Colette Caddle

Dana De Lacey, bestselling romance novelist, has the world at her feet. The words on the page flow easily; an exciting new book deal beckons, and life at home in Dublin is good. But Dana's self-confidence and success depend on one person: her gorgeous husband, Gus. Without him, she has no fall-back. No children, no close family of her own to call upon. When Gus leaves her, she is devastated. The words fail to come. The alcohol flows too freely. She cannot sleep. Then her estranged brother, Ed, arrives to take care of her out of the blue, and memories which she has buried for many years begin to surface: startling recollections of a childhood and a little girl long-forgotten, which inspire Dana at last to write from the heart. Which Dana was it that Gus walked out on -- the glamorous party girl, whose romantic novels always have a happy ending? Or someone with a different name, whose life tells a very different story? Forced to face up to the past, can she find the real Dana, recover her career, and try to make Gus love her for the person she really is?

Following the premature death of her parents, 19-year-old Dee Hewson puts her college plans on hold to go travelling with her boyfriend, Neil. All goes well until they reach Las Vegas, where Neil develops a dangerous addiction to gambling. After two years of their rootless, nomadic existence, Dee awakes to find Neil gone, along with her credit cards, the diamond ring he'd bought her in San Francisco and her father's watch. Devastated, Dee returns to the family home in Dublin to pick up the pieces of her old life. Still in shock at what happened, the discovery that she's also pregnant is the icing on the cake. But baby Sam turns out to be the one positive thing to come out of Dee's relationship with Neil. After trying and failing at a number of part-time jobs, Dee discovers a talent for cooking and eventually sets up her own catering business, finally daring to find love again with the steadfast Conor Fitzgerald. But the publicity generated by her success has an unwelcome side-effect: the return of the feckless Neil. Amazed and delighted to discover he's a father, Neil wants to be a part of Sam's life. Dee feels she has no choice but to agree. Surely having his dad in his life can only be a good thing for Sam. Or can it?