Showing results by narrator "Joanna Stephens" in All Categories

When retired Maths teacher Grace is left a run-down house on a Mediterranean island by a long-lost friend, curiosity gets the better of her. She arrives in Ibiza with a one-way ticket, no guidebook and no plan. Among the rugged hills and golden beaches of the Balearics, Grace searches for answers about her friend’s life, and how it ended. What she uncovers is stranger than she could have dreamed. But to dive into this impossible truth, Grace must first come to terms with her past.

Dulcie’s sharp tongue has got her into trouble many times and set her at odds even with her own sisters, but when she falls out with a neighbor, he challenges her to swap places with his ailing sister - she will go to Allamont Hall to recover in luxury, while Dulcie must manage the chores of a small cottage. As she learns to milk the goat and cook meat without burning it, she also learns a great deal about humility and honesty - and about love.

Hope has no wish to marry, but it’s almost five years since her father died, and the final peculiar clause of his will is about to come into effect: If Hope’s brothers can’t be found, then the whole estate will be bequeathed to the church, and Hope must move to the Dower House with her mother. There’s just one way out: Her cousin Hugo can inherit Allamont Hall, but only if he marries Hope. Can she bear to give up the chance of finding a man who loves her, even if it means saving her home?

Julia Fletcher is the unimportant daughter of the Fletcher family, with neither beauty nor wit nor accomplishments, but always in a scrape. Somehow she never manages to get through the day without breaking or spilling or tearing something. She’s quite the despair of her stepmother. She’s looking forward to their grand new home because it will give her a vast estate to roam over without getting into too much trouble. Or so she hopes.

A traditional Regency romance, drawing room rather than bedroom. Nell Caldicott awaits the return of her violent sailor husband with trepidation, but for once her fears are not realised. Her husband’s ship, the Brig Minerva, has sunk off the Cornish coast. Nell is free, but her husband has left her with little money and many questions about his past. Gradually, as his secrets are laid bare, she realises she didn’t know her husband at all. Can she uncover the truth? And can she ever learn to trust a man with her heart again?

Walter Atherton, Viscount Birtwell, has drifted through his charmed life without a care in the world. As the eldest son and heir to an earl, he has never had to make his way in the world. His days are filled with pleasure, and to set the seal on it, he will shortly be married to a vastly wealthy heiress. His future is set fair for happiness. But the brutal murder of the family chaplain reveals a dreadful secret, and Walter finds his whole future upended. What on earth is he to do now?

Grace’s four older sisters have married and moved away, and life is very quiet and boring. It’s so stifling being female, occupying herself with her tapestry or painting, when she’d much rather have been a soldier, galloping about with a sword in her hand. She wouldn’t mind marrying because who wants to be an old maid? But all her suitors are dullards are only interested in her dowry. If only something exciting would happen!

Felicia Oakes is the illegitimate daughter of…well, someone or other. A pirate, perhaps, or a spy, or a royal prince…who knows? Her vivid imagination conjures a myriad possibilities, all more exciting than her position as governess to two motherless children. But when their father is drowned aboard the Brig Minerva, Felicia must take them to their new guardian in the North of England, where her life is about to be turned upside down.

Angie Fletcher is the lively, mischievous daughter of the family. All she wants in her life is music and dancing, plenty of pretty new bonnets, and perhaps just the occasional trick played on her tolerant family. She’s been unusually well-behaved during the season in London, in dread of the least transgression curtailing all those glorious balls.

Cameron Saxby is contented in his life as a bank clerk in Edinburgh, knowing that if he works hard, he has a good career in front of him. But fate has a different plan for him—as heir to the late Lord Saxby. Inheriting the title drags Cameron away from his unassuming Scottish roots and drops him into the wealthy estate of Maeswood Hall, surrounded by deferential villagers and the resentful family of the late baron, a man who left such a trail of misery in his wake that someone murdered him.

In book 1, a widow moves into the long disused Dower House and makes a horrible discovery in the wine cellar. Thirty-year-old widow Louisa Middlehope is determined to escape from her late husband’s family and live life for herself for the first time. The tiny village of Great Maeswood offers her the peace and quiet her heart craves.

Michael Plummer has never forgotten the woman he fell passionately in love with a few years ago. He was courting a beautiful heiress, in the hope of rescuing his family from financial ruin and the loss of their home, but it was her companion who won his heart. When she ran away from him, Michael was plunged into despair. Now both women have returned, and he has a chance to correct the mistakes of the past. But does he have the courage to do the right thing this time?

Will Fletcher is the eldest son and heir to the family fortune, and although his father is reluctant to relinquish his roots in trade, Will is more than happy to become a gentleman.

Hours of listening in one collection - books 1-3 of the Sons of the Marquess, a series of traditional regency romances, drawing room rather than bedroom...Lord Reginald: Marford needs a wealthy heiress to support his indulgent lifestyle. Lord Humphrey: Marford would love to start his own gaming house, but that takes a lot of money. His only solution is to marry an heiress. Lord Augustus: Marford has only one interest in life - horses. It’s an expensive hobby, and Gus is happy to assess some stud horses for the eccentric Duke of Dunmorton.

Amy is a shy, timid soul, browbeaten by her domineering father until she’s terrified to do or say anything without his approval. When he dies suddenly, his will leaves large dowries for his six daughters, but only if they marry in the proper order, the eldest first. Amy must now find herself a husband, and soon, so her younger sisters can marry in their turn. There are several possible suitors, but will any of them come up to scratch? And how will Amy choose without her father to guide her? Belle is the plain one of the six Allamont sisters, happy with her books.

In Dear NHS, an amazing list of inspirational people come together to share their stories of how the national health service has been there for them and changed their lives in the process. By turns deeply moving, hilarious, hopeful and impassioned, these stories together become a love letter to the NHS and the 1.4 million people who go above and beyond the call of duty every single day - selflessly, generously, putting others before themselves, never more so than now.

The sinking of the Brig Minerva results in many deaths, while for others, the future is suddenly brighter. But it’s not always easy to leave the past behind. Nell Caldicott awaits the return of her violent sailor husband with trepidation, but for once her fears are not realized. When Caroline Milburn and her younger sisters' previously unknown grandfather drowns and bequeaths them a cottage in the country, their lives seem set to improve. A man turned away by Annie Dresden's father years ago for lack of fortune is unexpectedly wealthy after his brother's drowning.

Belle is the plain one of the six Allamont sisters, happy with her books. When their father dies suddenly, his will leaves large dowries for his six daughters, but only if they marry in the proper order, the eldest first. With Amy betrothed, now Belle must find a husband.

Lord Montague Marford is looking forward to a quiet life as clergyman of a rural parish where he can hope to do some good. But sometimes his compassionate nature gets him into trouble, and when a bedraggled young woman turns up on the doorstep to call in a long-forgotten debt, Monty’s sense of honour compels him to offer to marry her. But he soon begins to wonder if he’s made a huge mistake.

Lord Reginald Marford needs a wealthy heiress to support his indulgent lifestyle. Spirited Miss Robinia Chamberlain looks perfect, but when he sets out to court her, he finds that his title and family connections aren’t nearly enough to entice the lady, and he has to become a little bit creative to attract her attention. Robinia’s recently inherited large fortune brings her many suitors. But she’s not interested in any of them, and especially not Reggie, no matter how persistent he is. He may be a perfect gentleman but he isn’t nearly dashing enough for her.