Nature girl

In July 2005, in the Pyrenees mountains near Carcassonne, Alice, a volunteer at an archaeological dig, stumbles into a cave and makes a startling discovery-two crumbling skeletons, strange writings on the walls, and the pattern of a labyrinth.

To trace the history of the twenty-first century so far is to trace a history of unaffordability and shortage. After years of refusing to build sufficient housing, America has a national housing crisis. After years of limiting immigration, we don’t have enough workers. Despite decades of being warned about the consequences of climate change, we haven’t built anything close to the clean-energy infrastructure we need. Ambitious public projects are finished late and over budget—if they are ever finished at all.

Aoife Kerr lived a simple life in Donegal. The forgotten county at the northern tip of Ireland. Surrounded by friends and family, she never thought much about life beyond the port city where she was born. But one never knows what the sea wind will blow their way. David O'Brien and his brother take positions on a sailing crew, making deliveries along the western coast of Ireland. After a challenging trip from Galway to Killybegs, David finds himself inside the shop of a master tailor and his stunning young assistant.

Having escaped an unhappy marriage, Morgan finds herself in Camelot–the city of dreams and peace. Her brother, King Arthur, treats her as a valued advisor and Morgan finally has recognition befitting her intelligence within Arthur’s trusted circle, despite a longstanding conflict with Queen Guinevere. But Morgan’s life is not without complications. Between a vengeful husband determined to snatch their son away, the strict ideals of court life, and a jealous rival for Arthur’s attentions in the sorcerer Merlin, gaining true recognition and freedom is a greater challenge than Morgan envisioned.

Even as a girl Morgan has always been wild, like the seas which batter the cliffs beneath her home, Tintagel Castle. But she has always been safe, too. Then one day her father is called away to a war from which he does not return. In his place comes the High King, Uther Pendragon, with the sorcerer Merlin lurking in his wake. Uther claims Morgan’s mother, the Lady Igraine as his queen.

Troy has fallen and the victorious Greeks are eager to return home with the spoils of an endless war—including the women of Troy themselves. They await a fair wind for the Aegean. It does not come, because the gods are offended. The body of King Priam lies unburied and desecrated, and so the victors remain in suspension, camped in the shadows of the city they destroyed as the coalition that held them together begins to unravel. Old feuds resurface and new suspicions and rivalries begin to fester.

Kingdom of Gododdin, AD 580: After defeating the Angles at the Battle of the Caledonian Wood, Languoreth, her daughter Angharad, brother Lailoken, and the warrior Artúr mac Aedan are reunited. But all too soon, fate pulls each back to their own path. Artúr receives a mysterious summons from his father in Dalriada. Languoreth and Lailoken return to Strathclyde with the dangerous former bishop Mungo in tow, determined to maintain the fragile peace between the Christians and the people of the Old Way.

Since giving up their city jobs in London and moving to rural France over ten years ago, Janine and husband Mark have renovated their dream home and built a new life for themselves, adjusting to the delights and the peculiarities of life in a small French village. Including much-loved village characters such as Mr. and Mrs. Pepperpot, Jean-Claude, Claudette, and the infamous Bread Man, Toujours La France also introduces listeners to some new faces and funny stories, as Janine and Mark continue their lives in this special part of northern France. There is never a quiet moment.

Cormac Carrington relocated to Ireland to be closer to his O'Brien kin. While exploring employment opportunities, he offers pro-bono legal aid for asylum seekers and unaccompanied children who have evacuated their homes in Ukraine. During a fundraising gala, he crosses paths with a beautiful Italian woman. They will both be pulled into the intrigue of a detained woman and her missing little brother. Set in a sprawling European city, the worldwide sickness of human trafficking will touch the O'Brien family, and they will band together to save one small child.

In 1920, Annabeth De Lacy’s father is appointed landlord of Galway Parish in Ireland. Bored without the trappings and finery of the British Court, Annabeth convinces her father to arrange an apprenticeship for her with the Jennings family - descendants of the creator of the famed Claddagh ring. Stephen Jennings longs to do anything other than make a career in his family’s jewelry shop. The past has taught him to no longer believe in love and the “lies” the Claddagh ring supposedly promises. How can he peddle what he now finds offensive?