Showing results by publisher "Orion" in Historical

When Caroline Williams wakes up in a hospital bed in Paris with no memory of her past, she finds that returning to the life she has forgotten is harder than she thought. Especially as her feet seem to know where to go and her cavernous apartment seems devoid of any memories...Taking her mind off her foggy past is the discovery of a stack of World War Two love letters written by a young mother named Celine to her beloved, Luc, found in a box in the spare room.

Paris, 1750. In the midst of winter, as birds fall frozen from the sky, a new maid arrives at the home of a celebrated clockmaker and his clever, unworldly daughter. But rumours are stirring that Reinhart's uncanny mechanical creations - bejewelled birds, silver spiders - are more than mere automata. That they might defy the laws of nature, perhaps even at the expense of the living. But Madeleine is hiding a dark past, and a dangerous purpose - to discover the truth of the clockmaker's experiments and record his every move, in exchange for her own chance of freedom.

Marina and Hugh were once madly in love. But after the loss of their beautiful little daughter, grief has created a distance between them that feels impossible to bridge. Marina knows leaving Italy is the only way they will be able to move on, but Thorncliffe Hall, Hugh's family home in England, is so grey and unwelcoming.

Frank Melrose is on the cusp of taking his father's printing business global - the last thing he needs is the distraction of any woman, let alone the dazzling Taya Winters. He's under pressure from the newspaper to unmask the mysterious highwayman causing havoc in Belmore Square, but his infuriating clashes with Taya keep slowing him down. What's more, he's sure that the highwayman is right under their noses - and that exposing their identity will end not only his story, but ruin his family, too.

September 1940. As the skies split apart and bombs rain down on London, it's all the staff at the famed Buckingham Hotel can do to keep their guests in the luxury they're accustomed to, and evoke the magic of the Grand ballroom for them each night. Home on leave and still reeling from the tragic events at Dunkirk, the dashing Raymond de Guise struggles to define his role in this new world, and to do his duty both to his country, and his beloved wife Nancy- who needs him now more than ever.

Italy, 1935. Alessandra Durante is grieving the loss of her husband when she discovers she has inherited her ancestral family home, Villa Durante, deep in the Tuscan Hills. The terms of the will are that she must live in the Villa Durante for at least 12 months, so, longing for a new start, she moves to Italy and sets about rebuilding her life. But the shadow of war hangs heavy over the Tuscan hills, and life will never be the same again.

Mia Ferris' heart has always belonged in Spain. Every childhood summer was spent at her grandfather's hacienda, riding together amongst the olive trees or listening to his stories of the past. So when she learns that he has fallen from his horse, she knows that she belongs by his bedside - even if it means leaving behind her life in London, and her new fiancé. But as Leonardo fights for his life, and Mia to save the family home from financial ruin, secrets begin to emerge that tell a different story of the past.

1952. In the fragile atmosphere of post-war Paris, Sophie Bernot is training as a heart surgeon. A young woman in a man's world, Sophie is determined to bury her past and forge her medical career, whatever the costs. Across the channel, Sebastian Ogilvie is burning with ambition for his first architectural project. As his schemes lead him to France, and to a chance encounter with Sophie, his future seems full of promise.

1918. Fleeing from her past, Cathy Carmichael is new to the Sixteen Streets. She has nothing to her name, no plan and nowhere to go. Cathy thinks she's struck gold when she runs into Mrs Sturrocks, an elderly lady who offers her a room at her boarding house. Her son, Noel, might be strange and sulky, but he gives her a job at the Robin Hood pub and before long, Cathy is thriving as the new barmaid. The Sixteen Streets was only meant to be a temporary stop for Cathy...but could it become home instead?

Like half of all the young women living in the Scottish town Clydebankin early 1911, Ellen works at the sewing machine factory. So does her big sister, Bridget, Bridget's fiancé Malcolm, and her new friend Sadie, who has come to work at the factory after the death of her father. For Sadie, the factory is a way to make ends meet, but Ellen has sewing in her veins. She is even making Bridget's wedding dress on her beloved sewing machine. But after the excitement of the wedding dies down, everything changes.

The war is far from over for soldier Raymond de Guise. His wife, Nancy, is overjoyed to be reunited with her husband, and to introduce him to their son. But their safety is threatened once more as Raymond returns to the ballroom at the Buckingham Hotel, ordered to discover the dark secrets held by the glittering high society

Bea Bell has lived in Grenada her whole life... until she meets handsome surveyor Patrick Anderson. The two are quickly swept up in a whirlwind romance that takes them across the crumbling Empire. But not everyone is as accepting of their interracial marriage. And soon they are faced with an impossible decision, one that threatens to tear them apart...

England, 1940s. Minnie has spent most of her life feeling like a plain Jane, watching things happen around her, waiting for something - just something - to once happen to her. When her old best friend, the beautiful and callous Junie, unexpectedly returns to Sixteen Streets, Minnie's not quite sure how to feel. Once inseparable, the two now find themselves at odds. And when Junie strikes up a romance with Minnie's brother Derek, Minnie can't help but feel lonelier than ever.

Keen to rehearse, the company heads to the Seagate Theatre under the tutelage of the company's owner, Ed Forsyth. This is Ed's last hoorah before retiring and he's keen to leave on a high. But his son, Cal, has absconded, leaving his twin sister, Evie, to help manage the company after their mother's death. Hoping to display her best trapeze performance ever, she's also desperate that the entire troupe should succeed. If only her father hadn't brought in another old-timer...

Her wedding day should have been the happiest day of Mavis Kendricks's life. Marrying handsome Sam, the youngest of the Farley boys, means joining the Farley clan, and there's nothing Mavis has ever wanted more than a family of her own. But the appearance of an unexpected guest ruins everything...and brings back painful memories Mavis would rather forget.

Mirepoix, France. Summer 1981. In a small village in southern France, a wilful English girl is falling in love. Frances Langley has fallen under Benoit's romantic spell, and their summer of love finds Frances willing to do almost anything for the handsome art collector, even hiding a precious Klinkosch box for him, stolen by the Nazis decades before. England. Summer 2022. Years later, Frances' son, Harry, finds himself packing up the clutter and chaos of his late mother's home.

Will they find the courage to follow their dreams? St. Ives, 1916. Jess Morgan always hoped to become a celebrated silversmith, but when the men return from war, she's forced to return to her job as a seamstress. All she can cling to is the memory of that delicate, unique silver clasp she created for a society bride. Rachel Bellamy served as an ambulance driver on the front line during the Great War, but now it's up to her to save the family home and picturesque harbour from her wealthy brother-in-law, before it's too late.

Beryl was the first bride of the Farley clan, finding a home in the welcoming arms of eldest son Tony. His charming voice and kind eyes and the way he truly listened made Beryl feel valued in a world in which she had always been rejected. Yet even now, wrapped in Tony's embrace, Beryl has never quite been able to forget the past she decided to run from, nor the devastating secret about her family's past she tried to bury. With Tony away fighting the Jerries alongside his brothers, it's up to Beryl and her sisters-in-law to keep the family afloat.

Estelle is the headstrong daughter of Fleur, a Resistance legend who disappeared during the Great War, supposedly killed while helping Allied soldiers to escape. Christa, an only child, longs to break free from the constraints of London suburbia, and fantasises about the ethereal Belgian heroine who saved her father. When Estelle comes looking for the truth about the mother she believes deserted her, an intense friendship grows between the two young women. Estelle invites Christa to De Eikenhoeve, her family's idyllic country estate.

In a sleepy English village in 1944, Annabel and her son, Daniel, live in the shadow of war. With her husband away, Annabel withdraws ever deeper into long-ago memories of happier times. When mother and son befriend Hans, a German PoW consigned to a nearby farm, their lives are suddenly filled with thrilling secrets. But Hans has plans of his own and will soon set them into motion, with chilling consequences.