Fiona Walker – författare

The hotly anticipated wedding of Iris Devonshire, ravishing teenage daughter of celebrity couple Mia and Leo, is to be held in the gardens of their grand Palladian pile alongside the Thames. But Mia and Leo worry that she''s rushing into the marriage. Just ask their best friends since college, Simon and Laney de Montmorency, whose relationship is on the rocks again - and they''ve already married each other twice.On the big day, Iris''s hellraiser fiancé Dougie Everett is not the only one flying high. As Iris rides up the aisle on a white stallion, a hot air balloon appears over the woods, heading straight for the ceremony. Its arrival is about to transform the lives and loves of some of the wedding guests for ever.The Summer Wedding is a sizzling summer comedy set against the beautiful backdrops of the Chilterns, Spain, Africa and LA.

Especially for you, Fiona tells us about the special inspiration behind the stories and what they mean to her:Season''s GreetingsReceiving the annual round robin from friends is a Christmas tradition I devour with the same indulgent pleasure as the green triangles in the Quality Street box. Season''s Greetings tells Holly''s story through a decade of Christmas letters.The Nativity SceneI''m now proud to count myself among the ranks of tear-stained parents who hold camera phones wonkily aloft at the school nativity play each year. In The Nativity Scene, the under 9s in home-made wings are not the only ones for whom the day could spell high drama. Dine Out On ItWhen I was moving house a lot in the nineties and noughties, I clung onto spare front door keys as a keepsake. Dine Out On It came from seeing the clutch of Yales swinging on a hook at the back of a cupboard, and wondering what would happen if I ever tried them out again.ElizabethElizabeth was written for a Sunday newspaper at a time my heart regularly came unglued when falling in love without a safety net. I loved the idea of a complete reinvention, and the secret hope that somebody would one day find my leopard''s spots beneath the whitewash.Freudian SlipsThis story was inspired by something a friend of mine did, and the image of lipstick on cricket whites was so heavenly, I just had to write Freudian Slips . . .Plus bonus content! This collection contains the first three chapters from Fiona''s bestselling novel The Summer Wedding.

Dive into a summer of surprises . . . Jenny loves to house-sit: looking after a stranger''s perfect home and pretending to be someone else - just for a bit. Her latest booking is a beautiful rambling country house owned by the glamorous Lewis family. Freed of teaching duties for the summer, Jenny plans to do nothing more challenging than walk the family''s badly behaved dog and laze by the pool.Her idyll is disrupted by skeletons in the Lewis closet. Stumbling across hidden messages and passionate secrets, Jenny finds herself exposing far more than just home truths. She uncovers a seductive second chance: to open herself up to love again and to finally live life on her own terms.

''definite shades of One Day...emotionally intelligent and beautifully written'' - Daily MailCan your final fling become your Happy Ever After?When Jo Coulson finds herself single again in her late thirties, she finally resigns her membership to Last of the Hopeless Romantics, fully intending to tackle midlife and motherhood alone. First, she plans one legendary last fling...In walks Harry Inchbold, and the connection is electric. Passionate, unpredictable and messily divorced, Harry is the perfect antidote to cosy coupledom. Known as The Sinner, drama follows him around with a clapper board. Harry''s favourite holiday hideaway in the wilds of South Shropshire puts the mud and fun into the perfect dirty weekend. But at the cottage Harry reveals a very different side, melting Jo''s resolve. What better combination to face an uncertain future than two cynics who have learned from their mistakes?Together they make a pact; ''same time next year''; they can promise no more than that. Through life''s most stressful decade, Harry and Jo return to the Shropshire hills for one weekend each year to rediscover passion and make peace. As career, family and home crises all threaten to bring them unstuck, the cottage is their glue. Here, different rules apply: the day to day world is not allowed to intrude.With Harry and Jo, however, it''s only a matter of time before rules get broken. As real life gets increasingly complicated, can they keep renewing their promise?

Digital download exclusive short story: a wonderfully warm comedy of mistaken identity from the incomparable Fiona Walker, ahead of her new novel The Love Letter.Allegra North''s second thoughts about splitting with childhood sweetheart Francis need a first-class stamp. But with her unfinished letter to him still in her handbag, she can''t find the right words to express her regrets. Invited to a big movie premiere through her work, she resolves to put all thoughts of her ex fiancé out of her mind; then she loses her handbag in the foyer.Francis meanwhile is determined to win Allegra back. Convinced that they should never have parted, he intends to declare his feelings in front of crowds of press and film fans that evening, unaware that his meticulous plans are about to be hijacked by his hired accomplice, a movie stuntman with a thirst for publicity . . .By the time the closing credits roll, the crowds will be baying for a kiss. Can a letter right wrongs, or do actions speak louder than words?