Showing results by narrator "Katy Sobey" in All Categories

When World War II breaks out, Carrie Anderson sets up a bookstall at her local train station in the hope of providing a sense of escapism for travellers, troops and evacuees. Driven by an entrepreneurial spirit and armed with a colourful array of Penguin paperbacks, Carrie’s business soon booms. And when she gifts a book to a dashing officer, an act of kindness becomes the beginning of Carrie’s very own love story. But as war rages on, and Mike is posted abroad, Carrie’s world is turned upside-down.

Sophie Arundel is stranded in a parallel universe, stuck in a grand house in an alternate 1925 England. Thankfully, she has her faithful dog, Charlotte. Oh, and Hugo Harrington who is stranded too—and Sophie’s fallen for him, head over heels.

Harriet Manners knows almost every fact there is. Modelling isn't a surefire route to popularity. Neither is making endless lists.

The people you love don't expect you to transform into someone else. Statistically you are more likely to not meet your Australian ex-boyfriend in Australia than bump into him there. So on the trip of a lifetime Down Under, Harriet's to-do lists are gone, and it's Nat's time to shine!

Everything Vega Jane has ever known is a lie. But if she and her best friend Delph are to find the truth about who they are and where they came from, they must first survive the Quag, a wild, enchanted place filled with monsters and dark sorcery. It will stretch their courage to the limit. The Quag will throw everything at Vega. It will try to break her. It will try to kill her. And survival might come at a price not even Vega is willing to pay.

Annie Trebarwith is happily settled in Salt Bay with her beloved great-aunt Alice and gorgeous boyfriend Josh Pasco. Snow is in the air, and Christmas is just around the corner. But when the father she’s never met, aging rock god Barry, turns up with the half-sister Annie didn’t know existed, life suddenly gets complicated. Barry and Storm are soon clashing with the entire village, and their antics are even driving a wedge between Annie and Josh. 

Best seller The Oyster Catcher is Jo Thomas' first irresistibly feel-good novel, set on the coast of Ireland. Dooleybridge, County Galway: the last place Fiona Clutterbuck expects to end up, alone, on her wedding night. But after the words 'I do' have barely left her mouth, that's exactly where she is - with only her sequinned shoes and a camper van for company. One thing is certain: Fi can't go back. So when the opportunity arises to work for a brooding local oyster farmer, Sean Thornton, she jumps at the chance.

She’s the shoulder you cry on when the father of your children disappears. She’s the person you turn to when he comes back, begging for forgiveness. She’s by your side when you discover his guilty secrets. She helps rock your babies to sleep when they cry. She’s your friend when you have no one else. She’s the woman upstairs, whose feet you hear treading above as you drift off at night, thankful you aren’t alone.    

When Grace Carter's boys are arrested for murder, she's forced to call on her most trusted and loyal connections to keep the boys out of prison. She'll even ask for help from those she would usually avoid like the plague. DI Leigh Moss has the power to save Grace's boys, but she's determined to bring Grace and the Carter clan down once and for all. Leigh might owe Grace her life, but her loyalty now lies with her job and protecting the streets of Liverpool. Until Leigh needs Grace's help, too. 

A compelling new series set in County Durham just before the First World War. Perfect for fans of Longbourn and Downton Abbey. When Evie Forbes starts as an assistant cook at Easterleigh Hall, she goes against her family’s wishes. For ruthless Lord Brampton also owns the mine where Evie’s father and brothers work, and there is animosity between the two families. But Evie is determined to better herself. And her training at the hall offers her a way out of a life below stairs.

The Fair Fight is a pulsating historical novel set within the world of female pugilists and their patrons in late 18th-century Bristol. It's an un-pauseable story which takes you from a filthy brothel to the finest houses in the town, from the world of street fighters to another of champions. It is about fighting your way to the top - and not only with your fists. Alive with the smells and sounds of the street, The Fair Fight is a major debut with incredibly wide appeal.

May, 1945. When bells ring out for Victory in Europe, young wife and mother Gwen wonders if her world is about to change. Six years ago, on their wedding night, her husband Jack promised he would leave for the war and never return. But Jack is coming home, unable to keep the promise he so faithfully made, and full of hope that he may at last win a place in Gwen’s life and her heart.

Lydia is killed in a car accident, but she returns to her bereft sister as a benign ghost who nonetheless comes to haunt the lives of those around her in unexpected ways: Jonathan Goldman, whose flat Lydia is running from when she is knocked down; his daughter, Stella, who has discovered her father has been having an affair with the gladiatorial Sonia; Stella's genius painter-boy lover, Izzy, whom she leaves behind as she flees to the arms of kindly Peregrine. Along with good stepmothers, bad mothers, strange professors and wicked monks, their lives collide in a breathtaking finale.

When Sophia wins a postgraduate place at Ivy Drama College, she can't believe her luck. The college is owned by one of the most well-respected young actors in London, Marc Blackwell - who not only founded the college but teaches the students. Known for his strict classes and belief in discipline, Marc has a reputation for being arrogant and aloof, yet Sophia soon finds herself drawn to this cold, fascinating young man. Soon Sophia is embarking on a journey of sexual discovery that promises to explore all that is forbidden between teacher and student.

When Emma’s useless fiancé tells her a lie she cannot forgive, she decides enough is enough. She leaves him, quits her dead-end job, and travels hundreds of miles away to Honeymoon in the Dorset countryside, to help her friend Tia turn the old train station into a boutique hotel. Tia has told Emma that it will be a project, but when Emma arrives in Honeymoon and sees a weed-choked crumbling ruin, her vision of an idyllic life in Dorset begins to disintegrate. But when she meets twinkly-eyed builder Aiden, she can’t help but feel that the stars have for once aligned.

When Molly Holden’s husband, Thomas, is convicted of being a Luddite on the word of a secret informer, he is sentenced to be transported to Australia. Left with their baby daughter, Molly must find work to survive. But the man who informed on Thomas is a former suitor of Molly’s, and Isaac believes that with Thomas out of the way she will return to him.... 

Life is going well for Maria. Welcomed into the Saward family, she has secured herself a job as a maid for Queen Alexandra and is living with her family in a beautiful cottage on the Royal Sandringham estate. The luxuries and privilege associated with the royal family are a far cry from the poverty and suffering she endured before, though the royals, like the nation, are tightening their belts. But when a mysterious relative turns up, seemingly on the run from the law, Maria's new-found happiness could be under threat.

Kitty Marchland has always known that her family isn't like others. But when her father uproots them to a remote cottage in the woods, she realises that her parents are keeping secrets from her - secrets that could unravel everything. Years later, Kitty starts to question what really happened out in the forest. When the police revisit a suspicious death, she must examine her most painful memories - and this time, there’s nowhere to hide.

One hot summer's day, two-year-old Jessica Preston disappears from the beach. The police are convinced she drowned, but Sandra Preston won't give up hope that her daughter is still alive. How can she? Twenty years later, another child goes missing, and Sandra is approached by a young journalist who raises questions about what really happened to Jessica Preston all those years ago.

Murder is in the air when hedge-jumping champ Dave Randall accuses his archenemy, Jack Webster, of sabotaging his dream to compete at the upcoming European Games. Vicky is used to Dave's histrionics and she turns a blind eye. After all, she has bigger fish to fry - namely, solving the mysterious death of worm-charming diva Ruth Reeves, whose sudden inheritance has made her very unpopular with old friends and neighbours alike.

In December 2012, something happened that would turn Hannah Russell's world upside down. A promising young rider with two horses of her own, Hannah recently had been given the devastating news that she would never ride again. That morning in December, local Shetland pony breeder pulled up and asked Hannah if she wanted another horse. The woman said she had a six-month-old Shetland pony she couldn't keep. Without a moment's thought, Hannah said yes.