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Alison Sherlock Books in Order

This page lists Alison Sherlock books in order, with short summaries, series background, reading guides, and friendly tips on where to start.

Last updated: June 6, 2026

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18 books

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Starry Nights at Dragonfly Lake

by Alison Sherlock

2026

Astronomer Beth Jones retreats to Maple Tree Lodge after losing her job and boyfriend. Carpenter Noah Jackson arrives for an inheritance, and a winter storm and fake romance force both to rethink love and trust.

New

Daydreaming at the Boathouse Cafe

by Alison Sherlock

2026

Hannah Jackson dreams of baking but doubts herself after an unhappy relationship. Opening a boathouse cafe at Maple Tree Lodge brings her close to injured triathlete Alex Grant, who has been hiding feelings of his own.

Coming Home to Maple Tree Lodge

by Alison Sherlock

2025

After his father’s sudden death, Ben Jackson discovers Maple Tree Lodge Hotel is close to collapse. Interior designer Lily Watson may be able to help, but her cosy vision clashes with his sleek modern plans.

Winter Magic on Railway Lane

by Alison Sherlock

2024

Libby Jacobs loses her job and dreams of turning chocolate-making into something real. Ethan Connolly has the kitchen she needs, but old prom-night hurt and a Christmas train project keep complicating their second chance.

Sunrise Over Strawberry Hill Farm

by Alison Sherlock

2024

Flora Barton is desperate to save Strawberry Hill Farm when Nico Rossi arrives from Italy with a bold glamping idea. She distrusts his reckless charm, but the farm may need both his plan and his heart.

New Beginnings on Railway Lane

by Alison Sherlock

2023

Workaholic Katy Smith needs a job and accidentally lands at Cranfield’s rundown railway station. Chef Ryan Connolly is trying to save his family home, and together they may turn the station into a future.

Heading Home to Lavender Cottage

by Alison Sherlock

2023

Harriet Colgan returns to Cranfield to sell Lavender Cottage, only to find her family’s beloved fields threatened by a warehouse plan. To save them, she must face businessman Joe Randall and her own complicated idea of home.

The Village of Happy Ever Afters

by Alison Sherlock

2022

Molly Hopkins opens a tea garden in Cranbridge, hoping to finally trust her own talents. Logan Armstrong wants a quiet escape after his marriage ends, but his grandad’s watermill dream keeps pulling him into village life.

The Village of Lost and Found

by Alison Sherlock

2021

After a London scandal, Lucy Conway retreats to Cranbridge to care for Uncle Frank. When his cherished newspaper faces closure, she teams up with shaken editor Tom Addison and finds a chance to rebuild more than the paper.

The Village Inn of Secret Dreams

by Alison Sherlock

2021

Belle Clarke wants nothing more than to stay at The Black Swan Inn, the safe haven she loves. When Pete Kennedy returns with bold renovation plans, a snowstorm forces them to work together before the inn is lost.

The Village Shop for Lonely Hearts

by Alison Sherlock

2020

Amber Green loses her New York job and visits her godmother in Cranbridge, where the family shop is close to ruin. Her window-dressing skills may save Cranbridge Stores, if she and Josh can trust each other.

Moonlight Kisses at Willow Tree Hall

by Alison Sherlock

2019

Lily Harper loses her job and fiancé, then returns home to become housekeeper at Willow Tree Hall. Planning the summer fete should be easy, until Jack Carter, the old flame who hurt her, comes back too.

Escape to the Country / Summer Secrets at Willow Tree Hall

by Alison Sherlock

2018

Celebrity journalist Eleanor McCartney returns to Cranley after her London life falls apart. When superstar Tom Kingsley hides out at Willow Tree Hall, she must choose between the scoop she needs and the trust he offers.

A Winter Wedding at Willow Tree Hall

by Alison Sherlock

2018

Skye Jackson is homeless after heartbreak when she inherits half of a rundown lodge at Willow Tree Hall. The other half belongs to scandal-hit Will Harris, and a winter storm soon traps them in the same project.

Love Begins At Willow Tree Hall / A House to Mend a Broken Heart

by Alison Sherlock

2017

Housekeeper Annie loves crumbling Willow Tree Hall, but reluctant heir Sam Harris wants little to do with it. When Arthur’s accident forces Sam home, Annie must help him see what the estate, and she, are worth.

Over The Rainbow

by Alison Sherlock

2014

Make-up artist Elizabeth Monroe goes to Grove village searching for the birth mother she has spent years trying to find. An amateur production of The Wizard of Oz, and director Jack Andrews, complicate her careful plan.

The Desperate Wife's Survival Plan

by Alison Sherlock

2013

Charley Summers has money, comfort, and no reason to worry until her husband’s business collapses. With the bank closing in and her marriage broken, she must learn how to work, live, and stand on her own.

The Desperate Bride's Diet Club

by Alison Sherlock

2012

Violet Saunders is engaged, insecure, and dreading the search for a wedding dress. A harsh diet club only makes things worse, so Violet and her new friends build a kinder plan for change.

Where should I start?

For cosy village romance: The Village Shop for Lonely HeartsThe Village of Lost and FoundThe Village Inn of Secret DreamsThe Village of Happy Ever Afters.
For country-house warmth: Love Begins At Willow Tree Hall / A House to Mend a Broken HeartEscape to the Country / Summer Secrets at Willow Tree HallA Winter Wedding at Willow Tree HallMoonlight Kisses at Willow Tree Hall.
For Railway Lane comfort reads: Heading Home to Lavender CottageNew Beginnings on Railway LaneSunrise Over Strawberry Hill FarmWinter Magic on Railway Lane.
For the newer hotel series: Coming Home to Maple Tree LodgeDaydreaming at the Boathouse CafeStarry Nights at Dragonfly Lake.
For earlier comic women’s fiction: The Desperate Bride's Diet ClubThe Desperate Wife's Survival PlanOver The Rainbow.

Author bio

Alison Sherlock is a Surrey-based writer of warm, contemporary romance and feel-good women’s fiction. Her books tend to begin with someone at a low point: a lost job, a broken engagement, a failing family business, or a home that needs saving. Then the story opens the door to a village, an estate, a shop, a lodge, or a railway station where other people are also trying to start again.

She loved reading and writing stories from an early age, but she did not see writing as a practical job at first. So she took the practical route. Before she was published, she worked as a secretary, a training administrator, and on an IT hotline. Those office years later gave her a useful eye for characters who are stuck in the wrong life and slowly work out what they really want.

Then she took the leap.

Sherlock left office work to focus on writing, and to help pay the bills she worked as a cleaner. That experience fed into the world behind her second novel, The Desperate Wife's Survival Plan. A chance meeting with a literary agent at the Winchester Writers’ Conference helped move her from private ambition to publication.

Her first novel, The Desperate Bride's Diet Club, arrived in 2012. It introduced the kind of story readers would come to expect from her: friendship, self-doubt, humor, everyday mess, and people finding confidence in each other. She followed it with The Desperate Wife's Survival Plan, another story about a woman forced to rebuild when money, marriage, and security all fall away at once.

A few books later, Love Begins At Willow Tree Hall / A House to Mend a Broken Heart began her Willow Tree Hall series. That series centers on a crumbling country estate, a reluctant heir, and a small group of people trying to hold a home together. The setting let Sherlock mix romance with renovation, found family, and the comforting chaos of a big house full of strong personalities.

Her Riverside Lane books, starting with The Village Shop for Lonely Hearts, brought readers to Cranbridge, a village where shops, newspapers, inns, and tea gardens become more than businesses. They are places where lonely or bruised people find work to do, friends to trust, and reasons to stay. The Railway Lane books continued that pattern in Cranfield, with lavender fields, a railway station, a family farm, and a winter train all needing care.

Home matters in her fiction.

In the Maple Tree Lodge Hotel books, including Coming Home to Maple Tree Lodge and Daydreaming at the Boathouse Cafe, Sherlock moves to a Cotswold hotel beside Dragonfly Lake. The set-up is familiar in the best way: family pressure, money worries, romance, loyal friends, and a place that feels worth fighting for.

Sherlock lives in Surrey with her husband and their golden retriever. Her books keep returning to the same simple question: what happens when life falls apart, and a person finally lands somewhere kind enough to help them begin again?

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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All 18 Alison Sherlock Books in Order (Complete List 2026)