Showing results by narrator "Olivia Darnley" in All Categories

At a glittering society party in St Petersburg in 1805, conversations are dominated by the prospect of war. Terror swiftly engulfs the country as Napoleon's army marches on Russia and the lives of three young people are changed forever. The stories of quixotic Pierre, cynical Andrey and impetuous Natasha interweave with a huge cast, from aristocrats and peasants, to soldiers and Napoleon himself.

He's a detective hunting cold-blooded killers, but does he know more than he admits? She's a lawyer who must defend a murderer - but how far will she go to protect her only child? They have a plan - but can they trust each other with their lives?

Leah and her three best friends get changed into their pyjamas, eat pizza, and argue about what film to watch. They laugh together, until the early hours. But the next morning, Leah blinks open her eyes and sees three empty sleeping bags. The other girls are gone. Twenty years later. In her small hometown, still-haunted Leah has never been able to shake off the rumours and whispers. How could she have slept through it all? She must know what happened.

Eleanor Lyndon was minding her own business when a lord of the realm fell–quite literally–into her life. When Charles Wycombe, the dashing and incorrigible Earl of Billington, toppled out of a tree and landed at Ellie's feet, neither suspected that such an inauspicious meeting would lead to marriage. But Charles must find a bride before his thirtieth birthday or he'll lose his fortune. And Ellie needs a husband or her father's odious fiancée will choose one for her. And so they agree to wed.

It was indisputably love at first sight. But Victoria Lyndon was merely the teenaged daughter of a vicar...while Robert Kemble was the dashing young earl of Macclesfield. Surely what their meddlesome fathers insisted must have been true—that he was a reckless seducer determined to destroy her innocence...and she was a shameless fortune hunter. So it most certainly was for the best when their plans to elope went hopelessly awry.

Perseus grows up wanting to be a hero, but he cannot become one if his mother Danae still sees him as a boy. When his stepfather Polydektes casts him away on a voyage across the sea, Perseus is determined to fulfil the great destiny of the son of a god and the grandson of a king. But the line between heroism and monstrosity is thin, and when Perseus attempts to seduce first gentle Medusa and then beautiful Andromeda, before finally reuniting with Danae, they each learn of the dangers of resisting a boy prepared to risk it all for greatness.

Ellinor lived for adventure, always travelling from one place to the next - until tragedy struck and turned her world upside down. Needing to escape, she accepts an invitation to stay with relatives at their remote Cornish farmhouse. As Ellinor settles on the outskirts of Calstock, it's not long before the land and its history have her itching to explore once more. Her search takes her far and wide when an unexpected encounter with an enigmatic, handsome stranger stops her in her tracks. From the moment they meet, Ellinor knows deep in her soul they share a connection like no other.

He has planned well. He leads two lives. In one, he’s just like anyone else. But in the other he’s the caretaker of his family’s macabre museum. Now the time has come to add to his collection. He is ready to feed his obsession, and he is on the hunt. Jakey Frith and Clara Foyle have something in common. They have what he needs. What begins is a terrifying cat and mouse game between the sinister collector, Jakey’s father and DS Etta Fitzroy, a detective investigating a spate of abductions.

When a body is pulled out of an office fire, three women are first in line for questioning. All of them have reasons for wanting revenge against the company’s CEO.It could be Laura, who has returned to work to find that her maternity cover isn’t leaving. The CEO insists he’s doing what’s best for the company. Laura isn’t convinced he’s telling the truth. Or there’s Mia. Brought in as temporary cover for Laura, she has quickly made herself indispensable - and popular with her colleagues.

Emma loved her life in the seaside village of Silver Cove. But when the discovery of sunken treasure ignited a feud between her family and that of Luke, her first love, everything fell apart. Heartbroken and betrayed, she fled. Now, as she wades into the sparkling surf for the first time in fifteen years, she remembers everything she loved about this beautiful place. Then a huge wave knocks her off her feet. Dripping wet, Emma is rescued by none other than Luke–who is, to her dismay, even more handsome than ever.

What is enough? Time enjoyed slowly. Choices made intentionally. Life lived gracefully. With minimalist and slow living writer Jessica Rose Williams as your guide, build a curated, simpler, more intuitive life founded on your personal values and desires. At 25, Jessica was diagnosed with cervical cancer. The shock compelled her to question her fast-paced, consumerist lifestyle, one designed around pleasing others. Enough is her heartfelt story of turning away from a life of regret, and it is also an invitation for you to begin your own transformation.

Just as the archetypal hero possesses the heart to face trials and tribulations for the sake of helping others, the bodhisattva has a remarkable resolve to free others from suffering so that all may achieve true happiness and awakening. Through each challenge, the Buddhist hero of compassion develops rich inner qualities that empower them to be of true benefit to others.

Since they were kids, Edie, Jake and Ryan have been the closest of friends. It's been the three of them against the world. Edie thought the bonds between them were unbreakable. So when Jake is brutally murdered and Ryan accused of the crime, her world is shattered. Edie is alone for the first time in years, living in the remote house that she and Jake shared. She is grief-stricken and afraid—with good reason. Because someone is watching.

The fire is on, sherry poured, presents wrapped, and claws are being sharpened. In a seaside cottage perched on a cliff, one family reunites for Christmas. While snow falls, a tyrannical widowed matriarch presides over her unruly brood. Her niece tends to her whims, but fantasises about eloping; and as more guests arrive, each bringing their secret truths and dreams, the Christmas tree explodes, a brawl erupts, an escape occurs - and their 'midwinter madness' climaxes.

Elizabeth and Bryony are polar opposites, but their unexpected friendship has always worked. They're the best of friends and godmothers to each other's daughters - because they trust that the safety of their children is both of their top priority.

When Lena buys DNA testing kits for her father Tom and her twin sister Alison, she thinks they’ll enjoy finding out where their ancestors come from, and what percentage Neanderthal they are. She has no idea the gift will blow her family apart. Tom is forced to admit that he isn’t his daughters’ biological father: he and his late wife, Sheila, used a sperm donor. He's terrified Lena and Alison will reject him, and desperate to win back their trust – whatever it takes.

Iris is happy: decent job, good friends, her own flat. Everything but her own family. She and her husband Tom were trying for a baby when he left her for his life coach, Maddy, four years ago. One day Iris' best friend Fay sends her an Instagram video of Maddy, now a successful family influencer with a huge following, posting wholesome videos with her husband Lee and their three-year-old twins. Tom is nowhere in sight. So what did Iris end her marriage for? Needing answers, she delves into Maddy's life. Just how much can you hide behind an online persona?

Lolly Willowes, so gentle and accommodating, has depths no one suspects. When she suddenly announces that she is leaving London and moving, alone, to the depths of the countryside, her overbearing relatives are horrified. But Lolly has a greater, far darker calling than family: witchcraft.

Illumen Hall is an elite boarding school. Tragedy strikes when the body of a student is discovered at their exclusive summer party - on her back is an elaborate tattoo of a magpie. When new girl Audrey arrives the following term, running from her own secrets back home in America, she is thrown into solving the case. Despite her best efforts to avoid any drama, her new roommate Ivy was close to the murdered girl, and the two of them can't help but get pulled in.

As much as we might try to resist, endings happen in every moment—the end of a breath, the end of a day, the end of a relationship, and ultimately the end of life. And accompanying each ending is a beginning, though it may be unclear what the beginning holds. In How We Live Is How We Die, Pema Chödrön shares her wisdom for working with this flow of life—learning to live with ease, joy, and compassion through uncertainty, embracing new beginnings, and ultimately preparing for death with curiosity and openness rather than fear.