How does the saying go? If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got . . .

Gemma is variously trying to keep busy, rebuild her life after a personal tragedy, and start a family. She's also, though she'd hate to admit it, lonely.

Dan is attractive, laid back, and terrified of anyone getting to know the real him. He's lonely as well - not that you'd know it if you saw him out with his mates.

Casey is Dan's daughter. She's undergoing treatment for a tumour and is lonely too, and scared, but desperately trying to pretend otherwise.

When Gemma, Dan and Casey's paths cross one scorching July, they all have their reasons for keeping their distance; none of them would choose to be alone, but somehow the myriad little choices they made along the way have brought them to that point just the same. Now fate has brought them together, though, perhaps they'll be able to find the courage to make a different choice . . .

A story of bravery in all its guises, Eva Carter's Owner of A Lonely Heart is about taking the plunge even when it terrifies you - because it's never too late to try doing something different.