Showing results by narrator "Fiona Hardingham" in All Categories

Oh, to be a Beloved - one of those lucky people for whom nothing ever goes wrong. Everything falls into their laps without effort: happiness, beauty, good fortune, allure. Betty Stash is not a Beloved - but her little sister, the delightful Gloria, is. She's the one with the golden curls and sunny disposition and captivating smile, the one whose best friend used to be Betty's, the one whose husband should have been Betty's. Then, to everyone's surprise, Gloria inherits the family mansion. Losing what Betty considers her rightful inheritance is the final indignity.

It is the summer of 1919 and Constance Haverhill is without prospects. Now that all the men have returned from the front, she has been asked to give up her cottage and her job at the estate she helped to run during the war. While she looks for a position as a bookkeeper or (horror) a governess, she's sent as a lady's companion to an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside hotel. Despite having only weeks to find a permanent home, Constance is swept up in the social whirl of Hazelbourne-on-Sea and its colorful inhabitants, most notably, Poppy Wirrall.

The year is 2113. In Jenna Strong’s world, ACID - the most brutal controlling police force in history - rule supreme. No throwaway comment or whispered dissent goes unnoticed - or unpunished. And it was ACID agents who locked Jenna away for life, for a horrendous crime she struggles to remember. But Jenna’s violent prison time has taught her how to survive by any means necessary. When a mysterious rebel group breaks her out, she must use her strength, speed, and skill to stay one step ahead of ACID and try to uncover the truth about what really happened.

In 2019, the AIs went to war. Three days later, hundreds of nuclear missiles were launched. The electromagnetic pulse destroyed the machines, but the radiation and famine nearly destroyed humanity. By 2039, civilization had regressed to the age of steam, but newer technologies were on the horizon. The future looked bright until the warlords swept through Europe. Villages and towns were laid waste, the few thousand people who'd hacked out a life in the continental wasteland were butchered. It was only when the barbarians reached the British garrison in Calais that they were stopped.

Justice Kasric, her siblings, and her parents are locked in combat on both sides of the Human-Faerie War. At 15, Justice may be the youngest ever Admiral to command her own ship and lead a resistance, but she has the magic and the will to do it. If only nearly every other member of her family weren’t either in immediate danger of dying - or attempting to kill her!

When Anikka Lachlan's husband, Mac, is killed in a railway accident, she is offered - and accepts - a job at the Railway Institute's library and searches there for some solace in her unexpectedly new life. But in Thirroul in 1948, she's not the only person trying to chase dreams through books. There's Roy McKinnon, who found poetry in the mess of war but who has now lost his words and his hope. There's Frank Draper, trapped by the guilt of those his medical treatment and care failed on their first day of freedom.

Captain Justice Kasric knows how complicated family can be. The escalating Human-Faerie war has scattered and wounded her siblings and transformed her parents beyond recognition. After narrowly escaping yet another dangerous clash, fifteen-year-old Justice has had enough. She’s determined to defeat the Black Shuck, the mysterious leader controlling the Faerie invasion of London, but if Justice hopes to stand a chance at victory, she’ll have to do the impossible: reunite her family and lead them against the looming Faerie Armada.

Ben Ansell is researching his family tree when he disappears. As his sister Holly begins a desperate search, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to an ornate antique mirror and to the diary of Lavinia, a 19th-century courtesan who was living at Ashdown House when it burned to the ground over 200 years ago. Intrigued, and determined to find out more about the tragedy at Ashdown, Holly’s only hope is that uncovering the truth about the past will lead her to Ben.

When two 18-year-old girls go missing in Thailand, their families are thrust into the international spotlight - desperate, bereft, and frantic with worry. What were the girls up to before they disappeared? Journalist Kate Waters always does everything she can to be first to the story, first with the exclusive, first to discover the truth - and this time is no exception. But she can't help thinking of her own son, whom she hasn't seen in two years, when he left home to travel.

During a semester in the wilderness, 16-year-old Sib expects the tough outdoor education program and the horrors of dorm life, but friendship drama and an unexpected romance with popular Ben Capaldi? That will take some navigating. New girl Lou has zero interest in fitting in, or joining in. Still reeling from a loss that occurred almost a year ago, she just wants to be left alone. But as she witnesses a betrayal unfolding around Sib and her best friend Holly, Lou can't help but be drawn back into the land of the living.

Exploring the mysterious tunnels under their grandfather's house on Hoarder Hill, Hedy and Spencer discover the Fantastikhana, an underground tournament of magic. Here they find a group of powerful magicians called the Sleight and a mysterious living map, which tattoos itself onto Hedy's skin and seems to be directing her further underground. And so an extraordinary treasure hunt begins.

When Elsie Gormley leaves the Brisbane house in which she has lived for more than 60 years, Lucy Kiss and her family move in, eager to establish their new life. As they settle in, Lucy and her husband, Ben, struggle to navigate their transformation from adventurous lovers to new parents, taking comfort in memories of their vibrant past as they begin to unearth who their future selves might be. But the house has secrets of its own, and the rooms seem to share recollections of Elsie's life with Lucy.

Five strangers are brought together on a reality TV show, The Entrepreneur, to win a cash prize that could change their lives forever. When the five contestants move into a remote house and filming begins, their business plans are unveiled. But when one contestant wins a task by selling murderabilia, it sets in motion a chain of events that will test the sanity of each contender and put them all in danger.

The tides of the Faerie War are turning, but at how high a cost for the Kasric family? Justice Kasric, her siblings, and her parents are locked in combat on both sides of the Human-Faerie War. At 15, Justice may be the youngest ever admiral to command her own ship and lead a resistance, but she has the magic and the will to do it. If only nearly every other member of her family weren’t either in immediate danger of dying - or attempting to kill her! Forced to make dangerous pacts with more than one unpredictable ally, only Justice can decide how far she’ll go to save London.

Are you tired of having to "get motivated" time and time again yet failing to achieve your goals? Do you feel like motivational quotes, visualization, or inspirational stories have not really helped you? Do you think there must be something wrong with you because traditional motivational strategies don't work for you? You are not alone. There is nothing wrong with you or your motivation. It’s just that you've been using the wrong strategies. Ready to finally ditch those exhausting "pump yourself up and fail again" cycles and start using an approach that really works?

At 38 and a quarter years old, Paris native Camille has everything she needs to be happy: a good job, a loving husband, a wonderful son. Why then does she feel as if happiness has slipped through her fingers? All she wants is to find the path to joy and fulfilment.

Gary is buying his girlfriend Rachel a charm bracelet. Partly to thank her for paying for their holiday-of-a-lifetime to New York. But mainly because he's left his Christmas shopping far too late. Whereas Ethan's looking for something a little more special—an engagement ring for the first woman to have made him happy since he lost the love of his life. But when the two men's shopping bags get confused, and Rachel somehow ends up with Ethan's ring, the couples' lives become intertwined.

Sydney's deadly Razorhurst neighborhood, 1932. Gloriana Nelson and Mr. Davidson, two ruthless mob bosses, have reached a fragile peace - one maintained by "razor men". Kelpie, orphaned and living on the street, is blessed and cursed with the ability to see Razorhurst's many ghosts, and she sees the cracks already forming in their truce. Then Kelpie meets Dymphna Campbell.

A teenage girl has gone missing. The whole community has been called upon to join the search. And now an interviewer arrives, intent on capturing the community's unstable stories about life in the weeks and months before Becky Shaw vanished. Each villager has a memory to share or a secret to conceal, a connection to Becky that they are trying to make or break.

Stella Montgomery is in disgrace. The Aunts have sent her to Wakestone Hall, a grim boarding school where the disobedient are tamed and the wilful are made meek.