Barbara had fallen out with her daughter, because she was forever trying to find a man for her. She loved her daughter very much, but she didn’t want a man in her life, she was happy as she was, that is, until she had a knock to her car and the cause of that knock changed her mind.

A Bumpy Ride to Romance

“You’re getting too choosy in your old age, that’s your trouble.”

Barbara gazed out of the window; she had taken umbrage at her daughter’s remark.

Right, so choosy she could be, and why not, but old? Never!  After all, she was only seventy, in her head coming on forty. She had her own teeth; or most of them; trendy in her appearance, and thanks to the bottle in her bathroom cabinet, no grey hair.

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A woman is confused about with whom she has a blind date, but the man she picks thinks it’s wonderful.

A John By Any Other Name

Jennifer arrived early on Saturday evening to meet John Miller, an almost-blind-date arranged by her sister.  She sat on a bench by the fountain in St. Francis’ Square, draped her slender arms along the wooden backrest, and tilted her head to catch the glow of the setting sun.

John Miller’s family lived in Adelaide but he had gained his degrees in economics and geography at Melbourne University.  It was there that Jennifer’s brother-in-law had been friendly with the man who was soon to commence working for the town’s most prestigious brokerage house.  Jennifer had seen a photograph of a group of students that included John before being asked if she fancied the idea of a date with him.

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Elle Meadows was used to the needs of the farm coming before anything she might want for herself so didn’t get her hopes up when a florist’s van pulled into their driveway. Lack of flowers she could cope with, but did the driver really need to call her ‘mate’?

A Piece of Pink Ribbon

Elle Meadows limped back towards the warmth of the farmhouse, clutching the piece of pink ribbon and trying not to cry. Was she being unreasonably selfish to hope for one small touch of luxury or comfort in her life? Normally she didn’t mind the hard work, the dirt or the early mornings; she liked working on the farm. The sight of their cows grazing happily, a new litter of piglets being brought into the world or the hens roosting safely for the night always made her smile. She loved the scent of freshly made hay, fresh warm milk and the wood smoke from the range in the kitchen. Today though she felt that if she were to see one more muddy animal or smell the sweaty aroma from its damp back then she’d be ready to head for the city and apply for an office job.

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An open letter. An explanation, to a former girl-friend of over sixty years ago, of why I agreed to our break-up.

A Romance Long Ago, But Not Forgotten

Dear G…

We have not set eyes on each other for over sixty years. Yet, I have never forgotten you, and indeed, still feel love for you. All those years ago, I was really ‘in love’ with you. What was it that night, coming from the cinema, having had little conversation that prompted you to say ‘Perhaps we should stop seeing each other?’

Although, in my heart I did not want our relationship to end, I found myself saying ‘Maybe we should.’

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Pete didn’t realise his flat mate, Cassie, was what he wanted. She is the Maid of Honour at his sister’s wedding and the Best Man is interested in her. Pete has to take a chance or lose her forever.

A Rough Diamond

‘Come on Cassie, get out of the shower. I’ve got a wedding to go to as well, and as a groomsman I need to be there before you bridesmaids, or my sister will kill me.’ Pete knocked on the door and this time the shower stopped. He tapped his foot and was about to knock again when the door opened, and Cassie came out with a towel wrapped around her.

‘It’s all yours, though I don’t know why you’re panicking; all you guys have to do is put a suit on. Then again you’re all going to look so cute walking along like a load of penguins.’

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This light-hearted story is a modern retelling of the classic fairy tale, Cinderella, told through diary entries written by one of the ugly sisters.

A Sister’s Diary

Monday 24th June

The day Mother told us she was getting married again, I was very upset, especially when it meant gaining another sister, but it’s actually worked out rather well.

In our old house, I had to share a bedroom with Gloria. We don’t exactly see eye to eye, so that wasn’t much fun. My step father already had a daughter, Lucinda her name is, so when we moved in with them, I assumed she’d be keeping her room. After all, this has been her home for twenty years, AND she was here first, but Mother had other ideas.

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When two children share a swing, romance follows; and history repeats itself.

A Time for Sharing

“Granddad, it’s my swing!”

Luke’s dark eyes flashed up at me and his bottom lip protruded obstinately. Sturdy legs apart, my four year old grandson waited for me to resolve his problem.

Glancing over his head I saw the swing swaying to and fro beneath the old apple tree. Hands circling both ropes and feet kicking the ground defiantly, Susie stared at us.

“She’s on my swing!” Luke repeated and I sighed, preparing to convince my precious grandchild that sharing was a good thing.

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Andy knows life isn’t a rehersal. He wishes the same wasn’t true of his romances with Jemima.

Ad Lib

Jemima ran her manicured hand through her fine, blonde hair and asked, “Will you marry me?”

Andy almost dropped his script. He blinked and wondered if he’d heard her correctly.

She moved along the sofa so she sat with her thigh touching his, took his hand in hers, looked into his eyes and whispered the words again, “Will you marry me?”

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A fickle, inept man manages to get a date with the woman of his dreams.

After a While

I know her name because I’ve heard people call out to her. I’ve seen her out in the village with her mother, or girlfriends. Curiously, I have never seen her with a boyfriend. She must be saving herself for me.

She’s sexy, beautiful and around five-feet-seven-inches tall. Her blue-black silken hair drops to her shoulders and curls under itself. It is not an exaggeration to say her hair is like that of models who flick their locks from side to side in shampoo commercials.

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She was beautiful, she had a spaceship in her purse, and she brought a new perspective to love.  She thought it important to count your toes.  Of course he fell in love with her.

Alien Love

She was just suddenly there, and it was very strange, but immediately she gave me the feeling she had always been there, that I had always been vaguely aware of her there.  I suspected this was not so.

She was shaking her arms, looking at them, and at her feet, taking little steps, one at a time.  When she saw me staring she smiled and said “They’re so percussive.”

I smiled back and would have walked past her then, but she kept smiling at me and obviously she wanted my attention.  Good, I thought.

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Amy and I wanted to find Cara a nice man so she’d be as happy as us.

He had to be someone pretty special though.

All Talk

“We need to find Cara a nice man,” Amy whispered at the dress fitting.

“We’ve been trying for years, what makes you think we can do it now?” I asked.

“She’s seen how happy we both are and I think she’s ready to settle down.”

Cara swished back the curtain. “What do you think, Lucy?”

“You look beautiful, but I knew you would.,” I told her. It was true, she’d been a beautiful bridesmaid at Amy’s wedding and would do the same for me next month. We’d made a pact to be bridesmaids at each other’s weddings. Technically Amy will be my matron of honour, but you don’t think of things like that when you’re nine.

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Mia finishes with ‘mummy’s boy’ Oliver and goes to Cornwall on holiday. She meets Jerry, who also seems to be a mummy’s boy. Will he convince her that he’s a risk worth taking?

And Mother Makes Three

‘I’m sorry, Mia,’ said Oliver, scratching his left ear anxiously in the way that annoyed her. ‘Mum wants me to take her to Glyndebourne on Tuesday. That means I won’t be able to come to Cornwall with you after all.’

Somehow Mia had sensed this would happen. Eunice Caulfield kept her son on a short piece of string, which she liked to pull on a regular basis. Hardly a week went by without some sort of demand.

Mia was determined to keep her cool. The ominous silence seemed to make Oliver even more anxious.

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When Kathy’s husband suggests a holiday in Austria to celebrate their wedding anniversary, Kathy hopes it will save their marriage, but will memories from the past intervene?

And the Organ Played On

Kathy stood in the small courtyard in Kufstein and gazed up at the fortress towering starkly white above her. Her heart contracted as she heard the sigh of wind bellowing through the thousands of organ pipes on the Heroes Organ in the massive round tower; the music filtering gently through the eaves and wafting softly to the waiting crowd below.

Gradually the noise eased to a crescendo, swooping triumphantly through the narrow streets and soaring to the snow clad mountains.

“A prayer for peace,” Kathy whispered to herself and her eyes filled with tears as she thought of the first time that prayer had been played at the end of the war, and was now played daily in remembrance.

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Following doctor’s orders a shy guy meets an intriguing woman sitting on a high wall. She has to leave before he can say anything meaningful and he’s left kicking himself. He goes home to take it out on a tree. Chance decides otherwise.

Beeched

“Take some gentle exercise”, the doctor had recommended earnestly, “short walks.” To match his short sentences and sessions no doubt. Martin looked down on the valley and took a deep, refreshing lungful of air.

“Lush,” he sighed, appreciating the sheer virginal energy of new-grown grass.

“I beg your pardon?”

He’d thought himself alone in the country park, and had been merrily chattering to various birds identified, complimenting them on their song, plumage and coquettish antics. He blushed like a robin in autumn at the thought of what the owner of the sensually throaty voice might have overheard.

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Hindered rather than helped by her sister Flora, Isabel, a young widow, takes in guests for Bed & Breakfast in her home on the Isle of Skye. One summer night a Canadian known as Bonnie Prince Charlie seeks refuge in her house, solves the Flora problem and changes Isabel’s life.

Bonnie Prince Charlie

So this is the Isle of Skye, thinks Matthew, from where my ancestors sailed to Nova Scotia. And this is Isabel. She’s just as pretty as Charlie told me she was.

Perhaps that’s why I feel as if I’m coming home.

Isabel’s mind ran through the tasks ahead of her as she watched the sun, an apricot in the darkening blue, slide below the horizon.

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Bumble Bee is the story of two people in love, but families, and doing the right thing may keep them apart. Jen meets Curtis and  loves his long hair, tattoos and beautiful eyes. Her Italian parents don’t. Having lost one child to a car crash, they don’t want to lose her to someone like him.

Bumble Bee

Jen was breathing heavily as she struggled with her first session at the gym. She would have felt better if there had been more people in the weight room, but there was only one and he was decidedly cute.  What was worse, Jen blushed every time he looked in her direction. He must have thought she was a complete klutz with the way she heaved to little or no effect.

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How Patrick gets his girl back, even though City beat United six one.

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Patrick saw Valerie more as a habit than a girlfriend.  He assumed she felt the same way, although he felt sure she saw it as a positive habit.

She captured his mother by addressing her as Mrs Potter all the time.  “Oh, this is so nice, Mrs Potter.”  “What a lovely tablecloth, Mrs Potter.”

“You need to reel ‘er in fast, Patrick, before someone bedder comes along,” advised his mother.  “Ya might be good-looking, but construction workers don’t get a chance at someone like Val twice in their life.”

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Callum is a patissier whose chocolate fountain brings him not only success, but love. Follow the flow of the melted confection and see the excitement it brings to him.

Chocolate Angel

Silky, glossy, the fluid stream cascaded over the curved lip and flowed down, continuous and mesmerizing, into a slick, velvety cushion. The brunette licked her lips. Her curled eyelashes batted up and down. She lifted her hand and drew a delicate finger over her soft bottom lip, which was parted in readiness. Her breathing quickened. She leant forward, eyes wide.

“Earth to Suz. What are you waiting for?” The other woman waved her already chocolate-stained linen napkin in front of her friend’s face.

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Henry sits on his usual park bench and is amazed when a woman he loved long ago, but who fails to recognise him, sits on the same bench.

Clairvoyant

Sometimes I take bennies in the park.  Bennies used to mean the Benzedrine tablets I stole from my step-mother in my early teens.  Now, they’re the beneficial rays of the sun.  When the weather is nice, soaking up bennies is sometimes the best part of the day.  I stroll from the home, past the shops, across the busy road and into the park.  I check the flowerbeds and occasionally pull out a weed if I see one within reach.  I always make for this perfectly positioned bench that allows me to sit, close my eyes, and let the sun arc across my face.

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Tasha didn’t seem to see Craig’s wheelchair or his inability to climb mountains. He didn’t mind that.   He did wish though that she’d understand he didn’t deserve her love. How could he prove the truth of something he didn’t want to face up to himself?

Climbing Mountains

Tasha leant over Craig’s shoulder and looked at the magazine he was reading.

“Thinking of going mountaineering?” she asked.

Craig flinched. He’d been so interested in the article he hadn’t noticed her arrival. Looking down at the photograph of Kilimanjaro, rising icy and majestic from the African plains, Craig recalled reading about the difficulties faced during a climb and the exhilaration experienced at the summit.

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She is determined to make a go of her newly inherited Burgundy vineyard after a bruising life as a glamorous playgirl. Men are well off the agenda. But there are definite problems with Clos de St Paul. A man who is both a wine expert and seeking commitment might just be a perfect choice.

Clos de St Paul

“Hi there” came a voice from the open winery door. Chrissie gasped, spilling some of the wine she was so carefully pouring into the vinometer under Michel’s critical eye.

When Chrissie’s father, Julian, had died, she had decided to continue running his winemaking business in Burgundy, even though she knew nothing about wine. It would have been easy to have just sold it and carried on living her accustomed playgirl life.

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Julia Morgan takes a journey on a luxury cruise liner, to help heal her past and move into the future.

Cruising

Julia Morgan stood framed in the doorway of her balcony suite and gazed across the azure waters of the Adriatic Sea. In the distance, the ancient city of Zadar glistened in the early morning sun. She dropped her vision back to the information sheet. It told a sad story of a city torn apart by hundreds of years of war and conflict. The people of Zadar had suffered, and along with the beautiful city, deserved a breather.

She lifted her eyes from the page, her thoughts drifting. She identified with the need for peace. Her life had held little of that in recent years.

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Edward Petersen finds more than he bargained for when he stumbles across a campsite on the Cooper Creek that is occupied by his lost love

Diamond Trail

Two kilometres away, on the dusty plain, a thin line of smoke caught Edward Peterson’s eye. Through his binoculars, he watched it rise through a wall of dense shrub that followed a line, Edward guessed marked a section of the Cooper Creek.

It had been a few years since he’d last travelled this way. However, years of travelling through outback Australia, where he’d been searching to make his fortune in opal and diamonds now found him back. He’d travelled full circle; the lure of home was too strong to resist.

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Alexander Henderson is forced to revisit his past when the woman he once loved, turns up to buy his gold mine.

Diamonds are Forever

A little before sunrise, while the land lay white and delicate in the grip of frost, Alexander Henderson hunkered down into his woollen scarf and plunged his hands deep into the pockets of his fleece. It was the time of day that brought with it the cold wind that chilled a man through to the bone.

Lifting his eyes and searching the sky, Alexander stared ahead through his binoculars. The darkness was drawing back and with each second it enlarged his circle of vision. He saw it then, what he searched for, a speck on the edge of the land, moving fast toward where he waited, obscured by a grove of eucalypt trees.

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Eleanor was looking forward to having her young relations come for a visit. Surely caring for children couldn’t be as impossible as her friends and neighbours feared?

Easter at Eleanor’s

Eleanor now understood why her great niece, Suzie, had sounded so grateful on the telephone. Suzie, heavily pregnant with her unexpected fourth baby, had called with the news that she was scheduled for a caesarean in just over a month’s time.

“Please don’t worry too much about that, Suzie love. I believe it’s a routine procedure these days.”

“I’m not worried about the operation, well not much anyway,” Suzie had assured her.

“But you are worried about something?” Eleanor guessed.

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