Showing titles in Women's Fiction

Once again Anthony Quinn shows himself a master at writing fiction that works on every level. London, May 1945. Freya Wyley, 20, meets Nancy Holdaway, 18, amid the wild celebrations of VE Day, the prelude to a devoted and competitive friendship that will endure on and off for the next two decades.

Brought up in chaos and fear, Maddox requires order and control to cope with life. He has his career and two closest friends. That is all he needs. Until Dee enters his life. She brings forth feelings he has denied himself his entire life - and threatens his control. He wants to hold. Keep. Love. Live. Damaged by her past, Dee cannot admit her feelings for him, fighting him at every turn. Is he strong enough to show her - to prove love is worth the risk for both of them?

The House of Farrell - home of The Cream, an iconic face product that has seen women flocking to its bijoux flagship store in the Berkeley Arcade since 1953. At Farrell, you can rely on the personal touch. The legendary Athina Farrell remains the company's figurehead and in her kingdom at the Berkeley Arcade, Florence Hamilton plies their cosmetics with the utmost discretion. She is sales advisor - and holder of secrets - extraordinaire. But of course the world of cosmetics is changing and the once glorious House of Farrell is now in decline.

Mary Tudor, the headstrong younger sister of the ruthless King Henry VII, has always been her brother's favorite—but now she is also an important political bargaining chip. When she is promised to the elderly, ailing King Louis of France, a heartbroken Mary accepts her fate, but not before extracting a promise from her brother: When the old king dies, her next marriage shall be solely of her choosing. For Mary has a forbidden passion, and is determined, through her own cunning, courage, and boldness, to forge her own destiny.

A Year of Marvellous Ways is the much anticipated and utterly beguiling new novel from Sarah Winman, author of the international best seller When God Was a Rabbit. Cornwall, 1947. Marvellous Ways is a 90-year-old woman who's lived alone on a remote creek for nearly all her life. Recently she's taken to spending her days sitting on a mooring stone by the river with a telescope. She's waiting for something - she's not sure what, but she'll know it when she sees it.

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of The Secret Sisters Keep, read by Karen Cogan, Emma Lowe and Alison McKenna. The Devlin sisters rely on each other - but some things are just too painful to share, even when your sisters are your best friends.... Mum-of-four Julie thought that if her family had more money, life would be easier. But now that they've inherited a fortune, her problems are only starting. Lawyer Louise is used to having life go exactly as she wants it to. So accepting that she cannot control the most important thing in her life is beyond her. And former model Sophie can just about cope with getting older - that's until her ex-husband finds a younger model. All three women think that some battles are best fought alone. Maybe they need to think again.

After Erin Fleming escapes from her controlling and abusive ex, she finds refuge in the heart of Santa Clarita, California. Eager to start over, she has a new name, a new look, and a new career. Settled into a private guesthouse, Erin can breathe free. Far from the shadows she’s outrun, Erin is finally learning to live for herself. Her new unexpected friendship with her landlord starts to crack open the armor Erin’s enclosed herself in. But it’s Matt who speeds up the pace of Erin’s heart and makes her wish for things she believes she can never have.

It starts as a sensual game, but can Lily stick to Nik's rules? And, what's more, can he? Idealistic archaeologist Lily Rose craves a fairy-tale love, but in her experience it always ends in heartbreak. So now Lily's trying a different approach - a fling with infamous Greek playboy Nik Zervakis. Antilove and antifamily, Nik lives by his own set of rules. There's no one better to teach Lily how to separate sex from deep emotions! But whilst Nik may have the world at his feet, he has shadows in his heart.

When Laura Finch’s business partner hires Skylar to bring their company to the next generation, Laura sees red. An obnoxious millennial isn’t someone she wants to work with—they’re known for failing their side hustles. Since Laura gave up everything for Solace Inc to succeed, including her dreams of marriage and family, she’s not willing to risk it on just anyone.

Journalist Sadie is home for the first time in fifteen years, staying in her small childhood bedroom as she deals with her estranged father’s death and her surprising inheritance. When Sadie meets Rebecca, the reclusive new owner of the solitary cottage at the edge of nearby Whisper Lake, she’s taken aback by the older woman’s request for help: ‘I need to find my family. Will you help me?’. She’s even more surprised when afterwards, Rebecca acts as if she never made the plea.

Rose Lloyd was the last to suspect that Nathan, her husband of over twenty years, was having an affair, and that he was planning to leave her. But the greatest shock was yet to come; for his mistress was Rose's colleague and friend, Minty. So Rose was left alone in their once-happy family home, where she and Nathan had brought up their children.

Seven years ago, on the eve of her wedding, young Lady Jessica Sheffield witnessed a scandalous seduction by the roguish Alistair Caulfield. But after years of serene but unfulfilling marriage, she still cannot free her dreams of this illicit liaison. So when newly widowed Jessica steps aboard Caulfield’s ship for a transatlantic passage, years of denied pleasure and passion will be unleashed in the most provocative way…

Dorset, 1876. When young Beatrice Cullen shows up in the local church with her illegitimate child in her arms, Reverend Michael Redfern takes it upon himself to help her. He finds her daughter, Lily, a home with a kindly couple. But when, at the age of nine, Lily loses her adopted parents, she is forced to live with her awful aunt, Doris, and cousin, Jez, who treat her no better than a slave. Lily can only seek solace in her dream of one day escaping her aunt and becoming a seamstress.

Emma and her friends are about to turn 30, and for Emma it's a defining moment. Defined, that is, by her having achieved none of the things she'd imagined she would. She's never jumped out of a plane, hasn't met the man she's going to marry or snogged anyone famous. As Emma hurtles towards her thirtieth, she discovers, with hilarious consequences, that some of them are trickier to tick off than she'd thought....

An achingly funny story about how to be your own hero when life pulls the rug out from under your feet. From the author of the bestselling You Had me at Hello. Delia Moss isn't quite sure where she went wrong. When she proposed and discovered her boyfriend was sleeping with someone else - she thought it was her fault. When she realised life would never be the same again - she thought it was her fault.

Tawrie Gunn feels stuck. She’s spent her whole life in the same seaside town with her beloved Nana and grief-stricken mum, all of them still reeling in different ways from the tragic loss of Tawrie’s dad at sea. Desperate for a change, she challenges herself to take up wild swimming—every morning, no excuses, from March till September.

When her loving, free-spirited grandmother Primrose passes away, Victoria is bereft, yet resilient - she has survived tragedy before. But even her strength is tested when a mysterious woman attends Prim's funeral and claims to be the mother Victoria thought was dead. As the two women get to know each other and Victoria begins to learn more about her past, it becomes clear that her beloved grandmother had been keeping life-changing secrets from her. Desperate for answers, she still struggles to trust anyone to tell her the truth.

Is it possible to write a sidesplitting novel about the breakup of the perfect marriage? If the writer is Nora Ephron, the answer is a resounding yes. For in this inspired confection of adultery, revenge, group therapy, and pot roast, the creator of Sleepless in Seattle reminds us that comedy depends on anguish as surely as a proper gravy depends on flour and butter.

1135, England: Matilda, daughter of Henry I, knows that there are those who will not accept her as England's queen when her father dies. But the men who support her rival, and cousin, Stephen do not know the iron will that drives her. She will win her inheritance against all odds, and despite all men. Adeliza, Henry's widowed queen and Matilda's stepmother, is now married to a warrior who is fighting to keep Matilda off the throne. But Adeliza knows that Britain's crown belongs to a woman this time. Both women will stand and fight for what they know is right for England's royalty.

After 12 years of marriage and two kids, Merit has begun to feel like a stranger in her own life. She loves her husband and sons, but she desperately needs something more than sippy cups and monthly sex. So, she returns to her career at Jager + Brandt, where a brilliant and beautiful Danish architect named Jane decides to overlook the “break” in Merit’s résumé and give her a shot.