The Mermaid Garden

From the author of The French Gardener, a story about a hotel's summer artist-in-residence who touches lives in ways no one could imagine.

A moving and mysterious tale of love and forgiveness, spanning four decades and sweeping from the Italian countryside to the English coast. From international bestselling author Santa Montefiore, whose books have sold more than six million copies worldwide. Ten-year-old Floriana dreams of a better life. Abandoned by her mother and living with her alcoholic father, she finds solace in the beauty of the magnificent Tuscan villa that overlooks the sea just outside her small village. When Dante, the son of the town’s most powerful businessman, catches her spying from the crumbling wall, he invites her inside the garden. Even though the two are from opposite worlds, they form a fast friendship that blossoms into romance. But what they don’t realize is that there are other forces working to keep them apart. Decades later and hundreds of miles away, a beautiful old country house hotel on England’s Devon coast has fallen on hard times after the financial crash of 2008. Desperate to bring in business, Marina, the hotel’s owner, advertises for an artist to stay the summer and teach the guests how to paint. The man she hires is handsome and charismatic and soon begins to transform the fortunes of the hotel. But as the summer wears on, his presence also brings up secrets long buried in the past. Spanning time and continents, The House by the Sea is an unforgettable novel about the enduring ties of family and the power of love to mend broken hearts.

A tale spanning four decades and ranging from the Tuscan countryside to the English coast reveals how the power of love can heal loss and endure the test of time.

A moving and mysterious tale of love and forgiveness, spanning four decades and sweeping from the Italian countryside to the English coast. From international bestselling author Santa Montefiore, whose books have sold more than six million copies worldwide. Ten-year-old Floriana dreams of a better life. Abandoned by her mother and living with her alcoholic father, she finds solace in the beauty of the magnificent Tuscan villa that overlooks the sea just outside her small village. When Dante, the son of the town’s most powerful businessman, catches her spying from the crumbling wall, he invites her inside the garden. Even though the two are from opposite worlds, they form a fast friendship that blossoms into romance. But what they don’t realize is that there are other forces working to keep them apart. Decades later and hundreds of miles away, a beautiful old country house hotel on England’s Devon coast has fallen on hard times after the financial crash of 2008. Desperate to bring in business, Marina, the hotel’s owner, advertises for an artist to stay the summer and teach the guests how to paint. The man she hires is handsome and charismatic and soon begins to transform the fortunes of the hotel. But as the summer wears on, his presence also brings up secrets long buried in the past. Spanning time and continents, The House by the Sea is an unforgettable novel about the enduring ties of family and the power of love to mend broken hearts.

Following the success of her two books on container gardening, the author has applied her idea of recipes for planting schemes to the cottage garden. This book contains 50 plans for different sites and seasons, illustrated with delicate watercolours that capture the essence of the English garden. Descriptions for the plants used in the schemes complement the plans, and there are 20 container schemes included with colour photographs.

Marina is a privileged girl who's had an unusual upbringing. Traveling the world with her scientist father, doted on by her wealthy and glamorous neighbor Evie, Marina's life seems perfect.Everything changes in the summer of her sixteenth year when she is sent to live with her Aunt Abby and Cousin Cruz in the lovely seaside town of Aptos, California.Only a few weeks after arriving, sixteen year-old Marina has nearly drowned twice, enchanted the hottest guy in high school, and discovered a supernatural creature. If she can manage to survive some increasingly dangerous encounters with unpredictable mermaids, she might be able to unlock the mystery of her past and appease the mysterious forces that want something from her...And maybe even find true love along the way.

Open the gates of the Wonder Garden to explore five of Earth's most extraordinary habitats, each filled with incredible creatures and epic scenery. Trek through the Amazon Rainforest, travel to the Chihuahuan Desert, dive in the Great Barrier Reef, delve deep into the Black Forest and stand on the roof of the world - the Himalayan Mountains - to see nature at its wildest. Breathtaking, engraved illustrations bring to life Earth's spectacular Wonder Garden.

In a glittering underwater world, where danger lurks behind beauty and power, seventeen-year-old Miranda Sun must decide between her freedom and the love her heart ultimately yearns for.While taking a midnight swim in the ocean, Miranda Sun is pulled beneath the surface only to awaken in a glittering underwater city where she is being held captive by an arrogant young king, Marko.Marko wishes to marry Miranda in order to save his crown from falling into the hands of his sinister brother, Damir, who resides in the dark recesses of the city's underworld.But Miranda is desperate to return home and right things with her sister. In order to escape, she spends her captivity concocting elaborate escape plans and forms an alliance with eighteen-year-old Robbie, Marko's personal guard, in hope of securing her freedom.Miranda fights the pull of the glittering, beautiful undersea kingdom, her blossoming feelings for the smoldering king and the deep friendship with Robbie. But danger lurks under the glittering water. Miranda quickly discovers that even underwater, people have secrets....dangerous secrets which could cost her all she holds dear.