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

When Maggie Taylor, a cake decorator, and Chad Robertson, a lawyer from Nashville, Tennessee, meet at a wedding in Cornwall, it's not under the best circumstances. They have both been assigned to 'the reject table' alongside a toxic collection of grumpy great-aunts and bitter divorcees. Maggie has grown used to being the reject, but when Chad helps her out of a wedding cake disaster, she begins to wonder whether the future could hold more for her....

After a devastating car accident, Carole escapes from an oppressive marriage in England to begin again in rural France. Yet she is haunted by the knowledge that Paul, her husband, has tracked her down before...and will do his best to do it again. Afraid to share her fears with her new neighbours, Carole nonetheless finds herself drawn to a local farmer, who helps her to create a new and independent life. But then she learns that Paul is on her trail and closing in fast....

The closing down of the steelworks meant the end of being in work - but John and his pal don't intend it to be the end. "Keep hens! That's the answer."

An unusual love story set in the Middle Ages, Gato is the story of a young child brought up in a mill. The quiet hardworking lives of the people at the mill are disturbed by the arrival of a wandering Spanish friar. What is going on between the miller and his wife, and the friar? The child at the centre of the story tries to understand.The only creatures the child is close to are the mill cats. After the friar's stay, there is always one called Gato, Spanish for "cat".

"You have to bide your time when you live a life of crime. That's what we discovered when we founded The Cherry Sundae Company. It seemed to us there was only so much money in the world, and some people had too much. Others hadn't enough. You could say we were vigilantes."

When an ageing rock band visit an old country house in an attempt to inspire some new material, they awaken more than their creativity in the woods surrounding the mansion. Whilst the band might not seem keen to rekindle their former rock-and-roll lifestyles, their agent, Troy, is insistent that fame is within their grasp. But is the price of success too high?

Rob and Karen are enjoying a relaxing and idyllic holiday by the beach of Sicily, taking in the local culture and beautiful scenery. When offered a daytrip to visit the Cathedral - an impressive cave system accessible only by sea - they happily accept. However, in the depths of the caverns, they see far more than stalactites and mineral formations. For in this cave lurks a beast that legends are made of....

Gordon Grimwood, a suspected murderer, leads a bunch of cops into a network of derelict air-raid shelters to find a missing child – where a hideous evil awaits them!

The story of the Cumbrian witches in the small village of Bleaberry Beck is told in hushed tones and a quiet reverence that speaks of superstition and fear. Richard Henderson, Medieval Studies student at Oxford University, couldn’t be less intrigued. Picking up a ‘poppet’ from the village shop, he happily set off home with this birthday present for his little sister. But the faceless wooden doll holds the secret to a chilling curse.

Ralph Drayton, a disgruntled writer in search of Green Man legends in the countryside, comes across the site of a car crash on the isolated Old North Road. The young couple in the car seem unhurt, but strangely, they resist his offers to help them to the nearby village. His chance encounter soon becomes more than he bargained for.

Travelling from the UK to Nashville, Tennessee, for a week of honky-tonks, karaoke and cowboys, is definitely not Claire Buchan's idea of a good time. But she can't avoid her sister's hen party. Then she meets Rafe Castello, a handsome, roguish cowboy, who seems to have far more to him than meets the eye. Can Claire keep the holiday mantra of 'what happens in Nashville, stays in Nashville' or are some things are too difficult to leave behind?

Hannah French has always wanted more from life than her sleepy village in Devon can offer. And there are two men who are willing to give her that escape: William and Ralph Lawlor. They are brothers but their bloodline is all that they have in common. When events in Hannah’s life take a devastating turn, will somebody come to her rescue or will she have to accept that hope is all she has left?

When Dillon's dad turns up unannounced to take him and his brother on a trip, Dillon isn't sure what to do - Mum's at work and they haven't seen Dad in months. Dillon's little brother Robbie is ecstatic to see his father and desperate to go. But why won't Dad let them use their phones? And why are their faces plastered all over the news? What exactly does Dad want with them?

When his teacher sets the class a History project, Sam cannot choose which bit of History he prefers, so decides to do all of it. His version of History is a rumbustious collection of half remembered facts, assembled roughly in the right order, and glued together with alarmingly confident misunderstanding. Sam takes us from Ancient Egypt right up to Last Week with the flair of a bright eyed nine year old.

Touchy Subjects is about things that make people wince: taboos, controversies, secrets, and lies. Some of the events that characters crash into are grand, tragic ones: miscarriage, overdose, missing persons. Other topics, like religion and money, are not inherently taboo, but they can cause acute discomfort because people disagree so vehemently. These stories are about the spectrum of feeling that runs from awkwardness through embarrassment to shame.

Chased by a hit-man, a young man returns home from London to a small town in Wales. Reconciliation with his family is alternated with his pursuer's progress. A long criminal connection is revealed, but can he escape the sins of his fathers? This is a tense, tightly written drama that will captivate the listener with fast, gut-wrenching action.

Wish I was Here features tales of passion and jealousy, lust and romance from the award-winning author of Red Dust Road. This fierce, funny, and compassionate collection explores every facet of that most overwhelming and complicated of human emotions: love. With winning directness, Jackie Kay captures her characters' greatest joys and greatest vulnerabilities, exposing the moments of tenderness, of shock, of bravery, and of stupidity that accompany the search for love, the discovery of love and, most of all, love's loss.

Gavin is an excellent writer; he can conjure up believable characters, evoke a credible setting and wrap the reader up in his language, but he can never seem to come up with a credible plot. On meeting Natasha at a creative writing group he thinks he has met his soulmate. Not only is she attractive, her plots are amazing. Combining their skills seems like the obvious route, and their stories become internet sensations. But when tragedy strikes, will the stories survive?

Amelia Ravenscroft is desperate to escape her aunt’s home, where she endures a life of drudgery whilst fighting off her lecherous cousin. When she overhears Viscount Demarr confiding in a friend that he needs to marry "at once", she boldly proposes a marriage of convenience. Amelia soon proves herself a perfect fit for the role of Lady Demarr. But their blossoming relationship is blighted by suspicions regarding Amelia’s past. Will they find, all too painfully, that if you marry in haste you repent at leisure?

In Zombies, the absurdity of both life and death are on full display as the best and brightest of a high school prep school become tragically addicted to the latest drug craze - electric shocks from cardiac defibrillators. Funny, caustic, bizarre, poignant - this story represents everything listeners have come to love and expect from Chuck Palahniuk.