Showing results by narrator "Julia Barrie" in All Categories

Alice Lee, middle-aged and unmarried, is the only volunteer when the minister asks his congregation to help young Zebediah Bailey. Zeb is in prison for a ghastly crime, and the townspeople would rather forget than forgive this local lad who lost his way. But Alice dutifully writes to him every week, sending him sweets from the little shop that is her livelihood: Alice Lee's Confectionary. She won't admit she's lonely, but since her parents' deaths, making and selling sweets has become her whole world.

An achingly funny story about how to be your own hero when life pulls the rug out from under your feet. From the author of the bestselling You Had me at Hello. Delia Moss isn't quite sure where she went wrong. When she proposed and discovered her boyfriend was sleeping with someone else - she thought it was her fault. When she realised life would never be the same again - she thought it was her fault.

The true story of an abused childhood, of shocking brutality and life as the daughter of notorious serial killer and master manipulator Rose West. You're 21 years old. Police arrive on the doorstep of your house, 25 Cromwell Street, with a warrant to search the garden for the remains of your older sister you didn't know was dead. Bones are found, and they are from more than one body. And so the nightmare begins. You are the daughter of Fred and Rose West.

Maisie doesn't understand why her mother can’t love her, but she knows that her life is hard and deeply unhappy. When her stepfather George, the only person she trusts, leaves, Maisie has no protector until she begins to escape. She could never be quite sure when she first met up with Hamilton; most likely it was when she started talking to herself. But she didn’t call him that then; that came much later when she was 14 and Doctor Kane had to pay her a professional visit....

Two weeks in a boathouse on the edge of peaceful Lake Orta, Italy is exactly what Ginny and Adam Trustlove need. But twenty-four hours later, the silence is broken when the Sale family arrives. It doesn't take long for Ginny and Adam to be drawn in, especially when the teenage Pippi introduces her beguiling new friend Zach. Not one of them suspects that his arrival in their lives might be anything other than accidental...

Nightingale Books, nestled on the high street in the idyllic Cotswold town of Peasebrook, is a dream come true for booklovers. But owner Emilia Nightingale is struggling to keep the shop open. The temptation to sell up is proving enormous - but what about the promise she made to her father? Not to mention the loyalty she owes to her customers.

Laura's life has just been turned on its head, and with an empty nest and a crumbling marriage she launches a new business from her own kitchen, making artisan jams, chutneys and relishes from her grandmother's cookbook to sell at the local farmer's market. So can her flair for cooking, her most special family recipes and a better understanding of her grandmother's past help her find a happy future?

Hunter's Moon is the ultimate 'forever' house. Nestled by a river in the Peasebrook valley, it has been the Willoughbys' home for over 50 years, and now estate agent Belinda Baxter is determined to find the perfect family to live there. But the sale of the house unlocks decades of family secrets - and brings Belinda face to face with her own troubled past.

It’s summer in Adders Fork. The sun is out, the sky is blue and things are going swimmingly for Rosie Strange. The Essex Witch Museum has been relaunched with a new Ursula Cadence wing and picnic grounds. Then developers roll into the sleepy village to widen the road. When the centuries-old Blackly Be boulder, said to mark the grave of a notorious witch, is moved, all hell breaks out. Within hours a slew of peculiar phenomena descends, and when a severed head is discovered atop the boulder, the locals storm the museum to demand someone take action.

When Cora Stubbs and her siblings, are whisked away from home to the English countryside, a supposed haven from Hitler's terror, they soon realize their sanctuary harbours dangers far more profound than the looming threat of war. Ignited by sheer will and love for her family, Cora strives to carve a new existence amidst grief and the lingering shadows of a lost love. Womanhood beckons and with it, the critical question: can she ever truly escape her troubled past?

Ben is still desperately trying to forget that Katy had a one-night stand just before she announced she was pregnant. Nine months later a new baby explodes into their lives, creating utter chaos. Being a stay-at-home dad isn’t as simple as it seems; in fact it’s a disaster. Then help arrives in the most unlikely form: the wife of Katy’s ex-lover. Should Ben tell Katy about his secret rescuer, or is it his turn to keep a secret?

A novel of heart and courage inspired by the incredible story of a real life princess. Princess Haya, daughter of the King of Jordan, loves her family more than anything. So when tragedy strikes at its heart, she is devastated.The Princess becomes ever more withdrawn until, on her birthday, the King gives her a life-changing present.

Three years ago, something terrible happened to Naomi Jenkins - so terrible that she never told anybody. Now Naomi has another secret - the man she has fallen passionately in love with, unhappily married Robert Haworth. When Robert vanishes without trace, Naomi knows he must have come to harm. But the police are less convinced, particularly when Robert's wife insists he is not missing. In desperation, Naomi has a crazy idea.

1920, Durham. Since she was a child, Lucy Charlton has dreamed of working with her father in the family solicitor's firm. But a scandal shatters her dreams and, when her father disowns her, she finds herself on the streets, fighting for survival. Joe Hardy has returned to London after the Great War to find his life in tatters - his father is dead and his pregnant fiancée has disappeared. Then Joe learns he's unexpectedly inherited an old river house in Durham from a stranger called Margaret Lee.

When Matilda's father retires through ill health, the family's new life in Much Winterlow is forced into reduced circumstances. To make ends meet, Matilda applies to be Dr. Henry Lovell's receptionist. She does her best to ignore the strong attraction she feels for him - dreaming of white weddings and a happy marriage is not for her, and, after all, Henry is engaged to Lucilla.

Secretly Rosie Strange has always thought herself a little bit more interesting than most people - the legacy her family has bequeathed her is definitely so, she's long believed. But then life takes a peculiar turn when the Strange legacy turns out not just to be the Essex Witch Museum, but perhaps some otherworldly gifts that Rosie finds difficult to fathom.

Jefferson Winter is no ordinary investigator. The son of one of America's most renowned serial killers, Winter has spent his life trying to distance himself from his father's legacy.When he accepts a particularly disturbing case in London, Winter arrives to find a psychopath on the loose who likes abducting and lobotomising young women. Winter must use all his preternatural brain power in order to work out who is behind the attacks, before another young woman becomes a victim.

Suzie Miller, a disillusioned agony aunt, can't believe she's been dumped from a great height yet again (this time by text!). So she decides the time is right to make every one of her exes feel the pain she felt when they carelessly cast her aside. Her methods are unusual but humiliation on a grand scale is no less than they deserve. And then she starts giving the same advice to her readers….

Two girls divided by time, united by their love for some very special horses - an epic Caribbean adventure! On a remote tropical island, 12-year-old Beatriz is about to embark on an epic journey, through hurricanes and across the high seas and back to the time of Christopher Columbus.… When Beatriz stumbles across a wild mare with strange markings in the jungle she can't believe it is real. Yet from that moment on the strongest connection grows between them, and she begins to uncover an incredible history.

Get into the festive spirit with this heartwarming, funny and simply gorgeous Christmas read. The eagerly awaited new novel from the Sunday Times best-selling author. This Christmas is about to go off with a bang! Things can't possibly get worse for Tabby. Framed for a crime she didn't commit, she suddenly finds herself without a job. Then, to make matters worse, Tabby's boyfriend dumps her and gives her cat away to a shelter. But rescue comes in the form of kindly Mercy.