Annie Groves
Personal Information
Description
Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 at about seven pounds in a nursing home in Preston, Lancashire, England. She was the first child of Anthony Winn Jones, an engineer, who died at 85, and his wife Margaret Louise Groves Jones. She has a brother, Anthony, and a sister, Prudence "Pru". She had been a keen reader from the childhood - her mother used to leave her in the children's section of their local library whilst she changed her father's library books. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction. At the age of eight, she was creating serialised bedtime stories, featuring make-believe adventures, for her younger sister Prue, who was always the heroine. At eleven, she fell in love with Mills & Boon, and with their heroes. In those days the books could only be obtained via private lending libraries, and she quickly became a devoted fan, and was thrilled to bits when the books went on full sale, in shops and she could have them for keeps. Penny left grammar school in Rochdale with O-Levels in English Language, English Literature and Geography. She first discovered Mills & Boon books, via a girl she worked with. She married Steve Halsall, an accountant and a "lovely man", who smoked and drank too heavily, suffered oral cancer with bravery and dignity. Her late husband bought her out of his own money at a time when he could ill afford it the small electric typewriter on which she typed her first novels. Her husband died at the beginning of 21th century. She has earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, Penny found an agent who was looking for a new Georgette Heyer. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her nom de plume to Melinda Wright for threebair-hostess romps and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her present historical romance novels, she has adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70m of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide. Now Penny Halsall lives in a neo-Georgian house in Nantwich, Cheshire, with her Alsatian Sheba and cat Posh. She works from home, in her kitchen, surrounded by her pets, and welcomes interruptions from her friends and family.
Books
Some Sunny Day
What happened to the Greek gods after Olympus? This mystery is revealed, and others are explored, in Davies' new novella, Some Sunny Day. Myth, dream, and devotion are woven into a connected stream of short narratives -- some tragic, some poingnant, some touching -- together forming a death diary, threaded through ten centuries of memories. Each new voice adds clues to the wraith's grasp of her journey and its genesis, then animates its probabilities for the future.
Goodnight Sweetheart
A captivating saga set on the eve of WW2 in Liverpool, where life is about to change forever for one girl.As war breaks out so too does Molly Dearden...Molly is used to living in the shadow of her older sister, June. When their mother died when Molly was just seven years old, June helped their grief-stricken father look after her in their tiny home in the tight-knit Edge Hill district of Liverpool. But as her seventeenth birthday passes, Molly doesn't realise how much she is going to have to grow up. As the threat of a second world war looms, she must learn to protect herself, her family, and her heart.When hostilities finally break out, Molly finds the courage to enlist in the Women's Voluntary Service. There, she can help the war effort and finally stand on her own two feet. It's a terrifying time, but also some of the best days of her life, especially when she meets, and falls for Eddie.The pair live for the precious hours when Eddie is on leave from the Navy and excitedly plan their future together. But then tragedy strikes. Devastated, Molly can take no more. But then the terrible reality of war hits her home town and Molly must find the strength to protect those closest to her heart.
Hettie of Hope Street
Set in 1920's Liverpool and London this tells of one girl's determination to succeed in a world where obstacles lurk around every corner.
Connie's Courage
When Connie Pride finds herself alone and pregnant in the rough courts of Liverpool, she despairs. Deserted by her lover, menanced by his bullying uncle, and too proud to ask her estranged family for help, there seems no hope. Rescued from the gutter, she is offered the chance to train as a nurse at the Poor Hospital. Finally Connie has a purpose in life.
Across the Mersey
From the author of 'The Grafton Girls' comes the story of one Liverpool family preparing for the onslaught of World War Two, while trying not to fight among themselves.Jean and Vi are twins but couldn't be more different. Jean's proud of her honest, hardworking husband and their children, but there's never a penny to spare. Vi's equally proud of her husband's new role as a local councillor and their elegant new house, and has raised her children to expect the best. As war breaks out, agonising decisions must be faced. Should the oldest children enlist? Should the youngest be evacuated? All the traditional certainties are overturned. Then the twins' own younger sister, singer Francine, returns home unexpectedly and stirs up the past, even in the midst of present danger. This is a tremendous saga of fighting spirit and family closeness, and the belief that even though today is full of destruction and pain, there is hope for a better tomorrow.
As time goes by
The Grafton girls
The new Liverpool-based World War Two saga from the author of Goodnight Sweetheart is a tale of four very different young women thrown together by war. A unique bond is formed as the hostilities take their toll on Britain.When Diane Wilson leaves Cambridge for Liverpool, destined for Derby House and war work as a teleprint operator, she is intent on mending her broken heart. But will hundreds of miles ease the pain of her betrayal? From the moment she first lays eyes on Myra Stone in the Wavertree terrace she is billeted to, Diane senses she's bad news. But does Myra's bitterness and caustic wit belie a secret heartache? Ruthie starts work at the munitions factory, enduring terrible conditions in order to put food on the table for herself and her widowed mother. But Ruthie is befriended by lively and vivacious Jess Hunt who injects colour and fun into the drab surroundings. All four women are brought together at The Grafton, the local dance hall favoured by American GIs as well as the local girls. In this heady, uncertain time, infatuation and passion blossom. But has each girl found true love – or true trouble?
Daughters of Liverpool
An evocative and heartrending saga set in Liverpool during World War Two, from the bestselling author of As Time Goes By Katie’s full of trepidation as she arrives in Liverpool. It’s her first posting and her work will be so secret that she can’t even speak about it to the family she’s billeted with. She makes it clear that she’s here to do her bit for the war effort, not to flirt with the many servicemen based at the nearby barracks. Which is just fine with Luke, son of the household and battle-scarred veteran of Dunkirk. He’s had his heart broken already by a flighty nurse. His mother can’t help worry about him - but she’s got more than enough on her plate with her youngest children, the teenage twins, who don’t see why a war should stop them having fun and achieving their ambition to go on the stage. Then the bombs begin to rain in Liverpool in earnest and everyone, from oldest to youngest, must realise what matters most in life.