July 2005. London is hit by a coordinated terrorist attack. Jamie’s boyfriend disappears without a trace. Hundreds of miles away in Cornwall, how can Jamie find out what has happened to him?

The initial impact of that terrible day is followed by a slow but sure falling apart of the life Jamie believed was settled and secure.
A betrayal by her best friend.
A threat to her job and beloved career.
All the while, a gang of teenagers is wreaking havoc in the town that Jamie loves, culminating in a brutal attack on an elderly lady.

The following months hold a number of challenges for Jamie, demonstrating that life does not always run to plan and that things are not always as they may first seem. Only time will tell whether this is necessarily a bad thing.

Writing the Town Read is full of intrigue, angst, excitement and humour. The evocative descriptions and convincing narrative voice instantly draw readers into Jamie’s life as they experience her disappointments, emotions and triumphs alongside her.

If you enjoy psychological, contemporary fiction with a twist of intrigue - and humour - this is the book for you.

Looking Past is a tale of family, friendship, love, life and death – not necessarily in that order. A perfect read for Mother's Day, this book will strike a chord with mothers, daughters, and daughters-in-law, everywhere.


Sarah Marchley is eleven years old when her mother dies. Suffering an acute sense of loss, she and her father continue quietly, communicating far too little.


At university, Sarah begins her first serious relationship. Along with her new boyfriend comes his mother, the indomitable Hazel Poole. Despite some misgivings, Sarah finds herself drawn into the matriarchal Poole family. She discovers that gaining a mother figure in her life brings mixed blessings but she also realises her own mother's love has never died.


If you enjoy psychological fiction with a dry sense of humour, this is for you.


Looking Past was selected for the People's Book Prize Winter 2015 Collection.

Anna and Mike have a plan, to escape her abusive husband. Lee has his own plan, to stop his wife and so-called best friend for good. Who will succeed, and how has a lifelong friendship come to this?
The three friends meet in early childhood, coming of age together and supporting each other through problems at school and in family life.

Everything changes when Lee and Anna decide to marry. While Mike swaps urban England for rural Spain, Anna finds herself trapped in an abusive marriage, with nowhere to turn.

When he discovers his friends’ relationship is far from happy, Mike is compelled to return to Bristol, to a life he thought he’d left behind.

He must rebuild the friendship, convince Anna that he can help her find a way out, and make sure that Lee knows nothing of what is going on. With his volatile temper and strong sense of pride, a vengeful Lee is unlikely to allow himself to be made a fool of without a fight.


Amongst Friends is the third novel by Katharine E. Smith. It turns traditional story-telling on its head, beginning with the dramatic end to the friendship and gradually unveiling what has happened for things to have gone so wrong.

If you like contemporary, psychological fiction, strong characters, and a twist of mystery and intrigue, you won’t want to put this book down.

Alice knows that coming back to Cornwall means she will have to see Sam, who she fell in love with ten years earlier when they were both aged 18. How will he react to her return, and what changes have the intervening years meant for them both?

Still recovering from a toxic relationship, Alice realises she has allowed life to become too predictable, while Julie has just ended things with the man she was due to marry. The two friends decide to throw caution to the wind; coming back to Cornwall, where they spent a long, happy summer before life got serious. As they return to the same small flat in the centre of town, and seasonal jobs at the Sail Loft Hotel, Alice harbours both hopes and fears of finding Sam, while Julie is determined to enjoy the freedom she’s been missing.

A lot can change in ten years, though, as their friend Luke - now a handsome, successful businessman – proves. Back in Cornwall himself to spend time with his seriously ill mum, he and Julie form a close relationship. Alice is worried that her friend is making a huge mistake and, all-but-abandoned, starts to spend time with single mum Casey.

Sam, meanwhile, proves elusive but slowly reveals that, although he appears not to have changed at all, the previous decade has been eventful for him, too.

It's not all about the boys, though. Alice and Julie's strong, honest friendship will quickly draw you to them. Alice can be opinionated, Julie reckless, but both are quick-witted, funny, warm and ambitious.

The county of Cornwall, famous for its rugged coastlines, glorious beaches and picturesque harbour towns, provides a vivid backdrop for the perfectly paced beginning of this cracking new series.

Is it possible to relive the best time of your life? Alice and Julie are about to find out.

After the Sun, As Boundless as the Sea, Sticks and Stones and Lighting the Sky continue the story. Book six is in progress!

When things seem too good to be true, they usually are.

Alice is finding her feet managing the Sail Loft Hotel when Sam is presented with an offer he can’t refuse. The bad news is, if he says yes, he will have to leave Cornwall.

Sam’s visits home see him split in his loyalties between his daughter Sophie, and spending time with Alice. Sophie’s mother, Kate, seems to be doing her best to make things difficult.

Meanwhile, Alice’s friend Julie is also facing a long-distance relationship as her new partner, and Sam’s best friend, Luke, is working in London. With no children to think of, and plenty of disposable income (on Luke’s part at least), life should be more simple but Julie has yet to find a long-term job and Luke is still getting over the recent death of his mother.

Can these fledgling relationships pass the long-distance test, and can Julie and Alice make life in Cornwall work for them now that the summer sun has gone?

A Second Chance Summer, As Boundless as the Sea, Sticks and Stones and Lighting the Sky continue this superb series. Book six is underway...

A handsome stranger at Bea’s wedding could well change Alice’s fortunes but she may be better off ploughing her energies into her working life.

While each season brings a new wedding, the months leading up to Christmas, and David and Martin's big day, become about taking risks for Alice. Should she leave the safety of the Sail Loft Hotel? Is starting a business the best idea she and Julie have ever had, or the end of a beautiful friendship? And should she push Sam Branvall out of her mind for good and take a chance on handsome, successful Paul Winters?

From upsetting her manager at the Sail Loft, to Sam moving back to town; not to mention a phone call announcing her mother has been taken seriously ill, it’s going to take a cool head to navigate successfully through this year. Luckily, Alice has her friends to support her. Even if they are all getting married.

If she can just keep her cool, and keep her friends, then she should make it safely through to those cold winter nights and twinkling Christmas lights.

A storm is brewing, however. It seems that somebody, somewhere, has it in for Alice, although it is not clear who, or why.

As Julie tries to help her friend, she finds her own thoughts turning progressively towards motherhood. Sam, meanwhile, has the pressure of a new job, as well as a stressed-out girlfriend and a teenage daughter to contend with.

Fearing for her business, her relationship, and her sanity, can Alice get to the root of the problem before any permanent damage is done?

A Second Chance Summer, After the Sun and As Boundless as the Sea precede Sticks and Stones. The series continues beautifully by Lighting the Sky and book six is underway...

All is set to change for Alice and Sam as they expect their first child together. Just how they are going to fit themselves, their baby and Sam’s daughter Sophie into their little two-bed cottage is a mystery, but Alice is determined not to get stressed out.

Her focus is on best friend Julie, who is trying unsuccessfully for a baby, and on Sophie, who is torn between staying in Cornwall with Sam, or moving to Devon with her mum. Then there are Alice’s parents, who don’t seem happy with their own move to Cornwall, and Jonathan, who also appears to be falling out of love with life there.

At least work is going well, with a glowing review of Amethi in Staycation magazine, and the possibility of picking up some tourism awards. But it should be no surprise when life throws a couple more challenges in the way.

Can Alice really survive her pregnancy stress-free, and can her friendship with Julie survive the strain of the differing situations they now find themselves in?

Looking after a baby must be easy. They can’t move, they can’t talk, or shout, or argue with you. Make sure they’re fed, clean, and have plenty of naps. Oh, and make sure you sleep when they do. What could be more simple?

For Alice, motherhood marks the beginning of a new part of her life, bringing changes she could never have foreseen. While she and Sam adjust to the effect of a baby on their relationship, although the focus is initially on their new little boy it soon becomes apparent that it’s teenage Sophie who really needs some extra support. She’s not the only one.

Alice discovers her parents are struggling with their new lives, running the Sail Loft Hotel. She needs to find a way to help them but with a baby to look after, a business to run, and a family life to maintain - not to mention extreme sleep deprivation – easy is the last thing this is going to be.

With their wedding on hold and rented house sold to new owners, Sam and Alice are all at sea - moving in with Julie and Luke, along with toddler Ben and new dog Meg, until they find a place of their own.

Sam struggles to adjust to the changes - particularly as teenage daughter Sophie has moved away - and compensates by throwing himself into his work and lifeboat training. Alice finds herself missing him; even when he's at home, he is clearly not happy. This is only exacerbated by the problems between Sam's sister Janie and Alice's chef Jonathan, whose relationship appears to be in trouble.

Add to this the untimely appearance of a significant ex, the advent of a new hotel (which threatens direct competition for Amethi), and a frightening accident one dark, rainy night...

Alice should know by now that nothing is straightforward - but at least there's never time to get bored.

Christmas is coming, and the goose is not the only thing feeling a little heavier than it used to be.

Alongside the countdown to the festivities, and one of the busiest times of the year, Alice is now well into her second pregnancy, and ticking off the days until she can finally stop work for a little while, and prepare to welcome her baby into the world.

While two-year-old Ben is dreaming of a white Christmas, Alice is floored by the news from her midwife that she is not as well as she might be. Her nerves are set further on edge by a trip to a hidden cove with Lizzie, where she learns the story of a young woman whose baby was lost at sea, and whose ghost is now said to haunt the sands. With some unsettling dreams, and strange goings-on at home and at work, Alice begins to fear for her health and her sanity. Is she being targeted by some unseen force, or might she actually be losing her mind?

Using Sam’s rational nature to help keep calm, Alice resolves to make this a Christmas to remember. This much is guaranteed, but possibly not in quite the ways she’d imagined.

What dark secrets could a harmless old lady possibly know?

Elise Morgan is nearly ninety years old. She loves her family, the sea, and night-time walks. She hates gossip, and bullies, and being called ‘sweet’, or treated like she’s stupid, or boring (and sometimes like she’s deaf), just because she has lived a long time.

Elise was sent to an all-girls’ school, which was evacuated to Cornwall in the Second World War. She never left the county. She is an orphan, a mother, a grandmother, and a widow. Since her children moved away and her best friend died, life has seemed increasingly empty.

These days, she spends a lot of time sitting at her window, looking out at the world, as if nothing ever happens, and nothing ever has. To passers-by, she might seem just an old lady, but of course there is no such thing.

There was once a time when she lived a lot... and there are things she has never forgotten...

Elise is the first book in the Connections series: a group of stories whose protagonists’ lives are inescapably interwoven, in the Cornish town they call home.

Maggie Cavendish is a single mum to Stevie, who has never known her dad, and that’s how Maggie wants it to stay.

Coming from a steady, stable family home herself, Maggie’s world changed irrevocably when her father died, and she discovered something about him that she has never mentioned to her mum, or her twin sister.

Deemed ‘the clever one’ at school, expectations were set for Maggie from the outset, but what should have been a blessing often seemed exactly the opposite, particularly pitted against her popular and pretty sister Julia, and their best friend, Stacey. It’s a surprise to everyone when Maggie discovers she is pregnant.

After years of living with her mum and her daughter, circumstances force Maggie to make a change, starting afresh in a small town on the coast. As Stevie settles in at school, Maggie finds voluntary work at the local seniors’ club, and befriends eighty-something Elise. As other parts of her life begin to click into place – an exciting new job, and possibly a new relationship – she rediscovers her sense of self-esteem, and begins to regret not being more honest: with Elise; with her mum, sister and daughter; and with herself.