Showing results by narrator "Janine Cooper-Marshall" in All Categories

Swifts live almost entirely in the air. They eat, drink, sleep, mate and gather their nesting materials on the wing, fly thousands of miles across the world, navigating their way around storms, never lighting on tree, cliff or ground, until they return home with the summer. Sarah Gibson has written a fascinating story of discovery, exploring what is known about these mysterious birds, their ancient ancestry and how they have been regarded through history.

When local baker Essie Browne discovers that Mistletoe Gardens is to be demolished in January, she’s determined to save the place she loves so much. So Essie proposes building a life size gingerbread house to bring in the crowds...just how hard can it be? Well, quite hard actually. Essie can bake gingerbread blindfolded, but she hasn’t got a clue how to build an actual house with it! She needs help - and fast! Enter local builder, Joss Hallissey. Essie is convinced that with Joss’s help they can pull this off. There’s just one tiny problem: Joss hates Christmas.

When Izzy Grant’s newborn daughter disappears, her world shatters around her. Despite an extensive search the police find no trace of the missing girl, but Izzy refuses to give up hope that her daughter will be found. Then a note is pushed through her letterbox, warning her off. For Izzy it’s a ray of hope, another lead for the police to follow. For DC Gaby Darin it’s another piece of the puzzle that just won’t fit. But as a long-lost friend returns to Izzy’s life with a shocking secret, Gaby realises the truth of who took Izzy’s daughter from her might lie in the past.

Banking on It is the firsthand account of one woman's quest to rebuild Britain's broken banking system. After a lengthy career at the top of some of Britain's leading banks, Anne Boden had become disillusioned with the status quo - the financial crash had broken trust in the whole sector, but there seemed to be little appetite to make the most of emerging technologies to revolutionise customer experience. Increasingly frustrated with the inertia within the industry, she decided to shake things up herself by doing something totally radical - setting up her own bank.

In her debut memoir, A Van of One's Own, Biddy Wells tells the story of how, propelled by a thirst for peace and quiet, for a modest adventure and, perhaps, for freedom, she left for Portugal on her own, with only her old campervan, Myfanwy, and her GPS, Tanya, for company. Having left just about everything behind, her solo trip forces her to face her fears, her past and herself.

Sophie Crockett spent most of her childhood suffering from crippling anxiety. Diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, she became a virtual prisoner in her own home, afraid to venture outside. After battling with depression, eating disorders and self-harm, Sophie had the courage to re-enter society in her late teens.

In 1796, Martha becomes the mistress of the struggling Plas Ingli estate, at only 18 years old. She is pregnant and suicidal. Though she loves her husband, David, dearly, she is desperately lonely in a strange house, and her quick wit and cutting humour make her as many enemies as friends. There are mysteries surrounding the great fire that devastated the estate, but Martha's questions about it remain unanswered. Nobody else seems to realise that their haughty servant, the disinherited son of the local squire, is not as trustworthy as the rest of the family would like to think.

Emily has always felt like an outsider, so when a family friend takes her under his wing she is delighted. But soon it becomes clear that his motives are not all they seem. At the age of 11, Emily is groomed into being a ‘county lines’ drug trafficker. It is the beginning of a vicious cycle that sees her become prey to one abuser after another, involving a huge child-sex-trafficking gang. The scale of the abuse—at the hands of hundreds of men—is sickening, and at times it feels like there will never be an escape. But then, in the darkest of moments, a ray of light shines....

A girl with no home, a house in need of love... A beautiful romance set in the breathtaking Welsh mountain. Lark has been wandering the country for many years, with no real place to call home. Until she meets Matthew Williams, a Canadian who has inherited a run-down hill farm in North Wales. Young and enthusiastic, Matthew has no knowledge of farming and no experience of living in the countryside.

She looked like she’d drifted off to sleep, curled up in her white dress, blonde hair floating in the breeze. They called it the Angel Murder. Eighteen-year-old Angelica Brock is found dead at a local beauty spot, dressed in a pure white nightgown, her white-blonde hair arranged around her. For years her death is a mystery, her killer the one who got away for a whole generation of police.

A dead woman. An impossible crime. Christine De Bertrand wakes up to her worst nightmare: rather than the man she went to bed with, lying beside her is her housemate, Nikki - dead. With no memory of the night before, Christine can’t explain what happened, and the police are baffled. For DC Gaby Darin, newly arrived from Swansea after her last case ended in tragedy, it’s a mystery she’s determined to solve.

Female Founders' Playbook brings together the voices of female business role models so you can truly hear what it takes to build a billion dollar business.

The year is 1807, and Martha is in the process of recovering from the murder of her husband, David. The murderers have been brought to justice, and now she looks forward to a happier future in the company of Owain Laugharne, the new love of her life. Plans for the marriage are far advanced when Owain disappears without a trace.

In her mid-30s Rebecca Loncraine was diagnosed with breast cancer. Two years later, and after months of gruelling treatment, she flew in a glider for the first time. In that engineless plane, soaring 3,000 feet over the landscape of her childhood with only the rising thermals to take her higher and the birds to lead the way, she fell in love. If illness meant Rebecca had lost touch with the world around her, gliding showed her a way to learn to live again.

A brilliant new psychological drama from the ebook best-selling author of Close to Me and Lying to You. What happened to Julia Blake? She was young and beautiful, married to a famous author. They were celebrating their anniversary at their stunning country estate. So why did Julia Blake walk out of her perfect life, apparently leaving no trace?

Martha Morgan, the beautiful young mistress of the Plas Ingli estate, is warned that trouble is brewing for her family. She tries to carry on with her life - but then she receives the most terrible news that any young wife can imagine. Despair threatens to overwhelm Martha, but she has many responsibilities and must live up to expectations. Little by little, with help from her family and from some of the more colourful local characters, she sets out to prove that she is more than a match for the scoundrels who have committed an appalling crime.

Amber Tate is about to lose her job at a London publishing house. And it’s nearly Christmas. Her boss gives her one last chance. Sadly, it’s the impossible task of obtaining the rights to the popular Lund Collection of fairy tales. The rights to the fairy tales are held by the author’s granddaughter, Emilia Lund, who lives a reclusive life in Sweden and has steadfastly refused to talk to anyone about the rights for the last several years.

In the Wild West of Wales, in the year 1808, a shepherd is ambushed and left in the roadway, more dead than alive, with three stripes carved across his chest. A note, written in his own blood, is pinned to his skin. It reads, 'For Rhiwallwn. From Gruddnei'. Four sinister men who call themselves surveyors are clearly responsible for this crime and others that follow. It emerges that there is a 'campaign of retribution' against selected individuals. Mistress Martha Morgan, a young widow with five children, is at the top of the hit list.

There is a perception that schizophrenia is both uncommon and impossible to treat. In fact, it affects about 650,000 people in the UK, 2.2 million in the US, and some 50 million globally; and, the treatment success rate with today's medication and therapy can be high.

Wales, 1883: Young Ruth Owen, a talented musician with a scholarship to a prestigious music school, has a sparkling career ahead of her. But after a run-in with her mysterious tutor, she flees to London, leaving everything and everyone behind. Fourteen years later, Ruth, now married with two children, finds herself struggling for money and a place to live. Left with no other option, they decide to return to Wales and live on a canal boat. Life on the canals may seem idyllic, but what troubles await her return? And can the past ever truly be forgotten?