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Empire Street #4
Winter On The Mersey
The dramatic story of a young woman's war - full of heartache and triumph from the bestselling author of Christmas on the Mersey and London Belles Kitty has seen her fair share of tragedy and instead of thinking about romance, is determined to do her bit for King and country. Her life as a WREN means she is kept busy much of the time, but when Kitty finds herself stationed back home on Merseyside, she meets up again with Frank Feeny, the brave young officer who has always held a place in her heart.Britain is on the verge of victory, but will Kitty embrace the future and learn to love again?
- GenresHistorical Fiction
448 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 19, 2017
96 people are currently reading
176 people want to read
About the author
Annie Groves
40 books170 followersPenelope 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
January 21, 2025
This author's book was categorized on Amazon as
"Women's Action & Adventure Fiction." I considered
it historical fiction/ romance. This had mostly kisses-
only & behind closed doors scenes, WW2 story mostly
in a small town, nr Liverpool, England. Gave this 3
stars.
This noted ration books, "the wireless (radio)," WRENs,
ARP wardens, crowded dwellings & a max of 4 inches of
water allowed in the bathtub. Certain items were hard to
obtain- eggs, butter, sugar.
Dolly & "Pop" Feeny raised 5 children, all but one an adult.
Kitty Callaghan had responsibility of her sibs, from age 11
onward. Their mother died & father, an alcoholic, ignored
the needs of his kids. The Feenys took in the Callaghans
years ago.
Most of the aforementioned offspring took part in the war
effort IE as a nurse, military man, collected needed scrap
metal, delivered telegrams, grew "a Victory Garden"& so
on. Some were code-breakers or telephone operators,
drove around VIPs & or fixed engines. Some jobs required
long hours. One man, a spoiled, creepy, service-dodger,
acted too aggressive w/ certain ladies.
MCs, Frank Feeney, a wounded soldier, now a code and
strategy expert & WREN Kitty Callaghan, a phone operator,
worked together for a time. He'd always thought of her as
a little sister, but now he valued her as a special, talented,
attractive, good woman. Frank's younger sister, Nancy, had
a POW spouse. OM tempted Nancy.
This had about 6 romance couples, some in early stages.
I felt the resolution of most couples was too-smooth,
with an eye on the HEA aspect.
"Women's Action & Adventure Fiction." I considered
it historical fiction/ romance. This had mostly kisses-
only & behind closed doors scenes, WW2 story mostly
in a small town, nr Liverpool, England. Gave this 3
stars.
This noted ration books, "the wireless (radio)," WRENs,
ARP wardens, crowded dwellings & a max of 4 inches of
water allowed in the bathtub. Certain items were hard to
obtain- eggs, butter, sugar.
Dolly & "Pop" Feeny raised 5 children, all but one an adult.
Kitty Callaghan had responsibility of her sibs, from age 11
onward. Their mother died & father, an alcoholic, ignored
the needs of his kids. The Feenys took in the Callaghans
years ago.
Most of the aforementioned offspring took part in the war
effort IE as a nurse, military man, collected needed scrap
metal, delivered telegrams, grew "a Victory Garden"& so
on. Some were code-breakers or telephone operators,
drove around VIPs & or fixed engines. Some jobs required
long hours. One man, a spoiled, creepy, service-dodger,
acted too aggressive w/ certain ladies.
MCs, Frank Feeney, a wounded soldier, now a code and
strategy expert & WREN Kitty Callaghan, a phone operator,
worked together for a time. He'd always thought of her as
a little sister, but now he valued her as a special, talented,
attractive, good woman. Frank's younger sister, Nancy, had
a POW spouse. OM tempted Nancy.
This had about 6 romance couples, some in early stages.
I felt the resolution of most couples was too-smooth,
with an eye on the HEA aspect.
March 25, 2018
We don't realise today what war was like. A heart warming story about tragedy, love and resilience. A must read.
October 24, 2017
Being a big fan of Annie Groves I was so looking forward to reading this Empire Street edition.I must say I was kept entertained the story was so good and I loved catching up with the Feenys and Callaghans.The families have been through so much together but have always come through with heads held high.To read a book that makes you believe that you are there with them going through the ups and downs of war is astounding but I do feel sad when a series comes to a close but happy that certain people have at long last grown up or come together.well worth 5*.
February 26, 2020
Firstly, get yourself pen and paper, preferably foolscap for you to list the numerous names that will confront you. Rule columns for surname headings, relationship headings, marriages, deaths - big enough to create family trees.
Annie GROVES (or whatever name she is using) has near used everyone and every family in Merseyside. She uses all branches of the military involved in WW2; resulting in total confusion and near mayhem to the reader.
If you can get through the first 5 - 10 chapters, you might make it to the end. You may find that there is a necessity to create more columns. The story might be based in Merseyside, but different dialects are numerous, i.e. another column.
The story - well it is in the line of The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives etc. and is most probably an enhancement of the trials of England during the war. Stories like these have been produced in their thousands. In recent times when there has been a resurgence in WW1 pictures, and so these types of stories are on the rise.
So many, many sad plots arising again and again, most ending in misunderstanding and then happiness; why can't writers just write happy stuff?? Or write of those all those that did not end in happiness.
How wonderful it would have been if those decimated by the war had been able to live lives such as these.
Unfortunately, this one has nothing special, and nothing that I would recommend.
Annie GROVES (or whatever name she is using) has near used everyone and every family in Merseyside. She uses all branches of the military involved in WW2; resulting in total confusion and near mayhem to the reader.
If you can get through the first 5 - 10 chapters, you might make it to the end. You may find that there is a necessity to create more columns. The story might be based in Merseyside, but different dialects are numerous, i.e. another column.
The story - well it is in the line of The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives etc. and is most probably an enhancement of the trials of England during the war. Stories like these have been produced in their thousands. In recent times when there has been a resurgence in WW1 pictures, and so these types of stories are on the rise.
So many, many sad plots arising again and again, most ending in misunderstanding and then happiness; why can't writers just write happy stuff?? Or write of those all those that did not end in happiness.
How wonderful it would have been if those decimated by the war had been able to live lives such as these.
Unfortunately, this one has nothing special, and nothing that I would recommend.
November 11, 2017
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. It has finished the series off and we get a happy ☺ending. It would be lovely to have another book to see how the Callaghans and Feenys live gel together after the war, Kitty and Frank, Sarah and Danny and not to forget Nancy to see the reaction of her pregnancy and life with Sid goes on and not forgetting Dolly & Pop.
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February 11, 2019I don’t want to give this even one star when someone writing under Annie Groves name. She died in 2011.
That should not be. Write under your own name Sheila Riley. If you are any good they you will find your own way as a good writer.
It seems wrong to me to use someone else’s name.
That should not be. Write under your own name Sheila Riley. If you are any good they you will find your own way as a good writer.
It seems wrong to me to use someone else’s name.
February 2, 2018
The book is set during World War II and features two families who live on the Mersey, the Callaghans and the Feeneys. Inevitably some of them go away to serve their country elsewhere and not all of them come back. Kitty is the star of this book and she is a WREN who is posted back to Merseyside from London. The book follows the lives, romances, heartaches, joys, betrayals and loyalties of the characters. In the face of adversity everybody ploughs on and remains largely cheerful.
There was an awful lot to like about this book. Firstly, the author is wonderful at creating characters that are believable. I could identify with a lot of the emotions that they were going through and really wanted them to come out the other side in one piece. Having characters that are endearing always helps me to enjoy a book more as I care what happens to the people and almost wait with baited breath to discover the outcome of the particular situations in which they have become embroiled. Annie Groves has mastered this technique. Also, it is an easy read and is totally gripping from beginning to end. In addition, it has some harrowing moments but is not devoid of suspense. All in all it contains pretty much all of the ingredients for a good book.
Apparently this book is the end of a series which feature the Callaghan and the Feeney families. I have not read any of the previous ones and did not even realise that it was part of a series until after I had finished it. It works perfectly well as a stand-alone book so well done to the author for achieving that.
The only comment that I can make about the book that might in any way be construed as being negative is that it is hardly deep and meaningful. But I don’t think it is any the worse for that as it is not intended to make you think, just to feel. And it achieves that. I felt for all the people in the book (with odd exceptions) and loved it all the more for making achieving that emotional connection.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable book with great characters and a great storyline. I have never read a book by Annie Groves before but if I have the opportunity to read another one I will certainly do so. The book is not challenging or difficult but has a wonderful feel-good aspect to it.
There was an awful lot to like about this book. Firstly, the author is wonderful at creating characters that are believable. I could identify with a lot of the emotions that they were going through and really wanted them to come out the other side in one piece. Having characters that are endearing always helps me to enjoy a book more as I care what happens to the people and almost wait with baited breath to discover the outcome of the particular situations in which they have become embroiled. Annie Groves has mastered this technique. Also, it is an easy read and is totally gripping from beginning to end. In addition, it has some harrowing moments but is not devoid of suspense. All in all it contains pretty much all of the ingredients for a good book.
Apparently this book is the end of a series which feature the Callaghan and the Feeney families. I have not read any of the previous ones and did not even realise that it was part of a series until after I had finished it. It works perfectly well as a stand-alone book so well done to the author for achieving that.
The only comment that I can make about the book that might in any way be construed as being negative is that it is hardly deep and meaningful. But I don’t think it is any the worse for that as it is not intended to make you think, just to feel. And it achieves that. I felt for all the people in the book (with odd exceptions) and loved it all the more for making achieving that emotional connection.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable book with great characters and a great storyline. I have never read a book by Annie Groves before but if I have the opportunity to read another one I will certainly do so. The book is not challenging or difficult but has a wonderful feel-good aspect to it.
December 18, 2017
Oh how I wanted to like this book. A promising start to this series and then after the first two books it stopped for what seemed forever then it returned and simply wasn't the same. That being said it's not a bad book. Its well written, and carries on the stories of the Feeny and Callaghan families. There's still the usual wartime dramas. People fall in and out of love, are betrayed by those they trusted or they trusted the wrong people, babies are born, a character thought dead appears again though forever changed. So what went wrong? According to the back of the book a new author. This would be the second author to write this series and no matter how good they are at their craft they won't have the same spark and imagination as the writer who started it, Author one had the characters planner in their head and when author two took over they might've cared about the story and characters but their heart wasn't as in it as the original creator. That's my theory anyway. I'm not knocking either author, all four books were well written and readable but for me the last two books were missing something and didn't feel the same as the first two. But it was nice to get closure on the series to see everyone or mostly everyone get their happy ending. Maybe it's time to officially retire Annie Groves name. I'm sure whoever writes these books has enough talent to make a career on their own. I'd just hate to see another beloved author go the way of VC Andrews with ghostwriter(s) taking over.
July 17, 2020
It was a nice story. I haven't read the first three so I read the most detailed review of each of them and they got me pretty much up to speed. My only criticism is the rather tired, over used "boy loves girl, girl loves boy but there are all sorts of misunderstandings and misconceptions so it takes ages for them to declare their love"...blech....
November 30, 2022
I thought this was a good read with lots of characters - I did at one point did have to
think who was with each family thought it was great read and recognised some
Places around Liverpool which was nice
Gave a good idea of war time struggles but showed how the community supported each other in times of need
Easy read with lots of interesting stories
think who was with each family thought it was great read and recognised some
Places around Liverpool which was nice
Gave a good idea of war time struggles but showed how the community supported each other in times of need
Easy read with lots of interesting stories
November 27, 2017
Fantastic!! Would love to have a final book in the series to really bring everything to an end. The children returning home permanently from evacuation, all the weddings happening and finding out how things end for Nancy.
January 20, 2019
I like an easy romantic read from time to time particularly ones set in the 40s but I still like a plot that carries the story along and makes me want to read. This unfortunately was a little too simplistic for me.
August 6, 2019
I normally like a good Annie groves book but since the pen name writer changed i just can't get into the story as well. Just feels like same old war story, same dilemmas different time or author
January 10, 2021
Last book in the series, but probably the best. I did spot several errors in book towards end where incorrect names were used, but apart from that, book was a pleasant enjoyable read.
January 28, 2021
A good saga set near the end of the war and following the residents of a street close to Liverpool docks
January 27, 2023
A nice read, really liked it
January 18, 2024
Very good
April 2, 2025
Enjoyable read. Lots of characters to get used to quickly as this is the fourth book of the series but it can (and was) read as a standalone.
December 20, 2021
Four books in five days and the Empire Street series is done! Oh it was a good one! It ended just as I was hoping it would. I defo recommend this series and will be checking out more Annie Groves books.
August 21, 2020
Super cute and fun. Hard to read at some points. Overall easy to read.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews