Showing results by narrator "Charlotte Strevens" in All Categories

Sentenced to death for a simple confidence trick, Mary Jebb escapes the gallows...but her reprieve is harsh: seven years in the unforgiving penal colony of Botany Bay. Yet Mary is determined not to be forgotten, sending two pennies, engraved with a promise, to the two men who sealed her fate.

As an illegitimate child, Frederica Bracewell was treated by her uncle like a servant. But when she encounters the new gamekeeper, shy Frederica starts to feel like a true lady... After a debauched existence, Lord Robert Mountford revels in the simplicity of a gamekeeper's lifestyle. Until temptation strikes! Frederica is a far cry from the ladies of the ton, but she may just be his undoing... and unmasking!

Born one hundred years ago, Betty Webb MBE, LOH (Legion of Honour) has had a ringside seat to history. After graduating from school, she faced the usual limited opportunities for employment on offer to women at the time. However, with the war in full swing, fate intervened and in 1941, wanting to play her part in the war effort, Betty joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (Women’s Army). After being interviewed by an intelligence officer, she found herself at Euston station with her kit-bag, a travel warrant in her pocket and instructions to get off the train at Bletchley Park.

In February 1887, Caitriona Wallace and Emile Nouguier meet in a hot air balloon, floating high above Paris. But back on firm ground, their vastly different social strata becomes clear. Cait is a widow, forced to chaperone two wealthy Scottish charges. Emile is expected to take on the bourgeois stability of his family's business and choose a suitable wife. As the Eiffel Tower rises, a marvel of steel and air and light, Cait and Emile must decide what their love is worth.

When Princess Matilda is eighteen years old, tragedy strikes the royal family, and she becomes the only child of the king of England - the de facto heir to the throne. As her dying father persuades the barons to pledge allegiance to her, Matilda returns to England - but the lords and clergy do not like an independent woman. And Matilda is nothing if not headstrong. When the old king dies, the country is plunged into instant chaos. So begins a fierce battle between cousins that will go down in history as a time called 'The Anarchy'.

Four girls have disappeared in North London. Three are already dead. Britain's most prolific child killer, Louis Kinsella, has been locked up in Northwood high-security hospital for over a decade. Now more innocents are being slaughtered, and they all have a connection to his earlier crimes. Psychologist Alice Quentin is doing research at Northwood. She was hoping for a break from her hectic London life, but she'll do anything to help save a child - even if it means forming a relationship with a charismatic, ruthless murderer.

England, 1605. Twelve-year-old Tom must save his father from being hanged. He falls in with a mysterious stranger, the Falcon, who promises to help him in exchange for his service. But on the long journey to London, Tom discovers the Falcon's true mission - a plot to blow up king and Parliament with barrels of black powder! Now Tom faces a terrible decision: secure his father's release or stop the assassination of the king....

When Arlette Blaise sees a German plane fly over the family farm in 1940, she’s comforted by the fact that the occupying forces are far away in the north of the country. Surely the war will not reach her family in the idyllic French countryside near to the small town of Oradour-sur-Glane? But then Saul Epstein, a young Jewish man driven from his home by the Nazis, arrives at the farm, and Arlette begins to realise that her peaceful existence might be gone for good....

Rosie Bunting has spent her life caring for others, often at the expense of her own hopes and dreams. But when she overhears somebody describing her as ‘boring’, she decides it’s time for a change. Little does she realise that the outdoor pursuits weekend brochure handed to her at the local Art Café will kick start a summer that will see her abseiling down a Welsh cliff face in ‘eye watering’ leggings, rediscovering her artistic side and unexpectedly inheriting an old fire engine.

From the bestselling author of Room comes a delicious tale of secrets, betrayal and forbidden love The Sealed Letter is a page-turner with a jaw-dropping ending’ Stylist. Helen Codrington is unhappily married. Emily ‘Fido’ Faithfull hasn’t seen her once-dear friend for years. Suddenly, after bumping into Helen on the streets of Victorian London, Fido finds herself reluctantly helping Helen to have an affair with a young army officer.

Cassie Bell is used to mess. Her cleaning business, Bluebell Cleaning, is well known in the Cumbrian village of Red Moss. However, now it’s almost Christmas and Cassie has a slightly messier situation to deal with than she’s used to. She’s been hired to help Stefan Lambert, an injured army helicopter pilot who’s staying at the local Belthorn Manor whilst he recovers. Stefan resents Cassie’s interference and is definitely not looking for Christmas cheer. But Cassie prides herself on sparkling surfaces - so, can she bring some festive sparkle to Stefan’s life too?

Uniquely disturbing and deeply erotic, this collection confirms Sarah Hall as one of the greatest writers of her generation. From the heathered fells and lowlands of Cumbria with their history of smouldering violence, to the speed and heat of summer London, to an eerily still lake in the Finnish wilderness, Sarah Hall evokes landscapes with extraordinary precision and grace.

Sergeant Louise Nightingale is content in the knowledge that a psychopath has been put behind bars for a very long time. She is unaware that he was just a student of a much more deadly opponent - a nameless, faceless terror who is intent on proving his prowess on the killing field. It soon becomes clear that Louise is his ultimate goal. Desperately trying to find Nightingale before the killer does, DCI Andrew Fenwick wonders if her continued silence means he is already too late.

Alice Quentin returns to tackle a series of murders in the Square Mile in the thrilling sequel to Crossbones Yard. The first death looked like a suicide. But someone had tucked a picture of an angel and a handful of white feathers into the banker's pocket - before pushing him in front of a Tube. A killer is stalking the Square Mile, an avenging angel intent on punishment. But why these victims? What were their sins?

London, 1929. Lady Alice Mayton-Walsh has always been a free independent spirit. With wealth and position, Alice defies convention and created, Sheer, a women's magazine. However, after years of hard work, she finds that her life isn't as complete as she expected it to be. Then her brother's best friend Vince reveals plans to marry an heiress to save his family's fortunes. The news shocks Alice as she realises she wants more than just friendship with him. Yet, before she has a chance to follow her heart, Vince turns his back on the extravagant life.

In 1939, a young girl sits alone in a station waiting room in Marseilles. Half-Jewish Ilse has been sent out of Nazi Germany to safety in Morocco by her mother. But her journey takes her back to France, where she cannot escape the Nazi occupation. Blown about by circumstances beyond her control, she must grow up alone in a demi-monde of refugees, whores and freedom fighters.

That’s the question single mum Jo Morris has to ask herself when she collides with local bike mechanic Ed Griffiths on a rainy Welsh hillside. Working at the Art Café, Jo hears the gossip and is all too aware of Ed’s reputation. But whilst he’s certainly no angel, there is something about Ed’s daredevil antics that Jo can’t ignore. And as she gets to know him better and watches the kind way he deals with her young son Liam, she begins to wonder - is there more to this 'bad boy' than meets the eye?

University professor Nina is at a turning point. Her work seems increasingly irrelevant, her doctor husband is never home, relations with her difficult daughter are strained and their beautiful house is scheduled for demolition. When her daughter decides to move into another house they own, things take a very dark turn. The young woman living there disappears, leaving her son behind, the day after Nina and her daughter pay her a visit. With few clues, the police enquiry soon grinds to a halt, but Nina has an inexplicable sense of guilt and begins her own investigation.

Abby Spencer knows she can come across as an airhead - she talks too much and is a bit of a klutz. Though she sacrificed her career to help raise her sisters, a job interview at biscuit company Crumbs could finally be her chance to shine. Managing director Douglas Faulkner isn’t sure what to make of Abby, with her Bambi eyes, tousled hair and ability to say more in the half-hour interview than he manages in a day. All he knows is she’s a breath of fresh air and could bring a new lease of life to the corporate world of Crumbs. To his life, too, if he’d let her....

Rosalie Heart is a well-known face in Irlwick - well, if you drive a bright pink taxi and your signature style is a pink anorak, you’re going to draw a bit of attention! But Rosalie’s company, Love Taxis, is more than just a gimmick - for many people in the remote Scottish village, it’s a lifeline. Which is something that Marc Petersen will never understand. Marc’s ruthless approach to business doesn’t extend to pink taxi companies running at a loss. On the face of it Marc and Rosalie should loathe each other, but what they didn’t count on was somebody playing cupid....