London who convinced himself that he was a god, and the immortal leader of the world. 
 
Her father's paranoia and his need to completely control those around him led to Katy being imprisoned indoors with the curtains drawn most of the time, denied any kind of love or friendship. From a young age, Katy's father subjected her to violence and mental abuse. She was not permitted contact with anyone outside the house and on the rare occasions she did have to go out, she was always chaperoned. When she did finally engineer her escape she realised just how little she knew of the world outside her front door. She had never before done the things we take for granted such as choosing what she wanted to eat from a menu or travelling by herself on public transport. Step by step, she learned the skills she needed in order to exist in a world that was completely unfamiliar to her. 
 
In this unique and powerful memoir, we see how Katy rose above what she suffered and found a way to freedom through her love of books. Reading the works of others enabled her to see her captivity for what it truly was, while writing gave her a voice when her own was silenced. Her story raises fascinating questions, such as how a child can be kept hidden from the world outside and how, in spite of years of being brainwashed, Katy still developed a clear sense of right and wrong.

Caged Bird

Val Wood

An exclusive short story from the much-loved author Val Wood 
The truth could change the lives of all those around her . . . 
Ellen has worked as a servant girl since she was twelve – her mother had always taught her that she must earn her own keep until she finds someone to marry. 
After a year of back-breaking work, a chance encounter leads her to a new position as kitchen maid at Hart Holme Manor – the grandest estate around for miles. 
There, against the wishes of the household, she befriends the owners’ son, Christopher. If the true nature of their closeness were ever revealed it could not only jeopardise both Christopher and Ellen’s positions, but carry consequences that could affect the rest of their lives . . . 
If you enjoy books by Katie Flynn and Dilly Court, you'll love Val's heartwarming stories of triumph over adversity.

The Maid's Secret

Short Story

Guy Burt

Matthew and Sophie enjoyed what seemed to be an idyllic childhood existence.Free from parental restrictions, they played together in the old barn and in the woods and fields around, as well as in the disused quarry where they hunted for fossils and where Sophie kept all her secrets.There were just the two of them, for their mother carried on her own, mysterious, life and their baby brother did not live long enough to intrude. 
 
Mattie hero-worshipped his all-knowing elder sister, and believed that their childhood would go on for ever.But Sophie was growing up, and the secret elements in her life would affect Mattie in shocking and unforeseen ways as his childish terrors became an all-too dreadful reality.For Mattie, too, had his secrets...

Sophie

Jenny McCarthy

On the morning Jenny McCarthy discovered her two-year-old son Evan having a seizure, her life turned upside down. From being the mother of an average toddler she was suddenly thrown into a world of turmoil. As doctor after doctor misdiagnosed his symptoms, Evan suffered many harrowing, life-threatening episodes. Then, one amazing doctor recognized the truth. Evan was autistic. 
 
Desperate, but relieved to finally have a diagnosis, Jenny didn't know what to do or where to go for guidance. Alone, and without any resources - except for her unshakeable determination to help her son - Jenny soon realized that she'd have to become a detective if she was ever going to be able to help her son. She embarked on a frantic search for guidance and information, and spoke with many doctors, nurses, parents, government agencies and private foundations. Essentially, she earned a Ph. D. in 'Google research'. Eventually, she discovered the groundbreaking programme that became the key to helping Evan. 
 
Deeply moving, and at times heartbreaking, in Louder Than Words Jenny McCarthy reveals more than the winning formula that worked for her son. Here she tells of the remarkable, sometimes harrowing, journey of discovery they took together. She shares the frustrations and joys of raising an autistic child and creates a road map for concerned parents. She also shows how, with love and determination, parents may be able to shape their child's destiny and their future happiness.

Louder Than Words

In 'A Summer Remembered', as Laura is busy with the Christmas preparations, while looking after her children Richard and Millie, she can't help but wish she were back on their summer holiday in Normandy. When her husband presents her with her Christmas gift - a holiday to a destination of her choice, money no object - it is still Normandy she yearns for...but what secret is she hiding from her husband? 
 
In 'Be Your Age, Dear', Chloe Patterson is lucky enough to not only have a daughter and a granddaughter around her, but also her own mother. But she battles with the dilemma of how she is perceived as a grandmother - and how she should be behaving as such - and how she really feels about herself deep down. Sometimes it seems that the older women in the family are the most free-willed and keen to have fun, and the younger seem the most responsible. As a local newspaper asks to write a feature on the four generations of women, tensions come to a head as these women finally realize who they really are... 
 
Part of the Storycuts series, these two short stories were previously published in the collection Summer Promises and Other Stories.

A Summer Remembered/Be Your Age, Dear (Storycuts)

Gawky Jessica has always been overshadowed by her gorgeous older sister, Helen. Finally out in the big wide world on her own, Jessica is determined to forge her own path as a journalist - but she can't quite forget the feelings she had for Danny all those years ago. Danny was one of her sister's many admirers, but he always had time for Jessica, who fell for him hook, line and sinker. When a chance invite to the most glamorous party of the year means their paths will cross once again, Jessica is determined to show Danny that the gangly ugly duckling he remembers has finally grown up. 
 
Part of the Storycuts series, this short story was previously published in the collection Lisa &amp; Co.

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