Classic Romance Books

Like half of all the young women living in the Scottish town Clydebank in early 1911, Ellen works at the sewing machine factory. So does her big sister, Bridget, Bridget's fiancé Malcolm, and her new friend Sadie, who has come to work at the factory after the death of her father... For Sadie, the factory is a way to make ends meet, but Ellen has sewing in her veins. She is even making Bridget's wedding dress on her beloved sewing machine. But after the excitement of the wedding dies down, everything changes. Ellen discovers that the work of the cabinet polishers - her job - is to be reorganised, and they will be doing more work for less pay. Ellen feels betrayed - the sewing factory is her family and they've let her down. Sadie is more pragmatic. But the women aren't going to give in without a fight. They've been reading about strikes and they've got an idea - much to the disgust of manager Malcolm. Meanwhile, Bridget, forced to choose between her husband and her sister, has made a new friend and is fighting her own battle, alongside the suffragettes. The events of the strike will throw Ellen, Bridget and Sadie's lives into turmoil but also bring these women closer to each other than they could ever have imagined. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781398718777 • Author:  Posy Lovell • Publisher:  Orion • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  352 • Dimensions: 12.8 x 2.4 x 19.6 cm

As wedding bells ring out, joy will be found amidst the tensions of war… At RAF Fenthorpe, instrument repairer Thea is helping her sister, Pearl, plan her wedding alongside fellow WAAF and maid of honour Jenny. A misfit amongst the women on the base, though, Thea is struggling to get others onboard. When Flight Sergeant Fitz makes a point of befriending and standing by her, sparks fly between the two. And when Fitz's crew member, Jack, faces being stripped of his rank due to cowardice, Thea throws herself into seeking justice and support for him. Just as she begins to be accepted by her fellow WAAFs, a shadowy figure from her past has returned and is determined to ruin not just Thea, but also Pearl's wedding. Will Thea's reputation be marred once more? And will she face this struggle alone…? A page-turning and feel-good Second World War saga, for fans of Johanna Bell, Daisy Styles and Kate Thompson.  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781804367193 • Author:  Vicki Beeby • Publisher:  Canelo • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  320 • Dimensions:   12.8 x 19.7 x 2.3 cm

She is determined to live the life she wants… Cassandra Trent does not like being told what to do. So when she is forced to leave behind her beloved Bardsley and join her aunt in London, she is furious. She wants nothing to do with polite society and useless noblemen. But Cassandra finds some comfort in the friendship she forms with her kind and gentle cousin, Susannah Berrinden. Despite being destined to marry Simeon Giffard, a charming and – more importantly – wealthy young man, Susannah has other ideas… And it seems Simeon does too. He has eyes only for Cassandra – but winning her over might prove to be a near impossible task.  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781804367216 • Author:  Anna Jacobs • Publisher:  Canelo  • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  304 • Dimensions: 12.9 x 1.8 x 19.8 cm

Suffolk, 1924. After the death of her fiancé in the field hospitals of France, Angel becomes nurse to the MacDonald family in the small village of Uffasham.  Taking residence at the appropriately named Angel Inn, she is met by many new faces - and old ones, too. Edith, a fellow nurse from the war, while taking great interest in Angel's new life, refuses to let her forget her old one. As Angel grows closer to her employer, Robert, Edith threatens to expose a secret that could ruin everything...  Can Angel ever be free to move on with her new life and her new family, or will the secrets of her past finally be revealed? Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781804180969 • Author:  Sheila Newberry • Publisher:  Bonnier Publishing Fiction • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  334 • Dimensions: 12.8 x 19.8 x 2.2 cm

Will she lose everything she’s worked so hard for? The Second World War may be over, but the war in Polly Pride’s home is only just beginning, and it will test her like never before. Her son, Benny, never seems to be far from trouble, spending all his time with shady characters and winding up in the wrong places at the wrong times. Her daughter, Lucy, is seeing another man behind her husband’s back and leaving her children to run riot. And Charlie, Polly’s beloved husband, is battling ill health and doesn’t want her interfering. Polly refuses to go back to a life of poverty – but managing a business, a family, and the trials of living in post-war Manchester might prove to be too much, even for her… Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781804365564 • Author:  Freda Lightfoot  • Publisher:  Canelo • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  352 • Dimensions: 12.9 x 2.1 x 19.8 cm

A heart-warming tale of sibling rivalry, secrets, love and death, steeped in local colour and noise and tender in its depiction of family at their worst, and at their best from Domenica de Rosa, author of the bestselling Dr Ruth Galloway series under the name Elly Griffiths. Gaby, the youngest of the de Angelis sisters, always secretly knew she was her father Enzo’s favourite; so when Enzo dies on the day her own daughter is born, her life is turned upside down. In the emotional aftermath of the funeral, it emerges that her father has asked that his ashes be taken back his native city, Rome. Suddenly, Gaby and her new family are thrown headfirst into the wider de Angelis clan, and all of their conflicting ideas and opinions. As the family journeys to Rome to say a final goodbye to Enzo, emotions run high; but none higher than Gaby’s, as she comes face to face with the man she once thought she would marry, and is forced to question everything of which, until now, she was so sure. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781529434354 • Author:  Domenica De Rosa • Publisher:  Quercus • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  384 • Dimensions: 12.8 x 2.6 x 19.6 cm

Will she marry below her station? Beatrice Dencey is constantly reminded by her aunt, the Dowager, that she must marry appropriately. And so must the Dowager's beloved granddaughter, Eleanor Graceover. Charged with finding Eleanor a suitable husband, Beatrice is sent to London with a list of pre-approved gentlemen. Once there, she quickly rules out every man on the list. All except the handsome and charming Justin Serle, who stirs a deep desire in Beatrice. Meanwhile, Eleanor has her own ideas about who she wants to marry. Both she and Beatrice have a big decision to make - marry for duty and live a life full of regret, or marry for love and risk angering the formidable Dowager. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781804367230 • Author:  Anna Jacobs • Publisher: Canelo   • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  304 • Dimensions:  12.9 x 19.7 x 2.2 cm

Tara, Katherine and Fintan have been best friends since they were teenagers. Now in their early thirties, they've been living it up in London for ten years. But what have they to show for a decade of hedonism? Sure, Tara's got a boyfriend - but only because she's terrified of spending five minutes alone. Katherine, on the other hand, has a neatness fetish that won't let anyone too close to mess up her life. And Fintan? Well, he has everything. Until he learns that without your health, you've got nothing... All three are drinking in the last chance saloon and they're about to discover that if you don't change your life, life has a way of changing you . . Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781405969208 • Author:  Marian Keyes • Publisher:  Penguin • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  640 • Dimensions:  12.95 x 3.81 x 19.81 cm

Ever wished you could trade your life in for a better one? One day, sitting in traffic, married Dublin mum Stella Sweeney attempts a simple good deed. When the result is a terrible car accident, she meets a handsome stranger with a Range Rover who wants her number - no, for insurance purposes - and in this meeting a seed is born which will change Stella's life forever. What happens next will take Stella thousands of miles from her old life, turning an ordinary woman into a superstar and, along the way, wrenching her whole family apart... Was meeting Mr Range Rover destiny or karma? Should she be grateful or just hopping mad? And can Stella grab a chance at real, honest-to-goodness happiness now it finally seems within her reach? Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781405969185 • Author:  Marian Keyes  • Publisher:  Penguin • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  576 • Dimensions:  12.85 x 3.48 x 19.71 cm

From the author of An Orphan's Wish comes a tale of love and destiny... When Thomas Grant - one of the most eligible young men in London - proposes to Annabel Seaton, she can't say she's surprised, but she is delighted. He's been her best friend since she was a child, and she can't imagine life without him. What shocks her, however, is the reaction of her mother and father. Annabel knows that her parents disapprove of her forthright opinions, but their displeasure is both unexpected and unaccountable. As they permit the engagement, however, she decides to put it out of her mind. But before she can be married, tragedy strikes, and only then does Annabel learn of the shocking secret that her parents have kept from her. Determined to learn more, she travels to Durham on a personal search that will change everything.... Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781529428025 • Author:  Elizabeth Gill • Publisher:  Quercus • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  304 • Dimensions: 12.7 x 1.91 x 19.69 cm

The agent Jojo, a high-flying literary agent on the up, has just made a very bad career move: she's jumped into bed with her married boss, Mark... The bestseller Jojo's sweet-natured client Lily's first novel is a roaring success. She and lover Anton celebrate by spending the advance for her second book. Then she gets writer's block... The unknown Gemma used to be Lily's best friend - until Lily 'stole' Anton. Now she's writing her own story - painfully and hilariously - when supershark Jojo stumbles across it... Three girls hoping and sometimes needing to make it big in the publishing world. But did anybody ever tell them that there's always another side to every story?  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781405969215 • Author:  Marian Keyes • Publisher:  Penguin • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  688 • Dimensions: 11.1 x 4.1 x 18.1 cm

In 1761, on a sunny day in September, a King and Queen met for the very first time. They were married within hours. Born a German Princess, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was beautiful, headstrong, and fiercely intelligent, not precisely the attributes the British Court had been seeking in a spouse for the young King George III. But her fire and independence were exactly what she needed because George had secrets... secrets with the potential to shake the very foundations of the monarchy. Thrust into her new role as a royal, Charlotte must learn to navigate the intricate politics of the court, all the while guarding her heart, because she is falling in love with the King, even as he pushes her away. Above all, she must learn to rule and to understand that she has been given the power to remake society. She must fight - for herself, for her husband, and for all her new subjects who look to her for guidance and grace. For she will never be just Charlotte again. She must instead fulfil her destiny... as Queen. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9780349436678 • Author: Julia Quinn & Shonda Rhimes • Publisher:  Little, Brown • Format:  Hardback • Pages:  352 • Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.6 x 3.4 cm

Three sisters torn apart by war. Can fighting for peace bring them together again? December 1941: Evacuated from the threat of German bombs, sisters Amelie and Mireille have grown up under the storm clouds of war. Now they have joined the fight against Hitler, with Amelie training as a nurse to save wounded soldiers, and Mireille enlisted to help the Air Force wage war in the skies over Europe. But as each sister fights for peace, they are still haunted by the memory of their missing sister who was snatched away from them at the beginning of the war. As Mireille is recruited for a special forces role behind enemy lines in France, she puts her life on the line for the Allies. But could she also finally have a chance of reuniting her sisters, once the war is over?  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9780008538392 • Author:  Pam Weaver  • Publisher:  Avon • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  384 • Dimensions:  12.9 x 2.7 x 19.8 cm

Welcome to Bumblebee Barn, home to wonderful animals, stunning views and spectacular sunsets - and resident young farmer, Barney. While Barney loves his life at Bumblebee Barn - a farm that has been in his family for generations - he's struggling to find someone to share it with. The early mornings quad biking through muddy fields and the long hours looking after the crops and animals are proving to be a deterrent to finding love. So when his sister, Fizz - desperate for Barney to find his soulmate - sees an advert for Love on the Farm, a new reality TV show to help farmers find love, he has nothing to lose by applying. After all, he isn't meeting anyone suitable down the traditional route and surely he won't be picked anyway...? Thrown into the chaos of reality TV, Barney could never have expected that his whole life would be turned upside down, with buried secrets to be uncovered and his heart on the line. With his family and friends rooting for him, could the magic of Bumblebee Barn heal his broken heart and help him find love on the farm?  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781835619063 • Author:  Jessica Redland • Publisher:  Boldwood Books • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  402 • Dimensions:  12.9 x 2.31 x 19.8 cm

A spellbinding love story of two women separated by a century but united in their determination to fight for what they love most. France, 1916: Artist Edouard Lefevre leaves his young wife, Sophie, to fight at the front. When their small town falls to the Germans amid World War I, Edouard's portrait of Sophie draws the eye of the new Kommandant. As the officer's dangerous obsession deepens, Sophie will risk her family, reputation, and life to see her husband again. Almost a century later, Sophie's portrait is given to Liv Halston by her young husband shortly before his sudden death. A chance encounter reveals the painting's true worth, and a battle begins for who its legitimate owner putting Liv's belief in what is right to the ultimate test. Like Sarah Blake's The Postmistress and Tatiana de Rosnay's Sarah's Key, The Girl You Left Behind is a breathtaking story of love, loss, and sacrifice told with Moyes's signature ability to capture our hearts with every turn of the page. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781405969093 • Author:  Jojo Moyes  • Publisher:  Pamela Dorman Books • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  369 • Dimensions:  16 x 3.18 x 23.5 cm

Peace has finally been declared in the Far East, but for those living at Beach View Boarding House, the news brings mixed emotions. Peggy Reilly is devastated that her husband Jim will not be coming home for Christmas. And Sarah and Jane, who have lived at Beach View throughout much of the conflict, dread what they will find when they go back to Singapore. Life in Cliffehaven is in a whirlwind of change as the men return from the war and Peggy’s evacuee chicks begin to spread their wings and start new lives in different corners of the world. Peggy and Jim have longed to be together after so many years apart, but war has left them profoundly changed. Can they rekindle the loving, close relationship they’d shared before? Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781787469693 • Author:  Ellie Dean  • Publisher:  Arrow • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  512 • Dimensions: 12.7 x 3.3 x 19.69 cm

Life could not be busier for Ginny and the team at Wagging Tails. The annual dog show is looming, a crucial event when it comes to fundraising and ensuring the volunteers can continue the brilliant work they do. But their trusted newspaper reporter, who always includes them in his weekly column, is retiring, only to be replaced with a city-slicker named Darryl. And Darryl, as Ginny soon learns, has no interest in articles he deems 'below him'. Not one to take no as an answer, Ginny becomes determined to get him to meet the dogs themselves. One look at their cute faces and they'll worm their way into his heart. But what Ginny doesn't anticipate is that Darryl might be more open-hearted than he seems. And inviting him to the dogs' home might be the best decision she ever made - even if she doesn't realise it at first!  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781835619070 • Author:  Sarah Hope • Publisher:  Boldwood Books • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  288 • Dimensions:  12.9 x 1.65 x 19.8 cm

For generations, every Frankenstein has found their true love and equal, unlocking lifetimes of blissful wedded adventure. Clever, pretty (and odd) Angelika Frankenstein has run out of suitors and fears she may become the exception to this family rule.  When assisting in her brother Victor's ground-breaking experiment to bring a reassembled man back to life, she realizes that having an agreeable gentleman convalescing in the guest suite might be a chance to let a man get to know the real her. For the first time, Angelika embarks upon a project that is all her own. When her handsome scientific miracle sits up on the lab table, her hopes for an instant romantic connection are thrown into disarray. Her resurrected beau (named Will for the moment) has total amnesia and is solely focused on uncovering his true identity. Trying to ignore their heart-pounding chemistry, Angelika reluctantly joins the investigation into his past, hoping it will bring them closer.  But when a second suitor emerges to aid their quest, Angelika wonders if she was too hasty inventing a solution. Perhaps fate is not something that can be influenced in a laboratory? Or is Will (or whatever his name is!) her dream man, tailored for her in every way? And can he survive what was done to him in the name of science, and love?  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9780349435060 • Author:  Sally Thorne • Publisher:  Piatkus • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  384 • Dimensions:  14.8 x 3 x 19.4 cm

Delve into the lives, loves and hopes of the residents of Star Street, and the mysterious visitor waiting to emerge from the shadows June the first, a bright summer's evening, a Monday... And into the busy, bustling homes at 66 Star Street slips, unseen, a mysterious visitor. As the couples, flatmates and repentant singletons of No. 66 fall in and out of love, clutch at and drop secrets, laugh, cry and simply try to live, no one suspects the visitor patiently waiting in the wings. For soon, as the light slowly fades to dark, everything is going to change... Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781405969178 • Author:  Marian Keyes • Publisher:  Penguin • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  640 • Dimensions:  19.8 x 12.9 x 3.8 cm

Whitby, 1845: Amber Ainsley works as a laundry maid for the wealthy Greenwood family, but when she falls pregnant with her employer's illegitimate child, she is cast out, left homeless and destitute. She flees to Whitby, but Barnaby Greenwood follows, offering to find a family to raise their daughter, to save her being sent to the workhouse. Broken-hearted but wanting the best for her child, Amber hands her daughter over. Meanwhile, Barnaby's wife, Louisa, is overjoyed when she gives birth to twins - but the babies are weak, and she is terrified they won't survive. Poverty-stricken, Amber soon has no choice but to return to work for the Greenwoods. There, one twin is flourishing while the other sickens. And when Amber notices a familiar birth mark on the infant girl's leg, her world is turned upside-down... Will Amber ever be able to have the family life she hopes for?  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781838773601 • Author:  Rosie Goodwin • Publisher:  Zaffre • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  464 • Dimensions:  12.9 x 2.79 x 19.81 cm