Showing results by narrator "Charlotte Strevens" in All Categories

Queen Victoria had over 30 surviving grandchildren, and to maintain and increase power in Europe, she hoped to manoeuvre them into dynastic marriages. Yet they often had plans of their own, and her matchmaking was further complicated by tumultuous international upheavals. Queen Victoria's Matchmaking travels through the glittering, decadent palaces of Russia and Europe, weaving in scandals, political machinations and family tensions.

Alice Quentin returns to tackle a series of murders in the Square Mile in the thrilling sequel to Crossbones Yard. The first death looked like a suicide. But someone had tucked a picture of an angel and a handful of white feathers into the banker's pocket - before pushing him in front of a Tube. A killer is stalking the Square Mile, an avenging angel intent on punishment. But why these victims? What were their sins?

Glamorous debutantes, heartbreak and discovering just what is worth fighting for in the new historical novel from Sunday Times best seller Adele Parks. It's1914. Vivian, a young, impassioned debutante is hurried into a pedestrian marriage to cover a scandal. War breaks out on her wedding day - domestically and across Europe.

Amy Carter is determined to make Bellefontaine, her farmhouse hotel in the French countryside, a success. Of course, there’s the time and money she’s put in to making it beautiful, but she also has something to prove - particularly to people like Fabien Coste. Fabien is the owner of the nearby château, and he might just be the most arrogant, patronising man Amy has ever met...unfortunately, he’s also the most handsome. But as rumours circulate in the local community, Amy quickly sees the less idyllic side of life at Bellefontaine.

Moira Martingale’s comprehensive study, Cannibal Killers: The Impossible Monsters, was originally written in 1993, when the Internet was in its infancy, when few homes had computers and when the character Hannibal Lecter from the book and movie The Silence of the Lambs was regarded as an entirely fictional character, with no real-world counterparts or inspirations. The book demonstrated that this was an erroneous assumption.

When beautiful cloth merchant's daughter Elizabeth Williams is widowed at the age of 22, she is determined to succeed in the business she has learned from her father. But many are opposed to a woman making her own way in the world, and Elizabeth could have powerful enemies - enemies who know the truth about her late husband. Then Elizabeth meets kindly, ambitious merchant turned lawyer Thomas Cromwell.

Born one hundred years ago, Betty Webb MBE, LOH (Legion of Honour) has had a ringside seat to history. After graduating from school, she faced the usual limited opportunities for employment on offer to women at the time. However, with the war in full swing, fate intervened and in 1941, wanting to play her part in the war effort, Betty joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service (Women’s Army). After being interviewed by an intelligence officer, she found herself at Euston station with her kit-bag, a travel warrant in her pocket and instructions to get off the train at Bletchley Park.

When Princess Matilda is eighteen years old, tragedy strikes the royal family, and she becomes the only child of the king of England - the de facto heir to the throne. As her dying father persuades the barons to pledge allegiance to her, Matilda returns to England - but the lords and clergy do not like an independent woman. And Matilda is nothing if not headstrong. When the old king dies, the country is plunged into instant chaos. So begins a fierce battle between cousins that will go down in history as a time called 'The Anarchy'.

It's the start of a new year when resolutions are made... Maggie is stuck in a boring marriage and dreams of a life straight from the pages of a romantic novel. Ella is recovering from seven wasted years of failing to win over the daughter of the man she loves and Ethan, tired of his marriage, seeks the company of other women. Should they be careful what they wish for?

When Edith Wight's parents fail to collect her from boarding school for the summer holidays, she's packed off to live with eccentric Uncle Francis - a vet who runs a practice in a remote part of the New Forest. Francis is the last in a long line of vets who treat mythical creatures: among his patients are pegasi, unicorns, dragons and much more. And when he receives a summons from the Himalayas - where one of a remote family of yetis is suffering from a mysterious illness - Edith finds herself on the voyage of a lifetime.

Recently divorced, Tessa Parker runs a successful B&B in a seaside town. During a surprise visit from Australia, a long-lost aunt lets slip a family secret that unsettles her fragile world.In shock, and feeling betrayed by her whole family, Tessa confides in her ex-husband just as he reveals he has a new woman in his life. Struck unexpectedly by jealousy; balancing her own turmoil against the demands of parenting, Tessa tries to trace her birth father, with devastating results. Yet she fails to see how this is a crucial moment in her children's lives.

A woman is watching a report on television of the death of a mother and daughter; apparently both had died at the mother's hand. Also on the screen is the surviving member of the family, a widower described as Mark Bretherick. Watching with her husband, the woman, Sally, has to bite back the words that spring to her lips: this man is not Mark Bretherick! How does she know?

Edith Wight can't wait to stay with her uncle - vet to magical animals and beasts - for the Christmas holidays. She's expecting to be reunited with all her friends, both animal and human, and celebrate the holidays together. But one of the few phoenixes left in the world is missing and in peril. The Secret Animal Society heads to a remote part of Bavaria to track down the bird, only to encounter a new foe more deadly and dangerous than they could have possibly imagined - who is using phoenix ashes to create new hybrid beasts to sell to the evil Syndicate.

At the age of 21, Edith Chaplin married one of the most eligible bachelors of the day, the eldest son of the sixth Marquess of Londonderry. Her husband served in the Ulster cabinet and was Air Minister in the National Government of 1934-5. Edith founded the Women's Legion during the First World War and was also an early campaigner for women's suffrage. She created the renowned Mount Stewart Gardens in County Down that are now owned by the National Trust.

In 1621, 57 women undertook a three-month journey to Jamestown after responding to an advert placed by the Virginia Company, looking for wives for its tobacco planters in the New Colony. They travelled of their own free will, but the Company was effectively selling them at a profit, having set a bride price of 150lbs of tobacco for each woman. But what did the women want? Why did they make the perilous Atlantic crossing to a dangerous land, where six out of seven European settlers died within a few years?

On the day that her youngest child leaves home, Alice Hatton discovers two disturbing truths in a matter of hours. The Empty Nest cliché is true. And she does not love her husband Peter at all. Now in her fifties, Alice is appalled to realise that she is no longer considered her own person, but is instead defined by her relationships – mother to her adult children, wife to her husband. Horrified by the thought of spending another thirty years with Peter in their North London suburb, Alice decides to take matters into her own hands.

England, 1605. Twelve-year-old Tom must save his father from being hanged. He falls in with a mysterious stranger, the Falcon, who promises to help him in exchange for his service. But on the long journey to London, Tom discovers the Falcon's true mission - a plot to blow up king and Parliament with barrels of black powder! Now Tom faces a terrible decision: secure his father's release or stop the assassination of the king....

Fran's waved goodbye to the force and hello to her pension. But who is she without her job? She decides to get away from it all in Llanbryn, an idyllic seaside village in Wales. It beats feeling sorry for herself and watching Homes Under the Hammer all day. Fran's soon taken under the wing of the Sea Sisters, a group of inspirational women of all ages and sizes who swim in the ocean. They challenge her to move on from the past and face her life-long fear of the sea. And the strapping Wyn catches her eye.

Actress Charlotte has it all: a starring role in a West End show, a glittering social life and an equally high-flying boyfriend. But when her perfect existence abruptly falls apart, she retreats to her hometown on the North Yorkshire coast, finding a summer job in the local bookshop. Greg, the grumpy, old-fashioned manager of Seaswept Books, is alarmed by Charlotte's attempts to revitalise the tired-looking bookshop. But when she discovers his secret passion for amateur dramatics, an unlikely friendship blossoms.

In 18th-century Venice, Minguillo Fasan, heir to a fortune, contrives to dispatch of his sister, Marcella, condemning her to the fate of a nun. But Marcella Fasan is tougher than Minguillo imagines, and, aided by a servant, a painter, a skin-obsessed doctor, a Scottish merchant and a cigar-smoking pornographer, she pitches her wits against her brother….