At the age of thirty two, Harriet Swift thinks she has the perfect life - a satisfying career, her own flat and a new boyfriend who respects her need for her own space. But when tragedy strikes and her only sister is killed in a car crash, Harriet is forced to give up her well ordered life and to help her parents look after her orphaned niece and nephew. Moving back to her childhood home, Maple Drive, and sacrificing so much doesn't come easy and before long Harriet discovers things about her family she never believed possible. As she uncovers a web of secrets and lies, while rekindling old friendships with the McKendrick boys - the dangerously dynamic Dominic and his brother, Miles - she learns that the sister to whom she was devoted was not all she seemed. Meanwhile, the shabbiest house in Maple Drive has a new occupant. In his mid-forties, Will Hart also thinks he has the perfect life. Having dispensed with an early mid-life crisis and swapped his successful career as a lawyer for that of an antiques dealer, he believes in living for the moment and is entirely happy with his lot. He has everything he needs; two fantastic daughters to whom he is devoted and a comfortable home, but when he discovers he's about to become a grandfather, things start to unravel for him. Then from nowhere tragedy strikes and he faces the biggest challenge of his life. Harriet and Will have no choice but to piece together a new future for themselves, but can they see it through?

Erica James grew up in Hampshire, England, and has since lived in Oxford, Yorkshire and Belgium. She now lives in Cheshire with her two sons. She is the author of nine bestselling novels, and has been shortlisted three times for the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award.