Showing results by publisher "W. F. Howes Ltd" in Women's Fiction

June 1944: Since her father's stroke, Jean has been trying to run her parents' farm almost single-handedly and is in desperate need of help. Karl, a German prisoner of war, turns out to be just what she needs. Fraternisation with prisoners is forbidden, but as the weeks pass, Jean and Karl become closer - much to the dismay of Jean's family and Karl's compatriots. Can their love have a future when it seems every hand is against them?

In Glory, Kansas, the bakery not only brings together ingredients for sweet treats but is the place where a wounded hero can forge a forever kind of love. Back in his hometown, Jack McConnell has returned battle scarred, but Betsy sees only the hero who once saved her life and set her heart on fire. Now she's burning to save him in return. However, Jack realizes the only way he'll be worthy of the hero's mantle she's pinned to his shoulders is to save Betsy one last time - from himself.

Baptiste Molino has devoted his life to other people's happiness. Moored on his houseboat, he helps his clients navigate the waters of contentment yet remains careful never to make waves of his own. However, it is Baptiste's new client, the elegant and enigmatic Amandine Rousseau, who is the puzzle he longs to solve. But when his mysterious birth mother's legacy finally reveals itself, he finds himself torn between pursuing his own happiness and safeguarding that of the one he loves.

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....

Maeve Maloney may be nearing 80, but she keeps Sea View Lodge as shipshape as her parents did during Morecambe's heyday. But now only her employees recognise the heartbreak hidden beneath her spikiness. Until, that is, Vincent shows up. He is the only man alive to have known her twin sister, Edie. If only Maeve could confront the secret past she shares with Vincent, she might finally see what it means to love and be loved - a lesson that her twin may have been trying to teach her all along.

When the breakdown of her marriage leaves Sadie Turner a single mum, she vows that she will make it on her own. After all, why would a smart businesswoman with a PhD and the prospect of a life-changing deal on the horizon need a man? But Sadie's man-ban is tested to the limit when she travels to Monaco to meet her potential investor. There she encounters Mac, a rough and ready playboy billionaire who lives life in the fast lane. But Sadie's heart isn't the only thing on the line....

It’s 1927 and Emma has returned to England from Canada with her teenage daughter, Fleur. After the tragedies of the past, Emma is ready to start again in Devon, the place she used to call home. But memories are not the only thing that she has to contend with. Throughout it all Matthew Caunter is rarely far from Emma’s thoughts. Could he be the key to her finally finding happiness?

It’s been over 18 months since Molly Gilchrist has had a man (as her best friend, Caro, is so fond of reminding her), so when she as good as stumbles upon one lying comatose on the moors one bitterly cold morning, it seems like the universe is having a laugh at her expense. But Phinn Baxter (that’s Dr. Phinneas Baxter) is no drunken layabout, as Molly is soon to discover, with a PhD in astrophysics and a tortured past that is a match for Molly’s own disastrous love life.

If life is cheap, how much is love worth? It's 1914, and young Rose Courtenay has a decision to make. Please her wealthy parents by marrying the man of their choice - or play her part in the war effort? After escaping to work in France, she meets Lieutenant Alex Denham, a dark figure from her past. But he's the last man in the world she should get involved with....

For Kate Drake, her family has brought her peace after years of uncertainty. Now, watching her own children grow up, it seems the world is a no less complicated place. But when a secret from the past casts its shadow across four generations of the family, a stubbornly independent woman opens herself to love whilst an older one rediscovers it, and a young boy begins to understand the complexities of adult life.

In her early years, Allie and her bohemian mother, Helena, were always on the move. Now Helena keeps people at arm's length: relationships never last, and old friends have slipped away. But when Allie inherits Helena's childhood home, she begins to see snatches of the tormented past her mother has been running from.... Determined to find out what keeps driving her mother away from people, Allie follows a lead to the beautiful island of Ischia.

When Becky steps into Jonathon Nelson’s photography studio, she is simply a journalist looking for a story. But when she puts on the beautiful Victorian dress and poses, she encounters flashbacks from a life that isn’t her own. As she and Jon begin to unravel the mystery, the attraction they have for each other continues to grow and leads them to question: Have they met not just in this life but in another?

Spontaneity may be in her blood, but walking down the aisle to wed a stranger is the riskiest thing Sara Darling’s ever done. But to adopt her infant niece, she’ll first need to say an "I do" of convenience to war-traumatised soldier Jake Martin. She thought she could resist his rugged charm, but before long Sara needs their ready-made family as much as he does....

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.

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.

They whisper her name in the ballroom’s shadows – the Marquis’s mistress! It will take all of Alice Sweetly’s acting skills to play this part: smile until it no longer hurts, until they believe your lies, until you believe. If the Marquis of Razeby thinks he can let his mistress go easily, he is so very wrong. Each night she appears before a rapturous Covent Garden audience, taunting him with her beauty.

Carrie Fraser cannot believe her luck when she is invited to work at Oakenbury Hall, a beautiful manor house in the English countryside. Nor can she quite get over the owner of Oakenbury – the gorgeous Morgan Harrington. The more time Carrie spends with him, the further she begins to fall. But the likes of Carrie Fraser could never be enough for a high-flying businessman like Morgan… could she?

Eva was once a legendary fashion designer. Now widowed, she lives with her family in Salix House. Megan is a journalist working in London who interviewed Eva for a magazine. Torn apart by the brutal end of a love affair, Megan is drawn back to Salix House and Eva. Both are hiding something, but perhaps together they can confront their fears and discover the truth of Salix House's secrets.

In the first flush of love, Jonty promised to buy Lydie a ruby necklace when his art career took off. But the ruby never materialised and Lydie is left heartbroken when the relationship ends. Nearly 30 years later, Lydie still thinks of Jonty, stuck in a marriage to a man she never loved. And then he comes back into the picture, changing her life beyond anything she could have imagined.

Jessica Grant liaises with Otherworlders for York Council so she knows that falling in love with a vampire takes a leap of faith. But her lover Sil wouldn't run out on her, he wouldn't let his demon get the better of him. Or would he? With her loyalties already questioned for defending zombies, the Otherworlders no one cares about, Jess must choose which side she's on. Whatever she decides, there's a high price to pay.