A moving saga of conflicted family loyalties and late-flowering passion set in 1970s' Liverpool. Liverpool, 1973. Reluctantly, widow Jenny Langton decides to downsize, swapping the spacious family home she shared with her late husband for a one-bedroomed retirement flat at Merseyside Mansions. It's difficult enough attempting to start anew at her age, but the antics of her wayward granddaughter Karen, and her disastrous choice of men, threaten to drive Jenny to distraction. Finally conceding that Karen must make her own mistakes in life, Jenny determines to move on and no longer interfere. Just as she's settling into Merseyside Mansions and making new friends, Karen's reappearance threatens to de-rail Jenny's carefully-constructed new life and cause problems with her fellow residents. Her relationship with her granddaughter tested to the limit, Jenny must decide whether she should allow family loyalty to stand in the way of her future happiness - particularly now she's about to embark on a late-flowering love affair .

THE FLEETING YEARS is the story of Peter and Zina Marchand, joining them when they have been married some ten years and he is at the height of his career, a film star who is a household name both sides of the Atlantic. At the time of their marriage Zina had already started up the ladder of success as a solo violinist, but she gave up her career when she was expecting their twins, Fiona and Tom. Surely they are the perfect family; the future seems cloudless. But time doesn't stand still, children grow up, both ambitious for their own futures, lives change and Zina is tempted back to follow her own career. Nothing is as it was. It takes tragedy to clear their vision and make them realise what they had so nearly lost.

Maggie Wheaton's life is almost perfect. Confident, bright and popular, she lives with her loving, wealthy parents in a close-knit Cambridgeshire village. But, just days after her sixteenth birthday, her world falls apart: an accident kills both her parents, and then she suffers the ultimate betrayal when she learns a life-changing family secret. Maggie has no choice but to go and live with her appointed guardian, Ruby Riordan, in the seaside town of Southend, where she sets out on a deliberate path of self-destruction. She pushes Ruby to the brink, and when she finally snaps, Maggie runs away to London to seek fame and fortune as a singer. But life in the city is not what Maggie thought it would be, and she quickly finds herself caught up in a seedy, dangerous world. Can she save herself? Or if not, will Ruby be able to find her in time?

The comfortable, upper-class lives of the aristocratic Barsham family are set to change forever with the onset of World War I. August, 1914. The silver wedding celebrations of Sir George Barsham, MP, and his wife, Lady Adelaide, are overshadowed by the declaration of war with Germany. Over the following months, as the male estate workers head for the Front and the maids disappear to work in the newly-opened munitions factory, the Barsham family's comfortable, aristocratic lifestyle is set to change forever. Determined to do his bit for King and country, James Barsham enlists as an officer and heads for Flanders, leaving Lady Adelaide's maid Polly devastated. To Lady Adelaide's dismay, her younger daughter Millie learns to drive an ambulance: a most unladylike skill. Meanwhile Millie's sister Gina finds fulfilment in helping the local wives and children, left destitute while their husbands are away fighting. During the course of the war, with devastating loses, the strength of character of the four Barsham siblings will be tested as never before. They will encounter hardship, danger, heartache - and unexpected love.

1982. Thirteen-year-old Ewan Fraser is sent to the remote island of Barra, off Scotland's west coast, to stay with his aunt and uncle. Resigned to a monotonous summer of boredom, he is befriended by local girl Laura Robertson; together they explore the golden beaches and rocky coves of the idyllic island. But a dark secret that connects Laura to the mysterious outcast Mhairi Matheson and her son, Billy, is hidden beneath the tranquil surface... A secret that threatens to tear the small community apart. Forty years later, Ewan returns to confront the truth about the formative summer of his adolescence, and finally learn the truth about Laura and the boy from Barra.

All she wanted was a mother's love... Curl up with this heartrending new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of A Mother's Struggle and A Daughter's Ruin. DESPISED Penny's childhood was spent in the shadows of her mother's business schemes, feeling alone and unimportant. It fell to Lorna, her mother's acquaintance, to take care of the lonely little girl, but the rejection always cut deep. DETERMINED When Penny turns sixteen and tragedy strikes, Lorna's cousin Maureen, a feisty ex-stripper from London, strides into her life. Penny determines to make her own way in the world and, with Maureen, throws herself into a thrilling new life on the grimy streets of Soho. She makes new friends, but can't avoid crossing the paths of some very dangerous men. DANGER In this seedy world of dancing girls and gangsters Penny must grow up quickly, she must be brave, and she's forced to face the truth about some very dark secrets from her past. A heartbreaking historical novel about betrayal, hardship and ultimately hope. Perfect for fans of Nadine Dorries, Diney Costeloe and Dilly Court.

The year is 1956. Because business is booming, a misanthropic entrepreneur and businessman, Steven Leroy Zienner, decides to open a fourth U.S. meat processing plant, this one in Mississippi. The larger-than-life Zienner is the 20th richest man in the United States, and has a genius for making money. But he is also a man of many character flaws. Zienner's son, Boris, refuses his father's offer to enter the family business; instead, Boris leaves home for Paris, France, to get away from his domineering father. After Boris leaves, Zienner opens the new plant in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Due to exploitation, the employees soon rebel against Zienner's company. Some employees spread false rumors to reporters that dogs and wild animals are being used to make the company's frankfurters and cold-cuts. The falsehoods are reported as fact. Trying to dispel the rumors and win over his employees, Zienner addresses them at a company picnic, where he is struck by a flying object thrown by an employee and knocked unconscious. This sets-off a chain of events that includes the loss of his wife in a car accident. In his grief, Zienner loses interest in his company and business suffers. Can he come back after such adversity? This is the story of The Downfall and Rise of Steven Leroy Zienner. Jerry Dampier is studying for a doctorate in psychology at Argosy University in San Francisco. He is inspired by larger-than-life characters in novels and in film. He is currently publishing another book, Alphatopbetics, and is writing his next novel, The Romantic Comedies of Clover. http://www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/TheDownfallAndRiseOfStevenLeroyZienner.html

THE FLEETING YEARS is the story of Peter and Zina Marchand, joining them when they have been married some ten years and he is at the height of his career, a film star who is a household name both sides of the Atlantic. At the time of their marriage Zina had already started up the ladder of success as a solo violinist, but she gave up her career when she was expecting their twins, Fiona and Tom. Surely they are the perfect family; the future seems cloudless. But time doesn't stand still, children grow up, both ambitious for their own futures, lives change and Zina is tempted back to follow her own career. Nothing is as it was. It takes tragedy to clear their vision and make them realise what they had so nearly lost.

The comfortable, upper-class lives of the aristocratic Barsham family are set to change forever with the onset of World War I. August, 1914. The silver wedding celebrations of Sir George Barsham, MP, and his wife, Lady Adelaide, are overshadowed by the declaration of war with Germany. Over the following months, as the male estate workers head for the Front and the maids disappear to work in the newly-opened munitions factory, the Barsham family's comfortable, aristocratic lifestyle is set to change forever. Determined to do his bit for King and country, James Barsham enlists as an officer and heads for Flanders, leaving Lady Adelaide's maid Polly devastated. To Lady Adelaide's dismay, her younger daughter Millie learns to drive an ambulance: a most unladylike skill. Meanwhile Millie's sister Gina finds fulfilment in helping the local wives and children, left destitute while their husbands are away fighting. During the course of the war, with devastating loses, the strength of character of the four Barsham siblings will be tested as never before. They will encounter hardship, danger, heartache - and unexpected love.

Liverpool, 1924. Racing to meet her fiance in her father's new-fangled motor car, Penny Forshaw knocks over a little girl and - much to her fiance's disapproval - feels it her duty to take in six-year-old Kelly while she recovers. But little did Penny anticipate the challenges and responsibilities of looking after a child from the slums, and Kelly's miserable, poverty-stricken existence opens Penny's eyes to a world she never knew existed. Her relationship with her fiance Arnold under strain, Penny's decision to take in young Kelly will change her life in ways she could never have expected. She wanted to give Kelly a better chance in life - but it may be Kelly who changes Penny's life for the better.

Wartime Friends is a tale of unbreakable bonds in times of strife, by bestselling author Margaret Dickinson. It is 1940s coastal Lincolnshire and Carolyn Holmes is keen to do what she can for the war effort. Raised on the family farm, she is prevented by her mother from going to secretarial college. Phyllis Carter, a widow from the Great War, lives close by with her son, Peter, who works on the farm. Peter and Carolyn are great friends but do not see a future together, although it is the dearest wish of both mothers to see them marry. After their home town is caught in an air raid, Peter decides to volunteer - to the distress of his mother - and Carolyn leaves to join the ATS, where she meets Beryl Morley, who will become a lifelong friend. Carolyn and Beryl are posted to Beaumanor Hall as 'listeners', the most difficult of signals intelligence gathering, intercepting enemy messages which are then sent to Bletchley Park for deciphering. As the war unfolds and their work becomes even more vital, Carolyn and Beryl's friendship strengthens and, in the dangerous times that follow, they will both need the support of the other as they face personal troubles of their own and the lives of those they love are put at risk.

Lai Pek is a self-made man and proud of it. He has reached middle age a successful businessman and patriarch of a thriving family. His outlook on life is smug, self-satisfi ed and complacent. But no one goes through life unscathed and, like a tiger silently creeping through the jungle, adversity stalks Lai Pek, striking swiftly. Faced with a formidable business rival, a horrifying tragedy at his rubber plantation and a shocking crime that threatens the lives of those dear to him, Lai Pek must reassess his values and draw on an inner strength that he may not possess if he is to survive the crises that life has thrown at him. Set in a small town in peninsular Malaya in the 1930's, the story takes place against the colourful backdrop of the lives and customs of the Chinese denizens and the inexorable encroachment of modern ideas and infl uences on their long-held values and ways of life.

It's 1970, and 18-year-old Debbie Hargreaves is heading to agricultural college in Leeds, where she'll be sharing digs with three girls she's never met before. Although they're all from very different backgrounds, Debbie soon becomes firm friends with shy Lisa, outspoken Karen, and cool, self-assured Fran. Over the coming months, the four flatmates will share tears and laughter, drama and heartbreak, and the excitement of new romance. At the same time, Debbie's birth mother, Fiona Norwood, is struggling to cope with four young children and her duties as a rector's wife. The arrival of a new childminder should be the answer to her prayers, but Glenda's open flirting with Fiona's husband soon sets tongues wagging. Is Fiona's marriage really under threat? Meanwhile, Debbie is loving her new-found independence and the male attention she attracts. But is she in danger of neglecting her family and friends back in Northumberland, and forgetting her roots?

"An intelligent, slum-dwelling teenage girl takes drastic measures to survive when her father throws her out of her home, in this spellbinding historical saga"
Poplar, London, 1920. Fourteen-year-old Victoria Keats is horrified when her father demands that she go to work for wealthy Mr Preston everyone knows why he takes young girls into his house. But her violent father, who s never let her forget she s not the son he wanted, won t listen to her concerns and when she stands up for herself, he throws her out of their dingy little house in the slums.
Intelligent, book-loving Vicki vows to make her father regret this day; but she is all alone in the world. Despite her courage and quick wits, it seems likely she will starve until two men, both complete strangers, provide her with no-strings-attached help.
As Vicki s life improves beyond all recognition, she can t help but fixate on the mystery of these two good Samaritans: who were they? And why did they help her? She determines to find the men and thank them, but tracking them down may be harder and more life-changing than she thinks . . ."

'An evocative tale' Woman Magazine The East End of London has been devastated by the Blitz and the people are struggling to come to terms with their ravaged city. Rationing bites ever deeper and and everything that makes life better is in short supply. For the district nurses, the challenges are tougher than ever. Gladys loves her work in the Civil Nursing Reserve, but just when she needs to rely on her sister at home to help out with the chores, she turns into a handful of trouble. Edith is learning to cope with her boyfriend's injuries after Dunkirk but will she have to choose between her love for him and her career? With no end in sight, the war reaches its darkest moment ... Can the nurses - and the families and patients that rely on them - find the strength to carry on?

Two young women's lives are destined to intertwine in 1950s' Liverpool In 1942, two young women give birth in a home for unmarried mothers. Thirteen years later, Dorothy Wilson is a successful actress, offered her first major role in a feature film. But it will mean spending time apart from her policeman boyfriend Sam - when all Sam wants to do is settle down and start a family. Should Dorothy give up her dreams of stardom to stay in Liverpool and become a full-time wife and mother? Meanwhile, Lynne Donegan, having lost her childhood sweetheart in the war, is bringing up her daughter on her own, eking out a meagre living as a dressmaker. Dorothy and Lynne's lives are destined to intertwine in ways they could never have expected. For both women are keeping secrets from their loved ones: secrets that are destined to burst into the open, changing the two women's lives forever.

An emotionally compelling saga of guarded passions and family intrigue, spanning thirty years from the onset of World War II 1943. Wartime England. Married to a Guardsman at the age of eighteen after a whirlwind courtship, Helen Woodley believed her future was assured - only to be widowed before she was forty. Though she put on a brave face, Helen could no more reconcile herself to Adam's death than she could accept the hemmed-in, incestuous life of the Army and all its intrigues and affairs. And now Helen is faced with an unwelcome sense of deja vu. For her impulsive, free-spirited daughter Ruth, eighteen years old herself, has fallen madly in love with a soldier about to be posted to Northern Ireland, a man whom she's desperately anxious to marry. Can Helen prevent history from repeating itself?