Nobody's Darling — Josephine Cox

In this historical saga from a “born storyteller,” a woman hoping to escape poverty focuses on her career, but yearns for love (The Times & Citizen).

Lizzie Miller worries about her beautiful eldest daughter. A mother shouldn't have favorites, but Ruby wins a special place in Lizzie's heart. Money is short in their little house in Blackburn, and Ruby yearns to give her beloved family a better life. Determined to enjoy the security only wealth can bring, she stifles her feelings for handsome Johnny Ackroyd. Ruby knows he cannot offer her the life she craves.
 
Ruby works as a maid for Mr. Banks and his daughter, Cicely, a shy, gentle creature with few friends. The two girls hatch a mischievous plan to introduce Ruby to society at a party for the ‘gentry' of Blackburn, where Ruby meets Luke Arnold, the dissolute heir to his father's fortunes. Seeing Ruby's dark beauty, he determines to despoil her innocence. When Luke slyly turns his charm on Cicely, Ruby feels compelled to warn her friend of his evil nature.
 
Ruby quickly finds employment in a milliner's shop, and eventually takes over the business. But her worldly success still leaves an emptiness that riches cannot fill, and Ruby learns at last that the love of family and friends is beyond price . . .
 
Praise for the writing of Josephine Cox:
 
“Hailed quite rightly as a gifted writer in the tradition of Catherine Cookson” -- Manchester Evening News
 
“Cox's talent as a storyteller never lets you escape.” -- Daily Mail
 
“Driven and passionate.” -- The Sunday Times