Kate Lock

'I'm so sorry, Casey,' my link worker John said, sounding weary. 'I know this is probably the worst time I could ring you, but we desperately need someone to take a child tonight.' It's the night before Christmas when Casey and Mike get the call. A twelve-year-old girl, stuck between a rock and a hard place. Her father is on a ventilator, fighting for his life, while her mother is currently on remand in prison. Despite claiming she attacked him in...

A heartbreaking true story of a broken family and the foster carer who wants to keep them together... The Watsons are no strangers to sibling placements but when Casey takes the call from her supervising social worker one frosty January morning, she can instantly tell from the tone of her colleague's voice that there's a complicated case ahead. And she's right. A four-day-old baby boy called Tommy — born in prison — plus his four-year-old half-brother,...

Just when Casey thinks her foster care duties are done, she's asked to look after Sam, a troubled nine-year-old with a violent streak who drove his previous guardians to release him of their care. It soon unfolds, however, that this is no simple case. Determined to get to the root of Sam's behaviour, Casey is committed to uncover his mysterious past only to find out something far darker than she ever imagined... Having recently said goodbye to their...

After taking a few weeks off work, Casey is presented with a new foster child: 14-year-old Elise, whose Mum left her at just five years old. At first, she’s no trouble at all, that is until she falsely accuses another carer, Jan, of acting inappropriately towards her. It turns out this isn’t the first lie Elise has told – her previous carer was constantly following up allegations Elise had made of people bullying her, trying to have sex with...

is the powerful new memoir from foster carer and bestselling author Casey Watson. Harley, 13, has been sectioned under the mental health act after attempting suicide. She was spotted climbing the railings on a footbridge that crossed a busy motorway and pulled to safety by a member of the public. After six weeks in hospital, social services are looking for a short-term placement so she can be kept safe while family therapy takes place. Harley has...

Music is her passion… but love is her destiny… Spring, 1922 Tessa is a beautiful, tiny, dark-eyed princess – who's given up her duties to follow her heart and work backstage at the Viennese opera. She keeps her true identity a well-guarded secret, but when a wealthy, handsome Englishman discovers this bewitching urchin backstage, Tessa's two lives collide – and in escaping her inheritance, she finds her destiny...

Rejected by her mother and excluded by her school, Flip is a little girl desperate to be loved. 'Am I ugly, Mummy?' are the first words that little Phillipa says to Mike and Casey as she stomps into their lives on a hot August afternoon. She has a Barbie doll in one hand and a pink vanity case in the other and the bemused Watsons can only stare in amazement at this tiny eight year old girl who is being guided into the room by her social worker.Phillipa,...

Coventry Dakin's tale begins with her accidental killing of her neighbour. Forced to flee the law, she deserts her council estate, her boring husband and two demanding children for the anonymity of London's cardboard city. Originally published in 1988.

Bestselling author and teacher Casey Watson shares the horrifying true story of Kiera Bentley, a 12-year-old girl with a deeply shocking secret she's too young to even understand. When Casey first meets Kiera, a small slight girl who's just lashed out at a fellow pupil in assembly, she immediately senses something's wrong. Something in Kiera's eyes alerts Casey that this is an "old head on young shoulders", and with Kiera's constant tiredness and...

The inspirational story of Britain's greatest paralympian. In Seoul in 1988, Tanni Grey-Thompson represented Great Britain and won her first Paralympic medal - the 400m bronze. It was the beginning of an outstanding career leading to an astonishing sixteen medals - eleven of which are gold - countless European titles, six London Marathons and over thirty world records. She was awarded an MBE in 1992, the OBE in 2000 and became Dame Commander of the...