The residents of Ruby Street in London's East End are celebrating the new Queen's coronation. It's a day of joy of laughter, a new beginning for a nation still in the grip of rationing, still suffering the aftermath of the Blitz. But for Rose Weaver, the day ends in tragedy when her husband Eddie is arrested on suspicion of theft. It's only the first of several shocks as Rose discovers some unpleasant facts about the man she married eight years before, the man she thought she knew so well.Struggling to provide for herself and her two daughters, Rose realises that she'll need the help of family, friends and the good neighbours of Ruby Street if she's to have any chance of pulling through.And when a handsome salesman knocks at her door, it's hard to resist temptation . . .

    

     Liverpool, 1901. The Tempest family is all but destitute, barely able to put food on the table. When Florrie falls ill with pneumonia and Arthur is imprisoned after a drunken fight, their thirteen-year-old daughter Lizzie finds herself parentless, desperate and alone. Despite her young age, Lizzie has spirit and determination, and she knows that she must find work to keep herself off the streets. In a stroke of luck, she gets a job in the match factory, and foreman George Rutherford takes her under his wing. A new home with the Rutherfords promises a safe haven, but the years ahead will be far from trouble-free. And when Lizzie gives her heart, how can she be sure she has chosen a better man than her own father?

    For tomorrow, Constance can escape her life of drudgery at Doctor Sowerby’s home in Newcastle by marrying her handsome sweetheart, the prosperous John Edington. But Constance’s last night of servitude is to end in terror. As a final act of spite, Mrs Sowerby throws her out of the house late that evening where she is met by the doctor’s dissolute son, Gerald. In the front yard, surrounded by freezing fog, Gerald attacks and rapes her. Distraught and unsure of what to do, Constance marries John the next day with a heavy heart. She cannot tell John what has happened, for his is a respectable family, and shame will not allow her to reveal the truth to Nella. But the worst is yet to come, for John Edington himself has a shocking secret that will make Constance feel more alone than ever...

    Discovered in France by an RAF pilot, the traumatised Leah wakes to find she’s forgotten everything. Fostered by the pilot and Meg, his wife, Leah becomes Lily, remembering nothing of her former life. However, war and tragedy shatter their lives. With their home in ruins and Lily’s adopted father missing in action, Lily and Meg are forced to flee to the country. In the Somerset countryside, Lily is reunited with Rudy, the heroic German Shepherd, while Meg finds herself subject to the attentions of a local criminal – and the village policeman. Before long, it becomes clear that Rudy isn’t just watching over Lily – he’s protecting Meg too, and someone wants him out of the way. Lily and Rudy’s unlikely friendship could be the only thing that saves them…

    With her husband, Tom, away fighting in the Second World War, she has only her unreliable sister to help her and she has almost given up hope. She is completely devastated when Tom is reported missing, presumed dead. As the months pass and she struggles to come to terms with her loss, Flora is swept off her feet by a handsome American soldier. But he cannot offer the stability that Flora and her family desperately need. And when another terrible tragedy strikes the family, Flora must decide what is really important…

    Kitty Williams has suffered more than her fair share of tragedy but rather than wallowing, she's more determined than ever to do her part in the battle against Hitler. Stepping up her own war effort, Kitty leaves her home town of Coventry and joins the Auxiliary Territorial Service (Women's Army - ATS) where she finds new friends in Di, Peggy and Mary but also new obstacles to overcome in both her professional and personal lives.Packed full of wartime adventure, romance, heartbreak and friendship, The Spark Girls is a gripping and poignant saga perfect for fans of Ellie Dean, Daisy Styles and Maggie Ford.

    The First World War is casting its shadow over the Harvey family of Ford Farm. One brother has already been killed, and Tristan now serves at the Front. Though newly engaged to pretty Emilia Rowse – a friend since childhood – younger brother Ben is desperate to serve his country. But a horrific eye injury causes him to be declared unfit, a blow from which young Ben will never recover. Tensions mount as he is forced to remain at the farm with his elder brother Alec, a man with closely guarded secrets of his own…Filled with a rich cast of unforgettable characters and packed with period detail, Touch the Silence is the brilliant opening to the Harvey family books. For readers of Anne Baker, Maggie Hope and Daisy Styles.

    A love silenced . . . For as long as Briony Valentine can remember she has been soft on Eddie, the boy next door. But their chance of romance is stifled when the Luftwaffe begin dropping bombs on the midlands. Eddie is called up to serve, as is Briony’s father, tearing her world apart. As the telegrams arrive, all she can do is pray. Despite past disagreements, Briony’s affluent grandparents open their doors to the three Valentine children, offering them the safety of Cornwall – far from the bombs and far from the only world they’ve ever known. Will the Valentine family ever unite, and will Briony ever see Eddie again? A moving, compelling and wonderfully authentic portrait of family life amongst the perils of WWII, from a much-loved author.

    Kirsty Barnes, an orphan indentured to a lecherous old farmer, escapes from his advances with the help of her childhood sweetheart, Craig Nelson. With little money and still strangers to each other, they travel to Glasgow. Marriage takes second place to survival, although their fortunes improve when a churchgoing widow befriends Kirsty. Still not legally married, Kirsty gives birth to a son, and Craig establishes his reputation as a policeman. Ambitious and impatient to get on, Craig falls in with a gang of sly and vicious thieves and soon sinks into a life of drink and crime. Meanwhile, Kirsty has met the handsome and charming David Lockhart, a medical missionary soon to return to China. But she is bound by loyalty to Craig, a less than ideal husband who can only bring her hardship and heartbreak...

    Each novel will transport you across oceans and back in time. A Greater World takes you to the beautiful Blue Mountains of Australia in the 1920s. Kurinji Flowers to the tea plantations of Southern India in the 1930s and 40s - the last years of British colonial rule. Letters from a Patchwork Quilt to the ugly industrial north of Victorian England and to St Louis, Missouri. None of the characters went where they had to go by choice, and all faced life–changing challenges. Can love make the difference? Will it stand the course? Warning – once you start reading you will be up all night.

    But then an unexpected pregnancy puts everything at risk, and Dorothy is left alone – with Robbie nowhere to be seen.Heartbroken, Dorothy picks up the pieces of her life as a working girl in Battersea helping to support her mother and father. But before long, things start to become difficult. Her father’s health is worsening, money is tight and worst of all, Robbie hasn’t come back for her.Can Dorothy find a way back to happiness in the face of real adversity? Will she have the courage to make it on her own – or is someone else waiting in the wings to save her?Gritty and moving, this is the perfect read for fans of Dilly Court and Maggie Hope.

    When he rebuffs her clumsy advances, Isabella leaves for London, determined to find the man of her dreams and soothe her bruised ego.Michael Linfield, Duke of Blackmore is a legendary, fearsome, war hero; famous for reducing debutantes and their mothers to floods of tears with just one glance. The brooding, giant of a man is hiding a secret however - a debilitating stammer that has haunted him since childhood. When the delightful Miss Peregrine proposes a marriage of convenience to him - with no benefits - Michael is so startled that his stammer reappears and all he can manage to reply is "N-n-no".When news of Isabella's success in London soon reaches his ears, Michael is determined to go to town and win her as his own, if only she'll give him a second chance at love.The Duke’s BrotherCan a Duke's bastard win the heart of a lady?Plucked as an orphan from the slums of St. Giles' by his half-brother the Duke of Blackmore, Sebastian Black soon rises to become one of the richest men in London, and a notorious rake to boot. His time at Eton has left him with a healthy disregard for the aristocracy - that is until he inadvertently becomes involved in the affairs of the prim, proper and snooty Aurelia St Claire.Aurelia's brother, Lord Theodore Epsom, was reported missing after Waterloo, but she is convinced that she has sighted him alive and well in London. The pair join forces to try to discover exactly what happened to Theo and as their sleuthing takes them into London's murky back alleys, they discover that they aren’t so different after all.Can two people overcome their prejudices, their foibles - or even their very history - to find love?A Lady Like No Other“Would my lady care to dance?”“My lady would rather eat a live chicken.”Beautiful, titled, and wealthy to boot, Lady Lydia Beaufort was expected to have a spectacular London Season. There was just one problem; the eccentric daughter of the Earl of Galway had no intention of becoming the ton’s darling. Especially if it involved humouring the awful herds of fortune hunters and greedy second sons, intent on making her their bride.All Lydia wanted was to be left alone in peace, to read her beloved Lord Byron. That is until an incorrigible rogue of a Marquess burst into her life, and turned all her ideas about love upside down.Charming, congenial, and ever so handsome, Gabriel Livingstone, Marquess of Sutherland could have his pick of any of the season’s debutantes, but the only rose he longed to pluck, was the very thorny Lady Beaufort. Just when he thinks he might finally have won her heart, fate, in the form of an Italian Count, a mischievous Gypsy and a political assassination plot, gets in his way.Can this mismatched pair find their happily ever after?

    she must keep it secret, and that means telling lies. Holly hates telling lies. Her latest assignment has brought her to the paradise island of Mauritius where she meets a British couple, Robert and Rosemary, who share a tragic secret of their own. The moment they introduce Holly to handsome writer, Philippe, she begins to fall in love, something she hasn't allowed herself to do for twenty years. But Philippe has not been completely honest and when Holly stumbles across the truth, she feels totally betrayed. "A slice of sheer escapism which packs an emotional punch" Jemma Forte This is the first book in the Liberty Sands trilogy. Read on at the end of this book to find out what happens to Holly next in the preview of If He Really Loved Me..., book two in the series.

    Meet Maud, the formidable Irish-American suffragette; sulky Patricia, whose unhappy childhood leads her to a dangerous love affair; vivacious, flame-haired Colleen; Mary, who struggles to bring up children beside her wayward husband - and Arfer, whose quick mind lifts him out from the world of poverty in London's East End.