Showing results by publisher "HarperCollins" in Historical

For most of her life, Judy Begg has been a loyal servant at Creek Manor and to Jack Fox, its future lord. But just as their childhood friendship blossoms into a secret engagement he abandons her to join his brother overseas. And with Creek Manor up for sale, Judy and her family lose everything. Devastated, Judy is nonetheless determined to make the best of her life. Resolving to forget about Jack, she battles to keep her family from poverty’s door and her mother from the hands of her violent husband.

Heiress Ariana Theodosis wanted everything that Hollywood had to offer, took it all, and is now paying the price. When she inherits a hotel on the beautiful French Riviera, she hopes it’s a chance to start again. Elizabeth and Robert Chappell were Hollywood’s fiery English golden couple. Their legendary breakups and passionate make-ups were tabloid gold, but now they are headed for divorce. Will they say their last goodbyes by the sparkling waters of the Mediterranean?

Ella has never known love. Left as a baby outside the workhouse, Ella has only ever been treated with unkindness; especially from the hateful guardians of the workhouse, who hold the fate of the inmates in their cruel hands. When she is sold as a scullery maid to a new home, Ella hopes for a better life. But her hopes are dashed as she struggles to do all the work heaped on her thin shoulders by her brutish master. Daring to escape her harsh treatment, it isn’t long before she is caught and once again finds herself at the mercy of an uncaring world.

Keen to put the spark back into her life, Annie Lovell volunteers to investigate her neighbour’s inherited apartment in Paris. There she discovers a bundle of secret diaries hidden within its walls. Captivated by the City of Light, Annie must piece together the events from the past if she is to fulfil the legacy that Beatrice left for her to find....

In London, journalist Jo Clifford plans to debunk the belief in past lives in a hard-hitting magazine piece. But her scepticism is shaken when a hypnotist forces her to relive the experiences of Matilda, Lady of Hay, a noblewoman during the reign of King John. She learns of Matilda's unhappy marriage, her love for the handsome Richard de Clare and the brutal death threats handed out by King John, before it becomes clear that Jo’s past and present are inevitably entwined.

Christmas is coming to the village of Rockwood. But the happiest time of the year is marred by the news that Rosalind Blanchard’s husband, Piers, is close to death after a shipwreck at sea. The fate of her beloved family home, the crumbling Rockwood Castle, is once more in her hands. She must find the strength to keep her family together.

It’s spring in Little Creek, and wedding bells are ringing. After their hasty marriage the Christmas before, Daisy Marshall is overjoyed to be finally marrying dashing Jay Fox properly, in front of the whole village. But then, on the evening of their wedding, amid the festivities, Jay disappears. Daisy doesn’t know if Jay is dead or alive, if she’s his wife or his widow. And what’s more, without her husband, she has no means of supporting herself or her household.

Holding the letter in trembling hands, Daisy’s future crumbled before her – the words engraved on her heart forever. The village of Little Creek, the long winter of 1867. The first flakes of snow are falling when Daisy Marshall, secretly engaged to her master's son, finds herself jilted at the altar. Heartbroken, Daisy flees to the small village of Little Creek, nestled on the coast of Essex. There she is warmly welcomed – but the village is poverty-stricken, suffering under a cruel lord of the manor. And when cholera hits, the villagers are truly in dire straits.

East Prussia, 1943. Hitler hides away in the Wolfsshanze - his hidden headquarters. The tide is turning in the war, and his enemies circle ever closer. Ten women are chosen. Ten women to taste his food and protect him from poison. Twenty-six-year-old Rosa has lost everything to this war. Her parents are dead. Her husband is fighting on the front line. Alone and scared, she faces the SS with nothing but the knowledge every bite might be her last. Caught on the wrong side of history, how far is Rosa willing to go to survive?

Bishop has been a vampire for 700 years and though he wishes nothing more than to live his life in peace, getting humans to believe that vampires are not monsters is a difficult task, and vampire hunters like The Reaper make it even more difficult. Believing that a vampire killed her mother, Irina leads a band of vigilantes, determined to rid the world of these monsters. What no one knows is that Irina herself is half vampire. Determined to deny that side of her, Irina captures Bishop.

Victorian London is a place of wealth, privilege and poverty, a city of extremes. For James Falconer, who grew up as a barrow boy on a London market, it is a city of opportunity. Working his way up Henry Malvern’s trading company in Piccadilly, James faces fraud and betrayal. A fierce rivalry develops with Henry’s daughter and heir, Alexis – but their animosity masks a powerful attraction. Embarking on a love affair with the daughter of Russian émigrés, James’s life begins to transform.

Spring 1944. As the Allied forces push on towards longed-for victory, Lily Collins yearns to join up and do her bit. But where does her duty lie? Her best friend, Gladys, faces having her first baby alone, with her new husband back with the navy. And their friend, Beryl, is run off her feet building her bridal-hire business amid the bomb damage. So while wedding bells are ringing for others at Marlows Department Store, where Lily works, will they be heard for Lily herself - or does fate have another twist in store?

After the sudden death of her husband, Patricia Greystone is left with nothing, and at 24, she finds herself a penniless widow. As the youngest child of a large family, she has always been headstrong and proud, so she’s determined not to return to her family cap in hand. Instead she strikes out on her own. The dark streets of London are the perfect place to hide from the world, and Patricia makes her living singing on the streets. But the city is a dangerous place.

Recently widowed from her marriage of convenience, Eliza, now Countess of Somerset, is bequeathed a fortune, hers to keep as long as she can steer clear of scandal. It should be simple – Eliza has spent a lifetime following the rules – but now that she is rich, titled and independent, misbehaviour is much more tempting…

Left on the steps of an orphanage when she was just days old, Nancy Sunday was brought up in hardship—until the kindly Rosalind Carey took her in. Now 18 years old, Nancy is an adopted member of the Carey family. But she can’t help wondering who her parents really were. When Nancy is sent away to finishing school, she finds herself in the midst of London society. There she meets Freddie Ashton—kind and warm-hearted, he might just be the man of Nancy’s dreams. But she knows his wealthy parents would never let him marry a penniless foundling.

Summer 1945. After victory in Europe, best friends Lily, Gladys and Beryl are looking to the future. But even with this happy news, their lives are far from simple. Despite Lily’s joyful summer wedding, she has doubts over what her heart wants now. As she adjusts to her role as young wife, could this signal the end of her position at Marlows? The return of Gladys’s husband, Bill, raises questions of their family life, as he struggles to find work after the navy, and for Beryl, big changes at her bridal shop are afoot.

The Quality Street Factory is fizzing with the news that the King and Queen and the two young princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret Rose, are going to visit the Mackintosh Factory where the country’s favourite wrapped chocolate is made. The factory floor is heady with excitement but plans are dealt a blow when a much loved staff member is the victim of a poisoning incident. Everyone is under suspicion, which only adds to Reenie Calder’s woes, anxious that her new promotion has only made her stick out even more like a sore thumb.

Centuries ago, this magnificent chalice sealed my fate as a vampire, and now I am its protector. Many have hunted me for it, but only Vivian has accomplished the task. Strong, lovely, haunted... I am more attracted to her than I should be, yet her loyalty lies with a man determined to bring about my destruction. But I am not so easily locked in a cage, and now the captive has become the captor.

April McVey hasn’t a romantic bone in her body. So how has she found herself at the door of Mrs Hart’s Marriage Bureau, job application in hand? Matchmaker Martha hopes the lively Irish girl will breathe fresh air into a business struggling to keep with the times amid the tumult of 1930s Britain. So when lonely widower Fabian arrives at the bureau, the pair’s matchmaking skills – and professionalism – meet their first true test.

When Julian meets Josephine, it's love at first sight. After a whirlwind courtship, he proposes and she accepts. Everything is wonderful - on the surface. Josephine is a girl with secrets.... Days before the wedding they have a huge argument, and before Julian can make things right, everything goes terribly, tragically wrong. Unable to let Josephine go, Julian digs into her past and discovers so much more than he ever bargained for.