Sally lavishes all her hopes and dreams on her baby sister Emily, determined that she’ll leave the mean streets of their Liverpool home and enjoy a better life. When Emily is sent to live with rich relatives, it seems like her wish has come true, but the chance is bittersweet.Sally and her family may face poverty and hardship in Liverpool, but the warmth and love shared will help them overcome whatever the world has to throw at them; Emily, however, wanting for nothing, might find out that happiness is harder to find…Full of authentic details of Liverpool life at the turn of the century, The Land is Bright is a totally absorbing saga perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Helen Forrester.‘A family saga you just won’t be able to put down’ Prima‘The whole-heartedness of Liverpool shines through in a refreshing tribute to Merseyside’ Liverpool Daily Post‘Murphy is born and bred, and sets her first novel in her beloved city, giving the book that vital authenticity which makes it so realistic’ Hull Daily Mail‘Rich in authentic period details, The Land is Bright is a time machine back to the past. This is how history should be written!’ Terrace Review‘Evocative writing’ Woman’s World‘Richly nostalgic’ Publishing News‘A thundering great read’ Liverpool Echo The Liverpool Sagas The Land is Bright To Give and To Take There is a Season

    And like the tumultuous meeting of the cataract's waters with the rocks below, a chance encounter between Tom and 17-year-old Bess Heath has an explosive effect. When they first meet on a trolley platform, Bess immediately recognizes the chemistry between them, and the feeling is mutual. But the hopes of young love are constrained by the 1915 conventions of Niagara Falls, Ontario. Tom's working-class pedigree doesn't suit Bess's family, despite their recent fall from grace. Sacked from his position at a hydroelectric power company, Bess's father has taken to drink, forcing her mother to take in sewing for the society women who were once her peers. Bess pitches in as she pines for Tom, but at her young age, she's unable to fully realize how drastically her world is about to change. Set against the resounding backdrop of the falls, Cathy Marie Buchanan's carefully researched, capaciously imagined debut novel entwines the romantic trials of a young couple with the historical drama of the exploitation of the river's natural resources. The current of the river, like that of the human heart, is under threat: "Sometimes it seems like the river is being made into this measly thing," says Tom, bemoaning the shortsighted schemes of the power companies. "The river's been bound up with cables and concrete and steel, like a turkey at Christmastime." Skillfully portraying individuals, families, a community, and an environment imperiled by progress and the devastations of the Great War, The Day the Falls Stood Still beautifully evokes the wild wonder of its setting, a wonder that always overcomes any attempt to tame it. But at the same time, Buchanan's tale never loses hold of the gripping emotions of Tom and Bess's intimate drama. The result is a transporting novel that captures both the majesty of nature and the mystery of love.Also, download the free study guide: http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t....

    We are born and raised to serve our lord and shogun. Our code dictates selflessness and death to be more honorable than failure, whether on the battlefield or even over the most insignificant dispute.In eighteenth-century Japan, the lord of a samurai clan is sentenced to death for an assault on castle grounds. As dictated by law, the clan must exact revenge on the one responsible for their lord’s death. However due to circumstances, the shogun forbids any such act, placing a band of masterless samurai at odds with themselves and the martial code by which they live and die. After much trial and hardship, the clan does the unthinkable and defies the shogun’s mandate in order to fulfill their duty to their late lord. In doing so, these legendary warriors will be forever remembered for inspiring the Way of the Warrior back into the hearts of their countrymen.If you like historical novels set in old Japan, martial arts action adventure stories or samurai films, discover 47 Ronin.

    Fourteen years later the Petroski brothers arrived in London setting it alight with their breathtaking presence, bone melting accents and heart fluttering masculinity; eligible women were all interested in their availability. And yet the Prince’s betrothed, Miss Georgina Franklin, was yet to receive a visit.

    A globetrotting Irish travel writer, Kathleen de Burca is used to living--and loving--on the run. On the brink of fifty, she decides to leave her job and rethink her life. Intrigued by a divorce case dating back to the days of the Potato Famine, she tries hand at writing about it. The case, called "The Talbot Affair," detailed the clandestine liaison between the wife of a British landlord and an Irish servant in Ireland in the 1850s. After a bitter thirty-year absence, Kathleen returns to Ireland, the land of her troubled childhood and turbulent heritage, in search of answers to her questions about desire and lasting love.

    Candles flicker, a gramophone scratches out a tune as guests dance and sip champagne— for one night Hartgrove Hall relives better days. Harry Fox-Talbot and his brothers have returned from the war determined to save their once grand home from ruin. But the arrival of beautiful wartime singer Edie Rose tangles the threads of love and duty, and leads to a devastating betrayal.   Fifty years later, now a celebrated composer, Fox reels from the death of his adored wife, Edie. Until his connection with his four-year old grandson - a piano prodigy – propels him back into life, and ultimately to confront his past. An enthralling novel about love and treachery, joy after grief, and a man forced to ask: is it ever too late to seek forgiveness?

    What she doesn't expect is to meet a mysterious entrepreneur, Sebastian Fielding, when she gets there. He helps ease the sting of rejection as he introduces her to the ancient sites he knows and loves. Unfortunately, soon after Paige returns to her island home in Jersey, she discovers that not only is Sebastian's company taking over the struggling store where her business is based, but that her concession is probably surplus to his requirements. How can Paige stop her fledgling business from going under? And what can she do to fight the gossip now that the paparazzi have published their untruths about 'A Jersey Affair'?

    Modern day matchmaking is tough – people are busy, their hearts are harder to hit and he’s had enough of wall-to-wall romance. And St Valentine has noticed…Annelise is a Lost Cause. She runs a dating agency but her heart is colder than a penguin’s feet. She thinks love is about compatibility and has no time for passion.Can Cupid prove to St Valentine that he hasn’t lost his touch by melting Annelise’s heart? Or is it curtains for Cupid?A romantic comedy novella - 23,000 words long'Gorgeously romantic, unputdownable and utterly delicious!' Miranda Dickinson, Sunday Times Bestseller (Fairytale of New York, It Started With A Kiss, When I Fall In Love)'A completely charming, fantastically funny, romantic romp, perfect reading for a sunny afternoon.' Scarlett Bailey (Married by Christmas, The Night Before Christmas, Santa Maybe)

    

    Not long after her arrival, however, tragedy strikes, and Fanny and her brood repair to a quiet artists' colony in France where she can recuperate. There she meets Robert Louis Stevenson, ten years her junior, who is instantly smitten with the earthy, independent and opinionated belle Americaine.A woman ahead of her time, Fanny does not immediately take to the young lawyer who longs to devote his life to literature, and who would eventually write such classics as Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In time, though, she succumbs to Stevenson's charms. The two begin a fierce love affair, marked by intense joy and harrowing darkness, which spans decades as they travel the world for the sake of his health. Eventually they settled in Samoa, where Robert Louis Stevenson is buried underneath the epitaph: Under the wide and starry sky,Dig the grave and let me lie.Glad did I live and gladly die,And I laid me down with a will. This be the verse you grave for me:Here he lies where he longed to be;Home is the sailor, home from sea,And the hunter home from the hill.(Requiem, Robert Louis Stevenson)

    Except the shop owner is now Kyle Nichols and he is a dream. However, with her father on death’s door she is here to make peace with her mother after not speaking since she left, and not to find true love.  The last thing she expects to find is a plot to buy up her family’s land to build a shopping mall. Will she be able to stop Hawthorn Enterprises from running her town? Will she patch things up with her mother? Will little Bryce ever take a liking to her? Who is the blonde with Kyle? It all comes down to family and history in the tiny town of Snowy Mountain. Come on down and see if Juliana will ever make her dream of owning a diner a reality.Snowy Mountain SeriesBook 1: Juliana’s JourneyBook 2: Building Bailey’sBook 3: Patricia’s PatientBook 4: Hannah’s HandymanBook 5: Freeman’s FarmBook 6: Writing RomanceBook 7: Wendy’s Wild LoveBook 8: Jesse’s JewelBook 9: Cassie’s Cause …“These are stories of hope, fear, romance, suspense and true love.”... Brenda Clemmons and Katie Wyatt’s Clean and Wholesome Contemporary Western Romance series is enjoyable for all ages.

    Sparks fly whenever Camerons and Farthingales meet in If You Kissed Me and If You Loved Me. In Never Dare A Duke, Frances Cameron makes a wish upon a falling star and gets far more than she bargained for. If You Loved Me appeared previously in Under The Kissing Bough boxset and Never Dare A Duke appeared previously in A Duke’s Desire boxset. Never Dare A Duke: Frances Cameron ought to be spending the month planning her wedding, but when a casual toast on the night of her betrothal escalates into a battle of the sexes, she finds herself obligated on a dare to spend the next thirty days working closely with the handsome and powerful Duke of Kintyre. In winning the dare, will she also lose her heart to the duke? If You Kissed Me: As the beautiful granddaughter of a powerful duke, Lady Evangline Cameron is much sought-after on the Marriage Mart, but the only man who will ever claim her heart is Dr. George Farthingale. How can Evie gain the respected doctor’s attention? If only he would kiss her. If You Loved Me: Adelaide Farthingale’s journey from York to London as Christmas approaches takes an unexpectedly romantic turn when she meets Desmond Cameron, the handsome Marquis of Blackfell. She’s on her way to London to meet her intended husband and can’t possibly fall in love with Desmond... can she? Adelaide tucks a kissing bough under her pillow in the hope of dreaming of the man she’s supposed to marry, but Desmond keeps popping up in her dreams.

    Early into the renovations, she discovers a tin box hidden away in the attic that reveals the emotional letters from a WWII paratrooper to a young woman who lived in the house more than a half-century earlier.The old letters—incredibly poetic and romantic—transcend time, and they arouse in Adrienne a curiosity that leads her to track down the writer of the letters. William “Pops” Bryant is now an old man living in a nearby town with his handsome but overprotective grandson, Will. As Adrienne begins to unravel the secrets of the letters (and the Bryants), she finds herself not yet willing to give up entirely on love.

    But as the festive season draws closer, Laurel begins to wonder if Christmas on Skopelos can ever live up to the cosy Yorkshire Christmases she spent with her beloved grandmother, Marnie. And with a travel writer arriving to review the Villa, Laurel needs a touch of festive sparkle - and a little help from some old friends... With critics to impress, Greek feasts to cook, and an ABBA-themed winter wedding on the horizon, can Laurel throw the perfect Christmas for everyone? And will she find her own romance underneath the mistletoe...? Escape to Greece this Christmas for this joyous sequel to My Mamma Mia Summer.

    Their tragic connection is slowly revealed as the book unfolds.Wake: 1) Emerge or cause to emerge from sleep 2) Ritual for the dead 3) Consequence or aftermath.Hettie, a dance instructress at the Palais, lives at home with her mother and her brother, mute and lost after his return from the war. One night, at work, she meets a wealthy, educated man and has reason to think he is as smitten with her as she is with him. Still there is something distracted about him, something she cannot reach...Evelyn works at the Pensions Exchange through which thousands of men have claimed benefits from wounds or debilitating distress. Embittered by her own loss, more and more estranged from her posh parents, she looks for solace in her adored brother who has not been the same since he returned from the front...Ada is beset by visions of her son on every street, convinced he is still alive. Helpless, her loving husband of 25 years has withdrawn from her. Then one day a young man appears at her door with notions to peddle, like hundreds of out of work veterans. But when he shows signs of being seriously disturbed—she recognizes the symptoms of "shell shock"—and utters the name of her son she is jolted to the core...The lives of these three women are braided together, their stories gathering tremendous power as the ties that bind them become clear, and the body of the unknown soldier moves closer and closer to its final resting place.