Stories from the City is the debut novel from acclaimed up-and-coming fiction writer N.J. Ewing. 
 
Best described as a 'Gritty Chic Lit', the first book in the 'Stories from...' series, hits on hard topics in a sensitive way. Written with so much heart and humour to boot, Stories from the City is fun and easy read despite the heavy subject matter. 
 
Written for an 18+ audience only, this book comes with a trigger warning for anyone sensitive to drug abuse, domestic violence and sexual abuse.  
​
Genre: Fiction - Urban Romance 
 
Similar titles: Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L. James;  Outlander - Diana Gabaldon; Crossfire - Sylvia Day; Burn - Maya Banks; Rachel's Holiday - Marian Keyes
 
Synopsis:
Love may be simple, but relationships are complex and this group of thirty-somethings is discovering just how complicated life can get when romance is involved.
 
Nathan Stone is the ultimate bachelor. Known as a high-flyer in the London Advertising circuit, Nathan loves his playboy lifestyle of casual sex, all-night parties and class-A drugs. Or so he thought. Nathan's well-ordered work-hard/play-hard world comes to a crashing halt when he meets Ashley Granger, the yoga-loving, down-to-earth, new Creative Director at work. Will Ashley be the one to tame the infamous Nathan Stone?
 
Ashley Granger has just returned to London after three years in Bali, where she fled to escape an explosively violent relationship with a well-known London drug-dealer. She's starting to pull her life back together with a new flat, her perfect job, and now possibly the man of her dreams... but just as things start to go right, Ashley's past comes back to haunt her with devastating consequences.
 
Ryan McPherson is Nathan Stone's best mate, who unbeknownst to Nathan, also used to be Ashley's best friend before she disappeared. Ryan was secretly in love with his off-the-rails friend before she vanished without a trace, but when she never returned, Ryan believed that she was dead... until now. Three years after her mysterious disappearance, Ashley shows up at Ryans office for a job interview... with his wife. 
 
Kat McPherson has come to terms with the fact that she has always been the second love of her husband's life. The competition was pretty easy when the first was nothing more than a ghost. But what happens if the ghost struts her tall frame right back into your life? Kat's about to find out.