Showing results by narrator "Heather Long" in All Categories

Meet fairies, witches and giants in this selection of 30 magical short stories by the world's best loved storyteller. Perfect for children aged 5 and up! From to goblin games to never-ending wishes, there's mischief afoot in these fun-filled short stories by Enid Blyton! Who will be on the receiving end of a trick, and who will win out with a treat? Enid Blyton remains one of Britain's favourite children's authors, and her short story collections are the perfect way of introducing her work to a new generation of listeners.

Osric Mordaunt, member of the Fyren Order of assassins, is in dire need of healing. Naturally - such is the grim comedy of fate - the only healer who can help is Aurienne Fairhrim, preeminent scientist, bastion of moral good, and member of an enemy Order. Aurienne is desperate for funding to heal the sick - so desperate that, when Osric bribes her to help him, she accepts, even if she detests him and everything he stands for.

From the day they first meet as teenagers, Fern and Jessica are best friends. Despite their differences, they are there for each other throughout everything, navigating the difficulties of growing up and fitting in. That is until Jessica crosses a line that Fern can't forgive. But now, more than 10 years later, Jessica has unexpectedly reappeared in Fern's life.

Laura and Callum have met exactly three times – once at a mutual friend’s wedding (Laura doesn’t remember), once at a baby shower (Callum doesn’t remember) and once right now – when Laura lets herself into his flat to find him exiting the shower completely naked (they both remember). When Callum's parents walk in and mistake Laura for his mystery girlfriend, Laura has no choice but to play along, accepting their invitation to spend Christmas at home in the Scottish Highlands.

Three women. Three dates. One missing man. The No-Show is the brilliantly funny, heartbreaking and joyful new novel from Beth O'Leary about dating, and waiting, and the ways love can find us.

Growing up autistic can often feel as though you have to become a chameleon in social situations, camouflaging yourself to fit in with a seemingly neurotypical world. Combining lived experience with scientific research and practical advice, this book is the essential guide to understanding why you mask and how to feel confident without one.

When shy Fanny Price arrives at Mansfield Park to live with her cousins, she is overwhelmed and only put at ease by her cousin, Edmund Bertram, whom she soon comes to love. But Edmund's head is turned by the beautiful Mary Crawford and she and her brother Henry spark a series of romantic entanglements that lead the Bertram family to the brink of social disaster. It becomes apparent to Fanny that pretty manners and fine words are no substitute for integrity.

It's November 2022. The human race has been wiped out by the 6DM virus (Six Days Maximum - the longest you've got before your organs disintegrate and you melt from the inside out). The end of the world as we know it. Yet someone is still alive. Alone in a new world of burning cities, rotting corpses and ravenous rats, one woman has survived. A woman who has spent her whole life compromising what she wants and hiding how she feels to meet other people's expectations. But with no one else left, who will she become now that she's completely alone?

Riggs Bates may be a billionaire, but he knows money can’t buy happiness. He keeps his financial status a secret and takes his women the same way he takes his meals—a different one three times a day. That’s until he’s caught sleeping with a married newswoman by none other than her ambitious assistant.

Get ready to enter a world of hidden treasure, magic spells and enchanting tales, all by the world's greatest children's author, Enid Blyton. From wicked witches stealing magical items from the queen, to missing keys to Fairyland, there's magic everywhere in this collection of short stories.

On the night when Caitlin and Olivia's parents leave them to go to a dinner party both girls are full of excitement about being old enough to stay home alone. What they don't see is the figure watching them through the open window. Who, after the girls have fallen asleep, will turn the handle of the unlocked back door. When their parents return, they will find Olivia's bed empty. Their eldest daughter gone. Never to return. Until now. But is the woman who claims to be Olivia really all she seems? And is everything Caitlin said she saw that night really the whole truth?

Sense and Sensibility tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne. Left almost penniless and homeless on the death of their father, each needs to resolve their problems by marrying well. But fate takes them on a bumpy road as impetuous Marianne falls for the duplicitous Willoughby while Elinor seems to be unlucky in love. As ever, Austen resolves her heroines' fortunes in her inimitable and witty way.

Jane Austen's classic tale of love overcoming preconceptions centers on the two eldest daughters of the Bennet family: Jane and Elizabeth. Elizabeth has to fend off an unwelcome offer of marriage from the Rev. Collins, while mistakenly falling for the charms of the dashing Mr Wickham, before realizing that appearances are deceptive and that her prejudice against Mr Darcy has blinded her to his real character.

In November 2020, Caroline Darian received a call from the police in Carpentras. Her father was in police custody. The seizure of his computer equipment revealed the unthinkable: since 2013, he had drugged his wife before handing her over, in a state of unconsciousness, to men, from all ages and stages of life. With exceptional courage, Darian recounts the earth-shattering discovery that a loved one, her own father, is capable of the worst.

Greetings card copywriter Phoebe Chapman knows a good romantic line or two – and it makes her a fantastic Cupid. So when she lands in the Hollywood Hills – a place that proves film stars, golden beaches and secret waterfalls don’t just exist in the movies – she can’t resist playing matchmaker for her handsome neighbour, carpenter Ren. But you can’t hide from love in La La Land. And isn’t there something a little bit hot about Ren, her own leading man next door?

Leni and her sister Alice were best friends as well as siblings. But did they know each other as well as Alice thought? In the hope of coming to terms with her grief, she tries to piece together Leni's last weeks - but her discoveries only lead to more questions. And that's before the surprise reappearance of someone from the past. Life is certainly getting very complicated. Meanwhile, the rest of the family seem to be falling apart.

Northanger Abbey is the light-hearted account of a young girl's first excursion into fashionable society. While in Bath, Catherine Morland is invited by Henry Tilney and his sister Eleanor to visit their home, Northanger Abbey.

Eliza Fricker gets it. Describing her perfectly imperfect experience of raising a PDA child, with societal judgements and family pressures, she knows how easy it is to feel overwhelmed, resentful and alone. The Family Experience of PDA explains these challenging situations and emotions in a way that words simply cannot, bringing some much-needed levity back into PDA parenting.

Clarrie Brooks isn't just having a bad day—her life seems to be falling apart. She's struggling to keep her beloved grandmother's bookshop afloat, her boyfriend has just dumped her and now it's, quite literally, raining inside her run-down apartment. To top it off, the bookshop loses power for the tenth time this week . . . just as new author Declan Archer walks in to sign stock. Declan advises Clarrie to invest in better lighting. Clarrie suggests to him that he write a better book...

England 1835. Eliza Acton is a poet who dreams of seeing her words in print. But when she takes her new manuscript to a publisher, she’s told that ‘poetry is not the business of a lady’. Instead, they want her to write a cookery book. That’s what readers really want from women. England is awash with exciting new ingredients, from spices to exotic fruits. But no one knows how to use them. Eliza leaves the offices appalled. But when her father is forced to flee the country for bankruptcy, she has no choice but to consider the proposal.