It is a dark and cruel place for the workers on this farm. The master, Archie McLachlan, causes fear to run through the hearts of the slaves, except for one woman who speaks up deliberately and without fear whenever she wishes. Her name is Soola, and she fast becomes leader of the slaves and friend to the master's wife Gertrude. The friendship forms a triangle of competition, love, and hatred as "Massa Archie" becomes more and more dangerous, even towards his own son Robert and Soola's son John, even to a point where Soola begins to understand the meaning of fear. But, together, the leaders of the second generation can look for a future where hope might overcome fear.Thus, this story, Part One of a four-part series, not only recounts the family's beginnings at the Inveraray/Dogwood Plantation, but also introduces the second generation, who will appear again in the ensuing volumes. Slavery, the corruption caused by slavery, its close companions, race bigotry and injustice, and the laws and bitter politics that result from them, are featured and discussed throughout. While, in the foreground, the unique relationship between mistress and slave and their respective descendants triggers a wide-sweeping story of love, conflict, heartbreak, and forgiveness.

    It is the story of the struggles, simple joys and wisdom surrounding a young girl growing up in the 1940's in Appalachia.

    Her father has gone to bring home a son missing because of the war. Loyal servants give her support and comfort and are at her side when she learns of her father’s death. She promises to fulfill her father’s dream but someone doesn’t want her to, the one person she should be able to trust. He sets out to defeat her until another man, a Northern stranger, comes to her aid.

    Enticed by promises of work with good pay, people flock to textile mills in the South. Many leave their beloved mountains for what they hope is a step up from their grinding poverty. It’s guaranteed pay and housing. Being the sighted sister of the Hooper/Watson family, Lottie is grieved by a dream that sorrow will come to her home. Yet, she leaves Cocke County, Tennessee, with Beck Radford, her new husband, and her four children from a previous, abusive marriage, and goes to Clifton, South Carolina. Lottie is a stranger to village life and close neighbors. Life is harder than any of them imagined. In spite of hard work, widespread poverty remains a fact of life for everyone in the mill town. Lottie’s “gift” of second sight into the future is not an ability she would’ve chosen. One event she didn't see coming, yet someone else did, rips apart their life, as well as everyone’s around them.

    He only stops travelling when he reaches Kent and there his life is dramatically altered, when he is adopted by a loving old lady and her roguish son Tom.

    Her father was a monster.How could Vera have been so blind to what was right before her eyes?After the death of her kind and loving Papa, Vera’s home is claimed by ne’er do well Uncle Merritt, who drives the household with cruelty and deprivation. Working for her keep, the once privileged Vera is driven to skin and bone and dreads the harsh beatings that Merritt regularly delivers.Ralph, Papa’s loyal and brave stableboy, cannot bear to see Vera shrinking daily under the hand of Merritt. In an attempt protect her, he challenges Merritt and now, tossed to streets, must survive however he can.With the loss of Ralph, Vera’s soul aches, made worse as she watches her father’s elderly servants treated with cruel indignity. In a desperate bid to protect them from Uncle Merritt, his rage is fuelled, and Vera is delivered an ultimatum, causing her to flee from her home. With nowhere to go, Vera too, finds herself on the streets.As starvation threatens, it is only Ralph and her new friend, Maggie, that keep her alive. But when Maggie unexpectedly reveals the truth about Vera's Papa, Vera is plunged to new despair. Will the truth destroy her? Can she keep secrets for the rest of her life? Will she ever be able to make things right? And will she agree to Ralphs’s plan, even though it means she may lose him forever?For fans of Dilly Court and Historical Romance

    Now, she must learn to survive.Forced to be both mother and father to her siblings after Ada’s mother turns to gin, and no longer able to scour the banks of the Thames as mudlarks, Ada turns to picking up cigarette butts from the filthy streets and repurposing the tobacco into a saleable item.Assisted by Elijah the son of a stonemason the Blair family manages to keep a roof over their heads, until their mother’s addiction spirals out of control and they find themselves out on the street.Desperate for safety, Ada takes a risk and is befriended by the well to do Mr Beauregard. But not all things are as they seem and soon Ada is torn from her family and thrown into a world of corruption she could not have imagined.When a chance meeting with Elijah reveals the truth, Ada’s life is at a crossroadsCan Ada leave behind the new life she now finds herself in? Will Elijah ever forgive her for what she has become? Or should Ada let the past remain behind and leave her family in peace.Nell Harte writes sweet and clean Historical Romance.

    In the spring of 1665, England is recovering from a terrible winter, yet the country has other severe problems to face as the sun finally returns. The King, Charles II, had been welcomed back as a saviour on his restoration five years before, but is now resented by increasing numbers of his own people. And in March, the King declares war on the Dutch, England’s great seagoing trade rivals… Worse news comes to Restoration London, though, when there is an outbreak of the plague in April. This is terrible news in particular for the wealthy young physician and merchant Henry Raven, who believes that the outbreak is not natural but has been caused by an old enemy plotting his revenge against the city of London. Henry Raven, together with his friends from the Royal Society, Dr William Croone and Robert Hooke, organize the city’s fight against the spread of the disease. Raven’s delectable young mistress, Molly Titchen, is a precocious seventeen-year-old actress at the new King’s theatre in Drury Lane who is torn between her devotion to Henry Raven, and her love of strutting the stage in breeches parts. When Molly gives a bed for the night to one sick young actor, her kind action is misunderstood by Raven who believes that she has been unfaithful to him. Then Molly falls on hard times herself, and is aided not by her jealous lover, but by a strange Moorish apothecary, and a mysterious Frenchman, Philippe Desargues, Comte de Mésanger... Henry Raven has other problems to trouble his mind too, apart from his fight against the plague and his wish to save his relationship with Molly. Firstly, a close childhood friend, Esther Linney, has disappeared from her cottage on the estate of Raven’s family home in Dorset, Salwayash Manor, and gone to London. Raven’s sister Catherine asks her brother to find Esther in London, and discover why she left Dorset in such mysterious circumstances. Raven also has to deal with the fact that his sister has clearly fallen in love with their wealthy neighbour, the recently widowed Ralph Warboys, who is a handsome man yet one with a haunted past. And then strange events unfold in the quiet Dorset countryside when two young girls are found dead in suspicious circumstances... As the plague rages through London, Raven finds himself having to defend Esther Linney against a charge of witchcraft, while also trying to save Molly from an implacable enemy. But his greatest challenge is to discover the secrets of an old family curse, and to unmask a cruel murderer…

    

    Discovered by the police, Bincy is taken to an orphanage, where she learns that Mama is not the only person who doesn't want her. In truth, nobody wants her, and Bincy is forced to cling to the orphanage bully Mae for comfort. As the years pass, Mae forces Bincy to do everything she demands, from picking on the younger girls to giving up her meager allotment of food. When Bincy is betrayed by Mae, she's sent to work in a manor house as a scullery maid. That's where Bincy meets two young men: Judd, the street urchin who comes into the cellar to scavenge for food, and Henry, the charismatic young master of the house. Despite Judd's warnings, Bincy finds herself falling for Henry. But when Henry demands more from her than she's willing to give, Bincy has to make a choice: give herself to him or face her greatest fear of being alone and discarded once more.

    When an enigmatic stranger steals her heart, can she know he wants her for the right reasons?London 1808: Widowed at the age of twenty, Ann has no optimism for the future. At the beck and call of her domineering mother she longs to make a new life for herself with the legacy left by her late husband. But it's not that easy. Not when it means leaving her sisters behind. Her world is turned upside down when a curious gentleman stops to speak to her. Chas is new to the area, but he seems to know a lot about her … and he certainly looks well-to-do. Could he be her saviour? With newfound hope Ann dares to dream again, but Chas has a secret. Something he refuses to share. As their friendship grows, there are those who want to keep them apart … but when Ann stumbles upon Chas’s past, she realises that only she can decide what their future holds. Inspired by the compelling family history of author V L McBeath, The Young Widow is a standalone story in The Ambition & Destiny Series. Set in Georgian-era London, forty years before the start of this historical family saga, The Young Widow adds another dimension to this epic series. Get your copy today. Please Note: The Young Widow is written in UK English. Other books in The Ambition & Destiny Series: Prequel: Condemned by Fate Part 1: Hooks & Eyes Part 2: Less Than Equals Part 3: When Time Runs Out Part 4: Only One Winner Part 5: Different World

    A young man is given a new start in life as a result of an impulsive action, beginning a journey that will take him to the far reaches of the known world to watch - and sometimes to partake in - the rise and fall of mighty empires.

    A terrible sacrifice. A second chance... 1952. In the fragile atmosphere of post-war Paris, Sophie Bernot is training as a heart surgeon. A young woman in a man's world, Sophie is determined to bury her past and forge her medical career, whatever the costs.Across the channel, Sebastian Ogilvie is burning with ambition for his first architectural project. As his schemes lead him to France, and to a chance encounter with Sophie, his future seems full of promise.But when Sophie and Sebastian find themselves entangled in a brief, passionate affair, they each face a choice that will change their lives irrevocably, and a secret that will take years to be uncovered... Sweeping from Paris to London, to the snow-capped peaks of the Alps, this is an unforgettable story of passion, heartache and forgiveness. Perfect for fans of Santa Montefiore and Lucinda Riley

    

    Oaklayne Plantation is in ruins, a stark reflection of the condition of a once prosperous country and her families who have been torn apart by war. Was anything gained by the deaths of so many Americans? Is all hope for restoration gone?The Reconstruction Era is an often overlooked, but politically charged time in American history. Oaklayne, The Reconstruction presents an engaging mix of heart rending tragedy, sabotage, murder, corruption and intrigue, together with humor, romance, joy, faith, hope and love. Come along with General Adam Layne as he walks the tumultuous road toward rebuilding his live, his family, his childhood home and his country in this historically accurate portrayal of a man who refuses to accept meaningless loss.