Somerley Books in Order

The Somerley books take readers to a fictional market town full of cobbled streets, coffee smells and close-knit traders. Writing as Marcie Steele, Mel Sherratt swaps crime scenes for community drama, following groups of women as they juggle work, family and second chances at love.

In Stirred with Love, three women at very different stages of life ' Kate, Chloe and Lily ' come together to open The Coffee Stop, a cosy cafe that quickly becomes a hub for locals. Kate is nursing a broken marriage, Chloe is working out who she wants to be after school and Lily is a widow determined to do something meaningful with the time she has left. The cafe gives them all a fresh start, but it also brings competition, financial pressure and the odd romantic complication.

Secrets, Lies & Love, originally published as The Little Market Stall of Hope and Heartbreak, moves the focus a few yards across the square. Best friends Sophie and Beth run a busy stall, trading banter with regular customers while quietly carrying their own worries. Sophie's marriage has gone flat just as a charming stranger appears, and Beth hides heartbreak and anxiety about her teenage daughter Charley. When long-buried secrets come out, both women have to decide what they really want from the future.

Second Chances at Love began life as The Second Chance Shoe Shop and follows colleagues Sadie and Riley at Chandler's Shoes. Sadie is a young widow trying to raise her daughter while relearning how to live again, and Riley is convinced she'll never meet the right man after too many false starts. When the shop is threatened with closure, their fight to save it forces them out of their comfort zones and into new opportunities, including the possibility of love they had both quietly written off.

Although each novel has its own complete story, the same streets, cafes and familiar faces pop up throughout the series. Characters from one book wander through another, giving the town a lived-in feel and letting readers see different sides of the community.

The tone is warm and hopeful. Instead of killers and corrupt officials, the obstacles here are more everyday ' failing businesses, family expectations, loneliness and the risk of opening up to someone new. If you like the sound of friendship-driven stories with strong female leads, Somerley is a gentle place to escape to, starting with Stirred with Love.