Showing results by narrator "Rosie Akerman" in All Categories

Meg Church adores two things: life in a village of perennial Yuletide, and the freedom of being a spinster with no reputation to protect. Oh, very well, three things: She’s harbored a secret tendre for Christmas curmudgeon Lucien le Duc since the moment she first glimpsed him. But the sexy blacksmith won’t give her the time of day, much less a night of torrid passion.

Lady Charlotte Whitaker is devoted to her family, particularly her sister’s son, Freddie. Her late father, the marquess of Lockhead, died without a male heir. But on his deathbed, he requested that Freddie inherit the title. Consequently, Lottie’s family has petitioned the Crown. But even though she wants nothing more than to honor her late father’s wishes, she unwittingly reveals a wrinkle to the plan....

Ewan Campbell fought to free himself from his past - quite literally. A former prizefighter, he now earns his living as an artist. But he still fights more figurative opponents: dark memories that threaten to overwhelm him. Worse, when he is hired to assist a famous painter, he finds himself falling for the man’s highborn niece, Lady Kildrum. Such feelings are pointless. Countesses do not fall in love with impoverished Highlanders, no matter what fairy tales say.

A new neighbour becomes a new friend. She looks up to you. She admires you, but then - you realise - she wants your life.... When Sharni and Tom move into 24 The Pines, it seems like Clare and Chris have the perfect neighbours. Sharni is always there to help, especially with childcare for Clare's two-year-old, Ben. As Sharni's influence touches everyone around her, Clare finds herself fighting for her sanity as well her family.

When Natalie snoops through her boyfriend's possessions, she finds more than she bargained for - Mark was once convicted of a brutal killing. However, he was not the only person sentenced for the murder of two-year-old Abby Morgan. The violent and twisted Adam Campbell was also convicted...and Mark knows more about the murder than he will admit. Can Mark ever break free from Adam and his past?

Bath, England, 1890. Mystery author Lady Amy Lovell receives an anonymous letter containing shocking news: her fiancé, Mr. Ronald St. Vincent, has been dabbling in something illegal, which causes her to promptly break their engagement. Two evenings later, as Lady Amy awaits a visit from Lord William Wethington, fellow member of the Bath Mystery Book Club, her former fiancé makes an unexpected and most unwelcome appearance at her house.

Heartbroken and desperate to escape another London Season, Caroline Elliott stows away aboard a friend's ship, never dreaming she'll be mistaken for a courtesan and abducted by a handsome mariner with wounds as deep as her own.

Rumor has it, charming adventurer Christopher Pringle is finally ready to settle down. He’s searching for a free-spirited bride to join him on his travels. But when the matchmaker he hires turns out to be the woman he had a public spat with the day before, nothing goes as planned!

A female thief, with four husbands, a lover, and, reportedly, over 12 children, is arrested and tried for the murder of her stepson in 1872, turning the small village of West Auckland in County Durham upside down. Other bodies are exhumed, and when they are found to contain arsenic, she is suspected of their murder as well. The perpetrator, Mary Ann Cotton, was tried and found guilty and later hanged on 24 March 1873 in Durham Gaol. It is claimed she murdered over 20 people and was the first female serial killer in England.

The Duke of Azureford isn’t the arrogant, aloof lord his peers perceive him to be. Yes, he’s awkward, but he has a plan to fix it. In order to woo a respectable lady, he must learn how to flirt. The completely inappropriate girl next door would make a perfect instructor, but a terrible duchess. So why can’t he walk away? Incorrigible hoyden Miss Carole Quincy likes fast carriages, carom billiards, and the beautiful, buttoned-up Duke of Azureford. She’d be delighted to help him out of his shell and into her arms. Who cares if they’re just pretending to flirt?

Unpaid and under-appreciated journalist Miss Eve Shelling never goes anywhere without a trusty notebook and her overprotective Duenna—who happens to be a bullmastiff. Eve learned the hard way that men are not to be trusted. She’s definitely not falling head-over-heels for the deceptively charming subject of her front-page column.

Single father and confirmed bachelor Jack Skeffington is the mastermind behind an international smuggling ring, yet unable to control his rambunctious ten-year-old twins. What he needs is a stern, experienced, no-nonsense governess. What he gets is his business partner’s untouchable sister, whose delectable body Jack yearns to pull close. Mademoiselle Désirée le Duc cannot wait to return to France and regain her lost vineyard. But to do so, she must repay crippling debt. Determined to buy freedom, she accepts temporary employment from an Englishman with a wicked smile and a big… wine cellar.

On arriving home after a friend’s posh wedding, launderette worker Harriet finds her flat has been ransacked and her boyfriend is missing. Shortly afterward, she is harassed by East End gangsters and upper-crust aristocrats. Accepting an offer she can’t refuse, Harriet, against her better judgement, becomes the fiancée of the wealthy Hamilton Lancaster, with dire consequences. What she had not bargained on was meeting Doctor Brice Edmunds.

Raised in the darkness of Satis House where the clocks never tick, the beautiful Estella is bred to hate men and to keep her heart cold as the grave. She knows she doesn’t feel things quite like other people do but is this just the result of her strange upbringing? As she watches the brutal treatment of women around her, hatred hardens into a core of vengeance, and when she finds herself married to the abusive Drummle, she is forced to make a deadly choice: Should she embrace the darkness within her and exact her revenge?

As the daughter of a duke, Lady Isabelle’s pristine reputation is paramount. Her high status is how she’ll attract the titled suitor her mother insists she wed. When Belle’s chaperone falls ill en route to a party, she must pose as an independent widow to avoid gossip. Why not have a wee innocent flirtation with a handsome tailor staying at the same inn? She’ll be gone in the morning…

This year, the Duke of Nottingvale's Christmastide house party doubles as a bride hunt. The handsome duke seeks a blue-blooded debutante as respectable as he is, and his parlor is brimming with paragons of propriety. Inveterate spinster and unapologetic hoyden Miss Cynthia Louise Finch does not fit the mold. Any mold. Her younger cousin is perfect for the duke! By matchmaking the two, Cynthia will save her favorite cousin from a horrific fate. The only problem? Cynthia has always held a tendre for the duke. And for the first time, she seems to have caught his attention.

THE MIDNIGHT MOON FEAST. The friends are having a sleepover when they discover that the usually fearless Zia always sleeps with the light on. To help her, they plan their first ever magical midnight feast! THE SECRET JUNGLE HIDEAWAY. Katy has adopted a Sumatran tiger - the most endangered tiger in the world - and she'd love to go on an adventure to meet her. While on a playdate, Luca's garden magically transforms into the Sumatran jungle.

L’araignee, The Spider, is England’s most notorious spy—and Lady Rebecca Wentworth’s alter ego. After her partner in espionage is killed in the line of duty, Rebecca returns to London, only to discover a traitor has compromised the war effort from the highest levels of the vaunted Counterintelligence Corps. To lure the villain into the open, Rebecca embarks on a new mission, acting as prey for a dangerous enemy. But it is the handsome former Navy captain tasked with her safety who presents the greatest threat, when she falls in love.

Connie is living an idealized life in Manhattan’s Dakota building with the inscrutable Weston family. On December 8th, 1980, the 18-year-old’s idyllic life is thrown under the A train when she witnesses her husband, Dan, tragically die. In this intricately woven tale of long-buried secrets, the Weston family makes it impossible for the young widow to remain in the city. Connie returns to the Dakota in late June 2000, determined to live the life denied to her.

1971. When 15 year-old Ellen returns home from school in Yorkshire, her world is fragmented as she finds her mother has hanged herself. A dark mist descends, yet somehow she must find a new way to live. After her mother’s funeral, Ellen is taken to live with her aunt and uncle and pressed into housework, forced to wait on the men of the household...She rebels by running away to London. There she learns to stand up: For women and for herself. Written to provide support, insight, and comfort for those younger listeners dealing with parental suicide.