Ripples of War

When the heavy stone of a world war drops into the tranquillity of peace, its ripples reach far and wide, disturbing the lives of all they touch. This is the story of two young people whose entire teen years coincide with a war that changes their lives profoundly.

In 1939, when World War Two begins, they live in opposite sides of the world, then as the Japanese enter the war and the conflict drags on, they both reach maturity and enter the services.

When the widening ripples finally allow them to meet in the fifth year of the war, then tear them apart, they are deeply in love and face almost insurmountable hurdles to live a life together.

All the war facts in Ripples of War are authentic, including the rescue at sea.

Rippleswade Hall

Taking the form of a legal witness statement in a civil action in the High Court and an expert report from a psychologist, Rippleswade Hall is the story of Barrington Whibley, who is appointed to investigate a suspicious fire at a grand family house. Whibley makes three separate visits to Rippleswade Hall, each recounted in detail in the witness statement. His last visit is to attend a special and lavish dinner on the summer solstice, hosted by Natalie Trelewyn-Digby, the heiress and sole occupant of Rippleswade Hall. Whibley begins to fall in love with both her and the hall. Some very strange events occur at the dinner party and Whibley becomes obsessed to know whether his recollections were real, drug-induced or a psychotic episode. An investigation into love and madness – Remains of the Day meets Twin Peaks.

Rise of the Maquis

With Europe in turmoil due to the tyrannical reign of Germany, a small group of brave resistance soldiers fight from the inside to save France from being taken over completely. Together, this ragtag group of individuals, including an English SOE, band together to form an alliance; this band of brothers is a family thrown together through necessity. Hiding in plain sight, they form a bond that no one, not even Hitler, can break. They even have the support of Pablo Picasso, but will it be enough to get through the war unscathed? With their black-market supplies and procured weapons at the ready, these men and women will fight for their country, for their freedom and for their lives.

Rivertown

The tragic accidental drowning of Thomas’ younger brother results in the decimation of his family. Thomas’ father, unable to deal with the loss, turns to violence and alcohol, and his mother, as an attempt to extricate herself from the abuse, makes a failed attempt to kill his father, sending her to prison.

Thomas spends the rest of his life attempting to assuage his guilt, as he blames himself for the death of his brother. He seeks peace initially through life in a monastery, subsequently moving to London where he meets Iris, through whom he achieves a partial healing.

The story of Rivertown reflects the meaningful contrast between hardship and prosperity in which the outcome of relative coexistence within such differences may result in an appreciation of natural truth and virtue.

Roads Stretch

In this first collection of his poetry, David M Garnett observes the forms of nature in their environments. Many of the poems become hymns to creatures from recently receding landscapes. He depicts relationships not only among people but also with animate and inanimate objects. This also makes the collection confessional in the characteristic British mode.
Roads Stretch is very much a poetry of journey – physical, emotional and mystical.

Rocking the Spinsterhood

Amelia is 49, fast approaching 50, single, long-term dateless and constantly brooding over a lost love of 25 years ago. She passes the years fantasising over Gary Guzzler, an aging rock star, whom she has loved and idolised since she was a teenager, and who has begun touring again after a long hiatus. She is forever daydreaming about meeting Gary and falling in love.

Laura, Amelia’s friend and total nymphomaniac, wants her to get over her lost love and unhealthy fascination with Gary Guzzler, so suggests she have a go at online dating because it is “cheaper than Botox, liposuction or counselling.” To get her started, Laura treats Amelia to a three-month online dating subscription for her 50^th birthday.

It is only for three months. What could possibly go wrong? Will she meet her dream man, or forever remain within her dreams?

Rogue Justice

Someone disillusioned with the criminal justice system has decided that there is only one option available to prevent the scales of justice from tilting in favour of those that carry out heinous crimes. Believing the system broken, he ruthlessly dispenses his own brand of retribution.

Cutting a swathe through a rural community, he subjects his hapless preys to unimaginable cruelty in twisted games of cat and mouse before executing them in escalating brutality.

Detectives Englund and Hicks are tasked with tracking down a killer amidst their close-knit community, seemingly without motive.

When a young girl is kidnapped, coinciding with the release of a notorious paedophile, Englund is forced to evaluate his own position and question what justice really means.

Will Englund and the enigmatic Hicks catch the killer before the town implodes and takes justice into its own hands?

Or will they become another statistic in an ever-increasing body count?

Rogue Malory

London, 1469. Rogue Malory sets out to show how, ‘comfortably imprisoned’ in Newgate Jail, Sir Thomas Malory works on his magnum opus, Le Morte D’Arthur, with the help of his scribe, Montmorency Pickle, his servant, John Appleby, and his stationer, Jack Worms. The story is an imagined account of the preparation of the famous manuscript, the true revelations of Sir Tom’s disreputable past and the factual events covering the final two years of the ongoing tussle for the crown between the Earl of Warwick and King Edward IV. A combination of real and imaginary events brings to life this arresting period of history.

Reluctantly, Monty and Jack become embroiled in Malory’s political machinations whilst also contending with his dissolute yet magnetic character. Whores, pimps, spies and officials pass in and out of Sir Tom’s cell, where he sits at its centre like a hilarious old spider weaving mischief.

Romeo & Julio & Friends

25-year-old Julio Clifford, a successful gay black British and South African designer returns to London, Britain, from abroad after seven years. He reunites with childhood friends and through them meets the charming, handsome and disconcertingly confident Romeo Moses. Romeo is a 29-year-old white British and Italian Architect/Model. Julio is the opposite of Romeo, he is gentle, sensible and warm-hearted.

Everything is perfect and sparks are flying but there is a problem. Romeo has a girlfriend, Julio’s older sister’s childhood friend, Poppy, who is also one of Julio’s oldest and dearest friends. Will Romeo act out his yearning for Julio? Will Julio betray his old friend in the name of love falling for Romeo’s charms?

Romeo likes how smart, independent and confident Julio is. He likes the soul within Julio. Julio likes Romeo’s charisma, assertiveness, strength, and how he cares for others.

But then, Julio’s emotionally abusive ex-husband, Hassan, arrives in town and begins to stalk him. Will it tear Julio and Romeo apart?

A story about love and friendship with many twists and turns showing Romeo and Julio’s lives unfold while they, with their friends, deal with the stress of living and working in 21^st century City of London. Romeo & Julio & Friends shows the people of multicultural Britain and their queer lives unfolding in the high-pressure modern-day world.

Romeo and Juliet & The Merchant of Venice

Shylock speaks: "This man abused me, so many times, laughed at my loses… my gains Scorned my people, thwarted my deals… causing such heartfelt pains He's heated my foes, cooled off my friends, why does he do such things? I'm not of his race or religion… from that… his enmity springs. "Have I not eyes? Have I not hands, organs, passion and heart? Do I not eat, fall ill, get healed? If slapped, do I not smart? If I am pricked, do I not bleed? If tickled, do I not squirm? If I am poisoned, would I not die, like him, lie feeding the worms? "If we are wronged, should we not fight, as you have taught us to do? That which you taught us, we will improve, it will, go harder for you!"

Rorkk’s Captive

Rorkk is a Rotari Admiral who has defended his planet against Krylan invasion for most of his adult life. Shattered by his former fiancé’s betrayal and tired of defending a planet under siege, his spirit is almost broken until intelligence is received that the Krylans are targeting an Earth woman for her unique genome to enhance their Nzumbe troops.

Seizing the opportunity to thwart the Krylans and obtain important intelligence information, Rorkk embarks on a risky mission to ensure the Earthling does not fall into the wrong hands.

Instead of finding her dream job on Aero Space Nine with the Galactic Trading Academy, Aurora discovers her role as Chief Engineer, Spacecraft Maintenance embroils living and working on a rust bucket plagued by mechanical problems, ageing maintenance droids and a crew of oddball geeks just out of school.

After surviving a micro meteor storm which compromises the space station’s hull and the environmental systems bringing the crew to the brink of disaster, Aurora visits Robodome, an off-world pleasure centre to unwind.

Aurora’s life changes overnight when she visits the centre and is kidnapped. One minute she’s about to enjoy the delights of her assigned pleasure bot, the next, she finds herself locked in a cabin on an alien spacecraft.

With a journey that threatens everything they believed about themselves and enemies at every turn, Rorkk and Aurora must join forces to defeat the enemy. Can they learn to trust each other, their growing attraction and stop the Krylans in their tracks?

Rose Beanie and the Best Summer Adventure Ever!

Rose Beanie is a fifth grader in her last week of school. Together, she and her three friends, Molly, Albert and Archer, create a project that they call the best summer adventure ever!

During their summer, the four friends learn how to care for four farm animals: a chicken, a pygmy goat, a cow and a miniature donkey. Also, a couple of things go missing. It is up to them to solve the mystery together.

At the end of the summer, they share their project with the town and it is a big hit!