Hubble Bubble Series by Christina Jones

Hubble bubble, toil and trouble, Casserole burn and intrigues double 'Mitzi Blessing is on the scrapheap: forced into a very early retirement, a lifetime of organising the church flower rota and making cricket teas seems to loom gloomily ahead of her. With her two daughters seemingly happily settled, Mitzi is determined not to dwindle quietly into serene old age and sets about organising and revitalising Hazy Hassocks, the small rural community she has lived in all her life... moreHubble bubble, toil and trouble, Casserole burn and intrigues double 'Mitzi Blessing is on the scrapheap: forced into a very early retirement, a lifetime of organising the church flower rota and making cricket teas seems to loom gloomily ahead of her. With her two daughters seemingly happily settled, Mitzi is determined not to dwindle quietly into serene old age and sets about organising and revitalising Hazy Hassocks, the small rural community she has lived in all her life. However, with the discovery of her grandmother's cookery book in the attic,life for Mitzi and her friends and family starts to get very interesting. Full of old-fashioned recipes with enchanting names like Wishes Come True Pie, Mischief Night Cake, and Powers of Persuasion Pudding - Granny's dishes provide a nourishing meal, but they also seem to have some very surprising side effects indeed. less

When city-girl Amber arrives to spend the summer in the village of Fiddlesticks, the only stars she recognises are the ones she reads about in her glossy celeb magazines. So she is stunned to find herself surrounded by a collection of nice bit eccentric neighbours who organise their entire lives around constellation customs and the astral calendar... moreWhen city-girl Amber arrives to spend the summer in the village of Fiddlesticks, the only stars she recognises are the ones she reads about in her glossy celeb magazines. So she is stunned to find herself surrounded by a collection of nice bit eccentric neighbours who organise their entire lives around constellation customs and the astral calendar. In Fiddlesticks, every wax and wane of the moon seems to be an excuse for a village knees-up, each appearance of Cassiopeia or Pegasus in the summer skies results in someone throwing a party and making bizarre wishes. More scarily, Amber finds that the villagers actually believe that the stars and moon can work magic. However, when Amber starts working for Mitzi Blessing's Hubble Bubble country cooking outlet as a waitress, Mitzi gently explains that there's a place for many kinds of magic even in the 21st century - and that her own recipes all have a touch of herbal witchery about them. loudly sceptical, but as she's grown very fond of her new friends - especially the gorgeously enigmatic Lewis - and assuming that it's all a bit of harmless fun, she hurls herself into the star-ceremonies and moon-myths on the grounds that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em and any excuse for a party. But when, as result of one of Amber's half-hearted celestial incantations, something totally inexplicable happens, she begins to wonder if maybe, just maybe, there's more to Fiddlesticks' astral-magic than meets the eye... less

Clemmie has a problem - she's had almost as many jobs as she's had birthdays and her lovelife is on the critical list. But with the big 30 looming she's determined to transform herself from unemployed singleton to loved-up success.