Showing results by narrator "Finty Williams" in All Categories

Wyn knows falling for Hetta Valstar is a bad idea. She's not only human but the new magically bonded ruler of Stariel Estate. If their relationship gets out, it'll cause a scandal that could ruin their attempts to sort out the estate's crumbling finances. Of course, it doesn't help that Stariel has decided it doesn't like him. But much more than just jealous, sentient estates and Hetta's good name are at stake. Wyn’s past is coming back to bite him. Ten years ago, he broke an oath and shattered the power of his home court, and the fae have been hunting him ever since. 

Everyone knows who the magical estate will choose for its next ruler. Or do they? Will it be the lord’s eldest son, who he despised? His favourite nephew, with the strongest magical land-sense? His scandalous daughter, who ran away from home years ago to study illusion? Hetta knows it won’t be her, and she’s glad of it. Returning home for her father’s funeral, all Hetta has to do is survive the family drama and avoid entanglements with irritatingly attractive local men until the Choosing.

Draguta Teros wants to crush her enemies...every last one of them: Her disloyal sister, Dara; Briggit Halvardar and her followers; Jael Furyck and her Brekkan army; the gods themselves.

Escaping Hallow Wood with a wounded Thorgils, Aleksander and Jael find themselves stuck in Harstad, desperate to get the Book of Aurea back to Andala before the dragur find them again. Waiting in Hest for Eadmund, Evaine is oblivious to everyone’s worry over Morana, who is showing little sign of recovery. Jaeger is panicking, knowing that without someone to read the Book of Darkness, they are defenseless, vulnerable to an attack from Draguta, should she return.

As the Arnesson brothers finally reach Oss’ harbour, Ivaar’s discomfort grows. Is he really willing to hand his long-dreamed-of throne to Borg Arnesson and his brothers? With the signal fires burning down the headland, Eadmund makes his final preparations to the fort’s defenses, hoping to see Jael and the Brekkan fleet appear on the horizon. Landing in Andala, Jael and Aleksander must ready their ships before they leave for Oss, but will they arrive in time to help Eadmund?

As the kingdoms prepare for war, unexpected visitors and a horrifying murder throw everyone’s plans into disarray. Amidst the chaos, Jael must find a way to lead her warriors to victory against King Haaron and his sons, watching as Eadmund drifts away from her, powerless to save him. In Hest, Jaeger Dragos has found the long-sought-after Book of Darkness, but he needs his father’s dreamer to unleash the dark magic trapped within. 

To Kitty, growing up at Hay House, surrounded by relations, is heaven. But for Marina, Kitty's silver-eyed mother, younger and more beautiful than other mothers, it is simply boredom. She craves novelty, excitement, parties.

In this sequel to The Diamond of Drury Lane, the infamous Cat Royal must save Pedro Hawkins, the runaway African slave, from being shipped off to a slave plantation.

She is obliged to wear the breeches and cap of a boy, and once again comes face to face with her nemesis, the evil Billy Shepherd!

Natalie and Rose are transported in their imaginations to the Atlantic Ocean in 1943, where one of their ancestors survived in a lifeboat for 50 days. Natalie struggles when her daughter, Rose, is diagnosed with type-1 diabetes, but the researching and retelling of Grandad Colin's story provides them both with a way to fight through. Louise Beech has always been haunted by the sea, and regularly writes travel pieces for the Hull Daily Mail, where she was a columnist for ten years.

Stella Widstrand is a psychotherapist, a happily married mother to a 13-year-old son. But when a young woman named Isabelle steps into her clinic to begin therapy, Stella's placid life begins to crumble. She is convinced that Isabelle is her daughter, Alice: the baby that tragically disappeared more than 20 years ago on a beach during a family vacation. Alice is believed to have drowned, but her body was never found. Stella has always believed that Alice is alive, somewhere - but everyone around her worries she's delusional.

Yara Phillips is a wandering muse. She dates men who need her, but always moves on to something new, never staying in one place for very long. David Lisey is in need of a muse. A talented musician lacking lyrical inspiration. When he first sees her, he knows he's found what he's been seeking. Yara believes she can give David exactly what he needs to reach his full potential: a broken heart. 

When Cat overhears a conversation about a diamond hidden somewhere in the theatre, she's determined to find the treasure. Ably assisted by Pedro, a musician in the company orchestra, she is thrust into a world of drama and intrigue, where she encounters Covent Garden street gangs, boxing matches, theatre riots and spectacular stage productions. En route, she learns a lot about who she is, and who her real friends are.

What sort of betrayal would drive a brother and sister apart? When Grace and her brother Andrew inherit their grandmother's house, they surprise few people by deciding to move in together. But they've always got on well and the London house is large enough to split down the middle. There's just one thing they've not taken into account though: what if one of them wants to bring a lover to the house?

On the face of it, Beauty is lucky. She has a mum and dad who love her, lives in a lovely house and goes to a posh girls' school. But for shy, awkward Beauty, the reality is miserable.

She isn't a beauty, and the snobby girls at school have nicknamed her Ugly. Her mum is completely downtrodden by Beauty's fierce-tempered bully of a father. Beauty would give anything for a pet, but her dad won't hear of it in case it messes up their pristine house.

Fourteen-year-old Prue and her sister Grace have been educated at home by their controlling, super-strict father all their lives. Forced to wear Mum's odd hand-made garments and forbidden from reading teenage magazines, they know they're very different to 'normal' girls – but when Dad has a stroke and ends up in hospital, unable to move or speak, Prue suddenly discovers what it's like to have a little freedom. Sent to a real school for the first time, Prue struggles to fit in.

The Following is closing in. Jael’s desperation to save Eadmund from Evaine’s spell leads her back to the place of her nightmares, where she quickly discovers that she is trapped. In Hest, Jaeger is hungry for power and vengeance, making an enemy of Berard, who is forced to confront the truth of what his brother has become as he tries to save Meena from Jaeger’s clutches. Determined to exact his long-dreamed-of revenge, Ivaar plots his return to Oss to destroy Eadmund and capture the throne at last. 

And now, her uncle wants to marry her off to the fallen son of her arch-enemy. But Jael is a battle-hardened warrior, trained to kill since she was 10-years-old. She doesn’t plan on being anyone’s wife. Eadmund Skalleson is drunk. His father is threatening him with a wife again. And this time he’s given him an ultimatum. Marry Jael Furyck or your brother returns from exile. But if Eadmund was ever going to choose a wife, it wouldn’t be Jael Furyck. Not her. Not ever.

A secret project with the Alka Alon Emissary, Ithalia, leads Dara to new troubles and adventures, as the Hawkmaiden assumes new responsibilities. Lady Ithalia wants to use magic to transform her falcon, Frightful, into a giant, so that she and other giant hawks can defend the Five Duchies against dragons in the air. When Minalan purchases 20 hawks and hires a falconer to aid her efforts, Dara is tasked with building a mews to house them in the Westwood...and encounters her most difficult opponent yet: her father.

When Lenodara the Hawkmaiden - Dara, to her friends - was made an apprentice to the foremost wizard in the world, Minalan the Spellmonger, Magelord of her native land of Sevendor, she thought that the adventurous life was behind her. She looked forward to a long, boring career of learning how to read and taking magic lessons...but Dara’s life as the Spellmonger’s new apprentice is anything but boring!

The focus of the book is on Shakespeare's London, how it influenced his drama, and how he represents it on stage. Taking listeners on an imaginative journey through the city, the book moves both chronologically, from beginning to end of Shakespeare's dramatic career, and geographically, traversing London from west to east.