Showing results by narrator "Rebecca Courtney" in All Categories

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.

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.

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?

The final installment in The Red Cross Orphans series from the Globe & Mail bestselling author! When the war is over, what will remain? With six hard years of war behind her, former nurse Kitty McCarthy should be facing a bright future. But her husband Michael shatters her peace in an instant...

Gordon and Maxine's dreams of a blissful life of gardening, pub lunches and quiet retirement in the charming market town of Little Woodford are ruined when three very demanding members of their family come home. First up is daughter Abi and her unassuming partner Marcus. Abi is determined to move back to Little Woodford and only the perfect house will do. What could be better than parking with Mum and Dad, while she drives local estate agents and builders mad? Then comes Judith, Maxine's high-flying sister. A crisis has driven her, sobbing, to Little Woodford.

Summer is approaching in the market town of Little Woodford, which can only mean one thing: the town fete! But the winds of change are blowing through the sleepy town high street and trouble is on the horizon... Two hot properties have come up for sale: The Talbot, Little Woodford's much-loved local pub and The Reeve House, a beautiful country manor cut off from the rest of the town and closed to the community. A 'for sale' sign means new members of the community, and gossip begins to fly about an offer on the Reeve House.

Joanne Baker often feels like she's drifting through life. She's thirty-two, works at the local café and still lives with her parents. She tells people it's because she's saving for a mortgage deposit, but the real reason she hasn't moved out is something she doesn't want to admit to anyone...Until she faces up to the maxed-out credit cards, never worn clothes and impractical shoes still in their boxes, she can't even begin to think about saving. She needs help, and when her friends Roxie and Lila find out the truth, they offer their support.

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!

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.

Join Kitty and her cat crew on the rooftops for a series of enchanting adventures by the light of the moon. Here, Kitty will discover that being a superhero is about more than using her special abilities - she must learn to be courageous, too, scaling the city clock tower to rescue a very frightened kitten.

Join Kitty and her cat crew on the rooftops for a series of enchanting adventures by the light of the moon. Here, Kitty will discover that being a superhero is about more than using her special abilities - she must learn to outwit cunning villains, too. Who has stolen the precious Golden Tiger Statue? Can Kitty return it to the museum before sunrise?

The town of Little Woodford seems peaceful and picture-postcard beautiful, with its marketplace, ancient church and immaculate allotments. But behind the tranquil facade, troubles are brewing. Olivia Lewthwaite, former town councillor, pillar of the WI and all-round busybody, has been forced by her husband's gambling debts to sell their house - her pride and joy. She hates the new estate they've moved to and knows she needs to humble herself to apply for a job.

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.

Little Woodford has a sleepy high street, a weekly market, a weathered old stone church and lovingly tended allotments. A peaceful, unexciting place, the very heart of middle England. In Little Woodford no one has fingers in more pies than Olivia Laithwaite, parish councillor, chair of the local WI, wife, mother and all-round queen bee. So of course it's Olivia who is first to spot that The Beeches has been sold at last. Soon rumours begin to swirl around the young widow who has bought this lovely house. Why exactly did she leave London with her beautiful stepdaughter and young sons?

Mage Fire is the thrilling conclusion to The Faelin Chronicles series about a twin boy and girl, the children of a Fae mother and a human father, who discover a new destiny after their parents are murdered. They learn that their parents' cautious ways hid a lifetime of secrets, including Eirian, a magical sword that was buried on their farm. Their little sister has been taken by someone who wants that sword, and the ultimate power that comes with it.

All the stories in this book either fed into or grew out of the year I spent as crimewriter-in-residence on the St. Peter's Riverside Sculpture Project in Sunderland, 1993-94. At the time it seemed as though it had to be one of the strangest jobs in the country; retrospect assures me that I was too cautious in my judgment, and it was in fact the strangest job in the known universe.

Faelin twins Diello and Cynthe, children of a Fae mother and a human father, found their lives changed forever the day their parents were brutally murdered by a goblin horde. They discovered that their parents' cautious ways hid a lifetime of secrets, including Eirian, a magical sword buried on their farm. Now their little sister has been taken by someone who wants that sword and the ultimate power that comes with it.

When they discover their younger sister is missing, their home burned, and their parents murdered, they seek revenge on their goblin enemies... Their father's last words lead them to Eirian, a powerful sword that will take them to their missing sister, if they can keep it out of the hands of their enemies.

Kathleen Hey spent the war years helping her sister and brother-in-law run a grocery shop in the Yorkshire town of Dewsbury. From July 1941 to July 1946, she kept a diary for the Mass Observation Project, recording the thoughts and concerns of the people who used the shop. Among the chorus of voices she brings us, Kathleen herself shines through as a strong and engaging woman who refuses to give in to doubts or misery and who maintains her keen sense of humour, even under the most trying conditions.

As an overworked NHS psychiatrist, Dr Clancy Mclean is used to dealing with mental illness. But she is stressed - trying to balance her career and the needs of her only child, Rowan. And she has her work cut out trying to keep her patients well. She knows two of them are psychotic and becoming overwhelmed by their voices. If they act on them it could prove disastrous. Rowan is troubled. Her boyfriend is abusive but she doesn’t want to end the relationship - she’s too scared of being lonely. Can she find someone else to keep her company?