Emily Banting

A heart-warming, quintessentially English village novel, centred on the ruins of Nunswick Abbey. Historical tour guide Anna Walker is determined to make a good impression on her new bosses, but juggling a full-time job with caring for her ailing father is putting her own health – and potentially his – at risk. When she meets Dr Katherine Atkinson, a charming yet intimidating new arrival to the village, Anna is infuriated by the doctor’s attempts to convince her that her father needs professional, full-time care. She’s even more frustrated by her growing attraction to the classy, wealthy doctor. Anna’s determination to prove she can cope forces Katherine to divulge a painful event from her past that still haunts her, hopeful it will make Anna see sense before it’s too late. With Katherine’s heart lost to the past and Anna’s overwhelmed in the present, can the two women help each other overcome their anxieties and move forward? Will a curtain-twitching busy body curtail any blossoming attraction before it even has a chance to bloom? 55,000 words

GOLDIE FINALIST 2024: CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE LONG NOVEL From the multi-award-winning, best-selling author of Broken Beyond Repair comes a new sapphic celebrity ice queen romance — read as a standalone or as the second book in the South Downs Romance series. Sculptor Arte Tremaine is thrown into the hospitality industry when her beloved late grandmother bequeaths her and her sister a charming yet rundown country hotel with zero guests. Arte is determined to make a success of the business, despite her sister snapping at her heels to sell it and painful memories confronting her inside. Charlotte Beaufort, heiress to a hotel empire, television celebrity, and self-confessed city woman, hits the countryside to film an episode of her reality television show, Hotel SOS, where she immediately clashes with the overwhelmed Arte and her inquisitive Labrador, Rodin. Arte doesn’t take kindly to Charlotte’s attitude and frank opinions about her hotel, but when they are thrown together, she begins to realise not everything is as it seems with her attractive nemesis. As Arte begins to chip away at Charlotte's icy exterior, both women begin to realise dreams and reality rarely entwine and that, sometimes, our dreams are not even our own. Can the artsy dreamer and ambitious heiress face the reality of their situations and discover their true paths? And if so, can those paths lead them toward true love?

GOLDIE WINNER 2024: AUDIOBOOK NARRATOR (ANGELA DAWE) GOLDIE WINNER 2023: THE ANN BANNON POPULAR CHOICE BRONZE AWARD WINNER OF THE LESFIC BARD AWARD 2022: ROMANCE WINNER OF THE LESFIC BARD AWARD 2022: COVER DESIGN WINNER OF THE QUEER INDIE AWARDS 2022: CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE GOLDIE FINALIST 2023: CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE LONG NOVEL An age gap, celebrity ice queen romance that will pull at the heart strings — even the icy ones! Sydney MacKenzie, personal assistant to the rich and famous, is looking forward to a well-earned break to go travelling in her beloved VW camper van, Gertie — that is, until Gertie cries off sick. When her boss calls in a favour, one that will pay Sydney handsomely and put Gertie back on the road, she can’t refuse. Internationally renowned actress Beatrice Russell — adored by her fans and despised by those that know her — is splashed across the tabloids, all thanks to her broken leg. She limps back to her palatial English country estate to convalesce for the summer, where she finds herself in need of yet another new assistant. Enter Sydney, who doesn’t take kindly to the star’s demands, attitude, or clicking fingers — much less her body’s own attraction to the gorgeous diva. If not for that, and Gertie’s worn-out engine, she would leave tomorrow. Or so she tells herself. As the summer heats up, the ice queen begins to thaw, and Sydney glimpses the tormented woman beneath the celebrity bravado, drawing her ever closer to the enigmatic actress — sometimes too close. Can Sydney reach the real Beatrice and help heal her wounds before the summer ends and she returns to filming in the States, or is the celebrity broken beyond repair?

Join Anna and Katherine as Nunswick Abbey opens for the spring amidst building work, archaeological excavations, and vandalism. When an old school friend returns to the village with her family, Anna begins to question her long held vision of her future. Old wounds are reopened for Katherine when she’s presented with an opportunity to face her past head on. Can Anna convince her to take it and finally confront her fears? With Anna dreaming of the future and Katherine consumed by the past, can they get on the same page and decide what life they want to build together?

After the events of the summer, Katherine and Anna are looking forward to spending a quiet, cosy Christmas together before hosting a New Year’s Eve party at Nunswick Abbey. When a romantic weekend away for Anna’s birthday doesn’t go to plan, it proves to be the beginning of their Christmas woes, and as workplace pleasantries grow too friendly, a cloud of jealousy and suspicion forms. As Anna plans the most important party of her career, can she convince Katherine their co-worker has more than pub lunches on the brain? Can Katherine keep her composure as the tension rises at Abbey House? As they count down to the New Year, will Anna and Katherine’s relationship survive the calamitous Christmas season?