Publisher: Universe
A five-year story of love between ordinary people who survived World War II on just 49 days spent together. How did they do it? This true story based on real lives explores the conundrum.
In 1561, with Elizabeth I on the throne and Catholic plots brewing, a young German prince arrives in England claiming to be the rightful heir – the son of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves. Armed with jewels, letters, and Tudor looks, his claim threatens to upend the dynasty. But as poison spreads and secrets unravel, astrologer John Dee and his companion Margaretta must uncover the truth behind the prince’s origins. Their investigation spans England and Germany, revealing forbidden love, betrayal, and a dangerous plot with ties to the throne. Will they uncover the truth in time to save the queen?Show book
London, 1851. Restless and bored after a long hot summer, apothecary and poison expert Jem Flockhart decides to redesign her physic garden. But plans are thrown into confusion when a man's skeleton is unearthed from beneath the deadly nightshade, a smaller, child-like skeleton curled at its feet. The body bears evidence of knife wounds to its ribs and arms, and is accompanied by a collection of macabre objects: a brass bowl, a curious coin-like token, a set of tiny ivory sculls. The police claim the victim is too long-buried for answers to be found, but for Jem, a corpse in her own garden is something that cannot be ignored. The plans to the garden, laid out some forty years earlier, reveal a list of five names. When Jem and Will start asking questions, the murders begin. Each victim has a past connection with the physic garden; each corpse is found with its jaw broken wide and its mouth stuffed with deadly nightshade. As they move closer to uncovering the truth Jem Flockhart and Will Quartermain encounter a dark world of addiction, madness, power and death that strikes at the very heart of Jem's own history. This time, the poison is personal. 'Evocative...brilliant plotting' - REBECCA GRIFFITHS 'Vivid, pungent and perilous' - CHRIS BROOKMYREShow book
Sir Michael of Weedon might think that his service to the crown ended when the Queen died and he was no longer required as her knight. He is wrong, for his qualities as a true and loyal warrior mean that he can be trusted. King Henry and the Earl of Suffolk send him to France to recover a pyx. Before he can complete his task, he is conscripted back into the army and finds himself, once more, fighting alongside Sir John Talbot.Show book
From the highly acclaimed author of The Shackleford Sisters, Beverley Watts, comes an exciting new series featuring the next generation. The Shackleford Legacies are a delightful dance of romance, humour, mystery and fun... As the eldest daughter of the Earl of Cottesmore, Lady Mercedes Stanhope didn't expect to be still without a husband at the start of her third season. And neither did she expect to be the target of a kidnapping attempt on her journey home from Scotland. But most of all, she didn't expect to experience such an emotional connection to the man who came to her rescue… Horrifically scarred after a bayonet wound nearly cost him his life, Nathaniel Harding lived for fifteen years in the shadows. He didn't expect to be cast into the role of hero in the attempted kidnap of a young gentlewoman. And neither did he expect to be offered the role of her protector to prevent it happening again. But most of all, he didn't expect feelings he’d long believed dead and buried to come bubbling to the surface with her unexpected intrusion into his life… When Mercy and Nate are thrown together to help defeat the kidnapper, neither of them expected to be facing their deepest, darkest fears in confronting the very essence of evil. But most of all, neither expected that love might be found in the midst of such darkness… And then, of course, the one thing that no one expected, was the crucial role Reverend Augustus Shackleford would end up playing in the whole proceedings…Show book
THEY FLED AN OLD WORLD RAVAGED BY WAR AND HEARTBREAK TO SEIZE THEIR HEARTS' DESIRES IN THE NEW... The ninth book in the dramatic and intriguing story about the colonisation of Australia: a country built on blood, passion, and dreams. Justin Broome, the son of two of the most legendary prisoners in New South Wales, learns that skill and courage do not stand a chance against prejudice. Bitterness and disappointment are mixed with the wear and tear of his everyday life; all the while shiploads of miserable prisoners and free settlers continue to arrive from a war-weary England. Rebels and outcasts, they fled halfway across the earth to settle the harsh Australian wastelands. Decades later — ennobled by love and strengthened by tragedy — they had transformed a wilderness into a fertile land. And themselves into The Australians.Show book
