Showing results by publisher "Soundings" in Genre Fiction

The Scottish Highlands, 1899. A life-altering event led Catrina Davies to hide from her family and society. But Travis Millard, the man she used to love, finds her, and she agrees to marry him and to return to her family estate, Davmoor Court in Yorkshire. But while her father clings to life, Davmoor is nearly ruined by her brother's gambling obsession. As Catrina adjusts to her regained position in society, her marriage comes under attack from Travis' grandmother, who has her own reason for loathing the family.

Working at the Foyles bookshop was Molly Cooper's dream job. But with the country at war, she's determined to do her bit. She must face the tribulations of being the 'new girl' at Silvertown munitions factory, as well as the relentless physical work. The happy-ever-afters Molly read about in the pages of her beloved books have been lost to the war. And yet the munitions girls unite through their sense of duty in the most unlikely of settings....

Thea Slocombe, nee Osborne, is trying to settle into normal, domestic life with Drew and his two children in Broad Campden. But in the course of an attempt to make friends locally, she finds the body of a close neighbour and suddenly feels much less settled and secure. No longer a house-sitter, she has no choice but to stay in the village and deal with whatever happens next. And doing this risks damage to her marriage.

Wiltshire in 1901: Kathleen's family are determined to force her into marriage with a violent man. In desperation she runs away and finds what consolation she can for her lost dreams. Then tragedy strikes, and Kathleen seeks refuge at Honeyfield House, where a charitable bequest has created a hiding place for families in trouble. Nathan fought in the Great War and is now using his gift for finding lost people as a detective. Taking on the job of finding Kathleen, he is shocked to discover a woman he can love, not the vicious female he was led to expect.

The French Revolution is turning in on itself even as the war with the English drags on. As the armies move towards Italy, George Markham and his Marines find themselves assigned to the sloop Sylphide under the impetuous Captain Germain. Set ashore in the midst of the French army, Markham is charged with escorting a group of loyalists on a secret mission and is soon wishing he was back in the thick of it at sea.

The Nazi regime is gaining devastating power as Hitler is appointed Chancellor and stark oppression begins to unfold in Germany, blind war veteran Frederick Rowlands takes on the most challenging investigation of his life. A glamorous film star has been murdered and the menacing political undercurrents drag Rowlands into the heart of the German film industry. Rowlands discovers that he is closer to the action than he originally thought as his young nephew, Billy, was the last one to see the movie star alive.

Manchester, December 1940: this winter, the girls boarding at Star House - Betty, Sally and Lorna - are determined to keep a stiff upper lip. But for Lorna - who is dedicated to caring for the wounded with the Women's Voluntary Service - the past is about to come calling. Lorna is heartbroken when the devastating Christmas Blitz reunites her with her ex-fiancé George. . .As air raids and rescue missions throw George and Lorna together time and again, it becomes clear that nothing about his visit to Manchester is what it seems.

Berry Chambers and her co-workers have joined the Women's Timber Corps - known as the Lumberjills - to do their bit for Britain. On their first day felling trees, they rescue an RAF pilot and become entangled in the loveless marriage of her new landlords. Danger is never far away, be it an ill-timed axe swing or the occasional activity of the Luftwaffe overhead. Add a psychotic farm cat, a couple of young runaway evacuees, a spate of malicious packages, and the jealousy of the Land Girls next door, and life for Berry and her friends is never boring.

After joining the Lovat Scouts at the outbreak of the Second World War, Donald Angus Gillies is sent on a mission to the Alps, where he meets Françoise, a young French Canadian SOE agent. The pair immediately form a close bond, but when Françoise is injured and captured, Donald realises his feelings for her are much stronger. After desperate attempts to find her, he has given up all hope. But a posting to Canada leads to some remarkable news, not just about Françoise but also about his own family.

Thea welcomes her best friend, Violet Steele, to Rookery House. Violet has been in charge of an ambulance station in London's East End during the Blitz, and is in need of a holiday. Will a week in the countryside give her the rest she deserves? VAD nurse Evie Jones receives unwelcome news that stirs up her past and forces her to make an uncomfortable decision. Though she has a surprise when her friend Ned Blythe returns to start a new job in the hospital gardens. Can Evie let go of the past and give her future happiness a chance?

Norfolk, 1939. The residents of Great Plumstead agree to open up their homes to evacuees from London. Pregnant Marianne is determined to make a fresh start for herself. Local lady Thea opens up her beautiful home, Rookery House, to the evacuee mothers. The ladies of Great Plumstead are fighting their own battles on the home front.

Even in wartime, East End girl Nancy Evans has reason to hope. She's a rising star in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, and she'll be walking down the aisle any day now...but then a brutal night of bombing changes her life forever. Newly pregnant and single, Nancy swaps her blue uniform for a pinny, taking on housekeeping duties for handsome village doctor David Denny. And though Nancy tries to stay cheerful and contribute to the war effort in any way she can, it isn't long before she finds herself leaning on David for comfort....

South Africa, May 1879. Ensign Sebastian Early of the 24th Foot is warming to his role as the Provost-Marshal in the British army encampment at Landman’s Drift. When an unidentified corpse turns up in camp after a reported hunting accident and is hurriedly buried, Sebastian quickly discovers that the man, a lieutenant, was in fact killed in an illegal duel, which means that his death should be treated as manslaughter, or even murder.

Rory Connor was a gambling man and he had a gambler's luck. From the day he was born, his mother had known that Rory would be the one to make something of his life. At seven years old he was earning money from odd jobs and by 14 he was in full-time work. By the time he was 19, he had escaped the factory to become a rent-collector. Now, at 23, ambition was in full flow and he was always looking to bigger and better games to play.

1944. With deadly doodlebugs terrorising London, Bessie Rushbrook agrees to give shelter to eight-year-old evacuee Marigold in her home. But, the little girl is no stranger, and Bessie must honour the promise she gave to Marigold's mother and not reveal her connection to the child. Marigold's arrival stirs up Bessie's memories from the past when the world was at war the first time. She is forced to face her actions from those days and question the secret that she's long kept hidden. When Grace is injured in London, Bessie makes the heart-wrenching decision to confess her secret.

When the teenage girl who's been hanging around near the house knocks on the door and tells her she's her granddaughter, Cassie is shocked rigid. There's only one way this can be true: if Evie is the daughter of the baby Cassie gave away for adoption when she was herself a troubled teenager. Is this a trick? Or is Evie's tale true? When she finds out why the girl has come to find her, it brings a tangle of other problems that she can't ignore. This was the last thing she expected to be dealing with as she moves into her new home in a leisure village in Wiltshire.

Thea Osborne hopes to spend a quiet Christmas house sitting for the Shepherds in the picturesque village of Stanton. Walks in the local countryside with the dogs and perhaps a meal in the pub are all the excitement she wants. When her arrival at the village coincides with the funeral of local businessman Douglas Callendar, found electrocuted in his bath, Thea's interest is stirred but the onset of flu looks to prevent any sleuthing.

France, 1963. Taken out of his home town as part of a nationwide “initiative”, Inspector Lucas Rocco finds himself in the village of Poissons-Les-Marais, Picardie – and answerable to his former army CO Francois Massin. On his first day he finds a murdered woman wearing a Gestapo uniform lying in a British military cemetery. When the body is removed from the mortuary before Rocco can finish his investigation, he traces the paperwork to the dead woman’s father, industrialist Philippe Bayer-Berbier.

The houses in Saffron Lane are being filled with artists thanks to the efforts of Nell and Angus. Ginger doesn’t win a place there but gets a job running the small café/art gallery, taking refuge there from her abusive bully of a son. When she meets Iain, sparks fly between them, the first time she’s felt attracted to anyone for years. But will her son spoil it?

Fifth century of the Byzantium Empire. Flavius Belisaurius is son of the governor of Dorostorum City, and his father has two goals: to keep out the barbarians and to expose the deep roots of secular and ecclesiastical corruption. Seeking to prevent a raid, the Governor enlists the help of the powerful magnate, Senuthius Vicinus. Vicinus's corruption is widespread but his support is crucial to win the battle.