Showing results by narrator "Susie Riddell" in All Categories

The more you delve into the stories behind history's greatest names, the more you realise they have something in common: a mystifying lack of common sense. Take Marie Curie, famous for both discovering radioactivity and having absolutely zero lab safety protocols. Or Lord Byron, who literally took a bear with him to university. Or James Glaisher, a hot-air balloon pioneer who nearly ended up as the world's first human satellite.

Beloved author Mary Stewart's long-lost novella, now available again for the first time in 40 years. In 1879 a wealthy young woman elopes with an impoverished fisherman, leaving her family, who live on the volcanic island of Lanzarote, distraught. In 1968, 23-year-old Perdita West, secretary to the famous author Cora Gresham, visits Lanzarote, the strangest and wildest of the Canary Isles, on a research trip. They meet Cora's estranged son, Mike, and fall in love with the unusual, beautiful little island.

Have you heard of The Rules of Engagement? It's a book that promises to teach you to find the man of your dreams in 10 easy steps. Unsurprisingly, I don't own a copy. What is it, 1892? But I'm a journalist, and I've promised to follow it to the letter and write about the results. Never mind that my friends think I'm insane, I'm stalking men all over town, and I can't keep my mouth shut at the best of times. My name is Cat Buchanan. I'm 36 years old and live with my daughter in Glasgow.

Lily has always had a simple dream: to be happy like her parents were. But their love story was cut tragically short when - after a devastating battle with cancer - Lily’s mother died. Lily was heartbroken, but also desperately worried about her grieving dad, not to mention five-year-old Emma. So, Lily is shocked and concerned when he suddenly decides to remarry. It’s only Lily who can’t trust her. Who won’t trust her. And when Emma goes missing - could Lily be right? What if the greatest danger to them all is the woman now living in their family home?

The village of Blackrig in the Scottish Highlands was shocked when seventeen-year-old Ailsa Cummings went missing five years ago. While a recent pandemic has stirred up old tensions and sparked an animosity in the small community towards outsiders. Angry that the local estate is to reopen its luxury ‘party house’ to tourists results in an angry mob causing damage to the property’s hot tub, only to unearth the buried body of the missing girl in its foundations. The discovery ignites old suspicions among the villagers, especially the men, who’d known Ailsa.

The Howling Banshees of Biel-Tan wage war in the depths of a Chaos-tainted craftworld. Blood Runs. Anger Rises. Death Wakes. War Calls. And failure is unthinkable....

Enter an enchanted world of animal friends! Each cute animal has its own pair of pretty fairy wings, and a special job to do in Misty Wood to make it a wonderful place to live. In Paddy the Puppy, it's Paddy's birthday! As Paddy flies all over Misty Wood, spreading pollen to make the flowers grow, he invites his fairy animal friends to come to his party. And when he arrives home, he's in for a lovely surprise! In Mia the Mouse, Mia is on an errand for her mum. She knows it's something beginning with 'B'.

In Polite, Louise shows how the unseen science of politeness governs everything we do, from what we say to how we act, and reveals how a better understanding of the rules and norms of politeness can help us in all aspects of our work, leisure and home lives. And, in doing so, she answers the age-old question... are politeness standards really declining?

Carrying just a suitcase and an old laundry bag filled with clothes, Kasienka and her mother are immigrating to England from Poland. Kasienka isn't the happiest girl in the world. At home, her mother is suffering from a broken heart as she searches for Kasienka's father. And at school, Kasienka is having trouble being the new girl and making friends. The only time she feels comforted is when she's swimming at the pool. But she can't quite shake the feeling that she's sinking. Until a new boy swims into her life....

England, 1941. After three nights of relentless bombing from German aircraft, trained nurse Jo Brooks is told to report to the basement theater of Mill Road Hospital. She goes with a heavy heart, not wanting to leave behind her best friend Moira, who is desperately soothing new mothers on the maternity ward. As Jo arrives safely underground, the ward takes a direct hit.

Fed up of friends claiming to care about the provenance of their food, Louise Gray decides to follow the argument to its logical extreme. Starting small, Louise shucks oysters and catches fish. Gradually she gets to know countrymen and women who teach her how to shoot pigeons and rabbits. As she begins to reconnect with nature and her own upbringing in the countryside, Louise starts to question modern attitudes to the meat we eat.

Cody MacBain let the woman of his destiny slip away. A member of an ancient clan of Scottish warriors, he grew up beside Shay Logan as her secret protector, but his heart compelled him to become more. Until Shay's true identity was revealed, and the fated pair's chance was gone...But danger will drive them back into each other's arms....

Condemned to be auctioned off to the highest bidder by her own father, Aloise Crawford makes a desperate attempt to escape. When the ship she is imprisoned on docks, she jumps overboard. When she finally swims ashore, she finds herself at the feet of a dark stranger with a face as angry as it is alluring. For years, Slater McKendrick has lived in hiding, awaiting his chance to seek vengeance against the man who stole his family’s precious jewels, the Bengal Rubies. So when Aloise arrives on his lonely beach hideaway, it seems as if the opportunity has at last been delivered to him.

Negotiation is the most important skill you can develop to get what you want in business and life. But we often struggle to do it effectively. We fail to recognise opportunities, we prepare poorly or we let ourselves be led by others or by our own fear. Natalie Reynolds, negotiation expert and CEO of negotiation consultancy Advantage Spring, will teach you how to avoid these pitfalls, to keep cool and in control and to achieve what you want every time - whether you're responsible for large deals at work or simply renegotiating your phone contract.

Silver Screen presents an enjoyably different, subversive slant on the science fiction themes of AI and cyberspace. Insecure and overweight heroine Anjuli O’Connell is one of a group of friends who have been hot-housed from an early age to perform in genius-level jobs. But Anjuli worries that her eidetic memory and her friendship with genuine smart boy Roy Croft has been her ticket to success, rather than any real intelligence of her own.

Mad and Roo's world turns upside down when their bird-freak dad goes to the jungle and doesn't come back. When they receive a Very Strange and Incredibly Creepy Letter, which Roo swears is in code, they know that something has happened to him. Determined to find him, the girls set out into the Costa Rican jungle to investigate. With the help of a golden-eyed boy, a rare and valuable bird and some weird jungle flowers that grow between Roo's toes

Escape to the Highland Coral Beach - where broken hearts can be healed. Beatrice Halliday needs a break from life. Booking a trip to the Highlands on a whim, Beatrice hopes learning Gaelic in a beautiful Scottish village might help heal her grief after losing her baby, her husband and her much-loved job in the space of months. But Port Willow Bay isn't exactly as the website promised. Instead of learning a new language, she's booked in to learn the ancient skill of willow weaving, her hotel room is Princess and the Pea themed (with a stack of mattresses for her bed!) and worse still, her tutor is Atholl Fergusson, the grumpy landlord of the hotel where Beatrice is staying.

Historian Bree Kirkland has always been in love with the past, but when she accidentally wakes an ancient Scottish warrior who's spent the past 150 years sleeping in her backyard, her present is suddenly fraught with danger. Faelan has awakened from his time travel and he's ravenous - in more ways than one. He grieves for his lost family, wondering who sent the woman to wake him. If she's a demon, he will have to kill her. If she's innocent, she's unleashed the gates of hell in her backyard. Either way, they must rely on each other to save their future.

Stella Price thought she had her life all planned out, until it exploded in front of her. Desperate for a fresh start, she picks up her old camera and dives into the challenging world of wedding photography. She meets renowned wedding photographer Connor Knight. He's talented, arrogant, and undeniably attractive, but Stella can't stand him. However, when Connor becomes her mentor, she's forced to confront her preconceived opinions and work alongside him. As they clash and push each other's buttons, a passionate spark ignites between them.

Sweet, shy Tabitha Crum, the neglected only child of two parents straight out of a Roald Dahl book, doesn't have a friend in the world - except for her pet mouse, Pemberley, whom she loves dearly. But on the day she receives one of six invitations to the country estate of wealthy Countess Camilla DeMoss, her life changes forever.