Drain You

When her mother is killed in a horse-riding accident, nine-year-old Amy is mute and traumatised. She cannot remember what happened, and she is haunted by a nightmare she cannot explain. She becomes obsessed by her father, clinging to their relationship for dear life.

Six years later, confident that she has passed her school exams with flying colours, and basking in her father’s love, Amy is horrified to discover there is a new woman in his life. Hannah is not only young and attractive but she is a qualified doctor who also threatens to become Amy’s step-mother.

Reeling from the blow, Amy makes the chance discovery of a postcard written to her mother before her untimely death. Realising with a shock that her older brother will not help her to reveal the truth behind it, Amy abandons a potential love affair to follow the clues the postcard has given her. Mustering all her determination and courage, she travels on her own to Italy, to find a man she has never met before – and never will again.

Was he her mother’s killer – or her lover?

The threads of everything that has happened lead inexorably back to the present. As she gradually remembers those horrific moments she thought forever buried, Amy is forced to come to terms with the past. Finally – and in more ways than one – a reluctant maid of honour at her father’s wedding, Amy comes of age.

Thirteen-year-old Nathan is furious when Mum hauls him off to Cornwall for Christmas and then tells him they are to move there for good. He knows he must accept the fact that his dad has left them to live with another woman, but he is desperate to be back with him in London. He has never been separated from his best friend, Tom, either. Life, it seems to him, has become intolerably unfair.

After a blazing row with his mum, Nathan runs away for the afternoon—only to discover, entirely by chance, a cottage, a garden by the sea, and an enchantingly beautiful girl who seems more miserable than he is himself.

 The girl in the attic. Who is she, and what is the family secret that haunts her life?

  Nathan suddenly realises that seeing the girl again and finding out about her have become an obsession. He lays a careful plan that enables him to return to the cottage, where he discovers her name—Rosalie—and that her problems put his own in the shade. He longs to help her. One night, alone in the attic, he is welcomed by the ghosts of Rosalie’s family, whose frail spirits and soft laughter stay with him in his dreams.

Nathan enlists the help of his grandfather, gradually managing to unearth some of the secrets that dominate Rosalie’s life and that of her bullying father. And when it comes to the crunch, it is Nathan himself who succeeds in preventing the disaster that threatens to destroy their lives.

 Valerie Mendes’ gripping, fast-moving novel explores the strengths of friendship, and the inescapable, binding pull of teenage love.

“An exquisite first novel … An unusual ghost story set in Cornwall, it is beautifully written, with a rich understanding of love and friendship.” Daily Telegraph 

“Amy is an attractive heroine and Mendes’ tantalising tale unfolds in an atmospheric and engaging way.” The Observer

More than anything, sixteenyearold Jenna wants to dance, not just in her studio in St Ives, or in her local class, but professionally, in London, under the eyes of the best teachers in the world. She knows her father will support her all the way; that her aunt will help with the fees and give her a home in the big city. Her mother, however, is a problem. She remains unconvinced of Jenna’s talent and pours scorn on her dreams.

   But then a fatal accident blows Jenna’s Cornish life and family apart. Left in her care one hot summer’s afternoon, her beloved younger brother, Benjie, drowns behind some lethal rocks. Blaming herself entirely, guilty and griefstricken, Jenna puts all her plans on hold. She relinquishes her hardfought place at ballet school to support her father and their familyrun café, trying valiantly to pretend this is the life she wants.

    Until she finds Benjie’s diary and starts to probe its secrets. It seems he was being bullied at school; that a pair of twins could have been involved. But Jenna finds it impossible to discover who they are and whether they can shed further light on her little brother’s death.

    But a chance meeting with someone who was there with her that tragic afternoon could help. Who is he and what can he reveal? What does Jenna discover that puts the accident in a whole new light? And will she find the courage and determination to pursue her dancing dream?

His touch was electric.

His eyes were magnetic.

His lips were a temptation. . . .

But was he real?

Shane is near death after crashing her car on a long stretch of empty highway in rural New Mexico when she is miraculously saved by a mysterious young man who walks out of nowhere. She feels an instant energy between them, both a warmth that fills her soul and a tingle that makes her shiver. But who, or what, is he? For the first time in her life, she believes in the term "soul mates"-Travis is her destiny, and she is his. But she soon discovers that Travis is dead and strict rules govern kindred spirits of different dimensions. Even a kiss could destroy both their souls. And while Travis is almost impossible to resist, temptation proves to be the kindest enemy they encounter.

In this part romance, part supernatural thriller, true love discovers it may not be able to surpass all-especially the power of pure evil.