Showing results by publisher "Quercus" in Romance

The war is drawing to a close, but the munitions girls are still hard at work in the factory. Gladys, who's been promoted to overseer, has been feeling lonely lately. Her daughter has moved away, and a lot of her friends have left Gosport, too. Then an act of kindness towards Goldie, a homeless teenager, provides Gladys with a new friend and lodger.

It's1944, after D-day. Doodlebugs are the latest threat to war-battered Southern England. Local crook Samuel Golden is still finding ways to exploit people's hardship for his own gain. Heroine Em, whom we first met in The Munitions Girls, finds herself caught up in one such scheme while having to deal with her daughter's unexpected pregnancy.

For Lara and her daughter Eliza, it has always been just the two of them. But when Eliza turns 18 and wants to connect with her father, Lara is forced to admit a secret that she has been keeping from her daughter her whole life. Eliza needs answers - and so does Lara. Their journey to the truth will take them on a road trip across England and eventually to New York, where it all began. Dreams might have been broken and opportunities missed... but there are still surprises in store.

Jess Bright, single mum and journalist, feels her life has stalled. So when she's offered a writing job in Paris for the summer, she leaps at the chance to go. Hasn't she always felt that she left a piece of her heart in the city years before? Her subject is the iconic artist Adelaide Fox, whose personal life has been steeped in scandal and intrigue. Now approaching eighty, she's ready to tell her side of the story - and serve up some scalding-hot revenge in the process.

Perfect for fans of Milly Johnson, Paige Toon and Lucy Diamond. Percy James has everything a girl could want: a comfy flat, a steady relationship and a truly lovely group of friends. Then she is approached by Eros Tech. Eros is 'the future of love' - an agency that brings together soul mates using phone data. Percy has been identified as a match for one of Eros' superwealthy clients. The only problem is she already has a boyfriend...but what if this is destiny?

1943, Hampshire. Pixie Saunders is 19 and employed in the local armaments factory. Not for the first time, her mother has run off with a dodgy-looking bloke, leaving Pixie to pay the rent and fend for herself. Pixie, along with her best friend, Rita; Em, the factory overseer; and the rest of the girls are making the most of the war while trying to stay alive. The work is dangerous and the hours long, but in the evenings they take off their overalls and go to the pub or, better still, go dancing.

When Tess Angel receives a solicitor's letter inviting her to claim her inheritance - the Villa Sirena, perched on a clifftop in Sicily - she is stunned. Her only link to the island is through her mother, Flavia, who left Sicily during World War II and cut all contact with her family. Initially resistant to Tess going back to her roots, Flavia realises the secrets from her past are about to be revealed and decides to try to explain her actions.

Former childhood star and die-hard romantic Millie is bound for Key West from Washington DC, determined to fulfil a promise to her elderly best friend, Mrs Nash, by reuniting her ashes with her long-lost love. And if this grand gesture also happens to reassure a recently heartbroken Millie that believing in love isn't foolish, all for the better. When flights are grounded, Millie is forced to catch a ride with Hollis, an also-stranded near-stranger from her ex's grad school.

Patricia Wilson's carefully composed ads for the writers' retreat she runs at her 13th-century Italian castle promise so much. But while the splendour of their surroundings and chef Aldo's melanzane never fail to wow the guests, huge maintenance bills and bad news from the bank threaten to close Patricia down. It's make or break time for the Castello.

With her marriage in danger of falling apart, Joanna returns home to the beautiful but dilapidated Mulberry Farm Cottage in Dorset, where her sister Harriet is struggling to keep the farm afloat and cope with their eccentric mother. When Joanna discovers a bundle of love letters in the attic, written by a watercolourist named Emmy, she is intrigued and sets out to discover Emmy's true story. Emmy's letters take Joanna to the picturesque alleyways and bridges of Lisbon, Prague, and the most romantic place of all: Venice - where a whole new magical world seems to unfold in front of her.

Daphne believes the universe has a plan for her. Every time she meets a new man, she receives a slip of paper with his name and a number on it - the exact amount of time they will be together. The papers told her she'd spend three days with Martin in Paris; five weeks with Noah in San Francisco; and three months with Hugo, her ex-boyfriend turned best friend. Daphne has been receiving the numbered papers for over twenty years, always wondering when there might be one without an expiration. Finally, the night of a blind date at her favourite Los Angeles restaurant, there's only a name: Jake.

Their story begins with a goodbye. Polly and Frank are young and in love, a lifetime together before them. But one evening in 1981, as the Texas sun sets over their shoulders, the world is suddenly pulled apart by a deadly virus. Within months, Frank is dying. Polly can save him, but only if she agrees to a radical plan: to time travel to 1993 for a corporation who can fund his life-saving treatment. She can only go forward, she cannot go back.

Vee Smith is 22 when she starts work on Gosport's ferries, taking a job left vacant by the men gone off to war. She soon makes friends with the other women workers, and together they enjoy nights out dancing in Gosport. Vee even feels herself falling for Sam, the skipper of the ferry and her unhappily married boss. But Vee has a secret: her real name is Violetta Schmidt, and she is half German. If her true nationality is discovered, she and her mother could find themselves interned as enemy aliens.

Issy is the perfect combination of gay and depressed. Living in Margate with her mum and pet chinchilla, she has always drawn inside the lines. Crafting is her biggest comfort - the way she quiets her thoughts. So when an artist comes calling with Issy's dream internship, she knows it is time to start living her life at last. Moving to Hackney, Issy has a lot of firsts to catch up on - falling for housemates, navigating sex and dating, and avoiding the neighbour who seems to hate you for no good reason.

When Phoebe and Oliver had their happy ending, they thought the hard part was over. And now, with a five-year-old daughter, they are far from the blissful hedonistic lifestyle of when they first started dating. Not one for giving up, Phoebe creates a sexy wish list: a jar where they can ask the other for anything they've ever wanted in bed - or out of it. But with distractions aplenty, will they be able to relight the fire in the bedroom?

First year of residency is hell, and Grace Rose, a brilliant new OB-GYN resident, starts off in the deepest circle. Her social anxiety is on high alert after she discovers she's battling a rumour that she slept her way into the program. Um. False. Grace sets the record straight by putting on her devil-red lipstick and putting her rude - and frustratingly handsome - co-resident, Julian Santini, in his place. But rumours take on a life of their own, and no amount of studiousness, or support from her co-residents, can course-correct her reputation.

Elsie Barker is desperate for a new start after her husband leaves her. When her friend Izzy, herself planning an escape from her abusive boyfriend, tells her about the jobs going for women as narrowboat crew on the canals between London and Coventry, she jumps at the chance. Their new boss, Dorothy, is kind and fair, but it's clear she has a secret of her own. Their crew is completed by Tolly, searching for a new vocation now that her dream job has been snatched away. The work is hard, but the girls forge close friendships that will see them through the darkest times.

A warm and heartfelt WW2 saga of hope, love and female friendship, and how women pull together through good times and bad. Perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Nadine Dorries. In 1940s Hampshire the war is settling into its stride, bringing dark days for many. Eighteen-year-old Connie Baxter works as an usherette at the Criterion Picture House in Gosport. Here she meets Vera, a cleaner at the cinema, and her niece, Babs, who sells ice creams and dreams of being in the spotlight.

What do you do if you’ve been married to a man for half your life and out of nowhere he leaves your bed – permanently? When this happens to Jeanie, she’s furious and determined to confront George, her husband of thirty years. Is he in love with someone else? What did she do wrong? He won’t tell her. The brightest day of her week is Thursday; the day Jeanie takes her granddaughter to the park.

Annie Radford desperately needs a job but the only one going is videographer for the basketball team at her Alma Mater. The same job she fled from years ago... Returning to Ardwyn University was hard enough, but on her first day back she learns that the team is facing budget cuts and her new job is already on the line. After a run-in with the annoyingly wholesome and seriously hot Ben, her old friend and now arch nemesis, things are going from bad to worse.