Böcker av AnneMarie Brear

York, Yorkshire, England, 1852When Caroline Lawson becomes a young widow, her grief is deepened by the loss of her farm. A rash decision to travel to York to find work doesn't turn out as she expected. Alone and vulnerable, she is unprepared for the harshness of the narrow dirty streets. With money running low and work difficult to come by, Caroline fears she will soon have no choice but to knock on the dreaded workhouse door. However, she is not without hope, and with her new friends, feisty Trixie, and her two little sisters and the unique Mussy, Caroline learns she is stronger than she realised and that even in the worst of times, friendship is all you need. Only Trixie and Mussy each have their own secrets, ones which will test their newly formed bonds with Caroline. When tragedy strikes again, and secrets are revealed, Caroline knows she must protect her friends and get them out of the dangerous city to the countryside she loves, but will she find there the happiness she once had? Or has the past destroyed any dreams for a happy future?

Having lost her father, Thea Goodson is alone in the world. It is true she has a husband, but Ernie is a brutal man, more inclined to use his fists to keep Thea in line than to build on their marriage. And besides, Ernie Goodson has secrets - secrets that even his wife cannot share. But in Victorian Yorkshire, appearances must be kept up, so Thea goes on powdering her bruises and forcing a smile as she toils in Ernie's home and tobacco shop. There seems to be no other option. That is, until a handsome and well-bred stranger arrives to set up shop next door... Can Thea escape her misery and break from the conventions of society? Or will the clutches of her abusive husband confine her forever?

It's 1850 and the Noble family have arrived in Australia to start a new life after scandal drove them from their native England. Headstrong Pippa Noble is determined to reclaim their honour by making her father's plans for a successful stud farm a reality. Pippa is immediately spellbound by the untamed outback landscape, although she learns the hard way about the unforgiving nature of the bush - sometimes with devastating consequences. When circumstance leads to Pippa tending the new farm alone, it is the steadfast friendship of neighbouring country estate owner Gil Ashford-Smith that helps her through. Then an unexpected visitor from England arrives, putting Pippa's dreams in jeopardy. But she refuses to let go. She will hold onto her family's land and make her mark, even if it means losing everything else ...

From the bestselling historical saga author of The Orphan in the Peacock Shawl! Sometimes a glimpse into the past can help make sense of the future ... Everyone thinks Lexi is crazy when she falls in love with Hollingsworth House - a crumbling old Georgian mansion in Yorkshire - and nobody more so than her husband, Dylan. But there's something very special about the place, and Lexi can sense it. Whilst exploring the grounds she stumbles across an old diary and, within its pages, she meets Allie - an Australian nurse working in France during the First World War. Lexi finally realises her dream of buying Hollingsworth but her obsession with the house leaves her marriage in tatters. In the lonely nights that follow, Allie's diary becomes Lexi's companion, comforting her in moments of darkness and pain. And as Lexi reads, the nurse's scandalous connection to the house is revealed...

Born in Ireland but raised in Australia, Bridget Kittrick, headstrong and independent, is ready to show her worth. She meets Lincoln Huntley, a man with a mysterious past which only heightens Bridget's attraction to him. As much as she admires Lincoln, his secrets drive a wedge between them.Left in charge of her mother's estate while her parents return to Ireland for business, Bridget is determined to prove to her family that she is capable. However, a vicious neighbour, Mr Roache, holds a grudge against the family and turns his attentions on Bridget. Roache orchestrates for Bridget to be kidnapped by wanted men, bushrangers. They take her deep into mountainous country to a hideout where an educated convict hides. Donovan is unlike any other man Bridget has known and he soon shows her a side to him that pulls at her heart. Only, he is a runaway convict, and she the daughter from a wealthy family. Her brothers, with Lincoln Huntley, are searching for her, but when Bridget is forced to defend herself with harrowing consequences, she knows there is no going home. Living rough with Donovan is her life now.Yet, Lincoln Huntley refuses to give up. He will find Bridget and perhaps her love will be the salve to his wounds, or will he be too late to save Bridget from herself?One woman. Two men with two hidden pasts.What is her fate?

1851 Ireland.After enduring years of a devastating potato famine, Ellen Kittrick is a survivor. Crop failures and a descent into poverty changes her from a happy wife and mother to a woman struggling to keep her children alive. To put food on the table and to stop the landowner's agent from tearing down their cottage due to unpaid rent, Ellen defies her family and works at an Englishman's manor, but with her husband out of work, and a secretive brother-in-law wanting her for his own, Ellen must face every challenge with new strength. When several shocking events occur, it forces her to make an enormous decision. With aid coming from an unlikely source, namely Englishman Rafe Hamilton, Ellen leaves Ireland with what is left of her family to start again in a new country.But will the colony give her the security and happiness she longs for, especially when she has left her heart behind? Can Ellen thrive in a strange land?Or has she made the greatest mistake of her life?

Following on from Millie, the first book in The Marsh Sagas series, now comes a holiday novella, Christmas at the Chateau!Join the family again as they spend Christmas with Millie and Jeremy at Chateau Dumont. It's a time of coming together, yet sisters Prue and Cece have very different ideas about how to celebrate the holiday and their clash of personalities also causes damage to their hearts. All Millie wants is a happy home, yet her warring sisters try her patience and she's stuck in the middle! Not only that, but her husband Jeremy is dealing with his own problems regarding his parentage, her mother is acting strangely, and her grandmother is as opinionated as always!Will Christmas at the Chateau bring the family together or tear them apart?This novella is an accompaniment and should be read after Millie.

In 1867 Nicola Douglas attends a London lecture given by Miss Maria Rye, the founder of the Female Middle Class Emigration Society, which inspires her to change her life.With no family, but a good education, she boards a ship to Australia with high hopes of a fresh start in a new country as a governess. But Sydney is full of young women with similar hopes and equally poor prospects. When Nicola is at her lowest ebb, a benefactor appears, Mr Belfroy, whose past has made him sympathetic to women struggling to survive. She also meets Frances West, an activist from a privileged background, and her attractive but distant brother, Nathaniel.However hard she tries to resist, Nicola's attraction to Nathaniel West grows. Her achievements at the Governess Home are vital to her. Can she have both?

Orphan, Victoria Carlton is brought up by her uncle, a banker, to be a lady and make a good marriage. Yet, she is drawn to help the poor families in the slums, much to her family's disgust. When her uncle dies suddenly, her cousins blame Victoria, and she is thrown out of the house with nothing.Victoria flees to the poor side of York to start again in a world that is full of perils. To combat the heartache of being without her family, she befriends the destitute women and children in the slums, but such friendships come with the danger of disease, and increasing poverty, and the threat of a brutal man could cost her everything.Can Victoria find the security she has lost? Will a certain doctor be the man she can give her heart to? Or will the ghosts of the past return to take away everything she has worked so hard for?

Grace Woodruff fights for her sisters' rights to happiness while sacrificing any chance for her own. The eldest of seven daughters, Grace is the core of strength around which the unhappy members of the Woodruff family revolve. As her disenchanted mother withdraws to her rooms, Grace must act as a buffer between her violent, ambitious father and the sisters who depend upon her. Rejected by her first love and facing a spinster's future, she struggles to hold the broken family together through her father's infidelity, one sister's alcoholism, and another's out-of-wedlock pregnancy by an unsuitable match. Caring for an illegitimate half-brother affords Grace an escape, though short-lived. Forced home by illness and burdened with dwindling finances, Grace faces fresh anguish --and murder-- when her first love returns to wreck havoc in her life. All is not lost, however. In the midst of tragedy, the fires of her heart are rekindled by another. Will the possibility of true love lead Grace to relinquish her responsibilities in the house of women and embrace her own right to happiness?

1899. A life altering event led Catrina Davies to hide from her family and society. Alone in The Highlands she exists in a lonely world cared for only by her savior, a kind old gentleman. When she receives a surprise visitor, Travis Millard, the man she used to love, her head and heart are thrown into turmoil. Travis is determined to save her from this poor life and return her to her family where she belongs. No one is more surprised than he when she agrees to marry him. When Catrina arrives back at her family estate, Davmoor Court in Yorkshire, she is stunned to see the changes. While her father clings to life, Davmoor is nearly ruined by her brother's gambling obsession, and there is something strange about his new wife. As Catrina adjusts to her regained position in society and being with Travis, her marriage comes under attack from Travis's grandmother, who has her own secrets and reason for loathing the Davies family. When one of her brother's adversaries comes to stake his claim on the estate, the resulting chaos threatens not only Catrina's home, but the very lives of those she loves the most. Can she find the strength to fight once more for the right to be happy?¿

1914, Australia. As war is declared, the idyllic world of Blue Water Station is torn apart when Oliver, the eldest grandson and heir, shares his desire to enlist in the army. His enthusiasm ignites his brother, cousins and friends to do the same, but upsets his sister, Tilly.After a tragic family incident, Tilly is left to run the cattle station and take care of the older folk. A chance meeting with a sophisticated Lieutenant opens up a friendship through letters, but it's a rogue stockman who attracts her attention with dire consequences. With the men at war, and her heart pulled in two directions, Tilly must grow up quickly and face the consequences of her rash decisions.Surviving a baptism of battle fire in Gallipoli, Turkey, Oliver and the men are sent to France and feel the brutal force of the Western Front. The only glimmer of light for Oliver is his relationship with Jessica, an army nurse. But as the terrors of war impact him, he feels the heavy guilt of encouraging the others to follow him into combat. Will he, and they, ever make it home to Blue Water.Can the grandchildren of Kitty McKenzie survive the horrors of war?

Charlotte Brookes flees her lecherous guardian, McBride, taking her younger sister with her. After a year on the road, they stumble into a Yorkshire village where the Wheelers, owners of the village shop, take them in. This new life is strange for Charlotte, but preferable to living with McBride or surviving on the roads.Harry Belmont is an important man in the village, but he's missing something in his life. His budding friendship with Charlotte gives him hope she will feel more for him one day, and he will marry the woman he yearns for.When McBride discovers where Charlotte lives, his threats begin. Harry fights to keep Charlotte safe, but World War I erupts and Harry enlists.Left to face a world of new responsibilities, and Harry's difficult sister, Charlotte must run the gauntlet of family disputes, McBride's constant harassment, and the possibility of the man she loves being killed.Can Charlotte find the happiness that always seems under threat, and will Harry return home to her?