Showing results by narrator "Rachael Beresford"

Isabelle Lockwood was a duchess, until her husband of only a few months wrongfully divorced her for adultery. Since then she's been a pariah, living in anonymous exile to escape the prying eyes and wagging tongues of the town. More than anything, Isabelle longs for a family of her own, and so has to marry again. But society is ruthlessly unforgiving. To clear her name, Isabelle must face down her past - and the man who broke her heart and ruined her completely. Marshall Lockwood, Duke of Monthwaite, was blindsided by his young bride's infidelity. 

She was the mother of Henry VIII and wife of Henry VII, but who was Elizabeth of York? Raised as the precious eldest child of Edward IV, Elizabeth had every reason to expect a bright future until Edward died, and her life fell apart. When Elizabeth's uncle became Richard III, she was forced to choose sides. Should she trust her father's brother and most loyal supporter or honor the betrothal that her mother has made for her to her family's enemy, Henry Tudor? The choice was made for her on the field at Bosworth.

When Flora and Adam McIntosh move to the country, neither of them knows that their new home holds a dark secret. Flora has a sense that something in the house is not right and that the villagers are hiding something. As she tries to uncover the truth, Flora finds herself entangled in a web of deceit, with no one to trust and her life in danger. 

Margaret Pole is no stranger to fortune's wheel. From her childhood as firstborn of the heir apparent of England, she was brought low as the daughter of a traitor. After years of turmoil as the Tudor dynasty made its roots, Margaret finds favor with her cousin, King Henry VIII. Will the remnant of the York dynasty thrive under this tempestuous king or will Margaret discover that there is a price to pay for having an excess of royal blood? Step into Tudor England....

For Miss Phoebe Lockswell, fashionable London tea parties and balls aren't her style. Instead, she prefers to tinker tirelessly with a clockwork diffuser she's built from scratch. If only she can get the invention to work on command, she might earn her way out of an arranged marriage to a repugnant member of the House of Commons.

Paige has only ever had eyes for Alec but despite their undeniable chemistry, the timing has always been wrong. Single and approaching 30, she decides to jump back into the dating pool. The fails that follow include a neck brace, jellyfish, stitches, flashing...and an encounter with a gorilla, which was unexpected. Paige is determined to persevere. Was Alec her Mr. Right, or is she about to meet The One?

Ingrid Barrøy is born on an island that bears her name - a holdfast for a single family, their livestock, their crops, their hopes and dreams. Her father dreams of building a quay that will connect them to the mainland, but closer ties to the wider world come at a price. Her mother has her own dreams - more children, a smaller island, a different life - and there is one question Ingrid must never ask her. Island life is hard, a living scratched from the dirt or trawled from the sea, so when Ingrid comes of age, she is sent to the mainland to work for one of the wealthy families on the coast.

Society's most capable housekeeper, Eleanora Quinton, has a problem. Not only does a dead body fall right into the middle of her mistress' ball and her son get kidnapped by nefarious spies for Napoleon, but the only person who can help her also forces her to face her most secret fears. A spy himself, Nathan Black pulls the infallible housekeeper into a cyclone of espionage, intrigue, and danger. But the last thing Eleanora expects when the dead body hits the floor is love with the son of a duke.

A lady seeking forgiveness for her past, Lady Viola Haversham is determined to put her past where it belongs. A woman forging a new path in life, Mrs. Ruby Jakeston is tired of others taking care of her. A girl lost and in search of a place to belong, Lady Ellington is on the brink of losing the only home she's ever known. A trio of women holding out hope for three different holiday miracles: Christmas ever more.

Sarah Black, the Countess of Stryden, and spy for the British War Office, kidnapped by the French and imprisoned on a ship in the English Channel, has but one complaint: having to share a prison cell with her husband. Forced into the marriage to help her carry out missions as a female spy, Sarah struggles with accepting her position as a member of high society, a position that seems ill-gained in relation to her lowly birth. The fact that she is secretly in love with her husband, the earl, does not help matters at all.

In a world of honor and obligation, falling in love can be a dangerous game. Jane Dawson would pay any price to renew her family’s happiness, but is the cost of marrying Lord Litchfield too high? A woman of virtue and honor, she cannot break a promise once given, especially when doing so would ruin those she seeks to protect. But can she ignore the connection she feels to the wild soldier who understands both her duty and her heart?

Long before a singing nanny and her chimney sweep companion flew London children through the air on magical umbrellas, there was a different sort of nanny. A nanny who's spoon full of sugar may have been laced with a touch of strychnine.

Katharine Cavanaugh, the Countess of Stirling, has always lived according to the expectations of her heritage. The daughter of a revered naval captain and accomplished British spy, Katharine has always done what others expected of her without ever wondering what she expected of herself. American mercenary Matthew Thatcher has spent his life running away from every expectation he has for himself. Fleeing from a tragedy he believes his careless youth caused, Thatcher is more than willing to offer his services.

When an assassin threatens England's spy network, Lady Margaret Folton must find the killer before it's too late. Hardened from being forced to witness the murder of her British spy parents by French revolutionists, Margaret approaches this mission like any other, with steely determination and a resolute focus on the necessary outcome at the cost of all else.

When her fiancé leaves her eight months before their wedding, the unexpected blow ignites a battalion of insecurities stemming from her father's intimate betrayal. Her worst fears are confirmed. Who could ever love a soiled woman? In an attempt to escape the shame and disappointment of her past, Ashleigh boards the ill-fated Lusitania to cross the war-torn waters of Europe. Much to her dismay, she isn't traveling alone.

Samuel Black must make a decision: to be a spy like his father or follow his heart. Either is likely to give his mother chest pains. For Samuel is no longer a lad with the ambitious and noble wish of being a lamplighter to keep the seedy streets of London safe. About to embark on university, his mind stirs with the thoughts of creating a policing force in London to safeguard its citizens. Held back by his family's legacy as spies, Samuel does not make his ideas known.

I watch him watching us, imagining how he would take me. I send him the message with my eyes. This is who I am. I am Veronica Franco. I am a COURTESAN. I court the cultural elite for fame and fortune, giving my body to many. And I'm good. So very good. After all, I was taught by my mother, and mother always knows best. How else to please the future King of France than with the imaginative use of Murano glass? How else to fulfill the desires of all yet keep my sense of self-worth?

Richard Black, the duke of Lofton, waited for her, watching as the agony of marriage broke the woman he loved. Lady Jane Haven had to find a reason to survive, a purpose to carry on when it seemed God would not just let her die. But when fate finally offers them a chance to be together, a treasonous plot threatens to keep them apart.

A cursed witch is the loneliest kind. Shunned by her small community, Henny Wilson knows this very well. Suffering constant accidents, she keeps away from people for their own safety. But her new neighbour, Nathan, has other ideas. He believes the curse is just in her head. As they grow closer and feelings develop between them, Nathan vows to show Henny that she doesn't have to suffer any longer.

Laura's got a few pounds to lose, nothing major, so she joins the local slimming class, Nu-You. Psycho Kassie and her two morbidly obese friends are livid. They have been struggling for years. Battling obesity. The worst thing for them is people who don't look overweight blazing in all optimistic and raring to go. They want to educate her on the definition of over-indulgence. Could there be such a thing as death by chocolate?