Showing results by narrator "Laura Kirman" in All Categories

Baking fanatic Charlie Quilter, still nursing a broken heart, is surprised when her late uncle bequeaths his vintage 1950s Routemaster bus to her in his will. She adored driving around with him in it when she was a child and can’t contemplate selling it. When Charlie loses her job, her friend Juliette has an exciting idea and suggests Charlie come to stay with her in the picturesque Cornish village of Porthgolow.

1941. The Blitz rages over London. And even in Cornwall, the war is being fought. When Violet loses her sister in the Blitz, she must take her nieces to safety in Cornwall. On the coast, she meets carefree chorus girl Eva, who is also running from the dangers of London. But Porthcurno hides a secret military base, and soon Violet and Eva realise there’s a battle to fight in Cornwall, too. Together with local Hazel, who works on the base, they must come together to help the war effort. But will their friendship be enough to keep them safe?

She is the perfect assassin. A Russian orphan, saved from the death penalty for the brutal revenge she took on her gangster father's killers. Ruthlessly trained. Given a new life. New names, new faces - whichever fits. Her paymasters call themselves The Twelve. But she knows nothing of them. Konstantin is the man who saved her and the one she answers to. She is Villanelle. Without conscience. Without guilt. Without weakness. Eve Polastri is the woman who hunts her. MI5, until one error of judgment costs her everything.

Stephen Gordon is an ideal child of aristocratic parents - a fencer, a horse rider and a keen scholar. Stephen grows to be a war hero, a best-selling writer and a loyal, protective lover. But Stephen is a woman, and her lovers are women. As her ambitions drive her, and society confines her, Stephen is forced into desperate actions.

For centuries, Dalemark has been a land divided by the warring earldoms of the North and South. Now, with the help of the Undying, the mysterious gods of Dalemark, four extraordinary young people must join forces to reunify their beloved land.

The war continues to rage, but for now, Harbour House continues to keep the Roby family safe from harm. Not so for new lodger Richard Stoneleigh. As one of the few men who can captain a ship, Richard is called to help with the dangerous evacuation of troops from Dunkirk – it’s a perilous voyage that almost costs Richard his life…

It was supposed to be the perfect holiday, dreamed up by Kate as the ideal way to turn 40: four best friends and their husbands and children in a luxurious villa under the blazing sunshine of Languedoc-Roussillon. But there is trouble in paradise. Kate suspects that her husband is having an affair, and that the other woman is one of her best friends. One of these women is willing to sacrifice years of friendship and destroy her family. But which one?

When investigative journalist, Alexi Ellis, falls victim to cutbacks, she and Cosmo, her anti-social feral cat, head for beautiful Hopgood Hall, where they plan to lick their wounds in the boutique hotel run by her old friends, Cheryl and Drew Hopgood. But when she arrives Alexi discovers Cheryl and Drew both distraught. Their close friend, Natalie Parker, who recently settled in the area, has gone missing. Alexi’s sure the woman has just taken a trip somewhere, but she still has a nose for a story and agrees to look into it.

After five years abroad, Charity Halliwell returns to Loxby Manor, the home of dear friends—and her lost love. No longer a young girl, she is now haunted by a painful secret and the demise of her dreams. She hopes to find a place of healing and happiness, but instead she encounters a darkness lurking in the shadows of the once-familiar house. Then her friend, Seline, disappears the very night of her arrival, and Charity is determined to uncover the truth. Her only hope is the man who broke her heart.

Violet Lasting is no longer a human being. Tomorrow she becomes Lot 197, auctioned to the highest royal bidder in the jewel of the Lone City. Tomorrow she becomes the surrogate of the House of the Lake, her sole purpose to produce a healthy heir for the duchess, imprisoned in the opulent cage of the palace, where the royal women compete to secure their bloodline and the surrogates are treated as disposable commodities…

Archie Colbrook spends his time writing letters. Letters to the stranger to who he committed terrible harm. Archie knows he doesn’t deserve forgiveness. Yes, he didn’t mean to hurt anyone. But does that matter? He still did it. Claudia Winters hopes to feel safe for the first time in years, it’s her chance for a new beginning. But Claudia knows that the past won’t stay hidden for long - and she can’t help but feel that it’s all about to catch up with her.

A dramatic and terrifying memoir of a 'catfish' scenario - when a woman meets a man online but nothing is what it seems. Twenty-five-year-old Megan Henley put her five-year-old daughter to bed one evening and switched on her laptop. A Facebook 'riend request seemed to be genuine. There were a few common friends and very similar interests, so Megan accepted. With that one simple act, she changed her life forever.

Since his arrival in the North of Dalemark Mitt has become disillusioned. The North seems no more free than the Holand he fled, a fugitive accused of attempted murder. And now he is trapped by the order to kill someone he doesn't know or else risk the lives of his friends. Forced once more to flee, Mitt is joined by Moril, the quietly powerful musician, and Maewen - out of her time, but mysteriously fated to play a part in their quest. .

Meredith's life is at a standstill. She's stuck in a dead-end job, approaching fifty, and her dating life is a string of disasters. But one evening, while browsing the internet, she sees an ad for a lighthouse, and in a moment of impulsiveness, she makes a ridiculous bid for it.

Jules and Holly have been best friends since university. They tell each other everything, trading revelations and confessions and sharing both the big moments and the small details of their lives: Holly is the only person who knows about Jules’ affair; Jules was there for Holly when her husband died. And their two children - just three years apart - have grown up together. So when Jules’ daughter, Saffie, makes a rape allegation against Holly’s son, Saul, neither woman is prepared for the devastating impact this will have on their friendship or their families.

Famous works of art are disappearing from all over the world. One moment they are there, the next, they have crumbled to dust. Peanut Jones and her friends suspect it might have something to do with the magical world of Chroma and the wicked Mr White's plot to wipe out colour, art and creativity. It's time to head back to the Illustrated City and help the resistance fight back.

Decades of spiralling drug resistance have unleashed a global antibiotic crisis. Ordinary infections are untreatable, and a scratch from a pet can kill. A sacrifice is required to keep the majority safe: no one over 70 is allowed new antibiotics. The elderly are sent to hospitals nicknamed ‘The Waiting Rooms’, hospitals where no one ever gets well. Twenty years after the crisis takes hold, Kate begins a search for her birth mother, armed only with her name and her age.

Nothing has felt right since Elle rented out her house.... There's a new coldness. A shift in the atmosphere. The prickling feeling that someone is watching her every move from the shadows. Maybe it's all in Elle's mind? She's a writer – her imagination, after all, is her strength. And yet every threat seems personal. As if someone has discovered the secrets that keep her awake at night. As fear and paranoia close in, Elle's own home becomes a prison. Someone is unlocking her past – and she’s given them the key....

It is 1939 - World War II is looming, Oswald Mosley has awoken fascist sympathies among the British aristocracy and, in London, socialites are gathering for the start of the Season. Enter astute Oxford graduate Hope Stapleford, whose quick wit, love of books and keen observations set her apart from her peers. Her rebellious friend Bernadette has persuaded her to take part in the Season and Hope expects little more than a round of dull engagements and dreary introductions.

Count down to Christmas with your new must-have author as you step into the wonderful world of Ava Bliss. Perfect for fans of Trisha Ashley, Carole Matthews and Katie Fforde. On a snowy December evening, Sam Jermyn steps into the life of bespoke hatmaker Ava. Sparks fly, and not necessarily good ones. Times are tough for Ava - she's struggling to make ends meet, her ex-boyfriend is a bully, and, worst of all, it's nearly Christmas.