Lucie Peachtree is living her (nearly) best life as she prepares to pack up her house to move to the country with her ever-so-handsome, teenage heartthrob boyfriend turned partner, Rob. Rob, unfortunately, forgets to mention that while Lucie was selling their house, trying to get pregnant and was doing all the things, had secured himself another life, thank-you-very-much. A life complete with a twenty-four-year-old very much pregnant work colleague and not including Lucie in any shape or form. Dropped into a world Lucie has never known, one night she sets out to a calling from the universe. With a glass of wine, a tub full of bubbly water and rather too many onion bhajis, she sees something on the internet that takes her fancy. Before she has time to think about it too much, she has bought a rather large, rather rundown house on a little island just off the coast. And so begins Lucie Peachtree’s initiation into all things Darling Island, a place she arrives in with more than a pang of regret. As she feels her way into Darling’s quaint ways, a very surprising love interest walks slap bang into her life and suddenly living on Darling looks oh-so-much more on the rosier side. With its gorgeous old blue and white buildings, cosy small-town feel, floating bridges, trundling vintage trams and a plethora of wonderful characters, we are whisked along for the ride as we watch Lucie navigate her way to a new life on the coast in the old Coastguard’s House. Darling is a quiet seaside town on Darling Island known for its fine architecture and olde-worlde charm. Nestled on the beautiful hazy waters of Darling Estuary, Darling’s sandy beaches and bustling community is a well-kept secret just off the coast. You know you’ve arrived on Darling when you step off the Pride of Darling floating bridge and take a trip up the main street on the tram. With its beautiful sea mists, abundant flora and fauna and the sound of the old fog horn in the distance Darling will hold you in her grasp and never let you go. Darling Island ~ just off the mainland, so very far from care.

For Lucie Peachtree, things are definitely on the up and island life is giving her all the things. After a horrible break up, she found herself catapulted to coastal living in the form of the Old Coast Guard’s House sitting right by the sea. Then, when she was least expecting it, she met ever-so dashing George, and the life ticks just kept on coming. We catch up in Summer on Darling Island with the next part of the story, as Lucie settles into life on Darling, navigates her new small business, gets stuck into her part-time job, and snuggles up with her man. The old Lucie seems nothing but a distant memory as she starts to fall deeply in love with not only George, but also herself. However, things on Darling aren’t always rose-tinted and when a little blot on the landscape masks the famous island blue, Lucie has to take take a long hard look at how she wants her life to pan out.

Lucie Peachtree is feeling all the Darling Island feels; picnics on the beach, long evenings watching the sun go down, and dipping into the waters of Darling Bay. As she revels in life in the old coastguard’s house, it seems as if everything is going her way, from her romance, to her job, to her small, but busy, business. We watch the love story from the sidelines and swoon in excitement as the biggest moment in Lucie’s life looms. But, just as she’s least expecting it, life decides it might just like to shake things up a little bit for Lucie. A curveball comes along slap bang into the middle of her world on Darling and leaves her more than a little bit confused as to what to do.

The funny, heart-breaking and uplifting new novel in Polly Babbington’s 'Darling Island' series. It's time for us to get back to Darling Island where the local time is so very far from care. Please remain seated with your seat belts fastened and trays in the upright position until we have crossed over on the floating bridge. Get ready for the ride, people. This is going to be good. Life for Jane Le Romancer is all sorts of small. She goes to work, sits in her office, talks to her laptop, swirls around in a sea of numbers, goes home, talks to her laptop again, has dinner and the next day does the same thing again. Rinse and repeat. With her only son away and her only friends scattered all over the place, she’s wondering what life is all about. She lives day to day via her online groups, cooking for one, pottering with her garden and receiving one too many visits from the postman. One morning as she’s sitting in the office after a particularly interesting conversation with her laptop, an online post catches her eye: 'House Swapper Wanted'. Come and stay in my gorgeous old mews house on Darling Island and enjoy all the coastal delights in the sweetest little house nestled by the sea. With its floating bridge, vintage Darling Street trams, delightful cosy pubs, gorgeous old fishing boats and secret cafes tucked away down little lanes, while away your days Darling style. Enjoy long walks by the sea, get to experience the blue waters of Darling Island’s bay and lap up the special flora and fauna all around. Before Jane knows it, she’s swapping her three-storey house in a leafy London street for a tiny little place on an island shrouded in a hazy blue. Will Jane’s life swap end up opening her eyes to everything that’s been missing in life or will she be wondering what in the world she’s done? Something About Darling Island is the FIRST book in Polly's Something trilogy, it is book FOUR in the Darling series overall. All Darling Island and Pretty Beach cosy trilogies and all books finish with a conclusion and can therefore be read as standalones. Each trilogy within the series can be read on its own and out of order.

From the author of The Coastguard's House Darling Island comes the next instalment in the tale of Jane Le Romancer and her adventure with a house swap by the sea. For Jane, everything is looking on the rather lovely side of rosy. Her new beau Oscar is proving to be fabulous and her once beige life is no longer quite as small – in fact, it’s growing every which way she turns. As Jane settles nicely into her relationship with Oscar and falls not only in love with him but with Darling Island too, she wonders what the next few months will bring. She starts to ponder where her life is going and whether she could, indeed, stay put on Darling for a while, but when someone close is not quite as they seem, Jane starts to question many things. As the conundrum engulfs her in a sea of concerns, she actually begins to wonder if being small wasn’t such a bad thing after all. We watch from the sidelines, looking onto the cosy little island with its floating bridge, vintage trams, and heritage buildings, and cheer Jane on, as perplexed she surveys all around and wonders quite what to do. The story of Jane Le Romancer is Polly’s second Darling Island trilogy. Darling Islands follows on from her 18-book Pretty Beach series which starts with The Boat House Pretty Beach. All books and all trilogies can be read as stand-alones as they all end with a conclusion and all trilogies can be read out of order. If you want to jump in right at the beginning start with The Boat House Pretty Beach.

As the snow falls on Darling Island, we meet up for a cream-topped hot chocolate in Darlings café with Jane Le Romancer and catch up on all she’s got going on. She’s recovered from the plethora of wobbles about her new, not as small life, and is loving Christmas done Darling style. We swoon at just about everything on Darling at Christmas… And when there’s a Christmas wedding to beat all weddings on the horizon, we get dressed up for the party and wonder just how it’s going to turn out…