She's no more than an unpaid servant... Lorinda is only a child when tragedy deprives her of her true family and, sent to live with her aunt in her boarding house, she grows up desperately craving affection. And although she finds friendship - and even love - in the boarding house, she finally sees a chance to escape her drab surroundings and unkind family. But is a marriage of convenience better than a love that's true?

For fans of Kristin Harmel and Martha Hall Kelly's Lilac Girls -- the bestselling author of The Piano Maker returns with a vivid, atmospheric, and deeply moving novel set during the final months of the Second World War. London, 1944/45 Kate Henderson is an energetic and spirited young woman. As a trained paramedic and ambulance driver she does her work courageously and with determination, even though underneath she is still wrestling with grief after witnessing the shooting death of her diplomat father seven years earlier. Her father’s murder was never properly investigated and it remains unsolved. Kate’s life is interrupted once more when she wakes up one night to the sound of the air raid alarm and the terror whistles of a bomb’s stabilizers screaming toward the roof of her house. Kate survives, but she is injured. Her house is gone as well, and after her time in the hospital, Claire Giroux, a kind doctor and family friend, invites Kate to live with her as she recuperates. This arrangement works well for them until a few months later when Claire’s husband comes home from the war. Within days the lives of both women are drastically altered, and events are set in motion, both in England and in Canada, that challenge Kate and Claire to their limits. The Orphan Girl is a moving and powerful story about friendship and courage, and about promises made and kept.

Olivia Abigail Eastcote, at the age of 17 decides to set out on journey to search for the truth about her parents. During her time at the Orphanage for Girls, located in London, England, she learns from her high mistress, Mrs. Grace Van Loon, through a letter and receiving a locket that her parents were killed. Olivia refuses to believe this... She takes her best friend, and soon to be lover, Thomas De Wilde with her to find her parents. They journey to Paris, France and Olivia ends up staying with the Prince at his palace during a time where Olivia and Thomas are separated. When Olivia meets up with Thomas again, it is there that Olivia learns about her parents, and she finds out her worst nightmare coming true. This causes her to make a choice of whether to live or not. Prince James and Thomas begin to fight for Olivia, but in the end Olivia and Thomas return to London to start their lives together.

THE STORY: Nellie is a long-suffering young lady who seems destined not only to lose her lover but her life as well. The familiar characters of old-time melodrama here play their roles up to the hilt. The most thrilling scene is that in which dynami