Showing results by narrator "Helen McAlpine" in All Categories

When 23-year-old shepherdess Emma Gray breaks off her engagement, the chance to take over an isolated Northumberland farm seems just the fresh start she needs. But while the beautiful scenery certainly offers plenty of scope for contemplation, a night out with an eligible bachelor soon seems more remote than the farm itself. And once you add fugitive sheep and freak blizzards into the mix, Emma's dreams of a happy future at Fallowlees Farm quickly begin to fade.

From peaceful Scotland to war-ravaged Europe, two female doctors from very different backgrounds fight to succeed and survive. Upper-class Lucy Graham is expected simply to marry well. Poverty-stricken Rosie Nesbitt struggles just to get by. Both girls share the unlikely dream to become a doctor, and each will do anything to succeed. When their paths cross at a party filled with eligible bachelors, it soon becomes clear that their chosen career isn't the only desire they share.

This is... Denise. Married to Ray, her first and only love, Denise has never, for one moment, regretted putting the husband she idolised on a pedestal above everyone and everything else. But, after forty years of marriage, he is gone, leaving Denise to discover that their perfect marriage was fatally flawed. Now she faces a future alone. But first, she must face the betrayals of the past. This is... Claire. The estranged daughter of Denise, the woman who put her husband before her children, Claire took the opposite path and devoted her life to raising her family, sacrificing.

They climbed up from the streets of Glasgow to the top of the world. Now these Hollywood icons are heading for a fall. Three stars, three tales of struggle and success. Now they’re discovering that in Hollywood, happy endings don’t last for ever. Sometimes they’re just the calm before the storm.

Return to the snow-covered mountains of the Isle of Skye this winter in book two of The Skye Sisters Trilogy – where new loves and unknown family are just waiting to be found…The perfect escapist listen, for fans of Sarah Morgan and Karen Swan.

When Ailsa Reid becomes the subject of a trial by media after an incident at the school where she works, she escapes to the comfort of her grandparents' house in Fife. But she arrives to find her grandmother, Moira - recently diagnosed with dementia - has gone missing, and her grandfather, Rupert, gravely injured. Desperate to ensure Moira's safe return, Ailsa must rely on the help of her estranged mother, Rowan, who abandoned her at birth. Tensions simmer between the two women as they attempt to piece together the lead-up to Moira's disappearance.

Rachel McKenzie has trust issues. That’s what happens when your father murders your mother and gets away with it for years. Tormented by her past, Rachel seeks justice for others, investigating suspicious deaths in the remote and rugged Scottish Highlands. So, when Rachel hears about a drowned woman on the windswept island where her estranged family lives, she’s driven to investigate.

Warhammer Adventures is a series of action-packed stories about brave heroes who battle monstrous enemies and win great victories against impossible odds in the far-future universe of Warhammer 40,000 and the fantasy realms of Warhammer Age of Sigmar. This collection combines all the Realm Quest series titles, written by Tom Huddleston.

Rachel is no stranger to the darkness in the hearts of men. When the body of a young woman is found, tragically killed in her own home, Rachel is devastated to discover she knew the victim. Gillian helped her when she was at her lowest; now Rachel vows to find her friend’s murderer. When the killer strikes again, frighteningly close to home, Rachel sees a chilling pattern to his victims. As she races to decipher the clues, she unravels a twisted plan years in the making.

The era of the yummy mummy has finally gone and to celebrate, Shari Low has taken a baby wipe to the glossy veneer of the school of perfect parenting with "Because Mummy Said So". This collection of hilarious memories tells the truth about motherhood in all of its sleep-deprived, frazzled glory. No judgement, no impossibly high standards, no perfect day – just real life and a whole lot of chaos that every experienced, new or soon-to-be parent will relate to.

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. But when Helen makes it clear that she wants more, it seems an old struggle will have to be replayed.

Two weeks, four friends and one big bucket list of secrets to unravel. Val Murray and her best friend, Josie, had been planning a ‘Thelma and Louise’ bucket-list-style holiday. Now Josie is gone, and Val needs to make the trip before it’s too late. But Val doesn’t want to do it alone, so she enlists the help of her nieces, Carly and Carole, and their best pal, Jess, who jump at the chance to join Val on a trip of a lifetime. What Val doesn’t realise is that Carly, Carole and Jess are all at turning points in their own lives, nursing crushing secrets, lies and betrayals.

Set Me Free is the new bestseller from Daniela Sacerdoti, following up the huge successes of her first two novels, Watch Over Me and Take Me Home. In London, Margherita’s marriage has slowly been falling apart since her little Lewis’ birth, a surprise baby much wanted by her but not by her husband. To add to her problems, her adopted daughter, Lara, is going through a rough patch, and all of a sudden she’s gone from quiet and introverted to constantly angry.

In the shadowy closes of Edinburgh's Old Town, 16 people are murdered to feed surgeon Dr Robert Knox's insatiable need for his anatomy classes. Burke and Hare and their wives, Lucky and Nelly, are all complicit, but only Burke swings for their crimes. Lucky, Nelly and Hare go on the run from the angry mob, reinvention their only means of survival. Years later, journalist Duncan Fletcher hears rumours of sightings of the two women. Keen to impress his editor, Duncan investigates the aftermath of the murder trial.

The human body is like an exceedingly well-fortified castle, defended by billions of soldiers - some live for less than a day, others remember battles for decades, but all are essential in protecting us from disease. This hidden army is our immune system, and without it we could not survive the eternal war between us and our microscopic enemies. Immune explores the incredible arsenal that lives within us - how it knows what to attack and what to defend and how it kills everything from the common cold to the plague bacterium.

The flood waters are rising. And so is the body count… Police officer Fiona MacLeish has been ordered to step back from her role in Police Scotland. Haunted by the murder of her parents, she’s dangerously close to breaking point: and is back in her remote childhood home nestled in a valley on the Scottish border. But there’s a terrifying storm coming…

To begin with, what the hell is a novel? It's basically a tiny world, where characters are born, live and (sometimes) die. To write one all you need is a notebook and a pen - but along the way you'll want to learn about good writing habits, planning, mastering descriptions and dialogue and how to pull it all together. This book will guide you through the process and orient you towards the goal of publication. From absolute beginner to novelista, this book will change the way you write and think about writing.

While Katie's glad it's not a man's world anymore, she'd be quite pleased if there were more men in it - or at least single ones, anyway. More likely to get murdered than married, according to gleeful media reports, Katie resigns herself to the fact there's no sex in the city and heads for the hills - or the Scottish Highlands, to be precise. Despite the fact she's never been a girl for wellies and Fairlish is in the middle of nowhere, the tiny town does have one major draw: men. Lots of them.

From the fields of Angus to the shores of Mexico, a family struggles to find their way home. To young Victoria Cameron, Angus, Scotland is the most beautiful place on earth, and she wishes nothing more than to stay on her little farm forever. But the death of her beloved grandfather leaves her and her mother without a farm and struggling to make ends meet. Never one to give up, Victoria soon finds work in a Dundee mill, while her mother supports them by taking in lodgers.

Growing up as a schoolmaster's daughter in rural Scotland, Kirsty Robertson has always dreamt of following in her father's footsteps. When her father dies, she becomes even more determined to make him proud. Dedicated to her career, Kirsty knows she can't let love get in her way. She spurns the advances of her friend, Jamie, a farmhand. But she finds herself increasingly drawn to Hugh, the laird's son, whose family she knows would never approve of him marrying a poor schoolteacher. When World War I breaks out and Hugh leaves to fight, Kirsty knows her future is in question once more.