Showing results by narrator "Melanie Crawley" in All Categories

Crown Prince Alessio drowns out each exploit with outrageous behavior! Even his wedding is hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons—his reputation-repairing fiancée has pulled out! Leaving him urgently seeking a replacement bride. Enter Rosalia Castelli… Innocent Rosy is merely a palace art restorer. How can she even think of becoming Sedovia’s queen? Yet to save her family from financial peril, she must accept Alessio’s shock proposal. And as she spends more time with her husband, she begins to catch glimpses of the man beneath the rebellious facade…and to crave his touch!

The moor is a difficult place for a young woman to grow up in the eighteenth century, and life for Hettie Gale is no different. Abused by her father and abandoned by her family, she builds a new life for herself and her young son. But when she’s assaulted by men who lie about the encounter and accuse her of a heinous crime, Hettie is sentenced to death. In the present day, Alice receives news that her cousin has gone missing from her cottage on the moor, where Alice spent many of her childhood summers. Wanting to help find Fleur, she heads to the village.

When Maya and her classmates are asked to write a creepy story with a winter theme, they come up with some brilliant ideas. Rising floodwaters uncover long-buried bodies and ghostly children take to the ice on a frozen canal. But as each of the stories is read out in class, Maya grows more and more uncomfortable. She features in each of her friends’ creepy tales and they start to feel a little too real. Finally, when a mysterious new girl stands up to read the last story of the day, the light outside dims and it starts to snow.

Young Soviet pianist Natalia Aronovich is poised for international stardom when, in one shocking act, a Red Guard officer interrupts her performance and removes her from the stage. She later learns the KGB has arrested her father, Pravda journalist Mikhail Aronovich, for his undercover involvement with Soviet dissidents, refuseniks, and Israeli Intelligence. Soviet officials force Natalia to leave Russia, but she is determined to return and free her father. Natalia recruits Soviet-Israeli doctor Tanya Shlain and they embark on a perilous mission to smuggle Mikhail out of Russia.

Fire destroyed her present. Secrets destroyed her past. Look in the mirror and ask yourself a question. Who are you? Do you know the answer? At the age of forty-six, Anita Hall knows exactly who she is. She has lived with partner Ed for fifteen years and is proud of the life they've built. They go out into the world separately: Ed with one eye on the future in the world of finance; Anita with one foot in the past, a curator at Hampton Court Palace. This is the life she has chosen - a dream job, equal partnership, living in a quirky old house she adores. She is happy.

In the waning years of the Roman Republic, a talented engineer is tapped to bring water to one of the city’s most notorious slums. Nonius believes he is doing good for his city, but he isn’t counting on the many obstacles that prevent anything from getting done in those turbulent times. His troubles multiply when he falls in love with beautiful, haunted Amaris, concubine of a senator who is determined to stop Nonius’ aqueduct from going through.

As innocent Tansy prepares to meet Jude Alexandris at the altar, she knows their vows are purely for convenience - the billionaire must wed immediately to protect his mother's home. However, there's something Tansy hasn't shared: This marriage is her only hope of getting custody of her little half-sister!

Driven billionaire Ruy Valiente knows exactly what he needs to avoid scrutiny at a family wedding - a fake fiancée! When he rescues innocent Suzy Madderton from the clutches of a disastrous marriage, it’s obvious she’s perfect.... Accepting Ruy’s proposal creates a major problem for Suzy: their raging chemistry! The reclusive artist is all icy control to her impulsive emotion. He’s also the first man she’s ever fully trusted. And as Suzy uncovers the pain Ruy hides so fiercely, returning his temporary ring feels like the biggest challenge of all....

If you’re a coach, consultant, or speaker who makes a living from your expertise, this is for you. It’s the guide you need to help you plan, write, and promote the book that elevates your authority, increases your visibility, and gets more clients saying "Yes". Because creating such a book is a challenge. Where do you start? How do you keep going until the end? And what do you do when you’ve finished? Don’t let your book stay in your head - allow it to come to life and make a positive difference to both you and your readers by following the guidance you’ll find in here.

Whalley, 1537: On a day like any other, a devastating fire changes the lives of two young girls. What happens next triggers a series of events leading inexorably to the cells of Lancaster Gaol. Lancashire, 1612: The most notorious witchcraft trials in England are taking place. Among the accused, three generations of the same family. A family rooted in Pendle, tied to the infamous Malkin Towers and always followed by a whisper of evil. A family destroyed by the evidence given by a nine-year-old girl.

On a remote island in the Adriatic, the playboy son of a president (and ex-warlord) hosts a spectacular entertainment to satisfy the jaded appetites of the super-rich. And for one young family, the holiday of a lifetime is about to become a desperate battle for survival. As teenage parents, Sam and Jody managed to defy the odds once before, striving to raise their children in a settled home. But the years of struggle have taken their toll, and Sam's demons return to haunt him at the worst possible time.

September 1939. As Britain is gripped by the fear and uncertainty of war, Tom Armitage stands to gain the one thing that he never thought possible - his freedom. Rosie Elliot sees her future crumbling to dust as Will Aarons leaves Whitby with Jimmy Chappell to fight in the war. As she begins work at The Turnstone Convalescent Home, Rosie finds something she thought she had lost. Friendship.

When schoolteacher Lorna Buchanan witnesses a strange ceremony on the grounds of St. Anne’s College, she is sacked by the tyrannical headmistress - and becomes entangled in a web of mysticism and murder. Set in a cozy 19th-century English spa town, The Malvern Mystery follows Lorna as she investigates a deadly crime clouded by deception, greed, and ancient rituals.

Jane is a woman without a past. She wakes up in the back of a car with handcuffs on her wrists, with a man intent on doing her harm. She escapes, but into the murky underworld of New Orleans. A mysterious man shadows her, and strange memories tantalize her. People want to hurt her, and an unearthly creature stalks the night. Insanity might be a possibility, but everything is horrifyingly real. This sultry world is anything but ordinary.

Leonie Simoneaud was once one of the elusive Lake People - Acadian descendants in Louisiana with odd psychic powers. As a 13-year-old, she rescued an outsider child, Douglas Trent, from a maniacal pedophile named Monroe Whitechapel. Consequently, she was shunned by most of the Lake People for exposing them to the external world. As an adult, she lives elsewhere, an owner of an antique store in a quaint Texas town: Buffalo Creek.

After 50 years of marriage, Gretyl Trollop is thinking of a new life, somewhere hot. Her husband, Albert, is thinking of the crematorium. She's thinking of stuffing herself in a bikini. He's thinking of a taxidermist. The Londoners continue their separate lives until a mysterious letter turns their world upside down. In Essex, Dave and Sharon Soddall are struggling on benefits and looking for a get-rich-quick solution. With the help of a devious financial advisor, they concoct a plan and Costa Soddall Travel is born. Will the Soddalls pull off the con of a lifetime?

Wales. 1955. Sixteen-year-old Janine's wrenching screams shatter the stillness of night as she gives birth to her illegitimate child. Still struggling to take its first breath the newborn is snatched away by the teen's father and they disappear into the dark. London. 1965. Paul, a kind gentleman Janine meets the night she runs away professes his unrequited love. After he becomes aware of the suffering caused by the haunting memories of her past, he convinces her to make peace with her estranged father, now dying.

After a tragic car accident, Samantha is left widowed and bereft. Her husband, Adam, was everything to her. At least the home they shared together in Cornwall provides her with some security. Or does it? Upon returning from a school reunion where Sam met her old friend, Penny, and an old flame, Dan, she discovers that Adam had invested money unwisely and she is now penniless. Dan comes up with a way in which she can keep the house, and he’s willing to invest. Dan gets his way...but at what price? And why is he so keen to help, despite his wife’s reservations?

A brutal series of murders of London’s most vulnerable women casts the city into a frenzy of fear and suspicion, pushing it to a state of panic not seen in centuries. Jack the Ripper has arrived. When Scotland Yard begins to find traces of Jack’s handiwork in a string of seemingly unrelated killings, will the world’s most notorious serial killer be caught at last?

This collection includes Her Best Kept Royal Secret & The Queen's Baby Scandal & An Heir Fit for a King.