Showing results by narrator "Helen McAlpine" in All Categories

When Ailsa Reid becomes the subject of a trial by media after an incident at the school where she works, she escapes to the comfort of her grandparents' house in Fife. But she arrives to find her grandmother, Moira - recently diagnosed with dementia - has gone missing, and her grandfather, Rupert, gravely injured. Desperate to ensure Moira's safe return, Ailsa must rely on the help of her estranged mother, Rowan, who abandoned her at birth. Tensions simmer between the two women as they attempt to piece together the lead-up to Moira's disappearance.

Sometimes hope is the most dangerous thing of all. When their brother dies, sisters Freya and Tamsin lose the one thing that connected them. But when Tamsin goes missing a year later, Freya is determined to find her. Guided by a trail of diary entries, revelations are unveiled about the grief that drove Tamsin to the edge of a cliff - and into the arms of a mysterious stranger... A man who promised hope but demanded sacrifice.

Knotshead is a school catering for the children of the rich, famous, liberal - and deluded. With its progressive curriculum, complacent staff and beautiful grounds, it looks like paradise. But the clever, the odd and the bookish are relentlessly persecuted as pupils make their own rules in a bubble of privilege and prejudice.

The city of Lifestone is under siege! A dark army under the command of the undead sorceress Ashnakh swarms outside the city walls, awaiting her order to attack. The only ones who can stop her are six brave children, each of them marked with a symbol of the Mortal Realms and each sworn to defend Life against the forces of Death.

Nothing has turned out quite how Rhona Beech thought: she's been swapping one so-so job for another on an annual basis...and now her nine-year relationship has ended abruptly. When her lukewarm efforts to adjust to the changes in her life are thrown entirely up in the air by some unwelcome news, Rhona has to think again.Her sardonic, funny, poignant attempts to find an answer to the questions she's facing are helped by a cast of friends, strangers and trained professionals..

Since the death of her mother, Kate Kennedy has been parent, helper and housekeeper to her large family. But life changes drastically as the young men leave the pits and head to the Great War. Desolate to watch brothers and friends march into danger, Kate must stay at home to hold her family together. Against all odds, Kate's baking skills create a path out of poverty. But as storm clouds gather over Europe again, the love, life and happiness she's fought so hard for may not survive - will she lose everything?

The gripping new thriller from the author of What Goes Around and Do Me No Harm. Do you ever feel that prickle on the back of your neck, as though someone's watching you? Someone is watching Hannah. Her name is Ruby, and her job as CCTV operative means she can follow Hannah everywhere she goes. It's against the law, but Ruby is willing to do whatever is necessary to keep Hannah safe. And there's no harm in just watching. Until just watching isn't enough....

From the fields of Angus to the shores of Mexico, a family struggles to find their way home. To young Victoria Cameron, Angus, Scotland is the most beautiful place on earth, and she wishes nothing more than to stay on her little farm forever. But the death of her beloved grandfather leaves her and her mother without a farm and struggling to make ends meet. Never one to give up, Victoria soon finds work in a Dundee mill, while her mother supports them by taking in lodgers.

From peaceful Scotland to war-ravaged Europe, two female doctors from very different backgrounds fight to succeed and survive. Upper-class Lucy Graham is expected simply to marry well. Poverty-stricken Rosie Nesbitt struggles just to get by. Both girls share the unlikely dream to become a doctor, and each will do anything to succeed. When their paths cross at a party filled with eligible bachelors, it soon becomes clear that their chosen career isn't the only desire they share.

If someone took away your perfect life, how far would you go to get it back? Ellen's family is her world. So when her husband leaves her for another woman, she is almost destroyed. But not quite, because Ellen has a plan, a way to make those who have hurt her suffer. Leila is the other woman. She finally has everything she ever wanted. But Leila's brother has come back into her life, raking up a past that needs to stay buried. One of them will pay for their actions with their life, but which one?

Isla's brother, an ex-marine and private investigator, has just been found drowned in the River Clyde. The coroner declares it an accidental death. The police are happy to close the case. But Isla is convinced he was murdered. Determined to find out what really happened the night Dougie died and what he was doing in Glasgow, she starts looking into his unsolved cases. What she finds will put her in grave danger and force her to question everything she thought she knew about those closest to her....

Two sisters, both beautiful in different ways: Fifteen-year-old Ted has got "The Look". That's what the scout for the modeling agency tells her, and she can't believe her luck. But just as Ted's jet-setting off on her new career, Ava is diagnosed with cancer. Can Ted be a supermodel and a super-sister? Or will she have to choose between family and fame? With their worlds turned upside down, the girls have to look past appearances, look deep inside, to figure out what really matters.

Growing up in a convent in Glasgow, Ferelith Gallagher dreams of bigger and better things. With no money behind her and no family to speak of, she travels to Edinburgh to study to be a lawyer - a brave choice for a woman in the 1930s. And when she falls in love with a young fellow student, she thinks she's finally found a home. But after a brief and disastrous marriage, Ferelith swears she is through with love and buries herself in her studies, striving to become the first female senior advocate in Scottish history.

Little Bird has landed in America, far from her home in Scotland, and far from the danger that stalked her family. But the new world holds new perils, and soon she’s on the run again. From the teeming streets of New York to the prairies of the west, Little Bird holds tight to secrets and dreams of freedom. Then, on her journey, she comes face to face with an unwelcome ghost from the past.

Bridie lives on the remote Scottish island of Tornish, the youngest of three sisters. Although she loves her island, with its wild seas and big skies, she guiltily nurses a secret dream of flight - to America and the freedom of the New World. But her family are struggling under the spiteful oppression of the new Laird, and it seems that even some of the Laird's own household are desperate to leave. When the Laird's full cruelty becomes apparent, there's no more time for daydreams as Bridie needs to help the people she loves escape to safety.

To begin with, what the hell is a novel? It's basically a tiny world, where characters are born, live and (sometimes) die. To write one all you need is a notebook and a pen - but along the way you'll want to learn about good writing habits, planning, mastering descriptions and dialogue and how to pull it all together. This book will guide you through the process and orient you towards the goal of publication. From absolute beginner to novelista, this book will change the way you write and think about writing.

Can he cook his way into her heart? Darcy is still reeling after the death of her beloved husband, the Baron of Lowbridge, eighteen months ago. He is the reason she left New York for the Scottish Highlands and now she feels lost. When feisty chef Nate arrives at Lowbridge, she takes against him...

The human body is like an exceedingly well-fortified castle, defended by billions of soldiers - some live for less than a day, others remember battles for decades, but all are essential in protecting us from disease. This hidden army is our immune system, and without it we could not survive the eternal war between us and our microscopic enemies. Immune explores the incredible arsenal that lives within us - how it knows what to attack and what to defend and how it kills everything from the common cold to the plague bacterium.

From the moment they meet, Bella and Adam know this is no ordinary holiday romance. This is the real deal! But when they find out Adam’s father has died and he has inherited the penniless Lowbridge Loch Estate, their lives are changed in an instant. Bella suddenly finds herself dealing with...

Jodie Simpson's life is falling apart. She has lost her girlfriend, Gemma, her job and is about to be kicked out of her flat. When she mistakenly opens a letter addressed to Gemma and finds a job offer to work at the Highland Cookery School, she makes a momentary decision that will change her...