Showing results by narrator "Julia Franklin" in All Categories

The first book in Anna Jacobs' wonderful Backshaw Moss series. 1935. At thirty-six, Bella Porter is dependent on her abusive cousin, acting as an unpaid servant. When a kind relative leaves her a house in the village of Backshaw Moss, Thomas tries to take it from her, but she defies him and...

OPEN HOUSE is a deliciously engaging romantic novel from Jill Mansell, author of over twenty Sunday Times bestsellers including THE ONE YOU REALLY WANT and MIRANDA'S BIG MISTAKE. For fans of Sophie Kinsella and Marian Keyes. Jill's novels are loved by reviewers: 'Warm, witty and wise' Daily Mail...

When journalist Ellie looks through her newspaper's archives for a story, she discovers a letter from 1960, written by a man asking his lover to leave her husband.... In 1960, Jennifer wakes up in hospital after a car accident with no memory. And then, when she returns home, she uncovers a hidden letter, and begins to remember the lover she was willing to risk everything for.

Brought to you by Penguin. The tale of female camaraderie and bravery from beloved saga author Rosie Meddon. When one woman's attempt to help the war effort from her sleepy Devon village is thwarted, she is determined to fight back! September 1940: When Isabel Thaxley becomes homeless and...

Kitty learned early on in her marriage that her husband, Bill Dunbar, isn’t reliable with money. So when they inherit the Dunbar family hotel at the start of the war, she's hopeful that their financial worries are over… until the bailiffs turn up! With Bill away fighting, it’s up to Kitty to turn things around for her family, or risk ruin. Lily worked as a chambermaid at Dunbar’s before the war. She met Daniel there, but their relationship was complicated by class differences and the disapproval of Daniel’s mother.

Sarah's grandfather was a horseman of rare talent - only the exceptional are allowed into France's elite riding academy, Le Cadre Noir. But life took an unexpected turn, and now from a council estate in east London, the Captain hopes to train his granddaughter towards a better life.

In February, 1922, at the western-most entrance to Victoria Station in Manchester, a massive plaque was unveiled. Beneath a vast tiled map showing the lines of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway network, a series of seven bronze panels recorded the names of the men of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway who gave their lives for King and Country in the Great War - a total of 1,460 names. In March, 1940, a group of women of varying ages and backgrounds stands in front of the memorial, ready to do its bit in this new World War.... 

Charity Stratton's bleak childhood is changed forever when both her parents are killed in a fire. Separated by the authorities from her younger brothers and sister, Charity is sent out to work as a skivvy in a boys' boarding school. Her loneliness and misery are eased when she falls deeply in love with the dashing but fickle sixth-former Hugh Mainwaring, but when she discovers she is pregnant with Hugh's baby, she soon realises just how alone she really is.

Eight months after his wife Jacqueline died in a tragic car accident, Michelin starred chef and proprietor of Villa Celestia Guy Lyon's life has been in freefall. Consumed by grief and plagued by questions as to why she was in a taxi that fateful day, the doors to Villa Celestia have remained closed. When a good friend, Sandy Thoreau, asks to rent the villa on the French Riviera for a fortnight to hold a women's writers retreat after being let down, Guy reluctantly agrees. All the women at the retreat are looking forward to being inspired.

Run by sisters Rebecca and Delphine, Villa Sesame is a popular venue for small intimate weddings on the sparkling French Riviera. Beautiful terraces and a horizon pool overlooking the Mediterranean, a setting where dreams come true. When recently widowed Delphine unexpectedly announces her desire to retire and live a different life, Rebecca feels her own life could be slipping into free fall. As the guests gather for the June wedding of Freya and Marcus, Freya’s two childhood friends bring their own problems to the villa and cousin Verity has her own agenda.

In the first volume of this epic new series, Alison Weir strips away centuries of romantic mythology and prejudice to reveal the lives of England's queens in the century after the Norman Conquest. Beginning with Matilda of Flanders, who supported William the Conqueror in 1066, to the turbulent...

A huge funeral for Windermere’s popular resident, Barbara Dodge, is taking place, and florist Persimmon 'Simmy' Brown and her new assistant, Bonnie Lawson, are busy compiling wreaths in preparation. There’s word of a series of sinister dognappings occurring in nearby Troutbeck, and whilst taking a walk up Wansfell Pike, Simmy and her father, Russell, stumble on a dog strangled to death - it’s not long before Simmy reluctantly finds herself caught up in a murder investigation.

With Valentine's Day fast approaching, Persimmon "Simmy" Brown's flower shop near Lake Windermere receives a string of anonymous delivery orders. But each one causes their recipient great distress, and Simmy suspects that the messages they contain mask a sinister intent. Then one of the recipients disappears…. As if that isn't enough, Simmy's friend Kathy turns up, on the trail of her wayward daughter Joanna, who has grown unhealthily close to her university tutor.

Can the imperfect family really have the perfect Christmas? Juliet Joyce adores Christmas. She loves the presents, the tree, the turkey, the tinsel, everything. Already the festive spirit is upon her, which is just as well as this Christmas things are starting to get out of hand. Her son, Tom, is out of work and bringing home a slew of unsuitable partners; pregnant daughter Chloe and her little boy have moved back in; Juliet's father, Frank, is getting over heartbreak of his own; and Rita, her eccentric mother, is behaving more erratically each day.

The Tulip Girl is Margaret Dickinson's captivating Lincolnshire saga about the endurance of true love in the face of adversity. Abandoned outside an orphanage as a newborn baby, spirited Maddie March has had to fight her way through life. So when she finds a home at Few Farm with Frank...

After spending her childhood in Haddon House Children's Hostel, Alice Tucker is selected to go into service at Holmorton Lodge. Left behind in the workhouse after the death of her father and the disappearance of her mother, the only clues to Alice's past lie in hazy childhood memories. Now, ten years later, she longs to uncover the truth about her family and who she really is. When a chance discovery leads her from a Welsh nursing home to a solicitor's office in Manchester, Alice begins to unravel a story far more tangled than she imagined.

When retreat owner Amy offers three lucky competition winners a holiday on the Cote d’Azur, she has no idea that this act of kindness will have life-changing repercussions on her own life and those who join her. Young entrepreneur Chelsea is still grieving the tragic loss of her mother and has just been subjected to a very public relationship breakup. She needs to get away and lick her wounds.

Halloween, 1899. A satanic aristocrat, a missing village girl, and a fire that scorches Black Abbey Towers into legend. Present day. The haunted abbey has been requisitioned as a film set and the cast is dying to be involved. Retired NCA advisor-turned-hitwoman Dottie Barker is posing as a stunt expert while secretly bumping off local criminals, vigilante style. The "Quirky Quintet" - four fearless WI ladies and their eccentric plus-one - have been cast as extras, but their talent for stumbling into murder investigations proves harder to contain than their cackling.

Lady Joanna Harcourt and her daughter, Sarah, discover their life of luxury at Goodwill House is over. Because with Lord Harcourt away fighting, the Harcourt girls are facing financial ruin. Lady Joanna is terrified of losing their home, but for Sarah, this means her dreams of becoming a doctor are over. Headstrong Sarah isn’t one to quit! War or not, she’s determined to find a way to save her home and follow her dreams - whatever it takes.

In the peaceful village of Old Sawrey, a murderer strikes. Warren Howe, a husband and father of two, is brutally slaughtered with his own scythe by a mysterious hooded figure. The police identify several suspects, but due to the lack of evidence they fail to make an arrest. Years later an anonymous tip-off sparks the interest of DCI Hannah Scarlett, who heads the local Cold Case Review Team. Scarlett's investigations lead her to suspect Howe's widow, Tina. Meanwhile, someone is sending vicious poison pen letters to Tina and her two children.