Love, Etc.


Julian Barnes - 1992
    In Love, etc. he uses all the surprising, sophisticated ingredients of a delightful farce to create a tragicomedy of human frailties and needs. After spending a decade in America as a successful businessman, Stuart returns to London and decides to look up his ex-wife Gillian. Their relationship had ended years before when Stuart’s witty, feckless, former best friend Oliver stole her away. But now Stuart finds that the intervening years have left Oliver’s artistic ambitions in ruins and his relationship with Gillian on less than solid footing. When Stuart begins to suspect that he may be able to undo the results of their betrayal, he resolves to act. Written as an intimate series of crosscutting monologues that allow each character to whisper their secrets and interpretations directly to the reader, Love, etc. is an unsettling examination of confessional culture and a profound refection on the power of perspective.

The Underground Man


Mick Jackson - 1997
    What sets him apart from other famous eccentrics is the fact that he had the wealth to indulge his manias to the fullest. Perhaps his greatest achievement was to have a vast network of underground tunnels built beneath his estate, from which, with his horses and carriages, he could secretly escape to the outside world. On a visit to the Duke's establishment, which still more or less stands, Mick Jackson became fascinated not only by the tunnels but by the stories that surrounded the memory of this strange man. He began to embroider them with fictional ideas of his own, and with the tales the local people passed on to him. Some of the characters' names in the book are genuine, as indeed are some of the most bizarre details. The actual narrative is, however, pure invention, filled not only with tales of the Duke, but also with the excitement and discoveries of the age in which he lived, and the mysteries that we are still exploring.

Eventer's Dream


Caroline Akrill - 1981
    A job in a private yard or livery stable seems a logical step but numerous unsuccessful interviews leave her feeling desperate. As a stopgap she accepts a position with the impecunious and eccentric Fane sisters, caring for their stable of pathetic, unsound, aged and often downright dangerous horses at their once grand but now ruinously dilapidated manor house in High Suffolk. But when the perfect job opportunity presents itself can she actually free herself from the Fane sisters? And can she bear to leave the stable of hopelessly endearing equines to their fate? Is this job really the first step towards achieving her ambition? Or is it the end, the absolute finish, of an eventer's dream?

A Taste of Peace (Malibu #1)


J.J. Sorel - 2021
    Lachlan Peace’s true passion in life is music and surfing. He also can’t take his eyes off his new admin assistant, Miranda Flowers.Miranda can’t believe her luck she’s finally landed a well-paying job working for Peace at his sprawling Malibu estate. Dazzled by the opulence of her new workplace, which boasts a private beach amongst other fine trappings, Miranda thinks she’s won a celestial lottery. One of her more pleasant tasks, missing from the job description, involves accompanying her handsome boss to lavish balls as his pretend date. Miranda soon discovers that her unfriendly and very demanding manager has her sights on Lachlan Peace, with whom the CFO shares a complicated history. When this scheming manager notices that Miranda has caught the eye of the man that she’s determined to marry she hatches a plan to force his hand.Although the obstacles come thick and fast, there’s only one thing Lachlan Peace is certain about: he’s crazy about Miranda. But can Miranda compete with her sly and crafty manager, who has something over Lachlan? And will Miranda and Lachlan’s off-the-charts chemistry survive the SEC, the mob, and the sharp claws of a dangerously ambitious woman?

The Detainees


Sean Hughes - 1997
    

Apple Tree Lean Down


Mary E. Pearce - 1976
    Beth soons shows her grandfather that she is a strong-willed young woman with clear ideas about her future. Her choices have far-reaching consequences, as she experiences happiness and heartbreak, triumph and sorrow. A heartwarming tale of everyday country life in an English town at the turn of the nineteenth century. Mary E Pearce paints a loving but authentic picture of the people and places of a bygone era. The first title in the five book Apple Tree Saga.

The Art of Dancing in the Rain


Jack Lehman - 2013
    Or read this book and find out how you have all the tools you need, but must make the one change to become the writer you have always wanted to be.

Into the Fire


Alexander Fullerton - 1995
    Their average life expectancy is six weeks.But Rosie is brighter than most, well-aware of the consequences of a second’s carelessness, or bad luck, or treachery. Or a fellow agent crumbling under torture, naming names.Her brief is to set up a new network in Rouen, where the old one has been blown and an agent is suspected of betrayal. If she gets there, that is. Landing from a gunboat on the Brittany coast, she must to travel to Paris – carrying forged papers, a radio transceiver and more than a million francs in cash… Frighteningly realistic, unbearably exciting, the Rosie Ewing Spy Thrillers are perfect for fans of Philip Kerr, Ian Fleming and John Le Carré. ‘You don’t read a novel by Alexander Fullerton. You live it.’ South Wales Echo

One Snowy Night


Rita Bradshaw - 2019
    Or so she thinks. An unimaginable betrayal by those she loves causes her to flee her home and family one snowy night. Crushed and heartbroken, Ruby vows that despite the odds stacked against her she will not only survive, but one day will show the ones she left behind that she’s succeeded in making something of herself. Brave words, but the reality is far from easy. Dangers Ruby could never have foreseen and more tragedy threaten her new life, and love always seems just out of reach. Can a happy ending ever be hers?

Sea of Wolves


Philip K. Allan - 2020
    Across the stormy North Atlantic battle rages between wolfpacks of U-boats and escort ships fighting to protect the Allies’ vital convoys. Meanwhile teams of codebreakers at Bletchley Park struggle to penetrate the German Navy’s Top-Secret Dolphin code, and unlock the flow of vital intelligence that will swing the battle in the Allies favour.Sea of Wolves plots the lives of three people caught up in the centre of the battle. Vera Baldwin, a young crossword-enthusiast, lifted from her quiet suburban life and thrown into the middle of the greatest codebreaking effort the world has seen. Otto Stuckmann, the rookie commander of U70, a German naval veteran struggling with the ceaseless demands being placed on him. Leonard Cole, the newly appointed first lieutenant of HMS Protea and a man with unfinished business to resolve.Each is unknown to the others as their fates spiral around each other, touching and twisting towards a final encounter that will change their lives forever.

No Way Back: Part 1


Andrew Gross - 2013
    ENJOY THIS BRAND NEW THRILLER EARLY – AN EBOOK-ONLY EXCLUSIVE from Sunday Times bestseller Andrew Gross. ‘No Way Back starts at full throttle and stays there till the end’ – Linwood Barclay.A chance encounter with a stranger in a New York hotel ends in a shooting. Wendy Gould was an average mother – now she’s the sole witness to the murder she’s being framed for.YOU CAN RUNWhat she saw makes Wendy the top target for a deadly network of powerful men who want her silence. They will take no prisoners. How can she clear her name?YOU CAN HIDELauritzia Velez is a suburban nanny with a tragic past – and a terrifying future. After another attempt on her life, she once again leaves everything she loves behind to go on the run.THERE IS NO WAY BACKBoth women know too much – except how to escape from this nightmare alive. To survive, they must find each other fast, or there will be no way back…

The Mammoth Book of the Mafia


Nigel Cawthorne - 2009
    It contains accounts by Richard 'The Iceman' Kuklinski, the contract killer who claimed to have murdered over 200 people in a career lasting 43 years.

Jeeves and the Wedding Bells


Sebastian Faulks - 2013
    Wodehouse documented the lives of the inimitable Jeeves and Wooster for nearly sixty years, from their first appearance in 1915 ("Extricating Young Gussie") to his final completed novel (Aunts Aren't Gentlemen) in 1974. These two were the finest creations of a novelist widely proclaimed to be the finest comic English writer by critics and fans alike.Now, forty years later, Bertie and Jeeves return in a hilarious affair of mix-ups and mishaps. With the approval of the Wodehouse estate, acclaimed novelist Sebastian Faulks brings these two back to life for their legion of fans. Bertie, nursing a bit of heartbreak over the recent engagement of one Georgina Meadowes to someone not named Wooster, agrees to "help" his old friend Peregrine "Woody" Beeching, whose own romance is foundering. That this means an outing to Dorset, away from an impending visit from Aunt Agatha, is merely an extra benefit. Almost immediately, things go awry and the simple plan quickly becomes complicated. Jeeves ends up impersonating one Lord Etringham, while Bertie pretends to be Jeeves' manservant "Wilberforce,"—and this all happens under the same roof as the now affianced Ms. Meadowes. From there the plot becomes even more hilarious and convoluted, in a brilliantly conceived, seamlessly written comic work worthy of the master himself.A Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction Book of 2013

Wicked Deception


M.V. Kasi - 2021
    Any intimacy with a man would cost her everything. Narmada has never been tempted to waver from the irrational clause... until him.A night of passion with the darkly handsome stranger in a far away country was supposed to remain her secret. But a month later, she is introduced to him as her company's new owner. Narmada is yet to discover the true extent of his deception...Yash Varma has no qualms about using deceptive means to win what he wants, especially to avenge an old family debt. Sleeping with the beautiful widow was supposed to be a cold, calculated plan. But it left a searing impression on his ruthless heart.Yash is no longer satisfied with destroying an enemy, he burns to conquer the body, heart and soul of the woman who now hates him with a passion...Wicked Deception is a standalone passionate romance.

Ravenhill (Jackie Shaw, #1)


John Steele - 2017
    He treads a fine line keeping psychotic hard-man Rab Simpson in check while sleeping with gang leader Billy Tyrie’s beautiful wife on the side. When a bomb claims nine lives, he is given the role of the getaway driver in a planned reprisal killing, a key role in a major operation. But Jackie may not be who he seems... Twenty years later, Jackie returns to the city for his father’s funeral after disappearing in mysterious circumstances. He wants to mourn then leave, but when figures from his past emerge, he is left with no choice but to revisit his violent former life. The first in the Jackie Shaw series, RAVENHILL is a gripping début novel from a brilliant new voice in crime fiction. The second in the series, SEVEN SKINS, is coming soon. ‘Tense, unsparing, compassionate and exceptionally well-written, this brilliant thriller brings vividly to life East Belfast in war and peace, its self-appointed community defenders turned brutal predators, and the security forces who struggled to contain them.’ Ruth Dudley Edwards