Showing results by narrator "Sasha Higgins" in All Categories

London, 1952: Forty-six-year-old Elizabeth Dalloway feels she has failed at most everything in life, especially living up to her mother, the elegant Mrs. Dalloway, an ideal socialite and model of perfection until she disappeared in the summer of 1923—and hasn’t been heard from since. When Elizabeth is handed a medal with a mysterious inscription from her mother to a soldier named Septimus Warren Smith, she’s certain it contains a clue from the past.

Haunted by her past, Lady Caroline Martindale fled England for the solace of her godmother's palazzo in Venice. But if Caro was hoping to escape the charms of marriage-minded men, she's come to the wrong place. And she'll resort to extreme measures to spurn the advances of a dangerously determined Venetian marquis. Though most of his friends have married off, Gervais, Earl of Huntley, remains bent on eluding the parson's mousetrap. But his convictions begin to falter when he arrives in Venice and meets his match in the alluring Lady Caro.

Set on the eve of the financial crash of 2008, this evocative novel is made up of three stories linked by time and place, and also by the moving, unexpected interactions of a rich cast of characters. Barcelona Dreaming is narrated, in turn, by an English woman who runs a gift shop, an alcoholic jazz pianist, and a translator tormented by unrequited love, all of whose lives will be changed forever. Underpinning the novel, and casting a long shadow, is a crime committed against a young Moroccan immigrant.

Nat did something bad. Very bad. But she's not that person anymore. She has a new name and a new life, and no one, not even her husband Brett, knows what she did. She's desperate to keep it that way. When they escape the city to move to their dream home in the suburbs, it seems that life can't get any better. They quickly become friends with new neighbors Fen and Darius, and Nat begins to believe that she can finally put the past behind her. Until the letter arrives.

Regency London: With her family in dire straits, Kate Harmon agrees to marry the rakish Viscount Nicholas Dunston in return for a generous settlement from his father. But before she even meets her fiance, she overhears him promising to continue his affair with his mistress. Horrified, Kate enters the marriage with an air of coldness and distance. Determined to overcome her dislike, Nicholas attempts to endear himself to his new wife.

In March 2011, a major police investigation was opened in the search for missing Swindon local, Sian O'Callaghan. When taxi driver Christopher Halliwell was arrested, Detective Superintendent Stephen Fulcher didn't expect what happened next. After the body of another missing girl, Becky Godden-Edwards, was uncovered, the police had two murders on their hands and one suspect, but how many more unsolved murders could Christopher Halliwell be responsible for?

Jessica returns home one day to find her husband, Patrick, dead. It's unclear what caused his death and though the shock is huge, she cannot pretend it's entirely unexpected. The police have questions, and Jessica knows that once they hear the answers her fate may well be sealed. Eight years ago, Jessica was living another life.

Marianne Carstairs has unexpectedly inherited a fortune from a father she has never known. In the will, her trustee—Marquess Justin Raymond—is tasked with introducing her into respectable society. But as the manager of her family's farm, Marianne is reluctant to leave behind a life of freedom. What's more, she finds Justin high-handed and stubborn. At the insistence of her grandfather, Marianne agrees to stay with Justin and his family at their Somerset estate. As their relationship grows stormy, Justin sees that it might prove impossible to turn his ward into a debutante.

Meet William Armstrong: rogue, rakehell, devil may care duke-to-be. Everyone knows Will can't walk away from a wager, especially if it involves horseracing. The subject of this wager? The prim and proper Lady Simone Laurent. This is a bet he will enjoy winning. The youngest sister of a large and boisterous family, Simone is used to being overlooked. She is wise enough not to fall for a future duke's honeyed words. But as she is swept into his world of racing and excitement, she feels herself changing and becoming confident that the feelings Will inspires are more than a passing fancy.

Amidst the turmoil of Civil War era New York, a young, immigrant woman seeks to escape a life of prostitution so that she may rescue a child from a terrible fate. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Cast adrift in an unfamiliar city, a young Irish immigrant named Molly finds herself forced into prostitution and has a child stolen out of her arms. With the city descending into the chaos of the Draft Riots, Molly must save herself before she can save the child.

Her Royal Highness Princess Alexandra of Alvaria joins her father the King for an illustrious visit to Royal Ascot hoping for just two things—a break from the strictures of the royal court and a bit of adventure. Samuel Thorne has made a career of uncovering the dark underside of London's haute ton. He enjoys subverting the society that burned him so badly. But Alexandra is from a whole other world—and when she enters his, she immediately turns it upside down. But the very investigation that brings two lovers together may also be the one that tears them apart.

Hugo Hayes has it all; the voice, the money, the looks. Adored by fans all over the world, there's nothing more he could ever wish for. Or so it appears. But no one sees what happens off stage. Nobody knows where he came from, what he goes through, where he's heading . . . Except the girl he left behind. She'll know. She always did.

Lady Olivia Stone—Liv to her intimates—finally has the control she's longed for. She's hand raised her beloved horse from foal to filly and is ready to enter her in the St. Ledger Stakes. But her father is right about one thing: she needs a proper trainer to take her over the finish line. However, Brandon Casey is not what she had in mind. Until she meets the man ready to challenge—and inflame her—at every turn.

What is it about her that attracts disaster? Lady Cecily Garrity is starting to believe that she is cursed. Left devastated after her husband's sudden death, she has made one wrong choice after another. And now her little farm—and her sanity—are falling to pieces.

When you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders, grab this book for a dose of calm and courage. Packed with reassuring tips and advice, from mindfulness exercises to practical steps you can take to make a difference, this guide will ease your eco-anxiety and help you to live a more environmentally friendly life.

Daniela Rames cares nothing for the haute-ton or their rules of decorum. When she is unexpectedly torn from the life and home she knew, she throws caution to the wind and follows her dream of working with horses . . . by disguising herself as a boy and becoming a racetrack rider. Eric Weathers, Earl of Fordham, needs his new racing ventures to be successful in order to save his crumbling estate. But when he discovers his talented new rider is actually a brazen young woman in disguise, their quarrel ends with a passionate kiss . . . and marks the beginning of a scandalous liaison.

Lord Sorin Wincanton fled England's shores to avoid temptation in the form of Lady Eleanor Cramley, but upon his return from fighting Bonaparte, the impetuous young miss he escorted through her first season has grown into a stunning woman who still fires his blood. She sees him as a beloved older brother, and that's the way things need to remain for the sake of her reputation. Even if it means marrying her to another.

Evie's shattered ribs have been a secret for the last four years. Now she has found the strength to tell her adoptive parents, and the physical traces of her past are fixed - the only remaining signs a scar on her side and a fragment of bone taken home from the hospital, which her uncle Ben helps her to carve into a dragon as a sign of her strength.

She knows her fiance is out there. Her almost fiance, that is. But she has not heard from him in months, and although she's kept up a brave face with her family, even Ursula is starting to worry. Meets a young man looking to get from here to there with as little fuss as possible . . . Ford accepted a seemingly simple errand for his cousin, Viscount Warrington: bring a racehorse from Epsom to Doncaster in time for the match race of the decade. What he did not count on? A bossy, buxom siren distracting him at every turn.