Showing results by narrator "Rachael Beresford" in All Categories

When Inge Maria arrives on the tiny island of Bornholm in Denmark to live with her grandmother, she's not sure what to expect. Her grandmother is stern, the people on the island are strange, and children are not allowed to run wild or express themselves the way they did back in Copenhagen -- especially if you are a girl. Inge Maria tries not to feel sorry for herself, but she misses her mama. And on top of everything else, mischief seems to have a way of finding her no matter how hard she tries to be good.

While the elusive Secret Symphony of Giovanni St. John captivated the world's fascination, it left his daughter closed away in the Silent House; she, the one who holds the fullness of truth about the ninth symphony. Now Aria St. John is determined to not only break free of the loss that has defined her, but to honor her father through one final gift in his last days.

This magical fantastical story is about a house for sale which, when cleared, reveals cracks in the walls and ground floor which cannot be explained. We find that underneath the house is a lake inhabited by a sea dragon, Zadie, and her friends and slaves. She has a Tall Ship, and she yearns to return to warmer times and Utopia. Her slaves are "fish people" who have to live partly in the water below and partly in the house, which they enter via the cracks.

All that clever, passionate Ravenna Caulfield wants is to stay far away from high society's mean girls. All that handsome, heroic Lord Vitor Courtenay wants is to dash from dangerous adventure to adventure. Now, snowbound in a castle with a bevy of the ton's scheming maidens all competing for a prince's hand in marriage, Ravenna's worst nightmare has come true. Now, playing babysitter to his spoiled prince of a half-brother and potential brides, Vitor is champing at the bit to be gone.

While fleeing an arranged betrothal to a heartless lord, Lady Isabelle becomes injured and lost. Rescued by a young peasant man, she hides her identity as a noblewoman for fear of reprisal from the peasants who are bitter and angry toward the nobility. Cole Warwick cannot turn his back on a person in need and soon finds himself falling for Izzy, the gentle and beautiful runaway who is mending in his cottage. As the leader of an imminent uprising against the nobility, he tries to resist his growing feelings for Izzy.

A lady seeking forgiveness for her past, Lady Viola Haversham is determined to put her past where it belongs. A woman forging a new path in life, Mrs. Ruby Jakeston is tired of others taking care of her. A girl lost and in search of a place to belong, Lady Ellington is on the brink of losing the only home she's ever known. A trio of women holding out hope for three different holiday miracles: Christmas ever more.

When her fiancé leaves her eight months before their wedding, the unexpected blow ignites a battalion of insecurities stemming from her father's intimate betrayal. Her worst fears are confirmed. Who could ever love a soiled woman? In an attempt to escape the shame and disappointment of her past, Ashleigh boards the ill-fated Lusitania to cross the war-torn waters of Europe. Much to her dismay, she isn't traveling alone.

France, 1367. Rafeu, Vicomte Bruniquel, is deeply, insanely in love—and he's about to meet the lady of his heart for the first time. Unfortunately for him, lovely English widow Eglantine avoids charismatic French knights like the plague. Bitter experience has taught her that love is an illusion. She will not be deceived again, so she bars her castle to all suitors and creates an English garden paradise in detested France.

Kate moves into the top floor of a rambling house on the coast hoping to start a new life. After a rough year, this move to the seaside town of Whitby is a fresh start, a chance to forget the past. But Kate begins to feel that she's being watched all the time, even within the walls of her new home. She hears footsteps in the attic and sees a car driving over the moors in the dead of night.

Stolen as a baby by an egotistical enchanter, Aurelia has spent her entire life locked in a tower, her impractically long hair serving as a vessel in which her captor can store his magic. Every day is predictable—at least, until Cyfrin's manner and experiments take an inexplicable turn. Now Aurelia's biggest challenge is convincing her fellow prisoner—the only mother she's ever known—that she's strong enough to handle the truth behind the enchanter's strange behavior. The trouble is, she'll first need to convince herself.

Princess Wren is not the crown princess. Everyone else might think her six older brothers are dead, but she knows the truth. They're very much alive, and her oldest brother will absolutely assume the throne. Once he becomes a little less feathered . . . and beaky. The trouble is, that requires Wren to fulfill the terms of the curse that transformed her brothers into swans—which means she can't speak a word to a living soul. For six years.

Merletta is out of time, and so are the triple kingdoms. She can't outswim her mistakes, and if she can't expose the Center's lies, so many will pay the price. Matters of the heart have no place—whether on land with Heath, or in her underwater search for her family. Heath has accepted that there's no simple way for him and Merletta to be together. With the wrath of the dragons hanging over Merletta, and the increasingly desperate need to clear Percival's name, Heath has never felt more torn between worlds.

With eleven younger sisters, Princess Zinnia usually has little choice but to be responsible. But if she had her way, she'd spend her time exploring the seashore and cavorting with the dragons often found there. When she sees one of those dragons flying mysteriously over her castle one night, the temptation to sneak out after it is too strong to resist. Except, by the time she realizes she doesn't recognize this dragon, she's already witnessed something much bigger than she was ready for. And now she's trapped, her sisters along with her.

Harriet Wheatley is the mastermind behind the Ladies of Virtue's quest to rehabilitate the gentlemen of the ton. So when it comes to selecting her own target, she knows who to choose: Oliver Weeks, Marquess of Davenport—the most extravagant wastrel in all of London. Known for his opulent lifestyle, Oliver isn't surprised by Harriet's confrontation. It's obvious Harriet longs for any way to take him down a notch. She says she'll help him find a bride, but he knows it's only because it gives her the excuse to chastise his indulgent ways.

Merletta has survived her second-year test, but its revelations have once again upended everything she thought she knew. With so much at stake, it's hard to remember why she once cared so much about passing the program. It's time to show her true colors and face whatever comes . . . but yet again, she's failed to predict the Center's next move. And the consequences are disastrous for more than just her.

Merletta's enemies may think they've bested her, but she's always been a survivor. Now she has a choice to make—protect herself, or expose the Center's lies? The question only becomes more complex when she learns she's not the only one to have paid the price for her flight to Vazula. Meanwhile, Heath finally has the chance to bring the two factions of his family together. Except he can't seem to care about anything after losing Merletta. Then, just as his stirring magic ignites hope he hadn't dared to hold, a trip to Kyona threatens to overset Valoria's fragile peace.

Yorkshire, 1367. Lady Azalais disguises herself as a minstrel to travel through war-torn France and ransom her father. Her brother plans to marry her to his brutish friend but Azalais, disillusioned with coarse and lustful men, hopes her father will let her become a nun instead. As an impoverished knight, Sir William must fight for his living—unless he can forge a life through his love of song. When offered a mission to protect a talented musician through France, Will seizes the chance to test his dream of becoming a minstrel—a dream that will prevent him from ever marrying.

Born into a kingdom where power is outlawed, Penny has little reason to love her magic. She barely remembers her mother, and even her father dies unaware of her abilities. Now, magic or not, Penny is powerless to escape the bitter tangle of competition her stepmother has created between her and her stepsisters. And a series of chance encounters with the crown prince only adds to her troubles. The last thing she needs is to attract the notice of the very royals who have turned her existence into a crime.

As a Lady of Virtue, Matilda Brooks swears to reform the most despicable man of her acquaintance, her brother-in-law, Sullivan Chase, Viscount Glenbrook. Well, he may not be the most despicable, but he is certainly arrogant, flirtatious, and entirely too charming. To make matters worse, he has the irritating tendency to poke fun at her and rile her emotions as no other man does. However, when she confronts him, he laughs off her concern about his slothful ways.

From the very moment Agnes Watkins walked into his life, Fletcher Banks, Earl of Wakefield, has wanted her. Agnes is not just beautiful, she's clever and determined. Despite her uncommon beauty, she refuses to conform to society's standards. She's also the sister of the man who holds Fletcher's career as a spy in his hands. And that makes her completely off-limits.