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Find out moreStories from the heart. This category combines Romantic Fiction with Sagas and Romance to create a collection of lovely tales. From rags to riches stories to tales of tight-knit communities, this carefully curated collection is bound to have the perfect match for you, and as the Beatles said, ‘love is all you need’.
April 2018 Book of the Month 'A gloriously uplifting story about love in all its forms from the Number One Sunday Times bestselling author of The Reading Group and Things I Want My Daughters to Know.' This author has certainly not lost her touch despite it being six years since her last book. This is warm, affectionate, engaging and insightful. Well written with well portrayed characters who interconnect with each other in a tale that grabs your interest from the first chapters and holds it to the satisfying final page. The story revolves around two women, young pregnant Tess who has just left her boyfriend and gone home to mum, and middle-aged Gigi who has just left her husband and needs to sort her life out. Her three kids have grown up and her marriage is stale. The person Tess loves most in her family is her grandmother Iris who is slipping away in a home. The same home houses Gigi’s father-in-law. Here then is a wonderful multi-generational cast. Mix them together, plus Gigi’s family, and you get a tale of real depth and emotion. The letters of the title are from Iris’ brother during and just after World War II plus some from her grandfather from the same period. They are poignant and affect Tess greatly. A wonderful read, highly recommended.
It is 1939 and peace has flourished since the Great War ended. But much has changed for the Deverill family and now a new generation is waiting in the wings. Martha Wallace came to Dublin from her home in America to find her birth mother. But instead she has lost her heart to the impossibly charming JP Deverill. Then she discovers that her mother comes from the same place as JP, and her fate seems sealed. Bridie Doyle, now Countess di Marcantonio and mistress of Castle Deverill, is determined to make the castle she used to work in her home. But her flamboyant husband Cesare has other ideas. And as his eye strays away from his wife, those close to the couple start to wonder if he really is who he says he is. Kitty Deverill has come to terms with her life with her husband Robert, and their two children. But then Jack O'Leary, the love of her life, returns to Ballinakelly. And this time his heart belongs elsewhere... ***What readers are saying about Santa Montefiore*** 'Nobody does epic romance like Santa Montefiore. Everything she writes, she writes from the heart' Jojo Moyes `I have a tendresse for sweeping and epic romantic sagas set around huge houses and aristocratic families and Santa Montefiore hits the spot for me like few other writers... Lush, vivid storytelling' Sarra Manning `An ideal summer read. Laced with secrets and forbidden liaisons, it is sure to keep you turning the pages' The Lady on The Beekeeper's Daughter `One of our personal favourites and bestselling authors, sweeping stories of love and families spanning continents and decades' The Times
Sisters Margaret and Annie lost their mother years ago, they long for her every day. Their protective and devout father keeps the girls close. But he can't protect them all the time . . . When a scandal rocks this family unit to their core, the girls are forced to leave their home under a shadow of secrecy. The girls arrive in the Birmingham's famous jewellery quarter one stifling August evening to stay with their uncle, goldsmith Ebenezer Watts. Annie takes up work at a nearby factory, but it's not the work that interests her. Her kind and soft nature, means that her attention is drawn to the immediate need of her impoverished colleagues and the wretched lives they lead. Meanwhile, Ebenezer employs Margaret as a chain maker. When Margaret meets silversmith Philipp Tallis, she is drawn to him instantly. Margaret is forced closer to this mysterious man in the cramped workshop, as they create objects of beauty. But what is it the Sisters of Gold are hiding? Even though they've escaped their past once, it can't stay hidden forever . . .
Ruby Brown is ready for a change. She's single for the first time in years and she's going to dive into this brave new world with a smile on her face and a spring in her step. The last thing she's looking for is a serious relationship. Mason represents everything Ruby wants right now: he's charming, smooth and perfect for some no-strings-attached fun. Joe on the other hand is kind and attractive, but comes with the sort of baggage Ruby wants to avoid: an annoyingly attractive ex-wife and two teenage children. Ruby thinks she knows what she wants, but is it what she needs to be truly happy? It's about to get emotional in Million Love Songs. Praise for Million Love Songs 'Sparkling . . . light-hearted, laugh-packed fun' Sunday Mirror 'One of our favourite authors, Carole Matthews always delivers a delicious read, and Million Love Songs is another delightful read. Full of humour and emotional dilemmas, this latest book is perfect to curl up with on the sofa in this unpredictable weather. Highly Recommended!' Hot Brands Cool Places.
A captivating and convincing novel set during the Second World War, based on archived documents and letters, detailing the relationship between married US General Eisenhower and his driver Kay Summersby. In 1942 the two meet, and Eisenhower quickly places Kay at the heart of his team, as rumours spread, they become ever closer. The lines between fact and fiction blurred as I read, the relationship felt substantial, real, and before my eyes I witnessed Kay supporting Eisenhower as he made critical decisions about the war. James MacManus creates an intimate, penetrating story, yet the huge arena of war dominates, highlighting the connection between the two. Clear and precise, everyday life is set before you, and small in-depth details encourage a vivid picture to emerge. Ike and Kay focuses on an intriguing relationship, a relationship that was tolerated, even encouraged in order to get the job done, oh what a fascinating tale it is.
Orphaned. Betrayed. Determined. Angelique Latham grew up at the magnificent Belgrave Castle with her father, the Duke of Westerfield, after the death of her mother. But when he dies, her half-brothers brutally deny her very existence and send her out into the world alone. At eighteen, Angelique has a keen mind, remarkable beauty and an envelope of money her late father pressed upon her. Unable to secure employment, Angelique desperately makes her way to Paris. To survive, she will need all her resources - and one bold stroke of fortune. Angelique takes an unfamiliar and unimaginable path in setting up what becomes a highly successful business. But she lives on the edge of scandal; can she ever make a life for herself? From England to Paris and New York, Danielle Steel paints a captivating portrait of a woman of unquenchable spirit in The Duchess.
Bullied by the kitchen maids, Kitty is soon taken under Lady Arabella's wing and for the first time in her life Kitty dares to hope. Kitty will do anything for her mistress but her loyalty is severely tested as all their lives are thrown into turmoil and Kitty faces a life of poverty and hardship in the slums of the East End once more ...
Uplifting and delightful, The Year That Changed Everything is another gorgeous read from Cathy Kelly. Three women have three milestone birthdays on the same day, they don’t know each other, yet a featherlight connection binds them together. In one day, the day of their birthdays, a bombshell shatters the life Callie knew, Sam’s waters break but she might not be ready for motherhood, while Ginger is forced to reconsider who she wants to be. These women aren’t perfect, they make mistakes, yet they are just so likeable and relatable I would be more than happy to be their friend... to hug, to console, to cheer them on. I just adore Cathy Kelly’s books, she writes with a lovely warmth and kindness, beautifully engages with women across the years, and doesn’t shy away from reality. I found myself sinking into a delicious story that wrapped itself around me, and even with heart-ache along the way, The Year That Changed Everything is ultimately a captivating, enjoyable, feel-good read.
Tuesday's child is full of grace ... Pious young Grace Kettle escapes the world of her unsavoury and bullying father to train to be a nun. Her faith is tested and she is driven to make a scandalous and life-changing choice - one she may well spend the rest of her days seeking forgiveness for.
An emotionally tough read that tells a story which must not be forgotten. Based on the lives of two of the central characters, Sophia and Misha, it centres on an orphanage in the Warsaw ghetto during the Second World War and of the work of Dr Janusz Korezak, the Good Doctor of the title. The story begins in 1937 when Poland is independent. The anti-Jewish bigotry festering in fascist Germany is slowly spreading throughout Central Europe but life is still pleasant in Warsaw. Misha and Sophia are in love. There is a charming chapter when, in July 1939, the children from Korezak’s orphanage are taken to the country for a month of games and fresh air; an idyllic time and a poignant contrast to the horror to come. I do not need to tell you what happens, just to mention the word Treblinka is enough. Getting there in August 1942 is harrowing yet compulsive reading as we follow the adventures of Misha and Sophia and indeed the wonderful Dr Korezak. There is a postscript about the site today where a large stone monolith commemorates the awful events carried out there. It is surrounded by smaller stones each representing a village, town or city from which the Jews and Romanies were taken. Only one stone has the one word, Korezak.
'A gripping new novel' HELLO! Magazine _______________ London, 1960 The lives of teenage twins Maisy and Duncan change forever the night their sick mother is taken to an asylum. Sent to live in the New Forest with their cold-hearted grandmother, Mrs Mitcham, they feel unloved and abandoned. And when one day Duncan doesn't come home from exploring in the forest, no one - least of all his grandmother - appears to care about his disappearance. The police, who've found the bodies of other missing boys, offer little hope of finding Duncan alive. Yet Maisy refuses to give up. Though she doesn't know the woods well, she knows someone who does. The strange old woman who lives at their heart. Dare Maisy enlist the help of the woman in the wood? _______________ 'A real page-turner, a family story that is multi-layered just as you'd expect from Lesley Pearse, who is deservedly one of the world's favourite story tellers' My Weekly 'Characters it is impossible not to care about . . . this is storytelling at its very best' Daily Mail
We all love a good saga. From Wuthering Heights and Jamaica Inn, to the modern works of authors like Katie Flynn, Katherine Webb and Nadine Dorries, there is something so captivating about the journey of a romantic heroine through an unfamiliar world, where the hearts and desires of all around her form the centre of everything. These stories can take place on grand settings: on the High Seas and foreign lands, or on a small cobbled street in a northern mining town. It doesn’t matter, as the journey of the heart is the most important of all. Get your tissues at the ready and find yourself happily shipwrecked on the ragged rocks of epic romance.
