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'Meticulously-researched...warming the hearts of millions of readers.' Historical Novels Review 'Collier has a gift for bringing her characters to life that will keep the reader engrossed until the end' Daily Mail Beggars and Choosers - Book One in the Brothers and Lovers Series Pontypridd, Rhondda 1905: Coal is king and the families who sunk the first collieries are rich. No-one is wealthier or more generous than Harry Watkin Jones. His daughter Sali is about to marry her childhood sweetheart, but tragedy strikes. Four years later Sali is a penniless outcast, fleeing from a violent husband and struggling to support herself and her son in a world very different. Sali finds work in the home of family of colliers and she and her son find the warmth and love missing from their lives for so long. But unrest and violence have come to the valleys. Caught up in the conflict, Sali finds herself denying her roots, her class, and even sacrificing her son's future, for the sake of the people she loves and the cause they are prepared to die for...Winners and Losers - Book Two in the Brothers and Lovers Series Megan Williams is eighteen and in love with the boy next door, Victor Evans.1910: The Rhondda Valley, poverty and hardship are taking their toll as troops are brought in to control the striking miners. Megan finds work where the troops lay, shunned by her friends and neighbours who believe she has betrayed her class by working for the enemy and with her father refusing to see Megan marry Catholic Victor as his father and brother are marked as strike ringleaders, Megan is caught in the middle. Victor and Megan find themselves fighting for the right to love one another, remain together and build a future they can share. Sinners and Shadows - Book Three in the Brothers and Lovers Series Orphaned at eight and raised by a brutal sadistic brother, nineteen-year-old parlour maid Rhian dreams of meeting a man who will love her and give her a family of her own. When she is invited to join the Evans family on New Year's Eve 1913, her life is thrown into turmoil. The youngest Evans' brother, twenty-two year old Joey, confesses he loves her. Handsome, charming Joey has never met a woman who could refuse him anything until Rhian. Just when her feelings begin to emerge Joey's past overshadows and finally shatters their happiness.Unable to separate truth from lies, wanting to hurt Joey as deeply as he has her, Rhian turns to her employer, Edward Larch, for solace. Unhappily married, Edward offers her the only position he can, that of his mistress. Her choice is simple and irrevocable - to forgo love, her reputation as a 'respectable girl' and all chance of a settled family life for the sake of financial security. When Europe is plunged into war, even the lives of the people in Tonypandy are affected. But no matter how dangerous the conditions or how many hours she works, she cannot stop thinking about the man she loved who betrayed her - and the problems peace will bring. |