No Place For A Lady

1854. Britain is sliding unprepared into what will be a horrendous war. Lucy Harvington has travelled to Crimea with Charlie, her handsome and impetuous officer husband, unaware that the army hasn't given much thought to looking after wives. If anything happens to Charlie, what will become of her?  

Lucy's elder sister Dorothea warned her not to marry Charlie, and they've fallen out over it. Anxious for her sister's safety and keen to resolve their quarrel, Dorothea is determined to follow her to the front as part of the team of pioneering nurses commanded by Florence Nightingale.  

Neither sister could have guessed the horrors awaiting them: the appalling diseases, the gruesome injuries, the brutal cold … nor could they have imagined the risks they will have to take, the forbidden passions they will experience, and the simple heart-breaking fact that they may never see each other again.  

Published by HarperCollins Avon
ISBN 9780008102128

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"A galloping good story. The author has clearly done her research and has a good grasp of the period." - Natasha McEnroe, director of the Florence Nightingale Museum

"A marvellous and moving adventure, full of vivid colour and atmospheric detail – if you loved Poldark, you'll love this." - Lulu Taylor

 




 

We Sink or Swim Together

On the 6th of May 1915, Gerda Neilsen and Jack Welsh got engaged on board the Lusitania. The next day, while they were having lunch, the ship was hit by a German torpedo. Find out what happened to them in this short enovella, only 99p.

Published by HarperCollins Avon

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The Affair

The Affair

Rome 1961. Diana Bailey arrives on the Cleopatra film set to start work as a historical advisor and strikes up a friendship with Helen, a young make-up artist.  

Tensions on the set are soon running high with the film in financial crisis and the paparazzi whipping up a media storm over the very public affair unfolding between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.    

As Diana adjusts to a new life away from her troubled marriage, she seeks solace in Ernesto, a charismatic member of the film crew.  But as she grows closer to him, she spends less time with Helen, who is harboring a dark secret of her own…

A story about love and betrayal, passion and celebrity, against the backdrop of Cleopatra, one of the most iconic films ever made.

Published by HarperCollins Avon
ISBN 978-1-847563-26-2

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"A wonderfully imagined peek into the fabulous excesses of the Burton-Taylor relationship, from booze-fuelled spats to their intoxicating chemistry." Hello magazine

"A stunning new voice – I was hooked from the first sentence of the prologue. With beautifully drawn characters and sensitive detail – The Affair draws you in and you won't want it to end. An accomplished, energetic, original new voice in fiction." Kate Kerrigan





The Affair

Women and Children First

Reg is a handsome young steward who works in the Titanic's first-class dining room; Annie is a gifted Irish woman, travelling to New York with her four children. There's an American millionaire with an unhappy secret and an unhealthy marriage, and a titled English lady who's pregnant and unmarried but determined to hold her head high. The sinking of the Titanic not only steals lives but blows apart the futures of the men and women who survive. Coming to terms with the shocking events they have witnessed, the survivors form new attachments, watch their lives crumble, make tragic decisions, and struggle to survive in the aftermath. How can life ever be the same again when you have heard 1,500 people dying in the water around you? 

Published by HarperCollins Avon
ISBN 978-1-847563-25-5

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"Loved Women & Children First. Interesting it deals with the aftermath / guilt / angst of surviving Titanic - gripping read." Chrissy Iley, on Twitter.

"A warm-hearted and engaging novel that breathes fresh life into the well-known tragedy of the Titanic" Amanda Brookfield

"A thrilling, moving story of lives caught up in an extraordinary event - vivid and engrossing. I loved it" Lulu Taylor



Women and Chilfren First

Enticement

Jenny is a successful career woman with a passion for ill-advised affairs. When she meets the intriguing French-American Marc at a party, she becomes involved in an intoxicating sexual fling. Impulsively accompanying him to France, Jenny finds her blissful adventure darkens. She can tell that Marc is hiding something and curious events deepen her suspicion. Then, on the way home from a perfect evening, he simply disappears.

Angry and mystified, Jenny returns to London but her missing lover continues to haunt her. Why did Marc abandon her? And why does she get the uncanny feeling she’s being watched? Her need to uncover the answers leads her on an increasingly dangerous trail from London to New York and back to Brittany, towards a horrifying revelation that threatens her life.

Published by Hodder & Stoughton, 2000. ISBN 0-340-76668-9

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“Paul keeps the narrative up, making a virtue of pace” Guardian

“A sexy, pacy, thoroughly modern novel” Ham & High

“Enough twists and turns to keep even the most devious plotmaster turning the pages as rapidly as possible.” Evening Gazette Middlesborough

 


Compulsion

Dr Nicola Drew is stunned when her fiancé Sedic – a volatile Indonesian artist – ends their engagement in the most humiliating way possible and refuses to explain why. Then she is persuaded by Sedic’s father to honour her commitment to work for him in Indonesia and she flies out alone to try to piece her life back together.

As soon as she lands in Jakarta, it becomes apparent that all the rules are different. The job she has been hired to do is illegal; the company that employs her is selling faulty medical equipment to the Indonesians; and she finds herself embroiled in a sinister scam. Just as Nicola is beginning to work out what’s going on, Sedic is back. This time he’s begging for forgiveness and another chance … but her instinct tells her it’s not all it seems.

Published by Hodder & Stoughton, 2001. ISBN 0-340-76670-0

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"I started this book lying in bed and just had to carry on until I'd finished it. It's a real page-turner, but it's an intelligent book too - and it's moving." ***** amazon review

"An excellent novel by an intelligent author I heard on the radio a few weeks back. The Indonesian setting is acutely drawn, hugely memorable, and the perfect backdrop to a steamy love story cum thriller." ***** amazon review

 


The Lure

Julia flies to the Outer Hebrides to escape her old life, but soon finds herself caught up in complex island politics and unconventional relationships. There’s Kirsty, who runs a graphic design company and has an on-off romance with Neil, the local handyman; her sister Ailsa, whose husband’s arrival from the mainland always spells trouble; and a peculiar loner called Douglas, who’s pedaling drugs. Julia’s welcome fades and islanders become suspicious of her – but who is behind the increasingly sinister campaign of intimidation?

Unpublished novel

 

 

The Merlin Papers

Vanora Harris comes from a family that holds secrets stretching back generations, secrets that were stored in Merlin’s burial place in the Welsh mountains, in a remote field near Bethlehem, and in the Lost Library of Alexandria. Someone is trying to uncover the family truths in order to save their own life, but they risk upsetting the balance of the universe in the process because some things are never meant to come to light. Can Vanora preserve the past by reaching a new understanding of the workings of the human mind? Her ancient uncle David is in a coma, but can the neurologist who is treating him help to solve the  mystery?

Extended film treatment