Showing results by narrator "Karen Cass" in All Categories

In Australia, Simone has been widowed for four years and is ready to make a more interesting life. Her friends are driving her mad introducing her to eligible men; her busy daughters are just the opposite, wanting her available for babysitting. When she is offered a house swap with a couple in the UK she takes it, not without some trepidation. In the UK, Russ has just taken possession of his new house and wants only peace and quiet after a few months of rehab following a serious injury. Can these two help one another avoid meddling friends and relatives and build new lives?

Lara Perryman has spent her whole life travelling for her busy corporate job, so it's a relief when she takes early retirement and settles in a leisure village in Wiltshire. She quickly makes friends with the other residents and finds herself entangled in the ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies of her new community. 

December 1838. A storm is raging outside Kenilworth Hall. Inside, Lord Kenilworth's wife is in agony in the middle of a difficult labour. Lady Kenilworth doesn't survive the birth, but, against all odds, her baby daughter does. Baby Storm grows into a headstrong and adventurous child, close to her sister, Eloise, and their neighbours at Chislestone Manor - her best friend, Cissy, and Cissy's handsome older brother, Hunter, who has promised to marry Storm when she's older. 

London is known for its bustle and intrigues, but the sedate English countryside can host - or hide - any number of secrets. Frances, the widowed Countess of Harleigh, needs a venue for her sister Lily's imminent wedding, away from prying eyes. Risings, George Hazleton's family estate in Hampshire, is a perfect choice, and soon Frances, her beloved George, and other guests have gathered to enjoy the usual country pursuits - shooting, horse riding, and romantic interludes in secluded gardens.

Amory Ames is alone at her country house Thornecrest, enjoying her last few weeks of peace and quiet as she prepares for the imminent arrival of her baby. Her husband, Milo, is in London on business, and Amory is content to catch up on her correspondence, organise the nursery, and avoid the well-meaning but rather overbearing company of the ladies in the village as they prepare for the Springtide Festival. But then a woman appears on her doorstep, also claiming to be Mrs. Ames, Milo’s wife.

Forty years of feminism and still women do the majority of the housework. Why? In fact, while women are making slow but steady gains on gender disparities in the workplace, at home the gap is widening - in the UK, the average heterosexual British woman puts in 12 more days of household labour per year than her male companion, while young American men are now twice as likely as their fathers to think a woman's place is in the home. And when 'having it all' so often means hiring a nanny or cleaner, is it something to aspire to?

Amory Ames is travelling to New York, excited to be a bridesmaid at her childhood friend Tabitha’s wedding, but with Prohibition in full swing, her husband, Milo, is less than enthused. When a member of the wedding party is found murdered on the front steps of the bride’s home, the happy plans take a darker twist.

In Amy's case, a husband might come in handy...but with no chance of a refund on the honeymoon, she's jetting off on her own. Except no one seems willing to leave her alone. If it's not nosy hotel guests, it's movie stars desperate to exchange suites. How's a girl supposed to wallow in misery when, under protest, she's dragged off to shop till she drops, or to film premieres or intimate picnics?

Orphaned young, H is sent to live with her doting aunt in London. H’s life is a happy one until her lecherous cousin robs her of her innocence and the plague takes away the city and the people she loves. H is cast out – friendless, pregnant and destitute – into the rapidly emptying streets of London under quarantine. Forced to fend for herself, she is determined to gain back the life she lost. H will face a villain out for revenge, find love in the most unexpected places and overcome a betrayal that she never could have foreseen.