Showing results by narrator "Ruth Urquhart" in All Categories

Tressa Middleton made UK history when she became Britain's youngest mum in 2006 aged just 12 years and eight months. Her case provoked shock and outrage - but the truth behind the headlines was far sadder than anyone could ever have imagined. Born into a life of poverty and neglect, Tressa was forced to grow up fast when was she taken into care at just four years old. She was returned to her mother's chaotic world, but by the age of seven, she was being abused by her own brother and at 11 years old she fell pregnant with his child. For years she kept his dark secret in an attempt to hold her family together until the truth threatened to destroy her completely.

Covering the Ice Age to the recent Scottish Referendum, the acclaimed historian and author explores the history of the Scottish nation. Focusing on key moments such as the Battle of Bannockburn and the Jacobite risings, Moffat also features other episodes in history that are perhaps less well documented. From prehistoric timber halls to inventions and literature, Moffat's epic explores the drama of battle, change, loss, and innovation interspersed with the lives of ordinary Scottish folk, the men and women who defined a nation.

I should be celebrating. Hell, I should be the happiest elf in the world. Unfortunately, I can’t revel in my successes when there’s a foul fiend who is relentlessly trying to lure me to his side. He won’t leave me in peace and he seems determined to plunge the country into chaos to get what he wants, using bloodshed, fear and malevolent magic. Still, I’m no stranger to stubbornness. If I can turn the tables and become the hunter instead of the hunted, I might have a chance.

This boxed set includes books 1-4 in the the Deverry series: Daggerspell, Darkspell, The Bristling Wood, and The Dragon Revenant.

Book 1 in the thrilling new crime series, by David J. Gatward, author of the DCI Harry Grimm crime series, and set in the hauntingly beautiful Somerset countryside.

After her own mother mysteriously disappears, seventeen-year-old Alicia turns up on her godmother's doorstep and asks if she can stay. Carina can't say no to the godchild she hasn't seen in over a decade. And in a way, Alicia is the daughter she always wanted—she's so smart and driven, and definitely scholarship material. Carina is only too happy to help this brilliant young woman achieve her full potential. But husband Don and children Tegan and Arthur aren't so sure. There's something about Alicia… Is she just too good to be true?

The lives of the Scottish queens, both those who ruled in their own right and the consorts, have largely been neglected in conventional history books. One of the earliest known Scottish queens was none other than the notorious Lady Macbeth. Was she really the wicked woman depicted in Shakespeare's famous play? Was St. Margaret a demure and obedient wife? Rosalind K. Marshall delves into these questions and more in this entertaining, impeccably researched book.

It is 1911, and Jean is about to join the mass strike at the Singer factory. For her, nothing will be the same again. Decades later, Connie sews coded moments of her life into a notebook, as her mother did before her. More than 100 years after his grandmother's sewing machine was made, Fred unpicks the secrets of four generations, one stitch at a time.

Eighteenth-century Scotland is famed for generating many of the enlightened ideas which helped to shape the modern world. But there was in the same period another side to the history of the nation. Many of Scotland's people were subjected to coercive and sometimes violent change, as traditional ways of life were overturned by the "rational" exploitation of land use. The Scottish Clearances is a superb and highly original account of this sometimes terrible process, which changed the Lowland countryside forever, as it also did, more infamously, the old society of the Highlands.

The windswept Scottish Highlands hold great beauty, but also great danger. So when Aimil Mengue's abducted by a feuding clan, she's right to fear for her life - and her virtue. For Aimil's keeper is the infamous warrior Parlan MacGuin. Aimil sets out to hate him, but Parlan is more honorable - and infinitely more alluring - than expected. Though betrothed to another, Aimil cannot deny her startling desire for the man who holds her captive. Parlan MacGuin knows well his reputation as a fierce warrior; he uses it to claim land and lovers.

A mansion, a title, and marriage to a wealthy Lord, Lady Eveline Cartwright has it all. Unfortunately, it's not enough to prevent her from being bludgeoned to death one night in the study of Merisham Lodge, the family's country estate in Derbyshire. Suspicion quickly falls on her ne'er-do-well son, Peter, but not everyone in the household is convinced of his guilt. Head kitchen maid Joan Hart and lady's maid Verity Hunter know that when it comes to a crime, all is not always as it seems.

Talented in magic, the young elven woman Ruethwyn didn't fit in in her hometown but was scheduled to attend the most renowned academy of magic in the kingdom and was even building up the courage to confess her love in the hope it might be returned. That all ended in a dragon's fire. Resvarygrath the Gilded destroyed Ruethwyn's village, killed her parents and teacher, and stole away the young women of the village. Maimed by the dragon's flames, Ruethwyn was spared by a curious dark elf who gave her a chance; she had two years to rescue her beloved or risk losing her forever.

Bridget Collins is in dire straits - she needs to get out of New York, fast. With two young siblings under her wing, her options are limited. Her priest sends her as an outplacement agent on the orphan trains that run from New York to out west. With almost 40 orphans under her care, she's relieved that fellow and more experienced outplacement agent Carl Watson is there to guide her. But Carl is dealing with his own trauma and finds it difficult to handle the pain the orphans are dealing with.

There are three absolutes in Mairi Wallace's world: 1. The Mages rule every city in Scotland with terrible, violent authority. 2. It is not physically possible for any woman to wield magic. 3. Mairi does not have a voice. She is about to learn that none of these things have to be true. From twisted wynds and tartan shops to a dangerous daemon and malevolent ravens, the future of a tattered nation might lie with one solitary woman.

Saffron Sawyer aspires to rise from the magical world's bottom rung. But when her wish to join the renowned Office of Faery Godmothers is granted, bullies make her first day on the job unbearable. And to add to her misery, she discovers that someone is abducting her coworkers one-by-one. Desperate to prevent another kidnapping, she scrambles to piece together the clues. After teaming up with the handsome and powerful Devil's Advocate, she uncovers a strange connection between the disappearances and her lowly former gig.

Mairi Wallace has faced terrible dangers since she discovered her magical abilities. But she's never experienced anything as hazardous as this. An unfamiliar peril has arisen and suddenly the Mages are no longer the biggest threat to Scotland's future. A new King, with the Afflicted hordes at his beck and call, is claiming her country for his own. From the towering battlements at Edinburgh Castle to the sweeping streets of Glasgow, Mairi and her friends are going to have to draw on every scrap of power they have.

When the Marquess of Campbell inherits a fiery, red-headed Scottish beauty as his ward, it's his job to marry her off. No problem. She comes with a fortune. Lady Bridget MacDuff will have suitors falling all over themselves to wed her. Not so fast. Lady Bridget has plans for that fortune, and they involve helping unfortunate women. And she has no intention of helping her devastatingly handsome guardian in his quest to get her off his hands. He doesn't plan to marry, either. Why should she?

Wrongfully imprisoned and tortured by an unseen enemy, Broderick MacPherson lives for one purpose - punishing the villain who targeted him. But when a wayward English lass interrupts his revenge, he loses his enemy in the dark. Now, her compelled testimony could send Broderick back to the prison that nearly killed him. Unless they find a loophole - an inconvenient, shockingly tempting loophole.

Everyone wants handsome adventurer John Huxley to settle down - family, friends, London society. Everyone except John. He's evaded too many scheming title huntresses to trust in happily ever after. Now, a vow made to a dying friend has him locked in a land dispute with a stubborn Scot who offers one way out: Win the Highland Games. John likes a challenge, but this one's impossible. Still, with training from the Scot's stepdaughter, victory might be within reach.

After two years of peace, Ruethwyn and her friends have graduated from Tyrness Academy, yet darkness looms on the horizon. Sinera has consolidated her control over the Golden Dominion, and Selwyn is threatened by Rue's former mentor. In her search for more information regarding her art of atavism, Rue has learned of similar practices once practiced in the nation of Corval, and she sets out with her friends in the hopes of gaining an edge over Sinera. Unfortunately for her, Sinera has not forgotten Rue, and has forged an alliance with some of her old enemies.