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Ginton Abbey
Set on a Friday in May, 1903…
Lord Dickie has a rather odd way of dressing for his early morning strolls around the Ginton Estate. Her Ladyship has a few secrets, and a member of staff is plotting to blackmail her. The Head Butler is the epitome of what a true English butler should be, but his love for her Ladyship goes unnoticed. The buxom maid is a bit too free with her services, whether it’s with staff, trade or the postman… until she falls in love. The dog-ugly cook has unusual nighttime activities and her lumpy gravy is blinding, literally! Will the blackmailer be successful? Will her Ladyship requite the butler’s affections? Is anyone safe from the cook’s lumpy gravy?
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Keeper of the Red Shawl
This romantic novel begins in the Victorian Era and is based on the eventful life of my grandmother, Frances. It tells the tale of the four men who helped or hindered her path to freedom. Fate was unkind to Frances, but throughout her life, she battled forward fighting convention and the class system.
The story starts when her well-to-do, but aged, parents marry her off at the age of 17 to Jack, a cold-hearted widower with a young son.
Respectfully she did as she was told but this was her first mistake. She became the brunt of his sarcasm and abuse in the bedroom.
Fortunately, Jack soon met with a suspicious end!
Then, along came a dashingly handsome James…
But wait, there’s someone else watching this particular saga unfold, patiently biding his time!
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Louisa
Louisa is 15 and living a contented, happy life in London. The Second World War is threatening their peace of mind. Will they all have the strength to survive?
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Love and Outrage
This is a story of a love that fights to survive during dangerous times and in violent places. Having fled Latvia to escape religious persecution, Libby Gardstein lives with her criminal brother in the East End of Edwardian London. She struggles to break free from her brother’s dominance to become a teacher of immigrant children.
Strong but quiet undercover police officer, Eddie Nething, works tirelessly to make London a safer place, driven forward by the cruel murder of his best friend and colleague. Eddie is assigned to infiltrate the gang of anarchists run by Libby’s brother.
Against all the odds, Libby and Eddie meet and fall in love. Eddie is torn between his duty as a policeman and his unexpected love for Libby. Libby is split between this new found love for Eddie and her instinctive concerns for her wayward brother. The stakes are high. They could both be killed if discovered by the antagonists around them. For both Edward and Libby, it is a fight between love and duty.
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Love in the Shadow of Mao
China, the epic Long March and Mao’s Revolution
A love story both historical and intimate peopled by fascinating characters
Julia Harrison, rich, beautiful and privileged, wife of a U.S. Congressman. What is she doing in Maoist China? Is she to be rescued or investigated?
Jen Chi-man, was born in the wilderness, orphaned by war, reared in the Red Army and sent to America to become a scientist.
He returns to a world he no longer knows.
Catherine Lee, a Chinese-American doctor from Brooklyn, imbued with a romantic love of the motherland she has never seen, longing to “serve the people”.
In their stories, we get glimpses of Mao, his power-hungry wife, foreign-educated Zhou Enlai and Madame Sun, revered widow of the founder of modern China, a committed Communist who lives in a mansion.
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Velvet
Peter Berger was born in Munich and raised with strong moral principles. However, he always considered himself different, and soon learned that he had to hide his predatory nature. But even living a double life, he was determined to acquire the status of which he always dreamed.
He graduated with distinction from the University of Munich in medicine, became a close friend of Chancellor Adolf Hitler, and built a successful career. In his personal life, he marries the woman he considers suitable, from a wealthy family, with whom he has three children.
During the war, he became known as Captain Velvet, due to his velvety, mesmerizing voice, which was an excellent tool in carrying out his work. Peter thought his life was perfect, until the moment when, as he was sorting out the Jews, as they got off the train at Auschwitz, his gaze was fixed on Kathryn and her whole world suddenly seemed to make no sense.
Peter fell in love for the first time and with a Jewish woman. He knew they had no future and that if the SS found out he was holding her prisoner in his house, forcing her to have a relationship with him, he would be considered a traitor and there was only one price to pay for such a betrayal: death.
But the end of the war is imminent, and Peter has to put an end to his relationship with Kay and he only knows one way to do it…
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Alverston Park
In Alverston Park, author William Frank gives a deep bow to Jane Austen with a story of love and societal boundaries. Helena Mowbray, a clergyman’s daughter, warns her two younger sisters about the impossibility of marrying nobility. Yet this does little to deter the trio of charismatic Fitzosborne brothers, sons of the Earl of Alverston, who find themselves captivated by the Mowbray sisters during the London social season.
Set against the opulent backdrop of Regency England, complete with grand balls, architectural splendour and society scandals, the narrative weaves in events like a secret newborn and a daring journey to Napoleon’s island prison in the South Atlantic. Through misadventures and tragedies, the tale explores the consequences of class prejudice and the elusive nature of happiness, reflecting issues still resonant in contemporary high society.£3.50 -
The Broken Balalaika
Louisa Bennett, a ship’s photographer, meets the handsome Ukrainian electrician and balalaika player, Gennadi Potenko, at a Russian crew party aboard the M.S. Ukraina in 1981. These are Cold War times, and any close contact between Eastern and Western crew members is strictly forbidden.After an evening of music and vodka, Louisa wakes the next morning with a massive hangover and no memory of how she returned to her cabin. But a pink rose by her bed gives her a clue. Ignoring the advice of her colleague Dermot to adhere to Soviet regulations, Louisa embarks on a series of tempting encounters ashore with Gennadi, leading to an illicit, secret love affair.Inevitably, they are discovered and brutally separated, with severe consequences. Louisa fears Gennadi will face further punishment upon his return to the Soviet Union. With the help of Dermot and his fiancée, Katya, she decides to fly to Odessa and search for Gennadi. Perhaps she can save him – and uncover the truth about his secret past.
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The Box – A War Time Gift
Jean always loved her wooden toy box, akin to a small travelling trunk. Its mysterious origins were unknown to her all her life.
The discovery one day that her father was not her birth father, but an American soldier, created a massive shock for Jean. She realized she was not who she thought she was.
Now an adult, she decided to embark on a search for the American soldier – an emotional roller coaster lasting seven years.
Her tenacity and determination to find her birth father led her, in the end, to the biggest surprise of her life.
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The Danger of Living
In the mid-1950s, as France teeters on the brink of civil war, two young painters find themselves swept up in a whirlwind of love and adventure in the heart of Paris.
Monique, a beautiful and feisty French woman, and Michael, an idealistic Englishman, come from vastly different backgrounds but share a common passion for painting. Their paths cross in the vibrant, tumultuous streets of Paris, where their love blossoms amidst the chaos of a nation in turmoil.
As they navigate the challenges of their time, their bond is tested by political unrest and personal dilemmas. Will their love survive the storm, or will the forces of history tear them apart?
A captivating blend of romance and adventure, this story paints a vivid picture of a city and a love that defy the odds.£3.50
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