Showing results by narrator "Madeleine Brolly" in All Categories

Everyone in town knows Nancy Jones. She loves her cats. She loves her tumbledown house by the sea. She loves her job in the local school where she tries to help the children who need help the most. Nancy tries hard not to think about her past loves and where those led her.... Nancy never shares her secrets - because some doors are better kept locked. But one day she accepts a cat-sitting request from a local woman, and at the woman’s house Nancy sees a photograph in a bright-red frame. A photograph that opens the door to her painful past....

1941. Hitler unleashes Operation Barbarossa, taking the German forces to the outskirts of Moscow. Fearful of Lenin’s mausoleum falling into enemy hands, Stalin orders Lenin to be moved a 1,000 miles behind the Urals. Caught up the web of intrigue is beautiful Allied spy Eva Molenaar. She uncovers a plot involving a Hollywood mogul, Hitler’s propaganda machine, and a Nazi spy ring to bring Lenin’s body out of Russia for a propaganda coup.

Seven years ago, Lady Lydia Whiting married for the good of her parents, and widowhood was supposed to mark the beginning of her freedom. But when her husband spurns her from beyond the grave and cuts her from his will, her parents are determined to force her into another wretched marriage of convenience. Fleeing is the only option. Robert Bradshaw has a good, quiet life. Work and his daughter are all he needs, even if others think he ought to remarry. Why should he? His beloved wife was an angel among men, and no other could compare—especially a young widow who is more mouse than woman.

Evelyn Finch has given up on love. Finding a man to dance with her was difficult enough; finding one to spend his life with her was impossible. Better to embrace spinsterhood and rid herself of that false hope. No man will see her in a romantic light. But when a dashing gentleman sweeps into her life, reigniting her dreams, Evelyn can’t help but wonder if her greatest wish will finally come true.

Courageous or foolish? Marian Wakefield hadn’t thought herself either, but when she confessed her love to her closest friend, Marian discovered she had a hearty helping of both. And a broken heart to boot. No man shall ever secure her affection as he had, but with spinsterhood looming, her father gives her a choice—find herself a husband or he will do it for her. Must Marian settle for a marriage of convenience? Why does fate hate her so?

Irish Luck, Chinese Medicine is about improbable allies: an Irish single mother and a Chinese physician. Set against the backdrop of the Catholic Church in 19th Century America, it’s the story of how entrepreneurship and strength become a gateway for family survival despite injustice, tragedy, and ill-fated love. Follow the journey of a woman finding her strength as she rescues her sons from child labor and saves her family’s inheritance, only to risk everything for the man she loves.

Rosie Lee's owner, Abby, is a woman without a plan...and her beloved little cafe is a business with a serious lack of customers. The Rosie Lee's fry-up is legendary, but cooked breakfasts alone - however perfectly sizzled the bacon - aren't going to pay the bills. Fast approaching 40 and fighting a serious case of empty nest syndrome, Abby realises it's not just her menu that needs a makeover. And when Jack Chance, her 'The One That Got Away', saunters through the cafe doors and back into her life things definitely look set to change....

Natasha is a woman with a problem. The party lifestyle that she enjoyed with her partner, Helen, is about to come crashing to an abrupt end. While she battles with her addiction, she meets the charismatic Caroline who has the way of life that she yearns for. As Helen resists all change, Natasha searches for the bridge to a better life and finds herself facing hard choices.

Collected by the author, these stories from the yoga and Zen traditions are the flint and steel that strike a spark that lights up the mind with insights that one should ponder to bring to light ever deeper meaning. They may be similar in intent to Zen koans - but they are rather different in content. In many Zen koans, someone says or does something extraordinarily inappropriate, which catches your attention just because it's extraordinary - but afterwards the light from them has to be applied to daily life.

A widower ought to mourn his wife, yet Hamilton Baxter feels only relief after her passing. After enduring thirty years in a miserable marriage, he is finally free to spend his days hidden in a library. But when his son begs for his help distracting his sweetheart’s diligent chaperone, Baxter can’t help but agree—only to discover that the spinster aunt is too appealing for his good.