Devon, 1887. Life has not been kind to dairymaid Tresca Ladycott. She can't rely on her flighty farmhand father, Emmanuel, so she relies on herself.
Then comes a devastating blow. Tresca is sacked from the dairy and the pair lose their home. She and her father seek a new life in bustling Tavistock.
More hardship lies ahead. The only work to be found is hard labour on the London and South West Railway. Before long, Emmanual is out of work yet again and Tresca is faced with keeping them both in their tiny garret home.
But is her father to blame this time? Tresca can't help but feel that dashing Irish foreman Connor O'Mahoney had a hand in her father's dismissal.
TORN BETWEEN HER HEAD AND HER HEART
Even so, she finds herself drawn to this mysterious stranger. A battle ensues between her head and her heart, testing Tresca's resolve like never before.
Will she keep fighting for her dreams - even when all hope seems lost?
TANIA CROSSE weaves blissfully human stories with impeccable research, giving her characters all the complexity and colour of real life. Tania is the winner of the Best Romantic Saga in the 60th annual RoNA Awards.
August 1883. The future for Ling Southcott, a quarryman's daughter, seems to be already mapped. Marriage to her childhood sweetheart, Barney, a cluster of children, a life contained to the hamlet of Foggintor Quarry. For Ling, with her sharp, enquiring mind and love of books, it is an accepted, if unwelcome fate.
But then the new Princetown Railway opens across Dartmoor, connecting her remote hamlet to the neighbouring town of Tavistock, and even Plymouth.
SUDDENLY THE WORLD IS AT HER FINGERTIPS
Then Ling is rescued from a fatal blow. Her rescuer is handsome young medical student Elliott Franfield.
Elliott, man of education, is so different from her unambitious Barney. Almost against her will, Ling feels her eyes open to what life could have in store.
WILL LING CHANGE HER DESTINY? OR WILL SHE LET OPPORTUNITY SLIP THROUGH HER FINGERS?
TANIA CROSSE weaves blissfully human stories with impeccable research, giving her characters all the complexity and colour of real life.
A compelling saga of love, loss and self-discovery set on Wild Dartmoor.
Dartmoor, 1875. Rose Maddiford, beautiful, vivacious and intelligent, could have her pick of men across Dartmoor. But she is in no hurry to marry unless it is for true love - and certainly not while she can help her father manage the Cherrybrook Gunpowder Mills. Then tragedy strikes. Rose's father is injured by an explosion at the mill and the family is left teetering on the edge of poverty. Rose is left with just two options: accept arrogant, controlling Charles Chadwicks's proposal and move to London or let her family perish. Rose must choose duty over love. As Rose dives into her new life, she turns her attention to the plight of prisoners held in Dartmoor Prison and discovers new passion and new injustice as she forges a friendship with a wrongly convicted man. Can Rose find justice? As the situation builds to a heart-rending climax, Rose soon discovers what terrible acts jealousy can spur.
The Gunpowder Girl brings together Cherrybrook Rose and A Bouquet of Thorns for the first time, revealing Rose's full story just as the author intended.
TANIA CROSSE weaves blissfully human stories with impeccable research, giving her characters all the complexity and colour of real life. Fans of Nadine Dorries, Rosie Goodwin, Dilly Court, Freda Lightfoot and Catherine Cookson will adore this emotional and inspiring family saga.
Tania Crosse is the winner of the Best Romantic Saga in the 60th annual RoNA Awards.
"This absorbing historical with its strong themes of romance and feminist equality." Booklist
"Another gripping and heartbreaking tale . . . well-drawn characters, intelligent and fast-paced plotting.." Historical Novels Review
Originally published as Cherrybrook Rose and A Bouquet of Thorns.
A poignant, sensitive and intensely moving account of one village's war and the endurance of those who wait at home for news of their loved ones.
Dartmoor, 1914. Grace Dannings is a farmer's daughter but she dreams of making her mark as a London Suffragette. Too bad she's stuck in Walkhampton, the sleepy village where she was born. As a child, she could escape to the wheelwright's mill. Spellbound, she'd watch labourers hammer iron and timber into wheels. Now she's a woman and nothing about the village feels like home. The men are brutish, the women afraid of change. Perhaps she could have married Martin, the mill owner's son. But society says she's not good enough. When World War One breaks out and the wheelwright's men leave for the front, Grace volunteers to fill in. The move raises eyebrows. But Grace has her sights set on a fulfilling new vocation. And she's not about to stop for anything - or anyone.
Tania Crosse weaves blissfully human stories with impeccable research, giving her characters all the complexity and colour of real life. Tania has been shortlisted for Best Romantic Saga in the 60th annual RoNA Awards.
A compelling wartime saga of love, loss and self-discovery at the battlefield's edge.
Perfect fans of Nadine Dorries, Rosie Goodwin, Dilly Court, Freda Lightfoot and Catherine Cookson.
Originally published as Teardrops in the Moon.
A YOUNG WOMAN WHO DOESN'T WANT TO BE TIED DOWN
Dartmoor, 1914. Twenty-four-year-old Marianne Warrington is in danger of being left on the shelf. That's what her mother says and that's precisely how she wants it.
She has her future mapped out and it doesn't include marriage or babies. Instead, she vows to devote herself to rearing horses on her parents' farm.
BUT HISTORY HAS OTHER PLANS
Then World War One breaks out and the Warringtons' peaceful existence is shattered forever. Amid the chaos, Marianne seizes her chance to prove she's more than just a spinster.
When her brother leaves for the battlefield, Marianne is determined to follow. She signs up to serve as an ambulance driver in war-torn France. There, she witnesses unimaginable horrors.
Yet there's one face she can't banish from her thoughts. It belongs to Major Albert Thorneycroft: a handsome and perplexing stranger who means more to Marianne than she'd care to admit.
WHAT IF FINDING HAPPINESS MEANS LOSING HERSELF?
As the war rages on, a battle ensues between Marianne's head and heart, testing her resolve like never before.
TANIA CROSSE weaves blissfully human stories with impeccable research, giving her characters all the complexity and colour of real life. Tania has been shortlisted for Best Romantic Saga in the 60th annual RoNA Awards.
1930's London - A backstreet saga full of hopes, dreams and the fight for survival. Perfect for the fans of Rosie Clarke and Lindsey Hutchinson. Work at Price's Candle Factory in Battersea is tedious for intelligent, seventeen-year-old Hillie Hardwick, but she knows she is lucky to have a job at all. Her home life is no better, as she constantly battles with her exacting and bullying father in order to protect her mother and five younger siblings from his abuse. Her only solace is her loving relationship with the chaotic Parker family and her best friend, Gert Parker. When matters violently escalate for Hillie, smitten Jack-the-Lad Jimmy Baxter seems her only salvation. But could this be the biggest mistake of her life, and should she be looking for protection nearer home? A story that crackles with unease where courage and friendship are the only hope.
The boom years immediately after the Great War bring nothing but happiness for wealthy industrialist Wigmore Stratfield-Whyte and his wife Clarissa, until tragedy robs them of their greatest treasure. Many years later, a horrific fatal accident brings young Meg Chandler, a spirited farmer's daughter, into their lives. Meg wants nothing to do with them, but Clarissa is drawn irresistibly towards the bereaved girl and will move heaven and earth to help her. Will Meg allow Clarissa into her own shattered life, and can the two share a future happiness together? And will Meg's new acquaintances bring her the contentment she craves - or seek to destroy her?
