A mother will do anything to protect her child… Love and hate are no match for a prison’s walls What would you do if your son was sent down? Any parent would want justice – but justice takes many forms. Would you take on his enemies, protect his reputation, fight his battles? What if you had no choice? Zara Makin tried to give her three boys everything – but they wanted more than any mother could give. They’ve been running their patch of the city on fear and ruthlessness but now the law has caught up with the eldest of the Makin boys. With Tyler, the eldest, banged up in Strangeways, can he hold onto his empire from the inside, keep the family afloat and protect his nearest and dearest? Or will Zara have to fight tougher and dirtier to save her family than ever before? Find Karen on Facebook and Twitter @KarenWoodsBooks

People can buy your silence, but not your loyalty… Macy Taylor was born in the shadow of Tavistock Square, at the heart of her Manchester estate. It’s got a reputation as a place where bad things happen. But it’s kept her secrets and she’s kept its code of silence. If you need something sorting, or want something you can’t get anywhere else – no questions asked – then you go to the Square. But everything in life comes at a price. Leanne Taylor is seventeen – she doesn’t understand why her mother wants her to keep clear of the life she led as a teenager. Leanne’s got dreams, but they don’t come cheap and the only people with money and power she knows are the boys and men that make their deals in the alleys and dark corners of the Square. For mother and daughter, it’s time to work out what they really care about, how fiercely they’ll fight to protect it, and what they’ll do when one day, the trouble they’ve worked so hard to outrun comes right to their own front door…

A general introduction for artists and makers looking to incorporate textiles and textiles techniques into their work. This book introduces you to basic textile techniques and encourages you to experiment with your chosen medium to create your own piece of work. Works by featured artists and designers give you plenty of inspiration, with tips to achieve similar styles and effects. Each section also includes many stimulating ideas for source and reference material. Through colourful images and detail instructions, learn techniques such as transferring images onto fabric, creating fabrics, wireframe construction, 3D wire construction, using a heat tool, materials manipulation, adapting traditional techniques as well as joining, seaming, bonding, layering, mould-making, casting and forming.

Lust, power, revenge: the gripping new gangland thriller from Karen Woods – the writer to show you the dark side of Manchester. Two women – one too innocent, one who knows too much. They have secrets, but none as lethal as those they uncover when they get caught up in turf wars between two strip club owners on the back streets of Manchester. Elsa Bradshaw is 18. Despite a tough start – never knowing her father, and barely seeing her mother who’d rather be chasing men – she’s grown up with her grandmother’s values and a desire to build a better life. But will falling for local bad boy, Clayton, change all that? Pamela Maylett seems to have everything – as wife of local lap-dancing club owner, Jordan, she’s got money, influence and plenty of life’s little luxuries. But is her beautiful home also her prison? She knows her husband is surrounded by women at work – after all, she was dancing when she met him. But Jordan won’t let his wife back on the stage and Pamela misses the lights, the lust and the power. When Elsa crosses paths with Pamela, she is grateful to be taken under her wing, and shown a world she never realised was out there. Elsa has a lot to learn – about the clubs, about what she wants, and most importantly, what she’ll do to get it. As the men that own the local clubs start a turf war, it’s time for the women to step up…

Sandra Partington has led a dog's life. Abused by her husband and humiliated by her sister, she finds the strength to take revenge on both with spectacular consequences. In her fifth novel, Karen Woods deals with issues as diverse as domestic violence and celebrity culture in a way which will make you laugh and cry.

Betrayal, family loyalties, secrets: not all gangsters live in the east end. Two families run this part of Manchester: the Johnsons and the Bennetts. With the head of the Johnson family banged up, the Bennetts have made their move. But power comes at a price… Now Charlie Johnson is out of prison and he wants his empire back. But the Bennetts have had a taste of the money and the control. Charlie’s sons want to strike now and destroy their rivals but Charlie wants to wait. He has a personal score to settle. Charlie’s wife Janey hates that her controlling husband is home from prison and is hatching a plan to leave him, but she knows he won’t let her go easily – not with the secrets she carries. She needs allies – and through her daughter and her passionate affairs, she may have found the way out she needs. But for all of them, getting what they want will mean risking everything.

You've got to fight for everything when you start with nothing. Susan Knight has a good life. So she turns a blind eye to the gambling winnings her husband Donny puts through the books at her salon. After all, he needs some way to unwind. At work, he is headteacher at Second Chance, an alternative provision school for kids who have nowhere else to go. Being the headteacher gives Donny respect, money, and charm. But respect can be lost, money can be stolen and charm can only go so far. The kids at the school all have a story to tell - as do the staff. Drugs, debt, violence and threat are part of their everyday lives. Donny's got this far by never playing by the rules. But to keep winning, you have to keep chancing it all. To stay at the top means risking everything. Susan knows Donny walks a fine line - but if he stumbles too far on the wrong side of the tracks can she stand by him? And for Donny, if he loses Susan, he knows he might be pulled back into the life that's been waiting for him all this time...

When her mother takes her own life after her father leaves her, therapist Marcy Jordan vows to open a clinic helping the broken-hearted. Although helping her clients proves therapeutic, Marcy quickly becomes embroiled in their lives: Harry and Grace have been left by cheating spouses and Amanda has lost her husband to a motorcycle accident. In Karen Woods ninth novel, she weaves a tale of lost love, deception and betrayal. But will the characters finally be able to move on with their lives?

In 1836, an enslaved six-year-old girl Named Med was brought to Boston by a woman from New Orleans who claimed her as property. Learning of the girl's arrival in the city, the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society (BFASS) waged a legal fight to secure her freedom and affirm the free soil of MassachuSetts. While Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw ruled quite narrowly in the case that enslaved people brought to MassachuSetts could not be held against their will, BFASS claimed a broad victory for the abolitionist cause, and Med was released to the care of a local institution. When she died two years later, celebration quickly turned to silence, and her story was soon forgotten. As a result, Commonwealth v. Aves is little known outside of legal scholarship. In this book, Karen Woods Weierman complicates Boston's identity as the birthplace of abolition and the cradle of liberty, and restores Med to her rightful place in antislavery history by situating her story in the context of other writings on slavery, childhood, and the law.

Shaun was always a child who demanded more than life could give. His mother's struggle began when she became a single parent, leaving her abusive husband behind. Unable to cope without the family unit, Shaun turns to a life of crime and drugs and eventually ends up in the care system. Karen Woods' fourth novel sees her return to familiar territory to craft an indictment of modern society that will pull on your heartstrings.

Trapped in a loveless marriage Victoria soon discovers her husband's late nights at the office are excuses to engage in sado-masochistic sex. Bewildered, she falls in with a lesbian overseas property developer who comes up with a big plan to make them both very rich...Karen Woods' third novel deals is sexy, saucy and very, very naughty.

When her gangster boyfriend Tim is sent down, Susie Jones life is thrown into turmoil. Left to run his criminal empire, Susie finds solace in new acquaintances made in Strangeways Visitors Centre with unforeseen consequences.

Finally the day has come when Jess can bring home her filly Opal--but after Opal almost drowns in a flooded river, she falls ill and won't get better. Has her spirit abandoned her?"'What did you decide to call her?' asked Lawson, looking over Jess's shoulder.
'Opal, ' said Jess, gazing lovingly at the little chestnut foal.
'Bad-luck stones, ' grunted Lawson."
"Finally the day has come when Jess can bring home her once-in-a-lifetime horse. But Opal falls ill, the local vet just can't find a cure, and Lawson casts her out onto his cattle station to "do or die." Wild with anger and refusing to give up, Jess heads west on an outback droving trip with her best friends--and Luke. Will she be able to bring Opal home? And could Luke be her once-in-a-lifetime boy?

This collection is the first book to focus on the intersection of dance, disability, and the law. Bringing together a range of writers from different disciplines, it considers the question of how we value, validate, and speak about diversity in performance practice, with a specific focus on the experience of differently-abled dance artists within the changing world of the arts in the United Kingdom. Contributors address the legal frameworks that support or inhibit the work of disabled dancers and explore factors that affect their full participation, including those related to policy, arts funding, dance criticism, and audience reception.

The unexplained death of Kendal Wilson's mother hangs over her family like a dark, brooding cloud while the identity of her father remains a mystery her mother Mary took to her grave. Yet the secrets of Mary's death lie in a hidden diary she left behind. Unable to read or write, Kendal becomes trapped in a relationship with violent local gangster Scott while the discovery of the diary leads her on a journey of self-discovery with dramatic consequences.

With evil Gordon locked up in Strangeways for 5 years, the characters from Karen Woods' debut novel 'Broken Youth' come to terms with life without him. Misty, now married to Dominic, gives birth to Gordon's child, Charlotte. Her former best friend Francesca also gives birth to one of Gordon's children, Rico, while staying with Gordon's heroin addicted brother Tom. Meanwhile, as the clock ticks down on his sentence, Gordon broods on the injustice of his situation and plots sweet revenge on those on the outside.