Showing results by narrator "Nicolette McKenzie" in All Categories

Singapore in the 1860s is exotic and yet terrifying for a penniless Englishwoman, alone and vulnerable after her mother's death. Too pretty to obtain a governess' job, Isabella Saunders accepts an offer from Singapore merchant Mr Lee to teach him English and live with his family. Two years later Bram Deagan arrives in Singapore, determined to make his fortune as a trader. Mr Lee sees a way to expand his business connections and persuades Isabella to marry Bram. Bravely, she sets sail for a new land and life.

Recently widowed, Hannah Firth is still young - young enough to dream of a new life. When her spiteful daughter-in-law uses her as an unpaid servant, Hannah tries to leave, but she is unaware of the depths that Patty's spite will lead her to. Nathaniel King's life is ruined when his landlord's son lays waste to his market garden for a prank - and the resulting feud puts Nathaniel's livelihood at stake.

It will be no easy task to fill the shoes of a local legend like DCI Charlie Woodend, the newly promoted Monika Paniatowski tells herself – particularly when he’s still a very real presence in Whitebridge – but given a little time, she thinks she can grow into them. Yet time is the one thing she does not have. On her first day in the new job, a severed female hand is discovered on the riverbank. And not only that, but the killer has already alerted the pres

When Stella Simmons comes to the Devonshire village of Burracombe to start her teaching career, she is alone in the world. Orphaned as a child and brought up in a children's home, she was separated from her sister, Muriel, and has never been able to trace her. Stella is soon caught up in the life of the village, especially in the plans for celebrating the Festival of Britain. With the help of artist Luke Ferris, she tries to find Muriel. But Luke has his own troubles - notably the relationship he once had with Val Tozer, daughter of a local farmer.

Millie Bird, seven years old and ever hopeful, always wears red gumboots to match her curly hair. Her struggling mother, grieving the death of Millie's father, leaves her in the big ladies' underwear department of a local store and never returns. Agatha Pantha, 82, has not left her house - or spoken to another human being - since she was widowed seven years ago. She fills the silence by yelling at passersby, watching loud static on TV, and maintaining a strict daily schedule.

In the untamed outback of Western Australia, the Blake sisters are together again despite what seemed like unsurmountable odds. For Cassandra, reunited again with the man she loves, the Swan River Colony is a refuge that seems like a miracle after all her ordeals. And two of her sisters have fallen in love with their new way of life. But then a messenger arrives from faraway England, and it is the fourth sister, Pandora, who jumps at the chance to make her way back to the Lancashire moors that she misses so badly. The way home, though, will be even harder than the voyage to Australia.

Bram Deagan dreams of bringing his family from Ireland to join him in Australia, where he now runs a successful trading business. But when a typhus epidemic strikes Ireland, it leaves the Deagan family decimated. And, with other family members scattered round the world, it is left to Maura Deagan to look after her orphaned nieces and nephew. Forced to abandon her own ambitions, and unsure whether she is ready to become a mother-figure to three young children, Maura recognises that their only hope is to join Bram in far away Australia.

For scorching love stories, fans know to look no further than the works of best-selling author Helen Bianchin. In Public Marriage, Private Secrets, Gianna Velez-Saldaña is the proprietress of an upscale boutique in one of the Gold Coast’s trendiest suburbs - trying to leave her brief marriage in the past. But when her husband Raul unexpectedly shows up, their old flame is given new life. His desire is to continue their life together, but she is still haunted by how it all ended.

With one last look in the mirror, Kit Mercer prepares to face her boss - surely he can't wait to sweep her into his arms again and declare his love? Actually, what Alex Hallam does is tell her their fling can't continue. He knows it's the right thing to do - after his ex-wife's lies, is he really ready for a relationship with sweet, lovely Kit? Until Kit reveals she's pregnant! Swapping the boardroom and working lunches for the baby clinic and wake-up feeds, they'll get more than they bargained for…

Vienna, 1920: Professor Sigmund Freud is known for his interest in the human psyche, but psychoanalysis is still an emerging field with its share of critics. When Constable Karl Gruber seeks out Sigmund Freud's help in dealing with a gruesome murder case, the professor sees a new opportunity to explore the many facets of human behavior and thinking. Together with his stubborn daughter Anna, Sigmund Freud sets out to help Constable Gruber and solve the unusual and mysterious cases of Vienna. This collection contains episodes 1-4 of "The Sigmund Freud Files".

At 18, Cathie longs for more than life as a settler in the Australian bush. So when her uncle offers her the chance to send her to England, she grabs the opportunity with both hands and runs away from her family. But little does she know that he is using her to get revenge on his sister, Liza. Attacked at the docks in Liverpool, Cathie takes refuge with the man who saved her, a man who has his own troubles. But as she slowly regains her memory and meets her Lancashire relatives, she must confront the legacy of her mother's past.

November 1920. Russia may have endured the Revolution, but a brutal war still rages. Distant relatives of the Romanovs, the Kirilov family is closer to danger than most. When tragedy strikes, four-year-old Lydia is separated from her family. Struck by the child's plight, the diplomat Sir Edward Stoneleigh brings her to England, where she grows up well-educated, wealthy and surrounded by a loving family.

Marriage into the Zavros family isn't a choice - it's a command! Magazines regularly devote gossip column inches to Greek magnate Ari Zavros and the supermodels gracing his arm - and his bed - each week! Tina Savalas is nothing like Ari's usual playmates, but she hides the most scandalous secret of all: Four years ago her red-hot fling with Ari left her pregnant...Her bombshell revealed, Ari can see only one solution: The innocent Tina is perfect for the role of Good Greek Wife...

Magazines regularly devote gossip column inches to Greek magnate Ari Zavros and the supermodels gracing his arm - and his bed - each week! Tina Savalas is nothing like Ari’s usual playmates, but she hides the most scandalous secret of all: Four years ago her red-hot fling with Ari left her pregnant.... Her bombshell revealed, Ari can see only one solution: The innocent Tina is perfect for the role of Good Greek Wife.

After yet another failure on the London dating scene, Kate escapes to the idyllic Exmoor village of Bursford and her "Cinderella Project" renovating a run-down cottage on the edge of the moors. Hopes of a quiet retreat are thwarted, however; in a village seething with intrigues, a new female face attracts a lot of attention. She becomes entangled with local landowners the Blackmores - in particular brooding Ed, his divorced playboy brother Jack, and their flighty stepmother, Camilla.

A mysterious homicide case leads to Constable Karl Guber to seek out psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud for the first time. The daughter of the director of the Wiener Burgtheater has been murdered under gruesome circumstances: the corpse has been drained of all its blood. Detective Gruber suspects that a vampire is on the loose in Vienna.

After Julius Caesar's murder, his mistress Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, fled to Alexandria where she gave birth to their son. Civil war broke out in Rome, and Mark Antony, Caesar's friend, was given control over the East. Summoned to his headquarters, Cleopatra made her entry at dusk on a scented, candle-lit barge: and so began one of the greatest love stories of all time.

Ismay Deagan has one wish in the world - to leave Ireland and join her brother, Bram, in Australia. However, her father has other ideas and orders her to marry their vicious neighbour Rory Flynn, even though she loathes him. But after Rory brutally attacks her Ismay realises she has to escape. So, disguising herself as an impoverished young widow, she sets sail for Australia, hoping to be reunited with her brother. When she meets Adam Treagar on the ship, she finally starts to believe her dreams of future happiness may come true....

Rachel Smedling is not like the other women in her isolated Pennine village: she is taller, stronger, and weaves cloth like a man. Without her, the household would fall apart, for her mother is ailing and her vicious drunkard father seems to hate her so much, he would happily offer money to any man who would wed her. When her mother dies, Rachel is at the mercy of her increasingly violent father. Her only escape is by marrying a kindly man with whom she finds happiness, if not passion, and her life begins to seem complete.

Forced to flee Revolutionary France after the brutal guillotining of her beloved father, Isabella de Savigny arrives at Nethergate, the Suffolk house of her cousin, hoping for sympathy and succour. Instead, as a poor relation, she is forced to live the life of a servant and suffer the casual cruelty of lady’s maid Martha Pratt. When she is seduced and abandoned by the son of the house, Isabella is forced to marry Martha’s brother, and her struggle to survive truly begins. However, her misery is lessened when her daughter is born....