Valerie Holmes: 16 books

When Bethany and Kezzie excitedly walk to a neighbouring village fair, Bethany discovers how fickle her friend is once they meet up with womaniser, local shepherd, Bill Judd. Deserted on the open moor road, Bethany’s feelings are hurt, but she is determined to continue her journey. In her anger...

In 1809 Elizabeth Matthews shares many a childhood adventure with her soul-mate, Thomas Lamb, son of the estate’s handyman. Elizabeth is entrusted with the safe keeping of a tin box by her Mama but instead, leaves the task to Thomas’s father Joseph. However, life in the windswept north-east coastal...

Ellie has recurring nightmares of a child surrounded by early nineteenth century luxury who is kidnapped. She always wakes to sparse surroundings and a life devoid of love. Yet she still dares to dream that she will find love. Living in the old hall with her Aunt Gertrude and cousins Cybil and Jane,...

Sophie’s Dream is to find an exciting life away from her strict education in a workhouse. She applies, with references, through an agency for a position as Governess in New South Wales. Along with other young women, she is chaperoned to their new life, beyond the social barriers in England. Abandoned...

Florence Swan escapes before she is forced to work in a cotton mill. Naïve and ambitious, she ventures out into the world alone. Major Luke Stainbridge has been a prisoner of Napoleon. He returns to his beloved estate in England only to discover he has been replaced by an imposter. Two lives in chaos....

Phoebe and her brother, Thomas, have to flee the evil regime of Benjamin Bladderwell when an accident results in them being labelled machine breakers. Hunted with nowhere to run, the mysterious Matthew saves their lives. He is a man of many guises who Phoebe instinctively trusts, but Thomas does not. Their future depends upon this stranger, unaware that he is also tied to their past.

Abigail Hammond has been raised as a lady by her guardian, Lord Edmund Hammond. However, her sheltered life ends when he falls ill. His heir, Frederick, returns to force her into a marriage of convenience. Abigail has to flee to York with her lifelong maid, Martha, at Lord Hammond’s insistence....

Maggie Chase discovers an injured stranger fleeing for his life on the beach. Her father, Captain Chase is away at sea. Maggie is living in their cottage on her own. Trusting her instincts, she helps Montgomery to evade capture. Little does Maggie realise that this rash act will jeopardise her plans...

Jen, a teacher, has broken away from a stifling relationship with Harris, who runs a gym. Naively, she tried to help him sort out his life, but did not realise that the man was a liar and a control freak until it was too late. Jen walked out on him determined to enjoy her independence once more when...

1812, in the North Yorkshire market town of Gorebeck, Miss Molly Mason is approaching her twenty-first birthday. After her father died her care was left in the hands of Mrs Dorothea Cresswell who owns a successful dressmaker’s establishment in the newer part of the town. The two women resent and...

Lydia works hard at Bagby Hall to keep her father, an ailing tenant, from the poorhouse. She is racked with guilt as she has to watch her friend, Georgette, being abused by Lord and Lady Bagby. Lydia longs to aid Georgette as she fears her life may be in danger - but how? The arrival of the mysterious doctor, Samuel Speer, adds to her dilemma as Lydia's concern for her friend grows.

Felicity Moon strikes the Lord of the manor in self defence and is forced to leave his household. Squire Moon, her father, is in gaol charged with bank-rolling smugglers and storing contraband. Felicity has one last chance to save herself from ruin in the form of a reference to Mr Lucas Packman, a man her father dislikes. She has a stark choice to make: trust Packman or her obey her father.

Hannah, a cosseted daughter, has grown up in the sheltered world of Harpham Hall. Headstrong and blinkered to dangers, she triggers the dismissal of her personal maid and is saved from harm by a tenant’s son, Tobias Jenkins. Her avaricious stepmother, Lady Alicia Harpham, uses this incident to add...

Miss Chloe Branton has been found a position as a laundry maid in a wealthy country house. Although she dislikes the life, she respects her father’s wishes, knowing the position will be temporary as she has been hidden away for her own safety. The workload is heavy and more physically demanding...