Showing results by narrator "Karen Cass" in All Categories

The history of the Guinea Pig Club, the band of airmen who were seriously burned in aeroplane fires, is a truly inspiring, spine-tingling tale. Plastic surgery was in its infancy before the Second World War. The most rudimentary techniques were known only to a few surgeons worldwide. The Allies were tremendously fortunate in having maverick surgeon Archibald McIndoe - nicknamed ‘the Boss’, or ‘the Maestro’ - operating at a small hospital in East Grinstead in the south of England. McIndoe constructed a medical infrastructure from scratch.

Karen could be excused for crying on her birthday, especially as it’s the first one since her husband got on a plane to the States and never came back. Then there’s the fact that her workmates were practically bribed to attend her birthday meal. But when a restaurant double booking leads to her sharing a table with single dad Elliot and his daughter, things start looking up.

The Missing Ingredient is the first book to consider the intrinsic yet often forgotten role of time in creating the flavors and textures we love. Through a series of encounters with ingredients, producers, cooks, artisans, and chefs, acclaimed author of The Chef’s Library Jenny Linford shows how, time and again, time itself is the invisible ingredient in our most cherished recipes.

When Jenny Simpson returns to the seaside town of Borteen, her childhood home, it’s for a less than happy reason. But it’s also a chance for her to start again. A new job leads to her working for Carver Rodgers, a man who lives alone in a house that looks like it comes from the pages of a fairy tale - until you see the disaster zone inside....

Suzy and Demi were carefree twenty-somethings. They had fun! They didn’t have responsibilities! And then they decided to have a baby. Goodbye lazy weekends, hello sleepless nights, arguments and an addiction to industrial-strength hot chocolate. Follow Suzy on the ultimate make-over - from nervous-wreck new mother to happy families. In this hilarious and refreshingly honest account for parents who prefer the realistic to the utopian, Suzy debunks the myths and takes us all along for the (bumpy) ride.

You could say it started with vanity. We believed we were special. But the truth is we were simply vulnerable. One of them is lying. One of them is guilty. No one is safe. Months after landing their dream job, five brilliant young minds are sent on a remote retreat. But when one of them disappears, they're forced to question why they were brought here in the first place - and how far they'd go to get what they want. And for the first time in their lives, they realise too much knowledge can be deadly.

December 1838. A storm is raging outside Kenilworth Hall. Inside, Lord Kenilworth's wife is in agony in the middle of a difficult labour. Lady Kenilworth doesn't survive the birth, but, against all odds, her baby daughter does. Baby Storm grows into a headstrong and adventurous child, close to her sister, Eloise, and their neighbours at Chislestone Manor - her best friend, Cissy, and Cissy's handsome older brother, Hunter, who has promised to marry Storm when she's older.

When her life in London falls apart, Elodie Bright returns to Hartsford Hall in Suffolk, the home of her childhood friend Alexander Aldrich. There, she throws herself into helping Alex bring a new lease of life to the old house and its grounds. After a freak storm damages the Hall chapel and destroys the tomb of Georgiana Kerridge, one of Alex’s 18th-century relatives, Elodie and Alex find a connection in the shocking discovery brought to light by the damaged tomb.

It’s been nearly two years since Harriet lost Jonno, but she’s finally decided that it’s time to celebrate Christmas again. Then she finds a stash of graphic novels belonging to her comic book-loving husband in the attic, and suddenly her world is turned upside down once more. With the help of eccentric comic book dealer Kell Foxton, she discovers that the comics collected by Jonno not only are extremely valuable but also hold the key to his secret life - a life that throws Harriet’s entire marriage and every memory she has of her husband into question.

Mattie Arden has just escaped from a toxic relationship, so when she receives a letter informing her that she has inherited a house from her great-aunt Millie a few days before Christmas, it’s a welcome distraction. Except it comes with a strange proviso: if Mattie wants the house, she must fulfil Millie’s last wish and scatter her ashes over 'the boys of Christmas'. In the company of her best friend, Toby, Mattie sets out for the seaside village of Christmas Steepleton in the hope of finding out the meaning of her aunt’s bizarre request.

In June 1914, Sir Anthony Valentine, a keen mountaineer, arrives with his family to spend the summer in their chalet, high in the French Alps. There, for the first time, 14-year-old foundling Mathilde starts work as one of the 'uglies' - village girls employed as servants and picked, it is believed, to ensure they don't catch Sir Anthony's roving eye. For Mathilde it is the start of a lifelong entanglement with les anglais - strange, exciting people, far removed from the hard grind of farming. Except she soon finds the Valentines are less carefree than they appear....

Eve and Neil live in the beautiful Cumbrian town of Tarnside. After years of trying for a baby, they are in the final stages of adopting four-year-old Milly. They just have to pass the 'settling in' period - three months of living together as a family under watchful eyes - and then they can make it official. For Eve, her heartbreak is nearly at an end. She now has this perfect little girl in her life, a little girl who calls her mummy. But Eve's dream of a happy family is fragile.

Rosie Cooke is “in between”. In between consciousness and oblivion. Life and death. Though some say that when you’re near death your entire life flashes before your eyes, Rosie can’t remember anything at all - not even how she ended up in a coma. At least not at first. Then, something strange starts to happen. Rosie finds herself revisiting scattered moments from her past: a beach vacation, a play rehearsal, the day her brother was born. But why these memories? And what do they mean?

Soundings and Choc Lit present the audiobook edition of Watch for Me at Christmas. When Emmy Berry arrives at Hartsford Hall to work at the Frost Fayre, she immediately feels at home. Which is odd because she’s never set foot in the place in her life. Then a freak blizzard leaves her stranded, and things get even weirder when she bumps into Tom Howard. Tom and Emmy have never met before, but neither can ignore the sense that they know each other. With Christmas fast approaching and the weather showing no sign of improving, it soon becomes apparent that Hartsford Hall has a little bit of midwinter magic in store for them both....

Early one summer morning Isabel and her 11-year-old daughter, River, walk across Regent's Park. They come across a rain-soaked man sitting alone on a bench and ask him if he's okay. But he doesn't know. In fact he doesn't know the answer to any of their questions - not even his own name. Urged on by her daughter, Isabel takes the man to the hospital she works at, hoping that will be the end of it. But when the tests show there's nothing physically wrong with him, and yet he still can't remember who he is, she realises she can't walk away.

Aidan Edwards has always been fascinated by the life of his great-great-uncle Robert. A trip to Hartsford Hall and an encounter with Cassie Aldrich leads him closer to the truth about Robert Edwards, as he unravels the scandalous story of a bright young poet and a beautiful, spirited aristocrat in the carefree twilight of the 1930s, before the Second World War. But can Aidan find out what happened to Robert after the war - or will he have to accept that certain parts of his uncle’s life will remain forever shrouded in mystery?

Amanda Bonham moved halfway around the world to be with the man she loves. Although expat life in Singapore can be difficult, Edward Bonham is a dream husband and a doting father to his teenage daughter, Josie. But when their maid dies in an apparent suicide—and Amanda discovers the woman was pregnant and hiding a stash of drugs prescribed to Edward—she can’t help but wonder if her perfect husband has a fatal flaw. And if he can’t resist temptation under their own roof, what does he get up to when he travels? Camille Kemble also has questions for Edward.

Louise Anderson's heart pounds as she approaches the imposing castello. Only the Duke of Falconari can grant her grandparents' dying wish - but this is the same man who said arrivederci without a backward glance after their night of unadulterated passion.... Caesar can't believe the woman who almost ruined his precious reputation still fiercely fires his blood. Discovering that their union created more than just salacious memories, he agrees to grant Louise's request...in exchange for a demand of his own.

Family. Secrets. Murder. Newly promoted DI Kate Fletcher has reluctantly returned to her hometown after a 20 year absence and a recent divorce. The discovery of a child’s body near the estate where Kate grew up has her rushing back to Thorpe - a place of bad memories and closed mouths. As her team investigate the murder, they keep hitting dead ends. The community is reluctant to reopen old wounds and retell old stories. But Kate’s history refuses to stay buried. Then another child disappears.... Can Kate solve the case and right the wrongs from her past?

Isobel arrives in the quiet Cornish town of Fallenbay determined to find peace - and answers - after her most intimate secrets have been splashed across the Internet. Cleo thinks she's happy running a small coastal café but has no idea of the trouble her children are getting themselves mixed up in. Sarah has finally put her horrible ex behind her and found the man of her dreams. Or has she? All three women have no idea how powerful their darkest secrets can be and how they will change the town of Fallenbay forever.