Showing results by narrator "Claire Storey" in All Categories

Brought to you by Penguin. 1929. Holcombe Hall, Lancashire Holcombe Hall’s enigmatic owner has passed away, and now as the roaring twenties come to an end the upstairs and downstairs residents of Holcombe Hall begin a new era. Parlour maid Florrie Bickerstaff has always endured the quick...

Kira Murphy is a liability, always has been. She might be small, but her personality and heart are not: A sexual health doctor with a foul mouth, pink streaks in her hair, a bizarre worldview, a reputation for being "pathologically social", and a huge crush on the current minister of state for business, energy, and clean growth, she’s weird and lovable in equal measure.

May 1943. The tide of war has turned at last, with an Allied victory looking increasingly certain, but all is not well for the residents of Silverdale. Newlyweds Bobby and Charlie find themselves back in civilian life after Charlie is given a medical discharge from the RAF. But the village of Silverdale has been forever changed, and the memories of their lost young men cast a long shadow.

Daisy Bailey has it all: the perfect home, the perfect husband, the perfect life. Or so it seems. When she runs into Tom Burgess—her first love—old feelings spark back to life. But what begins as a nostalgic reunion soon twists into obsession, temptation, and a dangerous game Daisy can’t seem to walk away from. Her sister Sarah thinks she’s reckless, ready to throw away her marriage to Cole for a man she barely remembers. But Cole has secrets of his own. And Sarah knows far more than she’s admitting…

Brought to you by Penguin. The second book in Maggie Campbell's wonderful HOLCOMBE HALL series! Holcombe Hall, 1931 Florrie Bickerstaff has finally settled in as the new Housekeeper of Holcombe Hall and life is feeling rosy both at work and home, as she enjoys the attention of her sweetheart...

Julia and Lauren are sisters, but definitely not best friends. They rarely even speak to each other. But when Lauren's fortieth birthday is ruined by her latest boyfriend dumping her, Julia feels a sudden and unexpected burst of sympathy, and offers to go with her on the special holiday he'd paid for as a birthday present. Unfortunately the holiday turns out not to be a glamorous hotel in a holiday hotspot, but a self-catering cottage in a tiny village called Deepcombe, in the middle of Dartmoor. And it's January.

From the moment I met Nathan, a widower with two small children, I knew I would do anything for him. Sam and Sienna were both desperate for a mother and I knew I was perfect for them. I would raise them as my own, love them like my own. I would die for them. So when a missing teenager is found lying on the side of the road, my first through is for my precious kids. Are they home? Are they safe?

Blackpool, November 1942. Wartime worries fail to dampen the glitz and glamour of the ballroom in the run-up to Christmas. After all, life is for living. Newlywed Pearl's bliss is cut short when her beloved Bernie is called up into the Army. Will dancing at the Tower Ballroom take the edge off her heartache or will it throw temptation her way? Unexpected news of an inheritance presents Joy with a different dilemma. Should she move to Scotland in line with her parents' final wishes or stay in Blackpool to dance with Tommy, the man she loves?

It’s nineteen years since they stopped speaking to each other, but now Morgan needs to contact her three best friends from school: Paige, Emily and Tiff. Her teenage son wants to meet his dad and Morgan can’t ignore his requests any longer. And Paige, Emily and Tiff all knew what actually happened back then. Even if that was what led to their friendship group falling apart, they’re the only people Morgan can think of who might be able help her find the man who disappeared without a trace before she could tell him she was pregnant.

June, 1941. When Bobby Bancroft arrived in Silverdale to take a job as a reporter on The Tyke magazine, the sleepy Yorkshire Dales village felt like a little pocket of a past long gone. But war finally seems to have come to Silverdale. The villagers face new hardships when shortages and rationing begin to bite, young men become scarce as more are called up, and Bobby finds herself juggling her job on the magazine with a new role as an ARP warden. Even her surly editor Reg and his wife are doing their bit, agreeing to take two evacuees from London into their home.

Summer Hastings HATES Christmas. She loves sunshine, the beach and running her travel agency, sending people off to their dream destinations – even if she doesn’t get to see the world for herself. For Summer, Christmas sucks! So, when handsome and charming Noel Pritchett moves his pop-up Christmas shop in to the store next to hers, Summer sees red. Noel loves Christmas…and he quite likes Summer too, if only he could break through the anti-Christmas armour she has surrounded herself with.

1944: Bologna, Italy, and the streets are crawling with German soldiers. Nineteen-year-old Leila Venturi is shocked into joining the Resistance after her beloved best friend Rebecca, the daughter of a prominent Jewish businessman, is ruthlessly deported to a concentration camp. 1981: Exchange student Rhiannon Hughes arrives in Bologna and meets Leila, her landlady. Soon, Rhiannon finds herself being drawn into a web of intrigue. Leila’s nephew seems to be interested in a far-right group, but how is the nefarious leader connected to Leila?

Wakefield 1870. On the banks of the River Calder, Meg Taylor struggles to care for her younger siblings and sick mother whilst her father is away working as a boatman on the canals. The slums where they live are rife with disease, and Meg longs for a different life, away from the grinding poverty, but she'll never leave her family. But with the canals slowly dying as trade moves to the railways, and with Meg’s father stubbornly holding onto the past, Meg fears her family’s future is going to get even bleaker. If only there was a way she could save them.

1925 - The Midland Canals. Born on the canals, feisty Beth Dawson, knows danger lurks in the shadows. When she falls victim to a vicious attack and knowing she might be pregnant, she quickly marries a fellow boatman. Her mundane existence is interrupted by the arrival of Anthony Wesley whose mission is to organise the impoverished boatmen for strike action. Anthony makes her feel valued and she wants to help the cause in any way she can. Along the way she makes friends with rebellious Abigail Gatehouse, daughter of the owner of the company. She too is in love with Anthony.

1943. Lidia De Angelis has kept a low profile since Mussolini’s laws wrenched her from her childhood sweetheart. But when the Germans occupy Venice, she must flee the city to save her life. Lidia joins the partisans in the Venetian mountains, where she meets David, an English soldier fighting for the same cause. As she grows closer to him, harsh German reprisals and her own ardent patriotic activities threaten to tear them apart.

October 1940. Twenty-three-year-old Bobby Bancroft is working as a typist for a city newspaper, but she longs to be breaking the news herself. When she successfully applies for a junior reporter role at The Tyke, a magazine serving the Yorkshire Dales, she's thrilled – even if she only gets the position because so many men are away fighting. Bobby moves to the sleepy village of Silverdale, but she quickly discovers life in the countryside is a different world.

Alex would like to believe she’s a woman who has it all. Or that’s what she tells everyone, including herself. But this is far from true. Actually she’s on the cusp of losing her home, her dream career as a writer is in tatters, her ex won’t speak to her, and her mother’s gone forever. But then a chance meeting with a stranger named Hope gives her the opportunity of a lifetime, when Hope jokes that perhaps Alex should take over her job in a cafe while she goes travelling.

The lead-up to Christmas sees the Connection private investigation team planning their festive season. Until a new case arrives. Catapulted into their biggest mystery yet, they are tasked with finding a killer who has been released on parole, and subsequently disappeared. Has he returned to finish the murder he tried to commit before his capture? As he targets his intended victim, his attention is also focused on the private investigators and their police colleagues with devastating effect. With families torn apart, Doris must seek assistance from a colleague from her past.

Hidden away in a bustling old market town, Curio House and its mysterious collection of artefacts has been undisturbed for years. Until now... When her mum inherits the Curio House, Ava is nervous about moving into the creaky Victorian villa, especially when she discovers a room filled with unusual objects and a box of 'magic' crystals. Ava knows they can't really be magic, but when her mischievous Tibetan terrier Pepper tries to eat one of the artefacts, a series of strange and definitely magical events unfold - and soon the whole town is in trouble!

Ava is settling into her new home - not only has she made friends but they've discovered that magic is real! And together Ava, Sarah and Lily (and Ava's Tibetan terrier, Pepper) are going to learn everything they can about it. When strange things start happening at home and around town the friends suspect magic must be at play. Despite it being the middle of autumn, Ava's mum's hay fever is acting up, plants are growing wildly out of control, and vines have begun to cover houses, entangling people in their path!