SHEFFIELD AUTHORS
- Stories "Made in Sheffield"
Victoria Howard
Victoria Howard lives in Barnsley, with her partner Stephen, and her 6 year-old Border collie, Rosie. She is the author of three romantic suspense novels: The House on the Shore, (a 2009 Joan Hessayon Award finalist, and London Book Festival Honourable Mention: Fiction), Three Weeks Last Spring (a Pushcart Prize nominee), and Ring of Lies. Several of her short stories have appeared in anthologies, including the Kindle short, A Little Protection.
Although born in Liverpool, her heart is always in the Scottish Highlands. She lived on a remote croft for twenty years, managing a company involved in the offshore oil and gas industry.
During those rare times when she isn’t writing, Victoria can be found curled up with a book, gardening, designing knitwear, walking Rosie, or travelling the world.
Victoria is a member of Romantic Novelists’ Association
The House on the Shore:
Heartbroken Anna MacDonald leaves Edinburgh to find peace at the edge of a Scottish loch. Safely ensconced in her late grandmother’s cottage, she can finally heal her heart and write the novel that has burned inside her for years.
Her peace is short-lived. When debonair artist Luke Tallantyre’s yacht gets stranded in the loch, he seeks help at the nearest residence – Anna’s croft. She finds him annoying. He instantly dislikes the stunning but cranky hermit.
But there’s indisputable evidence that a hit man is on the prowl in the village. Is he after Anna? And what is Luke keeping from her that could deepen the danger? Against their wills, they join forces and embark on an adventure neither ever imagined…including a chance at true love.
Ring of Lies:
Daniel Elliott dies in a single-car accident one rainy English night. His wife, Grace, is grief stricken. Although their marriage was imperfect, sheltered Grace doesn’t relish the future alone.
She soon learns how little she knew about Daniel. There are secrets: an alias, a strange list of numbers, a house in Florida – and a mistress who’s a dead ringer for Grace.
Terrified but determined, she flies to Florida. Underworld figures stalk her…and so does the other woman. To her surprise, handsome FBI man Jack West takes the case. Grace has a past with the troubled agent. Despite her efforts, she finds herself falling for him all over again.
With danger around every curve, Grace and Jack navigate the criminal world of south Florida to find the truth behind the Ring of Lies.
Three Weeks Last Spring:
Friday Harbor, a picturesque small town in the Pacific Northwest, and a haven for fishermen and yachtsmen. For Skye Dunbar, it is a place where she can overcome the pain of a broken heart and put her life back together. Renting a cabin by the shore, the last thing she expects is to be accused of computer hacking.
Jedediah Walker is investigating the dead marine life washed up on the island’s beaches. When he discovers the fish contain a high concentration of toxic chemicals, he suspects someone is deliberately dumping them in Puget Sound. Swift to jump to conclusions, he suspects the auburn-haired woman renting his cabin is somehow involved.
Skye tries to ignore him, but necessity throws them together as they struggle to find those responsible for the environmental atrocity.
A Little Protection: a short story,
Handsome Matt Hemmings meets scientist Alexa McAllistair at a conference on nuclear energy in Rome…and against his professional judgment, he is smitten. The vulnerable – and beautiful - scientist arouses his protective instincts, and the desire to kiss her senseless. And it's more than evident that she feels the same way about him.
But when protesters storm the conference, Alexa is trapped, and Matt’s quick thinking saves her life.
Once back in London, Alexa learns to her horror he is only her bodyguard. Matt must convince Alexa that even though he was initially paid to protect her, the love he now feels is real.
