Books like The willow tree by Summer Redfern

This book is fresh fun and exciting. 15 year Belly Conklin is enjoying another summer with the people that she loves in Cousins, a place she's been going to since she was a baby! The fishers, Aka Jerimiah and Conrad, are finally grown up, and Belly feels like she can fit in aswell. Belly would be turning 16 this year, as now she feels as if she can fit in with the boys. She thinks the summer will be fun, Hanging out on the beach and Playing with the people she loves, Belly is looking foward to her summer vacation. But that's when she finds out that Susannah Fisher is diagnosed with Cancer, which changes everything. Things are different in the Summer house. Her first love, Conrad is different, he's distant. While the stay in the house was supposed to be enjoying, they need to focus on things that matter the most. Sussanah. Belly decides that it's time she acts like the adult that she is. Choosing between her 2 lovers Jerimiah and Conrad Fisher. Will either of them like her? Because this...Is the Summer I turned Pretty.

Valancy Stirling is 29, unmarried, and has never been in love. Living with her overbearing mother and meddlesome aunt, she finds her only consolation in the "forbidden" books of John Foster and her daydreams of the Blue Castle--a place where all her dreams come true and she can be who she truly wants to be. After getting shocking news from the doctor, she rebels against her family and discovers a surprising new world, full of love and adventures far beyond her most secret dreams.

Madeleine went to Turkey as companion to Ursula Adeney who was searching for her brother-in-law. But Ursula was a creature of impulse and disappeared to visit friends, leaving Madeleine stranded in Istanbul. There was no one to whom she could turn for help except the lordly Maruk Bey, who had told her that he found her 'dark, mysterious, and very, very beautiful.' Could Madeleine trust such a man to aid her?

She rejoiced in her newfound freedom! It was Siana's first chance since the accident to prove that she could cope while her aunt and uncle were away. The encounter with the stranger on the beach, however, soon spoiled Siana's pleasure. Then strange things began to happen. Who was this stranger, Matthew Craven? Siana found him both frightening and attractive; she wished desperately he would leave her alone. But Matthew was adamant. He was there to help her whether she wanted him to or not.

Sarianna was a cool, confident businesswoman, an outcast from the East determined to regain her rightful status. Gryph was an intense mercenary respected and feared throughout the opulent cities and savage frontiers of the West. But from the moment they met, fate made them one. Was it their destiny to be bound to a force that both captivated and frightened them?

In 1883, the railroad had only recently come to Montana Territory, and outlaws still lurked in the hills. Willow Gallagher, who spent her early childhood in an outlaw camp until her father finally found her, is torn by divided loyalties. Newly married to handsome railroad baron Gideon Marshall, she finds fiery passion in Gideon's embrace, until she discovers he is on a mission . . . a mission to capture Willow's outlaw brother, Steven. Now Willow must choose--betray her brother, or risk the love she has found with Gideon, the love she has dreamed of all her life, to save Steven. It is a choice that could break her heart. . . . May you be blessed, Linda Lael Miller

Cloistered as a faculty member at a small college, beautiful Hannah Jessett can almost forget her family heritage. Few know she's the niece of Elizabeth Nord, the legendary anthropologist who stunned the world with her revolutionary work—until her aunt dies, leaving Hannah in sole possession of her priceless unpublished journals.But Hannah has other matters to contend with. Her brother's company is about to be destroyed by Gideon Cage, a wealthy entrepreneur with a notorious reputation in the boardroom... and the bedroom.When she confronts Gideon, all she sees is a powerful man with a fast smile and soft eyes. Yet before she can catch her breath and really understand this puzzle of a man, her whole world is suddenly threatened: her brother, her aunt's legacy, her heart—and her life!

It's a year after 9/11. Sniper shootings throughout the D.C. area have everyone on edge and trying to make sense of these random acts of violence. Meanwhile, Craig and Lio are just trying to make sense of their lives. Craig’s crushing on quiet, distant Lio, and preoccupied with what it meant when Lio kissed him...and if he’ll do it again...and if kissing Lio will help him finally get over his ex-boyfriend, Cody. Lio feels most alive when he's with Craig. He forgets about his broken family, his dead brother, and the messed up world. But being with Craig means being vulnerable...and Lio will have to decide whether love is worth the risk. This intense, romantic novel from the author of Break and Invincible Summer is a poignant look at what it is to feel needed, connected, and alive.

"Not since Good Grief has a book about a young widow been so poignant, funny, original, and utterly believable. A compelling debut novel about loss. Give grief a chance. Lilian Girvan has been a single mother for three years--ever since her husband died in a car accident. One mental breakdown and some random suicidal thoughts later, she's just starting to get the hang of this widow thing. She can now get her two girls to school, show up to work, and watch TV like a pro. The only problem is she's becoming overwhelmed with being underwhelmed. At least her textbook illustrating job has some perks--like actually being called upon to draw whale genitalia. Oh, and there's that vegetable-gardening class her boss signed her up for. Apparently being the chosen illustrator for a series of boutique vegetable guides means getting your hands dirty, literally. Wallowing around in compost on a Saturday morning can't be much worse than wallowing around in pajamas and self-pity. After recruiting her kids and insanely supportive sister to join her, Lilian shows up at the Los Angeles Botanical Garden feeling out of her element. But what she'll soon discover--with the help of a patient instructor and a quirky group of gardeners--is that into every life a little sun must shine, whether you want it to or not. "Young widow Lilian Girvan can't see the garden for the weeds ... It's been three years since her husband was killed in a car accident and Lilian is still getting used to being sane--after that one early breakdown. She's happy just being able to get her two girls to school every morning, keep her illustrating job, and catch up on her favorite TV shows with her sister. She's not exactly in a rut; she's just letting the grass grow under her feet. But then Lilian's boss asks her to illustrate a vegetable encyclopedia and signs her up for a vegetable-gardening class. Lilian reluctantly agrees and recruits her kids and sister to join her for some drama-free Saturday mornings, because what could be more relaxing than gardening? Nothing ... except that this class is filled with people who like to dig a little deeper than the surface, and an instructor who makes Lillian want to bloom for the first time in years. With her fellow newbie gardeners, Lilian learns what it takes to nurture plants--and friendships. Digging in the dirt, with worms and all, teaches Lilian that sometimes you have to let nature take its course, be it in gardening, in life, or in love.."--

Take a dashing hero with a heart of gold and a mullet of awesome. Add a heroine with a bustle and the will to kick major butt. Then include enough contrivances to keep them fighting while getting them alone and possibly without key pieces of clothing, and what do you have? A romance novel. What else? Enough lessons about life, love, and everything in between to help you with your own happily-ever-after. Lessons like... ?Romance means believing you are worthy of a happy ending ?Learning to tell the prince from the frog ?Real-life romance is still alive and kicking ?No matter how bad it is, at least you haven't been kidnapped by a Scottish duke (probably) Sarah Wendell is cofounder of one of the top romance blogs, SmartBitchesTrashyBooks.com.

The news spread like brush fire through the whole county when widower Ancil Drayton announced his intention to start courting Miss Hattie Colfax. She was certainly spirited and delightfully sweet natured, and she'd managed to run her family farm almost single-handedly. But wasn't a twenty-nine-year-old lady farmer too old to catch a husband? An Irresistible Suitor. All his life handsome, black-haired Reed Tyler had worked Miss Hattie's farm--and dreamed of one day settling down on his own piece of land with the pretty young woman he'd sworn to marry. Hattie was someone he could tell his hopes and troubles to--someone he looked on as a sister. So he thought, until the idea of Ancil Drayton calling on her made him seethe. Until the night a brotherly peck became a scorching kiss... and Reed knew nothing would bank the blaze--and that his best friend was the only woman he would ever love.