Showing results by narrator "Sophie Roberts" in All Categories

Elizabeth's parents warned her that Alexander Blackwell would not make a dependable husband, and only after eloping with him did she learn they may have been right... After their marriage, the couple finds lodgings in London. Alexander looks for work while Elizabeth learns engraving. Before long, though, Alexander is in the Marshalsea, the notorious debtors' prison, and she is left to fend for herself. Alone and penniless, she has a few things going for her: a skill, an idea, and an acquaintance.

With her flaming red hair and emerald green eyes, Xenia's unusual beauty makes her unique in any crowd. That is until she unexpectedly meets her long-lost cousin, Johanna, amidst the wreckage of a railway accident. Incredulous at finding her mirror image and desperate for a friend, Johanna begs Xenia to swap lives for two weeks. She wishes to spend two weeks with the Englishman she loves before her arranged royal marriage and her cousin can't help but agree.

Is it possible for books to dream? For books to dream within books? Is there a literary subterranean that would facilitate ingress and exit points through these dreams? These are some of the questions posed by David Keenan's masterly fifth novel, Monument Maker, an epic romance of eternal summer and a descent, into history, into the horrors of the past; a novel with a sweep and range that runs from the siege of Khartoum and the conquest of Africa in the 19th century through the Second World War and up to the present day.

The locked lift mystery of Ravenswick Abbey has remained unsolved for a year. On New Year’s Eve 1928, nine people entered the murderous lift at Ravenswick Abbey. Only eight came out alive....

Across Europe, a young woman with no name and no fixed appearance hops from empty villa to vacated apartment to dormant summer house under the guise of house sitter. Her agenda? Steal from the rich, and kill anyone who gets in her way. On a stormy night in England, travelling home down narrow country lanes, a fatal car crash leaves Kat’s husband Oliver dead. But as Kat begins to mourn his loss, she discovers something that suggests she never knew her husband at all.

Digital influencing is one of the most exciting and disruptive new industries, forecast to be worth over £10bn by 2020, but those charged with making this an effective part of their digital strategy rarely understand how this emergent industry works. When it comes to online growth, digital influencers are now consistently outperforming traditional media and brand advertising, even if much of what they do remains a mystery to many people. Sara McCorquodale is the UK's leading authority on the influencer space, and this new book demystifies exactly how digital influence works.

It is not an overstatement to say that numbers dictate the way we live our lives. They tell us how we're doing at school, how much we weigh, who might win an election and whether the economy is booming. But numbers aren't as objective as they may seem; behind every number is a story. Yet politicians, businesses and the media often forget this - or use it for their own gain. Sanne Blauw travels the world to unpick our relationship with numbers and demystify our misguided allegiance....

In this version of London, there is a small, private clinic. Behind its layers of security, procedures are taking place on poor, robust teenagers from northern estates in exchange for thousands of pounds - procedures that will bring the wealthy dead back to life in these young, supple bodies for 14 days. It's an opportunity for wrongs to be righted, for fathers to meet grandsons, for scientists to see their work completed. Old wine in new bottles. But at what cost?

Agatha Christie was not only the biggest selling writer of detective stories the world has ever known, she was also a mystery in herself, giving only the rarest interviews, declining absolutely to become any sort of public figure and a mystery too in the manner in which she achieved her astonishing success. HRF Keating, a crime novelist and respected reviewer of crime fiction, brought together a dozen distinguished writers from both sides of the Atlantic to throw light on this double mystery.

Berlin, 1947: good Soviets Vera and Marya find themselves mired in the covert post-war conflicts that are shaping a new world order. When Marya, an interpreter liaising with the British, gets caught in secret agent Vera's web of deceit, she must make desperate choices to survive—and to protect those she loves. Nine years later, as the Soviets confront their Stalinist past, Vera revisits that pivotal moment, unravelling shocking truths about her sister and herself.

Kaiser is a dog who grew up on the streets with his owner - although they were homeless, they had each other and with that came an unbreakable bond. However, when Kaiser's owner is diagnosed with terminal cancer, their future together is cut short and Kaiser is at risk of being left alone and in danger. However, this is when Michelle - founder of the charity Dogs On The Streets - met Kaiser and his owner. She immediately knows that she must help Kaiser and tirelessly campaigns on his and his owner's behalf.

In Edwardian England, bookish and bespectacled Vita Carew longs to be left to her scientific studies. But she can't avoid the event of the season, a gala at Pemberton Hall. This glamorous concert and sumptuous dinner will mark the Pemberton household’s triumphant return to society after a run of misfortune. But disaster strikes as soon as the seafood is served.

Socialite Aria Milborne is astounded when she has to take a job with an American millionaire in order to save her family home. Aria soon finds herself clashing with her new boss after being courted by his aristocratic friend. When her boss offers her a fortune to pretend to be engaged to him, Aria finds herself the talk of the town leading her to feel ashamed and embarrassed. But when she hears that her fake fiance has been shot, she is caught off-guard by how strong her emotions actually are.

Beautiful and penniless Felicita Galvão is destitue and all alone in the world when the Duchesse de Monreuil finds her desperately trying to sell her needlework at The Grand Hotel in Lisbon. Felicita reminds the Duchesse of herself as a young woman and the time she met the love of her life Juan, Marques de Oliveira Vasconles. The Marques later abandoned her to marry someone of equal ranking, leaving her heartbroken and bitter.

With the hope of an oppressed generation on her shoulders, Klarke must dig deep within herself to discover the greatest strengths—of muscle and mind—not only to survive, but to unravel the sinister conspiracy upon which the foundation of their kingdom rests.

Former Polish teenage piano prodigy Mosha Gebert is teaching when the Nazis come for her. They kill her student, but she is taken to Majdanek concentration camp. There, Commandant Josef Hanke spots her and recognises her as the pianist he fell in love with years earlier. Hanke demands that Mosha play ‘Ode to Joy’ for him, but she refuses. She will never play in such a horrific place – or for such an evil monster. So begins a battle of wills and repeated torture.

Left all alone after her mother passes away, 12-year-old Louisa watches the sky for her father. Long ago, a powerful gust of wind stole him away on the wings of his untamed magic - the same magic that stirs within Louisa. As if she is made of hollow bones and too much air, her feet never quite touch the ground. But for all her sky gazing, Louisa finds her fortune on the ground when she spots a ticket to the Carnival Beneath the Stars. If her father fits in nowhere else, maybe she'll find him dazzling crowds alongside the other strange feats.

Demelza is caught up in the middle of chaos when her brother rents their family home to Valient, Earl of Trevarnon and his friends during the Royal Ascot races. Infamous playboy Trevarnon wins over Demelza, despite him being married. As she explores the secret chambers and underground passages in the manor, Demelza finds herself falling for Trevarnon but knowing he can never be hers.

Ever since her sister, Anya, was murdered in Sotogrande, a playground for the rich, Natasha's life has gone off the rails. After three months of poring over the details of what happened, Natasha travels to the scene of the crime where she hopes to unravel the truth—about her sister's death and life. With no job, how did Anya end up in a multimillion-Euro apartment in one of the most exclusive areas on the continent? The police have no suspect. Publicly, they claim the killing was likely gang-related. But their key person of interest, a local with links to organized crime, is also now dead.

Life in the spotlight was never going to be easy... Jess's life was turned upside down when her blog went viral. Now, with hundreds of thousands of followers, Jess is now navigating the trials and tribulations of a world online. Being a mummy blogger was originally an escape, but now it seems to be turning into a career. And after one wrong post on her social media channels, Jess discovers that life in the spotlight isn't always peachy.