Showing results for "Jilly Bond" in Literature & Fiction

England, 1919. Verity Kent's grief over the loss of her husband pierces anew when she receives a cryptic letter, suggesting her beloved Sidney may have committed treason before his untimely death. Lured to Umbersea Island to attend the engagement party of one of Sidney's fellow officers, Verity mingles among the men her husband once fought beside, discovering dark secrets and the shattering possibility that her husband may not have been the man she thought he was....

Summer, 1947. Kate Herrick, a war widow, returns to her childhood home for a final visit before the house is sold. But Rose Cottage is not the idyllic paradise she remembers from her youth and someone has been there before her. As Kate uncovers an old secret that haunts the home she thought she knew, she is forced to confront a dark truth from her own past.... Beyond the weedy garden with its riot of rose bushes, nothing had changed. And someone was crossing the bridge to approach the garden gate. Someone I knew well....

Connie McColl is finally free to make her own decisions for the first time in decades. And when she meets glamorous Gill and downtrodden Maggie, at a rather dull flower arranging class, it seems that she’s not the only one dreaming of adventure. The three very different women all agree it’s about time they had a holiday to remember. So they make a pact for this summer to be their best yet - and drive off into the sunset together....

When a strange child follows her home on the train from London, Ella Bridges feels bound to help her. However, she soon discovers the child is not what she seems. Having recently moved into a large home on Linhay Island, Ella finds herself at the centre of a murder investigation thanks to a special gift from the previous house owner. Along with her unusual sidekick, a former cottage resident, Ella follows clues that take her to the heart of London. As the mystery unravels she is forced to enter the lion's den to solve the crime and stop the perpetrator.

Everyday Kindness is a charity anthology of short, fictional stories of kindness, edited by LJ Ross. These uplifting tales of hope and of small, everyday kindnesses are intended to support wider, positive mental health goals and foster wellbeing through the act of reading tales of goodwill inspired by others. Featuring authors across the spectrum of literature, some international bestsellers and award-winning writers amongst them, this is a unique collection of words.

49-year-old Tilly Thomas would never have known any different if she hadn’t unexpectedly turned up at hubby Robin’s office to surprise him with an off-the-cuff evening at the theatre. Instead, the surprise is on Tilly when she interrupts Robin and his young PA in a compromising situation.

As winter begins to bite at Sunset Hall, Agnes Sharp is grudgingly pleased to discover that one of her fellow OAP housemates has won a luxury holiday to a secluded Cornish hotel called the Eden. The incredible menu, spa treatments and an unexpected boa constrictor aside, Agnes and her geriatric companions will soon discover that the hotel is a long way from paradise. They have barely checked in when Agnes sees a disturbing incident on the clifftop: could she have witnessed a murder? A storm cuts the hotel off from the outside world and the body count starts to rise.

When Sheba Hart joins St George's as the new pottery teacher, lonely Barbara Covett senses that she has found a kindred spirit. But Barbara is not the only one drawn to Sheba. Before long Sheba is involved in an illicit affair with a pupil, and Barbara is powerless to stop Sheba from pursuing her foolhardy course of action. But when the liaison is found out and Sheba's marriage falls apart, Barbara is loyally standing by, ready to provide succour.

They were best friends forever. Then Kate made one little mistake . . . Kate thought the spreadsheet was harmless—a private ranking of her four best friends detailing their various strengths and weaknesses. But when it leaks online and goes viral, her carefully curated life implodes. Social...

Elise is a true daughter of the chateau. She’d die before anything happened to Sainte Madeleine–even if it means betraying her own family. Alexandre, Elise’s brother, is destined to inherit–yet a dangerous rift with their father puts his future, and the chateau, in jeopardy. And for distant cousin Laurent, his life-long love for Elise will always call him back to Sainte Madeleine. But the peace of Europe rests on a knife-edge, and history has bigger plans than them all.

‘A gorgeous story full of emotion and a very special library.’ – Evie Woods, bestselling author of The Lost Bookshop Some stories stay with us forever… For forty-two years, Sally Harrison has been building a library. Each year, on her daughter’s birthday, she adds a new book to her...

In a beautiful Southern Spanish town, where the sea sparkles and orange blossoms scent the air, the gates of a brand-new apartment complex, La Joya deAndalucía, glide open to welcome the new owners. Anna and Austen MacDonald, an Irish couple, are preparing to enjoy their retirement to the full. But the demands of family cause problems they have never foreseen and shake their marriage to the core. Sally-Ann Connolly Cooper, a feisty Texan mother of two young teenagers, is reeling from her husband's infidelity. La Joya becomes a place of solace for Sally.

Sitting on a California beach at summer's end, Jane Marsh thinks back to her childhood at the estate called Elvie in a remote corner of Scotland. She remembers not only the heather-covered hills and the lonesome loch but her grandmother...and, of course, Sinclair. She has secretly dreamed of marrying rakishly handsome Sinclair and settling at Elvie forever. Then an urgent visit from her grandmother's lawyer becomes the catalyst for her return to Scotland, where waiting for her is passion, not gentle love....

Compton Magna and Nether Bagot sit high on the Fosse Hills to either side of the Gloucestershire/Warwickshire border, just half a mile apart. They form the backdrop to this rich story of secrets and rivalries, as glamorous Ronnie Ledwell returns to take up the reins of her father's horse breeding stud farm, years after she scandalised family and friends by eloping with her lover. News of her return will well and truly set the cat among the pigeons.... 

Isabela’s Way is a coming of age tale, set during a dangerous time in early 17th century Portugal, Spain, France and Germany. 14-year-old Isabela, an obedient Catholic girl with a talent for needle work, believes she has nothing to fear from the Inquisition. But when a mysterious woman arrives with a message from Isabela’s traveling father, the girl must leave her home and embroider her way along a clandestine network of sanctuaries created to conduct Conversos, or secret Jews, to safety.

Mercia, 788 AD. In the grand Saxon halls of Mercia, King Offa rules with cold ambition. His youngest daughter, Eadburh, is destined for an arranged marriage, but with reckless spirit, her heart is taken by a Welsh prince, a man she can never be matched with and who is quickly and cruelly taken from her. Offa’s Dyke, 2021. In a cottage hidden amongst the misty Welsh hills of Offa’s Dyke, Bea Dalloway is called to help Simon Armstrong, who is searching for peace. Instead he finds himself disturbed by unsettling noises and visions.

If Joe and Vicky had known what relocating to a tiny mountain village in Andalucía would really be like, they might have hesitated. They can have no idea of the culture shock in store for them...no idea they'll become reluctant chicken farmers and own the most dangerous cockerel in Spain...no idea they'll help capture a vulture and be rescued by a mule. Will they stay, or will they return to the relative sanity of England?

After the excitement of her last investigation, amateur sleuth Morwenna is looking forward to things getting back to normal. When local DJ Irina asks to meet however, desperate to share information she has discovered regarding nefarious goings-on, Morwenna can’t resist. But Irina never arrives for their drink – instead her body is washed up on the beach, an apparent victim of an accidental drowning. At once keen wild bather Morwenna knows something is amiss as Irina was a strong swimmer who knew the local conditions well. What had Irina uncovered and who would want her dead?

It is 1936 in a remote dale in the old northern county of Westmorland. For centuries the rural community has remained the same, the Lightburn family has been immersed in the harsh hill-farming tradition. Then a man from the city of Manchester arrives, spokesman for a vast industrial project that will devastate both the landscape and the local community. Mardale will be flooded to create a new reservoir, supplying water to the Midland cities. In the coming year this corner of Lakeland will be evacuated and transformed.

A YACHT FULL OF SUSPECTS, ON A SEA OF RED HERRINGS . . . Rosalind King, Caro Hooper and Posy Starling may be famous for each playing fictional detective Dahlia Lively on screen, but their growing reputation for solving real murder cases has prompted an offer that they can't refuse . . . Property...