Showing results by narrator "Madeleine Brolly" in All Categories

Lily Kingsley accepts that she is destined to be a spinster - but not until she gets her first kiss. And she knows the perfect gentleman to enlist. Unfortunately, she kisses the wrong one and ends up in the arms of an overbearing and exceptionally frustrating merchant. When busybodies catch them in their illicit embrace, an engagement is the only solution, but Lily doesn’t want a fiancé who’s only doing his duty. And she certainly doesn’t want a gentleman far too used to getting his own way. She simply must make him see how ill-suited they are.

Romance ought to be that simple. But with no dowry, Victoria cannot marry a pauper. Nor can Oliver wed the daughter of the woman who nearly ruined his parents’ life 30 years ago. Surely, a marriage based on mutual affection and friendship is enough.

Felicity Barrows is no fool, though the fortune hunters pestering her must believe differently. What other reason could they have for hounding her every step, showering her with honeyed words and false compliments, expecting her to fall straight into their calculating arms? Better to remain a spinster than marry unhappily—if she could only get some peace from their incessant overtures.

Courageous or foolish? Marian Wakefield hadn’t thought herself either, but when she confessed her love to her closest friend, Marian discovered she had a hearty helping of both. And a broken heart to boot. No man shall ever secure her affection as he had, but with spinsterhood looming, her father gives her a choice—find herself a husband or he will do it for her. Must Marian settle for a marriage of convenience? Why does fate hate her so?

A marriage they didn’t choose. A child conceived in a lie. Can they overcome their broken dreams and find happiness in a life forced upon them? At her age, Ruby Jeffries knows better than to dream of love, but then, Lucas Ashbrook sweeps into her life with whispered declarations of love and fervent kisses. He’s everything she’s hoped for, and Ruby would risk far more than the scandal of an elopement to be with him. But when she discovers Lucas faked the wedding to win a bet, Ruby is left with more than a broken heart.

Two students coming home from a drunken night out see something strange in the river. It is a young woman’s body. Hours later, a second young woman’s body is discovered on another stretch of the same river. DS Ava Merry and DI Jim Neal are assigned to both investigations. And they’re joined by a new detective, Tom Knight. Soon a connection is found between the two dead women. A list of 'victims' is discovered in one of their flats. Who will be next, and what really happened to the women on this sinister list?

Amy Hill, a 19-year-old student, is strangled and her body dumped on open ground in the city. New police partners, DI Jim Neal and DS Ava Merry are called in to investigate this brutal crime. The last person to see Amy alive was Simon, the son of a family friend, but before he can be properly questioned he disappears. Detectives Neal and Merry are led on a trail of shocking family secrets and crimes. Can this duo track down the murderer before anyone else dies? Stopping this tragic cycle of violence will put DS Merry’s life at risk in a thrilling and heart-stopping finale.

An engrossing BBC Radio 4 series spanning the history of the home and domestic relationships over the past 500 years, presented by Amanda Vickery. Professor Vickery is one of the most charismatic historians in Britain today. In 'A History of Private Life' she reveals the intimate secrets of life at home, from the Tudor mansion to the modern bedsit.Through letters, diaries and other first-person accounts, we hear the voices of men and women from very different backgrounds telling their stories.

Six years ago, tragedy tore Eloise and Patrick apart. Shouldering the burden of his brother’s death, he spent years drinking himself into oblivion. Now freed from that darkness, Patrick Lennox returns to reclaim the heart of the young lady he left behind. Eloise Andrews has enough troubles in her life without Patrick stirring things up. Her mother is a heartless beast who controls every aspect of her life, and Eloise is determined to break free of her - even if it means destroying the perfect reputation her mother is desperate to save.

Evelyn Finch has given up on love. Finding a man to dance with her was difficult enough; finding one to spend his life with her was impossible. Better to embrace spinsterhood and rid herself of that false hope. No man will see her in a romantic light. But when a dashing gentleman sweeps into her life, reigniting her dreams, Evelyn can’t help but wonder if her greatest wish will finally come true.

In the sleepy town of Lost Maidens Loch, people sometimes disappear.... Down a quiet lane in town sits a little shop full of oddities you’d probably miss if you weren’t looking for it. This is Love’s Curiosities Inc., and its owner, Temerity Love, is sought by experts all over the world for her rare and magical gift: The ability to find lost things and learn their stories. When Lost Maidens’ pretty local school teacher is found murdered by a poisoned cup of tea, a strange antique hand mirror is discovered nearby.

1911: After the violent murder of three policemen in the line of duty, tensions between London constabulary and Whitechapel anarchists simmer. Meanwhile accusations and counter accusations of espionage further weaken relations between Germany and Britain. Can Margaret Demeray and Fox find out which potential enemy is behind a threat to the capital before it’s too late?

Irish Luck, Chinese Medicine is about improbable allies: an Irish single mother and a Chinese physician. Set against the backdrop of the Catholic Church in 19th Century America, it’s the story of how entrepreneurship and strength become a gateway for family survival despite injustice, tragedy, and ill-fated love. Follow the journey of a woman finding her strength as she rescues her sons from child labor and saves her family’s inheritance, only to risk everything for the man she loves.

Anarcho-capitalism is the most exciting social philosophy of modern times. But how does it work? This book illuminates the ethical system at the heart of anarcho-capitalism. It builds the nonaggression principle from praxeological foundations and develops techniques for applying it to real world conflicts. It explores the edges of libertarianism to show where it shines and where it fails.

He thinks she's a maid. She thinks he's a penniless poet. ‘Tis the season for a misunderstanding! Julian Knight cannot believe his luck. Meeting his literary hero is a dream come true, but spending a month in the fellow’s home is bliss. A few weeks away from his life of ledgers and finances to bask in their shared love of poetry and hone his skill at the feet of a master. It couldn’t be more perfect…Until he mistakes their eldest daughter for the maid. Now, the lady is determined to make the holidays uncomfortable for him. There must be a way to get back into her good graces!

A widower ought to mourn his wife, yet Hamilton Baxter feels only relief after her passing. After enduring thirty years in a miserable marriage, he is finally free to spend his days hidden in a library. But when his son begs for his help distracting his sweetheart’s diligent chaperone, Baxter can’t help but agree—only to discover that the spinster aunt is too appealing for his good.

When a factory girl and a Jewish businessman fall in love it seems that the whole world is against them. Manchester, 1939. On the eve of war Gracie Earnshaw is working in Rosenberg's Raincoat factory - a job she hates - but her life is about to be turned upside down when she falls in love with Jacob, the boss' charismatic nephew. Through Jacob, with his ambitions to be a writer, Gracie glimpses another world: theatre, music and prejudice. But their forbidden romance is cut short when Jacob is arrested and tragedy unfolds.

Marcus isn’t an ordinary 13-year-old. He’s a half vampire, with incredible special powers. And together with his friends, Tallulah and Gracie, he hunts and fights a totally evil enemy: the deadly vampires, who are out to destroy all humans and half vampires. But something strange has happened to Marcus. He’s lost his memory and can’t remember anything about his previous life as a vampire hunter. Tallulah and Gracie are seriously worried.

She is a girl three inches tall with eyes like drops of dew. Her clothes are cut from handkerchiefs and stitched with spider silk. For half of her life, she has been trapped in a birdcage while her giant kidnapper sits beside her, writing a leather-bound book the size of a house. Her name is Lily, and tonight she is escaping. She is going home. To Lilliput. Inspired by Gulliver’s Travels, Lilliput is an exhilarating adventure filled with cunning escape plans, evil clockmakers and very talkative parrots.

London May 1913. Angry about the treatment of suffragettes, and a supporter’s murder, Dr Margaret Demeray’s friend Maude urges their suffrage group towards violent militancy. But Margaret is conflicted when a parcel bomb brings casualties to her hospital. And what is the risk to a fragile peace treaty which is about to be signed, and to Fox who’s tracking down stolen diplomatic documents?