Pride Family Books Elli Pride A stunning saga debut from an author destined to be a star of the genre -- ELLIE PRIDE is an engrossing, heartrending story of love, passion, duty and family, set in the North-east in the early part of the twentieth century. A stirring tale charting the life of Ellie Pride, a beautiful Preston girl who, when her mother dies, must forge her own way in the world. Warned by her mother on her deathbed to forsake love and passion for stability and social status, Ellie must spurn the advances of handsome Gideon Walker, despite her deep attraction to him. With her father struggling to cope with two children, Ellie is exiled to live with her aunt and uncle in Hoylake. Her mother's dream is that this will give her the chance to escape her background forever. Ellie attempts to get on with her life - but Gideon is never far from her thoughts. Even once she is trapped in a loveless marriage, their paths are destined to cross again and again with far-reaching and devastating consequences.

Connie’s Courage

A stirring novel of passion, lost loves and one girl's determination to conquer the odds from the author of ELLIE PRIDE. When Connie Pride finds herself alone and pregnant in the rough courts of Liverpool, she despairs. Deserted by her lover, menaced by his bullying uncle, and too proud to ask her estranged family for help, there seems no hope.

Rescued from the gutter, she is offered the chance to train as a nurse at the Poor Hospital. Life becomes a whirl of hard work and long shifts, but also lively evenings at the music hall with her fellow nurses and the newly drafted soldiers. Finally Connie has a purpose in life especially when the wounded of World War 1 start to arrive in their droves on the hospital wards.

With a roof over her head and a steady wage, if she can stay out of trouble, the future looks brighter. Even love seems possible again. But then a face from the violent past turns up to disrupt Connie's new life and shatter her dreams.

All she has built up is threatened and she herself is in physical danger. It will take every ounce of the courage she possesses to overcome the odds and a little help from old friends and new.

Hettie of Hope Street

A breathtaking tale set in 1920s Liverpool and London of one girl's determination to trace her roots, find true love and succeed in a world where obstacles lurk around every corner.

Hettie is an orphan, taken in by Ellie Pride and her husband to their Preston home and treated as one of the family. But she has never felt she truly belonged. Hettie has a special gift, a beautiful singing voice, and on the cusp of womanhood, she makes a choice that will alter the course of her life. Amid the bright lights of Liverpool, she will follow her dreams.

But once there, the only way to survive is working in the kitchens of a restaurant. Until, by chance, she is heard singing by the owner.Whisked to London, Hettie is thrown into a theatrical and colourful world but one with a dark side, its young inhabitants haunted by the horror of the First World War, and stalked by the fear of the Depression to come.

Then tragedy strikes, and Hettie must decide between her heart and her head, her duty and her desire.

WW2 Liverpool Books – First Series

Goodnight Sweetheart

This is a captivating saga set on the eve of WW2 in Liverpool, where life is about to change forever for one girl. As war breaks out so too does Molly Dearden! Molly is used to living in the shadow of her older sister, June.

When their mother died when Molly was just seven years old, June helped their grief-stricken father look after her in their tiny home in the tight-knit Edge Hill district of Liverpool. But as her seventeenth birthday passes, Molly doesn't realise how much she is going to have to grow up. As the threat of a second world war looms, she must learn to protect herself, her family, and her heart.

When hostilities finally break out, Molly finds the courage to enlist in the Women's Voluntary Service. There, she can help the war effort and finally stand on her own two feet. It's a terrifying time, but also some of the best days of her life, especially when she meets, and falls for Eddie.

The pair live for the precious hours when Eddie is on leave from the Navy and excitedly plan their future together. But then tragedy strikes. Devastated, Molly can take no more. But then the terrible reality of war hits her home town and Molly must find the strength to protect those closest to her heart.

Some Sunny Day

Forbidden love and family secrets in World War Two Liverpool is the heartrending new saga from the author of "Goodnight Sweetheart". Rosie has grown up in the heart of Liverpool's Italian community, treated as one of their own.

With a father away at sea and a mother more interested in other men than her only daughter, the bighearted Grenellis are the closest thing Rosie has to a proper family. But when war breaks out, and Italy becomes the Allies' adversary, everything changes.

The community is torn in two: friends become enemies, neighbours become traitors and Rosie is left uncertain of just who she can trust. As war intensifies, and Liverpool is subjected to relentless bombings, things become more perilous. When a devastating attack leaves her mother dead, Rosie is sent to live with her aunt in Edge Hill.

Her father is feared missing at sea and her aunt lets slip a family secret which has unimaginable consequences...Fleeing her cruel aunt, Rosie becomes a Land Girl and falls in love - with someone utterly forbidden.

As bombs drop and families are ripped apart by conflict at home and abroad, can they find happiness or will war stand in their way?

The Grafton Girls

The new Liverpool-based World War Two saga from the author of Goodnight Sweetheart is a tale of four very different young women thrown together by war. A unique bond is formed as the hostilities take their toll on Britain.

When Diane Wilson leaves Cambridge for Liverpool, destined for Derby House and war work as a teleprint operator, she is intent on mending her broken heart. But will hundreds of miles ease the pain of her betrayal?

From the moment she first lays eyes on Myra Stone in the Wavertree terrace she is billeted to, Diane senses she's bad news. But does Myra's bitterness and caustic wit belie a secret heartache?

Ruthie starts work at the munitions factory, enduring terrible conditions in order to put food on the table for herself and her widowed mother. But Ruthie is befriended by lively and vivacious Jess Hunt who injects colour and fun into the drab surroundings.

All four women are brought together at The Grafton, the local dance hall favoured by American GIs as well as the local girls. In this heady, uncertain time, infatuation and passion blossom. But has each girl found true love - or true trouble?

Paperback out August 2007

As Time Goes By

The new Liverpool-based World War Two saga from the author of Goodnight Sweetheart and Some Sunny Day is the story of tomboy Sam, keen for adventure in the ATS, and Sally, a young mother desperate to hold her family together.

When Sam Grey joins the ATS, she wants to find adventure, not end up in office work. But when she's posted to Liverpool, that's what she's allocated. Sam wants to show that she's as brave as any man, and when she doesn't get the chance her lively nature leads her into confrontation with her authoritarian boss.

Sparks also fly when she encounters Johnny, whose heroic work in bomb disposal makes him very attractive to many women -- but Sam's determined not to fall for his charm. Sally wants nothing more than to protect her small children while her husband is a prisoner of war.

She works hard doing shifts in a factory and singing at the Grafton ballroom, confessing to no-one the shameful reason why she needs two jobs. But help is at hand, from a most unlikely source. Annie Groves is fast becoming one of Liverpool's favourite saga writers.

This stirring tale of women fighting together to do their bit for their country, keep their families together and finding love and fulfilment in the process will delight her fans and win her many more.

Hardback out August/September 2007

WW2 Liverpool Books – Second Series

I am currently working on the first book of the new series, so watch this space!

Please see events list for details of where I shall be talking about and signing these newly released books in August/September 2007