Showing results by narrator "Rebecca Courtney" in All Categories

Imagine nine women meeting. Tea and cake are on the coffee table. They’ve come together to share their love of books. They are friends. They trust each other. It’s a happy gathering. What could be more harmless? Scratch the surface and look closer. One is lonely, one is desperate and one of them is a killer. When the body of a woman is discovered on a Cambridge common, DCI Barrett and DI Palmer are called to investigate. But the motive behind the crime isn’t clear...and it all leads back to a book club.

As a librarian, Imogen read a lot of books, but none of them covered real life on the Riviera. Her holiday with tennis ace Nicky and the whole glamorous coterie of journalist, playboy, photographer was a revelation. But the path of a jet-set virgin in that lovely wicked world was a hard one. Imogen began to wonder if virtue really was its own reward....

If we just keep on going in a frenzied state of busyness, our nervous system eventually gets overwhelmed and we experience a trauma response. This changes how we think, feel and behave, making it difficult for us to carry out tasks or practise self-care strategies like boundary-setting and mindfulness. We lose motivation and interest in things we used to enjoy and become trapped in a state known as learned helplessness, unable to see solutions, sometimes unable to care. We still operate, but in autopilot mode, prone to making mistakes.

Lydia's not exactly Living Her Best Life. She never imagined she'd be here at 30 - newly single, a job that's going nowhere and her friends all winning at life when she's still barely taking part. So she jumps at the chance of a free holiday and jets off to sunny Spain. Then, out of the blue, she bumps into her childhood friend, the handsome and charming Danny Whittaker. She's always had a crush on him and they soon enter into a passionate holiday romance. But this relationship could be more than just a fling.

Who took Lucia Blix? Lucia went home from school with her new friend Josie for a playdate. Later that evening, Lucia's mother, Elisa, dropped her overnight things round and kissed her little girl goodnight. That was the last time she saw her daughter. The next morning, when Lucia's dad arrived to pick her up, the house was empty. No furniture, no family, no Lucia. Have you seen Lucia?

Dottie Perks has forged a new life for herself in London, with a new job and a loving boyfriend. She's safe, happy and loved. What more could she ask for? But when Dottie visits her home in Brighton, the last person she expects to see is her first love, Ralph Bennett. As old feelings come rushing to the surface, Dottie struggles to deny the strong chemistry between them. She can't throw away everything to be with Ralph...can she?

Dottie and Mary forged a friendship over a bag of penny sweets when they were eight years old. They've shared everything together since then. Now, at seventeen, they're both shopgirls working at Woolworths. As they go out in the world in pursuit of love and happiness and life becomes more complicated, the simplicity of their childhood dissolves. The heady excitement of first love will consume them both, but the pain of unintentional betrayal will test their friendship.

Allie Jones loves her cosy cottage café in the picturesque village of Heatherlea. She has her independence, two grown-up children and two cute cats. Life is settled, and she thinks she's happy. Author Chris Monroe has it all. Critical success, a luxurious London apartment, and the kind of jet-set lifestyle most people dream of. But something's missing. When a family bereavement throws these two old friends together, they begin to question the true meaning of happiness. Love is in the air, but do Allie and Chris have room in their hands-on lives for more than a summer fling?

Brighton, 1930: Maureen O'Connell is a carefree girl, but war is looming, and life will never be the same again. Jack and Nelson have always been dear friends to Maureen. Despite their different backgrounds, they've seen each other through thick and thin. The candle Maureen's always held for Jack burns bright, but just as she's found love, war wrenches them apart. With Jack no longer by her side and Nelson at war, can Maureen look to a brighter future?

Autistic burnout is a common experience for autistic children and young people. This book, authored by a neurodivergent practitioner with firsthand experience as both an autism parent and researcher, delves into the recognition and management of burnout. It offers parents and professionals practical strategies to prevent autistic burnout and provides guidance on supporting those already in distress.

Parenting an autistic child as a neurotypical adult can be challenging but it doesn't need to feel impossible! This essential guide will help you reshape your approaches to parenting. Packed with lived-experience insight and easy-to-follow advice this transformative guide will change how you view the behaviour of your autistic child and challenge you to rewire your thinking to see the world through the autistic lens. This guide challenges the common misunderstandings surrounding autistic behaviour, such as emotional dysregulation in public settings or meltdowns at mealtimes.

Motherhood has been one of the great blessings of Dawn Dix-Beaumont’s life, but with her children’s growing independence, it’s finally time for Dawn to return to teaching. However, Mother Nature has other ideas.... Rick Beaumont loves his family, but he’s busier than ever. With his high-flying career, two children and a third on the way, there’s a lot to juggle. Battling expectations, disappointments and a few surprises along the way, Dawn and Rick find their commitment to each other tested to the limit.

England, 1924. Nell Potter pens successful romantic mysteries as the enigmatic Margot Evangeline, but off the page, things aren’t quite so wonderful. Nell, tormented by a terrible ordeal in her past, can’t settle, and her writing is coming less and less easily. When she receives an invitation to Hill House, a stunning Georgian manor deep in the countryside, it feels like a chance to escape her troubles. Hill House is as beautiful as Nell could have ever imagined but, it turns out, not exactly restful. It seems the manor has its own secrets.

1935. Kate Durrant is helping her mother move out of the little cottage her parents used to share, until her father’s heartbreaking death. Full of guilt that she couldn’t visit her dad in his last moments, Kate now has only memories for company. Memories and… something else. Since she was a small child, Kate has been able to see and feel the history of objects she touches. She’s always kept her gift secret, not knowing fully what it is, or how far it goes.

If Emily hadn't gone to Annie Richmond's party, she would never have met the impossibly irresistible Rory Balniel - never have married him and been carried off to the wild Scottish island of Irasa to live in his ancestral home. She'd never have met the wild and mysterious Marina, a wraith from Rory's past, nor her brother, the disagreeable Finn Maclean. And she would never have been caught stealing roses in a see-through nightie....

The Sunflower Street series is a new heartwarming romance series from Rachel Griffiths, the author of The Cosy Cottage Café series. This audiobook collects the first two books in the best-selling series!

In a house full of history and secrets, the past will not stay where it belongs.... Lou has always loved Hill House, the derelict manor on the abandoned land near her home. As a child, the tragic history of its owners, the Mandevilles, inspired her dream to become a history teacher. But in her late 20s, working in a shop to pay off student debts, life is passing her by. That changes when a family disaster sends Lou’s life into a downward spiral, and she seeks comfort in the ruined corridors of Hill House.

After five long years of endless warfare, Red Cross nurse Kitty Pattison has seen her share of heartbreak and loss. And now, with her beloved fiancé Dr Michael McCarthy recuperating from a head injury across the ocean in Canada, and her dear friends Trixie and Jo scattered to the four corners of the war effort, it’s harder than ever to battle through the heavy-hearted moments that mark the passing days. But as she tends to the lost and wounded, Kitty finds a resilience of spirit within herself she never thought imaginable

Camilla Dix is fiercely independent. Growing up, she had to be strong for her mother and younger sister after her father left them for a new life in Benidorm. Camilla has kept her heart firmly closed to love and never allows her relationships with men to develop into anything serious. Tom Stone moved to Heatherlea for a fresh start. He’s been hurt in the past and has no intention of making himself vulnerable again. The only company he wants at night is that of his rescue British bulldog, Hairy Pawter.

Artist Honey Blackwell is happy with her life. Well, almost. She lives in the picturesque village of Heatherlea, has three close friends and a soft spot for local supply teacher Dane Ackerman. If only she could put her past behind her and embrace the present. Dane is working hard to prove himself at the village primary school and doesn’t really have time for love, but he is drawn to Honey and hopes she feels the same. When a permanent teaching position is advertised in Heatherlea, he faces stiff competition to secure it.