Modern British Fiction

Be careful what you wish for. Even fairy godmothers can get it wrong. A Comedy Mixing Dark Humour with Light Valerie Anthrope insists she’s perfectly fine. She manages a financial brokerage, owns her own home, drives a new Vectra, and doesn’t need anyone, least of all love. Enter Ellen Semple: an overbearing, well-meaning whirlwind who answers Valerie’s advert for a PA and promptly starts reorganising her entire life. Then there’s Lex Kendal, Ellen’s charming, exasperating nephew, a millionaire used to getting everything he wants. Everything except a woman who says no. When Ellen ...

Charlie Avery wanted some purpose in life...but never expected that direction would lead her into the arms of a man with a secret. When Charlie arrives in Ireland, she's hoping to find direction. Instead, she feels more lost than ever. That is, until she meets the mysterious Aiden who offers her the adventure of a lifetime. The only catch? She has to pretend to be his girlfriend at a family wedding. A Royal Wedding. Aiden, the second eldest prince of Lochland, is used to being recognized, so when he meets Charlie and realizes she thinks he’s a normal guy, he takes a chance and invites her...

Selected by Modern Library as one of the 100 best novels of the century, this "absolutely delightful" novel (New York Times) movingly and comically chronicles the breakdown of a marriage and the disintegration of English society in the years after World War I. After seven years of marriage, the...

'The Manual For Good Wives, a fast-paced tale of courage and resilience is beautifully written and remarkably moving. An absolute masterpiece' - Mike Gayle, author of All the Lonely People 'Simply brilliant' - Alexandra Potter, bestselling author of Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up *****...

In the aftermath of a horrific London terror attack, questions remain. People were killed and there was a cover-up. While Eva Merriman is reeling from the death of her colleague, Paula Westhove, a stranger recruits Kellie O'Rourke to investigate. Now both must unearth truths which will go much deeper than either ever imagined. An assassin who survived the fallout, known only as 'Fisher', seeks redemption. For him, it is personal. And this time he's coming for Eva, and all of MI5.

From the author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Lords of Finance, a magnificent and timely reckoning with the first truly global financial calamity and the famous banking family at the center of the whirlwind Over the course of the 1850s and 1860s, during the first era of globalization, the...

Serena Jones has plans to make an impact on the world, without the help of her family name, and falling in love is not among them but she never expected to run into her Prince Charming. The last person Serena Jones expects to meet when she walks into her local bookstore is Cian, the crown prince of Lochland. Things get weirder when she arrives at her brother’s house for dinner and Cian is there! After running into each other throughout LA, Cian has to return to Lochland and invites Serena to visit him and his country, but she has work to do before she can think of herself and what she ...

It was Emily Carr (1871-1945), not Georgia O'Keeffe or Frida Kahlo, who first blazed a path for modern women artists. Overcoming the confines of late Victorian culture, Carr became a major force in modern art. Her boldly original landscapes are praised today for capturing an untamed British Columbia, and its indigenous peoples, just before industrialization would change it forever. In this novel, Susan Vreeland brings to life this fiercely independent and underappreciated figure.

The Furies is a psychologically complex, dark and twisting novel about loss, obsession and the deep tragedies that can connect us to each other even as they blind us to our fate, from the bestselling author of A Thousand Ships After losing her fiancé in a shocking tragedy, Alex Morris moves...

This is the second book of short stories from author Lise Spence-Parsons. This time out, we get to read twenty-one stories from several genres, including historical fiction, spy stories, romances and ghostly tales. Some are sad, some are funny, some are tongue-in-cheek. All are interesting and designed to make you think. The Awakening - a story of a life revealed. A Long Time Coming - how do people of differing backgrounds overcome all? Manners Maketh Man - a sideways look at the rules of yesterday’s etiquette. What We Did! - an island of writing that will appear, slightly modified, in my...

Late at night on a deserted Chester ring road, a man is run down and killed. But is it an accident, suicide, or murder? First thing next day Inspector Walter Darriteau is on the case. The dead man was a lay preacher up for promotion. Surely that couldn’t be relevant, but they are zealous and jealous in that game. Or could it be something more sinister? Why didn’t the driver stop? And the wife doesn’t seem too upset about it. Her main concern is the insurance policy that should pay off their mortgage. Where was she when it happened? “The Murder Diaries – Seven Times Over” is the ...

He's her bodyguard, but can he still do his job and protect her heart? Isla watched two of her brothers fall in love, and there's nothing she wants more than for her chance to experience the greatest feeling in the world. She has a feeling she's close if the flushed skin, racing pulse, and fluttering in her stomach are any indication. She's just waiting for him to catch on. Then her father, the King, does the unthinkable. He announces her hand is wide open and available for the best suitor that comes along. As her worst nightmare becomes her reality she must decide between being the dutiful...

Kellie O'Rourke needs answers. Who was her father and where did her half-sister Alice come from? At the death of their mother, she discovers letters which could explain everything. But then they came. Out of her depth, Alice is in trouble and when the thugs come for her, they meet Kellie instead. And now, Kellie's life has spun out of control. Eighteen months later, MI5 analyst Eva Merriman is part of a team investigating a string of deaths across the country. The toxins involved have raised the threat level enough to involve the security services. Meanwhile, a sinister organisation ...

"Romantic comedy at its finest" Reader review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Finding true love can be hard when you’re leading a double life … Kay, a sassy librarian and self-proclaimed queen of deception, thought ghosting her online fling Jeremy was a clever way to avoid awkward goodbyes. But when she falls for his charming brother Dan, her life spins into a tangled web of fake names, outrageous stories, and a world of lies she can barely keep straight. As "Elaine," her stylish and spontaneous alter ego, Kay navigates a romance with Dan, hiding her true identity while dodging her past ...

Do You Believe in Dragons??? This one can work a particular magic… Kahnilla is searching for lost kin when she meets Rory, who is searching for something else entirely. The young man is surely on a path to destruction, for these are dark days. But Kahnilla has no time for arrogant humans; this one in particular. Or does she? Find out what happens in this very modern grown-up fairy tale, with surprises at every turn. Literary Titan Gold Book Award Winner.

A Modern day suspense thriller based around the dangers of social media, what we share, and how we never really know who is watching. A single photo taken in college defined Eve Kelly’s entire life. The iconic image of the falling girl in a red dress brought her unintentional fame. Twenty years later, @beli’EVE, a successful model turned influencer, is a reluctant leader. Over a million people follow her every move but sharing images of a #perfectlife can be dangerous, especially when you have secrets. When someone begins to scratch beneath the glossy surface she presents to the world, ...

When you are at the scene of a fatal accident you don't need to take photographs. The memory of those tangled remains of a lost life will never leave you. Who would choose to be a Safety Man? Maybe Tom Donaldson asked himself that very question the morning his world came crashing down. Maybe Philsons had every right to make him a scapegoat for the death of a young construction worker. But something just feels wrong... Maybe it had been an unfortunate accident... Or Maybe It Was Murder...

From the author of the sensational bestselling Sophie Kinsella novels and the New York Times bestsellers The Wedding Girl and Sleeping Arrangements, this perceptive comedy 40 Love skewers the shallow rich, displaying a wicked backhand along the way. Everyone wins this game of literary tennis, a...

Make your way through the contemporary world with Lise Spence-Parsons in this collection of seventeen short stories. From ghostly tales to futuristic worlds, you'll be questioning everything by the time it's over! Clean & Sterile - Shows how gentrification can have a negative impact. Spaced Out! - Provides insight into the difficulty of managing someone with dementia. A Natural Remedy? - Exposes you to the moral dilemmas of an imaginary epidemic. Clause 8 - A futuristic story of self-indulgence and self-seeking ambition.All the stories offered here hold meaning for the author, Lise Spence-...

A Long Day in Lychford is the third audiobook in Paul Cornell's increasingly popular Witches of Lychford series. It's a period of turmoil in Britain, with the country's politicians electing to remove the UK from the European Union, despite ever-increasing evidence that the public no longer...