Showing results by narrator "Stewart Crank" in All Categories

"It’s a preposterous plan. Still, if you do get up it, it’ll be the hardest thing that’s been done in the Himalayas." Thus spoke Chris Bonington when Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker presented him with their plan to tackle the unscaled West Wall of Changabang - the Shining Mountain - in 1976. Bonington’s was one of the more positive responses; most felt the climb impossibly hard, especially for a two-man, lightweight expedition.

For Regan Penhaligon, there's no better place to run to than the exclusive Ardnoch Estate in the remote Scottish Highlands. Her impulsive behavior has finally caught up with her and Regan's visit with her sister, Robyn, is an opportunity to hide from someone who has grown dangerously obsessed with her. Determined to make amends for her mistakes, Regan plans to repair her relationship with Robyn by staying close. And when an offer of help comes from Thane Adair, Regan gratefully accepts.

The unshakeable Amelia Peabody embarks on an Egyptian adventure armed with self-confidence, a journal to record her thoughts, and, of course–a sturdy umbrella. On her way to Cairo, Amelia rescues young Evelyn Barton-Forbes, who has been abandoned by her scoundrel lover. Together the two women sail up the Nile to an archeological site run a pair of handsome brothers.

Having narrowly averted an (under)world war, Cat Crawfield wants nothing more than a little downtime with her vampire husband, Bones. Unfortunately, her gift from New Orleans’ voodoo queen just keeps on giving—leading to a personal favor that sends them into battle once again, this time against a villainous spirit.

Underhill is my ruthless mother. Her realm is my deadly home. The brutal creatures here are both foe and friend. But the group of fae that just attacked me? They’re all foe. Dragged from my game of hide-and-seek with a dragon, and my home of twenty-one years, I’m thrust into a weak, ugly realm. Earth. Something is taking the fae children of the Irish court, and an Oracle has declared I must find them. Nope. Not my problem. Bye. Except a three-year-old girl they suspect is the next Queen of All Fae was taken too.

In It for the Long Run is ultrarunner Damian Hall’s story of running a first marathon aged 36, dressed as a toilet, and representing Great Britain four years later. His midlife-crisis running problem escalated to 100-mile ultramarathons and record-breaking bimbles, culminating in his 261-mile Pennine Way run in July 2020.

Since half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her undead lover Bones met six years ago, they've fought against the rogue undead, battled a vengeful Master vampire, and pledged their devotion with a blood bond. Now it's time for a vacation. But their hopes for a perfect Paris holiday are dashed when Cat awakes one night in terror. She's having visions of a vampire named Gregor who's more powerful than Bones and has ties to her past that even Cat herself didn't know about.

Fae games will change you . . . but their love will ruin you. At least, that's what my mother told me. My mother had three rules: 1. Never make a bargain with a fairy. 2. Never enter the Waywoods on a hunting day. 3. Never give the High Fae princes a reason to notice you. But even when I followed all the rules, the royal fae still took my family from me. So in one night I broke all three rules, and brought the kingdom to their knees.

It’s been two years since Lorna Cheyne went to prison, and tension is building in the Armour Group. While they debate if Lorna is one of them or not, DI Alex Lillico finds himself in the minority view. So, he’s happy to be shipped off to Galloway, where a collapsed sea cliff has revealed not one, but two dark mysteries in the belly of a forgotten cave. One of these challenges is urgent police work while the other tilts at an old Scottish myth that even Gill McArdle will struggle to explain.

It was a simple job. All I had to do was steal a ring from a mainland witch for the Thieves’ Guild that owned me. Easy enough, right? The reward would bring me closer to earning my freedom. And stars above, I wanted off this floating luxury island. But then he showed up, a cocky thief from a rival guild, and ruined all my plans. Every. Single. One. I lost the ring and my chance at freedom. But on the bright side, if we fail to retrieve three magical artifacts for the witch, I’ll be forever cursed to exist no more than fifteen feet from that unnaturally beautiful, arrogant elf.

Patch Brightwater is a boy in disgrace. Thrown in jail for playing a forbidden spell, he is no one's idea of a hero. But then he discovers a deadly truth - the evil Piper of Hamelyn is on the loose. With the help of Wren, a girl cursed to live as a rat, and Barver, a fire-breathing dracogriff, Patch must stop the Piper sparking the biggest battle of them all. Three accidental heroes versus one legendary villain...an epic adventure is born.

While Arran Adair might have followed the call of wanderlust in his younger years, it isn't the reason he stayed away from Ardnoch. Home now, desperate to put the sins of his past behind him, and rebuild his life in the Scottish Highlands, Arran could never have predicted Eredine Willows. The Ardnoch Estate Pilates instructor is a complicated mystery and one Arran can't help but want to solve.

Orphaned Isabel Fitzhugh is fourteen when she first comes to Wolvesley by the sea, traveling with her cousin to see her wed to the formidable Liam MacTavish. She's unimpressed, with both her current situation and her cousin's husband. She thinks he is aloof and arrogant, well deserving of her cousin. But then Liam intercedes on her behalf against a mean-spirited tormentor and everything changes.

Half-vampire Cat Crawfield is now Special Agent Cat Crawfield, working for the government to rid the world of the rogue undead. She's still using everything Bones, her sexy and dangerous ex, taught her, but when Cat is targeted for assassination, the only man who can help her is the vampire she left behind. Being around him awakens all her emotions, from the adrenaline kick of slaying vamps side by side to the reckless passion that consumed them. But a price on her head—wanted: dead or half-alive—means her survival depends on teaming up with Bones.

Once a prisoner of the English, Nicholas MacRory cannot refuse so lucrative an offer: rescue the daughter of the powerful John de Graham and in return, the baron will invest his faithfulness, coin, and his considerable army in the Sottish cause. Nicholas doesn't count on resistance, or that the strong-willed lass will challenge the veracity of his claims, that he is there to take her home. And he certainly doesn't plan on being bitten by a fascination with the brave and breathtaking Alice.

Miss Georgina Townsend begged me to ruin her. After all, selfish plunder is what I excel at. How can I, Charles Montclare, second son of an Earl, renowned rake, possibly refuse this beautiful young heiress who's determined to thwart her family's unsavory plans for her future? Of course, I should refuse. She's my friend's younger sister. But she's no longer that spirited young girl. Georgina is now a beautiful and fiery woman who, as always, is making me crazy. Only this time, with desire. This time, with a fire to make her mine.

1989 heralded a unique prospect for an enduring global peace, as harsh ideological divisions and conflicts began to be resolved. Now, three decades on, that peace has been lost. With war in Ukraine and increasing tensions between China, Russia, and the West, great power politics once again dominates the world stage. But could it have been different? Richard Sakwa shows how the years before the first mass invasion of Ukraine represented a hiatus in conflict rather than a lasting accord—and how, since then, we have been in a 'Second Cold War'.

The English Electric Canberra first came into production in the late 1940s and has since played a hugely significant part in world events. In Canberra Boys, Andrew Brookes takes us through its rich history with the help of those who operated this magnificent machine. Contributors include Roly "Bee" Beamont, the English Electric test pilot who first flew the aircraft in 1949.

On the run from the horrid man to whom her father has betrothed her, Maggie Bryce is caught in a wild winter storm, forced to take refuge in a highland cave.

Alec MacBriar crashes into the cottage of a healer and drops his wounded captain onto the table, commanding that the woman save his friend. Katie Oliver is terrified of the giants in her small home, but has no choice but to comply, hoping only to tend the wounded man and send them on their way, praying they cause no trouble to her or her son.