ARTISTIC LICENCE

A CHRISTMAS FEAST

In this delicious feast of Christmas short stories: Meet the man of your dreams in Italy. Get snowed-in in Scotland with an irascible but oh-so-attractive male author. See how a mix-up over a holiday booking can result in the happiest of Christmas Days. Join Katie Fforde and sample some of your favourite dishes and enjoy a few surprises, all collected here in one perfect story collection.

FLORA'S LOT

Flora Stanza has sub-let her London life in a bid to join the family antiques business. What she lacks in experience she makes up for in blind enthusiasm, so she is more than a little put off when she doesn't receive the warm country welcome she expected. But Flora soon discovers country life is far from dull as she sets about rebuilding the crumbling business ...

A FRENCH AFFAIR

Gina Makepiece and her sister Sally have inherited a stall in the French House - an antiques centre nestled in the heart of the English countryside. Its grumpy owner, Matthew Ballinger is less than happy with the whirlwind that has arrived on his doorstep. The last thing either of them want is to fall in love. But will a trip to France change their minds?

GOING DUTCH

When Jo's husband ditches her, and Dora ditches her fiancé, both women find themselves living on a barge on the Thames where they must learn to navigate their way around new relationships. They quickly learn the value of friendship and a fresh start. But Jo and Dora haven't bargained for the intervention of enigmatic Marcus, and laid-back Tom, who both seem determined to help them whether they like it or not...

HIGHLAND FLING

After a row with her boyfriend, Jenny Porter takes off for Scotland to meet a new client with a failing mill. Once there she is stretched to the limit trying to save the mill whilst at the same time her personal life becomes extremely complicated.

LIFE SKILLS

Julia decides her life is drastically wrong so she ditches her fiance and changes her job. Her new career is as a cook on a hotel boat, but even here her past catches up with her.

LIVING DANGEROUSLY

Polly Cameron is happy being 35 and single until she meets a man who turns her life upside down. Witty and humorous.

LOVE LETTERS

When the bookshop where Laura works is about to close, she finds herself agreeing to help organise a literary festival. But an innocent mistake leads the organisers to believe that Laura is a close friend of Dermot Flynn, a reclusive writer at the top of their wish list. Always one to rise to a challenge, Laura sets off for Ireland to convince her literary hero to attend the festival. Falling for him was never part of the plan…

ONE ENCHANTED EVENING

Ever since she can remember, Meg has wanted to be a professional cook. But it's 1966, and in restaurant kitchens all over England it is still a man's world. Then she gets a call from her mother who is running a small hotel in Dorset. There's an important banqueting event coming up. She needs help and she needs it now! When Meg arrives, the hotel seems stuck in the past. But she loves a challenge, and sets to work. She has reckoned without Justin, the son of the hotel owner, however, who seems determined to take over the running of the kitchen. Infuriated, Meg is determined to keep cooking - and soon sparks between them begin to fly. Will their differences be a recipe for disaster? After all, the course of true love never did run smooth...

PARADISE FIELDS

Nel, a widow, organises a farmer's market in the picturesque Paradise Fields. She also looks after a houseful of animals whilst keeping track of her teenage daughter. Life gets even more complicated when her friend Sir Gerald dies, and his son takes possession of the Big House.

THE PERFECT MATCH

Three years ago Bella Castle left home, nursing a broken heart over Dominic Thane, the man she fell in love with but couldn't have... Now she's made a new life for herself in the country. But when Dominic turns up unexpectedly, she begins to wonder if home is really where the heart is...

A PERFECT PROPOSAL

From the moment Sophie hits the bright lights of Manhattan she's determined to enjoy every minute of her big adventure. So when she befriends Matilda, a spirited old lady who invites her to Connecticut for Thanksgiving, Sophie willingly accepts, much to the dismay of Matilda's grandson Luke. He eventually admits defeat, but first he has a proposal to make. But just what does she have to do in return...?

PRACTICALLY PERFECT

When a newly qualified interior designer buys a cottage to renovate, she soon starts to wonder if she has been too ambitious. Just as things start to improve Rob Hunter arrives on the scene, creating all manner of problems!

RECIPE FOR LOVE

When Zoe Harper wins a coveted place in a televised cookery competition, she can’t wait to put her cooking skills to the test. But as the competition heats up, she realises she’s developing an inconvenient crush on one of the judges, and all too soon there’s more than canapés, cupcakes and cordon bleu at stake.

RESTORING GRACE

Ellie Summers is pregnant and her boyfriend is less than enthusiastic so she needs a new home. Grace Soudby has been left a beautiful but crumbling old house and she needs a lodger. When the two meet they realise they can help each other. Together they embark on the serious business of restoring the old house.

THE ROSE REVIVED

Hilarious and poignant tale follows the lives of three women and their attempts to make ends meet as cleaners.

SAVING THE DAY

She has only one chance to turn her life around... Allie is bored with her job and starting to wonder whether she even likes her boyfriend, Ryan. The high point in her day is passing a café on her walk home from work. It is the sort of place where she'd really like to work. Then one day she sees as advert on the door: assistant wanted. But before she can land her dream job, Allie knows she must achieve two things: 1. Learn to cook. 2. End her relationship with Ryan, especially as through the window of the café, she spies a waiter who looks much more like her type of man. And when she learns that the café is in danger of closing, Allie knows she must do her very best to save the day ...

A SECRET GARDEN

Lorna is a talented gardener and Philly is a plantswoman. Together they work in the grounds of a beautiful manor house in the Cotswolds. They enjoy their jobs, but for them both, the door to true love remains resolutely closed. Then one day, the unexpected arrival of someone from Lorna's past, and the discovery of an old and secret garden mean their lives are about to become a lot more complicated...

STATELY PURSUITS

Recovering from a broken heart, Hetty Longden is asked to house-sit in a beautiful crumbling mansion. She is soon absorbed in the fight to save the house from Conan, the awful heir. Contains some strong language and explicit sex.

A SUMMER AT SEA

Emily is happy with her life, but feels it's time for a change. So when her friend Rebecca asks if she'd like to spend the summer cooking on a "puffer" boat just off the Scottish coast, she jumps at the chance. But she finds herself with a lot on her plate. Emily's competitive kitchen assistant thinks she should be head cook. And Alasdair, the handsome local doctor who Emily is trying not to notice. Because if she falls in love with him, will she ever want her old life back again?

SUMMER OF LOVE

Sian Bishop has left the hustle and bustle of the city behind and, with her young son has thrown herself into a new life in the country. She's happy and very busy. She is not - repeat not - looking for love. And then, one glorious summer evening, Gus Beresford arrives. She and Gus have met before. And, despite Sian's best intentions, it isn't long before she's falling for him all over again ...

THYME OUT

Since the failure of her marriage, Perdita has spent ten years building up a thriving salad business. Her comfortable world is turned upside down when one of her regular customers retires, and Lucas Gillespie, her ex-husband, takes over the kitchen. Things get worse when she is asked to be filmed with him for a TV cookery programme.

A VINTAGE WEDDING

In a small Cotswold country town, Beth, Lindy, and Rachel are looking for new beginnings. So they set up in business, organising vintage weddings. Soon they are busy arranging other people's big days. What none of them know is that their own romances lie waiting just around the corner...

A WEDDING IN PROVENCE

Late summer, 1963. Fresh from London and a recent cookery course, Alexandra has always loved a challenge. Which is why she now finds herself standing outside an imposing chateau in Provence. Waiting for her inside is three silent, rather hostile children who are to be her charges for the next month. They will soon be more friendly, she tells herself. All they need is some fun, good food and an English education. Far more of a challenge though is their father—an impossibly good-looking French count with whom she is rapidly falling in love....

A WEDDING IN THE COUNTRY

Lizzie has just arrived in London, determined to make the best of her new life. Her mother may be keen that she should have a nice wedding in the country to a Suitable Man chosen by her, and Lizzie may be going to cookery school to help her become a Good Wife......but she definitely wants to have some fun first.It's 1963 and London is beginning to swing as Lizzie cuts her hair, buys a new dress with a fashionably short hemline, and moves in with two of her best friends, one of whom lives in a grand but rundown house in Belgravia which has plenty of room for a lodger. Soon Lizzie's life is so exciting that she has forgotten all about her mother's marriage plans for her. All she can think about is that the young man she is falling in love with appears to be engaged to someone else...

WEDDING SEASON

Sarah Stratford is a wedding planner and she has a problem. Her sister's budget wedding is just two months away, and now a big celebrity wedding is on the cards, on the same day! Luckily Sarah has two devoted and dependable friends, Elsa and Bron, to help her.

WILD DESIGNS

Althea is saddled with too large a house, a bossy younger sister and irksome ex-husband, but still manages to muddle through life comfortably enough. Until she loses her job. Seeking solace in her borrowed greenhouse, Althea decides to develop her passion for gardening. And when she wins the opportunity to design a garden at the Chelsea Flower Show with the unexpected help of gorgeous architect Patrick Donahugh, it looks as though Althea may have unearthed a new man as well as a new career...