ONE SWEET MOMENT

Orphans Kate and Andrew Dunbar live with their cold-hearted aunt and uncle within the gloomy vaults underneath Edinburgh's South Bridge. Worked relentlessly by day and tormented by night, Kate dreams of escape for her brother and herself but can see no way of achieving it. Then one day Richard Hope walks into her life.

A wealthy young medical student, Richard knows he and Kate come from very different worlds but as soon as he lays eyes upon her he knows too that she is the only girl for him. Not everyone is happy for the young lovers. Can their fragile relationship survive the pressures of family betrayal and society's disapproval, or will they be forced to part?

This poignant love story and coming-of-age tale is set against the backdrop of King George IV's visit to Edinburgh of 1822 and the Great Fire of Edinburgh of 1824.

'Ladies, set aside a whole evening because stopping ain't an option for this incredibly evocative, heart-wrenching story that asks whether love can conquer all.' Shari Low, Daily Record

'Incurably romantic ... a big, huge, romantic story ... a totally heart-melting ending.' Clare English, BBC Scotland's Radio Cafe.

THE DANCING DAYS

Jean Dunlop just wants to dance. Like the thousands of young people around her in thirties Glasgow, it seems to her the only way to escape the grey drudgery of her daily routine. So when she meets Andrew Logan, who's handsome, funny and a wonderful dancer, it seems only natural that they should take the perfect escape route togeth; a job as paid dancing partners in The Luxor, Glasgow's most glittering and exclusive club.

But the sparkle of her new life soon begins to dim as her perfect dancing partner reveals a terrible secret. Soon Jean is trapped, her only choice to take actions her old self would have recoiled from ...

Finally she manages to start over again, but unfortunately the past is not dead and buried. Jean can never return to the life she left so far behind her, but what steps will she take to protect her hard-won happiness?

Read an extract and see some of the locations featured in the book ...

A STAR TO STEER BY

1920s. When her father dies, Ellie Douglas has little option but to go into service. Her position takes her out of the life of Frank Rafferty - childhood friend and now a member of one of Glasgow's notorious gangs - and into the world of Evander Tait - son, heir and black sheep of the Tait household.

These two men dominate Ellis'e entire life. No one approves of her friendship with Evander and the bond she shares with Frank is misunderstood by everyone. Both relationships, for very different reasons, threaten to tear her apart. She must make the right choices, but will she be strong enough?

'... a gripping and moving family story' The Sunday Post

THE BIRD FLIES HIGH

Glasgow, 1920s. Grinding poverty and violence are an everyday part of Josie Collin's life. Her mother's death has left her alone with an abusive stepfather, struggling to bring up her younger brother and sister. Sadly, the children are taken away and only Josie's secret ambition - to become a reporter on one of Glasgow's newspapers - provides any hope for the future. Geographically it's not a big move but socially it's a million miles away.

Disaster strikes when Josie is sixteen. A tragic love affair leaves her alone and pregnant. Forced to give up her baby, Josie starts a new life under a different name. With renewed determination, she eventually achieves her dream, even enjoying a close friendship with a male colleague. But, although Josie finally begins to enjoy her new happiness, she aslo realises that she must come to terms with her own past, even if it threatens to destroy everything she's worked so hard to build.

'Maggie Craig knows her Glasgow and, more importantly, knows how to share that knowledge with readers.' Scots Magazine

THE STATIONMASTER'S DAUGHTER

Although she's grown up amid tenements and poverty, Carrie Burgess has led a charmed life. Her father's the stationmaster at Partick, a job with a house and garden attached. Her only real problem is her mother, who's disturbed by Carrie's growing closeness to Ewen Livingstone, a railway labourer; Matt Campbell, a clerk, seems a much better prospect.

When Carrie's father dies suddenly, the women are forced to move to a tiny flat, and money is tight. Carrie allows her head to rule her heart and, turning down Ewen's proposal, she marries Matt. It's the worst mistake of her life, for his devoted front conceals a man of violence, and there's a dark secret within his family.

Carrie's made of stern stuff, though. Fate takes a hand and as the Second World War drags on Carrie's free to take on a job back at the station she knows so well. But her heart still belongs to Ewen Livingstone. And as the men come home in 1945, it looks like Carrie might have left it too late to win him back ...

'Craig seems to fully inhabit her fictional world in a manner reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier and provides a sensorial feast for the reader.' Scotsman

WHEN THE LIGHTS COME ON AGAIN

Liz MacMillan has desperately wanted to be a nurse ever since her brother died of scarlet fever, but her dommineering father won't allow it. On the outbreak of war, however, nursing becomes nothing less than her patriotic duty.

Her new vocation in Glasgow's Western Infirmary may be hard work, but it brings freedom and the chance to meet new people - like the medic Adam Buchana who befriends Liz early on ... and Mario Rossi, whose film-star looks and sunny personality capture her heart.

But then Italy enters the war, and Mario's name means he is classed as an 'enemy alien' and deported. Through the dark years of the war and the air raids on Glasgow, Liz wonders about Mario's fate, despite the personal tragedy that follows in the wake of the bombs. With the advent of peace, she longs for his return. But will Mario still be the man for Liz, or will another face have grown more dear?

'a fast-paced novel' Scots Magazine

'Captures the heady mood of a perilous and yet exciting period of Glasgow's history.' Scotsman

THE RIVER FLOWS ON

It's 1925 and Kate Cameron is just sixteen when she's taken on at a shipyard on the Clyde. Kate's wages are needed in the house and her schooldays are abruptly over.

When Kate starts attending art classes at weekends, she meets Jack Drummond, whose world is far removed from the shabby backstreets where Kate grew up. But Kate's not equipped to recognise trouble when it's disguised by charm.

When Kate finds out the hard way how the world really works, she turns to the boy next door, Robbie Baxter, who has loved her as long as she can remember. But she daren't tell him the truth - and so their whole future is based on a secret ...

Set in the days when the majestic liners were launched on the Clyde, moving from the years of the Depression to the devastation of the Clydebank Blitz, THE RIVER FLOWS ON shows how love can blossom in adversity, and how laughing at life's troubles can draw a community together.

'Filled with Clydebank stories, passion and drama, this book is an ideal read.' The Clydebank Post

'a powerful story [with] vivid character sketches. Few writers evoke all five senses quite so strongly.' Scots Magazine