Showing results by narrator "Ruth Urquhart" in All Categories

Christopher Penman and Claire Abby know very well that their break-up was the ultimate test of their love. Now back together, they're looking only to the future. Christopher's band is making a run at it after a long hiatus. Claire lands a magazine job she never dreamed of. Only a ring on Claire's finger and a baby on the way could make their new life more complete, and Chris is determined they'll have it all.

Heather agrees to go camping with Dougie and his friends because she's desperate to get closer to him, and a secluded beach sounds like the perfect place. But the trip takes a sinister turn that brings Heather's plans to a violent end. One by one, the group begins to vanish. A year later, Heather knows she's just lucky to be alive. And now, people are asking for answers, or else she will be the one to take the blame. But the truth about what happened on that trip is far more terrifying than anyone knows....

For centuries Frang has kept a secret-he's immortal. 'Tis a curse instead of a blessing, though. His immortality was bestowed upon him to teach him a lesson, and instead of remaining youthful, the curse turned him into the image of an old man. He's waited for the day he could return to a mortal man, but when that day arrives and he must leave his beloved Druid's Glen, he suddenly finds he might not want to be mortal after all. Kenna holds a great secret, one that if discovered could have her burned at the stake. She's not just a healer, she's a Druid.

Enchantments run deep on the magical Isle of Cadence: gossip is carried by the wind, plaid shawls can be as strong as armour and the smallest cut of a knife can instil fathomless fear. The capricious spirits that live there find mirth in the lives of the humans who call the land home, but that mischief turns to malevolence as girls begin to go missing. Adaira, heiress of the East, knows the spirits only answer to a bard’s music, enticing them to return the missing girls. But there’s only one bard capable of drawing the spirits forth by song: her childhood enemy, Jack Tamerlaine.

Lady Isobel is a Norman laird's daughter, living near the Scots border where her father, Lord Pembroke, is trying to keep the peace. But her mother was a Highlander and the man Isobel loves most of all is Laird Marcus McEwan, who has been bringing news of her mother's people for years. But now Isobel's father wishes her wed to an English nobleman, who will carry on his title. Isobel will wed no other man but her heart's desire - and that is one braw Highlander from her mother's homeland.

For years the provinces of Deverry have been in turmoil; now, the conflict escalates with the kidnapping of Rhodry Maelwaedd, heir to the throne of Aberwyn. Intent on rescuing him, his beloved Jill and the elven wizard Salamander infiltrate the distant land of Bardex, where Rhodry is held captive. Tied to Deverry by obligation and circumstance, the immortal wizard Nevyn begins to see that all the kingdom's problems can be traced to a single source: a master of dark magics, backed by a network of evil that stretches across the sea.

Trying to find "The One" is never easy, and engineer Darcy Harris is finding it tougher than most. It doesn't help she's also dealing with a shadowy stalker trying to make trouble for her. But Darcy's determined not to let anyone ruin her life.

Wed through an arranged marriage to a tyrannical Scot, Brigette Devereux picked up her pride and left. Her hair was red as a fox, her skin smooth as silk. Her pure complexion belied her fiery heart and her turbulent past. Her quest for freedom flung her straight into the embrace of Lord Iain MacArthur. She was rebellious; he was consuming. He was treacherous, and she was no stranger to treachery. She was fair, and he was darkness. Together they would set ablaze the time they had between them.

In Sightlines, Kathleen Jamie reports from the field - from her native Scottish "byways and hills" to the frigid Arctic in 14 enthralling essays. She dissects whatever her gaze falls upon - vistas of cells beneath a hospital microscope, orcas rounding a headland, the aurora borealis lighting up the frozen sea. In so doing, she questions what, exactly, constitutes "nature", and upends the idea that it is always picturesque. Written with precision, subtlety, and wry humor, Sightlines urges the listener: "Keep looking, even when there's nothing much to see."

Her sister's husband Miles Strickland, seventh Earl of Langley, is a scoundrel. Olivia just caught him in the arms of another woman. When she dares to confront him, the blackguard has the gall to accuse her of blackmail. Determined to expose his unfaithfulness, Olivia leaves London to visit her sister in the English countryside, where her world is overturned.

It's 2010, and Natasha, a half-Russian, half-Sudanese professor of Islamic studies, is researching the life of Imam Shamil, the 19th-century Muslim leader who led the anti-Russian resistance in the Caucasian War. When shy, single Natasha discovers that her star student, Oz, is not only descended from the warrior but also possesses Shamil's priceless sword, the imam's story comes vividly to life.

On Stenland, there comes a time known as skeld season: one day, any woman on the island can wake with three black lines on her forehead, the mark of a skeld. Skeld season comes around without warning, and while each window of time lasts only three months, anyone a skeld turns to stone is very much dead. That's how Tess’s mother killed Soren’s parents. Maybe for this reason alone, Tess and Soren should not have fallen in love. Since the time her mother was a skeld, Tess has wanted to leave Stenland, to run from the windswept island, from her family and friends

Winter Gregory and her twin sister, Daisy, live oceans apart, but they still have the 'twin thing' going on. Daisy is Winter's port in the storm, the first person she calls when things go wrong. And things are wrong. Winter has travelled to a remote Yorkshire village to write her new book and to escape her ex-boyfriend, Dan Bekener. But Dan can't stay away and remains intent on driving the sisters apart - because Dan knows something about Daisy....

Erin Carter is alone. Plagued by childhood nightmares since the loss of her mother, she embarks on a journey to trace her father, hoping to find some semblance of family and put the darkness to rest. A tentative thread leads her to Hopetoun, in rural Scotland, and the welcoming Cornfield Castle. There she meets Abigail Miller, the castle chef, who quickly becomes her tour guide and search partner.

Grieving after the death of his younger brother, Hugh Castle, the Earl of Monnow, finds evidence to suggest it was not an accident, but a failed attempt to kill him. He vows revenge, planning to take advantage of the rumor that he is also dead to uncover the murderer. But Hugh doesn't count on meeting another desperate adventurer, Helen Archer. She has lost the fabled Peckham Necklace at Hugh's home, Ormsby, and risks censure if she doesn't find it. So together, Helen and Hugh hatch the perfect plan.

Lynsay Sands and Hannah Howell return to the windswept Highlands of 16th-century Scotland in the captivating story of identical twin brothers trapped between the curse that has been their legacy and the two women whose love is their destiny.

Japanese folklore is abundant with tales of ghostly creatures and the supernatural. In Haunted Japan, author Catrien Ross reveals the legends that have been passed down for generations and continue to terrify us today.

August 21, 2013: A chemical weapons attack on the suburbs of Damascus reminds the world of the existence of the Syrian war. Hundreds of journalists from every corner of the world rush to the frontier only to leave disappointed when Obama decides not to bomb. They leave behind 200,000 estimated victims, and more than half of a population of 22 million people dispersed or refugeed in nearby countries: the worst humanitarian crisis since WWII according to the UN.

When the Earl of Wraysbury rescues a young woman from a carriage accident, he can't resist her laughing eyes and wry sense of humor, even though their families have been locked in a feud for generations. Anemone may be achingly lonely but she's loyal to her family. When she wakes up after an accident in the strong arms of a handsome stranger, she's immediately drawn to him, and appalled when she discovers he's her family's sworn enemy, the Earl of Wraysbury.

The tenuous balance of the Isle of Cadence is under threat from Bane, the spirit of the north wind. In the west, Adaira struggles to find her place. And, though magic blooms there, the spirits suffer beneath Bane’s harsh power, felt in every gust of wind. In the east, Jack Tamerlaine is adrift without Adaira, until he acquires a mission destined to lead him back to her. But among the Tamerlaines sickness is spreading and Torin desperately strikes a bargain with the spirits—a folly at any time.