Showing results by narrator "Kirsty Cox" in All Categories

Rose MacDowall is hopeful that her husband Alex can overcome his post-war night terrors and return to full health so she can concentrate on her thriving dress-designing business. When the McCarts, an Irish family arrive in Paisley they are offered a warm welcome, employment and support, but dark secrets threaten to destroy the new lives they're trying to build. As Alex's father's health fails, Fiona steps in to help run the family furniture emporium but Rose is unsettled by Fiona's ambitions and wary of her motives.

Nineteen-year-old Evelyn has rarely strayed from her family's isolated estate - save for the occasional trip to Edinburgh, where her father, a respected magistrate, conducts his business. But when Evelyn's innocent friendship with a servant is misinterpreted by her father as an illicit union, Evelyn is whisked away to accompany her father on a trip to North America.

In what is surely Molly Clavering's most autobiographical novel, two middle-aged women writers, close friends and neighbours, offer one another advice and support while navigating life in a lively Border village. Lucy Lorimer, the more successful author, with her four children, in-laws, and grandchildren gathered for a summer reunion, must try to avert disaster in one daughter's marriage, help a daughter-in-law restless with mundane married life after flying planes in the war, and deal with the awkward reappearance of an old flame.

"If you like Tana French, you will love this one. It’s fun and suspenseful and it kept me up late.” —Jenna Bush Hager Eilean Eadar is a barren, windswept rock best known for the unsolved mystery of the three lighthouse keepers who vanished back in 1919. But when a young man is found dead...

Twenty-two-year-old Leana Mackenzie is looking for adventure. Full of excitement, she leaves her home in a remote Scottish village and heads for the bright city lights. In Edinburgh, she meets Alasdair - a cute and charming singer/songwriter. As their relationship develops everything feels perfect. But as the sparkle of her new life begins to fade, Leana finds herself longing for her cosy home on the Isle of Skye, and the close-knit family she left behind. When Alasdair is offered the career opportunity of a lifetime, Leana is left even more confused.

Sometimes the road to happiness is longer than we’d like.... At 14, Isla Mackenzie has her life all planned out. She’s going to be an artist and marry her best friend, Logan. Logan Donnell also has a plan. When he grows up he’s going to join his dad’s business and marry his best friend, Isla. By the time they’re 18, the two of them are inseparable. The future looks bright. Everything feels perfect. But when tragedy strikes, fate sets the pair on a different course. While circumstances keep Logan and Isla apart, their bond is not so easily broken.

Welcome to the Highland Repair Shop, nestled in a sleepy town at the foot of the Scottish Cairngorms, where mending broken things – be they clocks, compasses or hearts – is a way of life. After a grueling few years in city hospitals, trainee doctor Alice Hargreave hopes a new, small-town post will bring quiet to her racing mind. Murray McIntyre has returned to his hometown with a broken heart and his tail between his legs. Meanwhile, mountain ranger Finlay Morlich lives for solitude and the wild and rugged scenery.

When her career stalls and her boyfriend betrays her, Ally McIntyre’s dreams shatter into a hundred little pieces. Which is apt, given Ally’s family has built a haven for the worn out and broken: the Cairn Dhu Community Repair Shop and Café in the heart of the Scottish Highlands, famous for its band of expert fixers (and delicious baking). But repairing gadgets and restoring heirlooms is one thing, fixing herself is quite another. Jamie Beaton is on a temporary summer transfer to Cairn Dhu as a Special Constable, though there’s a deeper, sadder reason that’s drawn him to the Highlands.

The new Duke of Torringford must take a wife in three weeks or lose the country estate he's unexpectedly inherited. His brother suggests an advertisement in the papers, but the Duke refuses to consider it - until a wine-fueled evening when he pens one in jest. Now with the ad printed, the Duke is mortified - but that's when the lovely Miss Penelope Hastings enters his life.

Jess expects life on the Isle of Skye to be calm and peaceful. But when she falls for her colleague, things quickly become complicated. Rory comes with a whole load of baggage, but she just can’t seem to stay away from him.

Pippa has long felt like the odd one out in her family. Natalia has recently returned to Lerwick, hoping to reconnect with an old flame. Autumn is dedicated to her job in hospitality and relishes her role as general manager of Lerwick Manor's new hotel. No guest request is too big or too small, but her own unrelentingly high standards could push Autumn to her limits. Will the beauty of Shetland help these three women find the friendship, support and healing that they all need?

A fairy-tale wedding in a castle should be a dream come true for Isla. Unfortunately, she’s not as taken with the idea as everyone around her. While her family and Logan organize everything, she’s left feeling that her opinion doesn’t count. Meanwhile, Lexie is dealing with family problems of her own. Her dad doesn’t approve of her relationship with Nick and is determined to cause problems for the two of them.

Isla is perfectly content with her solid, stable relationship with Logan. But when they challenge each other to inject some spontaneity into their relationship things quickly get out of hand. Soon, Logan is determined to find the ultimate romantic gesture. Can he truly surprise Isla when she knows him so well? Lexie is enjoying being in a steady relationship with Nick.

Dale didn’t intend to stay on the Isle of Skye for long, but when he’s offered a job at the Old Inn and made to feel at home by the locals, he starts to wonder what it would be like to stick around. Meanwhile, Elspeth is determined to salvage her relationship with Rory. Over in Portree, Jess is hopeful that her streak of bad luck with relationships is over. When a spate of crimes brings Dale under scrutiny, the locals speculate over his mysterious past, leaving tensions high in the normally peaceful Lannick.

Elspeth Mackenzie hasn’t had any contact with the father of her child since they had a fling three years ago. Getting pregnant at 16 turned her life upside down. But now she has everything back under control. She’s managing a cafe and a toddler and making it look easy. If only dating was as easy. Most guys run a mile when they find out she has a child. When her friend sets her up on a blind date, Elspeth is in for a huge surprise. Not only because she finds herself face to face with the father of her child, but because her feelings for Rory haven’t changed a bit.

For years Lexie has kept everyone at arm’s length. Her heart is so guarded it’s almost impenetrable. Until Nick. When the geeky teacher moves in next door, Lexie finds it increasingly difficult to ignore her attraction to him. To protect herself, she pushes him away, convincing herself that hurting him isn’t a big deal. She never imagined him leaving town. Or how much she’d miss him when he left.

A sleepy Scottish village is about to be woken up...As the year draws to a close, Alasdair organises a celebration that will rock the quiet village of Lannick. The New Year’s party brings everyone together for a night to remember. But when midnight strikes, the fireworks bursting over the loch aren’t the only sparks flying...

Eighteen years after being cast out by her father for falling pregnant, Kirsty Lennox returns to Paisley determined to lay the ghosts of the past to rest. Kirsty's husband Matt takes over the cabinetmaking business running it with the help of their two eldest sons. When a tragic accident befalls the family one snowy February day, it casts a pall over Kirsty's marriage and family life. Rivalry between the men in the family and Matt's chronic illness place further strains on the family, and then Kirsty's ability to earn an income is almost destroyed by an act of spite.

After the death of her husband, Kirsty Lennox remarries and rebuilds her life, watching her children find success. But the arrival of four-year-old Rowena Lennox, Kirsty's granddaughter by marriage, throws the family's plans for the future into disarray. Conflict flies when Rose Hamilton, one of Kirsty's partners in a second-hand clothing store, buys the mill her son Alex had his eye on, destroying their friendship. When Britain declares war on Germany in 1914 and the men begin to enlist, it's down to the women to carry on in their absence.

The library is a sanctuary for some, a place for warmth for others and, on many occasions, an internet café. It's not always the books that bring us together. That's why you might be surprised to hear that I've been a witness to an attempted murder, a target for a drugs gang and the last hope for people in desperate poverty. The quirks of library life. But what I didn't expect was for a simple part-time job to become a passionate battle for survival, both for me and for the library.