Katie Fforde

Leaving behind a house full of students she looks after, Thea throws caution to the wind and takes off to Ireland with Rory, a charming artist. But Thea's old life isn't so easily cut off. The arrival of Molly, her bossy friend, demanding to see Rory's stunning paintings (and to find out what Thea is up to) is bad enough, but why did she have to bring Petal, Thea's most annoying lodger, along for the ride? And worst of all, Petal is accompanied by her uncle, the enigmatic Ben, a man Thea has sworn never to like. The timing is terrible and even more alarming is that the more Rory pursues Thea, the more maddeningly attractive she finds Ben...

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.

Delve inside this CHRISTMAS STOCKING choc-full of perfectly themed, never-before-published seasonal short stories perfect for anyone who loves romance, humour and happy-ever-after endings.

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 ...

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?

1968. It's cold when Felicity arrives in London to stay with her mother, improve her English, do a secretarial course - and meet a suitable man.

She is already missing her home in Provence. But it's only for a year she tells herself - and then she can go back to France and do what she really wants and become a painter.

And then she bumps into Oliver who is quite the most interesting young man she has ever met. He lives on a barge for one thing and has a selection of jobs including looking for hidden treasures along the shores of the river Thames.

In a word he's a mudlarker - and before long Felicity is mudlarking too. She is also pursuing her dreams and painting scenery for Oliver's actor friends.

But is Oliver a Suitable Man of whom her mother will approve?

When Jo's husband trades her in for a younger model, she suddenly finds herself living on a barge near the Thames.

Aware she was about to make a terrible mistake, Dora has fled from a huge wedding, her fiancé, her mother and a very critical village to come under Jo's protective wing. 

While offering mutual support, Dora gets a job where she has to row to work and Jo works out how to make a living. And though they may not know much about boats they're determined to make the best of things.

One thing's for certain, though, they've both sworn off men for good. Unfortunately, life has other plans and inflicts arrogant but attractive Marcus, who's the oracle on all things nautical, and laid-back, charming, jack-of-all-trades Tom on their ordered lives…

A change of scene or a change of heart? When your boyfriend calls you impulsive, what do you do? If you're Jenny Porter, you dash off to Scotland determined to save a failing textile mill, of course. That's how Jenny finds herself having awkward encounters with the abrasive but disconcertingly attractive Ross Grant. And then, just as things between Jenny and Ross develop into something more interesting, her boyfriend Henry arrives in Scotland. Should she do the sensible thing and follow Henry back to London? Or might her Highland adventure be more than just a fling?

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.

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

With the bookshop where she works about to close, Laura Horsley finds herself agreeing to help organise a literary festival. But her initial excitement is rapidly followed by a mounting sense of panic when reality sinks in and she realises just how much work is involved - especially when an innocent mistake leads the festival committee to mistakenly believe that Laura is a personal friend of the author at the top of their wish-list.

Laura might have been secretly infatuated with the infamous Dermot Flynn ever since she studied him at university, but travelling to Ireland to persuade the notorious recluse to come out of hiding is another matter. Determined to rise to the challenge she sets off to meet her literary hero. But all too soon she's confronted with more than she bargained for…

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...

Nel is the owner of a houseful of animals and the organiser of the farmer's market in the picturesque Paradise Fields. She is always super-busy, but not so busy to want to preserve the meadow and market she loves when its owner dies. But who can she trust to help her save Paradise Fields? Her sensible boyfriend Simon? Or Jake, the devilishly handsome man who kissed her under the mistletoe... love, but which may not survive…

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...

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...?

Anna, a newly qualified interior designer, has decided it's time to put her money and her expertise where her mouth is. She's risked everything on buying a tiny but adorable cottage so she can renovate it, sell it on, and prove to her family that she can earn her own living. 

Outside, the chocolate-box cottage is perfect, but inside all is chaos and Anna's soon wondering whether she's bitten off more than she can chew. Her neighbour Chloe comes to the rescue, providing tea, wine and sympathy - and a recently rescued greyhound, Caroline. But just as Anna's starting to believe she's found the perfect idyll, the good-looking yet impossible Rob Hunter arrives on the scene, putting up more obstacles than the Grand National. Can Anna get over all of life's hurdles?

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.

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.

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

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...

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...

It's the season of new beginnings for Helena and Gilly. Gilly runs her own B&B business from her much-loved family home, which she doesn't want to part with - at any price. But that's before she meets handsome estate agent Leo, and soon she begins to wonder whether selling up might not be such a bad idea after all. Meanwhile Gilly's daughter Helena has a budding romance of her own. A talented weaver, she's becoming very close to her new landlord, Jago, who's offered to help her at an upcoming craft fair. It's what friends do, and they are just friends. Aren't they? With spring in full bloom, Helena and Gilly begin to ask themselves the same question: Might their new loves lead to happily ever after?

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.

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?

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.

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...

Sarah Stratford is a wedding planner hiding a rather inconvenient truth - she doesn't believe in love. Or not for herself, anyway. But as the confetti flutters away on the June breeze of yet another successful wedding she somehow finds herself agreeing to organise two more, on the same day and only two months away. And whilst her celebrity bride is all sweetness and light, her own sister soon starts driving her mad with her high expectations but very limited budget. 

Luckily Sara has two tried and tested friends on hand to help her. Elsa, an accomplished dress designer, and Bron, a multi-talented hairdresser. As the big day draws near all three women find that patience is definitely a virtue in the marriage game. And they certainly haven't got any time to even think about love... or have they?

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 . . .

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...