Showing results by narrator "Nicky Diss" in All Categories

Audrey's family are falling apart. Her two grown-up daughters, Jess and Lily, are estranged, and her two granddaughters have never been allowed to meet. One secret that echoes back to 30 years before has splintered the family in two, and is also the one thing keeping them connected. But as tensions reach breaking point, the irrevocable choice that one of them made all those years ago will inevitably rise to the surface and either split them apart for good - or bring them back together. A moving novel full of heart about the people closest to us.

The second novel in Abi Elphinstone’s new series, The Unmapped Chronicles, takes listeners to the magical kingdom of Jungledrop! A breath-taking adventure story that’s also about being kind - to others, to our planet and, perhaps hardest of all, to ourselves.

Space has captivated mankind since the beginning of time. Fifty years ago, Neil Armstrong became the first man to step on the moon, and since then our knowledge of astronomy has continued to expand. With so many mysteries yet to be solved, science journalist Abigail Beall takes readers on an astonishing journey though the landscape of space.

In the snowy kingdom of Erkenwald, whales glide between icebergs, wolves hunt on the tundra and polar bears roam the glaciers. But the people of this land aren’t so easy to find - because Erkenwald is ruled by an evil Ice Queen, and the tribes must stay hidden or risk becoming her prisoners at Winterfang Palace. Join Eska, a girl who breaks free from a cursed music box, and Flint, a boy whose inventions could change the fate of Erkenwald forever, as they journey to the Never Cliffs and beyond.

Eleven-year-old Casper Tock hates risks, is allergic to adventures and shudders at the thought of unpredictable events. So, it comes as a nasty shock to him when he accidentally stumbles into Rumblestar, an Unmapped Kingdom full of magical beasts. All Casper wants is to find a way home, but Rumblestar is in trouble. An evil harpy called Morg is sending her followers, the Midnights, into the kingdom to wreak havoc and pave the way for her to steal the Unmapped magic for herself.

Having the ability to see fairies means that Tanya Fairchild's life has never been easy. After all, real fairies are nothing like the ones in books, ones that grant wishes or leave money for teeth. Real fairies don't like to be talked about, and they cast spells if Tanya steps out of line. The most she's ever received in exchange for one of her teeth is a chewed up toffee. Of course, it would help if Tanya knew someone - anyone - else who could see them, too....

Talented yet relatively unknown actress and celebration cake baker extraordinaire Olivia Lambert is running out of time. Approaching 40, she’s yet to land the role that will launch her television career, and she’s desperate to be a mum. Her new man, Phil Grimshaw from the Bluebell Cliff Hotel, seems the perfect match but seems to be in no rush to settle down. Having ditched her childhood sweetheart and fiancé, Tom Boyd, when he backtracked about being a dad, Olivia dreads making the same mistake again.

In Vaxxers, we hear directly from Professor Gilbert and her colleague, Dr Catherine Green, as they reveal the inside story of making the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine and the cutting-edge science and sheer hard work behind it. This is their story of fighting a pandemic as ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Sarah and Cath share the heart-stopping moments in the eye of the storm, they separate fact from fiction, they explain how they made a safe vaccine in record time with the eyes of the world watching and they give us hope for the future.

It is midnight in Crackledawn—a midnight full of magic. Sea dragons stir in the depths of the ocean, silver whales surface beneath the moon and sand goblins line the shores. Everyone is waiting for the phoenix, the guardian of the kingdom’s magic, to rise up from the forests of Everdark. But there is no sign of the phoenix tonight. Something else surges up out of Everdark instead: a harpy bent on stealing Crackledawn’s magic.

Mum-to-be Rachel did everything right, but it all went wrong. Her son, Luke, was stillborn, and she finds herself on maternity leave without a baby, trying to make sense of her loss. When a misguided well-wisher tells her that 'everything happens for a reason', she becomes obsessed with finding that reason. She remembers that on the day she discovered her pregnancy, she'd stopped a man from jumping in front of a train, and she’s now certain that saving his life cost her the life of her son.

Magic is forbidden in Myrsina, along with various other abominations, such as girls doing maths. This is bad news for Gretel Mudd, mathematician and inventor of helpful contraptions. When the sinister masked huntsmen accuse her of witchcraft, she is forced to flee into the neighbouring Darkwood, where witches and monsters dwell. There, she happens upon Buttercup, a witch who can’t help turning things into food; Jack Trott, who can make plants grow at will; the White Knight with her band of Dwarves; and a talking spider called Trevor.

Life is tough for Faith Diamond. Growing up on the wrong side of London, with a family incapable of staying on the right side of the law, her future has only ever been about survival. But then a series of prostitutes are found murdered: strangled and stripped naked. The only thread linking the bodies is pimp Marshall Vella - a man connected in more ways than one with the Diamond family. Now Faith is forced to consider the possibility that the people she fights to protect might be involved in something more evil than even she could have imagined.

Thea has a secret. She can tell how long someone has left to live just by touching them. Not only that, but she can transfer life from one person to another – something she finds out the hard way when her best friend Ruth suffers a fatal head injury on a night out. Desperate to save her, Thea touches the arm of the man responsible when he comes to check if Ruth is all right. As Ruth comes to, the man quietly slumps to the ground, dead. Thea realises that she has a godlike power: but despite deciding to use her ability for good, she can’t help but sometimes use it for her own benefit.

Fifty years ago a girl vanished in the woods nearby - a girl Tanya's grandmother will not speak of. Fabian, the caretaker's son, is tormented by the girl's disappearance. His grandfather was the last person to see her alive and has lived under suspicion ever since. Together, Tanya and Fabian decide to find the truth. But Tanya has her own secret: the ability to see fairies. And after disturbing an intruder in the night, it emerges that someone else shares her ability.... The manor's sinister history is about to repeat itself....

A Dorset summer, a chance meeting, and Joe and Alice, both 18, fall into step as if they have known each other forever. But their idyll is shattered as quickly as it began. Joe leaves without warning; Alice heads off to Cambridge University and slowly picks up the pieces of her broken heart. Years later, when she catches the attention of gorgeous, gifted, rich boy Lukas, Alice is carried along by his charm and swept up in his ambitious plans for a future together. Until news of Joe reaches her once more, but he's out of reach....

Madame Augustina Pinchbeck travels the country conjuring the spirits of dearly departed loved ones...for a price. Whilst her ability to contact ghosts is a game of smoke and mirrors, there is real magic behind her tricks, too - if you know where to look. Through a magical trade, she persuades children to part with precious objects, promising to use her powers to help them. But Pinchbeck is a deceiver, instead turning their items into enchanted cabinets that bind the children to her and into which she can vanish and summon them at will.

Three sisters, Claire - a model daughter, a teacher, straightforward, happy yet wanting love. Laura, the wild one, a student, a beauty, yearning to break the bounds of family life. And Holly, their little sister, the one they don't really know, but who watches everything. Leaving home, seduction, coming of age and growing up abound in this delicious novel of sibling rivalry, partnership and love.

Verity is telling lies. And that's why she's about to be arrested for attempted murder. Serena has been lying for years. And that may have driven her daughter, Verity, to do something unthinkable. Poppy's lies have come back to haunt her. So will her quest for the truth hurt everyone she loves? Everyone lies. But whose lies are going to end in tragedy?

In this short prequel to Alison Weir's new novel, Elizabeth of York, The Last White Rose, the young princess is born - and the future of England hangs in the balance. The Palace of Westminster, 1466. As the queen of England lies in her chamber, exhausted from childbirth, the court awaits news of the longed-for heir.

Laura has been married to the man of her dreams for seven months. But, she now discovers, a week before the wedding Matthew made a terrible mistake.... Escaping the heartache and humiliation, Laura is whisked off to Florida's Key West by her best friend, Marty. A carefree holiday full of cocktails and fun, surrounded by gorgeous, tanned men, is exactly what the doctor ordered. Distraction comes in the form of sexy Cuban scuba diver Leo. As the end of the holiday approaches, Laura doesn't want to go home.