Sue Wilsher, author of When My Ship Comes In, makes an emotional return to 1950s Essex Tilbury, 1950s. The Empire is a boarding house run by Vi, Doris's mother - the Empire Girls of the title. When Doris becomes pregnant out of marriage, she is kicked out of the house and forced to fend for herself. Desperate to look after her daughter, she takes any job going. She falls in with the Windrush immigrants and finds herself helping one to a new life in Britain.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS' CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 'What a ride!' India Knight, Sunday Times Summer reads 'Thrilling... a sumptuous feast of plotting and intrigue' Mail on Sunday 'A complete joy' Bettany Hughes 'Gloriously immersive' Guardian ------------------------------------------------- Frances Howard has beauty and a powerful family - and is the most unhappy creature in the world. Anne Turner has wit and talent - but no stage on which to display them. Little stands between her and the abyss of destitution. When these two very different women meet in strange circumstances, a powerful friendship is sparked. Frankie sweeps Anne into a world of splendour that exceeds all she imagined: a Court whose foreign king is a stranger to his own subjects; where ancient families fight for power, and where the sovereign's favourite may rise and rise - so long as he remains in favour. Anne and Frankie dare to seek a little happiness for themselves in this extravagant, savage hunting ground. But as they gain notice, they also gain enemies; what began as a search for love and safety leads to desperate acts that could cost them everything. Based on the true scandal that rocked the court of James I, A Net for Small Fishes is the most gripping novel you'll read this year: an exhilarating dive into the pitch-dark waters of the Jacobean court.

About Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights: "It is as if [Bronte] could tear up all that we know human beings by, and fill these unrecognisable transparencies with such a gust of life that they transcend reality. Hers, then, is the rarest of all powers. She could free life from its dependence on facts; with a few touches indicate the spirit of a face so that it needs no body; by speaking of the moor make the wind blow and the thunder roar." -Virginia Woolf

Pop star Elia Pearl is a respected singer and songwriter with four songs on the Billboard Top Ten. With sold-out concerts everywhere and millions in the bank, Elia should be on top of the world. Unfortunately, all she can think about is her loneliness. But all of that is about to change when Elia is invited to return to a house she has spent the last twenty years of her life running away from. Elia arrives at the House of Pearl, a Victorian home built on the Sausalito, California, waterfront. She hopes to write some new music or at least take a break from her busy career-and soon encounters a dashing yacht captain named Paul Hamilton. As she comes to terms with a family history haunted by ghosts and betrayals, she and Paul begin a passionate affair, fueled by both the devilish spirits that roam the house and Elia's desperate need for love. The tragic tale of the house slowly unfolds, and Elia recounts a story of love and unfaithfulness to Paul that only fuels the spirits' plans to threaten her newfound happiness. In this romantic paranormal thriller, two lovers must survive a ghostly onslaught or else find themselves doomed to become part of the tragic history that lurks in the shadows of The House of Pearl.

Author John Barber brings adventure to every bookshelf as he releases through Xlibris the first installment of the Mole Trilogy. Readers are taken to the most dangerous zones of Vietnam as they follow one man's exploits in First Mole. Captain John Baker aka The Mole has put himself in danger. After deploying himself to operate alone as a forward observer, he has been the target of all the local Vietcong units. The attention to detail of all his movements is very critical to his continued existence. A young man in his twenties, Baker has with him a good record of commendable achievements while in the military. He has exterminated a good number of Vietcong units with his artillery and kept almost all of his allied units from running into ambushes during the last six months. He got his nickname not by the many impressive feats he has but by his habit of digging a six-foot-long foxhole shelter to sleep in every night, and of course, his cunning and alertness even in the dark. Now, all by himself in his chosen special mission, Capt. Baker believes what he is risking his life for will atone his shame and guilt from a "friendly fire" incident that resulted in the deaths of two of his soldiers. Amid threats, traps, and espionage, he takes on the challenge only to discover that what appears to be a highly complicated task is just in fact the beginning of a more tumultuous ride. Propelled with humor, action, and romance, First Mole will leave readers entertained from the first to the very last page. For more information on this book, interested parties can log on to www.Xlibris.com.

It is 1941 in Lidice, Czechoslovakia, and sixteen-year-old Katarina is overflowing with excitement for the day ahead. As she opens the birthday gift her father has left for her, Katarina gasps in wonderment as she gazes at the tiny, carved heart intertwined in a vine of roses. Despite the threat of Nazi occupation that constantly hangs over her Czech village, Katarina is looking forward to her birthday party with great anticipation. But when her dream of a grand day is squashed, all Katarina wants to do is escape.

Seventeen-year-old Josef is a young scholar who knows that tradition dictates that marriage be arranged for him. As a member of one of the few Jewish families living in Lidice, Josef just wants to survive in an intolerant world of hate and prejudice. But when he sees the beautiful Katarina reading in a corner of the town square by herself every day, he cannot resist her magnetic pull. He finally approaches her, and the teenagers soon realize they are meant to be together, despite the danger lurks in the shadows.

The Death of a Rose is the unforgettable historical tale of two young people who risk everything for love during the Nazi occupation of their tiny village.

A STORY OF ENDURING LOVE SET IN THE MURKY HISTORICAL SETTING IN THE ERA BETWEEN ROME'S COLLAPSE AND THE ESTABLISHEMENT OF IMPERIAL MONARCHIES AND THE PROBLEMS CREATED BY THEM

Once upon a time in Texas . . . Beauty has been nothing but a curse to Penelope Snow. When she becomes a personal maid for a famous actress whose troupe is leaving Chicago to tour the West, she hides her figure beneath shapeless dresses and keeps her head down. But she still manages to attract the wrong attention, leaving her prospects in tatters--and her jealous mistress plotting her demise. After his brother lost his life over a woman, Texas Ranger Titus Kingsley has learned to expect the worst from women and is rarely disappointed. So when a young lady found in suspicious circumstances takes up residence with the seven old drovers living at his grandfather's ranch, Titus is determined to keep a close eye on her. With a promotion hanging in the balance, Titus is assigned to investigate a robbery case tied to Penelope's acting troupe, and all evidence points to Penelope's guilt. But Titus might just be convinced that the fairest woman of all has a heart as pure as her last name . . . if only he can prove it.

Pearl Harbor and the tentacles of Word War II turn San Francisco into a raucous, electrifying city. Twenty-year-old Carmel St. John moves into this maelstrom with dreams of winning the heart of Dr. Phillip Barron and becoming a big band singer.

There, Carmel meets Caesar Almalto, a black-market kingpin, and Jerry Cassidy, a musician who helps her and hopes to win her love. Nightclub life, lust, and murder swirl around her, as does her tenuous relationship with Phillip, who leaves as a commissioned officer aboard the first hospital ship in the Pacific theater. A family crisis threatens to destroy Carmel's dreams when she is called home to San Jose to manage the family's 1,100-acre ranch during the war.

"The Stone Must Break" tells the saga of two families, the St. Johns and the Barrons, as they grapple with tragedy, love, and responsibility in a world at war.