Showing results by narrator "Hannah Curtis" in All Categories

Lauren Wade hates Jem Carter, and Jem hates her. So when Lauren gets a message from Jem asking for help, she suspects it’s some sort of attention-seeking stunt by the woman she caught in bed with her husband. Lauren decides to simply alert her ex, Daniel, who thinks Lauren is the one trying to cause trouble. However, when Jem’s car is found abandoned on a bridge, the police become involved...and Lauren finds herself panicking. She is sure they will find out about a secret she's been hiding.

It’s 1830s England, and Culinarians—doyens who consult with society’s elite to create gorgeous food and confections—are the crème de la crème of high society. Helena Higgins, top of her class at the Royal Academy, has a sharp demeanor and an even sharper palate—and knows stardom awaits her if she can produce greatness in her final year. Penelope Pickering is going to prove the value of non-European cuisine to all of England. Her contemporaries may scorn her Filipina heritage and her dishes, but with her flawless social graces and culinary talents, Penelope is set to prove them wrong.

Washed-up author Rufus Orton needs money. It's the main reason he takes the gig teaching creative writing to inmates at HMP Holderness - that, and the flattery of Prison Officer Annabeth Harris, who contacted him out of the blue and begged him to take the job. HMP resident Griffin Cox has no black marks against his name. He claims he's been wrongly convicted of the sex offense that put him in prison, but he's lying. He has a plan - and everything hinges on him securing a place in the classroom with Rufus and Annabeth.

I know I’m lucky. I have a stunning Cheltenham apartment and a charming weekend cottage in Devon. Chris, my partner, is kind and supportive. He loves me in spite of my scars—the result of a childhood incident I don’t talk about. Most of all, I love my job, helping young women with eating disorders. But I can’t help everyone, as I tell Kyle Stannard. Kyle was once a top male model—before he was left horrifically scarred in a random attack. Kyle thinks we’re the same, but I can’t help him with his problems. It’s not my field. Then creepy things start to happen.

Verity finds out her mother is secretly dating a man she met online. After five long years of widowhood, Eleanor is finally happy—and back to her old self. Verity thinks he's after her money and her smart Cirencester townhouse. Her mother thinks that Verity just can't let her move on.

Anna was living a normal life. She was ambitious and worked hard; she had just bought an apartment; she was falling in love. But then she started to develop worrying symptoms: her face felt like it was burning whenever she was in front of the computer. Soon this progressed to an intolerance of fluorescent light, then of sunlight itself. The reaction soon spread to her entire body.

Tourists have sought out the landmarks, streets, and alleys of Charles Dickens's London ever since the death of the world-renowned author. Late Victorians and Edwardians were obsessed with tracking down the locations—dubbed "Dickensland"—that famously featured in his novels. But his fans were faced with a city that was undergoing rapid redevelopment, where literary shrines were far from sacred. Over the following century, sites connected with Dickens were demolished, relocated, and reimagined.

Nevin and Gloria both have successful careers, as well as two adorable kids and a picture-book cottage by the sea. But at forty, Nevin is experiencing some discontent. He’s a successful author, but his latest plot is not for a book. Conspiring with his old friend Felix, he sets a plan in motion that will allow him to escape his marriage—but put all the blame on Gloria. He should have thought it through a little more, though. Everyone has their own agenda, and everything is about to go very wrong. Because there’s no such thing as a perfect marriage—or a perfect crime…

Owls have existed for over sixty million years, and in the relatively short time we have shared the planet with these majestic birds they have ignited the human imagination. But even as owls continue to captivate our collective consciousness, celebrated British nature writer Miriam Darlington finds herself struck by all she doesn't know about the true nature of these enigmatic creatures.

When Indian Princess Alexandrina is left penniless by the sudden death of her father, the Maharaja of Brindor, Queen Victoria grants her a grace-and-favor home in Hampton Court Palace. Though rumored to be haunted, Alexandrina and her lady's maid, Pooki, have no choice but to take the Queen up on her offer. Aside from the ghost sightings, Hampton Court doesn't seem so bad. The princess is soon befriended by three eccentric widows who invite her to a picnic with all the palace's inhabitants, for which Pooki bakes a pigeon pie. But General-Major Bagshot dies after eating said pie....

When Kate Arden discovers a secret stash of drawings hidden in the pages of an old volume of poetry given to her as a baby, her breath catches. All her life, she has felt like an outsider in her aristocratic adoptive family, who refuse to answer any questions about her past. But the drawings spark a forgotten memory: a long journey by boat, warm arms that held her tight, and then let go.

A stunning debut novel from the Northern Irish poet Eoghan Walls, The Gospel of Orla is the coming-of-age story of a young girl, Orla, and the man she meets who has an astonishing and unique ability.

Grace has a perfect life. Then her husband replaces her with a younger, blonder version. Three years later, Grace’s sixteen-year-old daughter Tara is stabbed to death in a seedy hotel. Grace’s life stops. After a harrowing trial, Tara’s boyfriend is convicted of her murder. At least now it’s over—until someone breaks into Grace’s house and ransacks Tara’s belongings. Now the questions have only just begun. Grace thought she knew her daughter. But Tara had been keeping secrets from her. Very dark secrets.

Helen Grant is a mystery to her daughter. An extrovert with few friends who has sought intimacy in the wrong places, a twice-divorced mother of two now living alone surrounded by her memories, Helen (known to her acquaintances as “Hen”) has always haunted Bridget. Now, Bridget is an academic in her forties. She sees Helen once a year, and considers the problem to be contained. As she looks back on their tumultuous relationship—the performances and small deceptions—she tries to reckon with the cruelties inflicted on both sides.

Ida is a self-confessed serial killer of predatory men. She feels no remorse for her victims but has decided she needs psychiatric help...if only to lay the groundwork for an insanity plea if she gets caught. Clarissa is a celebrity psychotherapist, the best in her field, a familiar face on television and in glossy magazines. For her, every patient is special—someone only she can save. When Ida walks into Clarissa's consulting room one day, the therapist doesn't know that they share a dark secret, buried in both their pasts.

Isla knows her family kept things from her. When she inherits the cliffside cottage where she spent her childhood, she must face dark shadows of her past—the mother who rejected her in favour of her art, the aunt whose death haunted them both, and the silence that permeated every room. Digging through the belongings of someone she realises she never really knew, Isla finally has the chance to find answers to the secrets her mother spent a lifetime hiding.

London, 1943: War and dwindling resources have taken their toll on the book publishing industry, but Alice Cotton, a young editor at Partridge Press, has seen her star begin to rise. She has a knack for creating new books to distract readers from the grim realities of the war. And the demand for books is greater than ever, both on the battlefield and on the home front. But just as her hard work seems poised to pay off, Alice unexpectedly falls pregnant. Facing the stigma of being an unwed mother, Alice flees to a small town to give birth to her child.

Commissioned by the Amsterdam Surgeons’ Guild, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp was the first major Rembrandt work to catapult the young painter to international fame. Taking this painting as its inspiration, Nina Siegal’s novel The Anatomy Lesson opens on the morning of the medical dissection and follows several characters as they prepare for the evening’s big event:

You Can Be Yourself Here lays out the deep psychology of our need to belong, its critical impact on workplace performance, and the practical steps any organization can take to make everyone feel welcome and included. Learn how diversity and representation can lead to a greater experience of belonging for everyone. Glean insights from interviews with real employees speaking openly about their workplace experiences. Discover how to facilitate a culture of belonging, with practical tips for creating inclusive workplaces where people can show up as themselves.

Eleanor did not come to London to be proper and boring. After the death of her husband and a year of mourning, the seventeen-year-old wants nothing more than her independence and to have a little fun. She’s hardly looking to remarry, despite pressures from her late husband’s nephew, who is keen on obtaining her inheritance. Eleanor quickly devises a plan that includes a fake engagement. What’s not a part of the plan? Falling for a dashing, quiet man outside of her social circle—a man who is not her betrothed. Can she survive the Season with her heart and her fortune intact?