Showing results by narrator "Diane Brooks" in All Categories

Bad leadership leaves highly motivated professionals feeling disengaged and uninspired. Too often, those who are just starting in the corporate world are met with leaders who believe in micromanagement instead of empowerment. Unfortunately, almost all of us have experienced everything from incompetent to toxic leadership in the corporate workplace. It leaves us feeling frustrated, confused, and demoralized—it can quickly drain our passion, crush our spirit, and even destroy careers!

1927: when Fred Lawson takes a summer job on St Kilda, little does he realise that he has joined the last community to ever live on that beautiful, isolated island. Only three years later, St Kilda will be evacuated, the islanders near-dead from starvation. But for Fred, that summer - and the island woman, Chrissie, whom he falls in love with - becomes the very thing that sustains him in the years ahead.

In March 2020 the Prime Minister told Mrs V to shield for 12 weeks. Then for a bit longer. And just a little bit longer. No cuddles, no snogging, no tasting other people's cocktails to see if they were nicer than hers; pick a spot and stay put. This was bad news for everyone, except possibly the ice cream industry. Mrs V immediately laid claim to the dining room and created her little slice of self-isolation. From her perch in Covid Corner, she blogged about the daily ups and downs of family life in lockdown, keeping her readers laughing as the world got weirder.

When Catriona loses her baby girl at birth, it shatters her. But like a light in the darkness, Catriona is given the chance to adopt beautiful baby April, and now she cannot imagine life without her. The family's picture-perfect home is filled every day with April's warm giggles and joyful games. But when her daughter is just eight years old, Catriona gets the call that she has been silently dreading. April's birth mother, Lauren, would like to meet her.

Isobel McEwan has been beholden to her chief for eight years—ever since he took her in and gave her a home after her parents died. So when he asks her to marry a rival laird to aid the clans in finding peace, she has little choice but to agree to his request. The only problem: She’s desperately in love with another man.

"He believes she's a selkie—she has no desire to change his mind. The loch divides the feuding clans. Ealann McEwan on one side, Miles Duncan on the other. When a chance encounter causes them to meet, a friendship is borne of necessity. But as war inches closer, they will be forced to choose: love or their families.

As the daughter of the chief, Marion McEwan has no say in who her husband will be—a troublesome fact when the one man she doesn’t wish to marry, her awful cousin Simon, is the leading contender for her hand. So when Marion’s father hosts a gathering for the purpose of choosing her husband, she welcomes the broader selection. He invites a few select men—her cousin included—to participate in a series of contests to test their strength, fortitude, and worthiness. The victor will win her hand in marriage.

Kat Denton is a woman running away from her past. For 16 years, her life has been a living hell as Jimmy, the man she fell in love with as a teenager, becomes ever more abusive. Vowing to protect her unborn child from Jimmy’s violence, Kat flees the traveller camp that has been her lifelong home, escaping with just the clothes on her back and a photograph of her parents. Kat, along with her baby girl, Lucia, starts to build a better life. But when she starts to investigate what really happened to her parents, Kat uncovers dark secrets....

From the outside, Olivia seems to lead an idyllic existence with her husband and children. But when she starts receiving notes, she knows her perfect life is under threat. She thought she’d managed to put the past behind her, but someone seems determined to reveal her secret. Meanwhile, girls are vanishing in the area, and Olivia fears for her family’s safety. Has someone discovered the real reason she left Scotland all those years ago? And does her secret have links to the recent disappearances? When someone is out to get you, is there anywhere you can hide?

Amelia Hester McLeod is named after two of her mum's favourite explorers. Two amazing, fearless, awesome women: Amelia Earhart and Lady Hester Stanhope. But Amelia herself doesn't always feel very brave or very bright. She lives on a windblown island in a creaky old house right beneath the North Star. Her dad is sad and silent since her mum left them, and her absent-minded grandpa suddenly seems convinced something strange is about to happen to her. When Amelia makes a birthday wish to be reunited with her missing mum, a wild magic is stirred from the sea....