Leah Fleming - Free Library Land Online - Romantic Suspense

A Wedding in the Olive Garden

Wed, 20 May 2020 09:40:05 +0300

The Rose Villa

Sat, 05 Mar 2022 18:25:08 +0200

From the French Riviera between the wars to a terrifying endgame in World War 2 Occupied France, a gripping story of doomed but triumphant love from the author of A Wedding in the Olive Garden.

High above the Mediterranean, on the French Riviera, stands a beautiful pink stucco villa. Once a playground for the rich and glamorous, now – in the aftermath of World War 1 – it is a convalescent home for sick and wounded nurses.

Here Scottish Flora Garvie is recovering from four traumatic years on the ambulance trains. And here she will meet again charismatic but troubled Kit Carlyle, a regimental chaplain who no longer believes in his calling and certainly doesn't believe himself worthy of Flora's love. Their dramatic rollercoaster of a story will take them through death, separation and war, until a terrifying game of cat and mouse in Occupied France seals their fate.

Praise for Leah Fleming:

'A born storyteller' KATE...

War Girl

Fri, 05 Mar 2021 18:25:09 +0200

With war looming, she must find a safe place to call home... England, 1926 Eight-year-old Mirren has grown up in the shadow of the Great War. When a tragic accident leaves her orphaned, she is sent to live with relatives in the countryside. A new beginning. Safe with her new family, Mirren grows into a strong woman and falls for local heartthrob, Jack. With a husband and child of her own, Mirren finally feels complete – until the Second World War arrives, threatening everything she holds dear. A suffering heart. Jack returns from war a changed man and when tragedy strikes history seems set to repeat itself. Is heartache here to stay or can Mirren find happiness once more? A heartfelt tale of love, loss and hope in the darkest of times. Perfect for fans of Glynis Peters and Molly Green.

Daughter of the Tide

Fri, 20 Dec 2019 13:47:56 +0200

It is 1939 and the eve of the Second World War when the handsome sailor Ewan Mackinnon returns to his childhood home on the remote Hebridean island of Phetray. He was forced to run from the ignominy of a terrible event, the disgraced Minister's son. Arriving home, many years later, he is reunited with Minn Macfee, a cottar's daughter, instantly falling for her graceful beauty and enchanting voice.

But Minn and Ewan are bound by the same misfortune that caused their separation in childhood. When Ewan joins the Special Boat Squadron and embarks for France, leaving Minn behind, it seems fate has intervened once more.

Touched by tragedy and the weight of the past, their love seems destined to die. Or will the tides of time bring them together again?

The Olive Garden Choir

Tue, 19 Nov 2019 04:18:53 +0200

An evocative novel of secrets, love and redemption under the Greek sun. Perfect for fans of Kate Furnivall and Julia Gregson. They have come to Santaniki for different reasons. Some with a dream of happiness. Some running from sadness and failure. But all of them have fallen in love with this most beautiful of Greek islands. When bossy retired bookseller, Ariadne Blunt, suggests that the English residents form a choir, she did not expect it would unleash quite so much drama. Secrets surface, old rivalries spring up, new friendships are formed and passions are rekindled. In this bittersweet tale of love and loss, people quite literally find their voices – showing that life can begin again when you let go of the past.

In the Heart of the Garden

Wed, 15 Nov 2017 12:32:40 +0200

Iris Bagshott strolls down the paths of her ancient garden, close to Lichfield in the heart of England, wondering if it is time to sell her house and land for development. She is unaware that around every corner myriad family secrets from the past unfold. From a Saxon clearing to a monastery, Tudor dwelling to the present day, this sacred plot has nurtured her ancestors. Generations of Bagshott women have found refuge and solace tending it through years of plague, civil war and beyond. This is their story.

The Wedding Dress Maker

Tue, 19 Nov 2019 04:18:54 +0200

Yorkshire 1945: Netta Nichol lives in the shadow of a terrible disgrace. After bearing a son out of wedlock, Netta was banished from her beloved Galloway to a Yorkshire mill town. She must stand aside as her son is raised by family back home. Bereft and broken-hearted, Netta finds solace in the quiet pleasure of sewing. Despite the shortages of wartime, she becomes known for her beautiful wedding dresses, made with ingenuity and skill. With the help of her dressmaking, Netta begins to win back her self-respect. But will it be enough to claim back her child?

Orphans of War

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:19:42 +0200

The ones you leave behind are the ones that stay with you forever...

The Captain's Daughter

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 15:19:42 +0200

The secrets in a woman's heart are deeper than the ocean…
For May Smith, travelling with her husband and baby girl Ellen, stepping foot on the Titanic marks the start of an incredible journey, one which is destined to take her from the back streets of Bolton to the land of opportunity: the United States.
But when the 'unsinkable' Titanic hits an iceberg one cold dark night, May's dreams are instantly shattered. Jumping from the sinking ship at the last minute, May loses sight of Joe and Ellen. Distraught, she is pulled into a lifeboat. Minutes later, the real-life Captain Smith swims to the lifeboat and hands May a baby swaddled in blankets.
Beside herself, and in virtual darkness, May believes the baby to be Ellen. This rescue is witnessed by fellow survivor, Celeste Parkes, married to an American industrialist who is on her way back to Ohio after her mother's funeral.
In horror, they both watch the death throes of the mighty ship; May traumatised, knowing her husband has drowned, Celeste wishing her bully of a husband had been on board and out of her life.
As the dawn comes up, and the two women are rescued by the Carpathia, a friendship is formed, one which is destined to transcend the Atlantic and social differences between them and last a lifetime. Then May makes a shocking discovery and a split-second decision which will change the lives of so many.
Review
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About the Author
Leah Fleming is the author of Winter's Children.

The Railway Girls

Sun, 21 Nov 1999 15:19:44 +0200

FROM THE ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF THE LAST PEARL AND DANCING AT THE VICTORY CAFE, this is a beautiful novel about family secrets, betrayal and redemption.
Deep in the dales of the West Riding Fells lies Scarsbeck, a remote village peopled by a close-knit community of colourful characters: Ellie Birkett, steadfastly resisting her mother's attempts to marry her off; Vicar Hardy, wrestling with the temptations of the flesh; Ezra Bulstrode, village headmaster, with an unhealthy dedication to the education of his young students; and enigmatic woman Beth Wildman, who believes she can foresee the future. Surrounded by wild moorland and the majestic Yorkshire peaks, time seems to stand still in this magical corner of the world.
But change is on its way. The dales echo with fearsome noise; construction scars the hillside: the railway is coming - right through Scarsbeck village. And with the arrival of a huge...

The Postcard

Thu, 20 Nov 2014 21:27:37 +0200

FROM THE ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF *THE LAST PEARL AND DANCING AT THE VICTORY CAFE*, this is a beautiful novel about family secrets and redemption. 1930s, London.*Caroline* grew on a secluded Scottish estate with her 'Aunt' Phoebe. But the shocking realisation that Phoebe is actually her mother fuels a rebellious streak in Caroline, who elopes to Cairo to get married. But her marriage quickly turns sour and leads to an affair with an old lover, and to a baby boy, Desmond. With her personal life in tatters and WWII approaching, she volunteers as a secret agent, smuggling valuable information into Europe for the British government. But when Caroline finally returns from the war, Desmond is gone. Will she be able to track him down? 2002, Australia. When Melissa discovers a postcard addressed to 'Desmond' among her recently deceased father's effects, she is determined to discover this person's identity and his relationship to her father. She embarks on a journey that will take her across oceans to discover more about her family's past. Praise for Leah Fleming
'I enjoyed it enormously.It's a moving and compelling story about a lifetime's journey in search of the truth' RACHEL HORE
'A born storyteller' KATE ATKINSON **
Review
`A fabulous story of people, places and pearls from a master storyteller' -- Lancashire Evening Post on The Last Pearl
About the Author
Leah Fleming was born in Lancashire and is married with three sons and a daughter. She writes from an old farmhouse in the Yorkshire Dales and an olive grove in Crete.

Dancing at the Victory Cafe

Sun, 21 Nov 1993 15:19:43 +0200

When Isobel Morton takes over the café in Lichfield's market square, she has big plans. Soon renamed The Victory Café, with a menu that delights despite rations, the girls who work at the Vic are swept away by Belle's lust for life.

Among the regular customers is a trio of soldiers from the nearby American base and waitress Dorrie Goodman soon befriends them, learning about jazz and romance in the process. But the stifling morality of a Midlands town in the 40s cannot accommodate such a friendship; jealously, hatred and the weight of public disapproval combine to precipitate a tragedy.

It is not until many years after the war that friendship and reconciliation can begin to heal the wounds of the past ...

The Girl Under the Olive Tree

Sat, 21 Nov 2015 15:19:45 +0200

The Cotton Town Girls

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 21:26:36 +0200

A heart-warming story of female friendship in the tumultuous days of the Suffragette movement...
Sophia Seddon and Grace Thompson are poles apart - the one a member of the notorious Seddons of Plover Street, the other the vicar's spoilt only child. But their childhood friendship is revived when they find themselves fighting a common cause: women's rights. And the ties of friendship prove stronger and more enduring than those of background or family, even in the face of danger.