Showing results by narrator "Claire Storey" in All Categories

Tilda has done everything she can to make her life neat, protected, tidy. No longer the girl who was scared of everything, whose family pushed her away, who hit rock bottom. Now she runs her life – as she does her successful business – with the utmost organization. As long as she keeps everyone at arm’s length, she will be fine. She will be safe. But then a chance encounter with a man who’s fallen on hard times changes everything.

Hannah Driver's life is on the skids: single, newly jobless, and nursing ambitions of becoming a drag king that make her traditional family baulk. She's at a crossroads. Enter Cordy Starling, the charming and composed pianist who moves in with Hannah, and quickly becomes the nudgeor—or rather, full-on shove—Hannah needs to chase her dreams. The prospect of romance with Cordy twinkles on the horizon like a disco ball, promising glitter but guaranteeing chaos.

Real life doesn’t play out like a movie. Electric connections mostly mean you’ve got static in your jumper. Camila Moore knows that; she’s not daft. She has two teenage boys and bills to pay, plus the only man she’s ever been with has traded her in for a gym bunny. Returning to work’s the answer, but when she finds herself in the wrong room and wrong place at the wrong time, the last thing she expects is to be promoted out of obscurity into the arms of Harriet Imogen Pearson, media darling, hotshot entrepreneur, and notorious lesbian playgirl.

1943. Lidia De Angelis has kept a low profile since Mussolini’s laws wrenched her from her childhood sweetheart. But when the Germans occupy Venice, she must flee the city to save her life. Lidia joins the partisans in the Venetian mountains, where she meets David, an English soldier fighting for the same cause. As she grows closer to him, harsh German reprisals and her own ardent patriotic activities threaten to tear them apart.

June, 1941. When Bobby Bancroft arrived in Silverdale to take a job as a reporter on The Tyke magazine, the sleepy Yorkshire Dales village felt like a little pocket of a past long gone. But war finally seems to have come to Silverdale. The villagers face new hardships when shortages and rationing begin to bite, young men become scarce as more are called up, and Bobby finds herself juggling her job on the magazine with a new role as an ARP warden. Even her surly editor Reg and his wife are doing their bit, agreeing to take two evacuees from London into their home.

The lead-up to Christmas sees the Connection private investigation team planning their festive season. Until a new case arrives. Catapulted into their biggest mystery yet, they are tasked with finding a killer who has been released on parole, and subsequently disappeared. Has he returned to finish the murder he tried to commit before his capture? As he targets his intended victim, his attention is also focused on the private investigators and their police colleagues with devastating effect. With families torn apart, Doris must seek assistance from a colleague from her past.

For book eight of the London Romance series, time-travel back to 1958 for a front-row seat to Eunice and Joan’s epic love story. Watch as they meet, court, and fall head over heels. Feel your heart break as family pressure rips that love from their grasp. Then swoon as a bunch of lost love letters mean they meet again, 60 years later. Their happy ending might not have happened then, but in the present day, Eunice and Joan have another chance at love. Are the pair destined to finally live out their big London dreams?

Duckton-by-Dale has never been your average quintessential English village. And as preparations for the annual pantomime and winter solstice reach fever pitch, you just know that things are going to get even more bizarre! With new visitors bringing mystery, suspicion, flamboyance, and lust, past secrets and current desires will be revealed, bringing a dramatic conclusion to the Duckton-by-Dale series. Expect humor, paranormal happenings, fun and laughter, and of course a large dose of romance in this bestselling lesbian romantic comedy series. Merry Christmas one and all.

This is the story of Josie, a British expat living in New York City. Or rather, it is the tale of two Josies, as her life path split three years ago, when she did or did not meet the love of her life—wealthy, handsome Rob. One Josie is now a single radio show host living in Brooklyn, with a huge crush on her friend Peter; the other is happily married to Rob and living in a fabulous Manhattan penthouse. It’s both Josies’ 36th birthday, and each is set to celebrate when they crash their bicycles at the exact spot where their lives split three years ago.

1944: Bologna, Italy, and the streets are crawling with German soldiers. Nineteen-year-old Leila Venturi is shocked into joining the Resistance after her beloved best friend Rebecca, the daughter of a prominent Jewish businessman, is ruthlessly deported to a concentration camp. 1981: Exchange student Rhiannon Hughes arrives in Bologna and meets Leila, her landlady. Soon, Rhiannon finds herself being drawn into a web of intrigue. Leila’s nephew seems to be interested in a far-right group, but how is the nefarious leader connected to Leila?

Sylvia, Joy and Pearl are preparing to compete in a major national ballroom competition - not easy in wartime when travelling is difficult and air raids might mean that events can be cancelled at the last minute. But 'live for the day' is the motto for the times, and our girls plan to waltz their worries away. And beyond the pressures of the ballroom, the three friends support and encourage each other to fulfil their dreams in love, life and dancing...

Norfolk, 1813. In the quiet Waveney Valley, the body of Mary Tyrell is staked through the heart after her death by suicide. She had been under arrest for the suspected murder of her newborn child. Mary leaves behind a young daughter, Hannah, who is later sent away to the Refuge for the Destitute in London, where she will be trained for a life of domestic service. It is at the Refuge that Hannah meets Annie Simpkins, a fellow resident, and together they forge a friendship that deepens into passionate love.

As a child, Grace Cooper suffered from bouts of sleepwalking. Now, after the unexpected death of her husband, she’s moved back to Woodburn Cottage, her childhood home—and the sleepwalking returns. Grace doesn’t know what she does in her sleep, but it’s stirring up dark memories that Grace would rather forget. Like the disappearance of her brother Simon as child and the tragic death of her father…

Hidden away in a bustling old market town, Curio House and its mysterious collection of artefacts has been undisturbed for years. Until now... When her mum inherits the Curio House, Ava is nervous about moving into the creaky Victorian villa, especially when she discovers a room filled with unusual objects and a box of 'magic' crystals. Ava knows they can't really be magic, but when her mischievous Tibetan terrier Pepper tries to eat one of the artefacts, a series of strange and definitely magical events unfold - and soon the whole town is in trouble!

Ava is settling into her new home - not only has she made friends but they've discovered that magic is real! And together Ava, Sarah and Lily (and Ava's Tibetan terrier, Pepper) are going to learn everything they can about it. When strange things start happening at home and around town the friends suspect magic must be at play. Despite it being the middle of autumn, Ava's mum's hay fever is acting up, plants are growing wildly out of control, and vines have begun to cover houses, entangling people in their path!

Meet Sara Snow: Christmas fanatic, festive wedding Grinch. Her dream nuptials? Sun-soaked, Beth-free. Meet Beth Callaghan: Expert at running. From countries, feelings, and one-night stands with best friends. Now Beth's back, armed with apologies and tinsel-wrapped determination. But can she melt Sara's frosty heart? Or will she need a Christmas miracle? One thing's crystal clear: Sara Snow will NEVER have a Christmas wedding. Right? RIGHT?

When DI Tessa Marsden is called to a road traffic accident, she is disturbed by the crime scene she must investigate. She now has a double murder to contend with; two dead girls from the same village. Realizing the murders aren’t linked, Marsden summons the help of the Connection Investigation Agency. When it is discovered that one of the murdered girls was pregnant, the case takes an unexpected turn. Can DI Marsden, with the input of Kat and Mouse, solve the case before another body appears?

New York City, 1919. Lillie Mead mourns the love she lost in the war. But when a wealthy British friend offers her a reporting job across the pond, she hopes accepting will help her rebuild her life. She barely has time to unpack before she’s assigned the scoop of a poisoned socialite’s death. As the clues take a turn for the scandalous, Lillie unearths shocking skeletons in the victim’s closet. But she never expected the threads of the beloved woman’s life to weave with hers. Can Lillie expose the truth before her own death makes the front page?

Deacon Katerina Rowe had a quiet life before she discovered her husband’s criminal activities. Now Leon is on the run, and Kat has started a private investigation business with her good friend Beth, who goes by Mouse. It’s plenty for any Deacon to handle—let alone one who’s heavily pregnant. When a widow asks Kat and Mouse for help, the sleuthing duo find themselves searching for the birth mother of the widow’s husband. But when it becomes clear that the widow isn’t telling the whole truth, Kat and Mouse are drawn into a deadly chase where nothing is what it seems.

Violet has a secret that could change the lives of everyone she knows and loves, especially the regulars at the run-down café bar where she works. After losing her parents at a young age, they are the closest thing she has to a family, and she feels responsible for them. Kai is a jaded music producer, who has just moved outside of town. Seeking solitude from the stress of his job, he’s looking for seclusion. The only problem is he can’t seem to escape the band members and songwriters who keep showing up at his house.