Her inner fire burns brightly, even in the harsh conditions of turn of the century Birmingham. For behind Mercy's pale and haunting face, there is a mind of steel, as her harsh foster mother; Mrs Gaskin, soon discovers. Beatings, threats and poverty cannot halt Mercy's efforts to improve herself, or to create a new life for Susan, Mrs Gaskin's crippled daughter. Even in the worst times, it is as if someone is watching over Mercy. Willing her to succeed...Through the dark shadow of world war, Mercy continues her fight for survival. She will first earn her freedom and security. Then at long last she can give her love...

    Jemima Ashton is desperate to discover her real identity. With scant information and the burning question 'who am I?', she embarks on an incredible journey of detection. On learning of her late mother Stella's disappearance during WWII, she retraces her footsteps across the globe and at a distant vineyard, unearths a family she had no idea existed. While treading a path of narrow-minded bigotry, scandalous revelations emerge of two families inextricably linked by one woman and the drastic steps they took to hide the truth. ‘A powerful story of love and loss spanning two generations’ Frances di Plino - author of the Paolo Storey Crime Series

    A tragic accident pulled Dori from college to care for her only remaining brother, but now the money is running out, her ex-boyfriend appears intent on revenge, a media baron has designs on her father's last, unfinished manuscript, and her own thoughtless blackface joke is about to go viral and turn her life upside down.With a new, media-savvy African American friend, Dori embarks on a voyage into her family's secret history that might just lead her right back to where she started.If you like humorous, heartfelt book club fiction with a strong romantic thread, a love of literature, and a sharp eye for race and class in America, you’ll love BARDWELL’S FOLLY. "Dori is a fabulous, sympathetic character, caught up in a rollicking, funny, original, beautifully-written journey." -- Lucia Nevai, author of SALVATION"Once again, Sandra Hutchison expertly weaves enticing characters with captivating imagery, creating a story so engrossing it's impossible to put down and even harder to forget." -- S.M. Freedman, author of THE FAITHFUL and IMPACT WINTERIncludes discussion questions.

    

    She seems wonderful, and it is love at first sight, and they marry quickly. However, not all is rosy in the garden, and a lifetime’s baggage rears its ugly head. Pablo’s ex-wife re-establishes contact with him, and he desperately seeks to exorcise the demons of that betrayal and divorce, but he gets drawn into a double life. Then, one shocking day, Hellion goes to work, and inexplicably, and without warning, fails to return home. Now he has to try to understand another devastating, bewildering calamity.Til Death We Do Part, Too is a story that scrutinises the impact of unfinished business, baggage, emotional damage, and lingering love. It balances heart-breaking loss with resilience, disorientation with hope, and desperation and bitterness with true enduring love and understanding. There is much insight into the reality of relationships and the frailty of the human psyche. It is told with immense depth of feeling, humour, and faith.

    She shut down and sold the successful movie production company they ran together and fled the country, refusing to hear his excuses. Now she is in hiding, but is she hiding something as well? Her best friend Tracie has undergone a dramatic transformation in order to elude Angelo Gonsales, head of the Internet Crime Division of the FBI. He has discovered her identity, and tracked her location. Will she be convicted of her alleged crimes? "In-Laws and Play Cousins: Three Sides to Every Story," reunites four childhood friends, brings closure to the unfortunate circumstances and renders bittersweet justice for the true villains.

    Though the rest of her adoptive family scorned her as an outsider, Gram and her grandson Ian always loved Laina like she was one of their own. Now Laina is all grown up and a foster parent in her own right, to a little girl named Jada whose upcoming adoption by strangers is sure to break Laina’s heart. But Laina faces the prospect of another devastating loss when Gram’s health begins to fail. As she has so many times before, Laina turns to Ian for advice, only to find that her feelings for her handsome, warm-hearted friend have changed, deepening into a love that could transform her life...or ruin her dearest friendship.When Laina and Ian come together at the family summer home on the windswept shores of Hatteras Island, the sparks igniting between them cannot be ignored. But with stakes as high as these, can they overcome their fear of heartbreak to claim the promise of love?

    When her younger sister sends her an invite to her Christmas wedding on the other side of the country in Vancouver, she decides to kill two birds with one stone and plans a ski trip to Whistler with some old friends. However, her dreams of a snowy Christmas on skis are thwarted by her sister’s dog sitting crisis.Instead of spending Christmas enjoying the après ski alcohol, she is instead stuck minding Hamish McDuff for the next week. They say that every cloud has a silver lining and for Verity, the silver lining comes in the guise of her sexy new neighbour, Nikau Taylor. Nikau seems determined to help Verity eradicate her ghosts of Christmas past, but what will happen when her time is up and it’s time to go home to Toronto?

    Six-year-old Birdie Adams wants to run away and join the circus but guesses she’ll have to go to the first grade and hang around with her new baby brother instead. Maybe her big sister needs a little help, too. The circus will have to wait.Twelve-year-old Melanie Adams wants her friend to stop bugging her to get her first kiss. Melanie’s already had her first kiss, but won’t spoil the special secret by talking about it. Norah Adams is a good mother and wife who wants to keep her family safe and happy, but tucking the order form for dogtags in her daughters’ lunch boxes is a big change from the everyday bologna sandwiches.Lola Carter wants the life her sister, Norah, has. Instead she has a factory job, an alcohol and prescription drug addiction, and an abusive boyfriend. Even if President Kennedy prevents World War III, these women’s lives will be changed forever.

    It was the moment I watched Daddy die. Everything began to unravel then.’ When their father dies of a sudden heart attack, sisters Rebecca and Sarah Connaghan set aside their differences and return to the family home in Glasgow. Then Rebecca finds letters between her father and the mother she barely remembers that cast doubt on everything she’s been told about her family. Reeling from confusion and grief, she sets off alone for the remote Highlands village that may hold the key to the past. Above all, she is determined to prove the innocence of her father – the beloved, silent man she once thought she knew, now accused of a terrible crime.

    About the AuthorAuthor of the best-selling Penny Rushmore novels, including “A Sandwich Short of a Picnic”, Felicity Price has also written several other published novels, the John Britten biography “Dare to Dream” and a couple of company histories. Sandwiched (like Felicity's fictional character Penny Rushmore) between the emotional turmoil of elderly parents, teenagers, a demanding career and a badly-behaved spaniel, Felicity similarly tries to juggle with jelly and often feels it slither between her fingers.

    After all, she has been battling Maeve most of her life. Disagreeing about the extent of their Irish mother’s creeping dementia and the fate of the family’s thriving restaurant business, named for their beloved, long dead father, Paddy, is surely a recipe for a world-class brawl. What Flynn doesn’t expect is the fragile truce the sisters forge to save O’Shea’s from the clutches of Maeve’s scheming husband, Jeffrey. Flynn and Maeve are reluctantly aided by their forty-four-year-old brother, Osheen, a handsome Peter Pan still cruising the Jersey shore, getting high and dodging responsibility. And while Didi tries to convince her mother that “everything is as it should be,” just when Flynn is sure she’s gained the upper hand on Jeffrey, her own mother’s shocking confession sends her into a wine-soaked tailspin and forces her to deal once and for all with the ghosts of her past. Devastated, Flynn must choose to save O’Shea’s or risk losing forever all she has left of her father.In Here Among Us, the O’Sheas find themselves dealing with the very timely issue of Alzheimer’s, a disease that strips the victim's identity and wreaks havoc on the family left to pick up the pieces. But Flynn, Osheen and Maeve’s troubles began long before their mother started to “slip.” For the O’Sheas, much of their shared angst is rooted in the single most devastating event of their lives—the death of their father when they were young children. The novel explores not only how deep wounds can seem impossible to heal, but how refusing to let go of the stories the O'Sheas desperately cling to about who they are, threatens to hasten their demise.

    Instead, she’s focusing on her little gallery and adopting an adorable Border Collie puppy named Tubs. Or so she thought…Because no matter how hard she tries to resist him, local vet Adam Whitney is utterly gorgeous. And in a village as small as this one, Holly can only avoid Adam for so long! Fans of Milly Johnson, Caroline Roberts and Jill Mansell will love this heart-warming read!

    Her mother, who never travelled abroad, was going to Sicily without telling a soul. Why was she keeping her trip to Sicily a secret and who is the mysterious woman who wrote the journal? Josie travels to Sicily and follows in the footsteps of two young women in the journal, sisters who visited the Italian island in the nineteen sixties. What secrets will Josie uncover and why does she feel she is being followed at every turn?Josie soon discovers there was more to their trip than a just a holiday. Amongst the stunning sites and scenery of Sicily, an unimaginable tale of love, loss and tragedy unfolds. The tentacles of their story reach down the generations.Josie and Michael, a young American on the tour, soon realise their part in this story is only just beginning…Can they right the wrongs of the past before

    When she discovers that her beloved godfather has left her the grand (and crumbling) Ravenscourt House in the heart of Sussex, she soon has a project on her hands.Nathan sells delicious goodies at Mulberry Farm. When he meets Lorna at a Christmas market, neither of them can ignore the chemistry. But as they get to know one another, Lorna wants to know one thing – is he after her or the house?Together with Gloria – whose marriage to alcoholic Adrian has hit rock bottom, and Rosalind – struggling to deal with her womanising husband Ivan, the three friends hatch a plan. They’ll ditch their difficult husbands at Ravenscourt House and enjoy stress-free Christmases with their families. But nothing is ever that simple…Mary de Laszlo has had four novels published by Headline and has since had many others published by Hale. She lives in London and is an active member of the RNA. She was a fashion journalist with Vogue and now works as an occasional film extra when not writing.