Quercus The Black Friar MacLean S. G

London, 1656: Captain Seeker is back in the city, on the trail of an assassin preparing to strike at the heart of Oliver Cromwell's Republic • The Commonwealth is balanced on a knife edge. Royalists and disillusioned former Parliamentarians have united against Oliver Cromwell, now a king in all but name. Three conspirators, representing these factions, plan to assassinate the Lord Protector, paving the way back to the throne for Charles Stuart once and for all • Captain Damian Seeker, meanwhile, is preoccupied by the horrifying discovery in an illegal gambling den of the body of a man ravaged by what is unmistakably a bear. Yet the bears used for baiting were all shot when the sport was banned by Cromwell. So where did this fearsome creature come from, and why would someone use it for murder? • With Royalist-turned-Commonwealth-spy Thomas Faithly tracking the bear, Seeker investigates its victim

The Angelotti family reels when the lost son, given up for adoption in the war, traces his birth family and returns to the fold, with devastating consequences • As poverty-stricken newlyweds, Laura and Giovanni Angelotti were forced to put their first child - a boy - up for adoption. They have had other children since, and their first little Italian cafe has become a restaurant empire, but Laura is still haunted by thoughts of the baby she lost • Tom is a successful businessman enjoying the fast-paced City lifestyle - until his best friend and business partner is killed in the 9/11 attacks and his world turns upside down. Searching for meaning in his life, he decides to track down his birth family: the Angelottis • But Laura has been keeping an explosive secret about Tom's parentage that means his reappearance in her life is bittersweet

The first in a heartwarming saga series set during the Second World War. Perfect for fans of Pam Howes and Elaine Everest • 1942 • Working in the greengrocers and playing the piano in the pub a couple of nights a week isn't fulfilling nineteen-year-old Trixie Smith's idea of helping Britain win the war. One day she sees a poster advertising the Women's Timber Corps and decides to sign up - soon she is on her way to Scotland for four weeks of training to become a Lumberjill • On her journey north she meets Cy, an American soldier on leave. Their attraction is instant and they both feel that fate has brought them together. Although their time with one another is brief, they promise that they'll be together as soon as the war is over • But training to become a Lumberjill is hard; working in all weathers, felling trees and hauling timber is dangerous and exhausting

The McKenzies are your average complicated family: knotted together by in-jokes, arguments and a few closely-guarded secrets. Thirty-something sisters Leni and Alice became inseparable following the divorce of their parents, Belinda and Tony, with younger brother Will always trying to keep up. They're not perfect, but they love each other - most of the time, anyway • But then one ordinary summer day, an accident changes the family forever. Questions arise, guilt surfaces and secrets begin to emerge. Scattered by grief and seeking comfort in the unlikeliest of places, can the McKenzies find their way back to each other? • Set over the course of one life-changing year, The Best Days of Our Lives is a warm, big-hearted and poignant story, full of hope, heartache and love

The first book in the heart-stopping The Darkest Minds trilogy, also now a major movie, from the bestselling author of Lore • Ruby is sixteen. She is dangerous. And she is alive. For now • A mysterious disease has killed most of America’s children. Ruby might have survived, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse than a virus: frightening abilities they cannot control. Pressured by the government, Ruby’s parents sent her to Thurmond, a brutal state ‘rehabilitation camp’, where she has learned to fear and suppress her new power. But what if mastering it is a whole generation’s only chance for survival?

The Kingdom of France, 1173. A remarkable queen rallies her sons against a tyrannical king - their father • It is with a soft voice, full of menace, that our mother commands us to overthrow our father • Richard Lionheart tells the story of his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. In 1173, she and three of her sons instigate a rebellion to overthrow the English king, her husband Henry Plantagenet. What prompts this revolt? How does a great queen persuade her children to rise up against their father? And how does a son cope with this crushing conflict of loyalties? • Replete with poetry and cruelty, this story takes us to the heart of the relationship between a mother and her favourite son - two individuals sustained by literature, unspoken love, honour and terrible violence

The loss of her mother has left Kali McKenzie with too many unanswered questions. But while clearing out Elena's art studio, she finds a drawer packed with postcard each bearing an identical one-line message from a Canadian gallery owner called Susannah Gillespie: thinking of you. Who is this woman and what does she know about Elena's hidden past? • Desperate to find out, Kali travels with her toddler, Finn, to Susannah's isolated home on a remote British Columbian island, a place of killer whales and storms. But as bad weather closes in, Kali quickly realises she has made a big mistake. The enigmatic Susannah refuses to talk about the past, and as Kali struggles to piece together what happened back in the 1970s, Susannah's behaviour grows more and more erratic

Banff, Scotland in the 1620s. A young man walks unsteadily through the streets. Is he just drunk or is there something more sinister happening? When he collapses in front of two sisters on that dark, wet night, the women guess that he's been poisoned • His body is discovered in the house of Alexander Seaton - a fallen minister, the discovery of whose clandestine love affair has left him disgraced • Why was the body in Seaton's house? And why would anyone want to murder this likeable young man? Seaton sets out to find answers, embarking on a journey not only through the darkest part of other men's souls, but also his own • A must-read for fans of Rory Clements and SJ Parris

A queen of punk before her time. A duo on the brink of stardom. A night that will define their story for ever • Opal is a fiercely independent young woman pushing against the grain in her style and attitude, a Black punk artist before her time. Despite her unconventional looks, Opal believes she can be a star. So when the aspiring British singer/songwriter Neville Charles discovers her one night, she takes him up on his offer to make rock music together • In early seventies New York City, just as she's finding her niche as part of a flamboyant and funky creative scene, a rival band signed to her label brandishes a Confederate flag at a promotional concert. Opal's bold protest and the violence that ensues set off a chain of events that will not only change the lives of those she loves, but also be a deadly reminder that repercussions are always harsher for women, especially Black women, who dare to speak their truth

An enthralling, eventful WW2 saga from the popular writer of the Daisy Lane novels • An enthralling, eventful WW2 saga from the popular writer of the Daisy Lane novels - perfect for fans of Daisy Styles • 1943, Gosport, Hampshire. Pixie Saunders is 19 and employed in the local armaments factory. Not for the first time, her mother has run off with a dodgy-looking bloke, leaving Pixie to pay the rent and fend for herself. Pixie, along with her best friend Rita, Em, the factory overseer, and the rest of the girls are making the most of the war while trying to stay alive. The work is dangerous and the hours long, but in the evenings they take off their overalls and go to the pub or, better still, go dancing. Pixie meets American serviceman Cal and falls in love

Emotional Second World War saga following the fortunes of singing trio The Bluebird Girls. For fans of Elaine Everest, Annie Groves and Nancy Revell • Gripping, emotional Second World War saga for fans of Annie Groves, Shirley Dickson and Soraya Lane • 1943, and The Bluebird Girls are at the top of their game. They are touring with ENSA, visiting army bases across the world in order to boost the morale of the brave boys fighting in the desert and the jungle. The hours are long and the travelling uncomfortable, but Bea, Rainey and Ivy wouldn't be anywhere else for the world • Then tragedy strikes the group and their little showbusiness family. Their manager, Blackie, and Rainey's mother Jo find themselves with heavy new responsibilities, and the change in circumstances causes the girls themselves to reconsider their lives

Can one hare alone change the world? The captivating animal adventure destined to be loved by readers of all ages. A stunning paperback edition from the bestselling, much-loved author, Piers Torday • One stormy, snowy night, a pure silver calf is born on an ordinary muddy farm by the light of the moon. This is the legendary Mooncalf, whose arrival has been foretold since the dawn of time • According to a dream passed down from animal to animal, if the calf dies, a great terribleness will come - rising seas, a plague, skies raining down fire, the end of all things... and Little Hare vows to persuade all the animals to protect Mooncalf, whatever the cost • But it's easier said than done, and soon Little Hare realises that he is the only one who can save the world