Just as celebrated columnist Katie Kiernan thinks life is over, it suddenly arrives on her doorstep in the shape of her sister Michelle, and all the intrigue Michelle brings with her. Friction, resentment and old jealousies make life in their house doubly challenging, as Katie struggles to cope with a rebellious teenager and Michelle longs for the man she has left behind. After a devastating betrayal Laurie Forbes is trying to rebuild her relationship with Elliot Russell, when she is plunged into a whirlwind of passion that threatens to tear them apart completely. Elliot is desperate to hold onto her, but she is afraid to trust him now, and finds security in the arms of another man, until Elliot's former mistress reappears in their lives. Top journalist, Tom Chambers, the man Michelle left behind, faces the greatest challenge of his career when highly classified documents fall into his hands. Realizing how explosive the material is, Tom calls upon Elliot Russell to help with the investigation, and very quickly they are caught up in the deadly efforts to stop them going to print. THE HORNBEAM TREE is a fast-moving, funny, passionate and heartbreaking story that travels the dizzying highs and lows of love, the scandalous manoeuvrings of greed and power and ultimately the unbreakable bond between a single mother and her teenage daughter.