The Picture House Girls

A warm and heartfelt WW2 saga of hope, love, and female friendship and how women pull together through good times and bad. Perfect for fans of Dilly Court and Nadine Dorries. In 1940s Hampshire the war is settling into its stride bringing dark days for many. Connie Baxter has just moved in with her Aunt Gertie after the death of her mother. Gertie works as a cleaner at the Criterion Picture House in Gosport and she helps Connie to get a job there as an usherette. For Connie, it's the perfect place to work because she adores the movies with their glamorous, romantic stars. The only fly in the ointment is the Criterion's creepy manager with his wandering hands. But soon Connie is firm friends with Queenie, who sells ice creams and soon tells her how to warn him off. Charming Tommo Smith is a 'taxi-dancer'. For a fee he steers ladies of a certain age around the dance floor - and sometimes more besides which pays for his smart clothes. Connie's friend Queenie says he's a chancer, but his gorgeous blue eyes tell Connie something different. When suddenly he disappears, Connie accepts that Queenie may be right - he was too good to be true. As the war rages on and Connie struggles with the harsh realities of life and the turbulence of romance, she comes to realize that life isn't always like it is in the pictures.

Her fresh start is just beginning. But the world is on the brink of war. England, 1939. Lily Baker wants more from life. Working at the local cinema, she saves her pennies so she can have a chance to get ahead. After she’s attacked one night while locking up the cinema, she loses her heart to her dashing rescuer... But this lovely man is as different from her as can be. When the town is divided, pitting the wealthy elite against the poor working class folk like Lily, she finds her allegiance is torn. And worse: the looming threat of war threatens to separate them forever. Will the dangerous times rob a young woman of her only chance at love? The heartwarming first book in The Lily Baker Series, perfect for fans of Elaine Everest, Vicki Beeby and Daisy Styles.

Courage and romance on the eve of World War Two. World War Two is about to start. What if you had to leave everything you knew behind? It's 1938 and hard-working Lily Baker's life turns upside down when she and her family move to a new town. Two jobs leave little free time, yet she becomes involved in a struggle to improve her area. Pushed by the group leader she undertakes tasks she previously thought impossible and meets the man of her dreams. Amidst homesickness, looming war, and an aggressive father can she find the strength to win through? If you love warm-hearted stories, filled with nostalgia, period details, engaging characters, and a riveting plot, this book is ideal for you. It is the first in the Lily Baker series. Pick up the Picturehouse Girls to start the exciting Lily Baker series today.

A World War 2 saga to warm the heart. Three women become friends when working in their local picture house. When life is so tough for everyone, a trip to the pictures is the perfect way to escape, to dream of romance and hope for the good things peace will bring. It is 1943 on England's war-weary south coast where the conflict seems never-ending. After the heartache of the previous year, Connie Baxter now appears to have everything a girl could want. There is Ace, a man who loves her. She enjoys an enviable lifestyle despite the deprivations of war. She has friends and a job she adores as an usherette at the Criterion cinema. But appearances can be deceptive and Connie is struggling in more ways than one. Then, to compound Connie's problem, her nemesis, Cousin Marlene, returns home. Secrets come to light, revealing jealousies that could shatter Connie's world once more, and Connie realizes that Ace isn't the man she thought he was. In the darkest days of war, the glamour of movies and their stars can lift the bleakest of moods, while friends make the good times better and the bad times bearable.

World War Two is about to start. What if you had to leave everything you knew behind?It's 1938 and hard-working Lily Baker's life turns upside down when she and her family move to a new town. Two jobs leave little free time, yet she becomes involved in a struggle to improve her area. Pushed by the group leader she undertakes tasks she previously thought impossible, and meets the man of her dreams. Amidst homesickness, looming war and an aggressive father can she find the strength to win through?If you love warm-hearted stories, filled with nostalgia, period details, engaging characters, and a riveting plot, this book is ideal for you. It is the first in the Lily Baker series.Pick up this large print edition of the Picturehouse Girls to start the exciting Lily Baker series today.

'You know a book is good when you get up, realize you finished it last night and are really disappointed that you can't read it with your breakfast. This book reminds me of the best golden age of mystery writers, especially Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayers... Can't wait for the next one!' Reader review 5 stars Murder is no occupation for a lady... or is it? 1929: Miss Clara Vale is a woman ahead of her time. Rather than attending Oxford to bag an eligible Duke (as her mother, Lady Vale, so desperately hoped), she threw herself into a degree in chemistry, with aspirations to become a scientist in her own right. But the world isn't ready for Clara. Unable to land a job in science because she's a woman, she is stuck behind the desk at a dingy London library. Until her estranged Uncle dies suddenly, leaving her his private detective agency, and laboratory, in his will. Clara couldn't become a detective, could she? The decision is made for her when one of her uncle's old clients comes to her for help with a case surrounding the local picture house and invites Clara to see the latest show, before they discuss the details. But during the film, a fire suddenly engulfs the picture house, with tragic consequences. It seems at first an accident, but Clara soon begins to question if it was in fact a carefully orchestrated murder. She's suddenly in the middle of a deadly mystery and will discover her scientific skills make her a sleuth to be reckoned with... Can she catch the killer before they strike again? The first in a brand-new, glittering Golden Age cozy mystery series. Fans of Verity Bright, Helena Dixon and TE Kinsey will be hooked from the very first page to the final breathtaking finale.

From the New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah comes a powerful novel of love, loss, and the magic of friendship. . . . now a #1 Netflix series! In the turbulent summer of 1974, Kate Mularkey has accepted her place at the bottom of the eighth-grade social food chain. Then, to her amazement, the "coolest girl in the world" moves in across the street and wants to be her friend. Tully Hart seems to have it all---beauty, brains, ambition. On the surface they are as opposite as two people can be: Kate, doomed to be forever uncool, with a loving family who mortifies her at every turn. Tully, steeped in glamour and mystery, but with a secret that is destroying her. They make a pact to be best friends forever; by summer's end they've become TullyandKate. Inseparable. So begins Kristin Hannah's magnificent new novel. Spanning more than three decades and playing out across the ever-changing face of the Pacific Northwest, Firefly Lane is the poignant, powerful story of two women and the friendship that becomes the bulkhead of their lives. From the beginning, Tully is desperate to prove her worth to the world. Abandoned by her mother at an early age, she longs to be loved unconditionally. In the glittering, big-hair era of the eighties, she looks to men to fill the void in her soul. But in the buttoned-down nineties, it is television news that captivates her. She will follow her own blind ambition to New York and around the globe, finding fame and success . . . and loneliness. Kate knows early on that her life will be nothing special. Throughout college, she pretends to be driven by a need for success, but all she really wants is to fall in love and have children and live an ordinary life. In her own quiet way, Kate is as driven as Tully. What she doesn't know is how being a wife and mother will change her . . . how she'll lose sight of who she once was, and what she once wanted. And how much she'll envy her famous best friend. . . . For thirty years, Tully and Kate buoy each other through life, weathering the storms of friendship---jealousy, anger, hurt, resentment. They think they've survived it all until a single act of betrayal tears them apart . . . and puts their courage and friendship to the ultimate test. Firefly Lane is for anyone who ever drank Boone's Farm apple wine while listening to Abba or Fleetwood Mac. More than a coming-of-age novel, it's the story of a generation of women who were both blessed and cursed by choices. It's about promises and secrets and betrayals. And ultimately, about the one person who really, truly knows you---and knows what has the power to hurt you . . . and heal you. Firefly Lane is a story you'll never forget . . . one you'll want to pass on to your best friend.

Eighteen-year-old Connie Baxter works as an usherette at the Criterion Picture House in Gosport. Here she meets Vera, a cleaner at the cinema, and her niece, Babs, who sells ice creams. But when Connie falls for the charming Tommo Smith, her friendships are tested. When Tommo tells her that he's a dancing instructor at a local club her eyes light up. As Connie struggles with the harsh realities of war, she comes to realise that life isn't always like the pictures...