Showing results by narrator "Annie Aldington" in All Categories

When 19-year-old Tommy Carter throws away a promising career as a professional boxer to work for local villain Davey Abbott, everyone thinks he’s made a huge mistake - collecting debts and working in strip clubs is no life for a young lad. A brutal fighter, Tommy quickly earns a reputation for himself and becomes Davey’s trusted right-hand man. But when Davey is murdered Tommy is shocked to learn that Davey has left his business empire to him - Tommy’s the boss now. No one believes Tommy will succeed. But there is only one rule Tommy lives by...always back the underdog.

The gripping story of life on the inside and the outside of one of Britain's toughest prisons. Donna Brunos worships her husband and is devastated when he is jailed for armed robbery. Georgio swears he's been set up and persuades Donna to help him escape. Implementing 'the jump' takes Donna into a twilight world she never believed existed - a world of brutal sex and casual violence.

August 1944. Allied troops are fighting their way across Europe. But rocket attacks on London are a chilling reminder that the war is far from over. Helen knows all too well how dangerous it is in war-torn France. But it's a long time since she heard from her French fiancé, and nothing is going to stop her going back to track him down. Her friend Molly is finding it hard to stop thinking about the Canadian pilot she met while nursing overseas. But now she is back in London, determined to discover the truth about the mother who gave her up for adoption.

The Crying Game opens in 1944 and tells the story of Trixie - a girl who has only ever known turmoil. As a teenager, she covers up the terrible truth of her father's death and she and her pregnant mother go on the run. Little does she know that fate has more cruel twists in store.

Determined to build a life for her herself, Trixie becomes a singer in the pubs and clubs of Gosport - but her heart is still set on finding the little brother she had to leave behind years before. It will take Trixie many years and many tears before the truth can finally emerge - but will it finally give her the courage she needs to fall in love?

The house in Caulfield Place, off Browning Street in Walworth, was haunted, or at least that's what the street kids said. So when two men, a woman and a parrot moved in, everyone was very interested, especially 14-year-old Cassie Ford, who was particularly fascinated by the parrot. And it was just about this time that Mr Finch, Chinese Lady's husband and Boots's stepfather began to get mysterious telephone calls. Mr Finch had never told the rest of the Adams family - except for Boots - the secrets of his past, or what kind of work he did for the government.

When Elsie and Bert Jones move with their children, Ann and Arthur, to Candle Lane, a modest street in Battersea, they miss their comfortable house in Wimbledon. But the move is the right thing to do, as it will enable Bert to finance his new removal business. They are a warmhearted family, and Elsie soon makes friends with her less fortunate neighbour, Ruth, and her daughter, Sally. But before long Elsie realises that all is not well in the house next door....

Seventeen-year-old Constance has had a privileged upbringing in Clapham, with staff to attend to her every need. But her parents have always been cold and distant, never showing her love.Craving affection, Constance falls into the arms of Albie Jones, the cook’s grandson. But one fateful encounter leaves her ashamed and pregnant, and she is soon shunned from the family home. Heartbroken and threatened by scandal, Constance is forced to wed Albie and moves to Battersea, where she suffers unforgiving stares and cruel whispers from the neighbours.

When Sarah Jepson’s mother Annie dies, Sarah is left with her little brother Tommy to care for. Alone in the world, the two of them must make a life for themselves in the wake of the terrible upbringing they have endured. But when Tommy is struck down by illness, Sarah’s new life collapses. Lost in grief, she turns to the handsome Roger to save her – only to find that he is not who he seems....

Tracey Tempest adores her husband, Terry. But when on his 50th birthday, tragedy strikes, Tracey must face the terrifying prospect of a future without him. Desperate for answers and boiling with rage, Tracey wants revenge. Together with her beloved sons, Ricky and Jamie, the Tempest family dig deeper into Terry’s past—who would want to kill him, and why? But what they discover changes everything they knew about the man they loved and risks tearing their own family apart.

When the father she worships disappears, ten-year-old Ada Fletcher and her family, are forced to move to a poor yard in Birmingham. Ada and Elsie, the two eldest children have to go to work in a local pearl button factory to try and make ends meet. The work is hard and relentless and their mother’s death is the final calamity. One day Ada returns home to find her siblings being dragged away to the local workhouse orphanage.

An uncompromising and haunting story of betrayal and violence from the best-selling author Martina Cole. Freddie Jackson thinks he owns the underworld when he gets out of prison. He's done his time, made the right connections, and now he's ready to use them. His wife Jackie just wants her husband home, but she's forgotten the rows, the violence, and the girls Freddie can't leave alone. Bitter, resentful, and increasingly unstable, Jackie watches her life crumble while her little sister Maggie's star rises.

Jo Strong is the youngest widow in the East End. Running her late husband's jewellery shop, mercilessly bullied by her evil mother-in-law, she is trying to get her life back together again. But then the 14-year-old daughter of one of the East end's most notorious gangsters is kidnapped, and Jo finds herself in a deadly race against time to rescue the girl - before it is too late. And to get her back, she'll have to join forces with damaged but handsome bad boy Gabe Miller, a man who has a dark past of his own…

When Carrie Manning’s father dies, her mother, Esther, is heartbroken. Essie leaves London to convalesce with her good friend Lady Alice, and it is down to Carrie to look after her family and take charge of the shipping company that her father has left behind. But the company is in dire straits, forcing Carrie seek work as a companion to Maria Colville. When Carrie and Maria try to track down Maria’s mother, they have no idea of the secrets that they will discover. Secrets that link the Colvilles, the Mannings and figures from the past who return to England.

It is only Annie Brooks’ second day working in the Bexleyheath branch of F. W. Woolworths when an oil bomb is dropped on the store and she must help save her fellow staff members. Thankfully uninjured, she is moved to the Erith store. There, she meets a lad – much to the consternation of her mother, who is unhappy with her daughter spreading her wings. She'd much rather Annie stay at home to help with the family’s small laundry business and care for her ageing grandfather and young brother. Annie falls in love anyway, but is let down when she finds the man is married with children.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. And your family should be closest of all. Patrick Brodie knows exactly how far he's prepared to go to get what he wants. And he wants it all. Now. Before long, Patrick has become a legend in his own lifetime. Violently. Lily Diamond is different from the kind of woman Patrick is normally attracted to. But together they are determined that their children will have everything they didn't. Until the unthinkable happens, and Lily is left on her own to look after their family in a dangerous world.

Susie Brown is overjoyed when her brother, Will, turns up unexpectedly on leave from service in time for her wedding to Sammy Adams. But Will's leave is an extended one due to bad health, and he's unsure whether the army will keep him or whether he'll be able to find a job in the slump of the '20s. To make matters worse, he's at risk of falling in love with the young and personable Annie Ford.

A terrifyingly gripping thriller of East End violence and corruption. Eleven years ago Marie Carter was convicted of killing her two best friends. And she's paid the price. Now she is being released from prison. It's time to go home. But life has moved on, and Marie has nowhere to go. Her parents have disowned her; her friends have abandoned her; even her kids don't want to know. But some people out there are watching her, following her every move - they know that Marie Carter wants retribution.

The Graft is an enthralling and hard-hitting story of violence and revenge from number one best-selling author Martina Cole. Looking back, Nick Leary couldn't say exactly what kept him awake that night. He'd had a lot on his mind; perhaps he'd been thinking about the 'respectable' Essex business that he ran, or about his two young sons sleeping in the room next door. Or was it simply the sound of his beautiful wife's steady breathing beside him? Whatever it was, he was awake when he heard someone's footsteps....

Just before Danny Cadogan's 14th birthday, his father leaves. Having drunkenly run up a gambling debt he cannot pay, Big Dan Cadogan takes the easy way out, leaving behind his wife and children to face the wrath of the men sent to collect the debt. Determined to protect his mother, brother, and sister, something changes in Danny and overnight, he turns into a young man set on making his way in a violent and dangerous world. He becomes a Face. Not just a Face, but the most feared Face in the Smoke.

Cathy Townsend has it all: a loving husband, two handsome sons and a lifestyle that many people envy. But one violent and bloody night, Cathy's whole world comes crashing down around her. Heartbroken and reeling from the events that took place, Cathy is determined to seek revenge on the people responsible for stealing her perfect life away from her. She knows she’ll need help but doesn’t know who to trust. Because in this new dark and dangerous world, Cathy discovers that friends are enemies and blood isn’t always thicker than water.