They knew they had struggles of a practical nature ahead of them - trying to build the bankrupt mill into a new and thriving business - but Madeleine felt that, providing everything was right between her and Leon, they could face whatever lay ahead. But trouble and disruption were still to be part of her future - for Leon's family in France bitterly resented the Yorkshire girl who had taken their son away from them. And Hortense Murer, who had thought she would be Leon's wife, resented her even more. And over all hung the shadow of a foolish curse made by her old enemy, Sophia Parkinson - that Madeleine would never bear a son - a curse that, against all the tenets of common sense, seemed to be coming true.

    Sampson, S.J. Parris and Rory Clements."A superb, page-turning debut. The author balances gimlet-eyed research with narrative drive and clever reveals... Danforth is a strong yet torn central character... I look forward to reading the second book in the series." Richard Foreman.Steven Veerapen was born in Glasgow and raised in Paisley. Pursuing an interest in the sixteenth century, he was awarded a first-class Honours degree in English, focussing his dissertation on representations of Henry VIII’s six wives. He then received a Masters in Renaissance studies, and a Ph.D. investigating Elizabethan slander. The Abbey Close represents his first foray into fictional writing. Steven is fascinated by the glamour and ghastliness of life in the 1500s, and has a penchant for myths, mysteries and murders in an age in which the law was as slippery as those who defied it.

    The close community is stunned to learn that it's Lisa Moran, a popular teacher who disappeared two days earlier.DS Lucy Golden is assigned to the case. For her, it's personal. As an Achill native, she knows that sometimes great evil can lurk in plain sight. Having moved back from Dublin, she has spent the last ten years trying to prove herself to her colleagues after her husband was jailed for fraud. This is her chance to put the past behind her. Her teenage son Luc's behaviour, however, is increasingly troubling and Lucy doesn't have time for distractions.When another body is found in an abandoned property on the bog, with links to a murder 20 years ago, the stakes are raised - but a pattern is emerging. Can Lucy put the pieces together? Or will her family crisis mean the murderer claims his next victim?

    But now it looks as if they're about to lose Sweet Dreams to the bank. Can Samantha, the oldest daughter and new head of the company, come up with a way to save it? Events seem to be conspiring against her and to make matters worse, the company's fate is in the hands of her archenemy, Blake Preston, the bank manager with the football-hero good looks. It's enough to drive her to chocolate. But Blake's also enough to convince her that there's something even better than chocolate. Merry Ex-Mas Cass Wilkes has been looking forward to her daughter Danielle's Christmas wedding—until Dani announces that she wants her father, Cass's ex, to walk her down the aisle. Seriously? Not only that; he, his trophy wife and their yappy little dog will be staying with Cass… Meanwhile, her friend Charlene Albach arrives at their weekly chick-flick night in shock. She's just seen the ghost of Christmas past: her ex-husband, Richard, who left a year ago when he ran off with the hostess from her restaurant. Now the hostess is history, and he wants to kiss and make up. Hide the mistletoe! And bring out the hot buttered rum, because the holidays aren't easy for Ella O'Brien, either. Ella, newly divorced, is still sharing the house with her ex while they wait for the place to sell. The love is gone. Or is it? Romance on Mountain View Road (Previously published as What She Wants) Jonathan Templar and his poker buddies can't figure women out. When Jonathan stumbles on a romance novel at the Icicle Falls library sale, he knows he's found the love expert he's been seeking — Vanessa Valentine, top-selling romance author. At first his buddies laugh at him for reading romance novels, but soon they, too, realize that these stories are the world's best textbooks on love. Poker night becomes book club night…and when all is read and done, they're going to be the kind of men women want!

    Or, if you’re James Stark, you spend eleven years in Hell as a hitman before finally escaping, only to land back in the hell-on-earth that is Los Angeles.Now Stark’s back, and ready for revenge. And absolution, and maybe even love. But when his first stop saddles him with an abusive talking head, Stark discovers that the road to absolution and revenge is much longer than you’d expect, and both Heaven and Hell have their own ideas for his future.Resurrection sucks. Saving the world is worse.Darkly twisted, irreverent, and completely hilarious, the Sandman Slim series is the must-read.Includes: Sandman Slim, Kill the Dead, Aloha From Hell and Devil Said Bang.

    A mystical object has been discovered in a 15th-century galley, buried at the bottom of Lake Garda in Italy. At the recovery site, Monte makes a shocking revelation—the relic in her hands holds the power to change humanity’s perception of existence.But Monte soon finds herself trapped in an insidious intrigue, and is forced to abandon everything she knows and trusts. Joined by local hotelier, Alessandro Pini, she is determined to unravel the truth surrounding the discovery.A heart-stopping race to decode the four-thousand-year-old mystery leads Monte and Pini from Italy through the mighty Austrian Alps, right to the banks of the most sacred river in India. But the professor and her friend are not the only ones seeking answers, and it will take courage and cunning to outwit those who believe the truth is worth dying—or killing—for.

    But when owner Dai Morgan is killed in an air raid, his daughter Megan is determined to continue in her father's footsteps and she braves the ravaged streets alone to do his milk round by horse and cart. Megan finds comfort in the knowledge that her twin girls are tucked away in a Welsh village, but she worries about her husband, Will, abroad with his platoon. And when Will's best friend, Doug Reynolds, returns, wounded and disfigured, she doesn't hesitate to take the poor man in. However, Doug is not the man she thinks he is. And when the boys come home, Megan has battle scars she can't allow Will to see...