Circles 2

For attractive Fran James and her husband, Gerry, the cosy rhythms of well-funded family life on the south coast seem totally secure. Then sexy Stephanie arrives on the scene with her twins, 'claiming kin' - and in more ways than one. For not only is Steph a daughter to Gerry's father, but her baby boys are the fruit of an unwitting affair with Gerry - her half-brother. It's unthinkable. Fran mustn't know. Harry James, Steph's generous father, mustn't know. But Julian, Gerry's wily lawyer brother, is soon hot on the trail. Just why do Steph's twins look so much like Gerry's children? Maybe her former flatmate Paula, now down on her luck and eager for some easy money, will find out and open a Pandora's box of agony for everyone ... Blackmail! Which is why Gerry, Julian and eventually Steph want Paula well and truly out of the way. As the action of Circles 2 swings from England to Vancouver and back to the British seaside, readers' sympathies swing first with Fran, then with the tormented Gerry, and finally with the resourceful Stephanie. Never has the fragility of family life been so deftly described. Hampshire-based and now happily retired, Jocelyn Hatch enjoys the stunning coastlines of the south-west of England which have inspired this sequel to Circles. With her husband, she still takes much pleasure from walking their bearded collies.