An inconsequential inconvenience.After eight years of dreaming of an unknown mother rescuing her from the workhouse, Beth is unexpectedly liberated to become an apprentice in Mr Whitaker's tailor's shop. Against all the odds, Mrs Whitaker becomes a maternal figure to the young girl who shows all the signs of a gifted seamstress.But fate's cruel hand had not finished denying Beth the comforts of a family.Lady Caroline comes into Beth's life as a godsend. A wealthy patron in need of beautiful dresses to be made. But there is more to her appearing at the tailor's shop at first apparent. Two lives from different classes become intertwined in the worst of conditions.Is having a family worth such suffering? Should the women deny each other and be relieved of the tortures beset upon them in the name of greed and a family name? Was the madness real? Would the answers be found along the unforgiving corridors of the asylum?

    She’s attractive, opinionated and kind. But she’s a slave – a definitive non-starter as a son of a plantation owner in South Carolina in 1860. Yet, Lawrence cannot help himself and as he spends more time with her, his feelings continue to grow. However, there are other problems for Lawrence. He has been groomed to take over the Havers End plantation, but Lawrence has a deep uneasiness about becoming a slave owner. His position is not helped by his volatile relationship with his father, Edward and what the consequences will be if Edward finds out about his relationship with Jasmine. There are also concerns over his eldest sister, Belvedere Rossiter, and her growing friendship with a rebellious slave, Donald Archer. While Lawrence loathes Donald, Belvedere has an opposing view. Lawrence’s biggest dilemma is - does he choose to be the dutiful son or risk everything to be with Jasmine?

    King Alfred has been forced to flee from his winter court in Cippinhamm by Guthrum, self-styled King of the Danelaw and East Anglia, part of the great invasion force by the horde that will become known as the Vikings. Driven into the swamps of Somersetshire, Alfred spends a miserable winter at Athelney before finally feeling that the time is right to call the fyrd, the Saxon call to arms summoning the men of Westseaxe to rally to their King to drive the Danish invaders from their lands. Answering that call is young Titus of Cissanbyrig, a youth with an unusual name to go along with his unusual size and strength. Despite only being fourteen and that his village is under the control of Wulfhere, Ealdorman of Wiltshire who has sided with Guthrum, Titus decides to leave the only home he’s ever known, joining the call issued by the Lord of Wilton more than a dozen miles away, one of the nobles of Wiltshire who has remained faithful to the King. What drives Titus from his home is the enmity of his father, who blames him for Titus’ mother’s death in childbirth because of his size, but while he will never know it, the truth is more complex. Ultimately what sends young Titus on his first steps towards his destiny is his deep-seated, insistent belief that he’s not meant for a life behind the plow but for the sword, a conviction that has been passed to him across almost a millennium of time and distance, to a dusty Roman province in Spain, passed down by the man who was the first of his line, Titus Pomponius Pullus, Centurion of Rome. The Titus Chronicles-Eagle and Wyvern is the first of a new series by the author of the international bestselling Marching With Caesar series.

    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.

    Life was no bed of roses. The Bernardinis stayed in a room and kitchen, where young Walter slept in the bed recess in the front room. His Mum and Dad, meanwhile, had a 'hole-in-the-wall' bed in the kitchen. There was no bath, only one downstairs toilet shared by two other families. Glaswegians in those days may not have had much money, but they made up for the lack of material possessions with a real live of life. There was never a dull moment, at home, on the streets or at school. In this compelling book, the author fondly reminisces about first footing, wedding scrambles, winchin' in the close, nights at the pictures, the trams, trips with the Scouts, wartime evacuation and much more. It is a scintillating slice of social history, full of warmth and humour. For the sake of his career, Walter Bernardini eventually left Scotland, taking his wife and family with him. Yet he has never forgotten the city of his birth, the place that shaped him, the place he still thinks of as home. These were truly his dear old Glasgow years'.

    

    

    Now, ten years later she is forced to flee her home and journey to Liverpool seeking a better future for herself. There she is taken in by distant relatives and eventually reunited with her paternal grandmother.As Milly tries to build a new life she is haunted by her father’s mysterious disappearance. Her new friends strive to help her find answers, but meanwhile Milly’s mother seeks to remarry on the assumption that her husband is dead. Milly is caught up in the fallout when her grandmother learns of this plan, and the need to find her father is greater than ever. If she doesn’t, her hard-won security risks being ruined once more…

    Her search leads her to Jared Beaumont, Earl of Andover. Rich, influential and badly in need of rescuing from his mother's marriage plans for him, Jared takes an interest in the headstrong Nadine. Can such a handsome and charismatic man really have stooped so low as to rob Nadine of her birthright, or are other more sinister forces at work… Previously published in the Regency Romantics’ Intrigues and Heartaches Boxset 2018

    Financially we were afloat and we lived in a perfectly decent house until my wife came up with the zany idea of living on a boat. I'd just got home from work, via the pub, when Jan asked me to watch a video while she prepared our frugal meal. I watched a pair of old fogies trundling along a canal in the rain on a narrowboat. You can imagine my reply when she asked if I fancied emulating the sodden wrinklies and taking to the water. She's a lady of vision and determination (she married me after all) but this was elevating madness to a whole new level. Jan's oncologist had her a few years previously that she probably wouldn't see the new millennium, so she had a different perspective about the future than many people. Despite lots of huffing and head-shaking, twelve months later we had sold a perfectly respectable house, given up a job that kept us in cornflakes and moved onto a metal hole less than a tenth the size of our house – excluding garden. It was the 4th July 2003 – independence day.We knew nothing about narrowboats – their workings, waterways lore and how we would cope being cooped up together – particularly when it's minus five and the nearest shop is miles away. We had a mountain to climb – which you can only do by using locks, and we'd never done a lock. A more accurate analogy is shooting the rapids because our venture took on a life of it's own and we were washed down stream on a tide of enthusiasm and ignorance. We had to make it work or the people who had laughed and scoffed would be proved right – we really were mad. Well, make it work we did, and we're still boating twelve years on. It's marvellous and it possibly saved Jan's life.

    Lots of laughs and tears are part of the job. Combat, test flying and, as the title implies, high risk. A Silver Star recipient, much of my OV-10 combat time was in Laos. Started with the F-100 in Europe and finished my career as test director to make the F-100 a target.

    However, doubts soon begin to surface and he is forced to return to the place of his childhood, Hambley Wood, in his quest for the truth.To find the register that proves his birth, he has to enlist the help of the astonishingly beautiful vicar’s daughter, Arrabella. Unfortunately, they are soon drawn into series of frightening adventures which brings them together and ignites a passion that neither of them can ignore. However, while the mishaps draw them closer, the truth about Harper’s ancestry tears them apart. Can a future ever be theirs, or will a cruel twist of fate, and affairs of the past, prevent them ever having a future together?

    

    

    He lives a loveless existence at Darkcliffe Manor, in the Scottish Marches. When his father offers sanctuary to a desperate orphan, his world is turned upside down. Brenna Curwen is everything he should not want, soft, gentle, unsuited to life at the edge of lawlessness. He doesn’t need another mouth to feed or soul to protect for he has a future of duty and misery to face. Seaton shuns her until he notices that Brenna has hair like spun gold and amber eyes that see into his soul. But he is not alone in noticing her, and a rival, every bit as ruthless as he is, aims to seduce Brenna. Meanwhile, King James begins to stamp his authority on the Marches, once and for all. Amidst the turmoil of a way of life under siege, Seaton must confront a terrible choice between his heart and his head. If he gets it wrong, he will lose everything.Orphaned Brenna Curwen, with nowhere else to turn, is given shelter by an old admirer of her mother’s - Machar Bannerman, Laird of Darkcliffe Manor. But her protector is not what he seems, and if she is to survive in his crumbling tower house on the edge of the moors, she must find a way to deal not just with him, but also his three bastard sons. The worst of them is Seaton, more a savage than a gentleman, who makes it clear from the start that he resents her presence. As danger comes calling, so does a ruthless suitor, and Brenna has no one to turn to for protection save mistrustful, surly, beast of a man - Seaton Bannerman. Immerse yourself in the desolate beauty of the Scottish moors, as Seaton’s Choice takes you on a journey of savage passions, of old rivalries curdling into fresh violence, of evil plotting and power-hungry clans. Can love blossom in a mire of murder, mayhem and destruction?Extract from Seaton’s ChoiceThe young man reached a door and thrust it open without knocking. He held it for her to enter. Brenna walked into a surprisingly bright room with large windows, a study from the looks of all the books lined along the walls. There were curios of all kinds, crowded in - stuffed animals in bell jars, metal implements, swords and guns mounted on the walls. It had the feel of an educated mind behind it, one quite different from the brute of a man standing beside her. The dark lout persisted in staring at her without saying anything, and it was unnerving. The room was stuffy from a blazing fire in the hearth, and her face grew hot under his gaze. ‘What do you stare at, Sir,’ she said, tremulously, not quite catching his eye.‘You,’ he spat.‘Please do not, for I do not like it.’‘But I do, so I will keep doing it,’ he said, bringing his face closer to hers.Footsteps sounded, coming closer. The man took hold of her arm in a tight grip. ‘Whoever you are and whatever you are after, take this advice. Watch yourself around Laird Bannerman. He has the cunning of a thousand foxes, and a black heart to boot, and I fear you do not have the guile to manage him.’His eyes held hers, and for an instant, there was almost a hint of concern in his gaze. Brenna could feel his breath on her face, the tang of whisky carried with it. She glanced at his mouth, closer now, and held her breath.‘Seaton, unhand her, now.’ Brenna turned to see an older man staring at them with a livid look on his face. The man let go of her arm, and it felt as though the flesh still burned where he had touched her.