Showing results by narrator "Katy Sobey" in All Categories

It’s been several years since Kitty Cavanagh’s life was turned upside down when her family made the perilous journey across the Irish Sea to Blackburn and she became a widow. After facing near destitution she’s finally making enough to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. Until, that is, the day she is out rag collecting and finds a bag of coins – coins that turn out to be counterfeit – and Kitty soon finds herself caught up in a police investigation. If found guilty, Kitty could end up losing everything she’s worked so hard to protect.

Annie Perry is born beside the coal-muddied canals of the Black Country, at the height of the Industrial Revolution. The youngest in a large Romani family who cannot afford to keep her, when she is eight years old, Annie is sold as a servant to the famous and feared bare-knuckle boxer Bill Perry, The Tipton Slasher. Bill is starting to lose his strength, but refuses to give up his crown. When it looks like a fight might become Bill's last, Annie steps into the ring, fists raised in his defence.

When several young prostitutes are found murdered in Liverpool, DI Leigh Moss knows there is only one person she can turn to for help with the case. Gangland queen Grace Carter knows the streets of Liverpool better than anyone and can ask questions Leigh can’t...but will Grace help? Grace doesn’t trust easily, but when she discovers that her family might be linked with the gruesome murders, she decides to give Leigh a chance. But helping Leigh is risky, and as Grace is dragged deeper into the murky world of vice, her own life is put in danger.

The East End, 1939. When war comes to London, the bright and irrepressible Georgia Smith is torn from her tight-knit family and packed off as an evacuee. She moves in with Phoebe Bliss, whose cheerful smile masks a dark past that 10-year-old Georgia couldn't possibly understand. Georgia soon finds herself involved in the small town's complicated love lives. But some secrets aren't meant for little girls, and she finds herself in danger. Can a good heart keep a mischievous girl out of trouble?

Lancashire, 1832. Maids Hannah and Mary find themselves with no jobs and no home when their employer, Henry Sudell, loses all his money and disappears in the middle of the night. They have no choice but to return to Blackburn where Hannah is lucky to be taken in by her sister, Jennet, and brother-in-law, Titus, but Mary must seek lodgings in the infamous Star beer house.

Isadora is special because she is different. Her mum is a fairy and her dad is a vampire and she's a bit of both. Isadora can fly and do magic, but there's one thing she has never tried, and that's riding a bike. Luckily, her mum and dad and best friend, Zoe, are eager to help.

After her husband Jack is transported to Australia as a convict, Hannah and her children are sent to the workhouse. Hearing nothing from Jack and believing he's dead, Hannah reluctantly agrees to marry widower Ellis Duxbury. But her children must remain in the workhouse, and when they are sent away as apprentices, it's up to Hannah to track them down. On Christmas Eve, Hannah is blessed with a miracle when Jack returns to the village. Yet more trouble lies ahead as Hannah is arrested, accused of bigamy and threatened with deportation herself.

Stockport, 1944. Alice seems to have it all, but the truth is her marriage isn't as solid as it seems. Busy running her husband's family shop while he's at war, everything changes when she meets handsome Louis, fresh in from Guernsey with young evacuee twins Gabriela and Philip. Factory heir Sophie is thrilled to be getting married—if only her mother her mother didn't disapprove! She's marrying for love, but her mother is convinced Tony is marrying for money. Is there more to her concern than Sophie realises?

Sixteen-year-old Bessie works long hours as a weaver in Blackburn, helping to support her family. Meanwhile, her older sister, Peggy, works as an apprentice at the Girls' School, hoping for a more prosperous future as a schoolteacher. Jennet and Titus Eastwood have always made decisions for their daughters' futures. But as the sisters near adulthood, they are determined to make their own choices. And with temptation in the way, will the girls find love - or infatuation - leads them astray?

The first and second audiobooks in the exciting new Dadventure series, introducing Holly: big sister, magician and explorer-in-training! The Incredible Dadventure: Holly's dad is an explorer, having amazing adventures all over the world while Holly is stuck at home with her mum, her baby brother and the dog.... The Mumbelievable Challenge: Holly's mum has had enough! She challenges Holly and her dad (and the dog) to survive in the woods for five days without screens - in fact without electricity!

When Jennet and Titus Eastwood are forced to move from their idyllic cottage into the centre of Blackburn to find work in the cotton mills, their lives are changed in ways they could never have imagined, and their new home on Paradise Lane is anything but. Then Titus is arrested and sent to prison for attending a Reform meeting. Jennet is left to fend for herself, and things go from bad to worse as she finds herself pregnant and alone - with another man's child.

When Grace Carter's boys are arrested for murder, she's forced to call on her most trusted and loyal connections to keep the boys out of prison. She'll even ask for help from those she would usually avoid like the plague. DI Leigh Moss has the power to save Grace's boys, but she's determined to bring Grace and the Carter clan down once and for all. Leigh might owe Grace her life, but her loyalty now lies with her job and protecting the streets of Liverpool. Until Leigh needs Grace's help, too.

Recently, Kilian has grown distant, a terrible tragedy at sea causing him to withdraw. Try as she might, Gaby can’t get her beloved husband to open up, and she knows Kilian has been lying about where he has been going. Gaby wants to believe she can trust him. Gaby’s sisters rally round in her hour of need and remind her of everything she has that is worth fighting for. But just as she makes her decision, she sees helicopters circling the sea, and the call she has dreaded her whole life comes in.

Can a chance encounter lead to a blossoming romance? At last, it's the day of the interview, and Sara absolutely must get the job. It's been two years since she graduated, and she's not had much luck in her personal or professional life. Much to her dismay, she is desperately late, teetering on her heels, soaking wet and out of breath by the time she arrives at the offices of "Inside Look" magazine. Things are going from bad to worse and when the receptionist tells her the job has already been given to someone else, Sara tries to slip away without being noticed.

1882. When Violet Latimer steps off the train in Paris, she instantly feels at home. Here she can escape her scandalous origins in the rookery of Seven Dials and finally make a name for herself as a painter. But it’s not long before her past catches up with her. The notorious gangster Archie Neville is fresh out of prison and determined to make her his wife–and catch whoever put him away in the first place.

Devastated by the death of her husband, Annie Philips is shocked to discover she is pregnant with his unborn child. Hoping for a fresh start, she travels to a remote stone cottage in Anglesey, amidst the white-capped mountains of North Wales. She settles in quickly, helped by her mysterious new neighbour, Peter. But everything changes when Annie discovers a small wooden box, inlaid with brass and mother-of-pearl. A box she was never supposed to find.

Ireland, 1948. The potato famine has left the Cavanagh family destitute. Kitty and Peter manage to secure tickets for America - seeking hope in an unknown land. But still fortune will not favour them. On a terrifying crossing of the Irish Sea, Peter vanishes, and with him their tickets. Now, Kitty and her young family are stranded in Liverpool - with not a penny to their name. Facing prejudice and distrust, they move to Blackburn, where the welcome is no warmer, but Kitty at least can gather rags and scraps to exchange for a coin or two.

In a field outside Bromsgrove, two elderly brothers live in adjoining railway carriages. No one visits, and they never speak to each other. Until the day Zohra Dasgupta, a young postwoman, delivers an extraordinary letter - from a woman claiming to be the sister they thought had been murdered 50 years earlier.

It is 1943, and a month into their service as Land Girls, Bee, Anne and Pauline are dispatched to a remote farm in rural Scotland. Here they are introduced to the realities of 'lending a hand on the land', as back-breaking work and inhospitable weather mean they struggle to keep their spirits high. Soon one of the girls falters, and Bee and Pauline receive a new posting to a Northumberland dairy farm. Barbara Whitton's autobiographical novel paints a sometimes funny, sometimes bleak picture of time spent in the Women's Land Army during the Second World War.

Over a hundred husbands dead. One prisoner. Countless secrets. The most horrifying case of Kiara Fox’s career… Kiara Fox leads a seemingly ordinary life as a highly respected fraud investigator. With a loving husband and twin daughters, her world seems perfect. But when a life insurance claim involving a wealthy man named Martin Powers lands on her desk, she senses something is off. Forced by her employer to pay the claim, Kiara discovers that Martin Powers’ folder has vanished.