Showing results by narrator "Vivienne Rochester" in All Categories

The perfect gift book, featuring the writing of Meryl Streep, Bill Bailey, Emilia Clarke, Olivia Colman, Caitlin Moran, Richard Ayoade, Emily Watson and others, to coincide with the upcoming movie Last Christmas, starring Emma Thompson, Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding. When you think back to Christmases past, what (if anything) made it magical? This is a beautiful, funny and soulful collection of personal essays about the meaning of Christmas, written by a unique plethora of voices from the boulevards of Hollywood to the soup kitchens of Covent Garden.

Bar owner Paige can't deny that there's just something about Melanie and her prim and proper librarian look that messes with her mojo. But Melanie is no librarian; she owns Lulu, the new super Instagrammable brunch spot in town, boasting bottomless mimosas and prime selfie opportunities. If anything, Melanie and Paige should be rivals, probably not friends - and definitely not anything else.

When Mya is with Smithy, it feels like her eyes are constantly rolling. His wheeling and dealing charisma charms everyone but her. Well, that’s not strictly true - Mya is only human after all, and there’s no doubt the man is hot with his suits and swagger. It’s just that Smithy knows Mya’s secret, and she’s not sure she can trust him to keep it from their group of friends.

Friends do nice things for each other, right? That’s what Polly Bowman tells herself when she agrees to be her friend Bailey’s ‘fake girlfriend’ to help him keep a promise to his family. After all, Bailey has always supported her through difficult times – he even knows about her secret singing sessions. But maintaining a fake relationship isn’t easy, and when Polly’s meddling but well-meaning group of friends throw her and Bailey together as best man and maid-of-honour for an upcoming wedding, Polly soon realises she’s going to have to confront a few long-kept secrets.

What do mascara wands and gardening shears have in common? Absolutely nothing! At least that’s what wannabe beauty influencer Sophie Timney thinks when her friend Polly suggests involving her brother Marcus in Sophie’s makeup tutorials. She needs more views, Marcus needs promotion for his gardening business - in Polly’s mind joining forces will help them both. Sophie isn’t so sure. Because Marcus Bowman has a habit of getting under her skin in a way that no exfoliating face scrub ever could.

For Melissa, Christmas has always been overrated. From her cold, distant parents to her manipulative ex-husband, she’s never experienced the contentment of the festive season with a happy family sitting around the table. And Melissa has learned to live with it, but it breaks her heart that her seven-year-old son, William, has had to live with it, too. Whilst most little boys wait with excitement for the big day, William finds it difficult to believe that Father Christmas even exists. But then Daniel McCormick comes into their lives....

Kaori and Kairi are the first twins to survive infancy on the ancient island of Mu, where gender is as fluid as the crashing waves. One was born of fire, the other of water. But there’s a reason why none have survived before. A prophecy that has haunted the elders since time began. A rivalry destined to sink the entire island beneath a twin catastrophe of volcano and tsunami. As hatred spills from the forbidden twins like the deadly poison of sacrificed sea snakes, they must decide what matters to them most.

A tired old seaside town hiding a series of unsolved arson attacks. A derelict mansion in the woods with a long-buried secret. A bundle of old love letters that mask a dark story. When Jamie's documentary investigation gets too close to uncovering the truth behind a series of deadly arson attacks that tormented Abbeywick in the 1980s, her family might be the ones who pay the price. But for her younger sister, Cleo, the secrets Jamie uncovers have the potential to get exactly what Cleo wants: to remove her mum's toxic new husband from their lives, forever.

Across the Scorched Sea is a visionary YA fantasy about a newborn society torn apart by secrets and sedition.

I’ve been keeping a secret. From my colleagues, my friends and most importantly, my husband - who knows nothing of my past life. Twenty years ago, at college, a boy became obsessed with me. Craig Lane believed he could make me love him back if he just tried harder. When I rejected him, he did something so horrifying, it’s the stuff of nightmares. All my nightmares. Now I’ve been informed by Victim Support Services, that boy - now a man - has been released from prison. The news terrifies me. Am I safe? Or does Craig still carry the same obsession he did when we were seventeen? I don’t know.

When long-serving council leader Roland Whittaker loses his seat to a Monster Raving Loony Party candidate with the same surname and initials, he is both flabbergasted and furious. Young Robin Whittaker (who conducted his entire campaign dressed in a chicken outfit and a Viking helmet) isn’t happy either – he only stood for election as a student prank. Everyone expects him to resign, but he’s persuaded to stick it out, and it’s not long before he’s being proclaimed Mayor (and appointing a very unconventional Mayoress...)