Showing results by narrator "Melanie Crawley" in All Categories

Ashley is a young single mum raising her daughter, Eden, and working hard to do the very best job she can - until one night she can't find a babysitter and makes the decision to leave Eden home alone for a couple of hours, asleep inside a wardrobe. It is an action that begins a terrible downward spiral for both of them. When Eden arrives at experienced foster carer Louise Allen's home, she has entered the care system because her mother is in prison. Eden is five years old and will not speak to any human.

Louise gets a frantic call to take in a damaged and destructive young girl. Separated from her siblings, Sparkle is hostile and angry. A short while after settling in, Sparkle begins to identify as pansexual. A revolution is underway in the Allen household, with Sparkle's transition motivating all of the young people to explore what becoming an adult means for them.

When Nicola Nuttall was told that her 18-year-old daughter Laura had only 12 months to live, following a diagnosis of the most aggressive form of brain cancer, glioblastoma multiforme, she couldn’t begin to process her emotions. It was her greatest fear come true. But while her mother struggled to adjust and searched for new treatments, Laura made a decision: she would live her life to the full and embark on an extraordinary bucket list.

The next book in Louise Allen's Thrown Away Children series.

Louise has trouble on her hands from the first moment that 5-year-old Billy Blackthorn comes to stay. He is one of more than 20 children taken into care from a single family, and erupts into the Allen household with a volatility that is frightening and disturbing in equal measure. It is only as Louise begins to uncover the secrets of Billy's dark past that she begins to understand what made his family 'untouchable'.

When Angela Milligan's close friend, Toni Perry, suddenly vanishes, Angela becomes convinced that something terrible has happened. However, her certainty is met with skepticism—accusations of overreacting and a lack of support from the police only serve to isolate her further.

Shy hotel maid Alana is so desperate to clear a family debt that when she discovers Greek tycoon Ares urgently needs a wife, she blurts out a scandalous suggestion: in exchange for his help, she’ll become his convenient bride. But chemistry blazes like wildfire between her and fiercely controlled Ares, and soon she has an announcement that will inconveniently disrupt his well-ordered world… She’s having his baby!

Kate is living the dream with her gorgeous boyfriend, Alessandro, in his native city, but the reality is sometimes a little less romantic than she’d hoped. Every day in her new home is a fight against leaking pipes, her cantankerous landlord and her less-than-perfect grasp of the Italian lingo. All around her there is talk of weddings, but when a secret from her past is thrust out into the open, Kate must fight to prove to Alessandro’s formidable family that she truly is Italian marriage material.

Orphaned Leah has never had it easy in life. Desperate for a job she becomes ruthless Italian Giovanni’s housekeeper. What she never expected was their totally off-limits night between his billion-dollar sheets… Or the shocking consequences!

Ruby was our miracle baby. I would have done anything to become a mother, and when she finally arrived, I held her in my arms, looked in her blue eyes and swore I would never let anything harm her. Now she's everything I could have dreamed of. I don't even think about all the years of heartache I went through before she was born. So when I get the strange warning at her birthday party, I ignore it, hiding it in my bag with trembling hands. Someone is simply jealous of her.

Growing up, Joanne suffered at the hands of a violent boyfriend and controlling relatives, as her mother lapsed into a downward spiral following the break-up of her marriage. But the consequences of her mother's lifestyle turned out to be worse than Joanne could ever have imagined. She already knew about the baby buried in a shallow makeshift grave next to the family plot. But when Joanne came across a red plastic bin in her mother's wardrobe in 2009, she realised that the family home held an even more sinister secret.

They were the Boleyns, once one of England's most powerful family. Anne Boleyn captured the hand of Henry VIII, and now we see the rise and fall of their family fortunes through the eyes of the eldest Boleyn daughter, Mary. Mary Boleyn is overshadowed in history by her sister, Anne, but it was she who first caught the eye of Henry VIII, setting the stage for her family's dramatic rise to power - and ultimate fall from grace. Although Henry set her aside as his mistress, Mary still navigated the dangerous waters of the Tudor court while forging ahead to find a life.

When Sky and her older sister Avril were taken into care, the social workers knew this was a case like no other. Raised by unhinged parents who hoarded compulsively, creating horrific conditions no child should live in, the two girls arrived at foster carer Louise's home, neglected, malnourished and indoctrinated. Louise had to draw on all of her experience as one of Britain's leading foster carers to rehabilitate and change the course of their lives.

ITIL Lifecycle Essentials covers all of the vital material required for the entry-level ITIL Foundation Certificate, which gives candidates a comprehensive overview of the key elements, concepts, and terminology used in the ITIL service lifecycle.

This collection includes Her Best Kept Royal Secret & The Queen's Baby Scandal & An Heir Fit for a King.

Discovering she was pregnant with twins changed the course of Scarlett Pearson’s life. Knowing love wasn’t on his agenda, she fled her fling with guarded billionaire Aristide Angelico—her babies deserved more. Aristide can’t forget his blazing chemistry with Scarlett, or that she ended their affair. Reunited two years on, he’s appalled to discover the fire between them still burns. Determined to regain control, Aristide invites her to Italy, only to be floored by Scarlett’s secret twin revelation…and his instant need to claim his family!

While Jodey Whiting was stuck in hospital battling pneumonia over Christmas, a letter dropped on her doormat from the Department of Work and Pensions, asking her to attend an assessment. Despite her health problems, the powers-that-be callously halted benefit payments for the mum-of-nine. With no money coming in, Jodey killed herself, aged just 42. Another DWP letter pronouncing her "fit to work" was sent to her home three days after her tragic death. A Mother's Job is the story of how Jodey's mum Joy Dove, 67, took on the system—and won justice for her daughter.

As innocent Tansy prepares to meet Jude Alexandris at the altar, she knows their vows are purely for convenience – the billionaire must wed immediately to protect his mother’s home. However, there’s something Tansy hasn’t shared: this marriage is her only hope of getting custody of her little half-sister!

The twelve stories in Crime and Prejudice imagine a deliciously seamy underside to Jane Austen's world. Arson, highway robbery, petty crime and murder mingle with fox-hunting, bawdy-houses, gaming-tables and transportation to Australia in these tales recounted to Elizabeth Darcy by her friends and family.

Arcadia: A rural retreat where the lost come to heal their struggles. Grace Ellis: A respected professional with a healthy bank balance. Not the type to need therapy. Grace has just arrived at Arcadia, and she’s far from happy. A freak accident has caused the staff to be concerned for her safety. She has no chance of leaving anytime soon. She has her issues, but who doesn’t? Grace is about to embark on a personal journey, where she will discover just how important the people we meet can be.