Showing results by narrator "Jilly Bond" in All Categories

September 1940. England is at war once again and London has become an ever-fragile place for widowed Livia Ripley and her two young daughters, Polly and Eliza. When Livia meets charismatic publisher Hugo Ballantyne, she is hopeful that her life is about to change for the better. But as clouds gather in the clear autumn sky, the wail of the siren heralds the arrival of the Luftwaffe.

The debut novel by a British writer with nearly two decades of African experience - a compelling courtroom drama and a gritty, aromatic evocation of place, inspired by recent events. British lawyer Paula Shackleton is mourning a lost love when a small man in a lemon-coloured suit accosts her over breakfast in a Boston hotel. Winston Peabody represents the African state of North Darrar, embroiled in a border arbitration case with its giant neighbour.

Norah Thornby can no longer afford to live in her grand family home - unless she can find a respectable lodger. But Nurse Lettie Quick is not nearly as respectable as she seems. Meanwhile the beautiful Rae Grainger is staying in an isolated house miles away from the town. It’s certainly rather creepy, but Rae knows that all she has to do is stay out of sight until paid-professional others take her little problem away.

The latest novel from best-selling author Jean Ure - perfect for fans of Jacqueline Wilson and Cathy Cassidy. A warm-hearted story of friendship, school life, and drama - and the perils of sharing a secret… After all, even best friends don't tell each other everything…

When Bea Bishop slips while walking down the aisle on her wedding day, she is momentarily knocked unconscious. And in a flash, her world splits and two separate parallel lives take her on two very different journeys. In one, Bea flees back down the aisle and out of the church. In the other, she glides blissfully towards Adam, her intended. Which story will lead to her happy-ever-after?

Yesterday, Sally was living in an idyllic South African farmstead with her teenage daughter, Gigi. Now Sally is dead, murdered, and Gigi is alone. But Sally lingers unseen in her daughter's shadow. When Gigi moves in with her aunt, Sally comes, too. When Gigi's cousin develops an obsession with African black magic. Now Sally must find a way to stop her daughter from making a mistake that will destroy the lives of everyone.

A humorous and heartwarming story about a little sister, a big sister, a cat, a dad and…a new girlfriend!Bitsy, or ‘Jelly Baby' as she's sometimes called, has been doing just fine living with Dad and big sister Em since Mum died. The housework may not always get done, and dinners might not always be at the table, but none of them ever minded! Until one day Dad brings home a girlfriend - and everything changes. Now it looks like it might be down to the Jelly Baby of the family to keep it from falling apart.…

Can a reclusive and distrustful lord, scarred by betrayal, learn to trust a pampered society beauty who seems to have the whole world at her feet? When Alexander Forthin, Earl of Calvercombe, clashes with Persephone Seaborne it seems not... But a series of mysterious disappearances links their two families, forcing the embittered soldier and the toast of St James into an unlikely alliance.

The death of the King’s son aboard the doomed White Ship, left the ageing Henry I again without an heir. Henry’s daughter, the Empress Matilda, could not succeed her father while her own German husband still lived – but she could hope. Henry’s nephew, the affable, charming Stephen was also looking towards the English throne.

Meredith’s daughter, Anna, comes across a prayer book that is inscribed by three generations of mothers to their daughters. These are the women of Meredith’s family, who have all had lives full of love and also hardship. But the youngest in the line, Meredith, has never found true love. She has a beautiful teenage daughter to come home to, a fabulous career in television, but no one special to share it all with. Behind the tirelessly successful façade lies the story of a woman who could not keep love in her life.

With characteristic verve and integrity, Ann Widdecombe recalls her life and highlights the people and events that most influenced her along the way. From her early family life in Singapore and her convent school days to her student ambitions at Birmingham and Oxford, and her long-serving years as an MP, this is the life story of one of our most outspoken and celebrated politicians. Offering unique insight into her time as a Minister in three Departments and the Shadow Cabinet in the 1990s, Ann also explains the roots of her conversion to Catholicism in 1993 and her deeply held views on abortion and gay marriage.

Violet Dimond, the Holy Terror, has delivered many of the town children in her capacity as handywoman. But Violet’s calling is dying out with medicine’s advances. Grace, Violet’s adopted daughter, is a symbol of change herself. In the place where she has grown up and everyone knows her, she is accepted, though most of the locals never before saw a girl with skin that colour. For Violet and Grace the coming war will bring more upheaval: can they endure it, or will they be swept aside by history’s tide?

A coming of age story about self-discovery and independence from the Queen of Tween, Jean Ure.‘I’ve always been the quiet one in my dramatic family. Not a drama queen, or a genius composer, or a twin, but Just Peachy. Mum says I’ve got my own thing going on… I just wish I knew what that was! When I decide I want to attend Sacred Heart school rather than Summerville where my family have always gone everyone finally stops to listen! Stepping out on my own is scary...

Jen's stable relationship, steady job as a press officer for the police and mapped-out future is thrown into turmoil after she confronts her fiancé about a telephone call from a mysterious woman. In sadness and revenge she picks up a stranger in a bar. When videos and demands for money start to arrive, Jen has to find her blackmailer and rescue her relationship with Dan. As she emulates her police colleagues to find her evil extortionist darker secrets emerge.

In 1947, Elisabeth Mander’s German nephew comes to stay: Stefan Landau, her dead sister’s teenage son, whom she hates and loves before she’s even set eyes on him. Orphaned by the war and traumatised by the last vicious battles of the Hitler Youth, Stefan brings with him to England only a few meagre possessions. Among them a portrait of a girl with long copper hair by a young painter called Michael Ross - and with it the memory, both painful and precious, of her life and that time between the wars.

When William X dies, the duchy of Aquitaine is left to his 15-year-old daughter, Eleanor. But such a position for an unmarried woman puts the whole kingdom at risk. So on his deathbed William made a will that would ensure his daughter’s protection: he promised her hand in marriage to the future King of France. Eleanor grows into a romantic and beautiful queen, but she has inherited the will of a king, determined to rule Aquitaine using her husband’s power as King of France. Her

Tess believed matrimonywasis for life - until her husband decided that their marriage was the relationship equivalent of a starter home: cramped, claustrophobic, and something he'd outgrown. Now, at thirty-five, Tess is in the biggest mess of her life. Known to her friends as "Tip-Top Tess" because of her pursuit of the perfect home, she's now a candidate for How Clean is Your House? But there's a life raft on the horizon: the Divorce Survival Class - a boot camp for the broken-hearted.

Malaya, 1941: As the glamorous wife of a plantation owner, Connie Hadley appears to lead a pampered and comfortable life. But she is hiding devastating secrets that could destroy her marriage. Life is changed forever on the day of the infamous attack on Pearl Harbour. As Japanese Zero aircraft attack the town of Palur, Connie makes the decision to flee to Singapore on the family's boat, the White Pearl

Scheming social climber Alexa may be humbly born. But only a title, mansion and family tiara will do. Befriending feckless aristo Florrie (three surnames plus black hole where her brain should be) means the grandest doors swing open and the prince of her dreams is in sight. But has Florrie’s mother, the formidable Lady Annabel, rumbled what Alexa is up to? Beautiful but penniless student Polly, meanwhile, is in love.

Since Cassie’s mother disappeared on the night of the Great Sandstorm the Supreme Sand Faerie has forbidden any dune dancing. But then Cassie discovers that the Sandringham Dance School is going to re-open, and she is desperate to win a place. Not only does she love dancing, but perhaps she can find out what really happened to her mother.