Showing results by narrator "Charlie Sanderson" in All Categories

Penny seizes the chance of a new life for her family when her husband is offered a job in Europe. At the airport, they meet charming Sophie, fluent in French and looking for work as an au pair. Soon, she becomes an important part of the family’s life. But Sophie is definitely hiding something. Then Penny’s toddler son is abducted. The police beg Penny and her husband to take part in a television appeal, but, unknown to the police, Penny and Seth are determined to protect their identities. Are their true identities linked to the abduction? And who has been watching them?

In the early '90s, newlywed Ruth Flint arrives at Echo Hall to find an unhappy house full of mysteries that its occupants won't discuss. When her husband, Adam, is called up to the Gulf War, her shaky marriage is tested to the core. During World War II Elsie Flint is living at Echo Hall with her unsympathetic in-laws. While her husband, Jack, is away with the RAF, his cousin Daniel is her only support. But Daniel is hiding a secret that will threaten their friendship forever.

Evelyn War is a Believer. She knows that long before the Time of Ice, the Masters fought a war with Them, great chitinous beasts that stalked the world and rended and killed. She knows the Masters sent fierce, doglike Aux like her to watch over their great sleep. Them were real. But in the frozen ruins of Berlin, Them have not been seen for many years. Now the Aux fight among themselves and say all that was just stories. They scorn Evelyn and mock her warnings. But the ice is melting, and the whistling calls of Them can be heard in the tunnels of the U-Bahn once more....

So, what did Sadie Valentine do next? After an emotional voyage through the minefield of anxiety and depression, Sadie decides to use her experience with mental health to help others. Becoming a counsellor for the support group that once helped her takes Sadie’s life in a completely new direction, and she soon finds herself absorbed in her new role. Knowing that she’s aiding other sufferers through their darkest days gives her the ultimate job satisfaction, but when a mysterious and troubled man attends Anxiety Anonymous, Sadie wonders if she is out of her depth.

This Love is an emotional family drama for fans of Jojo Moyes and Dorothy Koomson, from the best-selling author of Fractured. Sophie stopped believing in happy endings a long time ago, but could this love change all of that? Sophie Winter lives in a self-imposed cocoon - she's a single 31-year-old translator who works from home in her one-bedroom flat. This isn't really the life she dreamed of, but then Sophie stopped believing in dreams when she was a teenager and tragedy struck her family.

Ten-year-old Zac has never met his dad, who allegedly did a runner before he was born. But when his mum lets slip that he's the only man she's ever loved, Zac turns detective and, roping in his best friend, hatches a plan to find his father and give his mum the happy ever after she deserves. What he doesn't realise, though, is that sometimes people have good reasons for disappearing....

Once a normal-ish woman, mental illness wasn’t something that Sadie really thought about, but when the three evils - anxiety, panic and depression - creep into her life, Sadie wonders if she will ever see the light again. With her best friend, Aldo, by her side, can Sadie crawl out of the impossibly dark hole and take back control of her life?

Dani hasn't had an easy life. She's made some bad choices, and now she's paying the ultimate price: prison. With her young daughter, Bethany, growing up in foster care, Dani is determined to be free and reunited with her. There's only one problem: Dani can't stay out of trouble. Dani's new cellmate, Martha, is quiet and unassuming. There's something about her that doesn't add up. When Martha offers Dani one last chance at freedom, she doesn't hesitate.

Mark Randall goes to great lengths to be admitted to an acute psychiatric ward and, despite being mute, convinces professionals that he is psychotic. But why is he so keen to spend time in a psychiatric hospital? When decisions about his future are handed to Dr Giles Sharman, Mark's life goes from bad to worse. Drugged and in danger, he's about to learn that proving your sanity is not easy.

Eighteen-year-old Beth Sutton is abducted and held prisoner in a basement. Dependent on her captor for everything, she slowly builds a relationship with the man responsible for her imprisonment. But her abductor is guilty of more than just kidnap, and she has the evidence to prove it. If she escapes from the basement, Beth's toughest challenge will be dealing with the memories. How will she ever overcome her trauma?

On the frozen island of Skane, the sky speaks. Beautiful lights appear on clear nights, and their colours have meaning. Red is rare. A warning. Seventeen years ago, the sky turned red just as Osa was born, unleashing a plague that claimed the lives of hundreds of villagers, including her own mother. This time, when the night sky once again bleeds crimson, she must discover what it means before so many lives are lost again.

Move over, Georgia Nicolson. Say good-bye to Geek Girl. Meet Emma Nash. When 16-year-old Emma is ghosted by love of her life Leon Naylor, she does what any normal girl would do. She spends the entire summer lurking in her bedroom, avoiding all human contact (and the shower), surrounded by the collection of Chewits wrappers she saved from packs Leon gave her, back when he actually acknowledged her existence.... But seeing Leon suddenly 'in a relationship' on Facebook spurs Emma into action.

'My name is Ruby. I live with Barbara and Mick. They're not my real parents, but they tell me what to do and what to say. I'm supposed to say that my bruises and black eye came from falling down the stairs. But there are things I won't say. I won't tell them I'm going to hunt for my real parents. I'm going to be with my real family. And I'm not going to let Mick stop me.'

It's 1988. Harper Richardson's mum and dad are divorced. Her mum got custody of her, the Mini and 500 tins of baked beans. Her dad got a mouldering cottage in a Midlands backwater village and plenty of free time to indulge his WWII obsession. What a Way to Go is a warm, wise and witty tale of one girl's mission to run headfirst into the middle of some of life's big questions - and to come out the other side with some reasonable answers.

One unforgettable night in 1785, in a theatre in Drury Lane, the heady alchemy of love and murder suddenly fuses the lives of Mimosina Dolcezza, a Venetian actress, and Valentine Greatrakes, prince of London's medical underworld. The Remedy is a ravishing love story that seamlessly weaves fiction with historical fact in rich and detailed prose.

Maddy can't find her voice. With her grief over Nan's death, her struggle for Mum's attention, and the mystery of the strange woman Dad keeps meeting, it's easier to keep everything locked up inside. But as terrible, tangled secrets bring Maddie's whole world crashing down, it seems only bad boy Kieran Black can give her the confidence to speak up.

Ogden is a gnarly, man-eating ogre...with the dream of becoming a dancer. But no one will dance with him - not when they think they're going to be his next meal! Then Ogden meets Willow, a gutsy girl who lives in a tree house. She makes a deal with him: if he'll stop eating humans, she'll teach him to dance.

It is 1978. Jess and her mother, Eleanor, struggle to sell socialism to Tamworth - a sleepy Midlands town that just doesn't want to know. So when Eleanor is invited to spend a summer teaching in East Germany, she and Jess jump at the chance. But friends can become enemies, and Jess discovers how easy it is to switch sides and how sides can be switched for you, sometimes without you even knowing.

This is the story of two girls who, on the surface, seem to have a lot in common. Samantha Lewis will put everything into being the good soldier she thinks her father wants her to be. But her heart will lead her in an unexpected direction and threaten her love. Michelle Flowers also craves her father's attention, but her impulsiveness will drive her into an obsession with the husband of another woman - with disastrous consequences.

Young reporter-in-training Kate and her mouse-accomplice Rupert are on board a train, to visit Kate's mum in the Arctic. But as soon as the train departs, mysterious things start happening. A packet of ginger nuts goes missing. A collection of gymnastics trophies are stolen. And some ancient scrolls disappear. Fellow passenger Madame Maude seems the most likely culprit, until a surprising—and delicious—twist turns the whole investigation on its head.