Book picks similar to
Hold on to your Dreams by Beryl Matthews


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The Picture House Girls


Rosie Archer - 2021
    Perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Nadine Dorries.In 1940s Hampshire the war is settling into its stride bringing dark days for many.Connie Baxter has just moved in with her Aunt Gertie after the death of her mother. Gertie works as a cleaner at the Criterion Picture House in Gosport and she helps Connie to get a job there as an usherette. For Connie, it's the perfect place to work because she adores the movies with their glamorous, romantic stars.The only fly in the ointment is the Criterion's creepy manager with his wandering hands. But soon Connie is firm friends with Queenie, who sells ice creams and soon tells her how to warn him off.Charming Tommo Smith is a 'taxi-dancer'. For a fee he steers ladies of a certain age around the dance floor - and sometimes more besides which pays for his smart clothes. Connie's friend Queenie says he's a chancer, but his gorgeous blue eyes tell Connie something different. When suddenly he disappears, Connie accepts that Queenie may be right - he was too good to be true.As the war rages on and Connie struggles with the harsh realities of life and the turbulence of romance, she comes to realize that life isn't always like it is in the pictures.

Say Never


Janis Thomas - 2014
    But when her brother calls to ask for Meg’s help with his three kids, she is forced to do the unimaginable: go home and step into the dreaded role of ‘parent.’ With no maternal skills whatsoever, Meg is thrust into a world of diapers, tantrums, and projectile vomit, and her decision not to procreate is stunningly validated—she could never be a mom. But as the days go by, and she starts to connect with her nieces and nephew, Meg discovers that her family is not the nemesis she feared, and she might not be the person she always thought she was. Sassy, sexy, and poignant, Say Never is a hilarious roller coaster ride of self-discovery that will keep you laughing long after you put the book down.

Audrey Anonymous


Kimberly Conn - 2018
    Audrey's goal each day is to survive with minimal drama from her children, but as she relies more and more on alcohol to help her cope, is a growing addiction blinding her to her responsibilities? Can Audrey recognize what is truly important before she loses everything? Audrey Anonymous is a powerful portrayal of one woman's struggle to confront her own selfishness and rediscover the gift of motherhood. Kimberly Conn delivers another poignant novel about the necessity of human connection.

The French Retreat


Suzanne | Sue Fortin - 2015
    In a bid to reassess her life, she heads off to the only place she has ever felt content - her brother’s farmhouse retreat in rural France.Marcie isn’t the only one looking to escape. Ex-soldier Will hopes the gentle pace of French life will help to banish the ghosts of his past and offer him the fresh start he desires.However, all is not what it seems at The Retreat. Fuelled by a string of strange happenings and local rumours, Will and Marcie are pushed together as they try to discover who or what is behind it all. In so doing, they are faced with a moral dilemma and question if doing wrong is doing right?The French Retreat is a story of human compassion, hope and love.

The Little Ship


Margaret Mayhew - 1999
    Guy is the eldest, handsome, skilled at everything, a tad selfish. Matt is quieter and has a crippled right arm. Lizzie adores them both, to the extent of putting up with being sea-sick everytime they go out in the old boat and continually getting bashed on the head by the sail. These are idyllic days of sun, and sea, the golden era of the thirties. Lizzie's father is a doctor and, as the thirties progress, they take the daughter of a Viennese colleague into their home, a Jewish girl called Anna, who is miserable and hates England, and misses her Jewish family and friends. The fifth child to join them is Otto, son of a German diplomat, reared in the best traditions of the Hitler doctrine and destined for the army. These five have a tense and highly involved relationship as they grow up. Anna is resented by the English boys but one of them eventually comes to love her. Otto's relationship with her is more complicated. She is, after all, a Jew. They have one wonderful day together when somehow their rivalries are forgotten as they fight the sea in the little ship, and when they all write their names on the mast. Then the world explodes into war and they all go their separate ways. They all meet again at Dunkirk. Anna getting out from France at the last moment with the help of Guy, Otto as part of the victorious Reich, and Lizzie and Matt taking the little ship over to save them from the beaches. It is strong, wonderful, atmospheric, romantic with intriguing characters, all involved with each other in love/hate relationships.

The Wedding Dress Maker


Helene Wiggin - 2000
    This is not the first time her stepmother has taken what is rightfully hers. First it was her dead mother's rainbow necklace - Netta's only legacy - now her son... Netta is unable to protest such treatment, for it is 1945 and, in the eyes of her God-fearing community, she is doubly cursed: an unmarried mother who struggled with mental health problems after giving birth to her son. After being banished from her beloved Galloway, to a Yorkshire mill-town, Netta is determined to show she is capable of building a life for herself, so she can return to Galloway and claim back her child... PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED AS: The Stone Rainbow

The Locket


Mike Evans - 2012
    That teenage boy was Adolf Eichmann. It all seemed innocent and nice until Sarah’s grandmother died, and then nothing was ever the same again.Set in Europe during World War II, The Locket follows Sarah’s journey from adolescence to adulthood, as she and her family endure the horrors of the Final Solution. Forced from their home into a Vienna ghetto, and later to the Nazi death camps, Sarah watches helplessly as her family and friends are murdered. She is marked for death, too, until Eichmann intervenes. When Sarah rebuffs Eich- mann’s romantic advances, she is arrested and sent to the camps. Can Sarah escape and survive long enough to find justice for the atrocities she was forced to endure? Will evil prevail and consign her to a life of fear and terror? Observe Sarah on her journey from the darkest days of the Holocaust to the day she enters a Jerusalem courtroom to face Adolf Eichmann.The Locket by Mike Evans is a suspense-filled and captivating novel. It will keep you on the edge of your seat. It is a book you will not be able to put down. Dr. Evans’ great-grandfather, a rabbi, perished in Minsk, Russia, during the pogroms. He and his congregation were boarded up in their synagogue and burned to death by Orthodox Christians who cried, “Christ killers” as the fire consumed the building. Others of his family perished at Auschwitz. More than twenty-five million copies of Dr. Evans’ books are in print, and he is the award-winning producer of nine documentaries based on his books. Dr. Evans is considered one of the world’s leading experts on Israel and the Middle East, and is one of the most sought-after speakers on that

The Lost and Found Girl


Catherine King - 2011
    When the legitimacy of her twin babies with Edgar is called into question, the tiny infants are taken from Beth and sent far away. James is adopted by Edgar's uncle, the very wealthy Lord Redfern, master of Redfern Abbey. But little Daisy is sent to a cold-hearted childless couple who raise her to be a maid rather than a daughter. When Daisy, at 16, finally escapes her hard life with her adoptive brother Boyd, they arrive at the Abbey to seek work and refuge. Little does Daisy know that her flesh and blood is the next in line to be Lord of the Abbey. There is a strange connection between Daisy and James, something they can neither explain nor ignore. But will the truth be discovered in time?

The Season of Open Water


Dawn Tripp - 2005
    The Season of Open Water is the passionate, searing story of a young woman coming of age in a New England seacoast town that is swept up in the dangerous trade of rum-running.It is October 1927. Bridge Weld is nineteen, headstrong and beautiful, working in her grandfather Noel's boatbuilding shop. When Noel is approached by a local bootlegger to refit a boat for smuggling, he feels in his gut that he should not accept the work, yet he takes the job for the money it offers and for the chance it gives him to build a future for his beloved granddaughter, Bridge, and her brother, Luce. What Noel doesn’t count on is that Luce will be lured into the rum work himself and will try to pull Bridge into it with him. But Bridge has embarked on a different course. Caught up in a passion for Henry, a veteran of World War I, Bridge is propelled beyond the confines of her known world, and ultimately she must choose between the man who loves her and the brother to whom she has been loyal all her life. As Bridge strikes out on her own, Luce's fierce attachment spirals out of control.Exquisitely written, haunting in its rendering of place, The Season of Open Water is a superb novel about a family and the lawlessness of the heart, a love story that explores the often inescapable connections between violence and desire.

One More Tomorrow


Sam Vickery - 2017
    Until she realised she couldn't. Now it's all she can think of. She had everything she could ever want, the fulfilling career, the doting husband, but now he can't stand to touch her and her perfect life is falling to pieces. After five miscarriages her whole existence revolves around just one dream – holding her child in her arms. But Lucas has reached his limit. He won't see her kill herself for a wish that can't come true. Roxy is determined to keep fighting until she can call herself a mother, but when she's dealt a devastating blow, she learns that some things are out of her control. Will she get the family she so desperately craves, or will she lose everything that matters to her?

The Secret Life of Lula Darling (Lula Darling Series Book 1)


Alex Dean - 2017
    A supernatural event. A life filled with great purpose.Lula Darling is a fourteen-year-old slave growing up on a plantation in Natchez, Mississippi in 1854. After the untimely deaths of her father, and then brother, her perilous life could not seem to get any worse. Under the watchful eye of the slave owner and his father, an inventor, Lula, along with her mother, Ella Mae, are losing any and all hope of ever being free from the bondages and terrors of slavery. But one day, while hiding in fear in the slave owner's attic Lula makes a startling discovery that transports her through time and space into the future and changes her life forever.What readers are saying about the Lula Darling Series:"Awesome Story""As an avid reader this story was truly captivating. I couldn't put the book down.""I chose a 5 star rating because the book was very interesting wasn't anything boring about the story line. I would recommend this book to my family and friends.""Great short story that I would recommend to young readers. A message that there's still compassion within people to help one another, no matter the obstacles they encounter.""I would recommend this book to anyone. The story line is compelling and it gives way to a great series. The thought of time travel and being transported from such a depraved period to modern times is mind boggling.""I Loveddd this book, I wish it was made into a movie"

Love Comes To Clover Cove


Maggie Finn - 2019
     Being posted from Manhattan to the Emerald Isle should be bliss for heartbroken New York executive Kate O’Riordan, but Kate’s job is to persuade the little village of Clover Cove to allow her employer to build an energy plant in their picture-perfect harbour. Her mission brings her into conflict with handsome innkeeper Connor James, a man who makes Kate’s heart do backflips, but who is hiding his own secret heartache. Kate’s romantic life is further complicated by the attentions of wealthy Lord Balcon and then there’s the matter of her ex-boyfriend, ambitious oil executive David. In an inspirational story of new beginnings, Kate must find the courage to place her faith in love if she is to save the village - and find a new place to call home. Love Comes To Clover Cove is the first book in an uplifting new series of romance, friendships and family, set on the beautiful west coast of Ireland, perfect for readers of Debbie Macomber, Nancy Thayer and Jenny Colgan.

Cornwall for Christmas: A Polwenna Bay novella


Ruth Saberton - 2016
     Sometimes the best Christmas presents are the ones you aren't expecting ... When Kat James exchanges the city for a solitary Yuletide in a Cornish fishing village she's fully expecting a quiet time. What she isn't prepared for is a little meddling from her well-meaning best friend and a visit from the Ghost of Boyfriends Past. Romance, festive or otherwise, isn't on Kat's Christmas list. The last thing she is looking for is love. Is coming to Cornwall for Christmas a big mistake for Kat? Has her broken heart set harder than the granite cliffs? Or will Polwenna Bay and its inhabitants work a little festive magic after all? CORNWALL FOR CHRISTMAS is a festive return to Polwenna Bay, the warm -hearted Cornish set series by the bestselling author of ESCAPE FOR THE SUMMER and KATY CARTER WANTS A HERO. It continues on from where TREASURE OF THE HEART but also stands alone as a Christmas novella. * * * * * Praise for Ruth Saberton: "Fresh, fast paced and funny" Company Magazine "A real treat of a read" Fiona Walker "Clever and fresh" Richard Madeley "A roller coaster of a read - I was gripped by emotion" Krafti Reader And reader reviewers say: "I feel like I've been to Polwenna Bay and fallen in love with it." "You can even smell the fudge cooking and hear the gulls crying." "This book transports you to a beautiful place."

Three Is a Crowd


Chenell Parker - 2019
    For Jersi Bradford, there was no definition for payback. After having her heart broken by the man who she’d planned to spend the rest of her life with, Jersi decided to stop getting mad and get even. Blake was a man who was used to getting what he wanted. It just so happened that what he wanted was his first love back in his life. After hurting Jersi in a horrific way, he was ecstatic when she decided to give him another chance. The only thing standing in their way was Mariah, his wife and mother of his kids. Memphis Young knew all too well how it felt to have your happiness snatched away in the blink of an eye. After suffering through a tragedy of his own, he decided that love and happiness were obviously not meant for him. He dated casually without commitment and he was okay with living a carefree life. One chance encounter at the grocery store changed his mind and his perspective. Love fell into his arms and he wasn’t willing to let it go. Old habits die hard and some never die at all. When old flames get reignited and new ones start to flicker, lives are changed and some are completely destroyed. Join these complex characters to see why one is lonely, two is company and three is a crowd.

Sarah Love


Geraldine O'Neill - 2010
    Heartbroken and humiliated, she leaps at a chance to make a fresh start away from her native Tullamore. Within a week she has crossed the Irish Sea, and is lodging with other young women in a house off Newcastle city centre, just a short walk from Harrison’s – the rundown knitting and sewing shop where she will work for reserved and troubled spinster, Lucy Harrison. Sarah now finds herself amongst people of different classes, religion and race, and when her Irish nationality is attacked she must discover the skills to survive. Putting the past behind her, she channels her energies into rebuilding the old-fashioned, neglected Harrison’s into a thriving business and her wonderful sewing and design skills soon lead her down a new and exciting path in life. A path without love though, as she is too raw to consider romance again. Or so she thinks …