Showing results by narrator "Susan Duerden" in All Categories

It's the Easter holidays, and Isla can't wait to spend two whole weeks with the cats at Poppy's Place, including the two new cats from Dolly's farm - Sylvie, a friendly three-legged cat, and a timid ginger cat without a name. But she soon finds she's got other things on her mind - the appearance of a thin black cat in the garden and Mum's weird and secretive behavior. Then, Isla spots Mum outside a jeweler's with Mr. Black holding a small bag and puts two and two together - could the bag contain a ring?

What if your daughter becomes your enemy? When barmaid, Rachel, discovers her soon-to-be-married daughter, Beth, pinned down by a stranger in the pub cellar, Rachel lashes out in panic, and the intruder ends up dead. In desperation, Rachel convinces Beth they should cover up the crime and go ahead with the planned wedding in one month’s time. Rachel, however, has her own reasons for not involving the police.

Christmas is approaching on the island of Jersey, but Libby is feeling far from festive. Her police work and duties as vicar's wife weigh heavily on her, she's anxious about her troubled children, and now her best friend, Stella, has suddenly turned against her, citing a mysterious family grudge. Libby is devastated by Stella's unexpected coldness. But then her father shows her a diary written by her great-aunt Queenie, which sheds light on a long-hidden secret - one rooted in love, loyalty and betrayal.

Lizzie wants nothing more than to start over and put the past behind her. So when she is offered the chance to live and work at Rowan Hill, a beautiful country estate and bustling community of artists, it feels like a dream come true. But soon after her arrival a series of accidents and misunderstandings begins to threaten the happiness and livelihoods of everyone at Rowan Hill. And when suspicion quickly falls on Lizzie, she discovers that the past is not so easily forgotten.

Tristan MacAlistair hides behind a façade of well-bred manners and charm yet, hidden beneath the surface, lie treacherous secrets he will go to extremes to protect. However, he meets his match in Lady Victoria Montgomery, a woman determined to compel Tristan to notice her at all costs. Having loved Tristan from afar for years, Victoria plans an elaborate ruse in an attempt to make him desire her. Her efforts are successful but Victoria soon learns that Tristan isn't the man she once believed him to be.

Haunted by his father's sins, Sebastian Montgomery, ninth Duke of Davenport vows never to fall in love or marry - until he encounters Gwendolyn MacAlistair and she consumes his thoughts. Sebastian wants her, and as he learned from his father, what a duke wants, a duke takes. Gwen's father has arranged for her to marry a man she despises, the very man who shattered her fragile family.

When the villagers of Godestone report a series of bizarre and troubling events, Sir Hugo, his heavily pregnant wife, Lady Alice, and her distant kinsman Father Gilbert are honor bound to investigate, for they are “born to the Fang,” shape-shifters dedicated to fighting evil in secret. And the events are worrying indeed - stolen farm implements, a mutilated goat, and now a missing child. Their investigation is further complicated by the arrival of Robert Fynch, who was drawn to the scene by the tales of mysterious happenings in the village.

When 18-year-old Grace Campbell arrives in London, in 1914, she's unable to fulfill her family's ambitions and find a position as an office secretary. Lying to her parents and her brother, Michael, she takes a job as a housemaid at Number 35, Park Lane, where she is quickly caught up in the lives of its inhabitants - in particular, those of its privileged son, Edward, and daughter, Beatrice - who is recovering from a failed relationship that would have taken her away from an increasingly stifling life. Desperate to find a new purpose, Bea joins a group of radical suffragettes and strikes up an intriguing romance with an impassioned young lawyer.

Fashion is many things. It is self-expression, big business, trend-setting, a lifestyle choice. But however you see fashion, it relies on one simple characteristic: the incredible speed with which clothes make their journey from the drawing board to the High Street hanger. Fashion is fast. Fast fashion influences the types of garments we have in our wardrobes.

Nothing is fair in love or war, especially when they are one and the same. When the handsome Lord Matthew Blackwood approached her, Serena Fitzwater immediately knew they were meant to be together. Bold and brash, the qualities that made Matthew an excellent soldier made him her soul mate as well. A storybook romance and marriage followed, only to be interrupted by the call for Matthew to return to the frontlines. When Matthew returns months later, he’s no longer the knight in shining armor of Mary’s fairy-tale dreams.

The Jacobs family has lived at Orley Court for generations. But when Vanessa Jacobs is widowed and left to manage the property, she finds costs spiralling out of control. In order to stay in their beloved home, she and her daughters will have to sell part of it off - a decision that drives a wedge between Vanessa and her mother-in-law. The new owners of the north wing are Laurence Sturridge and his father, Marcus. Both of them long for an escape: Laurence from the monotony of his City career; Marcus from the grief of losing his wife.

London, spring 1939. Eighteen-year-old Ada Vaughan, a beautiful and ambitious seamstress, has just started work for a modiste in Dover Street. A career in couture is hers for the taking - she has the skill and the drive - if only she can break free from the dreariness of family life in Lambeth. A chance meeting with the enigmatic Stanislaus von Lieben catapults Ada into a world of glamour and romance.

For three years, Lady Veronica Smithson has been perfectly happy as a widow. Still, the right gentleman could provide the benefits of marriage without the tedious restrictions. And in Sir Sebastian Hadley-Attwater, renowned explorer and rogue, Veronica is sure she has found him. Sebastian will come into his inheritance in a matter of weeks - if his family deems him responsible enough. There’s no better way to prove his maturity than with a home and a wife. Veronica will share his bed, but she steadfastly refuses to marry....

A searching and inventive debut, Ten Things I’ve Learnt About Love is a story about finding love in unexpected places, about rootlessness and homecoming, and the power of the ties that bind. It announces Sarah Butler as a major new talent for telling stories that are heart-wrenching and unforgettable.

Briony has a secret. She believes her secret killed her stepmother, destroyed her twin sister’s mind, and threatens all the children in the Swampsea. She yearns to be rid of her terrible secret, but risks being hanged if she tells a soul. That’s what happens to witches: They’re hanged by the neck until dead.Then Eldric arrives - Eldric with his golden mane and lion eyes and electric energy - and he refuses to believe anything dark about Briony. But he wonders what’s been buried beneath her self-hatred, hidden in Rose’s mangled thoughts, and whispered about by the Old Ones.

When spoiled Lady Alicia Alston, privileged daughter of a duke, is accidentally tossed into a ravine after a wild gallop with Ian MacClain, Earl of Cairnyllan, she expects a proposal as soon as is convenient. The stubborn Scot has other ideas. It takes a headlong journey to prevent an elopement to give Alicia and Ian a chance to clear up misunderstandings and figure out what they find so damnably passion-inducing about one another....

We wish you a steampunk Christmas.... Changed forever after tragedy, a woman must draw strength from her husband's love. A man learns that love isn't always what you expect. A thief steals the heart of a vengeful professor. And an American inventor finds love Down Under. Enjoy Victorian Christmas with a clockwork twist in these four steampunk novellas.

Virtuoso pianist Isabette Grüber captivates audiences in the salons and concert halls of early nineteenth-century Vienna. Yet in a profession dominated by men, Isabette longs to compose and play her own music - a secret she keeps from both her lascivious manager and her resentful mother. She meets and loves Amelia Mason, a dazzling American singer with her own secrets, and Josef Hauser, an ambitious young composer. But even they cannot fully comprehend the depths of Isabette's talent.

Colin MacAlistair understands that the worst nightmares are conjured from truth. He is living proof of it. After learning a disturbing family secret, he flees England with one goal in mind: amass enough wealth to prove himself worthy of his beloved's devotion. Over the course of three long and bitter years, Colin indeed amassed a small fortune but his success came at a steep price...his soul. Eve Weston's faith in Colin was shattered by his disappearance and her life turned upside down by the horrific events that followed.

Emma is just days from marrying her childhood sweetheart Richard. But what should be the happiest time of Emma's life takes a turn for the worse when, on the night of her bachelorette party, tragedy strikes. Thanks to some quick thinking from a stranger, Emma is pulled free from a totaled car before it goes up in flames. But another passenger is not so lucky.