Showing results by narrator "Ell" in All Categories

We were always The Four. From our very first day at High Realms. The four scholarship pupils. Outsiders in a world of power and privilege. It would have made our lives a lot easier if Marta had simply pushed Genevieve out of our bedroom window that day. Certainly, it would have been tragic. She would have died instantly. But Marta didn’t push her then, or – if you choose to believe me – at any other time. If she had, all of what we went through would not have happened.

Emily Laurence is a liar. She is not polite, she's not polished, and she has never taught a child in her life. This position was meant to be her sister's - brilliant, kind Amy, who isn't perpetually angry, dangerously reckless, and who does like children. But Amy is unwell and needs a doctor, their father is gone and their mother is useless, so here Emily is, pretending to be something she's not. If she can get away with her deception for long enough to earn a few month's wages and slip some expensive trinkets into her pockets along the way, perhaps they'll be all right.

Wallflower Lady Mary Montagu Douglas Scott has a secret. Moving effortlessly unnoticed amongst the ballrooms and palaces of Queen Victoria, her sharp intelligence and keen powers of observation allow her to quietly solve society crimes – coming to the rescue of those whose pride and fortune are at stake. When she meets Colonel Walter Trefusis, an unlikely and spirited alliance is formed. But Mary has more than met her match in her sleuthing partner. As she battles the expectations of society and her family, Mary must follow her heart – whatever the cost…

Wren and Rose rule the kingdom of Eana. But an ancient, powerful enemy moves in the shadows. Oonagh, the twins’ evil undead ancestor, is creating a terrifying army, and she is determined to fight for the throne. Rose must gather support from the four corners of the kingdom whilst she wrestles with what the future holds for her and her beloved Shen. Meanwhile, Wren and Alarik set out to destroy the curse that both unites and weakens them. Caught between the King of Gevra and his Captain of the Guard, Tor, Wren must decide where her heart truly lies.

Sir Horley Comewithers isn’t particularly interested in getting married, especially when his match is a perfectly respectable young woman. Sir Horley is, after all, extravagantly gay. But he’s resigned to a fate there’s no point resisting—until a dear friend does it for him. Arabella Tarleton has no interest in romance, but even she can see that Sir Horley’s nuptials are destined to end in a lifetime of misery. Well, not on her watch. And what are friends for, if not abducting you on the night before your wedding in an overdramatic attempt to save you from a terrible mistake?

During the reign of Louis XV, impoverished but lovely teenage girls from all over France are sent to a discreet villa in the town of Versailles. Overseen by the King’s favorite mistress, Madame de Pompadour, they will be trained as potential courtesans for the King. When the time is right, each girl is smuggled into the palace of Versailles, with its legendary Hall of Mirrors.

Serena Mills should be at her wedding. Instead, she’s eating an ice cream sundae and drinking an obscenely large glass of wine in a Harvester off the M25. She’s left the man everyone told her she was ‘so lucky’ to find–because she’s realised that she wants to find love. Real love. So she sets herself a challenge: 52 weeks. 52 dates. 52 chances to find real love. But sometimes even the best laid plans don’t work out. And it’s the people that take you most by surprise who can really sweep you off your feet . . .

GCHQ agent Winter has just 14 days to bring down a website before a teenager is tortured to death in front of an internet audience of millions. Winter has to go deep undercover, disguised as the paid assassin Snow White, to infiltrate the criminals’ organisation and bring down the man at the heart of the dark web. Winter is razor-sharp, quick-witted and sexy, an expert in all forms of combat, master hacker and the number one field agent of British Intelligence.

Serena and Beth are best friends who couldn’t be more different—Beth is an avowed demisexual, who lacks confidence in her career and in her chances at a happy relationship due to her sexual orientation. Serena is a free spirit who oozes with confidence, both in her job and her sexual proclivities. And yet, since the moment they met, they knew they were platonic soulmates. So, when Beth decides that she officially wants to take charge of her sex life and explore the things that scare her the most, Serena is more than happy to help.

When one act of rebellion costs Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott her place in society, her life is swept onto a new course. One that will test her courage and resilience. From the drawing rooms of Victoria’s court to the grand country houses of Ireland, and the bustling streets of New York City; Margaret embarks on a journey of self-discovery where she will meet like-minded, and equally spirited, companions who shape her world. But as she navigates the challenges of forging her own path in life, will she find the greatest courage of all, to follow her heart against all odds?

Firestorm is down – the assassin for hire website that had the world by its throat, gone. Alek Konstantin, king of the underworld, is in hiding. But while the world celebrates, Winter is bracing for what must surely follow. All the world’s cut-throats, assassins and thugs are unemployed, roaming the globe without a leader - and nature abhors a vacuum. Something’s not right, and it’s not only that Winter’s body is in pieces. A boy held captive. An attempted assassination. Thirty men gunned down in rural South Wales.

It’s been over a decade since renowned author Beckett Ryan set foot in her bleak childhood hometown on the southern coast of England. When her estranged parents die within a week of each other, she reluctantly returns to bury them, only to find herself as reviled in the community as they were revered. Of course, the locals didn’t really know her parents. Nobody did. Then a warm welcome emerges from the sea of cold faces: Leanne. Beckett’s best friend when they were younger, and now a super-fan. Only… Beckett is pretty sure she’s never met her before in her life.

In 1838 Frédéric Chopin, George Sand and her children travel to a monastery in Mallorca. They are there to create and to convalesce, to live a simple life after the wildness of their Paris days. Witness to this tumultuous arrival is Blanca, the ghost of a teenage girl who has been at the monastery for over three hundred years. Blanca’s was a life cut short and she is outraged. Having lived in a world full, according to her mother, of ‘beautiful men’, she has found that in death it is the women she falls for.

Running from strife in her homeland, Maribella Waters becomes the new owner of the fabled Cozy Quill. After finding squatters on her property, she employs Asteria Helsdottir, a giant, barbarian warrior woman more accustomed to swinging an axe than opening a book. Together, the odd couple must make a success out of the bookshop—and survive a dizzying procession of seasonal festivals. But the local evil noblewoman has other plans in mind.

Growing up in the care of her grandparents on Belhaven farm, Lizzie Craig discovers as a small child that she can see into the future. But her gift is selective—she doesn’t, for instance, see that she has an older sister who will come to join the family. As her “pictures” foretell various incidents and accidents, she begins to realize a painful truth: she may glimpse the future, but she can seldom change it. Nor can Lizzie change the feelings that come when a young man named Louis, visiting Belhaven for the harvest, begins to court her.

Can one spoiled cousin upend three kids' hard-won happiness and even their safety? Find out in this hilarious, hair-raising, high stakes companion to the bestselling Parachute Kids!

It’s the 1970s, and from hippie London to Warhol’s Factory in New York, reluctant aristocrat Loulou de la Falaise is desperately seeking adventure. Having escaped an early, unhappy marriage, she arrives on a whim in Paris—the champagne-soaked heart of the fashion world, where the rigid old world of haute couture and the fast-paced new world of ready-to-wear are vying for supremacy. Glamour, sex, and cocaine nights fuel the Paris fashion scene. Its crown prince is the soulful and intensely gifted Yves Saint Laurent.

Feng-Li can't wait to discover America with her family! But after an action-packed vacation, her parents deliver shocking news: They are returning to Taiwan and leaving Feng-Li and her older siblings in California on their own. Suddenly, the three kids must fend for themselves in a strange new world--and get along. Starting a new school, learning a new language, and trying to make new friends while managing a household is hard enough, but Bro and Sis's constant bickering makes everything worse.

Fourteen years ago, Delphine abandoned her prestigious soloist spot at the Paris Opera Ballet for a new life in St. Petersburg - taking with her a secret that could upend the lives of her best friends, fellow dancers Lindsay and Margaux. Now 36 years old, Delphine has returned to her former home and to the legendary Palais Garnier Opera House to choreograph the ballet that will kick-start the next phase of her career - and, she hopes, finally make things right with her former friends. But Delphine quickly discovers that things have changed while she's been away.

A bomb threat at Middlehampton’s Powerhouse music venue sends DS Kat Ballantyne spiralling into a nightmare—her husband and son are inside. As the city reels in terror, Kat fights to keep her family safe while being pulled into another deadly case that may well be connected… A journalist investigating a controversial football club takeover makes a chilling 999 call before collapsing. Hours later, he’s dead. His apparent murder marks the beginning of a dangerous trail of corruption leading to a foreign royal family. Or is the killer closer to home?