Bøger udgivet af Ann M Pratley

They found each other across distance and time... but what is their destiny? And who is guiding them, pulling them together in such a way that nobody can understand - even those involved as a part of it?

Meet the Leadbetters...For generations, the Leadbetters have lived off crime. For as long as any of them know, fathers and mothers have taught sons and daughters how to succeed in the criminal world, primarily through theft.Phillip Leadbetter is 29 and has devoted his whole life so far to doing what his father and mother have told him to do. The sacrifice for doing that is that he still lives at home and hasn't yet met anyone who he believes could accept the man that he is because of his family.One night a potential tragedy brings him into the path of Daisy, an up and coming professional in the legal sector. Seeing him as her knight in shining armor, she can't stop thinking about the rugged guy who saved her. She's also very pleased when fate brings their paths to cross again.Getting to know one another, both leave out the most important details about who they are. She doesn't want him to know she's a lawyer. He doesn't want to tell her about his family and their long history of criminal activity.How then will things turn when they meet up in a courthouse, each learning in that moment who the other really is? How will they deal with the fact that she is on one side of the law, and he is very definitely on the other?~~ NOTE: This book does contain adult sexual content and explicit language.

Meet the Stonewardens...The youngest member of the Stonewarden family, Charlotte (Charlie), is 18 years old. As with everyone in her family when they reach that age, she's been told that when she turns 19, she'll be recruited into the family business. She has her warning that she has one year to do anything else she wishes to do - travel, study, work. Whatever she wants to do, she has 365 days to do it. On her next birthday, her life will effectively stop being her own.But Charlie wants nothing to do with the business. The youngest of six, with five older brothers, she wants a different life. Maybe if the family business was something normal like a retail shop or a business centred around trade, she'd feel differently. There are people who say that her family's long term history of robbing from the rich and providing to the poor is a good thing. To her, all she can see is that they are thieves. Plain and simple.Her view is further secured when she and her older brother, Max, are shot at in a local supermarket. Seeing Max lying in blood and later lying unmoving in hospital in a coma, pushes her further in her resolve to find a way to not take part in the activities of her father and brothers.At the shootout she is saved by a checkout operator, Ash. Whilst building their friendship Charlie will learn things about her family that she didn't particularly wish to know. She will hear more and more that she can't share with Ash, and the more she learns, the wider the gap will become.In years she's young, but having lost her mother when she was only 9 years old, Charlie has an older soul. The possibilities she'll be presented with during her one final year of her own, will push her in her considerations of how she really wants her life to be.She wants one thing. Her strict ex-military father wants another. The dynamics of her new friendship will pull her in a third direction.How will she choose what's right for her? And what would she have to do to break free from the chains that she can see her father wants to place around her for the rest of her life?**NOTE: While Amethyst of Youth does contain a few short moments of raunchiness and explicit language, it is primarily set around the sweet and slow romance of one character.

James Stonewarden is a playboy. He has been since the moment he first started to notice girls. He loves them all, and they all love him. Why would he want to get himself into a relationship? Sasha Leadbetter''s a hot-headed young woman, known to the law for her quick temper and harsh ways. She isn''t one to mess with - especially with the way she keeps a blade in her pocket. To her, it''s her security. It''s something that makes her feel safe and comfortable. She''s had it for so long that it''s nothing for her to pull it out and hold it to someone''s throat without any conscious thought. Unaware of who each other are, or how their families are distantly interconnected through crime, the chance of James Stonewarden meeting Sasha Leadbetter is slim. But it happens.  For the first time in the long histories of two families, a night is coming when both will be present with their eyes on the same prize.  On one side is a family who work theft with precision. They have the charisma and charm to create an image ... an illusion. When they''re around, something can be there one minute and gone thenext, never to be seen again.  On the other side is a family with members who are rash, impatient and violent. They won''t pretend to be what they''re not and they waste no time on such things as charm. On one night, a clash of methods will result in an explosion and devastation for one family. Out of the horrific result, a friendship that has been slowly creeping up on two young people from opposing sides will reveal much. It''s an unlikely friendship that will heighten and flourish. The unthinkable happening will change both parties enough to make it easy for them to finally find common ground.