There are times life doesn't progress according to plan, and we end up in unfamiliar territories, emotionally and geographically. Emily Emerson follows a mysterious painting across wartime America to Germany and back. Shannon Bodine travels reluctantly from New York to County Clare and finds half-sisters she never expected. Gracie Burton's Tuscan cookery course opens a past her family never knew existed. And on the roads through France and Spain, two women who set out alone find it easier to share secrets with a stranger than they ever could at home.
Kristin Harmel, When We Meet Again - The wartime history is extraordinary, but the family story at the centre is what stays with you.
Santa Montefiore, Temptation of Gracie - Montefiore at her most warm-hearted: a story of secrets, Italy and the lives that shaped us.
Sheila O'Flanagan, The Women Who Ran Away - Stolen car, open road, no plan: O'Flanagan makes you laugh and leaves you unexpectedly moved.
Nora Roberts, Born In Shame - Roberts gives Murphy Muldoon one of the great romantic entrances in popular fiction. Savour it.
