The Tavern on Maple Street

Book excerpt: Jack and Lily Beaumont own a genuine Victorian tavern, situated on one of Belfast's few remaining narrow cobbled streets. They are content with their regular customers, but one day developer Vincent Halloran arrives with big plans for Maple Street. As Christmas approaches, Lily decides to hire four pretty barmaids and two singers in a final bid to save the Tavern - enter pint-sized man-eater Bridget, lazy art student Daisy, neurotic Trudy and painfully shy Marie, not to mention the handsome Devaney brothers with their tight leather trousers and acoustic guitars. But is it too little, too late?