Showing results by narrator "Annie Aldington" in All Categories

Gosport, 1941. Fourteen-year-old Vera has led a sheltered life with her overbearing mother. But her world is turned upside down with the arrival of the Lovell family. Vera quickly befriends the daughter, Angela, who opens Vera's eyes to what she has been missing. But Vera invites the unwanted attention of Angela's father, with devastating consequences. Outraged at the news that her teenage daughter is pregnant, Vera's mother sends her to a home for wayward girls.

It's 1916, and England is at war. Desperate to help in whatever way they can, Ivy and Louisa enlist as gardeners at Kew, taking on the jobs of the men who have gone to fight. Under their care, the gardens begin to flourish - but Ivy and Louisa aren't being treated fairly, and not everyone wants them there. Without women's rights, the pair begins to struggle - but can the support of the Suffragettes help their cause? And when a tragedy overseas affects the people closest to them, can the women of Kew pull together to support themselves and their country through the darkest of times?

The close, loving family life Rose has known is shattered when the country goes to war. Rose resolves to do her bit so, aged 16, she leaves home to train as a nurse in London. There she finds freedom, excitement and a different way of life. A brief encounter with a soldier opens her eyes to romance, but is he the man she thinks he is? Can first love survive long separation or will Rose discover that her heart belongs to another? When the war brings searing loss and heartbreak, can Rose find the strength to look to the future?

Franny has one thing in common with Wan Huang, head of the notorious Triads gang: they both want Vaughn six feet under. When Harry brings Vaughn into his business and his fold, his life is protected - for now. But when Franny finds out the truth about Wan and Harry’s dark dealings, all hell breaks loose in Soho. And Vaughn is the key to helping Franny with the score she now has to settle; together with Alfie Jennings, they were once a formidable trio. But can bitter enemies once again become allies?

Fun-loving Maisie is devoted to her young family and her work at Woolworths. But her happy life with her RAF officer husband and their baby daughter leads her to think of the family she left behind. With the war now into its fourth year, what will she find when she sets about searching for them? Sarah and her husband, Alan, are blissfully happy and long for a sibling for their daughter. But dark days lie ahead for this close family.

July 1947. Britain is still gripped by rationing, even as the excitement of Princess Elizabeth’s engagement sweeps the nation. In the Woolworths’ canteen, Freda is still dreaming of meeting her own Prince Charming. So far she’s been unlucky in love. Sarah's idyllic family life is under threat with worries about her husband, Alan. Does he still love her? The friends must rally round to face some of the toughest challenges of their lives together. And although they experience loss, hardship and shocks along the way, love is on the horizon for the Woolworths girls.

Samantha Reynold and Seb Stoker are looking forward to the future together. With all the recent trials and tribulations from the past seemingly over, their new life together looks brighter than ever…or does it? Because unbeknownst to them both, danger is circling. Marina Devlin wants to destroy her sister Samantha once and for all and will stop at nothing to have her revenge. And judgement day is looming. In this final encounter…only one can survive.

Meet Emma. Emma is sick. She can’t work because of a neurological condition, so is stuck in her family’s tiny council house. Emma is sick of being told to ‘get over it’. Her stepfather, her doctors, strangers – everyone has an opinion. Emma is sick of being the other woman. Her boyfriend Adam is perfect: he’s got a great job and an amazing home. His wife Celeste is the problem. Emma is sick of being underestimated. All she needed was a target. And now she has Celeste… Emma is sick. Just not in the way you thought.

Carolyn Castle is one of the most famous faces in the UK - a soap opera star known to millions. But when she witnesses a gangland killing, she has to ask herself if her fame could be the death of her. The killer is charismatic gangster Warwick Richards. A man more than capable of killing again to protect his secret. But does he know that Carolyn saw him commit murder?

It's 1940, and for newlywed Daisy Turner, Kew Gardens is a haven away from the bombs that are falling nightly on her East End home. She grew up around plants - her parents met when they were gardeners at Kew in the last war. And her work on the Dig for Victory campaign at Kew keeps her occupied while her husband, Rex, is away in the RAF. Beth Sanderson works with Daisy at the gardens, but she dreams of being a doctor while juggling her gardening job with nursing shifts. And there's the added complication of her forbidden romance with her colleague, Gus Campbell.

With the odds stacked against her, Samantha Reynold is determined to prove she’s tough enough to be the boss. But when a secret from the past threatens to ruin Sam’s reputation, she suddenly feels very alone in this dark new world. There’s only one man she can turn to—rival club owner, Sebastian Stoker. Seb knows first-hand how secrets and lies can tear a family apart. He wants to protect Sam at all costs, but siding with her could threaten his own position as head of the Stoker family and risk accusations of betrayal.

Stealing from the rich is what Cara Kendall does for a living. She's twenty-four, bold and fearless, convinced that she'll never get caught. But everyone's luck runs out eventually. When she breaks into a house in Hampstead, she gets more than she bargained for—a body in the study and the law on the doorstep. As rumours start to circulate about her part in the killing, she finds herself under increasing pressure to give up what she hasn't got and tell a truth she doesn't know.

In a life of crime, loyalty means everything - even if you don’t always see eye to eye. But when Vaughn Sadler speaks up to get Franny Doyle sent down, he’s broken every rule in the book to win checkmate. Holed up in prison, Franny has more than one score to settle - but she’s starting with Vaughn. Because you don’t grass on your own, no matter what. And though she may be behind bars, she will get revenge - whatever the cost.

Lolly Bruce spent several years in the lap of luxury, but now she's back in a world she knows: London's East End. Her guardian Mal Fury is doing time, so Lolly is working on the wrong side of the law to get by. She'll need to use all her street smarts to keep her safe in Kellston. Then one day the Old Bill turn up on her doorstep. Mal is on the run, but why when he has only months left to serve? Lolly is convinced the only thing Mal would escape for is news about the daughter he lost 19 years ago. She's the only thing he has left to lose.

It’s February 1952 and whilst the nation grieves the death of King George VI, life must go on for The Woolworths Girls. At The Erith Store there is a new temporary Manager and Sarah is getting more than a little concerned by problems he seems to be creating. The whole mess is enough to make her want to resign. Meanwhile, Ruby is extremely worried about her friend Vera, and with illness causing a problem from her past to come flooding back, she knows it’s going to take a lot of strength and willpower to do what needs to be done.

After losing her beloved fiancé at Ypres in 1917, seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Billington faces a lonely future estranged from her upper-class parents due to her association with Charlie Sayers and his working-class family. No longer able to live under her parent’s roof she is taken in by Charlie’s father, escaping the suffocating demands of her parents. Betty soon learns all too well about the realities of life after an accident at the Woolwich Arsenal munitions works.

When Charity Browne arrives at The Fitzroy Hotel on her way to a country house party, she knows there's more to the invitation than a weekend of revelry. She's old enough to be married and her family are hoping for a good match. Sparks fly when she collides with dashing Jack Carter, the hotel housekeeper's disreputable brother. A visit to a home for waifs and strays makes Charity question her values.

It’s been five years since Ella Bancroft lost the love of her life, Harper Fortescue, and despite her friends’ encouragement, she’s still not been able to move on. The one thing keeping Ella smiling is the success of her hat shop, Ivella. As her hat shop flourishes, and the possibility of a new love appears when she least expects it, Ella finally dares to hope for a happy future. But storm clouds are gathering over the Black Country, and life might have other plans for the hat girl from Silver Street.

When thirteen-year-old Bertram Jordan is arrested and sent to a penal colony in Australia, his biggest regret is leaving behind his friend Alice Truelove. The children were each other’s comfort when they had to live rough on Wednesbury heath, surviving on whatever meagre funds they could pilfer from passing market-goers. Now they must face their futures alone.

Verity Templeton, 18 and fiercely independent, travels to London with her aunt for the season. During a weekend with her friend Charlotte Huntington-Smythe an encounter with Charlotte's brother shows her another side of the family. Then she meets Brandon Summerville, the handsome, arrogant, wealthy man about town Charlotte is in love with. Will she be able to resist his obvious charm? When a secret from the past turns her life upside down she doubts everything she's believed in. Her fight to find the truth brings more heartache.