Lynda Stacey: House of Christmas Secrets

Romantic suspense
Choc Lit
Paperback
1st November 2018

This year we’re just going to have a nice, normal Christmas…
Last year’s Christmas at Wrea Head Hall didn’t quite go to plan which is why Jess Croft is determined this festive season
will be the one to remember, for the right reasons. And she has plenty of reasons to be hopeful, she’s going to marry the
man of her dreams, Jack Stone, seven days after New Year’s Eve.
However, as family secrets are revealed in hidden letters and two unexpected guests turn up on the doorstep,
Jess is left wondering whether her life will ever be the same again.
Can Jess and Jack still experience a peaceful festive season that they had imagined, or are there some problems that even Christmas can’t fix?

Joanna Maitland: Lady In Lace

Regency Timeslip
Independent
Amazon ebook only https://myBook.to/LadyInLace
Published October 2018

A shredded gold lace ballgown. The greatest lover in Regency London. And the modern woman who is bound by them both. The magic of the gold lace gown transports Emma across centuries. In front of her, a naked man rises from his bath. He welcomes her.
He knows her name. He wants her. But he’s dangerous – the greatest rake in London, the stud that every woman desires. Should Emma respond to him? Will she get back to her own time if she does? And, given the threatening shadows swirling round in her modern world, is it safe to return?

Louise Rose-Innes: Undercurrent

Romantic Thriller
Independent
e-book, paperback
12 November 2018

Munro Crane’s first case turns deadly…
A chance meeting with the man who saved his life in Afghanistan five years ago sends Private Investigator, Munro Crane,
on a seemingly mundane mission – to spy on his client’s beautiful wife.
It soon becomes clear that Sarah is up to something, but it’s not what her husband thinks.
Why does she disappear for hours on end? Where does she go? Is she really having an affair, or is it something altogether more sinister? As Crane uncovers the reason for Sarah’s suspicious behaviour, he’s plunged into a confusing world of manipulation and betrayal. When things turn deadly, he’s forced to question his loyalty and how far he’ll go in pursuit of the truth.
Undercurrent is the first book in the P.I. Munro Crane romantic thriller series. If you like fast-paced adventure, intriguing mystery, gripping suspense and a liberal dose of sizzling romance, then you’ll love this first instalment in Louise Rose-Innes’ page-turning series.

Molly Green: An Orphan’s Wish

Saga
Avon HarperCollins
Paperback, e-book, audio
29th November 2018

Liverpool, 1943
When her fiancé is killed at sea, Lana Ashwin from Yorkshire accepts a headmistress position in Bingham, the local village near Liverpool, hoping it will help mend her broken heart. She loves teaching the children at the school and nearby Dr Barnardo’s orphanage.
But when she falls for a man who she once would have considered the enemy, she is torn between what she knows is right and taking a risk that might see her lose everything.
There are children who desperately need her help and Lana must fight for their happiness as well as her own.
And one young girl, in particular, shows her that even when all seems lost, there is always a glimmer of hope to be found.

Jan Jones: A Respectable House

Regency
Independently published
e-book
November 2018

Seven years ago, Kitty Eastwick fell in love with a scoundrel and made the biggest mistake of her life. Now she is running from the most feared man in London. Dark, cynical Nicholas Dacre presents a reckless face to the world, knowing his life is a sham, but not seeing any way out. Now he is guarding Kitty – and the rigid tenets he grew up with are tumbling faster than the autumn leaves. Two scarred people. A lot of trust. Is it even possible?
‘A Respectable House’ is the sixth Newmarket Regency by Jan Jones and the second in the Furze House Irregulars series featuring women of spirit, women of courage, women who don’t see why, in this male-dominated Regency era, they should not also play their part in bringing wrong-doers to justice.

Margaret Mounsdon: The Eighth Child

Romantic Suspense
Ebook
Independent
November 2018

Why is Posy Palmer the only person to be concerned when Iris Laxton disappears?
As she delves into Iris’s past, she becomes aware there was more to her old school friend than she realised
and why is the seventh son of a seventh son looking for her? When strange things start happening to Posy the only person Posy can turn to for help is Sam Barrington, the charismatic ex-policeman who once accused her of wasting police time when a fellow activist she had reported missing subsequently turned up married to a glamorous new wife.

Evonne Wareham: What Happens At Christmas

Romantic Suspense
Choc-Lit

Paperback/ Audio
1 December 2018

Kidnapped for Christmas?
Best-selling author Andrew Vitruvius knows that any publicity is good publicity.
His agent tells him that often, so it must be true. In the run-up to Christmas, she excels herself – talking him into the craziest scheme yet: getting himself kidnapped, live on TV.
But when the plan goes ahead, and Drew is unceremoniously thrown in the back of a van before being dragged to a hut in the middle of the Brecon Beacons, it all starts to feel a little bit too real. Meanwhile, not far away, Lori France and her four-year-old niece Misty are settling in to spend the holidays away after unexpected events leave them without a place to stay. Little do they know they’re about to make a shocking discovery and experience a Christmas they’re not likely to forget …

Sharon Booth: Belle, Book and Christmas Candle

Contemporary romance/magical realism
Green Ginger Publishing
Ebook (paperback to follow shortly)
1st December 2018

Growing up in Castle Clair, a small town renowned for its mystical past and magical legends,
Sky St Clair never felt she belonged and left home as soon as she could.
But when her sister has an accident, Sky finds herself running the family’s magical supplies shop. Wands, crystals, pendulums … really? It’s a tough job when she doesn’t believe in the products she’s selling, but how can she? Magic isn’t real, no matter what her deluded siblings think. Jethro Richmond doesn’t believe in magic either. In fact, he doesn’t believe in anything much anymore, which is proving to be a bit of a problem for a writer of fantasy novels. The last thing he needs is to get involved with a family like the St Clairs. But this is a strange little town and, as the residents prepare to celebrate Christmas, Sky and Jethro might just discover that, in Castle Clair, anything is possible. Even magic.

Victoria Cooke: It Started With A Note

Romance
HQDigital
ebook & paperback
2nd December 2018

One lost letter. A chance to change her life!
Superhero single mum Cath always puts other people first. But now that she’s seen her son safely off to university (phew!), life seems a little, well…empty. So when Cath unexpectedly discovers some letters written by her great-grandfather during the First World War, she decides to take herself on an adventure to France to retrace his footsteps. Cath expects to spend her holiday visiting famous battlefields and testing out her French phrase book.
What she doesn’t anticipate is that her tour guide, the handsome Olivier, will be quite so charming! Soon Cath isn’t simply unearthing the stories of the past – she’s writing a brand new one of her own, which might end up taking her in a very unexpected direction… Bestselling author Victoria Cooke is back with a truly romantic and heart-warming read!

Angela Britnell: Christmas at Black Cherry Retreat

Contemporary romance
Choc Lit
Kindle and Audiobook
3 December 2018

What if you had nowhere to call home for Christmas?
When Fee Winter books a winter break at the remote Black Cherry Retreat in the small town of Pine Ridge, Tennessee, it’s with the idea that the peace and quiet will help her recuperate from her hectic life as a photographer. But what she didn’t bank on was meeting Tom Chambers and his huge, interfering yet lovable family. With them, could Fee finally experience the warmth and support that’s been missing from her own life – and maybe even find a place to call home in time for Christmas?

Julia Ibbotson: Drumbeats trilogy (Drumbeats, Walking in the Rain, Finding Jess)

saga gritty romance
Endeavour Media
ebook omnibus edition
3rd December 2018

Beginning and ending in Ghana (West Africa), this is a passionate saga of love, betrayal and second chances – and of one woman’s bid to reclaim her self-belief and trust.
A feel-good ‘up-lit’ story of a woman’s strength and spirit rising above adversity.
Reviews include: “A powerful story”, “beautifully written … an emotional roller-coaster”, “scenes full of raw emotion”,
“a heart-warming read … wonderfully written … compelling, warm and uplifting”.

Lynne Connolly: Boundless

Historical Romance

Kensington Lyrical

4th December 2018

Attacked on the streets of London, Lady Livia Shaw is relieved when a gentleman comes to her aid — and startled to discover her rescuer is Adrian, the Duke of Preston, a notorious rogue. But their association—and instant attraction—does not end there, much to the Shaws’ distress. For Livia was robbed of a memento — one that is both her most precious possession and a reminder of a shameful secret. It is a secret she knows will cause her to lose Adrian forever, yet he is determined to track down the thief . . .
Adrian never wanted to be anyone’s hero, but now he’s finding the prospect as pleasing as he does Livia’s company and her beauty. Certainly, he wants her in his bed, but what surprises him is how much she comes to mean to him. Which is why the revelation of her scandalous past is nearly his undoing. Arrogantly, he had assumed only he had the power to shock.
But it is too late to turn back, and now Adrian may have to risk everything for Livia, even his heart . . .

Catherine Jones: Little Woodford – Secrets of a Small Town

Contemporary humorous
Head of Zeus
Paperback
6th December 2018

Little Woodford has a sleepy high street, a weekly market, a weathered old stone church and lovingly tended allotments. A peaceful, unexciting place, the very heart of middle England. In Little Woodford, no one has fingers in more pies than Olivia Laithwaite, parish councillor, president of the local WI, wife, mother and all- round queen bee. So, of course, it’s Olivia who is first to spot that The Beeches has been sold at last. Soon rumours begin to swirl around the young widow who has bought this lovely house. Why exactly did she leave London with her beautiful stepdaughter and young sons? Are they running from someone? Hiding something? Though if they are, they won’t be the only ones. Sometimes the arrival of newcomers in a community is all it takes to light a fuse…

Lindsay Townsend: Sir Conrad and The Christmas Treasure

Historical Romance, Sweet Romance, Christmas Romance
Prairie Rose Publications

Ebook
December 7th, 2018

What is the true treasure of Christmas?
Maggie’s younger brother, Michael, is kidnapped by outlaws, and it’s up to her to rescue him. Appealing to Sir Conrad, the grim steward of the northern English high lands is the very last thing she wants to do. With the very real possibility that the outlaws know of Michael’s talent—the ability to open any lock, to reveal any treasure—Maggie races against time to find him before his usefulness to the outlaws is ended.

Catherine Curzon and Eleanor Harkstead: The Captain’s Cornish Christmas

Catherine Curzon and Eleanor Harkstea                                                                       The Captain’s Cornish Christmas
Contemporary m/m short story
Pride
11th December                                                                                                                 For a lonely Cornish lifeboatman and an author who’s more used to crime scenes than love scenes, this Christmas is going to be very merry indeed!
When Captain Jago Treherne agrees to man the Polneath lifeboats one snowy Christmas, he knows he can forget turkey and all the trimmings.
Yet when he boards a seemingly empty yacht and stumbles upon dazzling crime author Sam Coryton enjoying an energetic afternoon below decks,
Jago soon realizes that he might be unwrapping a very different sort of Christmas gift this year!

Natalie Meg Evans: The Secret Vow

An epic wartime love story set in Paris
Bookouture
December 11th
Kindle ebook, print on demand and audiobook.

Katya – young, beautiful and impoverished – arrives in Paris, hoping to begin a new life.
She leaves behind a terrible secret, and her survival in this strange and beautiful new city depends on nobody ever discovering who – and what – she is.
Immediately, Katya is swept up in the city’s glamour – particularly the boutiques on the main boulevard, where glittering gowns are hand-sewn for an exclusive clientele.
Dare Katya dream that she may someday wear – or even design – one of these dazzling creations? It feels like an impossible wish until she meets businessman Harry Morten. Tall, handsome and well-connected, Harry could give Katya everything she wants and more… but at what price? And should she break the vow she’s made and trust him with her secret when her very survival could be at stake?
From the bestselling author of The Milliner’s Secret and The Dress Thief.

Georgia Hill: The Little Book Café

romcom/contemporary romance
Harper Impulse
paperback/kindle
13.12.18

Tash, Emma and Amy couldn’t be more different.
Tash has all the boxes ticked. Hasn’t she? Emma is looking to shake up her life that has become, well, a little stale. And Amy, the manager of The Little Book Cafe, is a hopeless romantic. She’s had her heart broken but refuses to give up on love.
Brought together by Berecombe’s Book Club, they’re in for a year of classic reading – and whatever life throws at them!

Bella Osborne: Wildflower Park (Part One of Four) – Build Me Up Buttercup

Romantic Comedy
ebook
Avon, HarperCollins
28th December 2018

A Walk in Wildflower Park tells the stories of Anna and Sophie, two office workers whose friendship sees them through their everyday
trials and tribulations – because life isn’t always a walk in the park…
When Anna is dumped by her fiancé she pledges to focus on her career, but a handsome new American colleague named Hudson seems to thwart her attempts at every turn. And when she receives a text by accident from a mystery man, could it be the new start she needs to lead her from her troubled past to a happier future?
Sophie is a stressed-out mum-of-two with a third on the way. Her husband Dave is a constant source of frustration, and their children are a regular source of newly-invented swear words and unidentifiable sticky surfaces. Wildflower Park is a sanctuary for both women as they each map out their own paths to happiness.

Deborah Carr: The Poppy Field

Historical Romance
HarperImpulse
Paperback
27th December

Young nurse, Gemma, is struggling with the traumas she has witnessed through her job in the NHS. Needing to escape from it all, Gemma agrees to help renovate a rundown farmhouse in Doullens, a town near the Somme. There, in a boarded-up cupboard, wrapped in old newspapers, is a tin that reveals the secret letters and heartache of Alice Le Breton,
a young volunteer nurse who worked in a casualty clearing station near the front line.
Set in the present day and during the horrifying years of the war, both women discover deep down the strength and courage to carry on in even the most difficult of times. Through Alice’s words and her unfailing love for her sweetheart at the front, Gemma learns to truly live again.

Contemporary romance
KDP
Ebook novella
4th December

Linn B. Halton: A Greek Affair

Harper Impulse (Harper Collins)
ebook
28 December 2018

More than just a holiday romance?
Her daughter, her job and divorcing her untrustworthy ex, are Leah’s main priorities.
She isn’t really bothered that her life might be missing a few things. But after winning a prestigious travel blogger award, she’s inundated with offers to review glamorous holiday destinations. Lying around drinking exotic cocktails and being paid for it! What could be better? Perhaps a romantic trip to idyllic Greece to find the one man who might make Leah risk her heart again…

New Releases are brought to you each month by Sheila Riley, who writes gritty family sagas.