She is the talk of Ryhope when she arrives there, aged seventeen, alone, seeking work and a home in the pit village. But Sadie is keeping a secret - that she is searching for her baby girl who was taken from her at birth to be sold by the child's wicked, battleaxe grandmother when Sadie was just fifteen years old. All that Sadie knows about the family who took her daughter is that they lived in Ryhope. And the only thing she knows about her daughter is that when the baby was born, she had a birthmark on one shoulder that resembled a tiny ladybird. But as Sadie's quest begins, a visitor from her past appears - one who could jeopardise the life she's beginning to build and could separate from her beloved child forever...

    Worse still, her father abandons them outside the workhouse, leaving Meg to care for her devastated mother, Sarah, and little brother as tragedy continues to haunt the family.Isaac Pendleton, Master of the workhouse, rules the lives of all those within its walls but when Sarah becomes his latest mistress, Meg is disgusted. Her loyal friend, Jake, born and bred in the workhouse, has a maturity and understanding beyond his years. Yet it is Meg’s fiery independence that encourages Jake to leave the workhouse and seek employment on Middleditch Farm. His future is assured, but who will take care of Meg? The pretty, vivacious girl, once so innocent, becomes a calculating and manipulative young woman who will stop at nothing to get her own way even if it means betraying those she has loved.

    Her engagement party is a chance for her and David to finally celebrate their good news. But with obstacles springing up on all sides, there may be more than the dress and venue to arrange before she can consider walking down the aisle. Frances and James are doing their best to ignore their feelings for each other as they organise the school play. Can Frances find a way to let herself love again?Amid all the drama, old friends are always on hand, and when Dottie falls ill, a familiar face comes back to Burracombe to lift her spirits and perhaps change her life.With surprises around every corner, life is never dull in this beautiful Devonshire village . . .

    Tiny, warm-hearted, totally devoted to her charming rogue of a husband, Lizzie mothers her brood of nephews and nieces through the perils of the war-torn capital, makes a home for them in the bomb shelters of underground London, launches them on the roller-coaster of life and stands by with help and encouragement.For Lizzie is a survivor, an irresistible heroine with the unquenchable optimism, the great heart, the indomitable courage that sum up the spirit of the East End.

    Desperate to escape, the two teenagers embark on a perilous journey back to England to the safety of their grandparents.But there are eyes everywhere.Luke and Christine band together with fugitive Allied airmen, thinking they will keep them safe and help them on their treacherous journey.But their new partnership could be putting them in more danger than they realize. Especially when there are hostile forces at work determined to scupper any plans to get the teenagers and airmen safely back to England.With secret operations mounting against the enemy, there is one path which remains unguarded: a risky escape route via the canals.Luke and Christine take refuge on a canal barge and find themselves immersed in the complex Operation Kingfisher.Can two teenagers make it across occupied France in one piece? Or will betrayal put them and the lives of others at great risk?

    Their beloved sons are coming home at last and their eldest children are planning to marry each other. When a double wedding is announced, Molly is determined to give her two beautiful daughters a day to remember for the rest of their lives. Meanwhile Nellie's daughter Lily has a boyfriend whom no one likes. When he brings trouble to their door, Nellie's friends in the street are ready to face it. And there's a handsome young chap just waiting in the wings for Lily...

    When the doctor finally got through the nine-foot drifts of snow, mother and daughter were in a pretty bad way, but both the new-born Annie and her exhausted mother - a spinner in the cotton mill - were fighters, tough and determined not to let the world knock them down.They needed to be tough, for when Annie's father was killed in the war, Nancy married again. And Eddie Higson - once he'd courted and won Nancy Byrne - turned into a nightmare of a man, terrorizing the young girl with one secret evil after another.She had two friends who helped her through these bad years. Martin Cullen, rough, uneducated, loyal, who knew he wasn't good enough for her, and David Pritchard, the doctor who had supported her through the worst times and who had bad problems of his own.Together they watched her grow into a beautiful young woman, desperately fighting the legacy of her childhood.

    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.

    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

    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.

    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 German aircraft crashes into a house in Worthing, and causes complete devastation to the local community. Three strangers meet for the first time that day – Nancy, Beth and Val. Val’s little girl Sally has been hurt in the crash and is rushed to hospital. As she comes through her ordeal, she finds her mother and her two new ‘aunties’ by her bedside. The three new friends quickly bond over shared experiences; all their husbands are overseas in the fighting forces. They also have the same love of singing and soon form The Sussex Sisters, Worthing’s answer to the Andrews Sisters, to boost morale in in dance halls and canteens all over the south coast.When D-Day finally arrives, it’s the promise of a brighter future they have all been longing for. But the men that return home are altogether different from the husbands they waved off. How will they respond to their wives’ new-found fame? How will the women live alongside these distant, damaged men? With secrets, revelations and surprises on the horizon, the friends will need each other more than ever.

    Here together are the complete Clifton Chronicles, including all seven novels:Only Time Will TellThe Sins of the FatherBest Kept SecretBe Careful What You Wish ForMightier Than the SwordCometh the HourThis Was a Man

    The war ends, and Lexie awaits his return. Other soldiers are making it home, but Reese is missing. She leaves New Orleans and travels back to Azalea Plantation in Vicksburg, Mississippi, to await his return, busying herself with restoring the plantation after the war. Lexie clings to faith and hope and refuses to give up on Reese even though she's heard the stories about prisoners-of-war and the explosion of the Sultana. The family decides to visit Azalea Plantation. Will it be for a funeral or a wedding? Reese has still not shown when they are all gathered together. Is it possible for a country to be restored like a plantation home?