Showing results by narrator "Matthew Lloyd" in All Categories

Christmas at Hedgelord Garden Centre should be simple. But when one of those Santas goes rogue and films an incriminating adult movie, with Hedgelord’s grotto as the backdrop, sales manager Charlotte Mitchell finds herself in the middle of a festive disaster. The only way to save Hedgelord’s reputation is to track down the wayward Santa and secure the footage before it’s released. Unfortunately, she’s not the only one on the case — Jack Hartigan, her infuriatingly charming rival from Bloomers garden centre, is also in pursuit. Worse still, Santa has already fled to Lapland.

Cool, moody, and irresistible Donovan Martin finds himself the new Duke of Haverhill after his father and brother drown in a carriage accident. The womanizing Donovan decides to work his way through the numerous beauties of the ton because he has no intention of settling down. Until he encounters a most unusual woman—who informs him she never plans to wed. Wynter Day wants to maintain her independence and never become subservient to any man. Besides, no man has ever sparked her interest romantically. Then the new Duke of Haverhill crashes into her life, causing her to reconsider.

Among his eccentric though strictly principled group of friends, Lord Richard Vane is the confidant on whom everyone depends for advice, moral rectitude, and discreet assistance. Yet when Richard has a problem, he turns to his valet, a fixer of unparalleled genius - and the object of Richard's deepest desires. If there is one rule a gentleman must follow, it is never to dally with servants. But when David is close enough to touch, the rules of class collide with the basest sort of animal instinct: overpowering lust.

Sir Philip Gibbs served as one of five official British reporters during the First World War. In this book he relays the experiences of British soldiers and offers a detailed narrative of the events of World War I, while trying to draw broader conclusions about the nature of war and how it can be prevented in the future.

A metallic cylinder falls to earth, landing in the sands of Horsell Common, Surrey, generating curiosity and awe. But what's inside soon induces only terror. The story that unfolds is a breathless first-person account of an inconceivable reality: an extraterrestrial war has been waged on the planet.

On May 3, 2010, an Irish national named Jeffrey Lendrum was apprehended at Britain’s Birmingham International Airport with a suspicious parcel strapped to his stomach. Inside were 14 rare peregrine falcon eggs snatched from a remote cliffside in Wales. So begins a tale almost too bizarre to believe, following the parallel lives of a globe-trotting smuggler who spent two decades capturing endangered raptors worth millions of dollars as race champions - and Detective Andy McWilliam, who’s hell bent on protecting the world’s birds of prey.

The stories collected in the twelve volumes of Andrew Lang's Fairy Books of Many Colors have captivated generations of readers. In The Blue Fairy Book, the first in his legendary series, Lang compiled and edited tales from the Brothers Grimm, Madame d’Aulnoy, and French, Scandinavian, and Middle Eastern sources. He captured the folkloric traditions and dark origins of dozens of the world's best-known fairy-tale characters, including Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow-White, Cinderella, and Rumpelstiltskin.

The Reveries of the Solitary Walker was one of the last works written by the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) and was, in fact, not quite complete. It was published four years after his death and came quickly to be regarded as one of his most poetic works. It consists of 10 Walks (only the final ‘Walk’ was unfinished) during which he muses on a variety of topics including thoughts on issues which featured strongly in his notable life as a philosopher and commentator, including education and political philosophy.

William Finchley carries a secret from childhood which he has never shared with anyone, not even his closest friends. When his brother commits suicide, Finch becomes the new Duke of Sommersby. He attend his first season with no plans to ever wed—until he meets Lady Pemberton, an optimistic, brave widow.

Father Stuart Ballard has been Marcus Stearns’ confessor since the young Jesuit was only eighteen years old. He thought he’d heard every sin the boy had to confess until Marcus uttered those three fateful words: “I met Eleanor.” So begins “The Confession of Marcus Stearns,” a moving coda to the RITA® Award-winning Original Sinners series. Originally published as a limited-edition paperback for the 2014 RT Booklovers' Convention, and available worldwide for the first time.

Silas Mason has no illusions about himself. He's not lovable or even likable. He's an overbearing idealist, a radical bookseller and pamphleteer who lives for revolution...and for Wednesday nights. Every week he meets anonymously with the same man, in whom Silas has discovered the ideal meld of intellectual companionship and absolute obedience to his sexual commands. But, unbeknownst to Silas, his closest friend is also his greatest enemy, with the power to see him hanged - or spare his life.

Gina MacDonald may be pregnant and on the run, but she will do anything to protect her unborn child - even go up against a dragon-shifter. While hiding in the wilds of the Scottish Highlands, she soon notices the black dragon perched on the nearby hills. She debates if he is related to her past or not, but then a pain overcomes her and the dragon finally swoops down to help. Despite her determination to stay clear of all dragon-shifter males, his touch not only helps ease her tension, it sets her skin on fire.

In exchange for a vial of dragon's blood to save her brother's life, Melanie Hall offers herself up as a sacrifice to one of the British dragon-shifter clans. Being a sacrifice means signing a contract to live with the dragon-shifters for six months to try to conceive a child. Her assigned dragonman, however, is anything but easy. He's tall, broody, and alpha to the core. There's only one problem - he hates humans.

Nikki Gray has reason to hate the dragon hunters - they brutally murdered one of her friends a year ago. Not only that, they have caused havoc on several of the British dragon clans, injuring countless individuals. Determined to defeat the hunters by kidnaping their leader, Simon Bourne, she teams up with a human male in the British Special Forces. After six months of work, they're finally ready to carry out their mission and capture Bourne. However, one kiss derails their plans and changes their lives forever.

After a homophobic pagan group rejected him, Lars Kendall is a solitary heathen on the Northern Path, loyal to the gods of the Norse pantheon. But being on his own sucks. So when he finally meets a mixed group of other queer witches and magick users, it’s like finding family. If family involved exploring past lives and casting spells. Rhys Turner quit a stressful job in the city after his high-strung boyfriend of six years walked out. He sold the expensive flat in central London and bought a run-down house out in the suburbs.

Tom Cheke's world is turned upside down when he is kidnapped from his home by Barbary corsairs during an audacious night raid. Sold into slavery in 17th-century Algiers, Tom carves out a promising, new life only to have it shattered once more. Another twist of fate throws him into the hands of a Scottish knight of the Order of St John and into a turbulent world of ciphers, spies, and assassinations.

Bryen spent ten years fighting for his life on the white sand of the Pit. But now he faces a new challenge deadlier even than constant combat against man and beast in the Colosseum. Forced into a new form of servitude, Bryen is compelled to become a Protector and charged with guarding the Lady of the Southern Marches from both steel and magic. For she holds the key to power in Caledonia. Gain her, and you gain the Kingdom.

When miserly millionaire Barnaby Galen is found dead in his dilapidated mansion, two corpses are on the scene - the murder victim and the murder weapon. Staring into the skeleton face of a horror prop called Granny, Galen dies of fright, leaving only enemies and suspects behind. With echoes of Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Blue Christmas is a witty, heartfelt romantic mystery that will make fans of Emma Jameson's best-selling series want to stand up and cheer.

Summer 1764. Alec and Selina anxiously await the birth of their first child at their estate in Kent. It should be a time of family celebration, but the death of a young poacher has Alec investigating murder. And when renovations to his sprawling manor unearth a secret burial chamber, a shocking family secret comes to light. Everything Alec thought he knew about his birth is again called into question, and with it the special bond with his irascible uncle Plantagenet.

Dr. Cassidy "Sid" Jackson's inner dragon went silent over 20 years ago. Ever since, she's battled episodes that have tested her sanity. Aware she doesn't have much time left, she prepares for a new doctor to come to Stonefire and take her place. However, before the new doctor arrives, Sid is attacked.