Showing results by narrator "Anne Cater" in All Categories

Amelia and Tom had been engaged a long time. Too long - and she had begun to worry about why he should be so reluctant to set a date. So when her father first suggested that the three of them should have a holiday in Norway, Amelia thought that in such relaxed surroundings, she would be able to discuss things once and for all with Tom. Instead, Amelia found Gideon van der Tolck often at her side, and his company became increasingly appealing.…

Everyone in her family had agreed that Mary Pagett would one day make some man a perfect wife. The problem was that the only man Mary had even thought about marrying was eminent heart specialist Roel van Rakesma. But it had been clear from the start that his only interest was in curing frail hearts, not broken ones!

Sarah Dunn had worked with Hugo van Elven for a long time, and she was astounded when he suddenly proposed to her. Both of them were still smarting from previous unhappy love affairs, which was why Sarah decided to accept; surely neither of them would wish to get emotionally involved again for a very long time. But she had not considered what would happen if her feelings for Hugo underwent a change while his remained the same....

Evangeline Granby is so tired of her aunt's lectures on morality that she allows a handsome young gallant to take her to an inn where they indulge in a desperate and very improper flirtation. Never expecting to see him again, Evangeline is horrified to discover that he is the Reverend Michael Buckleigh, the newly appointed curate for the village where she lives. The attraction between the pair flares at subsequent meetings but Michael knows that, however spoiled Evangeline may be, her father will never consent to their blossoming love.

The year is 1909, and 15-year-old Rhiannon Hughes and her young stepsister, Mair, find themselves abandoned and alone. They are forced to leave their cottage in the Welsh Valleys and take refuge with Rhiannon’s aunt, a popular music hall star. Rhiannon is instantly dazzled by this glamorous new world, and by the handsome young master of ceremonies, Gus Davenport. But Mair’s feckless mother, Nellie, unexpectedly returns and lures Mair into Cardiff’s sleazy underworld.

Miss Dido Kent has developed a taste for mysteries and is finding the quiet holiday at her cousin Flora's home rather unchallenging to say the least. So when a neighbour dies suddenly, leaving her entire estate to her young nephew, Miss Dido can't help but be suspicious. When the local doctor pronounces an overdose as the cause of death and publicly accuses the nephew of killing his aunt, Flora prevails upon her cousin's mystery-solving capabilities to prove the nephew innocent. Miss Dido can hardly refuse....

Esmeralda Jones was a very nice girl. It seemed to Esmeralda that she was also invisible to the opposite sex. Perhaps the real reason for this was the impaired foot she had struggled with since childhood. When the brilliant surgeon Thimo Bamstra offered to cure her, Esmeralda was over the moon. Thimo also managed to mend her broken heart. Esmeralda had never imagined marriage as part of her future, but now she could dream of little else.

How could she fall asleep during his lecture? It wasn't the best way for Nurse Lucy Prendergast to attract the attention of distinguished consultant Fraam der Linssen, especially when the attractive Dutch doctor kept appearing in her life - at the hospital, at her home and in Holland when she went on holiday. If only he were equally aware of her! But it wasn't likely, for far prettier girls were obviously his for the asking

Set in the East End of London and in Surrey, Time Will Tell opens towards the end of World War II, during an air-raid. Joan gives birth to a son just as a bomb hits the hospital. The electricity is cut, and panic and pandemonium ensue, but this is nothing compared to the anguish Joan will suffer in the following years. For in the aftermath of confusion, her baby son is miss-tagged with another baby boy, a fact that only comes to light 20 years later.

When Doctor Oliver Hay-Smythe sees how kindhearted Bertha has been put upon by her family, he decides to sweep her off her feet.

The lively Barleybridge Veterinary Hospital is bustling with energy, everyone is working hard to ensure that all the animals are looked after. At the same time, the staff are coping with crises in their personal lives. Rhodri, the Welsh vet, is deeply in love with Megan but is struggling to find a solution to their problems with her invalid father. Kate is worrying about her A-level results and getting into veterinary college.

When obscure crime writer Ethelred Tressider vanishes, his dogged literary agent, Elsie Thirkettle, is soon on his trail. Finding him (in a ramshackle hotel in the French Loire) proves surprisingly easy. Bringing him home proves more difficult than expected - but (as Elsie observes) who would have predicted that, in a hotel full of stamp collectors, the guests would suddenly start murdering each other? One guest is found fatally stabbed, apparently the victim of an intruder.

Tiny Paul van Eysink was a very special case to Nurse Hannah Lang, and she had become very fond of his young parents, Corinna and Paul. When they invited her to go back with them to Holland until the baby was completely recovered, Hannah was only too happy to oblige. The problem was Corinna's unbending uncle, Doctor Valentijn van Bertes! He could find no fault with Hannah's nursing skills - but she was only too aware that she meant little to him as a person. Why should she? He had a very lovely fiancée in Nerissa…

In the chaos aboard the sinking Titanic, Mair Parsons is separated from her infant daughter, Catherine, and her travelling companion and future mother-in-law, Ethel Jenkins. The disaster changes all their lives. During her repatriation to Britain, Mair has time to reassess her life and knows that before she can find happiness she must find the truth about her absent mother, even if it means leaving her beloved Wales and Catherine behind.

On a visit to the ruins of Madderstone Abbey, Penelope Lambe suffers a bad fall and before she slips into unconsciousness, manages to say, “I saw her… It was her”. Some take these words to mean that Penelope saw the Grey Nun, the ghost reputed to haunt the abbey, but Miss Dido Kent is unconvinced and is determined to find the real cause. Dido directs all her mental energy to solving the mystery and revisits the ruins looking for clues.

Eleanor and Beatrice dream of lovematches but the Dowager insists romantic love is for housemaids, not for the Graceover women. Beatrice, despatched to London to look over the current crop of bachelors, is unimpressed by the frivolities of the Season. Disturbed by the languid charm of Lord Serle and appalled by the mercenary attitudes to marriage displayed by Society, Beatrice’s country innocence and unconventional behaviour lead her into some alarming situations.

Was love out of the question? Charity thought she had it all - marriage to respected consultant Tyco van der Brons and being a mother to his two children. So why did her heart yearn for his love, too? She had known from the start that theirs was a marriage of convenience - so it would be foolish to wish for anything more...wouldn’t it?

When Doctor George Pritchard asked her to marry him, Phoebe hadn’t needed much persuading. After the death of her aunt, she was penniless and without a job. Besides which, she liked him. And she liked his home, and his life as a GP. And if he had made it plain that he wasn’t in love with her - well, at least she knew where she stood. It wasn’t until after the wedding that she began to wonder if liking was going to be enough….

It was Mrs Croyden who had been taken by the idea of digging up the history of the family. It seemed to be the kind of thing that everyone was doing nowadays. And once started she became more and more enchanted by the project. Even her husband, George, having seen the ancient photograph of a most attractive girl, long since dead, was taken by the project. The snag was that even Great Aunt Maud, the owner of the photograph, had no idea what had happened to the beautiful girl named Isabella. Apparently she had completely vanished and to the rest of the family had simply become “The Unknown”. Would the mystery ever be solved?

Serena gave up all hope of getting married when her fiancé jilted her. She was determined to be sensible about the whole thing, that was, until Gijs suggested that she marry him instead. She liked Gjis very much, and knew he was fond of her – that seemed as good a basis as any for a marriage. But it turned out that Gjis was in love, and Serena couldn’t work out who the lucky woman was.