Showing results by narrator "Duncan" in All Categories

Barbara McClymont walks the cane fields searching for Janet, her sixteen-year-old daughter, who has been missing for weeks. The police have no leads. The people of Quala are divided by dread and distrust. But the sugar crush is underway and the cane must be burned. Meanwhile, children dream of a malevolent presence, a schoolteacher yearns to escape, and history keeps returning to remind Quala that the past is always present.

Marie Antoinette's dramatic life-story continues to arouse mixed emotions. To many people, she is still 'la reine mechante', whose extravagance and frivolity helped to bring down the French monarchy; her indifference to popular suffering epitomised by the (apocryphal) words: 'let them eat cake'. Others are equally passionate in her defence: to them, she is a victim of misogyny.

This is the incredible rise and unbelievable fall of a woman whose energy and ambition is often overshadowed by Napoleon’s military might. In this triumphant biography, Kate Williams tells Josephine’s searing story, of sexual obsession, politics and surviving as a woman in a man’s world. Abandoned in Paris by her aristocratic husband, Josephine's future did not look promising.

In the spring of 1809 the British Army, spearheaded by Sir Arthur Wellesley, pushes north to drive the French out of Portugal. Captain James Craven, a prize fighter and rogue recruited to teach the use of cold steel is along for the ride, seeking riches and wine. As quick with his mouth as he is with a blade, Craven is caught in a forbidden duel by Wellesley himself on the eve of battle. The outcome is not what he expected. Craven’s life is about to take a major turn and descend into a whirlwind adventure beyond his wildest imagination.

In a fast-paced, turbulent world, it’s often hard to feel vibrantly alive. Constantly living from our minds has led to overwhelming feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression—often manifesting as chronic health conditions. We’re yearning for more peace, love, meaning, and embodied aliveness. We’re yearning for awakening. Awakening is often portrayed as mysterious, complicated, and dramatic or something that requires traveling to a distant country and sitting at the feet of an enlightened guru.

When single mum Olivia uproots her young son Darcy from their life in Tasmania for a new start in the English Cotswolds, she isn't exactly expecting a bed of roses - but nor is she prepared for the challenges that life in the picturesque village throws her way. The Renaissance Project hopes to bring the dwindling community back to life - to welcome migrants from around the world and to boost the failing economy - but not everyone is so pleased about the initiative.

Nothing is more important to Jesse King than his club and his daughter. He's a biker to the core. Gorgeous and lethal. Trouble at its finest. And I'm his daughter's new nanny… It's my job to take care of the one person in his life who comes before his patch. If only Jesse weren't making it so difficult. He's resistant. Infuriating. He doesn't trust anyone except for his brothers, and he fights me at every turn.

On 1st of December, renowned puzzle setter, loner and Christmas sceptic Edie O’Sullivan finds a hand-delivered present on her doorstep. Unwrapping it, she finds a jigsaw box and, inside, six jigsaw pieces. When fitted together, the pieces show part of a crime scene – blood-spattered black and white tiles and part of an outlined body. Included in the parcel is a message: ‘Four, maybe more, people will be dead by midnight on Christmas Eve, unless you can put all the pieces together and stop me.’ It’s signed, Rest In Pieces.

In this wonderful, fraught, witty, real comedy about a middle-aged mother desperate to begin her post-children life, Stella is wondering why those grown-up children are all still in her house. Dreaming of retiring to a life in the countryside with her husband, instead she's dealing with four extra people in the house, rooms that urgently need de-junking, surprise pregnancy tests, difficult neighbours and a mother who really isn't helping anything. When she attempts to clear the useless clutter from the house, Stella realises it's her children who really need to go.

I ain't no damn hero—just looking out for my Steel Demons brothers. That's what I thought till I met Laura, a hot nurse in the ER who patched me up with some serious sass. I knew I wanted her, but she turned me down cold. I gave her space, hoping for another shot. Fate threw her back my way when she witnessed a murder, and those Los Ochos bastards tried to nab her. I fought 'em off and told her to fake being my old lady for MC protection till the heat died down. What started as a fake setup quickly turned into real trouble. Every touch, every glance lights me up.=

I've never done the "relationship" stuff in my fifty-plus years, nor have I wanted to. I keep it simple—sex, bikes, booze, and brotherhood. Throw in a pocketful of suckers and consider me satisfied. Now she's here with a secret that rocks the very foundation of my life and an ass that just won't quit. People will die... The balance must be restored... and I don't know if I can give her more.

DI Trueman and DS Riley are reluctant partners in crime-fighting, paired up after high-flyer Trueman suffered a nervous breakdown that left him struggling to get back on his feet. Working with Riley isn’t exactly what the doctor ordered - but the Sergeant turns out to be much more of a help than a hindrance when it comes to cracking cases.

Sometimes, a simple field trip to the planetarium can be an act of bravery. In Giles Ashby’s case, it could also be a second chance with his lifelong crush. Unbearably awkward and strangled by his anxiety disorder, Giles used surly snarls and abrupt remarks to keep everyone at a distance. As a result and surprising no one, he finds himself divorced and overwhelmed by the demands of parenting nine-year-old Milo—a shy, awkward clone of his father. Not wanting Milo to struggle through life the way he has, Giles enlists the help of Reid Marshall’s new nanny agency.

The French have captured the Spanish fortified city of Ciudad Rodrigo and the third invasion of Portugal has begun. The only barrier between Wellington’s army and the huge French invasion force is the fortress of Almeida, but a spy inside the city threatens to force the garrisons surrender before the British army is strong enough to meet the French in battle, with half of Wellington’s force consisting of untested Portuguese troops. Craven and Ferreira are sent to hunt the spy, but soon enough the army must stand and fight.

A serial killer has the city of Boston in his grip. He's killing with antique Revolutionary War weapons and leaving bodies at markers on the city's historical Freedom Trail. No one is safe—especially those with ancestry ties back to the Patriots. FBI Special Agents Kate Walsh and Declan James rush to the aid of local authorities to help catch a killer in their hometown. As a descendant of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, Agent Walsh is in the killer's crosshairs. Part madman and part mastermind—no one knows who is next.

Dora Wildwood is escaping a most unsuitable marriage. She's on the first train to London, having smuggled herself out of the house at dead of night, like all the best books. She plans to go straight to her godmother Lady Dreda Uglow, the only woman she knows who seems to live life on her own terms, and ask to stay. Dora ducks into the London Library to hide, asking the quizzical but kind Ben Stark and the clever Miss Amani for help. And it is there, surrounded by books, where she should feel most safe, that Dora Wildwood most unfortunately stumbles across her first dead body.

Maggie and Frank are excited to welcome the entire family home for Christmas. It’s been too long since they were all together, and since Frank’s heart attack, they cherish each moment spent with their family. Plus, there could be two engagement announcements! Janella’s bringing Wade to Christmas, and everybody’s expecting Sean to finally pop the question to Elizabeth.

I stole from the Twisted Kings, and now I'm at the mercy of Jameson Steel. It's not like I planned any of this... In the same way, I didn't plan on being the only parent to my four-year-old brother. But one night, everything went sideways, and now Jameson is my only chance at getting out of this mess. He doesn't trust me, but he needs me to get back at the man who sent me to his clubhouse. His protection for my cooperation. As long as my brother is safe, it's a deal I can't refuse. But living with the enemy is dangerous. Jameson's vengeance is prolific.

I convinced myself I could survive 365 days as his captive wife. Get my bookstore back. Simple, right? Wrong. I wasn't ready for the raw, vajayjay-clenching desire in his look. The way he devours me night after night. He promises to ruin me for any other man. And I'm paying for my naivety,One filthy groan at a time. I also didn't foresee the hunger. The vomiting. The three positive pregnancy tests. Victor Morozov's baby. Growing inside me. Just as I think it's happily ever after, Eli and I get kidnapped. To save us, Victor must die... But I won't let that happen.

September 1939, and the worries of war follow Josephine Tey to Hollywood, where a different sort of battle is raging on the set of Hitchcock's Rebecca. Then a shocking act of violence reawakens the shadows of the past, with consequences on both sides of the Atlantic, and Josephine and DCI Archie Penrose find themselves on a trail leading back to the house that inspired a young Daphne du Maurier—a trail that echoes Rebecca's timeless themes of obsession, jealousy, and murder.