Showing results by publisher "W. F. Howes Ltd" in Romance

In this, the third novel of a trilogy, the atmosphere in the Bailey household was alive with anticipation. It was not only because Christmas was approaching or even that Bill Bailey was tackling the biggest project of his career. No, all the excitement was because in two weeks’ time, Fiona Bailey would give birth to a baby, the first arrival since Bill had married Fiona as a young widow, already mother of Mark, Katie and Willie, and with the adopted Mamie now part of the family circle.

1958. The Palace of Versailles is hosting an event that will go down in history. It is a glamorous dusk-to-dawn ball, where a select group of debutantes will be presented to international society and royalty. And for four young women, all with something to prove, it is an event they will never forget.

Sisters Carol and Jackie haven't had the easiest of childhoods, but as they grow up and begin their own lives, both hope for happier times ahead. Stylish Carol works in Lewis' department store while Jackie dreams of a career on the stage. But the sisters are heartbroken when they discover they have been dating the same man, and an unexpected pregnancy causes a rift between them. As the sisters' troubles spiral, will their sisterly bond be destroyed forever?

Liverpool, 1963. Mary Kate Malone is 17 and bitterly unhappy that her father has married again after the death of her mother. On her last day at school, she decides to leave home in Tarabeg and head for Liverpool to find her mother's sister. But nothing goes to plan. Within hours of disembarking, she finds herself penniless and alone, with no place to stay and no idea how she will survive. Meanwhile, back in Ireland, a long-buried secret is about to come to light and a day of reckoning, in the shape of a stranger from America, will set an unstoppable chain of events in motion.

Amara has escaped her life as a slave in the town's most notorious brothel, but now her existence depends on the affections of her patron: a man she might not know as well as she once thought. At night, she dreams of the wolf den, still haunted by her past. Amara longs for the women she was forced to leave behind and worse, finds herself pursued by the man who once owned her. In order to be free, she will need to be as ruthless as he is. Amara knows her existence in Pompeii is subject to Venus, the goddess of love. Yet finding love may prove to be the most dangerous act of all.

Cornwall, 1920: A young man stands on a headland, looking out to sea. He is back from the war, homeless and without family. Behind him lies the terror of the trenches. Behind him is also the most intense relationship of his life. Daniel has survived, but will he ever be able to escape the terrible, unforeseen consequences of a lie?

The Cambridge University witches have been meeting for as long as the university has been around. They meet mainly to discuss books, though they do so on the roofs of the colleges. Only those invited can join; this includes Kat (a great spell caster and professor) and Cosima, Kat's sister, café owner and witch. However, when Cosima begins casting spells to attract a mate, everything starts to go wrong - she sets off a chain of events that turns each witch's world upside down....

Beth became a widow after just two years of marriage. Before her husband's death, they made the decision to freeze an embryo so that she could still have his child. But Beth has just been told that the embryo was implanted in the wrong woman seven years ago. Somewhere in the neighbourhood, her longed-for son is growing up without her. What should she do?

When William Felkirk opens his eyes, the past six months are blank. What happened? And who is this beautiful woman claiming to be his wife and caring for his broken body? Justine will do anything to protect her sister, even if that means pretending to be a stranger’s wife. But with every passing day, William unlocks her heart just a little more, and Justine knows she won’t be able to hide the truth forever....

1942: Saba Tarcan is a talented young singer with big dreams. So when an opportunity arises to entertain the troops in the Middle East, she jumps at the chance, cutting short a burgeoning love affair with a young RAF pilot, Dom. It soon becomes clear that entertaining won’t be Saba’s only mission. It's a move that will jeopardize not only her own safety, but also the love of her life.

England, 1611, and young Hannah Marston envies her brother's adventurous life. But when she stows away on a merchant ship, her powers of endurance are stretched to their limit. Then they reach Japan and all her suffering seems worthwhile until she is abducted by Taro Kumashiro's warriors. In the far north of the country, warlord Kumashiro is intrigued to learn more about the girl who he has been warned about by a seer. There's a clash of cultures and wills, but they're also fighting an instant attraction to each other.

Against the devastating Blitz of London, normal life must continue for Lizzie Larch. With Sebastian returning to war, Lizzie must make a success of her business in order to survive and to care for her young child. Silently in the shadows, her secret enemy watches and waits, threatening to ruin Lizzie and everything she holds close. Lizzie is soon battling against shortages whilst her hat business explodes.... But soon Lizzie begins to realise that success can mean nothing without the man she loves.

The daughter and granddaughter of prominent Manhattan lawyers, Meredith McKenzie is destined for the best of everything: top schools, elite social circles, the perfect marriage. Spending her childhood in Germany as her father prosecutes war criminals at the Nuremberg trials, Meredith soaks up the conflict between good and evil.

Kings Cross station, 1943: As the bombs fall, Rose loses her heart to a pilot but will lose so much more before the war has done its worst. Las Vegas, present day: A beautiful woman in a wedding dress walks into a seedy bar and asks the first man she sees to marry her. So when Jane meets Rose, now a formidable older lady, there's no love lost between them. But with time running out, can Rose and Jane come together to make peace with the secrets that have haunted their lives?

Shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction, 2007.In this novel, set in Scotland in 1863, Bessy Buckley attempts to escape her past by taking a job as a maid in a big house outside of Edinburgh, where she works for the beautiful Arabella. Bessy is intrigued by her new employer, but puzzled by her increasingly strange requests.

The day Maggie Lane dies, she sends her daughter Olivia a letter containing the address of Olivia's first love, Richie Briscoe. Olivia has not seen Richie for over twenty years, not since his desertion of her as a teenager almost destroyed her. Convinced that the note represents an admission of guilt, Olivia sets off for the idyllic seaside village where Richie now lives.

Claudia Hampton - beautiful, famous, independent, dying. But she remains defiant to the last, telling her nurses that she will write a 'history of the world...and in the process, my own'. And it is her story, from a childhood just after the First World War through the Second and beyond. But Claudia's life is entwined with others, and she must allow those who knew her, loved her, the chance to speak. There is Gordon, brother and adversary; Jasper, her untrustworthy lover and father of Lisa, her cool conventional daughter; and then there is Tom, her one great love.

Thea Tennant, eldest daughter of a wealthy family, yearns to do more with her life. When her beautiful but flighty sister, Dulcie, brings trouble to the family, both Thea and Dulcie are sent to relatives in Austria. But with the onset of war, their lives change beyond recognition. It isn't just the Tennants whose lives have changed: for their parlour maid, Primmy, the war brings opportunities she is determined to take.

Emery is born with a heart condition that means her heart could quite literally stop at any moment. The people around her know what to do—if they act quickly enough there will be no lasting damage, and Emery's heart can be restarted. But when this happens, she is briefly technically dead. Each time Emery's heart stops, she meets Nick. His purpose is to help people adjust to the fact that they are dead, to help them say goodbye, before they move on entirely. He does not usually meet people more than once—but with Emery, he is able to make a connection, and he finds himself drawn to her.

Liverpool, 1945. As the war draws to a close, Alice and Terry Lomax are building a new life with their young daughter Cathy. After years away fighting, Terry is a stranger to his daughter and must work hard to win her trust and love. Alice and old friend Sadie work in the haberdashery of Lewis’s department store, where bomb damage scars the walls and rationing is still in force. Though memories of those lost in the war are fresh, Alice and Sadie look forward to the future.