Showing results by narrator "Laura Kirman" in All Categories

Star baker Mattie has hated Christmas ever since she had her heart broken on Christmas Eve. The only thing she hates more is the insufferable Tom, who has rubbed her up the wrong way since she started running the tearoom next door to his bookshop. So when Mattie and Tom are left in charge in the frantic festive days before Christmas, it might be cold outside, but things are sure to heat up. Can a bookshop full of romantic novels, a life-size reindeer and a mistletoe kissing booth persuade two scrooges to fall in love with Christmas...and each other?

When Gemma Lamb takes a job at a quirky English girls’ boarding school, she believes she’s found the perfect escape route from her controlling boyfriend—until she discovers the rest of the staff are hiding sinister secrets. Even McPhee, the school cat, is leading a double life. Tucked away in the school’s beautiful private estate in the Cotswolds, can Gemma stay safe and build a new independent future, or will past secrets catch up with her and the rest of the staff? With a little help from her new friends, including some wise pupils, she's going to give it her best shot.

Where happy ever after is only a page away…A delightful new series set in a quaint old bookshop, for fans of Lucy Diamond and Jenny Colgan. Once upon a time in a crumbling London bookshop, Posy Morland spent her life lost in the pages of her favourite romantic novels. So when Bookend's eccentric owner, Lavinia, dies and leaves the shop to Posy, she must put down her books and join the real world. Because Posy hasn't just inherited an ailing business, but also the unwelcome attentions of Lavinia's grandson.

For too long, Violet and the people of the outer circles of the Lone City have lived in service of the royalty of the Jewel. But now, the secret society known as the Black Key is preparing to seize power. Now, after fighting so hard to escape the Jewel, Violet must do everything in her power to return - not only to save her sister Hazel, who has been taken by the Duchess of the Lake, but the future of the Lone City....

Darcy and Lizzy have been married for some time and their union is going through troubled times. This is bought to a head when Caroline Bingley, who always had designs on Darcy, arrives unexpectedly. If having Darcy’s old flame under her roof wasn’t enough for Lizzy, Colonel Fitzwilliam, an intelligence officer, arrives also. However, this isn’t a purely social call as he needs Darcy’s assistance to entrap two spies who are passing secrets to the French. Against her better judgment Lizzy is drawn into this dangerous escapade and is asked to invite the suspects to a house party at Pemberley.

Kat Wolfe loves her new home in idyllic Bluebell Bay, especially as it comes with a resident wildcat. But when she starts pet-sitting for pocket money, she finds that beneath the town's perfect surface lie some dark and dangerous secrets...After a pet owner vanishes from his clifftop mansion, Kat turns to her new friend, Harper Lamb, for help. What began as mystery-solving holiday fun quickly turns deadly for Wolfe and Lamb....

Daisy Cooper's life is just getting started, when suddenly it ends. Surprised to find herself in an Afterlife processing center, she is even more stunned to learn that she wasn't meant to die for another 50 years. One terrible, embarrassing clerical error is behind it - and an administrator named Death is to blame.

Since his arrival in the North of Dalemark Mitt has become disillusioned. The North seems no more free than the Holand he fled, a fugitive accused of attempted murder. And now he is trapped by the order to kill someone he doesn't know or else risk the lives of his friends. Forced once more to flee, Mitt is joined by Moril, the quietly powerful musician, and Maewen - out of her time, but mysteriously fated to play a part in their quest. .

Georgiana Darcy is about to embark on her first Season, but after meeting Major Jonathan Brownstone, she is having serious doubts about going. The major is to be groomsman for his best friend, Adam King, when he marries Kitty Bennet at Pemberley and Georgiana would rather stay at home than travel to London. Darcy insists Georgiana must go to town, but with Lizzy pregnant he won’t be able to accompany her. Instead he arranges for his new brother in law to stand guardian in his stead. Georgiana begrudgingly agrees.

In prison, Archie Colbrook spends his time writing letters. Letters addressed to a person against whom he committed terrible, nameless harm. Archie knows he doesn’t deserve forgiveness. Yes, he didn’t mean to hurt anyone, and sure, he was only following orders. But does that matter? He still did it. In a small coastal town of Northern England, Claudia Winters hopes to feel safe for the first time in years after fleeing from her abusive husband with her mother and daughter.

When Jane Bennet meets Mr Bingley at the ball in Meryton she quickly loses her heart to him. Everyone thinks their union will be announced imminently, ut arrogant Mr Darcy has other plans. Determined to make a better match for his friend, Darcy contrives to separate the young couple, leaving Jane heartbroken. With Jane and Bingley both in London, the Bennet sisters hope their paths will cross, and Jane and Bingley will resume the relationship between them. But will fate – or others – intervene to keep these two young lovers apart forever?

Violet Lasting is no longer a human being. Tomorrow she becomes Lot 197, auctioned to the highest royal bidder in the jewel of the Lone City. Tomorrow she becomes the surrogate of the House of the Lake, her sole purpose to produce a healthy heir for the duchess, imprisoned in the opulent cage of the palace, where the royal women compete to secure their bloodline and the surrogates are treated as disposable commodities…

With Christmas days away, the land girls of Gosling Farm are full of merriment. Only Lottie feels far from festive cheer after her sister's death. But with the help of handsome vicar and injured veteran Matthew, she begins to feel hopeful once more. Then one frosty night, a German bomber plane crashes nearby. A survivor is missing, injured and in desperate need of help. But this is no ordinary German airman: his capture would change the course of the war.

Meet Carmen, Polly and Dana - all happy and successful women, with very different views on relationships. Carmen has made a life with Elliot for the past eight years. She's ready for the next step, but a proposal seems to be as far away as ever. Polly is devoted to her family. But after her parents' bitter divorce, she's wary of marriage - even after sharing 20 years and one son with Fraser. Single mother Dana longs for companionship, despite her dedication to raising her son, Luke.

The definition of 'healthy eating' has been chewed up, spat out and re-digested enough times to make Joe Public give up and seek out their nearest branch of McDonald's. Our mindless obsession with eating 'right' is such that we're now more concerned about what our Instagram followers think of a poorly lit picture of our dinner than we are of its effect on our own palate. Or, indeed, our happiness. We seem to be living in a time where we no longer eat with our hearts, emotions or heritage - but with what our waistlines (and followers) in mind.

In a sweeping narrative encompassing political intrigue, illicit love affairs and even a murder mystery, Nancy Goldstone tells the riveting story of a queen who lost her throne, and of her four defiant daughters. Elizabeth Stuart's (1596-1662) marriage to a German count far below her rank was arranged with the understanding that her father, James I of England, would help his new son-in-law achieve the crown of Bohemia. The terrible betrayal of this promise would ruin 'the Winter Queen', as Elizabeth would forever be known, imperil the lives of those she loved and launch a war that would last thirty years.

Verity Love - Jane Austen fangirl and an introvert in a world of extroverts - is perfectly happy on her own (thank you very much), and her fictional boyfriend, Peter, is very useful for getting her out of unwanted social events. But when a case of mistaken identity forces her to introduce a perfect stranger as her boyfriend, Verity's life suddenly becomes much more complicated.

Meredith's life is at a standstill. She's stuck in a dead-end job, approaching fifty, and her dating life is a string of disasters. But one evening, while browsing the internet, she sees an ad for a lighthouse, and in a moment of impulsiveness, she makes a ridiculous bid for it.

Teacher Charlotte Kingston is sent to close a school on an isolated Scilly Isle where she used to spend holidays with her grandparents. But when two visiting children find themselves in need of a place to stay, Charlotte agrees to care for the boys, and decides to keep the school open a little longer. Hearing about her family from the islanders, Charlotte starts decoding her grandmother's old letters from WWII, and a story emerges of forbidden love and a brave man who would risk everything for his country, even giving up the woman he loved.

Violet, Ash and Raven have escaped the palace, but Regimentals are hunting for them across the city. If they can reach the safety of the White Rose then Violet may be able to help Lucien in his plan to rescue more surrogates. For one surrogate, however, it is already too late. Violet's best friend, Raven, is pregnant. And in the Jewel, surrogates cannot survive giving birth.