Showing results by narrator "Philip Battley" in All Categories

Widowed farmer Ned Hardy is facing a bleak winter and a lonely Christmas alone, when a beautiful young woman turns up on his doorstep in the middle of the night, frozen and terrified. Stunned by the arrival of a fine lady who looks like a Christmas angel, all of Ned’s protective instincts flare to life. Grace Honeyfield is on the run from her abusive brother and the terrifying man he’s forcing her to marry. Escaping into the darkness on a snowy night, she stumbles onto an isolated farm, and into the arms of a handsome farmer.

It’s spring. Nothing magical has happened for ages. Then, Dylan opens his school desk. Finding a talking hamster is weird enough, but soon, Dylan and his sister Emily are caught up in another incredible adventure. This time, they have to dive deep into a cold, murky river, avoid being captured by the crafty Aquelsis or eaten by a terrifying Belfroad...and all to rescue the school bully!

Lord Percy Nibley needs a wife, preferably before his mother’s nagging on the subject drives him to distraction....In desperation, the shy nobleman enlists the help of Baron Marchmain - Lord August Bright...August selects a suitable young lady for Lord Nibley; Miss Patience Pearson, a cool, level-headed woman, close to being on the shelf and with the reputation of a blue-stocking, meanwhile setting his own sights on capturing the heart of her vivacious younger sister, Caroline.

A magical fantasy adventure. It’s midwinter's eve and everything is about to change for Dylan and his sister Emily. Being shrunk down to three inches is the easy part. Deadwood Hall is about secrets, friendship, magic, weird creatures, and looking out for each other when things go very wrong. This adventure is just the beginning - that’s if Dylan and Emily can survive until midnight!

Dishonoured and ashamed, the ton's scandalous darling, "Beau" the Marquess of Beaumont, is forced to flee England to escape debtor's prison. After a chance encounter, it appears Miss Millicent Sparrow is his only remaining friend, however unlikely...when his father dies suddenly and Beau inherits the Dukedom...he finds a woman in despair and, moved by pity, he offers her the protection of his name by marriage. But Milly becomes impossible to overlook, and the more Beau needs his wife, the less interested she seems in her gorgeous husband.

How do you make your own aquarium pet using a dried pig's ear and bodybuilder's protein shake? Was St. Pestival a vegetarian? Can you fly a Mercedes-Benz? Who was Baboonistotle? The answers to all these questions and many more await you in WOWF, nyaaargh, ker-BING!, the first collection of correspondence between Richard Bhindi-Carstairs and an unsuspecting world.

Sebastian Grenville, the duke of Sindalton, known as Sin to the ton, has had his fair share of scandal. His father's involvement in what became referred to as "The Scandal of the Century" plunged him into the spotlight at the tender age of 12, and he's been there ever since. Egged on by his best friend, Beau - the marquis of Beaumont - his life is one of dissipation and ease. But every duke needs an heir, and everyone knows Sindalton is on the market for a wife.

Stanley Pargo has only just arrived in Suburbia, and already, he wants out. The principal of his new school is a monster of tyranny, and Stanley’s teacher is even worse. Every day, she conceives new and terrible ways to torment him - each one worse than the last and all with a single goal in mind: forcing Stanley to learn his place.

In the first installment of this epic adventure series, young Stanley Pargo realizes he’s forgotten more than just his home when he wakes up alone and lost at sea. His rations are dwindling, and with no memory to guide him, Stanley loses all hope of finding his family until he meets a talking crane who knows far more about Stanley’s peculiar past than he’s willing to reveal. With the bird’s help, Stanley reaches land and takes shelter in a dark tower that stands as crooked as the man who built it.

Lucretia ‘Crecy’ Holbrook has a secret, a secret she has kept for many years. Even her dearest confidant and sister, Belle, would not understand what Crecy is prepared to do, the risks she is prepared to take, to get her heart’s desire. For Crecy is not like the other smiling débutantes; she despises poetry, thinks dancing a chore, and is quite prepared to throw something at the next fool to compare her to Aphrodite. Far more likely to return from a country walk with a badger’s skull and some bloody, injured creature than a posy of wildflowers, Crecy is drawn to the dark, the damaged, and the unlovable. Her heart longs for one man alone, one with a wounded soul, one so dreadfully damaged that even her tender care might not be enough to save him.

Lunar New Year should be a time for familial reunions, ancestor worship, and consumption of an unhealthy amount of candied fruit. But when dragon prince Thuan brings home his brooding and ruthless husband Asmodeus for the New Year, they find not interminable family gatherings, but a corpse outside their quarters. Asmodeus is thrilled by the murder investigation; Thuan, who gets dragged into the political plotting he'd sworn off when he left, is less enthusiastic.

Rigby Croxford's introduction to the United States proves to be more perilous than anything he faced in Africa. His efforts to defend his famous brother-in- law, a television newscaster, from a sex scandal puts him at odds with men bent on destroying America.

Phileas Darlington (Darling to the locals) has been in the town of Apple Blossom with his brothers for mere weeks, and four of them have already fallen in love! Worse, they're getting married! This catastrophe has led poor Phileas to re-assess his duty as one of six brothers in line to inherit their father's title and estate in England. If his four brothers all stay in Apple Blossom, then he has to be the one to take on the responsibility. Poor Oliver, the youngest, can't do it. He hasn't got a clue.

As the ruthless commander of Unit 23, I’ve dedicated my life to eliminating the world’s deadliest threats. Infiltrating crime syndicates and executing covert missions is all I’ve ever known. But when I meet Eliza Fox, my carefully constructed world begins to crumble. For the first time, I find myself longing for a life beyond the shadows. As our whirlwind romance blossoms, I’m thrust into a dangerous game of cat and mouse with my former mentor—a man I thought long dead. With everything I hold dear at stake, I must confront the ghosts of my past to secure our future.

From an early age, Sarah Cranshaw has exhibited an unladylike interest in scientific pursuits. Whether it's memorising train timetables or stargazing on her telescope, such pursuits have earned her the nickname of bluestocking in her Oxfordshire village. But behind the eccentric demeanour she presents to the world, there lies a secret. For years, Sarah has been obsessed with the handsome but roguish Mr Templeton. She knows, of course, that she has little hope of earning his affection in return, but still she yearns for him.

After her father was killed by outlaws, Jean Campbell was forced to take on the role of undertaker. Like so many other women in Apple Blossom, she did what had to be done after a devastating tragedy took the lives of an entire posse. But months later, things were becoming hard, and she wasn't sure what to do. And that's when they came to town. Six English brothers who took it upon themselves to help those in need. And so far, three of the brothers had found love. But Jean knew that wasn't about to happen to her. After all, who wanted to woo an undertaker?

When Six Englishmen come to Apple Blossom, they turn the town upside-down by not leaving. Instead, they take it upon themselves to help a few poor folks out by sprucing up their houses! Next on their list: The Widow Crawford. But Sarah Crawford didn't trust the newcomers, and was it any wonder? The last strangers that came through town killed her husband. They appeared to be decent men, just like the Englishmen. So far they'd fixed things up for a rancher and Apple Blossom's own lady sheriff. But just because they trusted them didn't mean Sarah had to. After all, she had to protect herself and her children.

Michelangelo is precise and perilous—a man to be respected. After spending four years in prison, serving time for the crimes I committed, I’m now ready to live a life very different from the one I previously led. Becoming an agent for K19 Allied Intelligence means I’ll play a part in taking down one of the world’s worst crime families—the Calabrian Syndicate. Like every other criminal society, the list of their acts against the innocent is long, the worst of which is human trafficking.

Ansgar knows how to listen to those spirits as he travels the wild lands of the North, and they’re telling him to watch his back. A vagabond viking with a unique approach to personal hygiene is looking out for him. Will one ally be enough? There are outlaws in the forest around them. And if the stories are true, there are trolls with a taste for human flesh not far beyond.

Cassie Laine never wanted to be sheriff, but when her father, Sheriff Laine was ambushed and killed along with his posse, she had little choice. The little town of Apple Blossom was dying. No one in their right mind would take the job! To make matters worse, an annoying Englishman, one of six brothers passing through and now helping some of the townsfolk out, was assigned to her.