NBS recommends rekindled romances

PARIS FOR ONE & OTHER STORIES By Jojo Moyes P795

Nell is 26 and has never been to Paris. She’s never even been on a romantic weekend away — to anywhere — before. Traveling abroad isn’t really her thing. But when Nell’s boyfriend fails to show up for their mini-vacation, she has the opportunity to prove everyone — including herself — wrong. Alone in Paris, Nell finds a version of herself she never knew existed: independent and intrepid. Funny, charming, and irresistible, Paris for One is quintessential Jojo Moyes — as are the other stories that round out the collection.

THE COURSE OF LOVE By Alain De Botton P1,049

In Edinburgh, a couple, Rabih and Kirsten, fall in love. They get married, they have children — but no long-term relationship is as simple as “happily ever after.” The Course of Love is a novel that explores what happens after the birth of love, what it takes to maintain love, and what happens to our original ideals under the pressures of an average existence. You experience, along with Rabih and Kirsten, the first flush of infatuation, the effortlessness of falling into romantic love, and the course of life thereafter.

THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS By M.L. Stedman P399

After four harrowing years on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a job as the lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock, nearly half a day’s journey from the coast. To this isolated island, where the supply boat comes once a season, Tom brings a young, bold, and loving wife, Isabel. Years later, after two miscarriages and one stillbirth, the grieving Isabel hears a baby’s cries on the wind. A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a living baby.

BLUE By Danielle Steel P349

Ginny Carter was once a rising star in TV news, married to a top anchorman, with a three-year-old son and a full and happy life in Beverly Hills — until her whole world dissolved in a single instant on the freeway two days before Christmas. As she tries to put herself back together, she meets a boy who will cause her life to change forever yet again. Thirteen-year-old Blue Williams has been living on the streets, abandoned by his family. Blue glows with outsized spirit and an irresistible mix of innocence and wisdom beyond his years. Ginny offers him respect as they form an unusual bond and become the family they each lost. But just as Blue is truly beginning to trust her, she learns of a shocking betrayal that he has been hiding.

BEAUTIFUL BOSS By Christina Lauren P419

When Will fell for Hanna, her quirky sense of humor and fierce dedication to her career were part of the attraction. But when the job offers start rolling in for her, Hanna has trouble deciding what she wants, where they should live, and how much she should burden Will with the decision. Magic between the sheets is only one part of a relationship... getting on the same page is quite another altogether.