When the news comes of Roman invasion, Morcant the druid, also known as brother of the lynx, heads for home only to find it destroyed, the flames reaching the sky. Overcome by a thirst for vengeance he joins the army of Caradoc, who the Romans call Caractacus. As a druid, he becomes a trusted advisor and his advice is to head west with a view to uniting the disparate tribes. After their main settlement is lost, the bedraggled host head west into action and adventure where not all tribes are willing to fight, and some are too terrible to make allies.
All they can do is survive and perhaps in so doing, the land of their fathers will also survive.
A day of reckoning for some and a dangerous one for others…
Jamaica 1804
As the last will and testimony of Sugar Plantation owner Sir Edward Albert Kildare is disclosed to an eager auduence, a loyal servant is brutally murdered and a young girl’s life hangs in the balance.
With the help of a guardian angel, young Lochranza Kildare, is spirited back to England under the cover of darkness to reside with her mysterious uncle Lord Alexander Maxmillian Kildare at the palatial Cleveland Court.
As time passes, headstrong Lochranza grows in both beauty and spirit, and a marriage is sought to further protect her from those who may wish her harm. When a surprisingly compatible match is found, her wilful sense of adventure is awakened and a challenge accepted.
Now betrothed to Ethan McKinnon, a titled aristocrat and Virginian tobacco plantation owner, Lochranza sets sail for the new world to marry Ethan. But the stakes are high and there are dangerous forces at play.
Can Lochranza and Ethan outwit those who plot to ensure she does not reach Virginia?
Only time and courage will tell…
It’s May Day and there are good and bad things happening in Norton Dene.
Somerset, 1934
The May Day celebrations are underway and offer some light relief from the daily hardships and a glimmer of hope for a brighter future for the folk of Norton Dene.
Conscientious Sister Edith Harrison has her fortune told and a handsome, tall dark stranger is predicted to be on the horizon for her affections. Imagine her surprise when a mysterious stranger arrives in town with a hidden agenda that will upset those at Orchard Manor House. It seems like there are some ghosts from the past that need to be put to rest.
Drawn to Ben Tyler, Sister Edith makes it her mission to discover the reason for his arrival and protect him from those who mean him harm.
Meanwhile Doctor Frances Brakespeare has been handed an ultimatum by the Reverend Gregory Sampson and is torn between love and duty – or can she have both?
Following the death of her controlling husband, Margaret Routledge is no longer the downtrodden, church mouse she once was. Now she’s the talk of the Close frequenting seedy pubs and clubs where men gather to pick up good time girls. It seems Maragret is past redemption until she sees neighbour Jenny Crawford’s headstrong 16-year-old daughter Gloria on the arm of a man of ill repute and her motherly instincts return.
By contrast, Jenny eldest; land girl Tilly has a heart of gold but trouble brews when she helps a vulnerable mother and child hiding with a dangerous past.
A wayward daughter only adds fire to Jenny’s personal problems which she chooses to keep to herself in the hope that they will go away.
Meanwhile Thelma Dawson has landed herself a promotion, but will it conflict with her ongoing romance with Peter van Luntzen – and where is he? Will he come back and make good of his promise?
Books one to eight in the series. Free on Kindle Unlimited. £2.99 to buy. That’s not much more than 60 pence each! An out and out bargain.
The Honey Driver series is set in Bath, Somerset. It has all the detail of that world heritage city, complete with zany Honey Driver, Bath hotelier and Crime Liaison Officer for the Hotels Association.
Winter casts a long shadow, but hope springs eternal.
Somerset, 1932
In the dead of night, a young woman is abandoned on the steps of Orchard Cottage Hospital and a man is seen fleeing. Nobody knows their identities.
When the young woman dies, Doctor Frances Brakespeare is keen to solve the mystery of her identity and find those responsible for her fatal injuries.
With her mother’s failing health and a very patient admirer, the last thing Frances needs is a dream job offer from a top London hospital. Torn, Frances must decide what matters more to her; her career or remaining in a small town she’s become attached to surrounded by those who need and love her…
With the society wedding of the year fast approaching will Nurse Lucy Daniels be able to unburden her shattering news and will Devlin Compton-Dixon be honest with his feelings and anxieties?
As Christmas blossoms into Spring there are huge decisions to be made, honest truths to be told and long kept secrets to be revealed – let’s hope happiness doth prevail.
The war has come to Coronation Close. Rationing has taken hold. Thelma’s son is missing at sea and being Italian her daughter in law is experiencing bullying.
An incident on a bus leads to darker deeds, a new love for someone and death in a surprising form. Normal life might be resumed in time, but how to survive in the meantime. That is the concern of the residents of Coronation Close.
Doctor Frances Brakespeare has settled into her position at the Orchard Cottage Hospital and sets about introducing new ideas – principally regarding family planning. Not everyone embraces the new knowledge or that women should be able to choose the size of their families.
As if that’s not enough to contend with, the past comes closer than she’d ever expected along with legal threats from Izzy Brakespeare’s sister. It looks as if she’s going to have more than one battle on her hands.
And then there’s Nurse Lucy Daniels whose fallen in love with a man from a different class at a time when such an event was frowned on. Will she win through? Like some other things in the Somerset town of Norton Dene hope persists that fate will lend a hand.
The war is over and so much has happened since then. Rowena, a doctor in charge of a hospital catering for women, has high hopes. Hong Kong is safe now, or at least she thinks it is until a shadow of the past reemerges to threaten her happiness with Connor, the love of her life. Fearing both for her own safety and that of her child, she takes up a position in Korea – and unfortunately finds herself in another war.