Books by Karen Woods

Betrayal, family loyalties, secrets: not all gangsters live in the east end.Two families run this part of Manchester: the Johnsons and the Bennetts. With the head of the Johnson family banged up, the Bennetts have made their move. But power comes at a price...Now Charlie Johnson is out of prison and he wants his empire back. But the Bennetts have had a taste of the money and the control. Charlie's sons want to strike now and destroy their rivals but Charlie wants to wait. He has a personal score to settle.Charlie's wife Janey hates that her controlling husband is home from prison and is hatching a plan to leave him, but she knows he won't let her go easily - not with the secrets she carries. She needs allies - and through her daughter and her passionate affairs, she may have found the way out she needs.But for all of them, getting what they want will mean risking everything.

From the backstreets of Manchester comes a new pulse-pounding gangland saga.You've got to fight for everything when you start with nothingSusan Knight has a good life. So she turns a blind eye to the gambling winnings her husband Donny puts through the books at her salon. After all, he needs some way to unwind. At work, he is headteacher at Second Chance, an alternative provision school for kids who have nowhere else to go.Being the headteacher gives Donny respect, money, and charm. But respect can be lost, money can be stolen and charm can only go so far.The kids at the school all have a story to tell - as do the staff. Drugs, debt, violence and threat are part of their everyday lives. Donny's got this far by never playing by the rules. But to keep winning, you have to keep chancing it all. To stay at the top means risking everything.Susan knows Donny walks a fine line - but if he stumbles too far on the wrong side of the tracks can she stand by him? And for Donny, if he loses Susan, he knows he might be pulled back into the life that's been waiting for him all this time...

While Mikey Milne is locked up, his shoplifter mother Rachel is forced to fend for herself. Her life is soon in danger when menacing local gangster Davo finds out that Mikey ripped him off for £10,000 and gives her 48 hours to pay up. Mikey's girlfriend Sarah is from a nicer part of town; as green as grass, she does not seem to realise the extent of her boyfriend's involvement with local gangsters or that her well-connected family have threatened to have him bumped off if he ever goes near her again. She's smitten with him and hopes he can change... In Karen Woods 15th novel, prison walls can't keep the outside world at bay forever as dark family secrets come back to haunt fearless Mikey Milne.

The unexplained death of Kendal Wilson's mother hangs over her family like a dark, brooding cloud while the identity of her father remains a mystery her mother Mary took to her grave. Yet the secrets of Mary's death lie in a hidden diary she left behind. Unable to read or write, Kendal becomes trapped in a relationship with violent local gangster Scott while the discovery of the diary leads her on a journey of self-discovery with dramatic consequences.

Trapped in a loveless marriage Victoria soon discovers her husband's late nights at the office are excuses to engage in sado-masochistic sex. Bewildered, she falls in with a lesbian overseas property developer who comes up with a big plan to make them both very rich. . . Karen Woods' third novel deals is sexy, saucy and very, very naughty.

With evil Gordon locked up in Strangeways for 5 years, the characters from Karen Woods' debut novel 'Broken Youth' come to terms with life without him. Misty, now married to Dominic, gives birth to Gordon's child, Charlotte. Her former best friend Francesca also gives birth to one of Gordon's children, Rico, while staying with Gordon's heroin addicted brother Tom. Meanwhile, as the clock ticks down on his sentence, Gordon broods on the injustice of his situation and plots sweet revenge on those on the outside.