Showing results by narrator "Nicky Diss" in All Categories

A Christmas anthology from legendary historian and Christmas Cracker compiler John Julius Norwich. This year go carol singing in the Cotswolds with Laurie Lee or attend church with a grumpy Samuel Pepys. Make plum puddings for bemused French villagers with Elizabeth David; go present shopping with Virginia Woolf, or eat far too much with Agatha Christie. Celebrate Christmas at Chatsworth, in the workhouse or marooned in the ice with Shackleton....

Julia is looking for Mr Right, but Ben is more Mr Right-Now-He-Could-Do-with-a-Bath. You may think you know what kind of novel this is, but you'd be wrong. Yes, Julia is a single-girl cliché, living alone with her cat in Vienna and working in a language school. And yes, a series of disastrous dates has left her despairing of ever finding The One - until Ben sits next to her on a bench. He's tall, dark, handsome.... And also incredibly hairy, barefoot, a bit ripe-smelling and of no fixed abode.

Kerrang! has an unparalleled reputation as one of the world's best-loved rock-focused publications. It continues to be at the forefront of alternative music, flying the flag for metal, hardcore, punk and beyond, introducing millions to their new favourite bands. Anyone who's anyone in the metal scene has featured Kerrang!'s hallowed pages and this unique book chronicles these appearances. If it happened in metal, Kerrang! covered it, as confirmed in this year-by-year survey of alternative music.

1871. An age of discovery and progress. But for the Wainwright family, residents of the gloomy Teesbank Hall in County Durham, the secrets of the past continue to overshadow their lives. Harriet would not have taken the job of governess in such a remote place unless she wanted to hide from something or someone. Her charge is Eleanor, the daughter of the house, a fiercely bright 18-year-old, tortured by demons and feared by relations and staff alike.

A priceless flower. A dangerous past. A terrible secret. On the eve of the Second World War, the last surviving specimen of a prized camellia plant lies secreted away on an English country estate. When amateur botanist Flora Lewis is employed to infiltrate the household and acquire the coveted bloom, she embarks on a perilous journey of discovery that leads her to a blossoming romance, and into terrible danger.

The whole world believed eight-year-old Cara killed her younger brother on that fateful night. But she blamed it on a paranormal entity she swears was haunting her house. No one believed her and after two years of treatment in a psychiatric unit for delusional disorder, Cara was shunned by her remaining family and put into foster care. Now she's being forced to return to the family home for the first time since her brother's death, but what if she's about to re-discover the evil that was lurking inside its walls?

When she was a teenager, Zoë Frixos fell in love with Simon Baxter, her best friend and the boy next door. But his family moved to America before she could tell him how she felt and, like a scratched record, she’s never quite moved on. Now, almost 20 years later, Simon is heading back to London, newly single and as charming as ever. 

Deep within Tanglefern Forest, Moll Pecksniff and her wildcat, Gryff, are waiting for a sign from the Old Magic before they continue their quest to find the last Amulet of Truth and free their world from the Shadowmasks’ terrible magic. Still missing fellow Tribe member Alfie, and armed only with a mysterious set of clues, Moll sets out on an adventure across the northern wilderness with Gryff and her friend Siddy at her side. They must brave the Lost Isles, scale the Barbed Peaks and face witches, goblins and giants who lurk at every turn...while the Shadowmasks draw ever closer.

Life is tough for Faith Diamond. Growing up on the wrong side of London, with a family incapable of staying on the right side of the law, her future has only ever been about survival. But then a series of prostitutes are found murdered: strangled and stripped naked. The only thread linking the bodies is pimp Marshall Vella - a man connected in more ways than one with the Diamond family. Now Faith is forced to consider the possibility that the people she fights to protect might be involved in something more evil than even she could have imagined.

Juliet Capulet is the heartbeat of the world's most famous love story. She is an enduring romantic icon. And she is a captivating, brilliant, passionate teenage girl who is read and interpreted afresh by each new generation. Searching for Juliet takes us from the Renaissance origin stories behind William Shakespeare's child bride to the boy actor who inspired her creation onstage. From enslaved people in the Caribbean to Italian fascists in Verona, and real-life lovers in Afghanistan. From the Victorian stage to 1960s cinema, Baz Luhrmann and beyond.

Twelve-year-old Tig works at the Theatre Royale, cleaning, selling tickets and doing anything else that is asked of her by her tyrannical boss, Mr Snell. But Tig will do whatever it takes to get closer to her dream - to become a stage manager and spend her days inventing new ways to imagine and build the intricate machinery and props that bring the exciting productions to life! But when a strange new act - a talking machine - arrives at the Theatre Royale, it moves and behaves in a way that Tig just can’t work out. 

Madame Augustina Pinchbeck travels the country conjuring the spirits of dearly departed loved ones...for a price. Whilst her ability to contact ghosts is a game of smoke and mirrors, there is real magic behind her tricks, too - if you know where to look. Through a magical trade, she persuades children to part with precious objects, promising to use her powers to help them. But Pinchbeck is a deceiver, instead turning their items into enchanted cabinets that bind the children to her and into which she can vanish and summon them at will.

Alana Loxton was part of the all-female team to take down Barratt, a notorious serial killer. He is safely behind bars when one of the detectives goes missing. Her disappearance, and the connection to the killer, could be a coincidence - but when her body is discovered days later, a link begins to form. Then another detective from the team goes missing, and the situation becomes horrifically clear. Someone is picking them off one by one - and Alana’s name is next on the list.

Mum-to-be Rachel did everything right, but it all went wrong. Her son, Luke, was stillborn, and she finds herself on maternity leave without a baby, trying to make sense of her loss. When a misguided well-wisher tells her that 'everything happens for a reason', she becomes obsessed with finding that reason. She remembers that on the day she discovered her pregnancy, she'd stopped a man from jumping in front of a train, and she’s now certain that saving his life cost her the life of her son.

In this short prequel to Alison Weir's new novel, Elizabeth of York, The Last White Rose, the young princess is born - and the future of England hangs in the balance. The Palace of Westminster, 1466. As the queen of England lies in her chamber, exhausted from childbirth, the court awaits news of the longed-for heir.

It’s Julia’s wedding day. Her nerves are to be expected - every bride feels the same - but there’s another layer to her fear, one that she cannot explain to her soon-to-be husband, Mark. She’s never told him the details - and she is determined he never finds out. As she begins down the aisle, spotting Mark in his tailored suit, she knows she is taking her first steps to happiness - her past is behind her, it can’t catch her now. Mark turns to face her. But it isn’t Mark in the beautiful suit - it’s his best man. Because Mark is missing.

Recently dumped by her boyfriend of 10 years, Bell is struggling to move on with her life - and surrender the fleecy pyjamas she’s been living in since January. Haunted by #blessed on social media, she can’t help but compare her life to those she follows online, wondering where she is going wrong. In the world of social media, Millie is the successful online influencer @mi_bestlife. But in real life she’s just a regular single mum trying to make ends meet, while fending off the younger competition and tenacious internet trolls. 

Find out how to decode and interpret your dreams to reveal how the images, stories and emotions you experience in sleep are deeply connected to your waking life. Learn dream skills that will enable you to train your mind to access your unconscious and open the gateway to self-discovery.

Jessica Bay has it all—and it's all too much. Between moody teenagers, a hectic job and a husband who can recall that the last time they slept together was 632 days ago but somehow can't remember to put the bins out, Jess is close to breaking point. Desperate for change, she moves the family to a tiny island in the English Channel. An island that has a secret: it can take you back in time to relive any day in your past. To have another go at doing it right. 

The tyrannous huntsmen have declared the residents of Nearby Village to be outlaws, since they insist on supporting the magical beings of neighbouring Darkwood. Why won't they accept that magic is an abomination? Far from being abominable, the residents of Darkwood are actually very nice when you get to know them - even Snow the White Knight, who can get a bit tetchy when people remind her she's a princess. In order to stop the huntsmen from wiping out all magical beings, Snow and her friends have to venture into the badlands of Ashtrie, and seek the support of the Glass Witch.