Showing results by narrator "Deryn Edwards" in All Categories

A miscast spell has created a jungle of man-eating plants across the entire sports pitch at Rotwood Academy and the pupils are now forced to share a field with the only other local school - Primrose Towers. When the two rival schools compete on sports day, will the Rotwood monsters be able to beat the girls of Primrose Towers and Milly, Maud's annoyingly perfect twin? And how will Maud hide the truth about her mysterious new monster school?

A small Welsh town hosts a lively and varied community - and none more so than Nelly Luke, the cheerful Cockney widow who made a ramshackle cottage her cosy, if unconventional, home. Nelly's generosity and wisdom win her many friends: Fay, the young newly-wed; Amy, the glamorous shopkeeper whose private life is colourful indeed; and her dignified sister Prue, whose family cupboard contains more than a few skeletons. Against the mounting excitement of the Coronation summer, Nelly steers her friends and family through storms and sunshine alike.

Spring 1919. WW1 might be over, but the inhabitants of Dorcalon in the Welsh Valleys still feel the pain of the war that took so many of their men. Polly Smith is trying to survive her own battle at home. After her abusive husband, Gus, was finally jailed, Polly has been raising her two-year-old son alone. But being a single mother isn't easy, and Polly finds it harder still as Gus's criminal activities leave her with a bad reputation. Lonely and struggling for money, Polly retreats as she becomes the subject of cruel gossip.

It's August 1917, and WW1 continues to take a toll. The villagers of Dorcalon try to keep hope alive, but every day brings fresh tragedy as more are killed on foreign battlefields. Elizabeth Meredith, daughter of mine manager Herbert, enjoys a privileged position in the village, but she longs to break free of society's expectations. Falling in love with miner Gwilym Owen brings more joy to her life than she's ever known...until she's forced to choose between her love and her disapproving family.

1941. Annie Beynon has just become the first stable girl for the most powerful family in her Welsh village. Whilst her gift for working with horses is clear, there are some who are willing to make her life very difficult simply for being a girl. There are other secret ways Annie is defying conventions though, and as the war rages, it seems that it's only a matter of time before Annie's secret is exposed. It's 1963 before Annie is able to face up to the secret she chose to keep over 20 years before.

Eleven-year-old Emily doesn't think Badger Cottage - where she's had to move with her vet father after her mum died - will ever be home. But there is something out there that needs her: a bright pair of eyes in the darkness. In the middle of a fierce battle between a conservation project to re-wild the lynx in the woods and the local farmers, Emily tries to shield a baby lynx she calls Lotta, afraid it will be killed by the person who shot its mother. Can Emily work out who the illegal hunter is in time? Who can she trust?

With an invisible girl, a parliament of owls and a pen that writes by itself, the journey to the Garden of the Midnight Swan might be Seren's most dangerous adventure yet. Seren and Tomos must try to help the Crow find the way back to his human form. But why is Captain Jones enquiring about Seren's past? How have the sinister Fair Family gate-crashed the Midsummer Ball, and what is the one desire of the mysterious Midnight Swan?

After 20 years of contentedly playing the role of home-maker and mother, Frances Copeland's life is shattered by the sudden death of her husband. With no career to fall back on and her son and daughter leaving home, the solitude of bereavement hits particularly hard. When new love beckons, in the form of a handsome young man 15 years her junior, Frances is torn. She longs to open her heart again but does not dare to trust her feelings. Turning to her closest friends for help, she is met by a wall of judgemental attitudes and envy.

A marriage of dynasty: that is what is expected of Mary Sidney. A marriage to Sir Henry Herbert, earl of Pembroke, to be precise. But Mary’s sharp mind longs to work on her writing and translation projects and perhaps learn more of the alchemical arts at the elbow of the dazzling Walter Raleigh. Rose Commin, a young country girl with a surprising talent for drawing, is desperate to shrug off the slurs of witchcraft which have tarnished life at home. The opportunity to work at Wilton House, the Herbert’s Wiltshire home, is her chance.

It’s the 1960s, and Jennifer Howells is a young woman with the world at her feet, just on the cusp of leaving her Welsh village for an exciting life in the city. Then the contents of an inconspicuous brown envelope turn Jennifer’s world upside down. But Jennifer’s experience with the excesses of '60s culture leaves her no closer to her true identity. She soon realises she’ll have to travel further - first to Cardiff, then across the ocean to Sicily - if she wants to find out who she really is....

What would you do if you woke up and didn't know who you were? Chloe Daniels regains consciousness in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. She doesn't recognise the strangers who call themselves family. She can't even remember her own name. What if your past remained a mystery? As she slowly recovers, her parents and sister begin to share details of her life. The successful career. The seaside home. The near-fatal car crash.

Become a better leader by accessing the source of your professional influence. Viewing them as 'touchy feely', intangible and invisible, most leaders separate their personal lives from their professional lives. Diana Jones, an executive coach for 30 years, argues that this is unwise. In fact the 'soft side' of leadership - empathy, compassion, and authentic communication derived from personal experience - is both powerful and essential to enhancing executive presence, influencing others and achieving results.

Remember, Remember, this second book in the DC Nina Foster series (now optioned for a major TV drama) is a taut and gripping police procedural crime novel. Returning to work after recovering from a serious injury, the feisty and determined policewoman is initially assigned to a desk job to keep her out of harm's way. But as she re-visits the investigation of the infamous 1964 Wickerstead Valley train crash, she finds new evidence that might link that fatal accident to a current spate of heroin-related deaths.

Maud's beloved Rotwood, a secret school for monsters, is under a cloud... literally! The pupils' monstrous games and spooky spells are filling the area with noise and smoke. Local residents are fed up and the school is facing closure! Maud and her friends are determined to help the Head, but end up accidentally terrifying the inspector during a crucial inspection. Was it an accident, though?

When Maud's pet rat, Quentin, escapes in the middle of science class, it's the very last straw. Maud is transferred from Primrose Towers to Rotwood Middle School - to the delight of her teacher, classmates, and her perfect twin, Milly. But what is in store at Rotwood? There's something strange about the pupils of Rotwood - everyone's dressed as though it's Halloween and the school's motto is "Because We Scare". Is 10-year-old Maud Montague monstrous enough for Rotwood?

When Maud's perfect twin sister, Milly, plans a sleepover, Mum forces Maud to have her friends over, too. What can possibly go wrong? Nothing much... just that Maud's mum might find out about Rotwood High being a school for real monsters! As if that's not enough, Maud is tricked into looking after Violet, the school hamster, by her archenemy, bitchy-witch Poisonous Penelope. But Violet is no ordinary hamster! She's a pedigree vampster and an expert cage-breaker. With a vampster on the loose, sleep is the very last thing that happens!

Maud loves camping and is excited about going on Wilf's family holiday in the woods. Will she be the first camper ever to solve the monstrous mystery of the Beast Of Oddington?

When Maud decides to learn advanced sorcery for the talent show, she can't control her spells. Now Maud has to work out how to do reverse magic - before the whole school guesses her monstrous secret!

Emily and Clemmie's lives changed forever when they took their great aunt's ashes to rest in a strange and exotic land. Clemmie stayed behind to begin a new life in the Mali desert, but now Emily fears for her cousin's safety. Returning to Africa with her new husband and two friends, she is determined to find out why Clemmie seems so desperately to need her help. Divinity is travelling to Mali to satisfy her curiosity about the land her father came from, and to source new materials for her design company. She doesn't expect the chaos and adventure she finds - nor the danger that seems to grow as her little group begin to make its way....

At Dragonsdale, where riding is the most important thing in the world, there’s trouble ahead for best friends Cara and Breena and their beloved dragons. When Breena’s show dragon, Moonflight, is injured, it looks like time will run out for the pair to qualify for the Island Championship. Cara and her dragon, Sky, however, have never looked better, and although she misses her friend at her side, winning means so much.