Christmas on the Mersey

Empire Street #2

by Annie Groves (pen name/series creator)

An emotional and compelling wartime drama from the author of Only a Mother Knows and A Christmas Promise -perfect for fans of Katie Flynn.The phoney war is over and Hitler’s bombs are raining down on the city of Liverpool.

Rita Kennedy is forced to face some unpalatable truths about her husband, Charlie. But she must still play the part of dutiful wife, while her childhood sweetheart, Jack Callaghan, has shown her nothing but kindness. Can they keep a check on their emotions or will their friendship develop into something more?

For Kitty Callaghan, burying herself in her work distracts from the constant worry about her brothers. Tommy is back from his evacuee posting after falling ill, but now he faces danger in another guise. And what about Danny, always ducking and diving and up to no good? And then there’s Frank Feeny, the man she adores. Will they ever be together?

With a Christmas of rationing and ‘going without’ to look forward to, the women of Empire Street are being tested like never before. But their troubles are only just beginning…

Genres: Historical Fiction

402 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 23, 2014

About the author

Penelope Jones Halsall aka: Caroline Courtney, Penny Jordan, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright

Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 in a Preston, Lancashire, England.
She had been a keen reader from the childhood. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction.

She has earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, she found an agent. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her name to Melinda Wright and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her present historical romance novels, she has adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70m of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Now Penny Halsall lived in a house in Nantwich, Cheshire. She worked from home.

Penny died on 31 December 2011.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is the second book in a series and I assume you can read them as stand alone novels however like another reader I found the sheer number of people in the book a bit hard to get hold of until half way through the book and even then I was struggling to see who was related to who. It had very little to do with Christmas until the last few chapters so if your looking for that Christmassy feeling this book wont be for you.

I did however enjoy the book. Its not very fast paced but the characters are loveable and its nice that its set in Liverpool. I liked the war theme and I think I would read the first one to see how the characters have developed

[kellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first one. I thought that she kept repeating herself and it got a bit boring. Looking forward to reading 'The Mersey Daughter' next though.

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely story telling the stories of numerous families on empire street during the war and the Blitz.
The Kennedys, the Callaghans and the Feeneys lives, friendships and relationships are all interlinked with hardships and privations due to the war the families do the best they can and muddle through to make do and mend as Christmas approaches but with bombs dropping and floundering relationships and family secrets will it be a happy Christmas for the residents of Empire street?
A sweet wartime tale peppered with drama, laughs, sadness and romance.

[dave jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant read

Really enjoyed the second book in the series and have gone on and purchased the last 2 in the series and can’t wait to see how it ends for Dolly and her family, hoping there is a couple of romances for certain characters but won’t mention names as not to spoil it. Brilliant series well done Anne Groves my new go to author 5******

[Lyn Mether- fairbairn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually love Annie Groves books but I found this one very confusing. Too many characters to try and remember plus where they fitted in left me scratching my head. I persisted to the end but can’t say I enjoyed it.

[Bernie Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

2nd in series that I missed before. Loved it.

[Daisy Mawdsley-hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely book will be looking for more from this author

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heart-warming story of the Feeney family during world war 2 in Liverpool.

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a wonderful story which makes me want to read the other three books.

[Sandy Hallam]

Good

[K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first one. I thought that she kept repeating herself and it got a bit boring. Looking forward to reading 'The Mersey Daughter' next though.

[Jocelyn Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good

[Sharon Gillam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with a lot of the reviews lots of characters to sort out but as this seems to be part of a series I think I would have benefited by reading the first one prior to this …,

[Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book two in the Empire Street series begins in the middle of an air raid. Liverpool is in the middle of the blitz and our two families, the Callaghans and the Feenys are right in the middle of it all. Rita working as a nurse faces trouble at home as her husband threatens and eventually snatches their children away leaving Rita to try and figure out for herself where he took them and how she will get them back. Her sister Nancy continues to live her life as though there is no war on, life is one big party to her. When she encounters an old acquaintance she seems to forget that she is a married mother and her husband is now a POW. Kitty continues to hold her own at the NAAFI canteen but is beginning to want more out of life. She also finds she is getting attention from not one man but two. For her brothers life is not easy for them either. Jack is at sea facing the threat of submarines the risk of losing his life in battle, Danny stuck on the sidelines of the war longs to be a hero and to find someway to do his part not realizing that it might be more dangerous than imagined and Tommy continues to get up to mischief which could land him a one way ticket to the countryside, or worse. Out of the blue a young woman arrives on the doorstep of the Feeny household claiming to be married to Eddy, who is currently in battle. While the woman (Violet's) story checks out there are things about her story and her life that she would rather keep hidden. As always Dolly who is mother of the Feenys and surrogate mother to the Callaghans is trying to bot help the war effort and to love and support her family through it all. The characters are well developed and relatable, there are some new faces this time around, including Violet, who despite a shaky start actually is quite a wonderful addition to the series. As with the previous book in this series just when you think there will be a lull in the action something else happens to grab your attention again. I worried toward the end when it appeared all the stories were being wrapped up but there was still another forty pages left, but my attention was never lost. In the end there was enough storylines left open and potential stories hinted at that it peeked my interest for book three which can't come out soon enough.

[Tracey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I love this genre, this book was disappointing. Where were the strong women keeping the home front going? Most of the women in this story were unsure of themselves, they had little self confidence. I felt there were too many main characters, and not brought details of the more interesting ones. The book I have has a little girl on the front and the words - Will she make it home for Christmas? Presumably the girl is supposed to be Megan Kennedy, she has a evacuation label but in the story she was taken away by her father and not evacuated, she is not one of the main characters as you might expect and she didn't get home for Christmas!

[Amy DeWolfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Y’all, I finished this book in one day 🙈 it was so good. I NEED to find out what happens to the Callaghans and Feenys so I’m just gonna fly through all these books.

They should really make a tv show about these books!

[Joanna Warrens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but not really a Christmas book. Its a very serious book.I think that the publishers use Christmas titles for marketing purposes.

[Roslin Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Far too many people in the book couldn't keep up with who belonged to who

[Psammead · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not written by Annie Groves but her name has been used as if it has. Too bad.

[A Red Headed Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

i have completely fallen in love with Empire street and their families

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very disappointed with ending

[Mrs L T Carver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, a must read

[Laura Wallis]

an extremly good book the le lives look at the lives of 2 familys during ww2 and the blitze and how life was for them back then i would read this again