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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’.
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
FIND LOVE. FIND HOPE. FIND CLIFFEHAVEN. With a Kiss and a Prayer is set almost exclusively in Cliffehaven in the heart of Ellie Dean's world: the Beach View Boarding House.
1931, Lancashire:When Finn Carlisle loses his wife and unborn child, he spends a few years travelling to keep the sad memories at bay. Just as he's ready to settle down again, his great-uncle dies and leaves everything to him. This includes Heythorpe House in Ellindale just down the road from Leah Willcox and her little fizzy drink factory.Finn finds a village of people in dire need of jobs, a house that hasn't been cleaned or lived in for thirty years and Reggie, an eleven-year-old who's run away from the nearby orphanage and its brutal Director Buddle. When Finn sees the marks left by regular beatings, he decides Reggie will never go back there.He can't turn away two hungry young women from the village seeking jobs as maids, either, and they too need help with their lives. But Buddle has other plans for the child, and will stop at nothing to get Reggie back in his cruel grasp. Finn's new neighbours help him save Reggie but other surprises throw his new plans into turmoil.
The war is over and Evie Talbert eagerly awaits the return of her three children from their evacuated homes. But her carefree daughters and son are barely recognisable - their education has been disrupted, the siblings split up, and the effect on them has been life-changing. Her son has developed serious behavioural problems and with her daughters, there's jealousy and a nervous disorder that cannot be explained... Evie's husband also has problems. Having returned from being in action, he suffers nightmares and fits of rage. He's no longer the gentle, quiet man Evie married. Peace may finally be here, but Evie's family is in shreds. Now she must rebuild a loving home to achieve the happiness she's always dreamed of...
December 2017 Book of the Month Told in dual narratives from two English girls, Taggie and Lucy, at Lake Como, Italy. Taggie is working as an events manager, Lucy is taking the new love of her life on a special treat. Taggie has a past she is running from, Lucy a future she is running towards. The huge coincidence, although the reader does see it coming, is the connection between the girls, not just over a man but how their past is entwined too. Taggie meets a gorgeous, attentive and caring Italian and Lucy is determined to hang on to her man, come hell or high water. It is New Year and fireworks are on the agenda in both senses of the word. Great fun, building nicely to its charming conclusion. Sarah Broadhurst
A heartwarming saga of family and friendship, duty and desire, perfect for fans of Maureen Lee and Lyn Andrews from storyteller Geraldine O'Neill.
1950s South London. There's heartbreak and tragedy for young Daisy Bacon in working class South London. When her mother Judith is run over and killed outside their house, Daisy retreats into a world of silence. Blaming herself for the accident, the girl is unable to utter a word. The happy family home becomes a prison, with her stepmother Vera as the cruel jailer. It is cousin Lizzie, who will always remain a child, who brings sunshine back to Daisy's life. However, only when Henry Bacon discovers his new wife's shocking secret does Daisy herself find true happiness, and in a way that she could never have anticipated...
Meet the Reading Group: forever friends you can count on in good times and bad. No topic is off-limits: books, family, love and loss . . . and don't forget the glass of red! Grace, Anne-Marie, Kate, Jojo and Serena couldn't be more different, but each month they meet in Serena's cliff-top cottage to discuss a good book - oh and their lives, which are stranger than fiction. Or are they?
November 2017 Book of the Month A sharp, edgy, yet lovely romance for young adults. Hildy and Paul are paired in a college psychology study about relationships. They are asked 36 questions over the course of the story, and through their answers begin to learn about each other and themselves. As the sparks began to smoulder and then fly we discover heart-ache and strength in unexpected places. Vicki Grant uses various methods to tell the story, including drawings, texts and instant messages. This form of communication ensures the story is quick witted and bounces like a tennis match between Hildy and Paul. The other characters, including a certain fish remain in the background, yet set the scene and give flesh to the main pair. ’36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You’ is an extremely readable and satisfying romance full of spark and attitude. ~ Liz Robinson
I love short stories, they have the power to give us a fleeting, yet memorable glimpse into other lives. Lives of strong, beautiful characters as they face the challenges that life throws at them, each in search of a little piece of happiness. This collection from Jojo Moyes manages to do that perfectly. They are light and yet there is an underlying significance about them that resonates, that we can relate to. The characters are likeable but not without their flaws and in this Moyes expertly gives them a realistic, human touch. As each of us can be, they are vulnerable, feel pain, sorrow, disappointment, love, happiness and have their own difficulties to overcome. This was a real treat to read. The stories were of variable length yet enough for me to learn a little from each shared experience. I locked myself away in the bathroom and before I knew it the bath water was cold and I resembled a prune, so absorbed was I in these wonderful stories. Another delightful treat from Jojo Moyes. Find yourself a quiet spot and enjoy. ~ Shelley Fallows
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.
