Showing results by narrator "Victoria" in All Categories

I let my guard down. And got screwed over by a woman without even knowing why. But it won’t happen again. Because the only thing I care about is burning this whole place down.

Booker Prize-winning author Iris Murdoch is renowned for her sublime fiction, exploring themes such as art, passion, morality and human freedom. Included in this collection are adaptations of two of her finest novels and a reading of her only published short story, as well as an edition of Writers Revealed in which Murdoch discusses her ideas and beliefs.

The master of the tease. The god of rock. Frontman of the world's most desired band, Youth Gone Wild. I'm Rhett Ryan, and I get what I want. Women? They were lining up. Money? I had enough. Accolades? My shelves were full. Love? I didn't have time for that. Not until I had no choice but to pay attention to the last woman I expected to fall for. My beautiful, sassy publicist, Julia goddamn Speed. She was a vital part of the band's success, and she was as off-limits as they came. I'd never wanted anything more in my life. But Julia wasn't like the rest....

I’m assuming you’ve picked up this book because you’re either curious about having kids, you’re currently up the duff, or you’re stumbling through the early days of parenthood with a mattress-sized sanitary towel between your legs wondering what the hell has just happened. That, or you’re killing time in WHSmith, waiting for your flight to Ibiza. You lucky bastard.

Using the #JustBeKind trend of the 2020s as a starting point, (Un)kind explores how traditional beliefs about women's 'kind' nature have been repackaged for an age that remains dependent - socially, politically, economically - on female self-sacrifice while finding the concept outdated and essentialist. Looking at the various guises under which kindness culture is sold to women and girls - from play to self-help, social justice activism to empowerment - Victoria Smith argues that the pressure on women and girls has not decreased, but instead been incorporated into the 'work' of feminism.

We're all animals...although some of us have more primal instincts than others. Ex-policeman Joe Cassidy has a keen interest in animal behaviour and how it can have a bearing on some of the most heinous of human crimes - a talent that has heavily informed his detective work over the years. Although until now, he thought that he had left detective work behind....

Louise has had to watch her husband, Andrew, start a new family in the four years since he left her. The ‘other woman’ is now his wife - but Louise isn’t ready to let Caz enjoy the life that was once hers or to let go of the man she still loves. As Louise starts to dig into Caz’s past, the two women’s pretence of civility starts to slip. But in trying to undermine each other, they discover more about the man they both married. And when Andrew is murdered at a family party, both women are found standing over the body. It’s always the wife. But which one?

Look around you. Who holds the most power in the room? Is it the one who speaks loudest, who looks the part, who has the most money, who commands the most respect? Or perhaps it’s someone like Christine Butcher: a meek, overlooked figure who silently bears witness as information is shared and secrets are whispered. Someone who quietly, perhaps even unwittingly, gathers together knowledge of the people she’s there to serve - the ones who don’t notice her, the ones who consider themselves to be important.

To some Fae, I am their worst nightmare. For I do Death’s bidding. But for all our strength and skill, a powerful enemy has risen up. Finding Ettie could change everything. The Half-Fae is our one chance. She’s sharp and strong and fierce. She steals my breath every time I'm near her. And looking into her eyes is like a bolt of lightning right through me. She’s what I’ve been waiting for my long, dark existence.

I wanted her. She was just two floors away from me here in my castle. And some piece of her—naïve and inexperienced—wanted me. The man who was doomed to die at her hand. I could mostly ignore that fact, now that I was used to her presence, and my intermittent lust. But I wondered if not telling her about it was a bigger betrayal than not telling her about my arrangement with her father. If she did manage her Ascension—and when she found out what that meant—then she would know the truth.

When Fernanda, Annelise, and their friends from the Delta Bilingual Academy convene after school, Annelise leads them in thrilling but increasingly dangerous rituals to a rhinestoned, Dior-scented, drag-queen god of her own invention. Even more perilous is the secret Annelise and Fernanda share, rooted in a dare in which violence meets love. Meanwhile, their literature teacher Miss Clara, who is obsessed with imitating her dead mother, struggles to preserve her deteriorating sanity. Each day she edges nearer to a total break with reality.

She is a lonely spinster prepared to bid her dreams of passion farewell. He is a war-weary soldier who seeks shelter in a woman's desire. They strike a bargain to fulfill each others most erotic fantasies....only to discover that passion is as life-altering as the storm that brings them together.

When Charley finds herself suddenly single on Christmas Day, it feels like her world has fallen apart. Forced to move back in with her parents, she embarks on a journey of re-invention. When she meets Ed, who is on honeymoon alone after being jilted at the altar by a bride he's never met, it looks like her life may be taking a turn for the better. Fate, however, has other ideas, and she and Ed are forced apart.

In September 2006, Victoria Coren Mitchell won a million dollars on the European Poker Tour. In her long-awaited memoir, she tells the story of that victory, but also of a 20-year obsession with the game. It is a journey which has taken Coren from a secret culture of illegal cash games to the high-stakes glamour of Las Vegas and Monte Carlo, and brought with it friendship, laughter, and money, but also loneliness, heartbreak, and defeat. With disarming honesty, Coren lays all of this bare.

Jackson and Lydia Hemsworth are pillars of the community, feted for having the perfect marriage and three wonderful children – Florence, Jessica and Ezra. But appearances can be deceptive. Because behind closed doors Jackson Hemsworth rules his family with cruelty and control. His marriage is a sham; his children for years have cowed in fear. Until the day that Jackson and Lydia throw themselves off Newport Bridge in a joint suicide pact – the final cruel blow by Jackson to control his wife and torture his adult children.

Tess is heartbroken when Seb breaks up with her and can't help blaming herself. If only she'd done things differently. If only she could make right all her regrets...But she can't. It's over. She has to forget about him. Drunk and upset on New Year's Eve, she wishes she'd never met him. But when she wakes up to discover this dream has come true, she realises she has a chance. To do it all over again. And to get it right this time....

On holiday at the seaside, Anya is excited when she meets a friendly family with children her own age - playing with them and their gorgeous puppy, Molly, is so much fun! But when she returns to the beach the next day, she discovers the pup all on its own. Anya sets out to look for her owners, but when she eventually tracks down the family, they're very surprised. Molly isn't their dog - they thought she belonged to Anya! Can Anya find Molly's real owners?

The Vitals is Tracy Sorensen's cancer memoir transformed by imagination into something far richer and stranger. Narrated by her internal organs, it will make you infinitely more aware of the peculiar world inside your body and discover all the hidden parts that make you human.

For Sarah, leaving England to explore the North Cascades is an opportunity to regain her health and her confidence, while Alex has already abandoned LA to make the mountains her home. Drawn to the beauty and history of Desolation Peak, Sarah is hiking alone when a storm leaves her stranded. Determined to track her down, Alex heads into the wilderness, never anticipating the terrible danger she will face.

A curse on the lips of the Spanish, a hero in the hearts of the people. A masked vigilante, a sorceress with a blade. Pantera. But that is not her only name. To all who know her, Leonora de Las Casas Tlazohtzin is a glittering jewel of court, promised to the heir of the Spanish throne. The respectable Lady Leonora faints at the sight of blood and would sooner be caught dead than wield a sword…even against a dauntless thief with a cutting smile. No one suspects that Leonora and Pantera are one and the same. Leonora has fooled them all.