Forced to keep house for her autocratic, charming father, Nelly toils in a sweatshop to keep her family fed and clothed. But when life is hard, Nelly has friendship, dancing and her early dreams to cling to. Dreams which slowly crumble as marriage, the war and a lost baby are followed by the heartache of a lost love. Fortune may crush her proud spirit but when faced with a crisis which will test her courage to the limit, no tragedy can change Nelly Kelly's determination to be her own woman.

    She's not intending to stay long, but after tracking down her distant family, Jo becomes more involved in village life than she could ever have imagined - and suddenly in danger too.Jo also finds herself drawn to Nick, a handsome newcomer to the village. Nick had planned to settle in Birch End and start a business, but as he grows closer to Jo, he realises he may have to choose between his dreams and a chance at love.Meanwhile, the new local council are faced with some tough decisions of their own. It's time to take a stand against the poor conditions in Backshaw Moss, the nearby slum, but some councillors want things to stay as they are - and will go to any lengths to make sure they get their way . . .Will the decent people of the valley win a brighter future for themselves? And can Jo find a way to stay with Nick in a place she's grown to love?

    

    Harper. By the age of 18 she has become a talented cook, but when she falls in love with a Latimer, all their lives change with frightening swiftness.

    A motley crew of friends has replaced the family she’s not spoken to in years. That is until the evening Kate’s sister Sarah walks back into her life. Sarah has a favour to ask: she needs Kate to return home to Dorset for one month to look after her daughter, Lizzie. Reluctantly Kate agrees, even though it means facing the troubled past she hoped she’d escaped. Kate is confronted once again by the prejudice and scrutiny of the townsfolk, including the new village vicar. As the war continues, Kate must fight her own battles and find not only the courage to forge a future but perhaps, at long last, love.'Milly Adams' readers will find the story and its rich cast of characters very appealing.'Lizzie Lane

    Blessed with financial security and a loving husband, Angie has everything that Molly lacks. Brian Hawkins is too idle to seek regular employment, and there’s never enough money to provide for Molly’s six-year-old daughter Rosa. What’s more, Brian believes his wife’s place is in the home, and, although it’s 1956 and women are doing jobs they’d never dreamed of before the war, Molly is forbidden to go out to work. But when Angie’s father dies suddenly and leaves Molly a share in the Beckett pottery, it’s on the condition that she takes a job there. Seizing the chance to bring in much-needed income, Molly gains strength from her new-found independence – a strength she will need to take her through the tragedy that lies ahead...

    The legacy Ann has inherited from her kindly employer has been a godsend, but just as the lives of Ann and Lily Neill and their father Johnny look set to improve, the threat of war with Germany looms and they seem headed for a dark horizon. Coping with the trials and tribulations of working-class life in their close-knit Dundee community, no one can escape the conflict or what fate has in store.

    She soon makes friends with the other women workers, and together they enjoy nights out dancing in Gosport - keeping their spirits up despite the hard work, rationing and heavy bombing. Vee even feels herself falling for Sam, the skipper of the ferry and her unhappily married boss. But Vee has a secret: her real name is Violetta Schmidt, and she is half-German. If her true nationality is discovered, she and her mother could find themselves interned as enemy aliens - if their German-hating neighbours, or worse, Eddie, the man Vee ran away from after he got her false papers, don't hurt them first.Will Vee be able to keep her secret safe, and find some peace with Sam and her friends even in the midst of war?

    With them is Mary McCarthy and her volatile son, Liam. All is well until the arrival of Siobhan’s husband George. A man of strong views and even stronger temper, he browbeats his gentle wife, belittles his daughter Christine and treats Liam like a servant…A year later, on a visit to Ireland, Liam unexpectedly comes face to face with the father he has never known. Liam wants nothing to do with him, but when George Clough throws him out, he has little choice but to enter his father’s dangerous world of Irish politics…As the Clough children grow up they each react to their domineering father in different ways, and his daughter Christine finds herself attracted to the man her father would disapprove of above all others, the wild card Liam McCarthy… Perfect for fans of Emily Gunnis, Fiona Valpy and Santa Montefiore, The Wild Card is an intensely gripping and unforgettable read.

    As the Allies make great gains in France, the Channel Islands remain a bastion of Nazi-occupied territory. On Jersey, Lieutenant-Colonel Max von Luck is in charge of liaising with the civilian population. He has little time for his fanatical colleagues, and has earned the respect of many of the Islanders. In his bunker in Berlin, Hitler decides to deploy the V3 - a weapon so secret that even the slave labourers constructing it deep beneath the island of Alderney do not know its exact purpose.June 1990. Workmen digging the foundations for a new hotel start to fall sick. Their illness is similar to that suffered by many islanders over the past half-century. Journalist Robert Lebonneur is suspicious. Then he finds a diary written by Lieutenant-Colonel Max von Luck during the wartime occupation. The diary makes it clear that much more is at stake than a mysterious illness. As Lebonneur investigates, he begins to run into the same dark forces that von Luck found himslf up against nearly half a century before...

    As each boat ferries exhausted men from the beaches to the waiting ships, under incessant fire from enemy aircraft and in a sea awash with debris and bodies, the men are unknowingly united by a powerful driving force—the urgent need to find one man, brother or son, who matters more to them than anyone else. Each of these missing men has a family, a wife or a sweetheart at home who is anxiously waiting for news—and one sweetheart in particular is determined to play her own part in the rescue.

    As she prepares to welcome them, she thinks of her life - to her tough childhood in Yorkshire, to her mother, to her three husbands and to Alun, the great love of her life. Yet her family don't realize the life she's led.

    But Merry has a secret: the magic has stopped flowing from her fingers. Try as she might, she can’t summon up the sparkle that makes her stories shine. And as her deadline whooshes by, her personal life falls apart too. Alex tells her he wants something other than the future she’d always imagined for them and Merry finds herself single for the first time since – well, ever. Desperate to get her life back on track, Merry leaves London and escapes to the windswept Orkney Islands, locking herself away in a secluded clifftop cottage to try to heal her heart and rediscover her passion for writing. But can the beauty of the islands and the kindness of strangers help Merry to fool herself into believing in love again, if only long enough to finish her book? Or is it time for her to give up the career she’s always adored and find something new to set her soul alight??The brand new series from Holly Hepburn, author of A Year at the Star and Sixpence. Parts one to four in the new series are available to pre-order now: BROKEN HEARTS AT BRIGHTWATER BAY, SEA BREEZES AT BRIGHTWATER BAY, DANGEROUS TIDES AT BRIGHTWATER BAY and SUNSET OVER BRIGHTWATER BAY ~*~Praise for Holly Hepburn~*~ 'A fresh new voice, brings wit and warmth to this charming tale of two sisters' Rowan Coleman 'Warm, witty and laced with intriguing secrets! I want to pull up a bar stool, order a large G&T and soak up all the gossip at the Star and Sixpence!' Cathy Bramley 'You'll fall in love with this fantastic new series from  star of women's fiction, Holly Hepburn. Filled to the brim with captivating characters and fantastic storylines in a gorgeous setting ... simply wonderful. I want to read more!' Miranda Dickinson 'The Star and Sixpence sparkles with fun, romance, mystery, and a hunky blacksmith. It's a real delight' Julie Cohen 'Like the dream pub landlady who always knows exactly what you want, Holly Hepburn has created the most delightful welcome to what promises to be a brilliant series, in the first Star and Sixpence. The sisters are warm and intriguing, the neighbours are (mostly!) friendly and the gossip is utterly addictive. I was very sad when it was time for last orders, and am already looking forward to the next round. Especially if a certain blacksmith happens to be at the bar...' Kate Harrison 'Warm, witty and utterly charming, Snowdrops at the Star and Sixpence is the perfect book to curl up with on a cold winter's day.

    The recent death of her beloved father had cast the only shadow on their tranquil domesticity. But returning to work after her bereavement, Jess found a sketch, drawn by Matt, of her father, and, in the same mysteriously grand and unknown setting, a sketch of someone totally unexpected. In the events following this discovery, Jess began to realize that her family and friends had secrets which, as they were gradually revealed, affected the foundations of all their lives. She was to experience heartbreak and loss before she could begin to reach out to a new, and different, kind of happiness. Five Farthings is another wonderful, heart-warming, and utterly involving novel from bestselling author Susan Sallis.

    Young Lily Bright works long hours on a market stall, selling furniture and bric-a-brac in order to make ends meet. When a handsome stranger approaches in search of a bargain, It's love at first sight. Swept off her feet, Lily falls for the debonair Charles Grey - only to discover, too late, that he is not what he seems. Pregnant, Lily turns for comfort to her childhood friend Ben James, but as World War II looms, Lily must find the courage to seize control of her own destiny, confront her past mistakes and win true love...