Though initially employed as a maid, Mary soon becomes the daughter the couple were never able to have. With Britain at war, unable to remain idle, Mary finds employment in the local steel works but when her fiancé Tom Downing is killed in action Mary is convinced it is retribution for their night of sin during Tom's Christmas leave. However, Mary grows to love Jack Holmes, a local miner. They marry and move into a humble terrace house with little but their love to keep them going. As the years pass Mary is determined to achieve success for herself and her family. She sets up her own dressmaking business and it seems as if she has finally found peace of mind. But the business starts to dominate her life until tragedy once more threatens to destroy all she most cherishes...

    She is put to work at the female factory of Parramatta; a place where the women’s only hope of food and lodgings is to offer their bodies to the settlement’s men. Nell is given shelter by Lieutenant Blackwell, a brooding soldier to whom she is inexplicably drawn. Despite warnings from the other women, Blackwell’s motives seem decent, and beneath the roof of a military officer, Nell sees a chance to become more than just a convict woman sent to the factory to be forgotten. But tensions are high in New South Wales, with the young colony teetering on the edge of a convict rebellion. And as Nell treads a dangerous line between obedience and power, she learns the role of a factory lass is to remain silent – or face a walk to the gallows.

    One Irish family – One hundred turbulent years: 1916 to 2016 Betty O’Fogarty is proud and clever. Spurred on by her belief in her husband Seamus’s talent as a violin-maker and her desire to escape rural life, they elope to Dublin. She expects life there to fulfil all her dreams. To her horror, she discovers that they can only afford to live in the notorious poverty-stricken tenements. Seamus becomes obsessed with republican politics, neglecting his lucrative craft. And, as Dublin is plunged into chaos and turmoil at Easter 1916, Betty gives birth to her first child to the sound of gunfire and shelling. But Betty vows that she will survive war and want, and move her little family out of the tenements.Nothing will stand in her way. One hundred years later, secrets churn their way to the surface and Betty’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren uncover both Betty’s ruthlessness and her unique brand of heroism.

    Perfect for fans of Lesley Pearse and Dilly Court.1931: Fifteen year old Kate witnesses her mother Millicent push a stranger from a station platform into the path of an oncoming train. There was no warning, seemingly no reason, and absolutely no remorse.1940: Exactly nine years later, Kate returns to the station and notices a tramp laying flowers on the exact spot that the murder was committed; the identity of the victim, still remains unknown.With a country torn apart by war and her family estate and name in tatters, Kate has nothing to lose as she attempts to uncover family secrets that date back to the Great War and solve a mystery that blights her family name.

    It is expected that she will conclude the season with a brilliant titled marriage---but it is not to be so. Both idolized and dominated by her flamboyant father, Maud finds her search for love and happiness thwarted at every turn.How this vibrant, headstrong beauty is liberated and comes to learn what love is all about make Melbury Square an unforgettable reading experience.

    Deserted by a selfish man, and driven to the workhouse, young Annabel and her midwife mother face a harsh and hopeless future.A critical situation for the workhouse governor then opens a door of deliverance for them both, but it seems that revenge and bitterness hound their every step.A harrowing story of stolen love, rich and poor, faith, family, and fearful odds, Born A Workhouse Child, will keep your heart pounding and your hopes soaring to the end.Join Dolly Price for her most heart-warming Victorian romance yet, and follow Annabel’s courageous quest to discover the real meaning of love, faith, and family.

    Fifteen-year-old Annie Anderson was adopted by Sylvia and Hugh after the death of their own daughter. Annie is told that her own mother in childbirth and her father died before she was born.A chance encounter introduces Annie to local lad Andrew Fraser. Their friendship blossoms, but once Annie’s adoptive parents learn of it they forbid her from seeing him. When Annie asks why, it sets her on a path to discover more about her origins – but will what she learns bring heartache or joy? Don’t miss this rich and vivid saga by one of Liverpool’s best-known novelists, perfect for fans of Kitty Neale and Katie Flynn.

    Conflict threatens to dissolve the country in bitter strife if North and South cannot peacefully settle their differences. The calm serenity of life at Oaklayne Plantation near Richmond, VA is suddenly replaced with passionate friction between family members, as each person struggles through perilous situations encountered by each of them during a very difficult time in our nation’s history. Colonel Adam Layne is devastated but remains strong in his loyalty to the Union, despite being banished from the plantation by his father and deserted by his fiancée. The balance of his family stands strong with their father's Southern allegiance. "Oaklayne, a Civil War Saga" is a historically accurate portrayal of a man struggling to serve both his family and his nation in a time when those things are in conflict. The sequel to this book entitled "Oaklayne, The Reconstruction", is now available for purchase in print or e-book version!

    When she can no longer watch her children suffer, she listens to her inner voice. A woman in a man’s world, she is not to be denied. GUS CANNON…distant…unable to express his love. Ill prepared for pioneer life, he fails at every turn.Unbridled, paints a picture of the struggles of life in the unsettled west, flavored with the regional history of Custer and the 7th Calvary’s Washita Massacre and the Battle of Anadarko. It’s through her friendship with a Kiowa woman that Sarah is made aware of what it means to be Indian in Indian Territory.Unbridled tells of Sarah Cannon’s struggle against overwhelming odds to build a life for her children and herself in Indian Territory. The only problem that seems insurmountable to the young pioneer woman is the indifference of her own husband. I loved the book. --Jackie King, author of The Inconvenient CorpseTammy Hinton’s cadence makes for a smooth, marvelous read. Add her passion for these ancestors, and Unbridled becomes a terrific book. ––Sharon Ervin, author of Aftermath

    

    Set in an unnamed NZ city in 1953, Fire tells the story of four working class friends, all employed at Dawsons, one of the country's most glamorous and sophisticated department stores. The girls are Nancy, a salesgirl in the dress department, Kay who works in lingerie, Louise, a typist in Accounts and Judy, a milliner in the workroom out the back. The story takes place a week before Christmas, in the period leading up to Christmas as the country prepares for a Royal Visit by the young Queen Elizabeth. When the store is full of wealthy shoppers smoke is discovered drifting from the basement lift shaft. While the fire brigade is called, the store owners make a crucial error and decide not to raise a public alarm until it's too late - exits are cut off by the fire and the ground and first floors are ablaze, trapping staff and customers on the upper floors.

    His name is Captain Adam Bradley.She is the harbour master’s daughter.He is smouldering and sophisticated — the most eligible captain ever to sail into the quay.Anyone can see it’s meant to be. But Rebecca is anything but charmed. Her heart belongs to Tom Mason, a lowly cooper she’s known forever.Her father doubts Tom's ability to provide securely for her. But Tom has a plan to prove him wrong. And until then, passionate Rebecca refuses to wait to be with him.But fate has other plans.Tragedy strikes, shattering the couple’s dreams of a life together. Vulnerable and alone, how will Rebecca survive without her soulmate?With the threat of bringing shame on herself and her family nipping at her heels, Rebecca can see only one way out. Is she strong enough to take it?Fans of Nadine Dorries, Rosie Goodwin, Dilly Court, Freda Lightfoot and Catherine Cookson will adore this emotional coming-of-age story.ALSO BY TANIA CROSSEDEVONSHIRE SAGASBook 1: THE HARBOUR MASTER'S DAUGHTERBook 2: THE RIVER GIRLBook 3: THE GUNPOWDER GIRLBook 4: THE QUARRY GIRLBook 5: THE RAILWAY GIRLBook 6: THE WHEELWRIGHT GIRLBook 7: THE AMBULANCE GIRL

    Includes Satan in St Mary's, Crown in Darkness and Spy in Chancery. Perfect for fans of Ellis Peters, Susanna Gregory, Michael Jecks and Robin Hobb.Satan in St Mary's: 1284: Edward I is battling a traitorous movement founded by the late Simon de Montfort, the rebel who lost his life at the Battle of Evesham in 1258. The Pentangle, the movement's underground society whose members are known to practice the black arts, is thought to be behind the apparent suicide of Lawrence Duket, one of the King's loyal subjects. The King, deeply suspicious of the affair, orders his wily Chancellor, Burnell, to look into the matter. Burnell chooses a sharp and clever clerk from the Court of King's Bench, Hugh Corbett, to conduct the investigation. Corbett - together with his manservant, Ranulf - is swiftly drawn into the tangled politics and dark and dangerous underworld of medieval London.Crown in Darkness: 1286: on a storm-ridden night, King Alexander III of Scotland is riding across the Firth of Forth to meet his beautiful French bride Yolande. He never reaches his final destination as his horse mysteriously slips, sending them both crashing to their death on the rocks. The Scottish throne is left vacant of any real heir and immediately the great European princes and the powerful nobles of Alexander's kingdom start fighting for the glittering prize. The Chancellor of England, Burnell, ever mindful of the interest his king, Edward I, has in Scotland, sends his faithful clerk, Hugh Corbett, to report on the chaotic situation at the Scottish court. Concerned that a connection exists between the king's death and those now desirous of taking the Scottish throne, Corbett is drawn into a maelstrom of intrigue, conspiracy and danger.Spy in Chancery: Edward I of England and Philip IV of France are at war. Philip, by devious means, has managed to seize control of the English duchy of Aquitaine in France, and is now determined to crush Edward. King Edward suspects that his enemy is being aided by a spy in the English court and commissions his chancery clerk, Hugh Corbett, to trace and, if possible, destroy the traitor. Corbett's mission brings him into danger on both land and at sea, and takes him to Paris, and its dangerous underworld, and then to hostile Wales. Unwillingly he is drawn into the murky undercurrents of international politics in the last decade of the thirteenth century.

    After all, it's 1825 and this is the land of opportunity!

    But Florence is nursing a broken heart and a terrible secret, which might destroy her one chance of happiness...Meanwhile, a new plane is being developed that could turn the tide of the war, but Florence fears there is traitor is in their midst, putting Siegfried - and the whole country - in terrible danger. Can Florence save her Spitfire boys, and her own heart?