Showing results by narrator "Laura Kirman" in All Categories

When investigative journalist, Alexi Ellis, falls victim to cutbacks, she and Cosmo, her anti-social feral cat, head for beautiful Hopgood Hall, where they plan to lick their wounds in the boutique hotel run by her old friends, Cheryl and Drew Hopgood. But when she arrives Alexi discovers Cheryl and Drew both distraught. Their close friend, Natalie Parker, who recently settled in the area, has gone missing. Alexi’s sure the woman has just taken a trip somewhere, but she still has a nose for a story and agrees to look into it.

Tired of being at everyone’s beck and call, Beau, the Duke of Silchester decides to masquerade as plain Mr Edward Sheldon for a few months in order to pursue his love of composing and playing piano music. At five and thirty he is convinced he will never marry but all this changes when he meets Lady Viola Fenchurch and her delightful children. Viola, a widow, is equally convinced that she will never remarry after enduring an abusive marriage. She isn’t looking for love, but despite her reservations she finds herself falling in love with Beau.

Jules and Holly have been best friends since university. They tell each other everything, trading revelations and confessions and sharing both the big moments and the small details of their lives: Holly is the only person who knows about Jules’ affair; Jules was there for Holly when her husband died. And their two children - just three years apart - have grown up together. So when Jules’ daughter, Saffie, makes a rape allegation against Holly’s son, Saul, neither woman is prepared for the devastating impact this will have on their friendship or their families.

The definition of 'healthy eating' has been chewed up, spat out and re-digested enough times to make Joe Public give up and seek out their nearest branch of McDonald's. Our mindless obsession with eating 'right' is such that we're now more concerned about what our Instagram followers think of a poorly lit picture of our dinner than we are of its effect on our own palate. Or, indeed, our happiness. We seem to be living in a time where we no longer eat with our hearts, emotions or heritage - but with what our waistlines (and followers) in mind.

Rome, AD 37. The emperor is dying. No-one knows how long he has left. The power struggle has begun. When the ailing Tiberius thrusts Caligula's family into the imperial succession in a bid to restore order, he will change the fate of the empire and create one of history's most infamous tyrants, Caligula. But was Caligula really a monster? Forget everything you think you know. Let Livilla, Caligula's youngest sister and confidante, tell you what really happened.

Unlucky in love Poppy Allen is the producer of a brand-new TV show, Date for a Day - think Take Me Out meets It’s a Knockout! Lovelorn contestants must perform a series of seaside challenges to win the hand of the starring lady and a date for a day. Left heartbroken when Stephen, her childhood sweetheart, eloped with her best friend on her hen night - Poppy has no plans to risk her own heart again. Besides, she’s far too busy filming contestants against the backdrop of the beautiful Bluebell Cliff Hotel and the stunning Jurassic Dorset coastline.

Lady Morwenna Trelawny Penvenan indulged in her fair share of dalliances in her youth, but now that she's the widowed mother to the heir of the Penvenan title, she's desperate to polish her reputation. When she's accused of deliberately luring ships to crash on the rocks to steal the cargo, Morwenna begins an investigation to uncover the real culprits and stumbles across an unconscious man lying in the sea's foam - a man wearing a medallion with the Trelawny crest around his neck.

Gemma Lamb is ready for an uneventful term at St Bride’s, she’s had enough of dastardly deeds and sinister strangers. However, she’s barely back at school before: unlucky in love Oriana is sneaking around at odd hours, handsome Joe is keeping secrets, militant Mavis feels a scandal is brewing. It’s all a bit much, so when a stranger appears, Gemma thinks she’s had enough. But this stranger isn’t so sinister, instead he looks rather too familiar.

Seven years ago, Marina Hudson’s husband was lost at sea. She vowed to love him forever - but when kind-hearted Lachlan arrives in Porthmellow, should she deny herself another chance at happiness? Tiff Trescott was living life to the full as a journalist in London - until her boyfriend’s betrayal brought it all crashing down. Fleeing to her cousin Marina’s cottage, Tiff feels like a fish out of water. And when brooding local Dirk wins a day with her in a charity auction, she’s thrown headfirst into Cornish life.

For Sophie it’s a trip home and for Hector it’s time to meet Sophie’s parents... Though their trip has village tongues wagging about a stop at Scotland’s notorious elopement spot, Gretna Green. No matter what, it’ll make a nice break from the murder and mayhem that has been plaguing their beautiful Cotswolds village. But Sophie and Hector are barely across the border on the way to Inverness before a sinister encounter leaves them shaken.

A romantic treat, perfect for fans of Lucy Diamond and Jenny Colgan! You can go crazy searching for the one.... Nina is addicted to bad boys, the wilder, the better. Despite her friends’ misgivings, she firmly believes that true love takes only one form: wild, full of passion and fire and punctuated by tempestuous arguments. She won’t settle for anything less.

When English teacher Gemma Lamb’s school flat is wrecked by storms, maverick headmistress Hairnet insists the girls must fund its repair by setting up their own businesses – the start of a series of hilarious unintended consequences. Meanwhile Gemma’s worries are compounded by the arrival of bossy new girl Frieda Ehrlich, sponsored by a mysterious local tycoon whose wealth is of dubious origins. Fearful for the school’s reputation, Gemma recruits an old friend to help investigate the tycoon’s credentials, jeopardising her romance with sports teacher Joe Spryke.

With Christmas just around the corner, Molly Bliss has almost hit rock bottom. After the heart-breaking loss of her parents, an escape to Iceland to spend the holidays with her sister Claudia is a chance for her to find solace and focus on her neglected relationship with her boyfriend Howard. But when Howard 'misses' his flight, Molly is forced to rethink her whole outlook on life. Surrounded by her family, Molly has never felt more alone. With ongoing family tensions rumbling and a surprising connection with old flame, Molly realises she has an opportunity to rediscover who she really is.

Where happy ever after is only a page away…A delightful new series set in a quaint old bookshop, for fans of Lucy Diamond and Jenny Colgan. Once upon a time in a crumbling London bookshop, Posy Morland spent her life lost in the pages of her favourite romantic novels. So when Bookend's eccentric owner, Lavinia, dies and leaves the shop to Posy, she must put down her books and join the real world. Because Posy hasn't just inherited an ailing business, but also the unwelcome attentions of Lavinia's grandson.

Annie Pearson is working on Emmerdale Farm, while her love, Edward Sugden is at the front line. Lily Dingle has found purpose in joining the ATS, though she may get more than she bargained for. And Meg Warcup, now teaching at the local school, has taken in two children evacuated from Hull. They have adjusted to their new way of life until one day a German plane comes crashing down in the village....and changes everything in the village of Beckindale.

I still dream, every night, of Polneath on fire. Smoke unravelling from an upper window, and the terrace bathed in a hectic orange light.... Now I see that the decision I made at Polneath was the only decision of my life. Everything marred in that one dark minute.

A heartwarming wartime family saga from best-selling saga author Rosie Clarke. 1943, Mulberry Lane, London. In the midst of another bleak winter, life is hard for the residents of the lane. When Rose Merchant arrives at Mulberry Lane, she is carrying a secret that haunts her. How can she tell her landlady and the lane's matriarch, Peggy Ashley, that she is the daughter of a murderer?

When a landslide on the Jurassic Coast reveals a rare ‘dragon’ dinosaur, best friends Kat Wolfe and Harper Lamb are thrilled, especially when stars and scientists come flocking to sleepy Bluebell Bay. But after they begin investigating a suspicious death, events spiral quickly out of control for detectives Wolfe and Lamb. Worse still, Kat’s wild cat is in trouble. Can they solve the mystery - and save the cat's life - before it’s too late?

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel, read by a returning cast. We always thought the biggest threat to humanity would come from the outside. We were wrong. As the human race picks up the pieces of destruction left behind, a new world order emerges. New alliances are formed. Old divisions are strengthened. And, with a power struggle fuelled by the threat of mutually assured destruction, nothing is certain.

My name is Amber Alessandra Leola Kimiko Miyamoto. I have no idea why my parents gave me all those hideous names, but they must have wanted to ruin my life, and you know what? They did an amazing job. As a half-Japanese, half-Italian girl with a ridiculous name, Amber's not feeling molto bene (very good) about making friends at her new school. But the hardest thing about being Amber is that a part of her is missing. Her dad. He left when she was little, and he isn't coming back.