Showing results by narrator "Susie Riddell" in All Categories

1946, Liverpool. Bella Harrison cannot believe the devastating war that stole the lives of her father and sister is truly over at last. She wonders how they will ever rebuild Victory Street with the city in ruins, and half their neighbors gone. But for now, she and her childhood sweetheart, Bobby, are happy newlyweds, doting on Bella’s little son, her child with Black American pilot Earl Franklin Junior.

On the morning of Lily's 25th birthday, it's time to open the very last letter written to her by her beloved mother, who died when she was eight. Learning more about the first and only real love of her mum's life is a revelation. On the same day, Lily also meets Eddie Tessler, a man fleeing fame who just might have the ability to change her world in unimaginable ways. But her childhood friend, Dan, has his own reasons for not wanting Lily to get too carried away by Eddie's attentions.

The village of Blackrig in the Scottish Highlands was shocked when seventeen-year-old Ailsa Cummings went missing five years ago. While a recent pandemic has stirred up old tensions and sparked an animosity in the small community towards outsiders. Angry that the local estate is to reopen its luxury ‘party house’ to tourists results in an angry mob causing damage to the property’s hot tub, only to unearth the buried body of the missing girl in its foundations. The discovery ignites old suspicions among the villagers, especially the men, who’d known Ailsa.

Sweet, shy Tabitha Crum, the neglected only child of two parents straight out of a Roald Dahl book, doesn't have a friend in the world - except for her pet mouse, Pemberley, whom she loves dearly. But on the day she receives one of six invitations to the country estate of wealthy Countess Camilla DeMoss, her life changes forever.

Alec Reid’s ghosts of the 21st century seldom lurk in old houses or waft across chilly moors. His dark tales may breathe alongside the supernatural, but they take place in broad daylight, in our daily lives. Their themes include dead warriors resurrected via Bluetooth, Rumpelstiltskin in the suburbs, an algorithmic fear of ghosts, and the shattered dreams of immortality. The world they describe is the one you inhabit, but you would live in terror were you to recognize it for what it is.

Carrying just a suitcase and an old laundry bag filled with clothes, Kasienka and her mother are immigrating to England from Poland. Kasienka isn't the happiest girl in the world. At home, her mother is suffering from a broken heart as she searches for Kasienka's father. And at school, Kasienka is having trouble being the new girl and making friends. The only time she feels comforted is when she's swimming at the pool. But she can't quite shake the feeling that she's sinking. Until a new boy swims into her life....

In the face of hardship, Bella Harrison is determined to see the bright side. She is back recording songs with her singing trio The Bryant Sisters, and against all odds, Bella and her husband Bobby are finding ways to muddle through life as newlyweds whilst raising little Levi; Bella’s child with black American pilot Earl Franklin Junior.

Liverpool, 1956. With the shadow of the war looming over them and bomb craters littering the surrounding streets, hope feels far away for the residents of Victory Street. When they learn that the queen has chosen to visit them on a tour of Liverpool, the delighted neighbors bring back the wartime spirit. Can they possibly get the street ready in time?

Thea has never met her grandmother Hedi, so she’s surprised when she receives a call from social services to take the frail old woman home. She’s not sure how Hedi will fit into her new life–the one where she’s left her boyfriend and moved into a run-down cottage miles from the nearest town. And Hedi refuses to talk about her past or why she and Thea’s mother haven’t spoken for more than 30 years. So when Thea spots Hedi’s old suitcase on the table, she can’t resist taking a peak inside.

Catriona Buchanan, a 36-year-old journalist and single mother, lives a quiet life in Glasgow with her daughter, Grace. Single for six years but for a handful of failed relationships with all the wrong men and a string of one-night stands, Cat decides she's had enough of her homegrown efforts to find love. Instead, she purchases the infamous dating Bible The Ten Rules of Enticement and vows to obey its advice to the letter and chronicle her experiences.

Multimillionaire Robert Rathwell and his entourage arrive at their private Greek island. White sand, turquoise water, the perfect place to relax. But this is no ordinary family, and this holiday will be their last. The next morning, a scream shatters their peaceful world. Someone has been murdered, his body arranged to make it look like suicide. Everyone has a motive, and, under the burning sun, secrets quickly simmer to the surface. Soon the guests see a darker, more violent side to paradise.

Beatrice Halliday has turned her life around since arriving in in the Scottish Highlands six months ago. Not only has she found love with her boyfriend Atholl Fergusson, but she is now successfully running The Princess and the Pea Inn, and welcoming visitors from all over the world to the beautiful village of Port Willow. Life seems perfect - until a surprise discovery threatens to derail the happiness, she has worked so hard for. In an attempt to distract herself, she takes over the role of cupid and tries her hand at matchmaking.

Escape to the Highland Coral Beach - where broken hearts can be healed. Beatrice Halliday needs a break from life. Booking a trip to the Highlands on a whim, Beatrice hopes learning Gaelic in a beautiful Scottish village might help heal her grief after losing her baby, her husband and her much-loved job in the space of months. But Port Willow Bay isn't exactly as the website promised. Instead of learning a new language, she's booked in to learn the ancient skill of willow weaving, her hotel room is Princess and the Pea themed (with a stack of mattresses for her bed!) and worse still, her tutor is Atholl Fergusson, the grumpy landlord of the hotel where Beatrice is staying.

England, 1941. After three nights of relentless bombing from German aircraft, trained nurse Jo Brooks is told to report to the basement theater of Mill Road Hospital. She goes with a heavy heart, not wanting to leave behind her best friend Moira, who is desperately soothing new mothers on the maternity ward. As Jo arrives safely underground, the ward takes a direct hit.

Gwen and Rhys are on the run. Rhys was hoping this meant a windswept cottage on a cliff top, but he’s had to settle for a miserable caravan in the isolated village of Rawbone. With the locals taking an unhealthy interest in their daughter, Gwen and Rhys start to realise that something is very wrong. As they uncover the village’s terrible past, Gwen discovers that Torchwood will never leave her behind, and now she and Rhys stand alone in defence of the Earth. And the children of Rawbone can only bring her closer to the secret forces that want her out of the way.

Philip Marlowe’s on a case: his client, a dried-up husk of a woman, wants him to recover a rare gold coin called a Brasher Doubloon, missing from her late husband’s collection. That’s the simple part. It becomes more complicated when Marlowe finds that everyone who handles the coin suffers a run of very bad luck: they always end up dead.

Silver Screen presents an enjoyably different, subversive slant on the science fiction themes of AI and cyberspace. Insecure and overweight heroine Anjuli O’Connell is one of a group of friends who have been hot-housed from an early age to perform in genius-level jobs. But Anjuli worries that her eidetic memory and her friendship with genuine smart boy Roy Croft has been her ticket to success, rather than any real intelligence of her own.

Condemned to be auctioned off to the highest bidder by her own father, Aloise Crawford makes a desperate attempt to escape. When the ship she is imprisoned on docks, she jumps overboard. When she finally swims ashore, she finds herself at the feet of a dark stranger with a face as angry as it is alluring. For years, Slater McKendrick has lived in hiding, awaiting his chance to seek vengeance against the man who stole his family’s precious jewels, the Bengal Rubies. So when Aloise arrives on his lonely beach hideaway, it seems as if the opportunity has at last been delivered to him.

The true story of English sisters Louise and Ida Cook (better known as romantic novelist Mary Burchell), whose love of opera led them into a life of danger, rescuing Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany.

What’s not to love about Jane Eyre? Gothic and passionate, it features the ultimate hero – Mr Rochester. And that gives Charlotte a top idea: she’ll look for a new Mr Rochester for her lovely mum. So when Charlotte finds the ideal man, she can’t believe her luck. He’s dark, brooding and mysterious. He’s PERFECT.But this real-life romantic hero also turns out to be sarcastic and rude. Does Charlotte really want her mum marrying him?