Julia Bell
Deceit of Angels
For nineteen years, Anna Stevens perseveres with a faithless husband in a marriage that destroys her plans to go to university and follow a career. When Anna escapes to Bristol to work for Jason Harrington, the attractive and wealthy owner of Harrington Rhodes Shipping Agents, she has finally made the decision to leave her husband and make a new life for herself. But Anna has told Jason that she is a widow and when she and Jason fall in love, Anna finds herself trapped in her lies. And then her estranged husband finds her. Anna must pay a devastating price for her deceit, a price that would have lasting consequences for herself and the man she loves. Please note: Th...
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A Tangle of Echoes: (The Songbird Story - Book Two)
As the granddaughter of both an earl and a viscount, Venice is not expected to take up a profession. But this has not prevented her from wanting to train as a doctor even though London in the 1920’s doesn’t completely accept women physicians and Venice has an uphill struggle to realise her ambition.Blissfully unaware of her grandmother’s secret and the actions she took forty years before, Venice concentrates on her dream to become a physician. Meeting the mysterious Tristan Cavell throws her into turmoil. She is not only physically attracted to him, but also intrigued by the secrets he seems to keep. Tristan comes from the poverty of the East End of London and is a veteran of the Great...
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A Pearl Comb for a Lady
A pearl comb comes into the possession of three courageous and remarkable women over two centuries.
Living during the time of the Battle of Waterloo, Christabel is feisty with an overactive imagination. She is in love with a soldier who only wants to use her to advance his military career.
Victoria, living in the mid-nineteenth century, is sweet-natured but haunted by the loss of her child.
Finally there is Jenny, a 21st century career woman who is unable to sacrifice her pride and forgive the man she loves.
The pearl comb weaves its way through the centuries; a witness to the despair, loss, hope and dreams of these women. And the men they love.
When Lucy Ceased to Be
Having lost her mother the previous year, twelve-year-old Lucy Paget tries to make a contented life with her father on their farm in Ilkley, Yorkshire. But her father, Sid, would rather spend his time and money in the public house. One day in a fit of pique, Sid sets her up on a chair and tries to sell her to the men in the public house. There are no buyers until a certain gentleman shows an interest and decides to take up the offer. Edwin Beaumont has plans for poor Lucy and for the next eight years, she is trapped in a life of secrets and deceit as she adopts the guise of Edwin’s daughter. Meeting her ‘cousin’ Theo Keeton brings some consolation and over...
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Nyssa's Promise
Since childhood Nyssa Wheeler has lived with her stepsister Gwen in a small house in Fulham, London. But Nyssa possesses the ability of a psychic empath and can read people’s emotions through touch. This ‘gift’ has enabled her to pursue the work of a private investigator. In the year 1904, she decides to take the position of companion to the Dowager Lady Kirby, living at Kirby House near Bodmin in Cornwall. Here she meets the dowager’s two sons, Sir Howel, the sixth baronet and Captain Daveth Kirby, newly home from fighting the Boers in South Africa.Although seeking a quieter life, Nyssa is drawn into the mystery of the disappearance of Lady Marie Kirby, Sir Ho...
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If Birds Fly Low
Since her childhood, Charlotte has been plagued by constant knocking on her bedroom door in the dead of night; a summons she never answers since she fears what might be waiting for her behind the door.While helping her father with his bookshop in Cambridge, Charlotte meets Noel Chandler, a tutor at the university. Noel is also Squire Chandler and owns Martlesham Manor a Tudor house in Suffolk. It's while visiting Martlesham Manor with her cousin, Adele, that Charlotte learns the story of Prudence Chandler who, in the seventeenth century, was denounced as a witch by her husband and mother-in-law and consequently hanged.Charlotte becomes absorbed with the story of Prudence and realises there a...
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Harriet Grace
When Harriet Grace discovers her grandfather is going blind and unable to operate the railway signal box, she decides to go against the rules and man the signals herself. This will set off a spiral of events when her deception is discovered and the authorities are informed. Harriet must attend a Board of Trade Inquiry and explain her actions. Forced to leave their small cottage, Harriet and her grandfather move to York to live in the same boarding house as the man she loves, Edward Hainsworth, a locomotive fireman.But her move to York will be the catalyst for many changes in her life including the opportunity to work as a telegrapher and clerk with the York Constabulary. Meeting handsome Det...
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To Guide Her Home
In the late nineteenth century Lydia Prescott has no ambition to settle down to marriage until she has travelled and seen the world. But her life and emotions are shaken up when she meets Doctor Russell Brooks. Unknown to Lydia, Russ is actually an electronics engineer and living in 1998. They are linked by Lydia’s home, Prescott Grange on the outskirts of Worcester. In Russ’s time, this has been converted into stylish apartments and he has discovered a winding staircase that leads him into the Victorian era.Russ finds he’s attracted to the beautiful fair-haired young woman; a woman very different from those he knows in the twentieth century. But is their ...
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Broken Blossoms
Awarded a 5* review from The Book Dragon in 2024At the age of fifteen, Katherine Widcombe, the niece of a baronet, is found missing from her bed whilst visiting her maternal aunt in Bristol. She is returned to her aunt and uncle’s home, Widcombe Hall, blindfolded and with the weight of a terrible secret on her young shoulders. Six years later, she is invited to spend Christmas with her cousin, Philippa and her new husband Conrad, Earl of Croston. She is horrified when Conrad confesses his love for her. Dismayed by the awful truth of her past, Katherine returns to the Hall and decides to accept the marriage proposal of Sir Herbert Fox, a man thirty years her senior.&n...
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Between Light and Shadow
While suffering a potentially fatal illness when a child, Beatrice experiences an ‘out-of-body’ event. After she recovers she discovers she has psychic abilities and has knowledge of the future. Wanting a normal life she uses her ability sparingly as she becomes an adult, marries and settles down in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. But at the age of thirty-four, Beatrice becomes a widow with a young daughter to raise. In the year 1895, her life changes when she overhears a conversation about a missing boy. Her unique gift has given her ‘knowledge’ of his whereabouts and she is impelled to speak to the police. Considered a ‘crank’ by the police inspector and sent on her way, she m...
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The Wild Poppy
5* Review from Joanie Chevalier for Readers’ Favourite - 2021 The Wild Poppy moves at a quick pace and there are a few little surprises too. Readers will find themselves stamping their feet in frustration at times, and then cheering the heroine on as she plows through the narrow-mindedness of late 1800s society. Living during the time of Florence Nightingale and the first woman doctor, Melody is determined to succeed as a newspaper reporter. But in 1864, a female reporter is unheard of and because of the prejudice of the male establishment Melody finds it difficult to persuade an editor to buy her articles. When she accompanies her friend, The Hon. Celia Sinclair to London, ...
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Songbird: (The Songbird Story - Book One)
Finalist winner in Historical Romance 2020 Readers’ FavouriteAwarded a Chill Book Premier Reader’s Award in 2019Isabelle Asquith has only one ambition in life and that is to become an opera singer. To do this she must attend The Royal Academy of Music in London and become classically trained. Isabelle is a widow and has a young son to support and the fees for the academy are beyond her means as a music teacher. Her only recourse is to apply for the annual scholarship.In the summer of 1885 after losing the scholarship for a second time and eager to earn more money, she decides to answer an advertisement. This simple act and the meeting of a mysterious man named ‘Karl’ could chan...
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A Cruel Suspicion
Awarded a five star review from Readers' Favourite 2023 and an Honorable Mention from the Historical Fiction Company in 2024When Antheia loses her parents at the age of seventeen, she must leave her childhood home and travel to Lancashire to live with her maternal uncle and family. Arriving at Sedgwick Abbey, she meets her new relatives and discovers she might not fit in with the lifestyle of a noble family. Her uncle doesn’t seem to be interested in her and her younger cousin, Felix, treats her with contempt.However, she cannot ignore the wild beauty of that part of England. While exploring, she discovers a derelict cemetery and a mysterious sarcophagus that seems to have a profound effec...
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