Showing results by narrator "Penelope Rawlins" in All Categories

After years in Italy, honing his skills in the delicious art of seduction, Ashe returns to London’s high-class establishments. There, his scandalous ways are abruptly ended by his father’s death. To claim what is rightfully his, Ashe must do the inconceivable – take a wife! But who could possibly even think about marrying such a man? Certainly not the lovely Genevra Ralston. After all, she’d be finished in polite society. Wouldn’t she?

How do you know where you belong? In June 1988, Elizabeth Kelly's parents think she belongs at home in Ireland. Her boyfriend is certain of it. Unwilling to settle down just yet, she decides to spend the summer in Boston with her college friends. But the next four months change all of them, especially Elizabeth. Quiet and dutiful at home, she surprises herself and everyone else by falling for Danny Esposito, a restless charmer with a troublesome family.

In Delhi a small baby lies alone and abandoned. The product of IVF and surrogacy, she had been so coveted - until she was born with a fatal illness. Thousands of miles away in London, Kate and Ben are desperate for a baby. As Kate suffers another miscarriage, she knows something has to change. But will her desire for a baby stop at nothing...?

Harriet Lockwood has never really bonded with her daughter the way she has with her three sons. Then one day, she discovers why. The girl she’s raised for the last fifteen years is not her biological child. As a consequence, two families are plunged into a storm of bitter rivalries and unexpected alliances.

Hannah French has always wanted more from life than her sleepy village in Devon can offer. And there are two men who are willing to give her that escape: William and Ralph Lawlor. They are brothers but their bloodline is all that they have in common. When events in Hannah’s life take a devastating turn, will somebody come to her rescue or will she have to accept that hope is all she has left?

In a small Kent town in the 1950s, a bewildered little girl is growing up. Ostracised because of her colour, she tries her best to fit in, but nobody wants anything to do with her. A nanny climbs the steps of a smart London address. She’s convinced that her connection to the family behind the door is more than professional. And on the walls of an English stately home, amongst the family portraits, hangs an eighteenth-century oil painting of a mysterious black woman in a silk gown.

Amelia has a dream: toasting chestnuts by the fire with her husband Jack in their own cosy cottage. Their real life is another world - a cramped one-bedroom flat in Hackney. But when life takes a surprising turn, removal vans are soon heading to the Kent countryside. They soon realise the cottage makeover is a far bigger project than they'd anticipated. On top of that, there's Amelia's newly loved-up mum and her tearaway half-sister, Mirabel, to contend with - pushing Amelia and Jack's marriage to breaking point.

Like every child in Is-Land, all Astra Ordott wants is to have her Security Shot, do her National Service and defend her Gaian homeland from Non-Lander 'infiltrators'. But when one of her Shelter mothers, the formidable Dr Hokma Blesser, tells her the shot will limit her chances of becoming a scientist and offers her an alternative, Astra agrees to her plan. When the orphaned Lil arrives to share Astra's home, Astra is torn between jealousy and fascination.

Together, Marina, Aqua, and Oceana are the Petticoat Pirates, and this unabridged audio edition includes 2 of their fabulous adventures! The Mermaids of Starfish Reef: One day, three beautiful mermaids come to the lagoon to ask for help. A creature of the deep has come and set loose all the sea snails on their mer-farm, leaving behind nothing but a shiny scale.... The Sea Fairies of Whirlpool Gully: When the other pirates of the Lagoon are struck by a mysterious curse, the girls must travel in search of sea fairies to find a cure.

Since she was found as a baby, floating in the Thames one foggy night, the web-toed Pearl has been brought up in a brothel known as the House of Mermaids. Cosseted and pampered there, it is only when her 14th birthday approaches that Pearl realises she is to be sold to the highest bidder. Meanwhile, the orphaned twins, Lily and Elijah, have shared an idyllic childhood, raised in a secluded country house with their grandfather. But when Lily and Elijah go on a visit to London, a chance meeting with Pearl will have repercussions for all of them, binding their fates together in a dark and dangerous way....

It is the age of the Great Dread. The Dream Witch wants the heart of Princess Olivia. Until she has it none of the kingdom’s children are safe. Olivia’s parents seek help from the Prince Leo of Pretonia and his uncle, the Duke of Fettwurst, but the treacherous duo seize their castle instead. It is up to Olivia to take on the Dream Witch in her underground lair. Two friends are by her side: the peasant boy Milo and a curious talking mouse with a surprising past.

In Atlanta, Charlie Cortez MD diagnoses his mistress with an unknown neurodegenerative disease that is inducing violent psychosis. The apparent cause? Consumption of infected human flesh… In Vienna, Dr. Reeta Kapoor, eminent anthropologist, is forced to travel to a remote Indian archipelago in order to rescue her brother who is in grave danger. In Dubai, Kelly Maelzel is blackmailed into accepting a new job – protecting the visitors to a new project, a game reserve.

All is not well in the kingdom of Waldberg.... The orphan Hans is desperate to escape his master, the grave robber Knobbe the Bent. The young countess Angela von Schwanenberg must rescue her parents from the mad archduke. But when fate flings them together, they find themselves on a daring quest, hurtling through haunted forests, racing down mountains in a coffin and sneaking along underground passageways with a travelling circus. And at every turn, the archduke’s Necromancer is there to thwart their progress....

Rachel hates her life. So when her boyfriend David goes to a music festival in England she decides to surprise him - but she gets a nasty shock of her own. Hurt and angry, Rachel makes a wish- and finds herself in someone else's shoes! Can she keep the swap a secret? And will she ever be herself again? Over the course of a very weird weekend, Rachel puts herself in someone else's shoes and finds that her own maybe weren't as uncomfortable as she'd always thought. But can she ever be herself again?

Cat Aston’s fiancé has done a runner, just before she wins a fairy-tale wedding in a luxury hotel! Adam Lawley was left devastated when his girlfriend turned down his heartfelt proposal. He's made a vow never to fall in love again. So, when Cat and Adam meet, they shouldn't even consider falling in love. But for some reason they can't stop thinking about each other…

Out of Sight. When a teenage girl is found beaten and raped in the grounds of a derelict asylum, FBI agent Ren Bryce is called in to assist. But she is soon diverted to a missing persons’ case when an eleven-year-old girl and her teenage babysitter vanish without a trace from their hotel room. Out of Mind. Faced with conflicting evidence and inconsistent witnesses, Ren works obsessively to unravel the dark family secrets at the heart of the case, before it’s too late…

When the body of FBI agent Jean Transom is found on the frozen slopes of Quandary Peak, the nearby town of Breckenridge, Colorado, becomes the focus of a major investigation. A quiet, dedicated agent on the surface, it soon becomes clear that there was another side to Jean Transom. And who better to uncover it than Special Agent Ren Bryce, an expert in violent crime and a woman with secrets of her own; secrets that could compromise the entire investigation and put an end to her distinguished career.

Isabel Bookbinder dreams of perfect white weddings, happy brides, handsome grooms. But not for herself... for her clients. It's all about bride management as far as Isabel's concerned. Even when she loses her job working for wedding guru Pippa Everitt, Isabel isn't disheartened. She throws herself straight into launching Isabel Bookbinder, Individual Weddings. Unfortunately for Isabel, nothing ever goes quite according to plan...

When the writer, Oxford scholar, and photographer John Jameson, visits the home of his vicar friend, Daniel Baxter, he is entranced by his youngest daughter, Daisy. Jameson charms her with his wit and child-like imagination, teasing her with riddles and inventing humourous stories as they enjoy afternoons alone by the river and in his rooms. The shocking impact of this unusual friendship is only brought to light when, years later, Daisy, unsettled in her marriage, rediscovers her childhood diaries in an old toy chest.

Imagine being married for 28 years with three children, a lovely house and a husband who travels a lot - but you still love each other. Or: imagine being happily married for 17 years. You have one daughter and your husband travels a lot. One day you get a call that turns your world upside down: your husband is dead. You go to the funeral…and meet his other widow…