Showing results by narrator "Moira Quirk" in All Categories

There is something soul-soothingly simple and refreshing about being in nature, about making the most of the great outdoors, being mindful of Mother Nature's gifts and grabbing spring and summer - and those blue sky, brisk days of autumn and winter - with both hands. But sadly it is a skill we are losing. We are becoming creatures wrapped in walls and trapped by to-do lists, hibernating while the world sprouts, grows and changes.

Molière wrote some of the most durable and penetrating comedies of all time. The Imaginary Cuckold and The School for Husbands are two of his grand farces of marriage and misunderstanding, one set in Paris and the other in the provinces. In The School for Husbands, a tyrannical husband-to-be seeks to isolate his ward, while unwittingly carrying her messages of devotion to her lover. In The Imaginary Cuckold, an enraged husband imagines his wife is unfaithful, but is reluctant to defend his honor.

Holly Evernight belongs to a very special family of inventors. They have nobly served the Society for the Suppression of Supernaturals for generations. And Holly may have the most special creative powers of them all. But her skills are about to be tested as she tries to save the life of a half-man-half machine whose clockwork heart is ticking down to the bitter end.... William Thorne was a rebel, a hired assassin for the SOS's greatest rival, before he was taken, tortured, and transformed.

Hilary believes fervently that consciousness is more than the sum of our biology. When she receives a position at a prestigious think tank, she develops a novel experiment to prove that humans are intrinsically altruistic, but the results are something she never anticipated.

The acclaimed Scottish playwright Rona Munro has created a remarkable story about a man who wakes up from a car crash with brain damage. Now, he sees the world as the person he was three years ago, when his life and loves were in a very different place. This play is part of L.A. Theatre Works’ Relativity Series featuring science-themed plays.

Starring Anne Heche and Jared Harris, the hilarious Henceforward... is one of Alan Ayckbourn’s most unusual works. In the near-future, a composer with creative block tries to reunite with his estranged wife and daughter, hoping their reconciliation will free his mind to create his greatest musical masterpiece. But his own erratic impulses hinder his journey to creative freedom.

In a galaxy controlled by massive corporations, few worlds are truly free. When explorers find a priceless wormhole near Sidonia, the hostile attention of the Aquitaine Corporation focuses on the small backwater kingdom. To protect their world, Sidonia's royalty rush seventeen-year-old Princess Cosima into an arranged marriage, one that will guarantee a treaty and shield Sidonia from Aquitaine's clutches. But Cosima never asked for the honor of becoming the next queen to a man she doesn't love. With the fate of the planet hanging in the balance, a team of deadly assassins targets Cosima.

Bard and fighter Liobhan is always ready for a challenge. So when news arrives at Swan Island that the prince of Dalriada has gone missing after an assault by both masked men and the sinister Crow Folk, she's eager to act. While Liobhan and her fellow Swan Island warriors seek answers to the prince's disappearance, the bard Brocc, Liobhan's brother, finds himself in dire trouble. His attempts to communicate with the Crow Folk have led him down a perilous path.

Country bred Lucy Craddock-Hayes is content with her quiet life, until the day she trips over an unconscious man - a naked unconscious man - and loses her innocence forever. Viscount Simon Iddesleigh was nearly beaten to death by his enemies. Now he's hell-bent on vengeance. But as Lucy nurses him back to health, her honesty startles his jaded sensibilities - even as it ignites a desire that threatens to consume them both. Yet as his honor keeps him from ravishing her, his revenge sends his attackers to her door.

You Never Can Tell was originally born out of a bet that Shaw couldn't write a "seaside comedy" (a popular theatrical genre at that time). The result is perhaps the most surprising of Shaw's plays, complete with marital mayhem, tangled romance, and even doubtful dentistry. Despite the play's lighthearted tone, it's really another of Shaw's brilliantly observed social treatises, this time in the guise of a light comedy.

When Claudia gets pregnant, she has a very clear plan for how she wants to give birth. Her prenatal anxieties inspire her father to create a device for safer deliveries, and Claudia realizes that nothing ever goes quite as expected. Includes a conversation with playwright Chiara Atik and Dr. Judith Reichman, an OB/GYN and longtime medical contributor to The Today Show.

Nothing is certain in Araxes. Not even death. Stolen from the widow's clutches, master thief and ghost Caltro Basalt must learn new ways to survive the cutthroat society of the Arctian Empire. His one hope for freedom and justice? A gift from the dead gods, who continue to beg for a saviour.

Widowed Anna Wren is having a wretched day. After an arrogant man on horseback nearly crushes her, she arrives home to learn she is in dire financial straits. The earl of Swartingham is in a quandary. Having frightened off two secretaries, Edward de Raaf needs someone who can withstand his bad temper and boorish behavior. When Anna becomes the earl's secretary, it would seem both their problems are solved. But when she discovers he plans to visit the most notorious brothel in London, she sees red - and decides to assuage her desires....

Jack Talent is tormented by the demons of his past. Though Jack loves his position in the SOS, he cannot forget what was done to him. And so he hunts down the remaining demons that tortured him and metes out his own brand of justice as the Bishop of Charing Cross. The only thing that soothes him is his secret visits to fellow agent Mary Chase. But while something about Mary calms him, she is also his greatest torment, for she is a reminder of his worst crime - the night he lost his soul by taking her human life.

Life’s no bowl of cherries for Anthony Farr, the Duke of Radcliffe. Duty demands he remarry to provide a spare to go along with the heir—and eligible ladies keep trying to finagle him into a proposal. All he wants is to be a good father to his 8-year-old son, see the Duchess (his truly terrific pig) win first prize at the harvest fête, and stay single. Even if that makes him a Bad Duke. Maybe the Worst Duke in the World. Then Miss Jane Kent, a long-lost relation of the illustrious Penhallow family, arrives and is promptly befriended by the Duke’s son.

Katherine Brooke may be a fabulously wealthy heiress, but she’s trapped, a pawn in her parents’ ruthless game to marry her into the nobility. Then Captain Hugo Penhallow - so charming, as handsome as a Greek god - comes into her life once more, and suddenly she sees a chance to be free.

The spellbinding conclusion in the critically acclaimed Thickety series, perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman. In The Thickety #4: The Last Spell, Kara and her brother, Taff, must find the hidden pieces of Princess Evangeline's grimoire to defeat Rygoth and her army of witches in one last good-versus-evil battle.

Philip Thane–rogue, rake, and scoundrel extraordinaire–hadn’t wanted to show up in the little town of Whittlesey to give a speech. He also didn’t expect to somehow find himself stuck in time, waking up every morning to live exactly the same day over, and over, and over again. On the plus side, it’s giving him time to further his acquaintance with the delightful Miss Margaret Allen, in town to research the book she’s writing. And Philip has no doubt she’ll fall starry-eyed into his arms, just like so many other ladies of the ton have done before.

Late in the twenty-first century, drought and wildfires prompt an exodus from southern Europe. When twelve-year-old Caleb is separated from his mother during their trek north, he soon falls prey to traffickers. Enslaved in an enclave outside Manchester, the resourceful and determined Caleb never loses hope of bettering himself. After Caleb is befriended by a fellow victim of trafficking, another road opens. Hiding in the woodlands by day, guided by the stars at night, he begins a new journey - to escape to a better life, to meet someone he can trust, and to find his family.

The game is afoot! London's geniuses are being picked off by a vicious killer, and Emma Bannon, a sorceress in the service of the Empire, must protect the next target, Archibald Clare. Unfortunately he's more interested in solving the mystery of the murders than staying alive . . . In a world where illogical magic has turned the Industrial Revolution on its head, Bannon and Clare will face dark sorcery, cannon fire, high treason and the vexing problem of reliably finding hansom cabs in the city.