Showing results by narrator "Francesca Waite" in All Categories

A heartwarming, uplifting village romance for fans of Holly Martin, Tilly Tennant and Cathy Bramley. Buying a thatched cottage in the country may not be the usual cure for a broken heart. But after Clara Maxwell finds out her boyfriend and best friend have been sneaking around behind her back, packing her bags and leaving everything in London behind feels like it's the only way forward. When Henry Garnett, her (rather handsome) new contractor, turns up with his little daughter Pansy and a van shaped like a cottage in tow, she isn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

As Ben and Isla walk together on the wild Devon beaches, they discover a heartbreaking generations-old story of a woman who chose her family over true love. But Isla and Caitlin are no closer to solving their grandmother's riddle: and when Caitlin finally shares a shocking secret about her life back in London, selling their grandmother's home seems the only way forward.

From the attic of Driftwood House, there are stunning views of the deep green sea and sapphire sky. But Rosie can’t tear her eyes away from the faded photograph in her hands, and the words written on the back that will change everything.... Back in the tiny seaside village of Heaven’s Cove after the death of her mother, all Rosie Merchant wants is to hide her tears, rent out her childhood home and get back to her ‘real’ life, away from the gossiping villagers and wild Devon weather she escaped from years ago.

With a mother unfit for purpose and a brother who despises her, working girl Amber can rely on no one but herself - until the meanest pimp in Manchester, Kev Pike, offers her his protection. Unfortunately, this attracts the fury of Cora, a prostitute no one wants to get on the wrong side of. When Cora is found strangled to death, the late-night city streets feel increasingly exposed with a killer on the loose. As Amber grows closer to Kev, she realises his security comes at a price she might not be willing to pay. Amber is frozen in fear, knowing one wrong move will risk her life.

High on the clifftops, Lettie takes a deep breath of salty air and opens the letter. There is no signature, and the old-fashioned handwriting is faint against the yellowed paper. The message, and the tiny gold key inside, will turn her life upside down. Lettie Starcross makes her way along the cobbled streets of Heaven’s Cove, clutching a little key and searching for answers about her kind, great-aunt Iris, whom she misses terribly. With no job back home, and no one in her family understanding how adrift she feels, Lettie wonders if her aunt was lonely just like her.

Christa Playfoot is looking for a fresh start after her divorce. Having lost her Michelin-starred restaurant, she hadn't expected to be job hunting and single just before Christmas. When her best friend says she's recommended Christa for a gig as a private chef over the Christmas period, Christa can't think of a reason to say no. Christa has no idea what to expect but it's certainly not grumpy billionaire divorcee Marc Ferrier and his rambunctious twin sons, or the beautiful but cheerless country estate, Pudding Hall, that they inhabit.

Laura is married, she has a good home, and she is due to give birth to her first child any day now. But her perfect world is shattered when her husband comes home flustered and afraid. He's made a terrible mistake. He's done a bad thing. And now the police are going to be looking for him. There's only one way out of this. He wants to run. But he won't go without his wife. Laura knows it is wrong. They should stay and face the music. But she doesn't want to lose her man. She can't raise this baby alone. So she agrees to go with him.

When three women head to Portugal for a long weekend in the sun, the goal is to celebrate an upcoming wedding. Jane is getting married, and Angela and Maya want to give her a good time before she does. But the carefree getaway soon goes awry, and by the time the friends board their flight home, they are all carrying a terrible secret. It's one that could ruin each of their lives, which is why they make their pact: They agree to tell no one else what happened while they were away. As long as they can do that, they should be fine. That is until somebody else threatens to share their secret.

Yorkshire Dales, Summer 1997. Vicky Mott slips out the door of her remote cottage, and into the pale dawn light. She scrawls a note for her friends. Gone to see the sunrise. V xxx That's the last anyone ever hears from twenty-year-old music lover Vicky. Another victim of the Fellside Strangler? That would make Vicky the fourth young woman to lose her life this summer. Snatched by a mysterious killer who stalks the fells . . . But Vicky's body is never found.

Rebecca and Sam are happily married and enjoying a typical Saturday night until a knock at the door changes everything. There is a woman outside, and she has something to say. Something that will change the happy couple's relationship forever. With their marriage thrown into turmoil, Rebecca no longer knows who to trust, while Sam is determined to find out who that woman was and why she came to their house.

Megan thinks that she has the perfect husband and the perfect life. Craig works so that she doesn't have to, leaving her free to relax all day in their beautiful and secluded country home. But when she starts to long for friends and purpose again, Megan applies for a job in London, much to her husband's disappointment. She thinks that he is upset because she is unhappy. But she has no idea. After Megan goes against his wishes and attends the interview, Craig decides that it is time to act.

When city-girl Harper arrives in the Caledonian Forest in Scotland, her hopes for her holiday are quickly dashed. She’d planned a whimsical, autumnal writing retreat, to finish her novel. But ghosted by her scammer rental host, she discovers that the cosy log cabin she’d booked for her solo getaway does not actually exist. Miles away from any hotel, she wanders through the woods until she finds the hot local woodcutter Fraser.

Freya is desperate for escape from her messy breakup when she’s offered a job caring for elderly Kathleen in the seaside village of Heaven’s Cove. Kathleen’s once-red hair is now a brilliant white, but there’s always laughter in her Irish lilt - until the day Freya finds her weeping, her gaze fixed on Driftwood House, perched on the cliffs above the village. She refuses to say what’s wrong.

Tears trickling down her cheeks, she recognises her grandmother's writing scrawled across the manila envelope. Inside is an engraved key that sits heavy in her hand. Will the tumbledown cottage be the start of a new life–or will it tear her life apart?

Fleeing from a heartbreaking mistake, all former nurse Alyssa wants is to focus on her new job giving tours of Heaven's Cove to visitors and sharing the myths and legends of this beautiful place. Nobody needs to know the real reason she came to the village… Over cups of tea with elderly resident Magda she soon makes a friend who is alone in the world too.