A decade has elapsed since the end of the Great War and running a family planning clinic in Salford is challenging but rewarding work.Bella is grateful for the help of Violet Howarth, a generous-hearted woman who takes her in off the street. Before long, a friendship with Violet’s son, Dan, blossoms into the beginnings of love.But Bella also crosses paths with handsome ne’er-do-well Billy Quinn, leader of an illegal betting ring, and everything she has worked for is suddenly put at risk. This is a bewitching tale of drama, jealousy and the fight for women's rights, perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Nadine Dorries. Praise for The Favourite Child ‘Compelling and fascinating’ Middlesborough Evening Gazette‘A revelation in telling us what it was like before women had rights’ 5* Reader review‘One of those books that you can’t put down, loved it’ 5* Reader review

    Their beloved sons are coming home at last and their eldest children are planning to marry each other. When a double wedding is announced, Molly is determined to give her two beautiful daughters a day to remember for the rest of their lives. Meanwhile Nellie's daughter Lily has a boyfriend whom no one likes. When he brings trouble to their door, Nellie's friends in the street are ready to face it. And there's a handsome young chap just waiting in the wings for Lily...

    Joseph Hobson is a bullying man and Evie isn't the only one who lives in fear of her father's violent temper. Then one day a bedraggled woman enters the shop and dies on the premises. Evie is shocked to discover she was in fact her mother, whom she had been told was dead. Why had her father lied to her? What secret was he trying to keep? One thing's for sure, Evie can't take much more from him and when she catches the eye of local lad Ned Collins they plan to run away to begin a new life together. But even when she has escaped and has started a family with Ned, Evie has a long way to go before her happiness is secured...

    But now she is all alone except for her greedy son Peter, who waits only for the day he will inherit her fortune. Ada, however, has a different plan altogether.A few miles away in Blackburn, the Bolton family may be poor - but the love they share means they can overcome almost any adversity. But no one could foresee the shocking events of Christmas night, 1932, which split the family asunder, leaving Larry crippled and the twins, Ellie and Betsy, in a foster home. Events that began many years ago, when Ada Williams was young and foolish.

    Mallory St. Martin is a man with revenge in his heart. Born the second son, his brother was killed at Trafalgar, and he was forced into a life he’d never wanted, and wasn’t prepared for. As the new Duke of Chichester, he discovers that his father lost everything to Geoffrey Woodward, and the disgrace of it all, led to his father’s death. Vowing revenge, and seeking to win back all his father lost, he decides to strike back at Woodward through the woman he views as Woodward’s greatest treasure, his only child, Miss Elizabeth Woodward. As their worlds collide, they both discover that the greatest risk of all is taking a chance on love.

    It’s a horror house, a slaughter house, a devil house. And it’s something else, too: A doll house. Reginald Lympton collects doll houses, and now that he’s acquired the rare Patten Doll House, he can boast the most preeminent collection in the world. But after visions too abominable to reckon, and nightmares blacker than the most bottomless abyss, he discovers in short order that his acquisition is not a prized collector’s item at all but a diabolical thoroughfare designed to serve the darkest indulgences of the King of Terrors. Now, Edward Lee, the master of hardcore horror, has penned this audacious homage to the master of the Victorian ghost story, M.R. James.

    Sir Ernest Shackleton had carefully picked crew and a stout, well-outfitted ship, the Endurance. But he had no radio, the world was at war, and at the edge of the Antarctic continent, the ship froze in the sea ice. After months of immobility, it was crushed. Then began an impossible journey. With three tiny boats, the crew worked their way across frozen the Antarctic Sea. This vivid book recounts the story of Shackleton's heroic voyage from South Georgia Island to Antarctica then back to South Georgia. It is a tribute to Shackleton and his crew's ability to fight for survival and one of the most harrowing adventures in history.

    Soon the woods are full of men out to catch both the eel and the girl. "Penguin Readers" is a series of simplified novels, film novelizations and original titles that introduce students at all levels to the pleasures of reading in English. Originally designed for teaching English as a foreign language, the series' combination of high interest level and low reading age makes it suitable for both English-speaking teenagers with limited reading skills and students of English as a second language. Many titles in the series also provide access to the pre-20th century literature strands of the National Curriculum English Orders. "Penguin Readers" are graded at seven levels of difficulty, from "Easystarts" with a 200-word vocabulary, to Level 6 (Advanced) with a 3000-word vocabulary. In addition, titles fall into one of three sub-categories: "Contemporary", "Classics" or "Originals". At the end of each book there is a section of enjoyable exercises focusing on vocabulary building, comprehension, discussion and writing. Some titles in the series are available with an accompanying audio cassette, or in a book and cassette pack. Additionally, selected titles have free accompanying "Penguin Readers Factsheets" which provide stimulating exercise material for students, as well as suggestions for teachers on how to exploit the Readers in class.

    Now he’s settled on the Texas coast, working a ranch as the partner of his old friend Tom Kittery—and finding himself in the middle of a feud between Kittery and a neighboring family. But the danger from outside is nothing compared to the threat within, as Duvarney suspects Kittery’s woman isn’t all she appears to be. Tap may have to go to war again. But this time will it be with his closest friend?The First Fast DrawEast Texas wasn’t much of a home for Cullen Baker. Few liked him, and some even tried to kill him. Yet after three years of wandering, he’s back to farm the land that is rightfully his. But Cullen’s neighbors have long memories, and his worst adversary has teamed up with a vicious outlaw. With enemies closing in on all sides and threatening the woman he loves, Cullen will have to be faster than lightning—and twice as deadly—just to survive.From the Paperback edition.

    William’s loyalty has worn thin over the years but he cannot break the ties with Galloway because times are hard and the house in which he lives belongs to him. Carrie Tanner grows up in the heart of a poor yet loving family, but as she becomes a young woman she becomes involved in the Suffragette movement. The times are changing – and quickly. Will this close-knit community be able to pull together or will it be torn apart?

    In North Wales, Hester Coburn, a farm labourer's wife, gives birth to Nell, whilst in Norwich, in an exclusive nursing home, Anna is born to rich and pampered Constance Radwell. And in London, Elizabeth, Duchess of York, has her first child, Princess Elizabeth Alexandra Mary.The future looks straightforward for all three girls, yet before Nell is eight, she and Hester are forced to leave home, finding work with a travelling fair. Anna's happy security is threatened by her father's infidelities and her mother's jealousy, and the Princess's life is irrevocably altered by her uncle's abdication.Set in the hills of Wales and the rolling Norfolk countryside, the story follows Nell and Anna through their wartime adolescence into young womanhood as they struggle to overcome their problems, whilst watching 'their' Princess move towards her great destiny. Only when they finally meet do the two girls understand that each of them is 'someone special'.

    Often they were burned in public, lost in mountainous torrents of fire.One painting survived the flames.One painting held a fatal secretBarbara Howard was a young American art student; who studied in London. She was obsessed over discovering the unknown identity of the artist who painted the mysterious painting called THE SECRET OF LIONS.Barbara was determined to do what scholars had failed to do, uncover the story behind the painting.She investigated and discovered Evan, a secretive groundskeeper, working behind the scenes on a chilly London campus. Embarking on a passionate affair with Evan, Barbara learned the secret behind the painting. It became a secret that she could never escape.The story that Barbara uncovered would change her life forever.

    But first he'll have to make it across the bloody north and that is easier said than done when there's a price on your head . . . For fans of gritty, action-packed fantasy in the vein of George R. R. Martin and Joe Abercrombie. Bestselling independent author Tony Healey presents The Fallen Crown series, a hard-hitting sword & sorcery epic that will blow you away and leave you gagging for the next installment!

    Casey LePointe West is heiress to one of the greatest fortunes in America. Now, as Hurricane Katrina roars toward New Orleans, these two women are finding common ground in a city of ghosts and grandeur...Alexa as the FBI’s representative in a case guaranteed to destroy careers, and Casey as a woman whose husband has gone missing—and who herself may be the next victim of a brilliant manipulator’s rage. From the violent wards of an insane asylum to the primordial Louisiana swamps, Alexa is entering the darkest corners of a deadly mystery, peeling back layers of family secrets, hidden relationships, and a twenty-five-year-old crime. And as a raging hurricane gathers strength, she is plunged into a frantic race against time, in the eye of a storm of violence...and just where a ruthless killer wants her to be.

    Her life seems perfect, until her father suddenly announces bankruptcy. To save Isabella from destitution he sends her to stay with family she has never met, far away on a violet farm deep in Devon.Isabella is horrified to find her uncle expects her to work for her keep, packing up the flowers and selling them in the nearby market. However she soon discovers that life on a violet farm may not be so bad, especially when she meets handsome local farmer Felix Furneaux… Perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Katie Flynn.