Showing results by narrator "Lucy Rayner" in All Categories

Branwen has given herself over to the darkest parts of her magic in order to protect her kingdom, but in doing so, she may have lost herself - and the two people she loves most. Tristan and Eseult are missing. As Branwen searches for them, she must also hide the truth of her terrible actions from the night they disappeared. But there are those who don’t want the queen and her champion to be found; enemies who plot to bring a new reign into power and destroy the fragile peace Branwen has sacrificed everything to secure.

Epic poetry and tragic drama provide us with some of the richest ancient Greek depictions of women who are married to soldiers. In tales of the Trojan War, as told by Homer, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, we encounter these mythical warriors' wives: Penelope, isolated but resourceful as she awaits the return of Odysseus after his lengthy absence; the war widow Andromache, enslaved and displaced from her homeland after the fall of Troy; the unfaithful and murderous Clytemnestra; and Tecmessa, a war captive who witnesses her partner's breakdown and suicide in the aftermath of battle.

Carolyn’s parents did not, after all, make genomics history by synthesizing her genome in a lab. She has known she is the “Human Hoax” ever since a high school genetics exercise revealed she has trisomy X - a chromosomal abnormality - yet no synthetically constructed genome would have such clear traces of natural conception. Many years later, as a molecular biologist, Carolyn hopes her colleagues never learn of her embarrassing origins. But when someone ransacks her office and lab, she finds professional embarrassment is the least of her worries.

Theia Alderson has always led a sheltered life in the small California town of Serendipity Falls. But when a devastatingly handsome boy appears in the halls of her school, Theia knows she's seen Haden before - not around town, but in her dreams.

It's been a decade since Kate and Cecelia foiled Napoleon's plot to reclaim the French crown. The cousins now have estates, children, and a place at the height of wizarding society. It is 1828, and though magic remains at the heart of the British Empire, a new power has begun to make itself felt across England: the steam engine. As iron tracks crisscross the countryside, the shaking of the locomotives begins to disrupt the workings of English magic, threatening the very foundations of the Empire.

Anwyn Owens won her place at a prestigious starship pilot's program on Earth and graduated with honors. But nothing could have prepared her when she followed the advice of her uncle's old friend and took a job as assistant pilot for an intergalactic circus.

A call from an old friend stirred up feelings Amber thought she had buried years ago. Kelsey wanted help at a dig under an old Scottish castle - with Tomas's twin brother. She couldn't believe it. If his brother was back in their lives, wouldn't Tomas be, too? She didn't jinx it by asking Kelsey that. Nope, but she was on the next flight.

Everyone knows that you don’t go into Ma Jessop’s woods. Everyone but new boy Josh. He’s not scared by spooky stories about a wild old witch who drinks human blood. To prove his point to Ella and her friends, Josh goes into the quarry at the heart of the woods and steals a souvenir. But suddenly, terrible things start to happen. Can Ella and Josh find a way to appease Ma Jessop before anyone gets really hurt? Or is the horror only just beginning...

When Branwen used magic to save her country’s future, she never expected to destroy her dreams for her own. Now the love she and Tristan built is destroyed, and her relationship with her cousin Essy is shattered. But Branwen does not have time to dwell on her heartbreak. Essy’s betrothed, the king of a rival nation, must never discover Tristan and Essy’s affair, or it could mean war. Branwen goes to desperate lengths to stop the king from discovering the truth, but the price may be even more terrible than she could have imagined.

Joanna MacConnaway's future looks dark when her great-uncle passes, leaving Lochlann Castle in the hands of a new leader. This handsome stranger, who has haunted Joanna's dreams, soon finds himself in mortal danger. Joanna chooses to help him, against her misgivings and sense of impending doom. Can she trust him? And is he worthy of the feelings she soon develops for him?

Hwyfar, eldest daughter of King Leodegraunce and famed libertine of Carelon, has returned to Avillion to find her father ruined by madness and a usurper poised to take the throne. Reluctantly she takes the mantle of Queen Regent to protect her kingdom, but she'll need an army—which King Arthur pledges to send her, providing she marries one of his knights and surrenders the crown.

In the middle of a deep forest is an enchanted valley and a castle where only shadows live, shadows of kings and queens who have waited for hundreds of years for the spell cast upon them to be broken. One day, a girl named Lucy follows a little dog through a tunnel into the valley and meets the mysterious red-haired Michael, who takes her into the shadow world to meet Prince Mika and his mortal wife Gloria, their children, and their children’s children, and to learn the magic that will lift the spell.

Robert: Left on the steps of a church as a baby, Robert was often hungry but never stole food like the other orphans in town. Introverted and extraordinarily intelligent, he knew all the Latin prayers and hymns by heart by the time he was five years old. Georgette: Her own mother died in childbirth, leaving Georgette with a father who, seventeen at the time, had neither experience nor aptitude as a nurturing parent, and a brother known in town as Le Fuer - The Spitfire - for his terrible temper.

Holly's family move to the old house so her dad can do his job: bulldozing the ancient trees to make way for a housing estate. But there's something haunting the old house. Something old, and angry, that doesn't want the trees cut down. Something alive...

Connie doesn’t stand a chance with Josh - not when he worships the wonderful Megan. Fed up, she writes a letter to the universe asking for Josh to fall in love with her, and for Megan’s hair to fall out. The next day, Megan’s hair is almost shaved off, and Josh is all over Connie like a rash. It’s like a miracle - except it’s totally unfair! Consumed with guilt, Connie has to put things right....

Ellie and Amina are best friends. But when Amina decides to start wearing the hijab, it attracts the attention of the bullies. Now Ellie’s loyalties are being tested. Has Amina changed? Does it matter if best friends have different beliefs? Is she ready to stand up for Amina? A thought-provoking story about friendship, religion and modern life.

Greta knows two things to be true. The first: Trolls don't venture into the forest, especially during the day. The second: Kings don't save peddlers' daughters from those trolls, and they certainly don't deposit them atop royal horses and personally escort them home. But sometimes, they do. And sometimes afterward, life gets very complicated....

Leona MacConnoway is the daughter of the local gentry. When her mother's father passes away in faraway France, a messenger brings word that she must travel to his estate at the order of the new Lord du Mas. However, there is no word on when - or if - she will ever be allowed to return to the wilds of Scotland. Handsome Conn MacNeil has always known that his betrothal to Leona would lead to happily ever after, and he's never doubted that theirs will be a blissful union. Before they can wed, though, she's torn away and sent to France.

Ryszard loves Saxonia and desires to save the kingdom from the evil king. The miller's daughter, Galiana Mueller, agrees to help expose the king's terrible, selfish ways. As Ryszard spins gold for her to tempt the king with, he cannot help falling in love with her himself. The king soon demands Galiana's hand, wishing for more straw-spun-gold, more wealth, and more power. As he becomes corrupt entirely, Ryszard must utilize a power stronger than his magic, that of love or perhaps hope.

A terrifying monster of a beast has captured Gervais's lady love, and he will stop at nothing to save his beauty. Posing as a gardener, the brave and strong Gervais attempts to study the beast that he longs to kill. Isabelle Mercier is the only woman he has ever cared for. When he sneaks his way inside the castle, Isabelle refuses to come with him. Could she have fallen for the beast? Is it too late for Gervais to save her?