Showing results by narrator "Karen Cass" in All Categories

Meggie Elliot is on the brink of adulthood. Living with her aunt and uncle in London at the outbreak of World War II she's intent on going to university, then pursuing a career in law. Meggie follows her dream as best she can, knowing it's unlikely it will ever come to fruition. In a burst of patriotism she joins the WRNS to do her bit for the war effort. Sent to work in a decoding unit she meets the dangerously exhilarating young aristocrat, Nicholas Cowan, who sweeps her off her feet.

1879: Shipwrecked off the West Coast of Australia, Louisa Reynolds is aided by an aboriginal girl and a kindly doctor, eventually making a fresh start in the town of Albany. Unexpected new friendships with two men, old gentleman George and dashing Connor, give her joy - but when she accepts an invitation to stay at George's sheep station, the locals are scandalised by a single woman in the company of men.

Everyone thinks Lexi is crazy when she falls in love with Hollingsworth House, a crumbling old Georgian mansion in Yorkshire – and nobody more so than her husband, Dylan. But there’s something very special about the place, and Lexi can sense it. Whilst exploring the grounds, she stumbles across an old diary, and within its pages she meets Allie, an Australian nurse who worked in France during the First World War. Lexi finally realises her dream of buying Hollingsworth, but her obsession with the house leaves her marriage in tatters.

To her new colleagues at the lifestyle brand Beautiful You! Jade Fisher is the perfect employee. She's fun, easy to get on with, and knows her stuff. She's also harboring a dark secret… A secret so devastating that if it came out, it would destroy the company and its influential founder, Rebecca Burton-Webb. At least, that's what Jade's hoping for… First, she needs proof. She needs to get close to Rebecca. To get inside her life. As Jade becomes embroiled in Rebecca's world, she realizes there is more to the enigmatic older woman than meets the eye.

Until now, Steffie has been proud of the decisions she's made as a mother. Despite every obstacle life has thrown at Steffie, she's convinced herself that Jemima has thrived and that it's their relationship that has carried them through. But now Jemima has the chance to pursue her own dreams to be a ballerina. Which means her leaving home at the age of 10. And Steffie finds herself faced with that most unbearable of parental decisions: to keep her child at home or to give her the wings to fly.

Arranging a season for an unruly young lady whose habit was to enter drawing rooms by sliding down banisters presented a challenge at best - especially since the hoydenish Mira had a sister of incomparable grace and beauty. Mira wasn't daunted at all by the local society and its ridiculous marriage mart. Her heart belonged to Lord Charles, who had been the object of her dreams ever since she was a child. Alas, Charles had eyes only for her ever-perfect sister, Drusilla.

Lucy has her rigid middle-class life mapped out for her, until she visits Florence with her uptight cousin Charlotte, and finds her neatly ordered existence thrown off balance. Her eyes are opened by the unconventional characters she meets at the Pension Bertolini: flamboyant romantic novelist Eleanor Lavish, the Cockney Signora, curious Mr Emerson and, most of all, his passionate son George. Lucy finds herself torn between the intensity of life in Italy and the repressed morals of Edwardian England, personified in her terminally dull fiancé Cecil Vyse.

In the spring of 1945, at Rechnitz on the Austrian-Hungarian border, not far from the front lines of the advancing Red Army, Countess Margit Batthyany gave a party in her mansion. The war was almost over, and the German aristocrats and SS officers dancing and drinking knew it was lost. Late that night, they walked down to the village, where 180 enslaved Jewish labourers waited, made them strip naked, and shot them all before returning to the bright lights of the party.

A beautiful and talented actress, Mary Robinson was one of the most famous women of her time. But Mary was destined always to be betrayed by the men she loved: by her father, who abandoned his family; by her husband, who bankrupted the family with his gambling and humiliated his young wife with numerous affairs; and by the Prince of Wales, later King George IV, who fell in love with Mary when he saw her playing Perdita in A Winter's Tale.

Louise Anderson's heart pounds as she approaches the imposing castello. Only the Duke of Falconari can grant her grandparents' dying wish - but this is the same man who said arrivederci without a backward glance after their night of unadulterated passion.... Caesar can't believe the woman who almost ruined his precious reputation still fiercely fires his blood. Discovering that their union created more than just salacious memories, he agrees to grant Louise's request...in exchange for a demand of his own.

Anna Robinson has it all. A loving husband. A son she adores. A close circle of friends. When Anna disappears overnight, everyone is desperate to uncover what happened. Why would Anna leave her perfect life behind? Is she the victim of something more sinister? At the playground gates, it's not long before rumours start to circulate. Someone must know the truth. And as the pressure mounts, it won't be long before they crack.

Melanie Hunt’s job working for the Delta racing team means she is constantly rubbing shoulders with Formula One superstars. But she has already learned that keeping a professional distance is crucial if she doesn’t want to get hurt. New Delta team driver Aiden Foster lives his life like he drives his cars - fast and hard. Resolve begins to slip as Melanie and Aiden find themselves drawn to each other - with nowhere to hide as racing season begins. But when a troubled young boy goes missing, everything is thrown into turmoil, including Aiden’s championship dream.

Emma had always played the role of dependable older sister, so it was not surprising that after smashing up Drake Harwood's brand-new Ferrari, Camilla, unable to pay, expected Emma to bail her out. But the shrewd and attractive entrepreneur saw a way of capitalising on her predicament. He exacted a highly unusual and very personal payment that cost Emma her career as a London TV newscaster - to say nothing of her pride. Emma was prepared to fight fire with fire - never thinking that, for her, Drake Harwood was as lethal as dynamite!

Forbidden by her father to work on their farm, Celia Raines takes a job at the local printing works. When war comes, Celia hopes to achieve her ambition of being a farmer. But her boss has taken on sensitive work for the Ministry of Information and Celia is forced to stay. Romance blossoms between Celia and Matthew Dangerfield, an RAF friend of her brother, Edgar. Both men are engaged on bombing missions but Edgar is beginning to have doubts.

1913: the last long summer before the war. The country is gripped by suffragette fever. These impassioned crusaders have their admirers; some agree with their aims if not their forceful methods, while others are aghast at the thought of giving any female a vote. Meanwhile, hundreds of women are stepping out onto the streets of Britain. They are the suffragists: nonmilitant campaigners for the vote, on an astonishing six-week protest march they call the Great Pilgrimage.

Clemmie has a problem: she's had almost as many jobs as she's had birthdays and her love life is on the critical list. But with the big 3-0 looming, she's determined to transform herself from unemployed singleton to loved-up success.

Christie Doyle is living the dream: she has a beautiful mansion on the South Downs with an infinity pool and stables, and her husband, Kenny, spoils her rotten. It's her birthday and she is the centre of the most amazing party. And then the bombshell drops. Kenny confesses to an affair and asks for a divorce. Worse is to come when the 'other woman' - Lara, nineteen years old and pregnant with Kenny's child - is found dead. Suspicion falls on Christie and the Doyles' life is ripped apart as the police hunt for evidence.

Soundings and Choc Lit present the audio edition of Christmas at the Little Beach Café. Five years ago at Christmas, solicitor Justin Sadler made the decision to leave his comfortable existence behind and move to the coast. Since then, he’s tried his best to ignore the festive season and, as he sits in the little beach café and reflects on that fateful night when his life was turned upside down, he expects his fifth Christmas alone to be no different to any of the others since he made his escape.

A boy has disappeared from his school. Heloise Kaldan heads over there to look into it. At the schoolyard she runs into her close friend Erik Schäfer, the outspoken investigator on this case. The boy, Lukas, doesn't show up, but his phone does. It reveals that Lukas is obsessed with pareidolia: the psychological phenomenon that makes us see faces in random things. One particular photo of a barn door that looks like a face catches their attention. Is this where Lukas is?

It deeply irritated Leonora that she was always being caught in awkward situations with the village's new doctor, James Galbraith - especially since she was engaged to Tony. But James proved a sturdy support as she did her best to keep her parents' decrepit but much loved manor house running smoothly. There was little point in admitting her growing feelings for James, since he showed so little sign of caring for her....