Novels

 
Cliffehaven, May 1944

The tension is rising for Peggy Reilly and the inhabitants of Cliffehaven as the planes continue to roar above the town and there is still no news of the long-awaited Allied invasion into France. There seems to be no end in sight of this war which has scattered her family and brought conflict right to the door of Beach View Boarding House, but Peggy cannot work miracles and the toll of the war is beginning to weigh on her slender shoulders.

Meanwhile, Ron Reilly has landed himself in hot water with his sweetheart, Rosie � and this time, his Irish charm will not be enough to get him out of trouble.

The war has forever changed the lives of Peggy�s loved ones, but with the promise of an Allied invasion comes the hope that her beloved husband and family will at last be coming home. It will take an enormous amount of spirit to keep that hope alive and bring harmony back to Beach View.

FIND LOVE. FIND HOPE. FIND CLIFFEHAVEN.

 

  
 
War has not been kind to Carol Porter. It took her husband and baby, and with them her heart. At last she�s found some peace, working as a land girl at Coombe Farm. But Carol�s sanctuary, the whole local area in fact, is about to be disrupted.

When Pauline Reilly hears Carol�s news she�s worried for her little sister. But as rumours about Slapton Sands reach Cliffehaven, Pauline can�t help be more concerned for her only surviving son. And despite her sister-in-law Peggy�s best efforts, nothing soothes Pauline�s fears.

As Carol prepares to face the impending upheaval alone her beloved mother, Dolly, swoops in to Slapton, and packing up Carol�s life presents unexpected opportunities for them both: Carol looks to her future while Dolly confronts a ghost from her past, and they both have a chance to mend their broken hearts.
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It is 1944 and Anne Black is making the best of a new life in Somerset, but bringing up her daughters so far from their father, her mother Peggy and their real home of Cliffehaven isn�t easy. The safety of Somerset makes separation bearable, until danger strikes and rocks Anne�s world.

Back in Cliffehaven Peggy Reilly is running the Beach View Boarding House with her usual love and warmth. The war is taking its toll however, and Peggy longs to have her scattered family home again. Until then she�ll continue being a mother to all, and maybe even find some time for herself.

As the fighter planes leave RAF Cliffe every evening all anyone can hope is that the war, like the night, will soon be over.
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Shelter From the Storm is Ellie Dean�s eleventh family saga
Nineteen-year-old April Wilton has just enlisted in the WRENs in Portsmouth, where she works servicing engines on ships.

She finds herself immersed in dockyard life and surrounded by soldiers - from England and America. The atmosphere is one of spontaneity and impulsiveness, brought on by the unpredictability of war. So when April meets Daniel, a young American soldier, whose mother is Sioux and father is of African descent, she doesn't hesitate when she starts to fall for him. The attraction is immediate, and coming from strict racial segregation in South Carolina, Daniel finds the freedom he has in England overwhelming.

Daniel and April endeavour to spend as much time together as possible - every moment is precious with the threat of Daniel being sent to fight overseas looming over them.

But with war and race both involved, their relationship was never going to be simple . . .
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Sweet Memories of You is Ellie Dean�s tenth family saga
'I�m not working on a factory floor or digging for victory, but in my own small way I do what I can for those I love.�

It�s 1943 and Peggy Reilly is at her best when the troubles of war come knocking at the door of Beach View Boarding House � especially when it concerns her younger sister, Doreen.

Doreen is divorced from Eddie, but his letters have taken on a more threatening tone of late. When Doreen barely survives a traumatic disaster whilst on leave in London, she returns home to Peggy and Cliffehaven in the hope that the love and comfort she will find there can help her recover.

However, Eddie continues to be an unsettling reminder of her past - and Doreen�s life is about to change dramatically.
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Sealed With A Loving Kiss is Ellie Dean�s ninth family saga

England is at war

After the death of her parents in a bombing raid, Mary Jones discovers a secret in the pages of her father�s diaries. Her search for the truth brings her to Cliffehaven on the south coast.

Here, she finds work at the Kodak factory, all the while longing for news of her sweetheart, fighting in Europe.

With the help of Peggy Reilly and her family at Beach View Boarding House, Mary starts to build a new life for herself.

But events that happened eighteen years before still echo.

And should a promise Peggy made then be broken, it will have a devastating effect not only on Mary, but on them all . . .
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While We're Apart is Ellie Dean�s eighth family saga

It is 1942 and England is at war. Mary Jones has just celebrated her eighteenth birthday and said goodbye to her childhood sweetheart Jack, when she learns that her house has taken a direct hit during a tip and run raid.

With both her parents dead and her home destroyed, a distraught Mary moves in with Jack�s parents. But her father's trunk is still intact amid the ruins, and Mary discovers a shocking secret amongst his diaries.

Mary travels to Cliffehaven on the south coast in search of answers. Here she is billeted with Peggy Reilly�s fearsome sister, Doris. When warm-hearted Peggy befriends Mary, she discovers the young woman�s secret.

But she begins to regret getting involved, for there can only be trouble ahead...
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Some Lucky Day is Ellie Dean�s seventh family saga
May 1942. Kitty Pargeter loves the life she's leading as a talented young pilot, serving her country.

But tragedy strikes when she is forced to crash-land and is badly injured.

She is taken to a specialist hospital in Cliffehaven, where she must come to terms with the disabling injury that threatens her career. Then comes the shattering news that her beloved brother has been shot down and presumed dead. And she wonders if she'll able to find the courage and fortitude to carry on.

As Kitty slowly recovers - with the help of Peggy Reilly and her family at Beach View boarding house - she is more determined than ever to return to the job she loves, whatever it takes.
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Review from Northern Woman magazine, 6th October 2014

When pretty Kitty Pargiter flew an Airspeed Oxford aircraft towards Kidlington - the airfield just north of the city after which the aircraft was named - the rain and black clouds threatened to cut the flight short.
     Kitty was one of the few women in the Air Transport Auxiliary during the Second World War, delivering aircraft between factory  and airfields. But as the engine cut out and the plane began to plummet to a crash landing her life was about to change. Coming to in hospital, and having lost one leg, it was the end of her world.
     It took a rough-talking fellow patient, and the encouragement of her brother, a pilot, along with the unending love and concern of Peggy Reilly and her family, who provided lodgings for her as she recuperated and learned to live with crutches and a prosthetic limb, to give her the will to live and battle on.
     Ellie Dean has captured the awesome frustration of life after such an accident, and the privations of wartime Britain, to eclipse her previous six novels. A superb read - with a few tears on the way.
 

All My Tomorrows is Ellie Dean�s sixth family saga
In defending herself against her brutal husband, eighteen-year-old Ruby Clark is forced to flee London.

She has no idea where Cliffehaven is, or what she will find there, but she knows that she will never be able to return home again.

At first it seems she's fallen on her feet. She gets a job at the local armaments factory, and the couple she is billeted with are kind and supportive. But when her host makes advances, Ruby is left homeless once more.

Until Peggy Reilly welcomes her into the warmth of Beach View boarding house and Ruby dares to hope for a brighter future.
 
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Review from Peterborough Telegraph, 6th February 2014
ELLIE�S fans will be delighted to return to familiar Beach View boarding house in Cliffehaven, where the latest refugee from the tribulations of the war is teenage Ruby Clark. Ruby fled her brutal husband in London and bad luck that threatened to condemn her to life on the streets, but she�s hopefully found a safe haven with landlady Peggy Reilly in this latest warm hearted saga from an ever-popular romantic writer.
 

Mojo Mums (www.mojomums.co.uk) review

All My Tomorrow by Ellie Dean is a story that is set in wartime Britain but the themes of love, violence and survival are just as relevant today. We are first introduced to Ruby who is living in the war-ravaged London East End.  Not only is she struggling and trying to live amongst the despair and travesty that war brings but we quickly discover that Ruby is also a victim in her marriage.  We are shown a young and na�ve young woman who falls for the charms of the handsome Ray but just like the bomb of the blitz destroys buildings around her we quickly see Ray�s charming fa�ade stripped away and the true nature of his character revealed.

One night, Ray�s assault on Ruby sees her fight back and encouraged by her mother, Ethel, she takes the opportunity to run.  When Ruby arrives at the train station she has no clear plan but fate makes her buy a one-way ticket to Cliffehaven.  Once in Cliffehaven another twist of fate causes Ruby to run and she finds herself at Peggy�s boarding house in Beach View. Despite their own personal trials and tribulations the Cliffehaven community, which includes Peggy and her family, stick together and offer solace not only to each to other but to Ruby.

All My Tomorrows is a book that is able to effectively combine history with everyday human experiences that the reader can relate to.   There are characters that will provoke an immediate reaction of love or hate, however, they are all authentic and vivid. Ellie Dean successfully brings the reader on a nostalgic and emotive journey. 

Reviewer: Nadine Matheson
 
Review from Love reading (www.lovereading.co.uk)

A World War Two tale of love and camaraderie and of people looking out for each other which gives you a good understanding of how the girls coped doing men�s jobs. The long hours, the satisfaction of earning a wage and of the freedom the period brought to women is well explored. Full of humour, suspense, love, loyalty, tragedy and honesty, it is a lovely read from beginning to end.  It is part of a series of books set in a seaside boarding house with a selection of warm characters.  You can meet them in earlier books but if this is your entrance into the series it�s fine.  The story is well-rounded, but you�ll probably want to read the back titles.  They are all lovely � highly recommended.
 
Well reviewed in Discover Your History magazine, March 2014
 
Always In My Heart is Ellie Dean�s fifth family saga
As the Japanese begin their assault on Singapore, Sarah Fuller is forced to leave her parents and fianc�, Philip, behind. The long journey to England is fraught with danger, and Sarah and her sister Jane don't even know if their great-aunt is alive, let alone waiting for them.

They arrive in Cliffehaven, on the south coast of England, and here Sarah must find work to support them both. When the Women's Timber Corps takes over the local estate, Sarah enlists as a lumberjill.

But as time goes on and the news of events in Singapore worsen, Sarah fears she will never see Philip and her parents again...
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Where The Heart Lies is Ellie Dean�s fourth family saga

Julie Harris is working in London's East End as a midwife when a bombing raid destroys her family and the house she grew up in. All she has left is her motherless baby nephew William. Determined to uphold her promise to her sister to keep William safe until his father, Bill, returns from the war, she accepts a post as a midwife in Cliffehaven on the south-coast of England. Here they are taken under the wing of the Reilly family at the Beach View boarding house.

But all too soon Julie learns that Bill is 'missing in action' and William falls dangerously ill. As she begins the long vigil by William's beside, she fears she will lose the little boy she has grown to love as her own.
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Keep Smiling Through is Ellie Dean�s third family saga

June 1940. Despite losing her mother at a young age and her father away on important war work, seventeen-year-old Rita Smith has plenty of people to turn to in the close-knit community of Cliffhaven. Until Italy sides with Germany and Rita's closest friends and neighbours are interned as enemies of the state.

As war rages across Europe, Rita is more determined than ever to do her bit for the war effort. Although she is forced to give up her dream of joining the WAAF, she volunteers as a fire warden. When her own home is destroyed Rita vows she will not lose spirit and throws herself into doing her bit for king and country, longing for the day when she is reunited with those she loves best..
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Far From Home is Ellie Dean�s second family saga

It is 1940 and Staff Nurse Polly Brown has been granted a posting at Cliffehaven Memorial Hospital on the south coast to be near her badly injured husband, Adam. But her decision has meant that she has had to part with their beloved five-year-old daughter, Alice, who is travelling to safety in Canada.

Polly's heart is torn in two as she says goodbye to Alice and heads to the Beach View boarding house in Cliffehaven, where she throws herself into her work.

But as she confronts the fact that Adam may not survive his injuries, a telegram arrives at Beach View. The boat Alice was on has been torpedoed by a German U-boat...
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French version
 
There'll Be Blue Skies is Ellie Dean�s first family saga

1939.   Life has not been easy for sixteen year old Sally Turner, or her much younger, crippled brother, Ernie.   Their feckless mother, Florrie, has all but abandoned them now war has been declared, and the pubs and dance-halls of the East End of London are crowded with service-men � and their beloved father, Harry is at sea with the Atlantic convoys.   Sally has no choice but to accompany Ernie when he is evacuated to the south coast of England.  

Their arrival in Cliffehaven realises all Sally�s worst fears, for it seems no-one wants to take in a child crippled by polio, and the only option is for Ernie to be placed in an orphanage.   Sally defies the authorities and refuses to be separated from him.  

Sally and Ernie are rescued by Peggy Reilly, the owner of Beach View Boarding House.  But as 1940 brings the horrors of Dunkirk, and enemy bombing-raids to Cliffehaven, it is clear to everyone that Sally and the children must be evacuated to Wales.   Sally is distraught, for it will mean leaving behind the people she�s come to love, and the fledgling home dressmaking business that is beginning to flourish.   But hardest of all, it will mean never seeing John Hicks again � and never to know why he seems so determined to break her heart with his coldness.
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Reviews  
Daily Mail Friendship, family and true love, as well as heartache, are all encountered in this enjoyable read.