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East End Nolan Family #1
No Cure for Love
The 1st novel in the East End Nolan Family series.
The most talented voice since Dilly Court - an absorbing, thrilling and romantic historical saga with characters you'll fall in love with.
Ellen O'Casey, an Irish Catholic immigrant, is struggling to support her ailing mother, her teenage daughter and herself. Washing other people's laundry in the day, and singing in bawdy pubs at night, Ellen is determined to make a better life for her family by saving enough for the passage to New York where the rest of her extended family have already emigrated. But Danny Donovan, a local gangster and the landlord of the pubs where Ellen sings, intends to make her his mistress. A widow in her late 20s, Ellen has refused to let another man in her life, least of all the brutish Danny, whose advances she doggedly resists.
But when Ellen catches the eye of the new doctor in town, Robert Munroe, an intense rivalry is formed between the doctor and Danny. For not only are Robert's feelings for Ellen reciprocated, but the ambitious doctor also intends to investigate the appalling living conditions of the local community and Danny's own hand in it. But as Ellen and Robert become closer and aim to bring an end to Danny's reign of terror, their own chance at happiness seems suddenly to be at stake...
A sweeping historical romance perfect for fans of Bridgerton
The most talented voice since Dilly Court - an absorbing, thrilling and romantic historical saga with characters you'll fall in love with.
Ellen O'Casey, an Irish Catholic immigrant, is struggling to support her ailing mother, her teenage daughter and herself. Washing other people's laundry in the day, and singing in bawdy pubs at night, Ellen is determined to make a better life for her family by saving enough for the passage to New York where the rest of her extended family have already emigrated. But Danny Donovan, a local gangster and the landlord of the pubs where Ellen sings, intends to make her his mistress. A widow in her late 20s, Ellen has refused to let another man in her life, least of all the brutish Danny, whose advances she doggedly resists.
But when Ellen catches the eye of the new doctor in town, Robert Munroe, an intense rivalry is formed between the doctor and Danny. For not only are Robert's feelings for Ellen reciprocated, but the ambitious doctor also intends to investigate the appalling living conditions of the local community and Danny's own hand in it. But as Ellen and Robert become closer and aim to bring an end to Danny's reign of terror, their own chance at happiness seems suddenly to be at stake...
A sweeping historical romance perfect for fans of Bridgerton
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
201 people are currently reading
198 people want to read
About the author
Jean Fullerton
30 books198 followersI was born into a large, East End family and grew up in the overcrowded streets clustered around the Tower of London. I still live in East London, just five miles from where I was born. I feel that it is that my background that gives my historical East London stories their distinctive authenticity.
I first fell in love with history at school when I read Anya Seton’s book Katherine. Since then I have read everything I can about English history but I am particularly fascinated by the 18th and 19th century and my books are set in this period. I just love my native city and the East End in particular which is why I write stories to bring that vibrant area of London alive.
I am also passionate about historical accuracy and I enjoy researching the details almost as much as weaving the story. If one of my characters walks down a street you can be assured that that street actually existed. Take a look at Jean’s East End and see the actual location where my characters played out their stories.
I first fell in love with history at school when I read Anya Seton’s book Katherine. Since then I have read everything I can about English history but I am particularly fascinated by the 18th and 19th century and my books are set in this period. I just love my native city and the East End in particular which is why I write stories to bring that vibrant area of London alive.
I am also passionate about historical accuracy and I enjoy researching the details almost as much as weaving the story. If one of my characters walks down a street you can be assured that that street actually existed. Take a look at Jean’s East End and see the actual location where my characters played out their stories.
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
November 13, 2019
I agree with more than a few of the other reviewers of this book - it took a bit to get into the story but, it finished well. A nice happy ending and another book to read in the continuing saga of “East End Nolan Family” by the always lovely, Jean Fullerton. She’s one of the reigning queens of Historical Fiction and family sagas 🙂
January 9, 2019
Easy reading and predictable.
October 11, 2018
Abit slow to start,took a while to get into.
September 23, 2018
No cure for love
April 1832. Ellen o'casey widowed with a young daughter Josephine, is a singer working for the notorious Danny Donavon in the angel and crown public house. Ellen is saving hard to get herself and her mother Bridget and daughter a passage over to New York to be with her brother and family. Doctor Robert Munroe is captivated after watching Ellen sing and by her beauty. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book,it kept me gripped from the start, this is the first in the (east end Nolan Family series) and I look forward to reading on to more I LOVED IT
April 1832. Ellen o'casey widowed with a young daughter Josephine, is a singer working for the notorious Danny Donavon in the angel and crown public house. Ellen is saving hard to get herself and her mother Bridget and daughter a passage over to New York to be with her brother and family. Doctor Robert Munroe is captivated after watching Ellen sing and by her beauty. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book,it kept me gripped from the start, this is the first in the (east end Nolan Family series) and I look forward to reading on to more I LOVED IT
September 21, 2018
Great love story
I don't normally read love stories, but this kept my interest from start to finish. That is why I have awarded 5 stars
I don't normally read love stories, but this kept my interest from start to finish. That is why I have awarded 5 stars
May 2, 2019
When I first started reading this story I felt that it was predictable but it became better as I read into it. It is a good story, one of a kind that I have read before, when poverty stricken heroine, Ella, falls in love with handsome Dr. Monroe, a gentleman far above her station in the eyes of society of the day. The East End background and its horrors are described skilfully and as the story continued the description of the work done by the doctor and the changes he was trying to make in the East End, as well as the characterisation of the heroine became truly fascinating. The author knows the background of medicine very well and it showed in this novel. I was hoping that finally things would become better for both the hero and the heroine and kept on reading until I found out.
April 7, 2018
Love
i really enjoyed this book about the east end of London the character of Ellen what a lady she battled to survive and raise her daughter and look after her mother .then there was Danny a nasty piece of work then there was Robert a Dr who loved Ellen and she loved Robert but from different backgrounds wasn't an easy love affair .looking forward to the next book 5 STARS for a lovely read from Jean .
i really enjoyed this book about the east end of London the character of Ellen what a lady she battled to survive and raise her daughter and look after her mother .then there was Danny a nasty piece of work then there was Robert a Dr who loved Ellen and she loved Robert but from different backgrounds wasn't an easy love affair .looking forward to the next book 5 STARS for a lovely read from Jean .
September 16, 2018
Kobo - sbn 9781786495785
Historical romance set mostly in East London during the reign of William IV, in the area around the London Hospital. The period detail is well-evoked - the mud and poverty and slum landlords, the corruption and disease caused by poor/non-existent care for the necessities of life. Doctor Robert Munroe works tirelessly to relieve some of the poverty and disease, becoming responsible for a Committee investigating conditions. He meets and falls in love with an Irish widow, who lives with her mother and her own daughter and survives by taking in wasling and singing at local 'supper halls'.
Opener to a series.
Historical romance set mostly in East London during the reign of William IV, in the area around the London Hospital. The period detail is well-evoked - the mud and poverty and slum landlords, the corruption and disease caused by poor/non-existent care for the necessities of life. Doctor Robert Munroe works tirelessly to relieve some of the poverty and disease, becoming responsible for a Committee investigating conditions. He meets and falls in love with an Irish widow, who lives with her mother and her own daughter and survives by taking in wasling and singing at local 'supper halls'.
Opener to a series.
February 2, 2018
I adored this story. Ellen and Robert are delightful characters whom I fell in love with straight away. A heartwarming story that had me on tenterhooks towards the end! It is beautifully written, and the historic detail draws you into the character's world effortlessly. I can't wait to read more of Jean's work!
June 13, 2018
Captivates the era
A very good read The bad and good of this era A true love story appropriate for the times and conditions
A very good read The bad and good of this era A true love story appropriate for the times and conditions
September 15, 2018
Excellent , hope there is a book 2 for this family.
January 12, 2019
Dieselblackcat
This was the first book I have read but it won’t be the last. Looking to see what I’m about to read the next one.
This was the first book I have read but it won’t be the last. Looking to see what I’m about to read the next one.
April 1, 2019
Loveis enough
A very nice story of a widow woman and her young daughter who live with the grandmother. How they all work to support themselves
A very nice story of a widow woman and her young daughter who live with the grandmother. How they all work to support themselves
June 16, 2019
No cure for love
Absolutely brilliant one of the best books I have read for ages just downloaded the next book in the seriesw
Absolutely brilliant one of the best books I have read for ages just downloaded the next book in the seriesw
March 9, 2020
Listen audio through library app
May 13, 2020
I found this book to be full of hope for a new chapter.
August 20, 2020
Fabulous read.
I enjoyed this so much that every spare moment I had I was picking it up and reading it. Did not take long!
I enjoyed this so much that every spare moment I had I was picking it up and reading it. Did not take long!
February 11, 2021
Best book so far of 2o2o so far
October 4, 2021
Loved this book.
June 22, 2022
The most amazing and wonderful memoir I’ve ever read.
February 4, 2023
Again another Audiobook- an easy to listen and addictive listen to historical saga set in 1830s the life and romance of Ellen and Robert. Book 1 of a series of the Nolan family
Want to read
March 28, 2023Dum Spiro Spero! While I breathe, I hope and that is the message of this lovely book.
November 16, 2015
Ellen O’Casey, an Irish immigrant living in the docklands of London in 1832, was widowed ten years before with a small daughter to care for. Living with her mother in poor lodgings, Ellen is fiercely determined to retain her independence and respectability and not fall into the many traps poor, defenceless women with few rights were lured into during this time.
Ellen has a talent, a beautiful singing voice, but the only area she can find so far is to sing at Danny Dovovan’s pub, The Angel. However it’s a means to an end in Ellen’s mind. If she can use her meagre wages to keep body and soul together and put a few shillings away each week, she will be able to take her mother and Josie to join her brother Pat in New York, where surely a better life awaits them all.
One day the figure of Doctor Robert Monroe walks into The Angel and from the moment he sees Ellen, this principled young man is convinced she is everything he could want. However the chasm between their social classes faces both of them at every turn, and besides, Danny Donovan, the docklands local gangster, has his eye on Ellen and believes it’s only a matter of time before she will succumb to his advances.
Ellen, however is equally determined to repulse the odious Mr Donovan, after all she has been called on to give support to the women he has already used and discarded. She has even seen one of them die
Dr Monroe has an agenda of his own in the deprived, cholera ridden docklands where he tries to minister to the needs of the people living there. Time and again he runs up against the Danny Donovan, who has not only the inhabitants, but the local authorities in his grip.
Ellen cannot help her attraction to Robert, but she is aware that if she accepts his proposal she will ruin him. She tries to warn him of Donovan’s power, but Robert’s loyalty is to the people he cares for and he is determined to break the man’s grip on the people and improve their lives.
When an attempt is made on Dr Monroe’s life, he knows he has become a real threat to Donovan. Ellen risks her own reputation and her life in helping Robert expose the man, but will their efforts succeed against a man like Donovan? Will they both live to see right triumph, or will they, as well as their doomed love survive Donovan’s cruel dominance?
Jean Fullerton’s novel is a colourful saga of life in the poor end of London where life was cheap and morals were even cheaper. Women had no status and motives were always suspect amongst the alleyways and public houses where they all scraped a meagre living.
Ellen is an unusual woman and an admirable heroine who holds onto her self respect, no matter what the cost. Even when she sees a way out of her circumstances, she chooses not to make life more difficult for the man she loves. A woman who sees the sun above the mire of her situation and strives for it for the sake of her child in a society where the poor were expected to keep their place.
This is a satisfying read with a beautifully drawn hero in the Doctor Robert Munroe who sets out to change the lives of the London slums for the beter. Jean's heroine, Ellen, takes the reader into a life you cannot help feeling she doesn’t deserve. You will travel with her into a murky world and hope she can pull herself out of it and into the more genteel life she strives for.
Ellen has a talent, a beautiful singing voice, but the only area she can find so far is to sing at Danny Dovovan’s pub, The Angel. However it’s a means to an end in Ellen’s mind. If she can use her meagre wages to keep body and soul together and put a few shillings away each week, she will be able to take her mother and Josie to join her brother Pat in New York, where surely a better life awaits them all.
One day the figure of Doctor Robert Monroe walks into The Angel and from the moment he sees Ellen, this principled young man is convinced she is everything he could want. However the chasm between their social classes faces both of them at every turn, and besides, Danny Donovan, the docklands local gangster, has his eye on Ellen and believes it’s only a matter of time before she will succumb to his advances.
Ellen, however is equally determined to repulse the odious Mr Donovan, after all she has been called on to give support to the women he has already used and discarded. She has even seen one of them die
Dr Monroe has an agenda of his own in the deprived, cholera ridden docklands where he tries to minister to the needs of the people living there. Time and again he runs up against the Danny Donovan, who has not only the inhabitants, but the local authorities in his grip.
Ellen cannot help her attraction to Robert, but she is aware that if she accepts his proposal she will ruin him. She tries to warn him of Donovan’s power, but Robert’s loyalty is to the people he cares for and he is determined to break the man’s grip on the people and improve their lives.
When an attempt is made on Dr Monroe’s life, he knows he has become a real threat to Donovan. Ellen risks her own reputation and her life in helping Robert expose the man, but will their efforts succeed against a man like Donovan? Will they both live to see right triumph, or will they, as well as their doomed love survive Donovan’s cruel dominance?
Jean Fullerton’s novel is a colourful saga of life in the poor end of London where life was cheap and morals were even cheaper. Women had no status and motives were always suspect amongst the alleyways and public houses where they all scraped a meagre living.
Ellen is an unusual woman and an admirable heroine who holds onto her self respect, no matter what the cost. Even when she sees a way out of her circumstances, she chooses not to make life more difficult for the man she loves. A woman who sees the sun above the mire of her situation and strives for it for the sake of her child in a society where the poor were expected to keep their place.
This is a satisfying read with a beautifully drawn hero in the Doctor Robert Munroe who sets out to change the lives of the London slums for the beter. Jean's heroine, Ellen, takes the reader into a life you cannot help feeling she doesn’t deserve. You will travel with her into a murky world and hope she can pull herself out of it and into the more genteel life she strives for.
January 22, 2011
I really enjoyed this book, a good mixture of history & a love story!
I would recommend this book to all Lesley Pearse fans although not in the same league as Lesleys books (I am huge) I will deginately look to read more of Jean Fullertons books
I would recommend this book to all Lesley Pearse fans although not in the same league as Lesleys books (I am huge) I will deginately look to read more of Jean Fullertons books
October 12, 2012
A charming little book I picked up at a booksale a few weeks ago.I like it quite a bit, and it was not a perfectly staight "I know what's coming next" storyline, which is nice.
Four stars, because I found some print errors in my copy
Four stars, because I found some print errors in my copy
June 4, 2009
This is a wondreful debut novel form a very talented writer.
August 1, 2011
No Cure for Love has an air of Oliver Twist and Tess about it, in the sense that there are similarities between Nancy & Ellen and Angel & Robert. Such a good book!
March 12, 2009
A clearly written and moving portrait of two lives.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews