Showing results by narrator "Joanna Stephens" in All Categories

In Dear NHS, an amazing list of inspirational people come together to share their stories of how the national health service has been there for them and changed their lives in the process. By turns deeply moving, hilarious, hopeful and impassioned, these stories together become a love letter to the NHS and the 1.4 million people who go above and beyond the call of duty every single day - selflessly, generously, putting others before themselves, never more so than now.

Felicia Oakes is the illegitimate daughter of…well, someone or other. A pirate, perhaps, or a spy, or a royal prince…who knows? Her vivid imagination conjures a myriad possibilities, all more exciting than her position as governess to two motherless children. But when their father is drowned aboard the Brig Minerva, Felicia must take them to their new guardian in the North of England, where her life is about to be turned upside down. 

The dramatic conclusion to the series! Ten years have passed since the sisters of Woodside found happiness. Their grief for their young brother, Jeremy, tragically drowned at the age of 12, has faded. The sadness of losing their home, Woodside, to strangers is but a memory. They no longer wonder just what became of their mother’s fabulous jewels, which should have guaranteed their dowries. They are looking forwards, not back into the past. But the past is not always willing to be left behind.

Miss Fanny Winterton has only one wish in her romantic heart: to surrender to overwhelming love. She will accept nothing less than to be struck by the thunderbolt of everlasting passion. Real life isn’t quite so obliging, however. So, while she waits for the fires of love to ignite, she is content to ply her needle as a lowly seamstress for her noble patroness. The honorable Ferdinand Makenham has no wish at all to marry, until one glimpse of Fanny’s sweet expression convinces him that he has found the love of his life.

When Mr. Edmund Winterton of Woodside dies, his daughters find themselves penniless and homeless. What can they do? Unless they wish to live on charity, they will have to find genteel employment for themselves. Annabelle becomes governess to the daughters of the recently bereaved Earl of Brackenwood. She has no idea how to teach, but her pupils can learn all they need from books, so how difficult can it be?  

Poor and widowed, Lucy finds a post as chaperon to two young ladies...It sounds like easy work, well suited to her sociable nature, but the sisters squabble over their suitors, and there are tensions below the surface of the seemingly happy family. Then there is the charming Mr Audley, who is more interested in flirting with Lucy than in discovering where his sisters have disappeared to. And as for Lucy’s uncle, she’s quite convinced he is hiding something. Curiosity is Lucy’s abiding sin, and one day it will get her into trouble.

Lord Reginald Marford needs a wealthy heiress to support his indulgent lifestyle. Spirited Miss Robinia Chamberlain looks perfect, but when he sets out to court her, he finds that his title and family connections aren’t nearly enough to entice the lady, and he has to become a little bit creative to attract her attention. Robinia’s recently inherited large fortune brings her many suitors. But she’s not interested in any of them, and especially not Reggie, no matter how persistent he is. He may be a perfect gentleman but he isn’t nearly dashing enough for her.

Caroline Milburn and her younger sisters live in two cramped rooms, struggling to survive by their skills in lace making and weaving. When their previously unknown grandfather drowns on the Brig Minerva and bequeaths them a cottage in the country, their lives seem set to improve. But where will the daughters of a linen draper fit into rural life, now that they are better off? How will Caroline find husbands for her younger sisters? Why have purses of money been buried in the garden? And why are the neighbours so interested in them?

A traditional Regency romance, drawing room rather than bedroom. Nell Caldicott awaits the return of her violent sailor husband with trepidation, but for once her fears are not realised. Her husband’s ship, the Brig Minerva, has sunk off the Cornish coast. Nell is free, but her husband has left her with little money and many questions about his past. Gradually, as his secrets are laid bare, she realises she didn’t know her husband at all. Can she uncover the truth? And can she ever learn to trust a man with her heart again?

The sinking of the Brig Minerva results in many deaths, while for others, the future is suddenly brighter. But it’s not always easy to leave the past behind.... Evie Parfitt is almost 30, penniless, and with no prospect of ever marrying. She has her hands full helping turn a jewel merchant’s willful heiress into a lady able to move in good society. When the sinking of the Minerva leaves her charge an orphan and she selects a notorious rake as her guardian, Evie is determined to protect both of them from his attentions.

Amy is a shy, timid soul, browbeaten by her domineering father until she’s terrified to do or say anything without his approval. When he dies suddenly, his will leaves large dowries for his six daughters, but only if they marry in the proper order, the eldest first. Amy must now find herself a husband, and soon, so her younger sisters can marry in their turn. There are several possible suitors, but will any of them come up to scratch? And how will Amy choose without her father to guide her? Belle is the plain one of the six Allamont sisters, happy with her books.

Margaret is the quiet one of the Winterton family, happy only in her own home with her sisters protectively gathered around her. But her father’s death and mountain of debts tear the sisters apart and uproot them from Woodside. As a poor relation, Margaret must become a lowly paid companion to two elderly aunts she has never met. There is no welcome for Margaret at their gloomy house, Pendarreth, but the surrounding woods bring her solace - and unexpected danger.

Hours of listening in one collection - books 1-3 of the Sons of the Marquess, a series of traditional regency romances, drawing room rather than bedroom...Lord Reginald: Marford needs a wealthy heiress to support his indulgent lifestyle. Lord Humphrey: Marford would love to start his own gaming house, but that takes a lot of money. His only solution is to marry an heiress. Lord Augustus: Marford has only one interest in life - horses. It’s an expensive hobby, and Gus is happy to assess some stud horses for the eccentric Duke of Dunmorton.

Lord Montague Marford is looking forward to a quiet life as clergyman of a rural parish where he can hope to do some good. But sometimes his compassionate nature gets him into trouble, and when a bedraggled young woman turns up on the doorstep to call in a long-forgotten debt, Monty’s sense of honour compels him to offer to marry her. But he soon begins to wonder if he’s made a huge mistake.

Toby Stephens stars in this BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Raymond Chandler’s second Philip Marlowe mystery.Fast-talking, trouble-seeking private eye Philip Marlowe is a different kind of detective: a moral man in an amoral world. California in the ’40s and ’50s is as beautiful as a ripe fruit and rotten to the core, and Marlowe must struggle to retain his integrity amidst the corruption he encounters daily.In ‘Farewell My Lovely’, Marlowe has a chance encounter with a not-so-gentle giant outside Florian’s nightclub.

Annie Dresden is 26 years old, with no fortune, and nothing but a quick, practical mind to recommend her. Taken in by her apothecary uncle after her father’s death, she’s happy to be his assistant, but there’s no future for her as an apothecary. The only proper career for a woman is as a wife and mother, but for Annie the possibility is dwindling. When a long-forgotten suitor returns, it seems fate has given her another chance. 

Lord Gilbert Marford is in disgrace. He joined the Hussars to stay out of trouble. Instead, he quarrelled with half his fellow officers, seduced the wives of three of them, got himself shot in a duel, and sustained an injury that might end his career. Now he’s being sent home like a naughty schoolboy, and he’s not happy about it. So when an opportunity arises to run away, he’s not about to let a little snow stop him.

Amy is a shy, timid soul, browbeaten by her domineering father until she's terrified to do or say anything without his approval. When he dies suddenly, his will leaves large dowries for his six daughters, but only if they marry in the proper order, the eldest first. Amy must now find herself a husband, and soon, so her younger sisters can marry in their turn. There are several possible suitors, but will any of them come up to scratch? And how will Amy choose without her father to guide her?

Connie’s older sisters have managed to find husbands, but now it’s her turn, and she is not sure she wants to marry at all. Having only just escaped her late father’s restrictive regime, she’s reluctant to surrender her freedom to another man just yet. If only she could find one who would fall so adoringly in love that he would do anything for her. 

Belle is the plain one of the six Allamont sisters, happy with her books. When their father dies suddenly, his will leaves large dowries for his six daughters, but only if they marry in the proper order, the eldest first. With Amy betrothed, now Belle must find a husband.