Daughter to Amrath, cousin to the emir of Samarkand, she is left within the palace as the battles begin. Despite the emir’s reluctance to admit the city will perish, Amrath forms his defenses in preparation for the oncoming onslaught. The Mongol, led by the crazed khan, Kabul, are on their way. Destroying villages and anything on their way to Samarkand. Soon, the city’s is breached and a full force attack begins. Kabul’s horde is braced meet Amrath’s mighty army, awaiting the final clash of swords…Sharon has only one choice to make: to stay and try to survive – or run.If she escapes, there is no promise that her people could ever reclaim Samarkand, her homeland.Fleeing to the hills against the burning backdrop of her former home, she meets the tribe of the Kazir.The seers of the Kazir people prophesied that the Kazir people would once again rule Samarkand. Could Sharon hold the key to this prophecy?Meanwhile, Kabul, maimed for life by Sharon on her escape, is desperate to seek revenge and destroy her.Kabul is determined to find her out and when he does, there is no stopping him … he will get his revenge …And so will Sharon …‘Samarkand’ is an epic fantasy tale of struggle and vengeance as warrior princess Sharon endeavours to reclaim her lost homeland.Praise for Graham Diamond: ‘An excellent story … absorbing … keeps one reading on eagerly.’ Andre Norton ‘Graham Diamond has written a novel that stands out and dares to be different.’ Rising Shadow Graham Diamond began writing as a fantasy and science fiction author. He was born in Manchester, England, but was raised in New York City. He is best known for books such as The Haven, Lady of the Haven, The Thief of Kalimar, Slack Midnight, Chocolate Lenin and Forest Wars. He soon turned to other genres; including historical fiction, thrillers, and later a true story of a Holocaust survivor’s family during World War II, Maybe You Will Survive. Diamond was employed as an editorial artist by the New York Times for many years, and has also taught creative writing in both New York and California. Venture Press is a science fiction and fantasy imprint of Endeavour Press, the UK’s leading independent digital publisher. We are committed to the discovery and rediscovery of immensely talented authors in the SFF genre, and continue to push boundaries in search of great literature. Join us as we venture across universes and unknown landscapes – past, present and future. Follow us on Twitter @venture_press

    The calm order of Queen Charlotte’s court is shattered by screams. The King of England is going mad. Left alone with thirteen children and with the country at war, Charlotte has to fight to hold her husband’s throne. It is a time of unrest and revolutions but most of all Charlotte fears the King himself, someone she can no longer love or trust. She has lost her marriage to madness and there is nothing she can do except continue to do her royal duty.Her six daughters are desperate to escape their palace asylum. Their only chance lies in a good marriage, but no prince wants the daughter of a madman. They are forced to take love wherever they can find it, with devastating consequences.The moving true story of George III’s madness and the women whose lives it destroyed.

    With the English King Edward heirless and ailing, across the grey seas in Normandy the brutal William the Bastard waits for the moment when he can drown England in a tide of blood.The ravens of war are gathering. But as the king's closest advisors scheme and squabble amongst themselves, hopes of resisting the naked ambition of the Norman duke come to rest with just one man: Hereward.To some a ruthless warrior and master tactician, to others a devil in human form, Hereward is as adept in the art of slaughter as the foes that gather to claim England's throne. But in his country's hour of greatest need, his enemies at Court have made him outlaw. To stay alive - and a freeman - he must carve a bloody swathe from the frozen hills of Northumbria to Flanders' fields and the fenlands of East Anglia.The tale of a man whose deeds will become the stuff of legend, this is also the story of two mismatched allies: Hereward the man of war, and Alric, a man of peace, a monk. One will risk everything to save the land he loves, the other to save his friend's soul.James Wilde's thrilling, action-packed debut rescues a great English hero from the darkest of times and brings him to brutal and bloody life.

    The Well of Darkness5. The Search for Ka6. Return to Eddarta WARNING*****I'M NOT SURE WHICH EDITION I HAD, BUT IT WAS PRINTED WITH #6 RETURN TO EDDARTA BEFORE #5 SEARCH FOR KA AND I GOT INTO 6 BEFORE REALIZING THAT IT WAS OUT OF ORDER IN THE BOOK, SO CHECK CAREFULLY

    Especially when a Royal Navy submarine officer kills himself on board, only days after his wife's brutal murder.Now Lieutenant Danielle Lewis, the Navy's finest Special Branch investigator, is two hundred metres below the surface.Interrogating the tight-knit all-male crew of HMS Tenacity. Trying to determine if there's a link.In the face of extreme hostility, justice must be served and only the most tenacious will survive.For Dan pressure is inside. Outside. Everywhere...Tense, dramatic, claustrophobic and brilliant, this is Headline's crime launch for 2015.

    These ads prove that even if you’re lonely, you don’t have to be boring, as advertisers in this book demand much more than long walks on the beach from their potential mates. .Arranged by theme (“The Usual Hyperbole and a Whiff of Playful Narcissism”), and including footnotes to obscure references, Sexually I’m More of a Switzerland promises to be, like its predecessor, “a bracing splash of cold reality in the flushed face of romance” ( Chicago Tribune )..

    This tiny haven will be their home until Ava departs at midwinter for an around-the-world adventure.In the town, local publican Donald is determined to get rid of them. Still mourning the death of his wife, all he wants is a quiet place where he can forget the past and raise his daughter Alicia in safety. However, Alicia is wrestling with demons of her own.As the sunshine fades and winter approaches, the beach hut stirs old memories for everyone. Their lives become entwined in surprising ways and the secrets of past and present are finally exposed.

    With no mother Martha's life is spent running her father's meagre household and helping out at the local school whilst longing to escape the confines and small-mindedness of a community driven by religious bigotry and poverty.As she is able to read and is well-versed in herbal remedies she is suspected of being a witch. When a landslip occurs - opening up a huge chasm in the centre of the village - she is blamed for it and pursued remorselessly by the villagers.But can her own wits and the love of local stablehand Jacob save her from a witch's persecution and death...A brilliant and accomplished novel that perfectly captures the febrile atmosphere of Elizabethan village life in an age when suspicion and superstition were rife. Perfect for fans of Tracy Chevalier.

    They come from different worlds--but together they will make history. When Merwenna of Weyham's betrothed does not return from war, she goes in search of him only to discover the bitter truth--he is dead. Instead she meets Cynddylan, a Welsh prince who has just returned from a campaign to the north and has made an uneasy pact with the Mercian King. Arrogant and ambitious, Dylan is determined to take back lands for his people--yet King Penda of Mercia is not a man to trust. As the shadow of conflict between Mercia and Wales deepens, Merwenna and Dylan's fates are entwined. From the green heart of Mercia, to the woods and mountains of Wales, Merwenna sets off on a life-changing journey. On the way she struggles between grief for the man she has lost, and her powerful attraction to this battle lord who appears to love only power and glory. The exciting first instalment of THE KINGDOM OF MERCIA series is for fans of Historical Fiction, Historical Romance and Adventure. Readers who enjoy Diana Gabaldon, Bernard Cornwell and Elizabeth Chadwick should enjoy this epic romance adventure set in Dark Ages Britain. Although each novel follows on historically, this series can be read as separate, standalone, romances. THE BREAKING DAWN was a semi-finalist in the 2016 Chatelaine Award for Romance novels (Chanticleer International Awards).

    Thrust into an unfamiliar and treacherous court, with a husband who mistrusts her, stepsons who resent her and a bewitching rival who covets her crown, Emma must defend herself against her enemies and secure her status as queen by bearing a son. Determined to outmaneuver her adversaries, Emma forges alliances with influential men at court and wins the affection of the English people. But her growing love for a man who is not her husband and the imminent threat of a Viking invasion jeopardize both her crown and her life. Based on real events recorded in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," "Shadow on the Crown" introduces readers to a fascinating, overlooked period of history and an unforgettable heroine whose quest to find her place in the world will resonate with modern readers.

    Newly wedded Zachary McCaltex (a librarian in Miami) and Twang Panattapam (originally from the Southeast-Asian country of Pan-Nam, but residing in Italy) try to trace the whereabouts of a treasure supposedly lost off the coast of Florida in the sixteenth century, while navigating a relationship separated by an ocean as well as their different cultures. In the end, the postal service may be responsible for what gets lost (including Zachary's sanity) along the way.

    Unfortunately, her cousin Charles and his fiancée Annabelle don't seem pleased to find Flora and her very pregnant cat on their doorstep. Flora knows almost nothing about antiques, but with her London apartment rented out, her cat about to burst with kittens, and a mysterious man warning her about Annabelle, Flora has little choice but to accept her cousin's offer to stay in their abandoned holiday cottage, miles from anything remotely like what Flora considers civilization. Soon, though, Flora is fighting off dinner invitations from the devastatingly handsome Henry and hiding her eco-friendly lodger, William. Could it be that country life isn't so dull after all?

    Crammed with catastrophe, terror, and ghostly interventions, the novel was an immediate success, and influenced numberous followers. These include William Beckford's Vathek (1786), which alternates grotesque comedy with scenes of exotic magnificence in the story of the ruthless Caliph Vathek's journey to damnation. The Monk (1796), by Matthew Lewis, is a violent tale of ambition, murder, and incest, set in the sinister monastery of the Capuchins in Madrid. Frankenstein (1818, 1831) is Mary Shelley's disturbing and perennially popular tale of a young student who learns the secret of giving life to a creature made from human relics, with horrific consequences.This collection illustrates the range and attraction of the gothic novel. Extreme and sensational, each of the four printed here is alos a powerful psychological story of isolation and monomania.

      This celebration of the Georgian sailor’s diet reveals how the navy’s administrators fed a fleet of more than 150,000 men, in ships that were often at sea for months on end and that had no recourse to either refrigeration or canning. Contrary to the prevailing image of rotten meat and weevily biscuits, their diet was a surprisingly hearty mixture of beer, brandy, salt beef and pork, peas, butter, cheese, hard biscuit, and the exotic sounding lobscouse, not to mention the Malaga raisins, oranges, lemons, figs, dates, and pumpkins which were available to ships on far-distant stations. In fact, by 1800 the British fleet had largely eradicated scurvy and other dietary disorders. 
While this scholarly work contains much of value to the historian, the author’s popular touch makes this an enthralling story for anyone with an interest in life at sea in the age of sail.   “Overall this is an excellent examination of this crucial aspect of British naval power, and I’m certainly going to try out some of the recipes.” —HistoryOfWar.org

    All she wants for Christmas…Leah Griffiths has woken up after a few too many glasses of Prosecco with a hangover – and discovers she’s accidentally bought a little Christmas tree farm in Scotland!At first she’s horrified, but perhaps it’s the perfect way to forget all about her cheating ex.And when she meets grumpy (but ridiculously gorgeous) pumpkin farmer Noel underneath the mistletoe, Leah begins to believe that at Christmas time, anything can happen…