Accent Press - New Books

Bandwidth - The Ghost of Devlin Mallard

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Inspired to rediscover his roots and family history, computer programmer Michael, soon learns that the past is sometimes best left undisturbed: lurking in the history of his bloodline is a twisted killer, Devlin Mallard. A man dispatched from this earth in 1929 at the end of a hangman’s noose.

In the 21^st Century, spirits have moved on from Ouija boards and séances. The dead now travel by broadband – hidden in the Bandwidth. They inhabit the chat rooms, plying their trade online, ever hungry for contact with the living.

Now freed from the darkness and roaming cyberspace, this ghost is hell-bent on exacting revenge and unleashing mayhem.

Fighting for his life, and that of his family, Michael joins forces with murder investigator, Detective Sergeant Woods, and rides a roller-coaster of global killings to the final confrontation. He must face his demon and return Devlin Mallard to the darkness.

A Union Not Blessed

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

1805. Thomas Jefferson is about to begin a second term, but with a new Vice President. Aaron Burr, dropped from Jefferson ’s ticket, is a bitter and resentful man bent on revenge. In Boston Jean Marie Macleod, a middle-aged lawyer, is a worried man. His young and beautiful wife, Marie, seems restless and dissatisfied. Macleod decides to seek advice from a friend in New York and, while there, meets an old acquaintance, Sebastian Francisco de Miranda, South American freedom fighter, Russian secret agent and adventurer. This chance meeting sweeps Macleod into a dark and dangerous world of espionage and violence. His young wife, Marie, sets out to discover what has happened to her husband, also falls in with old friends and is sucked into the terrifying vortex. A Union Not Blessed is a story of treason and betrayal by those who founded America and were appointed its guardians, the men who had become the enemy within.

Qualia

Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

When the archangel Metatron offers his incompetent human assistant Joe, one final chance to cleanse his sullied soul, he jumps at the chance. But with Armageddon looming, Joe had better find out what's really going on, because, once Lucifer is released, any human will have missed their chance to pick a side.

However, as he prepares to deliver Graham Latimer, Lucifer's unwilling and confused human host to the angels, Joe discovers that all may not be as it seems. Hell is no longer the realm of eternal torment and Metatron's actions are not divinely inspired. Pursued by the very angels with whom he has worked for so long, Joe travels with a diverse group of 'demons' through what is left of the seven circles in an attempt to keep Graham safe and stop Metatron from fooling the other angels into destroying the world.

Facing his own personal demons, which are far more dangerous than those creatures around him and trying to find the 'truth' amongst the varying shades of grey that make up 'good' and 'evil', Joe has just one chance to make a difference. However any change is going to come at a cost and nobody, demon, angel or human, wants to pay the price.

The Handfasted Wife

Thu, 09 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100

The Handfasted Wife is the story of the Norman Conquest from the perspective of Edith (Elditha) Swanneck, Harold’s common-law wife. She is set aside for a political marriage when Harold becomes king in 1066. Determined to protect her children’s destinies and control her economic future, she is taken to William’s camp when her estate is sacked on the eve of the Battle of Hastings. She later identifies Harold’s body on the battlefield and her youngest son becomes a Norman hostage.

Elditha avoids an arranged marriage with a Breton knight by which her son might or might not be given into his care. She makes her own choice and sets out through strife-torn England to seek help from her sons in Dublin. However, events again overtake her.

Harold’s mother, Gytha, holds up in her city of Exeter with other aristocratic women, including Elditha’s eldest daughter. The girl is at risk, drawing Elditha back to Exeter and resistance. Initially supported by Exeter’s burghers the women withstand William’s siege. However, after three horrific weeks they negotiate exile and the removal of their treasure. Elditha takes sanctuary in a convent where eventually she is reunited with her hostage son. This is an adventure story of love, loss, survival and reconciliation.

Wedding Bible

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

The critically acclaimed WEDDING BIBLE is the definitive guide to arranging a wedding with style, sophistication and panache. Described by Condé Nast Brides magazine as: “the ultimate guide to getting married” this all new, redesigned and luxurious second edition is beautifully presented with special papers, bookmarks and inspirational imagery from real weddings from four world-renowned wedding photographers to offer international appeal. Contains detailed advice and shopping tips, planning solutions and checklists, with easy to access money-saving advice for the bride on a budget. Sarah also peppers the book with tips and insights from some of the biggest names in the international events industry who she works alongside when planning big budget weddings across the globe: from the fashion famous, leading hotels, celebrity florists and photographers, stylists to royalty and the stars (some of whom worked on the Royal Wedding). A publication with a proven track record, this new edition retains it’s ‘Brit Glam Wedding’ status whilst adding international appeal and from CNN’s Royal Wedding Expert.

How To Be a Million Pound Mum - 25 Great Business Ideas

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 00:00:00 +0000

So you want to be a great mum and, ideally, a rich one too? Welcome to Million Pound Mum. This range of books offers constructive advice on how to start a business, still be a great mum and have fun while doing it.

Together with great advice this book also contains the experiences and tips of mums who have all successfully started their own companies. Some have reached the Million Pound Mum goal and other are well on the way.

A Death in the Asylum - A Euphemia Martins Mystery

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

‘I detect that this woman has been around death – two, three, four times!’

That startled me. The deaths associated with the Staplefords were all too public knowledge, but Madam Arcana had counted my own private bereavement in her total.

‘I do know a little of what I speak,’ she said to me with a twinkle. Then she turned to Richenda, ‘You see, the spirits are more comfortable around those who have been nearly involved in the demise of others. They become, if you will, guardians of the gateway.’

Euphemia, the disowned granddaughter of an Earl, is working unhappily as a housekeeper for Bertram Stapleford at his ill advised new property, when the dramatic collapse of the kitchen floor sends her back to where it all began, Stapleford House. A visiting mystic disrupts the Staplefords unleasing old family rumours. Euphemia finds herself playing second fiddle to Bertram's new love, Beatrice Wilton, as she launches a project to investigate the new aslyums.

It is not long before Euphemia realizes that not only does Beatrice have her unscrupulous sights set on Bertram, but that her enterprises may be about to put them all in very great danger. A besotted Bertram will not listen, so once more she turns to the handsome Butler, Rory for aid. Then a midnight attacker strikes at the heart of Stapleford Hall and the stakes are suddenly all too high.

As usual Euphemia only has her quick wits and that defence of all virtuous young ladies to defend herself, her scream.

A Death in the Highlands - A Euphemia Martins Mystery

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

After dodging criminal charges, Richard returns as head of the household at Stapleford Hall. Changing fortunes find Euphemia temporarily promoted to housekeeper for the first trip to the family's new hunting lodge in the Scottish Highlands, where she is fascinated by handsome, intelligent Rory Macleod, the new butler.
Taking on her new role, she encounters angry locals with a grudge against the Staplefords and thwarts what she believes to be an attempt on Bertram Stapleford's life.
A strange group of house guests arrive for the Glorious Twelfth, but with disastrous consequences.
Euphemia finds herself caught in the midst of bitter rivalries, and evidence pointing to different murder suspects. Will she unravel the mystery?
How much danger is she in? Is the crime political or a revenge killing?
And how will her relationships with Bertram and the handsome Rory unfold?

Hidden Depths

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

A fast-paced psychological thriller that explores the explosive consequences of child abuse.

On New Year's Eve, 2004, a woman awakens from a coma. She has been unconscious for 12 years since being viciously attacked by a lake. Nobody knows who or why she was assaulted but as the plot unravels it transpires the events of that night are linked to things that happened before the fall of the Berlin Wall.

In East Germany in the spring of 1989, 14-year-old Felix Waltz had escaped from a life of abuse at the notorious Stasi youth prison, Torgau. He found a safe haven and went into hiding, leaving a tormented past behind. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification, Felix had the chance to live a normal life with his uncle and aunt - until one of Torgau’s abusive wardens turned up, threatening his new-found security and happiness. Felix turned vigilante to confront his past, resorting to murder, and his crimes remain hidden for 12 years.

In 2005, Hanne Drais, a criminal psychologist working within a Berlin police team, is one of those involved in reopening the case of Felix’s victims. Hanne discovers the truth behind the lies and finds her destiny with Felix is interwoven with the past, their paths indelibly linked and fated again to collide.

The law of the land versus the law of revenge? The answer is often subjective and unclear, but it is never an easy choice....

A Maxwell Takes Flight - Part Three of the Laird of Lochandee series

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Part Three of an historical romance saga set in the Scottish Borders between the two World Wars.

As their children grow, Ross and Rachel continue their battles to consolidate the farm at the Glens of Lochandee, fighting against a corrupt landlord and the ravages of disease. Overshadowing their rural life, too, are the dark clouds of another World War and the impact on their friends and family.

A Death in the Family - A Euphemia Martins Mystery

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

He had the aspect of a man, who had welcomed death, albeit he had found it among the gravy, and this helped me bear the awful, wrenching pain I felt at his loss.

‘Oh, Euphemia, if only your father…’

‘There was really nothing he could do about it,’ I countered fairly.

In December 1909 the Very Rev Joshia Martins expires in a dish of mutton and onions leaving his family on the brink of destitution. Abandoned by her noble grandfather, Joshia’s daughter, the eighteen year old Euphemia, takes it on herself to provide for her mother and little brother by entering service. She’s young, fit, intelligent, a little naive and assumes the life of a maid won’t be too demanding. However, on her first day at the unhappy home of Lord Stapleford she discovers a murdered body.

Euphemia’s innate sense of justice has her prying where no servant should look and uncovering some of the darker social, political and business secrets of Stapleford family. She is propositioned, locked in cupboards, made to chop mountains of onions, her reputation shredded, accused of murder and frequently put in fear for her life. All Euphemia has to defend herself is her quick wits, sense of humour and the ultimate weapon of all virtuous young women, her scream.

A Maxwell Mourned - Part Two of the Laird of Lochandee series

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Part Two of an historical romance saga set in the Scottish Borders between the two World Wars.

Ross and Rachel Maxwell take up life at the Glens of Lochandee, where they must strive to build up the farm, raise a family, and rear their animals despite uncertainty of their tenure, the social instability of the years between the two World Wars and the heartbreak of tragic loss. Their love of the land and each other gives them strength and determination to face these challenges.

A Maxwell Maligned - Part One of the Laird of Lochandee series

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

At sixteen, Rachel O’Brian finds herself alone in the world and accepts a home with an old friend of her father’s, but she is unprepared for his wife’s malice and cannot guess at the secret which feeds the woman’s hatred.

The younger Maxwells welcome Rachel to their Ayrshire farm, especially Ross, but he too has earned Gertrude Maxwell’s spite. When Ross disappears Rachel is dismayed to find herself destitute and expecting his child. Not until past secrets are revealed can the two find each other again.

Wedding Bible Planner

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Stylish, practical WEDDING ORGANISER packed with insider information and top tips from Sarah Haywood ‘and friends’ from the world of luxury celebrations. Guest experts include the fashion famous, luxury stylists, celebrity florist and chefs - including royal couturier Sassi Holford, cupcake Queen Peggy Porschen, A-list hair and beauty professionals and Jamie Oliver’s Fabulous Feasts.

10 Comprehensive Sections with pockets for storing swatches, clippings and quotes
Handy Worksheets & Detailed Checklists
2-year Calendar, Zipped pouch, Business Card Holder
Pull out bride’s ‘Mood Board’
Inspirational imagery from real weddings
Contained within beautifully packaged and wrapped hard back ring binder for convenient filing of additional personal documents
Customisable photo-holder to personalise binder cover

The Corpse's Tale

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Dai Morgan has the body of a man and the mind of a child. He lived with his mother in the Mid Wales village of Llan, next door to bright, beautiful 19 year old Anna Harris. The vicar found Anna's naked, battered body in the churchyard one morning. The police discovered Anna's bloodstained earring in Dai's pocket. The judge gave Dai life.

After ten years in gaol Dai appealed against his sentence and was freed. Sergeants Trevor Joseph and Peter Collins are sent to Llan to reopen the case. But the villagers refuse to believe Dai innocent.

The Llan police do not make mistakes or allow murderers to walk free.

Do they?

They Can't Take That Away from Me - Musical Memories That Colour Our Lives

Thu, 31 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Does a particular song take you back to a certain time and place? More than 100 A-list celebrities were asked what songs bring back special memories.

Film star Joan Collins The Way You Look Tonight reminds her of the first dance at her wedding to Percy Gibson.
TV presenter Richard Madeley remembers playing guitar at the local folk club when he hears American Pie by Don McLean.
Pavarotti's rendition of Nessun Dorma sets off memories of the 1990 World Cup for Gary Lineker
Joanna Lumley thinks of her childhood in the Far East whenever she hears Nat King Cole singing Stardust.

Music is one of the most evocative forces on earth. A whole cascade of memories can be brought on by a single tune. They Can't Take That Away From Me is a musical memory tour with the stars to a place where it is yesterday once more.

Celebrities include Kim Catrall, Denise Welch, Cliff Richard, Dame Judi Dench, Graham Norton, Joanna Lumley, Joan Collins, Chris Tarrant, David Soul, Jane McDonald, Michael Aspel, Lorraine Kelly, Alan Titchmarsh,Neil Sedaka, Daniel O'Donnell, Gary Lineker, Noel Edmonds, Paul O Grady, Richard Madeley, Angela Griffin, Michael Palin, Rula Lenska, Adele Parks, Joanna Trollope and Lynda Bellingham

Red Stilettos

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

This sensational collection of quality short stories is perfect for the mainstream fiction market. The writing style is deft and stylish but accessible on many levels making it attractive to those buying for book groups and readers who enjoy quality short fiction.

Ruth Joseph lives in Cardiff, Wales where she is part of the strong Jewish community. She has a strong, evovative voice which speaks directly to the reader about guilt, love and food. Her work has perviously been published by Honno, Parthian and Loki.

How to Get Your Kids Through University

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

This book is designed to help you give the best advice and support to your teenager who wants to go to a British university.

All the key elements of a university education are covered, from choosing the right course, understanding university league tables and getting a place, right through to maximising opportunities after graduation.

We consider all the critical events where your support and informed advice can be vital and help you to spot when things are going right and when they are not.

It’s not about holding your child’s hand. It’s about giving sound advice - an arm around the shoulder - to allow your child to mature at university, to stay on course for a good degree, and to forge the way to a successful career.

The authors are experienced university staff who have drawn on the knowledge they have gained as tutors, as teachers, and as parents themselves.

Clearly laid out and fully illustrated by case studies, this book is your guide to your kids’ success at university.

Remembering Judith

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

A true story of shattered childhoods...

Following her escape from Nazi Germany and the loss of her family Judith searches for unconditional love and acceptance. In a bleak boarding house she meets her future husband – another Jewish refugee who cares for her when she is ill.Tragically she associates illness with love and a pattern is set. Judith’s behaviour eventually spiral into anorexia – a disease little known or understood in 1950’s Britain. While she starves herself, Judith forces Ruth, her daughter, to eat. She makes elaborate meals and watches her consume them. She gives her a pint of custard before bed each night. As the disease progresses roles are reversed. Ruth must care for her mother and loses any hope of a normal childhood. The generation gap is tragically bridged by loss and extreme self-loathing, in this moving true story of a family’s fight to survive.

My Mummy Wears a Wig - Does Yours?

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

A true and heart warming account of a journey through breast cancer.

A diagnosis of breast cancer made Michelle Williams-Huw, mother of two small boys, re-evaluate her life as she battled her demons to come to terms with the illness. My Mummy Wears A Wig is poignant, sad, revelatory and deliciously funny. Readers will be riveted by her honesty and enchanted as, having hit bottom, she falls in love with life (and her husband) all over again.

My Mummy Wears A Wig is a moving and humorous account of Michelle’s personal journey, which reveals the fears, the hopes and the absurdity of her situation. With two small children to care for and a life in turmoil, she recounts her day to day struggles while undergoing nine months of treatment. She relates with captivating candour, the effects that the illness has on her relationships with her husband and those around her.

Ready or Not?

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Four star-crossed people in a Dublin summer, with a match-making mother to spice up the sometimes poignant and sometimes hilarious tale even further. Should they all settle for less, taking life's little disappointments on the chin, or chase their dreams of love and happiness? The question is, are they ready for it, or not?

Sometimes you've got to forgive the person you were to be the person you can be....

How do you find the faith to love again? Take Caddy. She's blonde and beautiful, and has a wonderful man who loves her....what could be more perfect? And yet she's running away from him, and from a secret and painful past.
Then there's feisty, tender Roz who has to make corn cream commercials sound romantic and who yearns to be a writer. That's after she finds a man and has a baby, of course... She can't help feeling it was all meant to be easier.
And Tom who dreams of being a famous photographer but who ends up selling mobile phones and thinking about the son he never sees.
Not to mention gorgeous Dan, a famous actor...He only wants Caddy.... Why doesn't she want him?

Ordinary Miracles

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

It only takes ordinary miracles to change your life.

Jasmine Smith: forty next month and not ready for it; married to a man she likes and not prepared to give up on love; smothered by life's mundanity, and yet drawn towards its mystery. She wants the sort of love that makes her feel more alive, she wants wild sex in stalle d lifts with film stars. She wants something else....

Jasmine Smith is in desperate need of a miracle. And with the help of an adventurous school friend, a man called Charlie and a pig called Rosie she is about to find one.

A sharp, funny, moving novel and an exhilarating invitation to step out of quiet desperation and re-discover the magic in life and in love.

Midnight Murders

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Second book in the Detective Trevor Joseph series.

Compton Castle is a Victorian psychiatric hospital long overdue for demolition. Its warrens of rooms and acres of grounds, originally designed as a sanctuary for the mentally ill, now provide the ideal stalking ground for a serial killer.

Physically and mentally battered after his last case (Without Trace), Sergeant Trevor Joseph is a temporary inmate – but the hospital loses all therapeutic benefit when a corpse is dug out of a flowerbed. Then more bodies are found; young, female and both linked to the hospital. Everyone within the mouldering walls is in danger while a highly unpredictable malevolence remains at large. And, as patients and staff are interrogated by the police, the apparently motiveless killer watches and waits for the opportunity to strike again . . .

The Good Father

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The Good Father explores the nature of fatherhood and the bonds between fathers and their children in a gripping story of love, betrayal and adultery.

When Peter Wright's father dies he leaves his entire fortune to Peter's best friend Jack. Over a few weeks in the summer of 1959 the consequences of the old man's legacy seriously affect three men’s lives, Jack, who has brought up his three children alone since his wife was killed, Wright's solicitor Harry, who is trying to rebuild his relationship with his estranged son Guy, and Peter himself, whose friendship with Jack is threatened by his father's death and the terrible secrets he has kept since his return from the Japanese POW camps.The Good Father explores the nature of fatherhood and the bonds between fathers and their children in a gripping story of love, betrayal and adultery.

Wise Follies

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Why waving goodbye to Mr Wonderful may be the wisest folly of all...

Alice Evans has got a GSOH, GFCH (gas-fired central heating), a cat and a Mitsubishi colour portable. People have told her she can look pretty if she tries. She's thirty-eight and single, so will someone please pass the message on?

What Alice thinks she needs is Mr Wonderful. A man like her pottery teacher, James Mitchel, who's warm and wise and gorgeous. But as one long, hot summer disappears with no sign of her snaring the man of her dreams, Alice is forced to consider the alternatives.

Should she settle for Mr Mediocre, her dull but dependable ex boyfriend Eamon, and spend the rest of her days trying to like golf?

Or could there be another way for a woman to ditch all the longing - and really start living her life?

Say You Love Me

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Say You Love Me sensitively explores childhood abuse, adoption and family loyalty. Pulling no punches, this enthralling, disturbing novel gives the reader a real insight into familial abuse.

Say You Love Me is a powerful, sensitive yet shocking, exploration of the long-lasting traumas caused by parental sexual abuse. Marion Husband’s superbly drawn, multi-dimensional characters, loving and hating freely, both fascinate and repel.

Ben Walker sets out to trace his father and discover the truth about his adoption in 1968. But the past holds secrets that his brother Mark is desperate to keep. Old hatreds between the brothers are rekindled and their adopted father is made to face his own guilt over the events of that spring of 1968.

No Hands To Hold and No Legs To Dance On - A Thalidomide Survivor's Story

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Loving and living - a Thalidomide survivor's story. While the battle for the compensation of Thalidomide victims was raging in the 1970s, former Labour MP Jack Ashley asked in a parliamentary debate how Louise, then 11 years old, could look forward to “laughing and loving with no hand to hold and no legs to dance on”. This is a survivor’s story, a triumph of the human spirit over adversity.

Louise was born Louise Mason, a victim of the devastating drug Thalidomide. Born without arms and legs, she is the daughter of David Mason, who single-handedly held out against the drug company, the legal establishment and all the other parents of Thalidomide victims in the high-profile fight for proper compensation for the victims. As she was photographed with her family and appeared on television meeting celebrities during the battle, few people realised that she did not live with her wealthy parents and three siblings at their spacious North London home but was being brought up in an institution, Chailey Heritage in Sussex. In fact, Louise had never gone home from hospital and, for the first five weeks of her life, her mother didn’t even see her.

This is a survivor’s story, a triumph of the human spirit over adversity. Louise married John, a partially sighted man, and had two beautiful children. She was devastated when she discovered that he was having an affair with their carer. She also had to undergo a kidney transplant, the first Thalidomide victim to do so. She has worked, been an active disability rights campaigner and has now found new love, with Darren, a fellow Thalidomide victim who was born without arms.

The Legacy of Lochandee

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

In the years following the end of the Second World War, life at the Glens of Lochandee is tough. Many families in the village have been bereaved, and rationing is affecting business.

Nevertheless, Conan Maxwell’s new garage is doing well, and he and his Welsh-born partner, Nick, are hoping to expand. But how will their partnership survive their differing ambitions?

Conan’s young sister, Bridie is faced with a dilemma. Is her desire for Nick going to pull her away from her other great passion - her animals and farm? Will they ever be able to marry or afford a home of their own?

Old school friend Fiona Sinclair returns from the city, now a successful accountant. How welcoming are the village community going to be – especially her old childhood rival, Conan?

Rachel Maxwell, Bridie’s mother, fears for her family and the long-term future of her beloved Glens of Lochandee.

The Truth Club

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The Truth Club is a tender, wry look at families, truth and love.

Marriage seems to have stirred up all sorts of weird longings in Sally Adams. On the surface she seems to have everything she needs to be happy....so why is she guzzling so many chocolate biscuits and dreaming of elsewhere?

She has good friends, an interesting job and an almost brand new husband. Then a chance encounter with a stranger makes it all too clear that life could have been so different if she had followed her heart. She begins to wonder if the key to fulfillment lies not in the present but in the past.

Over fifty years before, Sally's Great-Aunt DeeDee, the official black sheep of the family, disappeared. When Sally uncovers a scandal that has left deep fault lines in her family she begins to understand the legacy of lies and secrets that are echoed in her complicated relationship with her sister, April. As she unravels the mystery she begins to see what she has been hiding from. And she learns that to be who she truly is and to find her soul mate, she must be honest...and she must be brave.

Peak Performance - The First Welsh Woman to Climb Everest

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

‘You fall you’re dead,’ the voice inside my head told me. I was balancing on a knife-edge ridge, sheer drops either side of me. The cold was chilling me to my core. But I could not give up. I had to focus, The summit was within reach.

Everest: the highest mountain in the world and also one of the most dangerous.

On May 24 2007, Tori James made history when she became the first Welsh woman, and youngest British woman, to climb to the summit of Everest. It was an amazing achievement for the petite farmer’s daughter from Pembrokeshire. In Peak Performance Tori shares the inspiration and drive that helped her to succeed in reaching the ‘rooftop of the world’.

Hostage

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Ex-CIA agent Danny Shanklin, the hero of Hunted, returns in this spin-off short-paced thriller.

Mary Watts, the wife of rich mogul, Richards Watts, has been kidnapped.

Haunted by the death of his wife and daughter, murdered in front of his eyes by the notorious Paper Stone Scissors killer, Danny is hired to find her before the kidnapper’s carry out their threat of execution.

But the raid goes wrong and Danny is left for dead.

Can he find Mary before her kidnappers? And will he be able to save her?

Grand Slam Man

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

When Wales beat France to clinch the 2012 Six Nations Championship Grand Slam – one player stood out from the rest of the field.

A powerful presence on the pitch, Dan Lydiate, the 6ft 4in fearless farmer’s son from Llandrindod Wells truly deserved the title Player of the Tournament.

In Grand Slam Man, the heroic Welsh flanker reflects on his comeback from a broken neck in 2008 to become the hero of Wales’s 2012 Grand Slam success. He also reveals his thoughts on the Australia tour, his love of tackling, his life on the farm and his British Lions dream.

Murder in the Monastery

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The eleventh book in the Libby Sarjeant series of British murder mysteries which features a retired actress as the female sleuth and are based in the picturesque village of Steeple Martin.

Libby Sarjeant is invited to look into the provenance of a jewelled Anglo-Saxon reliquary which has appeared on a website. The nuns at St Eldreda’s Abbey are curious, as it apparently contains a relic of St Eldreda herself. Libby’s friend Peter obtains permission to mount a play based on St Eldreda’s story in the ruins of the original monastery called, naturally, Murder In The Monastery. And then, inevitably, a real body is discovered, and Libby and her friend Fran find out that this is not the first.

100 Ways to Fight the Flab - The Wannabe Guide to a Better Bottom

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

One hundred helpful and hilarious tips for fighting the flab and looking your best from Jane Wenham-Jones, best-selling author and columnist.

My BMI is 22, my hip to waist ratio passes muster with the medical profession and given the right light, when wearing the right underwear, I have even been referred to "slim". A small miracle given my alcohol intake, addiction to crisps and erratic approach to exercise...."

So speaks Jane Wenham-Jones, the author who coined the term "Writer's Bottom". Here, she brings you her top 100 tips for keeping a spreading rear end at bay. Quirky, hilarious, uplifting, occasionally bizarre, every one of these tried-and-tested methods will have you looking and feeling slimmer and fitter - even with a glass in your hand...

The Chain Garden

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

The linked circular beds of the chain garden, bright with summer colour, present a charming picture – unless you understand the coded language of flowers.

Guilt-ridden at the number of men dying in her father's mine, Grace Dameral works hard to help the village's bereaved families while caring for her frail mother and preparing for her brothers' homecoming.

The arrival of Edwin Philpotts, a former missionary, ignites a dramatic sequence of events that lay bare long-buried secrets. But why has Edwin returned to Cornwall, and how will Grace respond to his shocking confession?

Missing Nancy

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

A stunning debut novel about living, loving and family life

Nancy may have died but her fractured family still turns to her for guidance. When ex-daughter-in-law and single mum, Nina, takes her two boys camping in France, her plan is to ‘find herself’. Her journey is one many readers will relate to and they may find they learn as much about themselves as the very varied and lively characters that Carolyn Lewis has created.

Jonathan knows that his mum's relaxed attitude to mothering infuriates Frank, his granddad, and he tries to be the buffer between them. But Nina’s problems with Frank go deeper, she knows the true state of Frank and Nancy’s marriage before she died.

Determined to make sense of what she’s doing with her life, Nina embarks on a spur of the moment camping holiday in France, which makes Frank more convinced than ever that she is incapable of looking after his grandson. Throughout the holiday, Jonathan telephones his granddad to tell him of their exploits, except for the one fateful evening when he goes missing.

Nina, Frank and Jonathan continue to talk to Nancy. She remains at the centre of their lives, and, instinctively, they know what she expects of them.

Tide of Fortune

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Tide of Fortune, is a thrilling adventure story set on the high seas. It has all the ingredients that readers who are familiar with the writing of Patrick O'Brian, Alexander Kent and CS Forester will recognise: perilous seascapes, bloody sea battles, races against time and tide, gallant sea captains and salty crew, exotic locations but with a twist!

The story is told from the point of view of an inexperienced nineteen-year-old girl, Kerenza Vyvyan. Her voyage on the packet ship Kestrel is not only a journey to ransom her mother and sister held captive by the Governor of Tangier but also proves to be a journey of self-discovery. Kerenza bravely faces the various disasters that befall her on board with a growing strength of character and fortitude she never knew she had.

Jane Jackson's heroine, Kerenza, prefigures the feisty women of 20th century novels rising above the traditional role mapped out for a woman of her time. However, this is not all action and adventure for during the course of her travels Kerenza regains the love and trust of Kestrel's captain, Nick Penrose, who had broken her heart earlier.

A Seaman's Book of Sea Stories

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

"Just the sort of book one likes to find on a yacht's bookshelf between watches." - Classic Boat Magazine

Set sail on a voyage of discovery of great nautical stories.

These stories range from the Napoleonic wars, via ships that traded under sail round Cape Horn, to what it was like to take charge of a ship in Convoy, serve in the force-ends of a submarine or fly a Corsair against the Japanese. If you have seen WW1 picture of a ship in dazzle camouflage, there is a description of how it came about, and the Dunkirk evacuation is movingly depicted. Lastly there is Uffa Fox's airbone lifeboat: a real masterpiece of design, and what a man!

Losing It

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Losing It is set in the world of Baldock, local drug dealer and hard man of the Welsh Valleys. When one of his drug-runners, TJ, starts taking his own cut, it proves to be a big mistake. Baldock’s reaction is explosive and violent.

Baldock’s life is not straight forward. At home sits his dependent, wheelchair-bound father, a WWII veteran who has no idea about his son’s drug empire. This taut father and son relationship is the backdrop to Baldock’s increasingly desperate need to find and deal with TJ. Looking for TJ, Baldock neglects his father’s needs with incendiary results that will change his life forever.

Inside Out

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Brought together by their crimes, the prisoners, young offenders and young people at Bridgend's Parc Prison share their stories of life on the other side of the security walls. Whether they are hardened criminals, prolific offenders or teenagers in trouble for the first time, they all have one thing in common - they had a life outside. Through their creative writing workshops, these prisoners have put into words their feelings and experiences about doing time at Parc Prison and talk about their hopes for the future. Half of all prisoners have the reading skills of a child of 11 or younger, rendering them virtually unemployable and creating a vicious circle that only encourages a return to crime when they are freed. This book is the result of new initiatives to improve basic skills in prisons and makes compelling reading.

About the Author
Prisoners from Her Majesty's Prison and Young Offenders Institute Parc, Bridgend, have teamed up to share their experience of life behind bars. The writers are from the prison's core groups: 15-17-year-olds, 18-21, adults and vulnerable prisoners.

Life's New Hurdles

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Colin Jackson is one of the greatest athletes that Britain has ever produced. He was in the world top ten for 16 years, and was world number 1 for two of them. He set seven European and Commonwealth and nine UK records, and he still holds the world record for indoor hurdling.

In 2003 Colin retired from athletics in front of an adoring home crowd. Then real life began. In Life’s New Hurdles Colin describes the shock of adjusting to sudden change. How would he manage without the strict routine of training and competing that had been his life since the age of 17? Would he forever long to be back on the track? And how satisfying would his new career be as a sports presenter and television personality? From athletics commentating to Strictly Come Dancing, Colin describes the challenges and joys of starting a whole new life.

Alive and Kicking

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

In 2005 Welsh soccer star Andy Legg's life was turned upside down. Forced to retire after finding out that a lump in his neck was cancer, it seemed that his 15-year career, which included playing for Cardiff and Swansea City, was over. But an operation to remove the tumour was successful and the 42-year-old Neath-born star is now back on the field. "Alive and Kicking" is his emotional account of his fears for his career and his life, and his gratitude for the support of his fans which give him the strength to fight on.

About the Author
Andy Legg is a Welsh international footballer and one of a select band to play for South Wales arch rivals Swansea City and Cardiff City.Signed by Swansea City in 1988, he turned professional at the age of 22. An aggressive left sided player, Andy made more than 160 League appearances for the Swans, before moving on to Notts County, Birmingham City, Ipswich and Reading. He joined Cardiff City in 1998. His League career totalled more than 600 appearances; he played six times for Wales and made the Guinness Book of Records for his long throw-in. He's coached at Peterborough, managed Hucknall Town and continues to play for Welsh Premier League side Llanelli.

Eye of the Wind

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0100

Set in 1795, a year since Lord Roland Stratton left Cornwall for France to undertake a secret mission for the British government.

When her father is felled by a stroke brought on by desperate financial problems, Melissa Tregonning has to try to keep the family boatyard running and pay off his debts. Determined to protect his reputation, she must keep his plight and her efforts a secret, even from her family.

She is helped by a mysterious stranger discovered living in woods on her father's land. But who is he? Why does he seek solitude? And what – or who – caused his terrible wounds?

Attraction neither dare acknowledge deepens into love. But dark secrets threaten to part them forever, until Melissa's courage leads to a revelation that changes everything.

The Iron Road

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

It's 1865 and the Great Western Railway has spread across Cornwall, changing the face of the countryside with earthworks and viaducts. Now a new line is under construction. The invading army of navvies has many women but few wives. Considered heathens in a Christian country, they are feared by locals, ill-treated by the railway company, and a source of amusement for bored aristocratic ladies.

This is the story of two men and two women of vastly differing backgrounds drawn together by corruption, intrigue and tragedy.

Yet in the wake of disaster, hope blossoms, and courage is rewarded with a love undreamed of.

An Eye of Death

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Fast-paced and populated with a cast of rogues, actors and playwrights this murder mystery offers an enthralling read and the true flavour of Elizabethan London.

Elizabethan playwright Dekker lives a fast, furious, and exciting existence in London, skirting poverty, danger, and the love of a good woman. He finds work as an adapter at Philip Henslowe's theatrical company and as a book-holder at Essex House - before being watched by Christopher Marlowe and others as politics intrude.

Theft of a hidden cipher and murder of a local constable keep him in trouble. Able plotting and namedropping will appeal to fans of Elizabethan theater and Simon Hawke's Shakespearean mysteries.

Vinyl Demand

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

‘Vinyl Demand’ sees two party girls plucked from their dead end, debt-ridden lives and thrust into the big time as Superstar DJs. They only wanted to pay their gas bill!

Beth Roberts and Rula Popek have a lot in common. They are both 19, both have crap jobs and both live in the worst flat in the whole of Wales.

The girls have no money, no boyfriends, family who are thousands of miles away and a final demand for a gas bill which they cannot pay. It all looks pretty bleak until one day when Rula stumbles across an entire vinyl record collection which has been left in a local charity shop. She takes a gamble and blows the money for the gas bill on the whole lot and the dream of becoming Cardiff’s very own answer to the global girl DJ, Lisa Lashes. It’s just a shame she didn’t bother to explain the plan to Beth first.

In at the Deep End

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

As he was carried off on a stretcher at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Welsh swimmer David Davies was celebrating his success. His exhausting performance in the first ever 10 km open water race earned him a silver medal and, more importantly, a place in British swimming history. But what was running though his head as he collapsed from the physical exhaustion of completing the Olympics' most gruelling swimming race?

This is David's own story. The tale of how an ordinary schoolboy from Barry made the swimming world sit up and take notice. He talks about his determination and drive and his life both in and out of the water.

Risk

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Set against the backdrop of life in the Welsh valleys, Granelli’s edgy novel delves into addiction and the psychotic mind and leaves the reader reeling.

James Read is a troubled man in his forties. A gambling addiction has destroyed his life, career and marriage. After a period living on the streets he ends up in a hostel, where he meets Colin, a Falklands war veteran with schizophrenia.

The novel is played out against the backdrop of Colin’s crazed mind and insane plans. As James’ life begins to recover, so the danger that Colin represents begins to escalate. Colin becomes James’ nemesis and pushes him toward the limit of endurance. The novel concludes in climactic and dramatic fashion.

The Laird of Lochandee

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

How will past secrets revealed help the two find each other again?

Can they face the challenges of life at the Glens of Lochandee where they must strive to build up the farm, raise a family, and rear their animals despite the heartbreak of diphtheria and foot-and-mouth disease.

Is their love of the land and each other enough to give them the strength and determination to face these hurdles, and more, as the shadow of a second World War looms?

Poison and Poisoning - A Compendium of Cases, Catastrophes and Crimes

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

This fascinating book will be enjoyed both by those interested in the science of poisons and also by general readers who can dip in and find hair-raising horrors and calamities on every page.

In this fascinating guide to poisons, Celia Kellett provides information and entertainment in equal measure as she explains clearly what all the different poisons are and how they work, giving us all the gory detail of how, by accident or design, they have led to the demise of so many people.

From cyanide to the Black Widow spider, and from the Green Mamba snake to botulism, poisons can be found everywhere from the jungle to the refrigerator.

Did you know, for example, that the Emperor Napoleon died from arsenic poisoning caused by the green dye used for the pattern on his wallpaper? Or that the Green Mamba’s venom is so toxic that a bite is fatal within half an hour? Or that 50,000 people die from snake bites every year in India?

Poison is rarely out of the headlines, with recent stories including the murder, by polonium poisoning, of Alexander Litvinenko in London, allegedly by the KGB, The Horse Whisperer author Nicholas Evans becoming seriously ill in Scotland after eating poisonous mushrooms, and melamine poisoning in Chinese baby-milk formula.

It is a subject that holds a fascination for the general public who (along with budding crime writers, and perhaps the KGB) will want to buy this excellent book in large numbers.

Dangerous Waters

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

1812: With her guardian planning to remarry, 20-year-old Phoebe Dymond finds she is no longer welcome in his Falmouth home and is soon hustled aboard the packet ship Providence bound for Jamaica and an arranged marriage.

A skilled herbalist and midwife, Phoebe clashes with ship's surgeon, Jowan Crossley. But their professional antagonism evolves into mutual respect and a deepening attraction neither dare acknowledge.

Following a skirmish with a French privateer, Providence is robbed of crew by a Royal Navy frigate and arrives to find the island facing a slave revolt and Kingston flooded with French refugees.

Escorted by Jowan to the plantation of which she will be mistress, terrifying events force Phoebe to relinquish all hope of the happiness she has glimpsed. But her journey is not yet over…

Paper Moon

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

In 1938, after an unhappy childhood, Paul’s son Bobby Harris runs away to London. In Soho he’s picked up by Jason Hargreaves, a society photographer, and becomes his model. In Jason's studio Bobby meets Nina Tate. Bobby and Nina pose for erotic photographs and soon become lovers.

Jason pays for Bobby to learn to fly and at the outbreak of the Second World War, he joins the RAF and becomes a fighter pilot. Nina marries a Canadian pilot who is killed in 1940, just before the birth of their child, Joan. Bobby steps in to take care of Nina and Joan but in 1944 Joan dies and Bobby is shot down, suffering terrible burns to his hands and face. No longer the beautiful young man of Jason’s photographs, in 1946 Bobby returns to hide himself away in the house he’s inherited from his grandfather in Thorp, his relationship with Nina destroyed by grief and Nina’s reactions to his disfigurement. In Thorp, Bobby meets Jane, an unhappily married schoolteacher. Trying to get over Nina, slowly, Bobby falls in love with this gentle, older woman, believing that she is the only person who sees beyond his injuries.

In London, Nina meets Mick Morgan, now a very famous poet and playwright. She also meets Hugh, Mick’s son, and Nina and Hugh begin a passionate love affair. However, Hugh and Bobby were childhood friends whose friendship ended bitterly. Through Nina, Hugh and Bobby become rivals, a rivalry that is complicated by Mick and the mysterious figure that returns to England from Morocco to confront Bobby with the truth about his past.

Paper Moon is a passionate love story that also explores how the sins of the fathers can have far-reaching effects on the sons.

A Place of Birds

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Nineteen-year-old Susanna Elliot rebels against her strict Quaker background which alienates her from her family and community. Rejected by the doctor she admires and is refused permission to take her dead brother's place in the family business, she flees to join her two cousins on their mission to China. All three leave Falmouth for Shanghai aboard a schooner owned by Lowell Hawke.

Hawke’s daring exploits have made him a legend along the China coast and Susanna finds herself involved in terrible danger – and love...