Showing results by narrator "Laura Kirman" in All Categories

Cressida Collins is the queen of makeovers. With a well-placed stitch, button or seam, she can transform any frock in The Vintage Dress Shop and give customers their Cinderella moment. Like her beautifully organised workroom under the eaves, Cress's life away from the shop is just as orderly and mapped out. But when her boyfriend of fifteen years drops a bombshell, it explodes all the carefully laid plans Cress had for her future. It's going to take more than needle and thread to put Cress's own life back together. Will she ever be brave enough to say goodbye to her old dreams and start over?

Browsing antiques shops in Wiltshire, Alison Bannister stumbles across a delicate old portrait - supposedly of Anne Boleyn. Except Alison knows better.... The woman is Mary Seymour, the daughter of Katherine Parr, who was taken to Wolf Hall in 1557 as an unwanted orphan and presumed dead after going missing as a child. The painting is more than just a beautiful object from Alison's past - it holds the key to her future, unlocking the mystery surrounding Mary's disappearance and the enigma of Alison's son.

Clare's life is perfect...steady job, loving husband, two kids and lovely townhouse. Except her husband Toby's barely listened to a thing she's said since he landed his new TV gig, her daughter can't stand the sight of her and her boss barely even knows her name. It seems that with middle age she's become more invisible than a grey power suit and no matter what she does no one seems to notice her. Not the mad haircut, crazy outfits or brilliant job performance.

Pip Smith knows she owes it to her family to hold on to the festive traditions that have been a comfort since the year everything changed - but this Christmas she's going to need a miracle to keep everyone in her life happy. After she's dumped by her fiancé, an invitation to visit a friend in Hong Kong in the run-up to the festive season seems to offer Pip the perfect escape. Except her escape ends up becoming far more complex than she intended, when she becomes involved with arrogant American Ryan Hawke and his niece, Shelby - a little girl Christmas wish is for a proper family.

Count down to Christmas with your new must-have author as you step into the wonderful world of Ava Bliss. Perfect for fans of Trisha Ashley, Carole Matthews and Katie Fforde. On a snowy December evening, Sam Jermyn steps into the life of bespoke hatmaker Ava. Sparks fly, and not necessarily good ones. Times are tough for Ava - she's struggling to make ends meet, her ex-boyfriend is a bully, and, worst of all, it's nearly Christmas.

A collection of short stories celebrating Charlotte Brontë, published in the year of her bicentenary and stemming from the now immortal words from her great work Jane Eyre. The 21 stories in Reader, I Married Him - one of the most celebrated lines in fiction - are inspired by Jane Eyre and shaped by its perennially fascinating themes of love, compromise and self-determination.

Driving to the cottage she's newly inherited, Ellie is so excited that she barely notices when the car bumps against something. That evening Ellie hears a news flash; a man was seriously injured in a hit and run. Could she have been responsible for putting a man in hospital? Unable to hold the doubts at bay, she decides to visit the victim, little knowing that the consequences of this decision will change her life forever.

When Alec asks Jess out, she knows it won't work. He may be charming and handsome, but Jess has rules. And the first? Don't fall in love. Jess has inherited Huntington's disease from the mother that she cares for. Falling in love would just mean condemning someone to the heartbreak that she feels every day, as she watches the woman she knew and loved slip further and further away. Jess has learnt to keep everyone and everything at arm's length, but Alec is determined to break down her barriers.

Newly divorced Jo is delighted to move into her best friend’s spare room almost rent-free. The high-tech luxury Camden flat is managed by a meticulous home assistant, called Electra, that takes care of the heating, the lights - and sometimes Jo even turns to her for company. Until, late one night, Electra says one sentence that rips Jo’s fragile world in two: ‘I know what you did’. And Jo is horrified. Because in her past she did do something terrible. Something unforgivable.

When reports come in that valuable magical objects are being stolen, Goodly and Grave are on the case, but just when they think they know whodunit their prime suspect turns up - murdered! Will Lucy be able to track the real villain without putting herself in deadly danger? A mystery with a magical twist.

Having five daughters, Lord Farringdon has more than enough to keep him busy at Nettlecombe Manor. With his wife Lady Charlotte already in London, Edwin must help his daughter Victoria prepare for the Season as she gets ready to follow her stepmother to the city to make her Society debut. But with little time to prepare a wardrobe for the balls and parties that lie ahead, Victoria must turn to trusted seamstress Jane Haydon for help—and in doing so unearths a fascinating secret hidden for decades in a beautiful piece of white silk.

Elle and Laurie are the last ones standing: they're single, they're not having babies any time soon and their weekends aren't filled with joyful meetings about mortgages. For Elle, this is fine. She likes her independent life, but Laurie wants love and she wants it now. So when Laurie begs Elle to come with her on a singles holiday to a beautiful vineyard in Tuscany, Elle is reluctant. She has no intention of swapping her perfectly lovely life for someone else's idea of her Mr Perfect, but 10 days under the Italian sun with her best friend and lashings of wine?

Former Olympic skating champion Katie Saunders is well known for her ‘ice queen’ persona in the press. Perhaps Katie should have forgiven her former skating partner and ex-boyfriend, Alex Michaelson, for the accident that shattered both her ankle and their Olympic dreams - but she just can’t seem to let it go. Desperate for cash, Katie, reluctantly agrees to take part in a new TV skating show, but not only is she partnered up with an infamous love-rat rugby player, but one of the judges is none other than Alex Michaelson himself.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Stranger by Kate Riordan. When you're the outsider, who do you trust? Cornwall, 1940. For decades, Penhallow Hall has stood frozen in time, protecting the secrets of its isolated inhabitants. But the far corners of England are no shelter from the war, and Penhallow must finally open its doors to strangers. Three newcomers arrive, each looking to escape their past. They adjust easily to the routine - nightly blackouts, the threat of invasion - but tensions mount, and secrets are forced into the open. 

His fingers fastened about her stone. He brought it to the light and held it to his nose. There was lightning locked inside. He rolled the stone in his palm to give it the heat of his body. She had come to him, catching his eye where she lay among dull flints. She alone among the stones had spoken.

Is it possible to freecycle love? Modern dating is hard, especially when all you meet are liars, oddballs, men who wear Superman pants and men who live with their mums. So why not date someone who already comes preapproved? Just because your friend's ex wasn't right for her doesn't mean that he won't be right for you. That's Marnie's new plan for herself and her three best friends - perennially single Helen, recently divorced Rosa and cynical lawyer Ani.

A dramatic and terrifying memoir of a 'catfish' scenario - when a woman meets a man online but nothing is what it seems. Twenty-five-year-old Megan Henley put her five-year-old daughter to bed one evening and switched on her laptop. A Facebook 'riend request seemed to be genuine. There were a few common friends and very similar interests, so Megan accepted. With that one simple act, she changed her life forever.

Perfect for fans of Cathy Bramley, Lucy Dillon and Debbie Johnson. A Christmas Tail was first published as a four-part e-serial set in Primrose Terrace. Catherine "Cat" Palmer realizes that bringing an adorable puppy into work is a bad idea, especially when it gets her the sack. Deciding it's the perfect opportunity to launch her dog-walking business, Cat enlists the help of flatmates Polly and Joe.

Amber Alessandra Leola Kimiko Miyamoto. As if her name made up for being tiny, half Japanese and half Italian, and starting a new school with a caveman phone. Dream on! But the hardest bit about being Amber is that a part of her is missing. Her dad. He left when she was little and if he isn't coming back, she'll have to sort things out another way…

I was winning until I met your gaze... Gambling at the roulette tables of the Kursaal, Gwendolen Harleth glances up to meet Daniel Deronda's arresting stare. Striking, selfish and wilful, she is at that moment the mistress of her destiny. Thirty years on, the flawed heroine and true protagonist of Eliot's last great novel writes her confessional to the man whose ever-imagined gaze has prevailed throughout her life.