Showing results by narrator "Caroline Guthrie" in All Categories

When her 18-year-old twins leave for university, single mum Nadia’s life changes in ways she never expected: her Glasgow flat feels suddenly huge, laundry doesn’t take up half her week, and she no longer has to buy ‘the Big Milk’. After almost two decades of putting everyone else first, Nadia is finally taking care of herself. And with a budding romance with new boyfriend Jack, she’s never felt more alive. That is until her son, Alfie, drops out of university, and Nadia finds her empty nest is empty no more.

In Jackie Kay’s first collection of stories, ordinary lives are transformed by secrets. Her world might seem familiar – sex, death and family cast long shadows – but the roles of mothers, daughters and lovers are imagined and revealed in the most surprising of ways. Jackie Kay sees the extraordinary in everyday life, and lights it up with humour and generosity in a way that is uniquely her own.

In a reimagined contemporary Edinburgh, where a tectonic fault has opened up to produce a new volcano in the Firth of Forth, and where tremors are an everyday occurrence, volcanologist Surtsey makes a shocking discovery. On a clandestine trip to new volcanic island The Inch, to meet Tom, her lover and her boss, she finds his lifeless body and makes the fatal decision to keep their affair, and her discovery, a secret. Desperate to know how he died, but also terrified she’ll be exposed, Surtsey’s life quickly spirals into a nightmare when someone makes contact - someone who claims to know what she’s done....

Catherine Depford is the wealthiest heiress in London, and she is all but promised to a proper English lord...so why is she having dreams of a Scottish warrior claiming her for his own? She can't imagine that her heated fantasies would come true, until she locks eyes with the stranger of her dreams in a crowded ballroom.

From the streets of Glasgow during WW2 to the sex, drugs and rock 'n’ roll of London in the '60s and beyond, this is a story of love and near misses. Of those who come in to our lives and leave it too soon. And of those who stay with you forever....

Rocked by a terrible accident, homeless Kelly needs to escape the cold streets of Glasgow. Maybe she doesn’t believe in serendipity, but a rare moment of kindness and a lost ring conspire to call her home. As Kelly vows to reunite the ring with its owner, she must return to the small town she fled so many years ago. On her journey from Glasgow to the south-west tip of Scotland, Kelly encounters ancient pilgrim routes, hostile humans, hippies, book lovers and a friendly dog.

"You can do anything if you have nothing left to lose." Struggling to come to terms with the suicide of her teenage son, Ellie lives in the shadows of the Forth Road Bridge, lingering on its footpaths and swimming in the waters below. One day she talks down another suicidal teenager, Sam, and sees for herself a shot at redemption, the chance to atone for her son's death. But even with the best intentions, she can't foresee the situation she's falling headlong into - a troubled family, with some very dark secrets of their own.

When her Maltese love affair turns sour, Lara McDonald returns to her quiet Scottish hometown of Fairview, heartbroken yet determined. Instead of looking for another PR position, she decides to follow her dream of baking. She impulsively takes the first job offered and finds herself working for local dragon Kitty Walker in her tearoom True Brew. Lara's life is full of surprises, however, not the least being an unlikely friendship forged with one of Kitty's elderly customers, the Laird Hugo Carmichael.

Gerard is 12. He hates his name, but loves flying round the streets of Glasgow on his bike, or mucking about with his gang, the Broncos. He’s a bright kid, but trouble seems to follow him. No one really knows what it’s like at home for Gerard; he’s used to carrying a lot on his small shoulders. Gerard doesn’t always make good decisions. And on one April morning, in the blink of an eye, he makes a very bad one – one that will upend his whole world.

In 1891, Edinburgh's Henderson Close is a seething mass of humanity, poverty, crime, and degradation. Even murder. Miss Carmichael is a middle-aged spinster, living in the prosperous New Town. She regularly takes food, money, and clothing to families living in the Closes, deep within the slums of the Old Town. In the present day, Henderson Close, having been buried under the foundations of newer buildings a century earlier, is a major tourist attraction. In the depths of Edinburgh, an evil presence is released.

After traveling to Scotland on business, the bed of a highland laird is the last place Ali Graham expected to wake up. But there's no mistaking the irresistibly masculine Scottish Highlander whose chamber she's accidentally infiltrated - or the severe wound he's suffered in battle. As a doctor, Ali knows how to heal his injury, how to nurse his body back to health. What she doesn't know is how to heal his heart…A proud warrior and the leader of a powerful clan, Rory MacLeod is ready to fight to the death to protect his homeland. After all, ever since tragedy robbed him of his wife, he has had nothing to lose.

In a time of raids and ransoms, Aidan MacLeod is responsible for a formidable Scottish keep and all the people within. Yet the fearless Highland laird never forgets his charge to shield his young half-brother from the grave consequences of his tragic birth.Linked By FateBut an alluring stranger known only as Syrena could undo all of Aidan's defenses. For Syrena has vowed to bring Aidan's brother to a realm far from the Scotland of their understanding. To succeed, she is at Aidan's mercy.

First he kills. A psychologist is found brutally murdered, an addict jumps to his death and a student is found dead. These are the facts. And they are all that DIs Wheeler and Ross have. He waits. As Wheeler and Ross weave through the layers of Glasgow’s underbelly, they find a subculture where truth and lies are interchangeable commodities, and violence is the favoured currency. He watches. The killer stays one step ahead of them.

Juliet is used to wielding power and influence in her line of work, but when her beloved niece dies, she finds herself powerless in the face of her grief and has doubts over the coroner’s report of suicide. She travels back to her family’s remote coastal home where Beth was found. As Juliet delves deeper into the investigation, her personal and professional lives collide, and she unwittingly finds herself pitted against dangerous opposition who seem intent on silencing her.

In a remote hill farm in beautiful Scotland, Ellen and her father Duncan are enjoying a peaceful life. In time they're joined by rugged farmhand Tom, come to lend some muscle to Ellen's ageing father. Almost inevitably romance grows between Ellen and the new arrival but once married however, Ellen discovers that Tom has a brutish side to his character.

He buried his victim alive. And now he's escaped from prison and is on the run in the city. Fiona Henderson, the daughter of the victim who'd descended into a world of silence following her mother's murder, has gone missing. Her sister, Annabelle, scours the city in a desperate attempt to find her. And then the body of a homeless person is found among the rubbish in a deserted alleyway. As DIs Wheeler and Ross investigate, more suspicious deaths occur, and a pattern emerges.

Anna Cameron is a new sergeant in the Flexi Unit. On her first day in the new job, she discovers she'll be working with her ex, Jamie. In at the deep end emotionally, she's also plunged headlong into the violent underworld of Glasgow's notorious Drag – the haunt of working girls, drug dealers and sad, seedy men. When Cath attempts to get involved in a situation she is no longer equipped or entitled to tackle, the consequences for both women could be far-reaching.

Afghanistan, 2009. Eighteen-year-old squaddie Briggsy is just three weeks into his first posting in Helmand Province and he's thrilled to be part of the action. But when his Rifle Section loses a man in battle, Briggsy is forced to confront the realities of war. Also included is the fascinating interview with Andy McNab, in which he speaks to Jo Fidgen about his childhood, military career and writing.

Justine is running for her life. Escaping a city and a man, she heads north to the valleys of the Highlands. Michael and Hannah are also running, with their two sons and their tattered marriage. They are looking for somewhere they can call home. In an ancient landscape, a shocking accident causes their lives to intertwine. Tangled together in threads of guilt and love, with Scotland rushing towards a referendum and the community fracturing, they must all face their ghosts.

Meet Martha. It's the first day of her new job as an intern at Edinburgh's The Standard. But all's not well at the ailing newspaper, and Martha is carrying some serious baggage of her own. Put straight onto the obituary page, she takes a call from a former employee who seems to commit suicide while on the phone, something which echoes with her own troubled past, setting in motion a frantic race around modern-day Edinburgh.