Showing results by narrator "Julia Franklin" in All Categories

The first book in Anna Jacobs' wonderful Backshaw Moss series. 1935. At 36, Bella Porter is dependent on her abusive cousin, acting as an unpaid servant. When a kind relative leaves her a house in the village of Backshaw Moss, Thomas tries to take it from her, but she defies him and grasps this chance of a new start in Lancashire. It is not going to be easy, though.

Tina Valentine has it all: the loving family, the beautiful house, the successful career. But then Megan Pearson starts work at Tina’s law firm, and the perfect world Tina has built for herself starts to collapse, as it becomes clear that the newcomer is intent on infiltrating every aspect of her life. Something is obviously wrong with Megan, but nobody else seems to see it. As the mind games and manipulations continue, Tina comes to the sickening conclusion that now she’s opened the door to Megan, it’s going to be impossible to make her leave....

Cassie Lewis, a widow for over 20 years, has begun to realise there must be more to life. In-between working at the family boatyard in picture perfect Dartmouth and raising two children, she wonders where the years have gone. Both her children, Tom and Polly, have inherited their father’s love of sailing and currently Tom is preparing for a gruelling round the world race. When an accident forces Tom to pull out, Polly, to Cassie’s horror, insists she is capable of taking his place. As Polly prepares for the race, Cassie finds herself with two keen men vying for her love.

Simmy Brown had hoped that her autumn would be less frantic than usual to give her a chance to enjoy her pregnancy, her upcoming nuptials, and some time looking for a new house in the Patterdale area of the Lake District. But it is not to be. When one of the lodgers at her parents’ B&B dies in her arms after seemingly being poisoned, she becomes embroiled in a complex investigation, headed up by her friend DI Moxon.

Taken in by the firm but kind-hearted cook, the young friends can hardly believe their luck. But behind Bracken House’s impressive façade lies a household steeped in troubles and mystery, with residents above and below stairs battling their own demons and dark secrets. Not everyone is happy about the new arrivals, and soon the orphans’ safety is in danger. If they want to stay in the first home any of them have known for years, they must unravel the past and bring hope to the future. Will they succeed? Or will they come to regret ever leaving the mean slum streets they once called home?

Laurel Ferrara wouldn’t know a happy ending if she fell over it; of course her whirlwind wedding was always going to end in disaster. But she can’t just walk away. From the moment she is summoned back to Sicily the shivers of unease set in. The command comes from legendary billionaire Cristiano Ferrara, the husband she can’t forget - but it might as well have come from the devil himself.…

With harvest approaching, land girl Daphne is busier than ever as she ploughs the fields and tends to the animals with her friends Sal and Charlie. All three girls enjoy the relative peace of Goodwill House…but war is never far away.

Freddy left her childhood home in Newhaven 22 years ago and swore never to return. But now her parents are dead and she's back in her hometown to help her brothers manage the family fishmonger. Nothing here has changed: the stink of fish coming up from the marshes; the shopping trolleys half-buried by muddy tides; the neighbours sniffing for a new piece of gossip. It's not what Freddy would have chosen, but at least while she's here she'll get to see her childhood best friends, Toni and Pauline. At school, the three of them were inseparable.

What will be will be. Belinda Marshall’s idyllic teenage life in Brittany, France, fell apart when her parents dramatically separated and her mother took her back to England. Fast forward 35 years when Belinda’s world is once again turned upside down. It’s the week before Christmas and her employer 'surprises’ Belinda by asking for her help to rejuvenate their latest investment, a run-down campsite in Brittany.

Professor Olivia Sweetman has worked hard to achieve the life she loves, with a high-flying career as a TV presenter and historian, three children and a talented husband. But as she stands before a crowd at the launch of her new best seller, she can barely pretend to smile. Her life has spiralled into deceit, and if the truth comes out, she will lose everything. Only one person knows what Olivia has done.

Lena just moved to Mandalay Close. She needed a new start, since her boyfriend cheated her out of the happy-ever-after she’d believed they were always going to share. But on the day Lena moves in, letters begin to arrive for all her new neighbours. Letters that promise to expose everyone’s deepest, darkest secrets. Every house has received one - except for Lena’s. Someone clearly wants to implicate her, to ruin her new life and turn everyone against her. She’s made an enemy, but who, and why?

Following a personal tragedy, florist Persimmon “Simmy” Brown has moved to the Lake District to be nearer her parents. But her peace is shattered when, at a wedding, the bride's brother is found brutally murdered. As the florist of the wedding and one of the last people to talk to Mark Baxter alive, Simmy gradually becomes involved with the relatives. When events take another sinister turn, Simmy finds herself at the heart of a murder investigation.

While out collecting some Portuguese laurel for the formidable flower arranger Mrs Dawes, feisty widow Ellie Quicke comes across a dead body - a corpse without an identity. Next day, Mrs Dawes is discovered by Ellie and her grandson, Frank, badly beaten and close to death. Much to Ellie's dismay, the police think shaven-headed Neil, Mrs Dawes' grandson, is responsible, even after a third body comes to light.

Summer has come to Windermere, where Persimmon "Simmy" Brown runs her own florist shop. But the shop is struggling for money, so a contract to provide floral displays for a hotel in Hawkshead couldn't have arrived at a better moment. However Simmy's association with the hotel soon turns sinister when she finds a body in the lake. To make matters worse, her friend, Ben Harkness, is now missing and thought to be kidnapped.

As the only female cabinet maker in the valley in 1935, Frankie Redfern is unusual. She faces prejudice even from her own mother. But she's content working for her father and is unwilling to give up her independence or the work she loves for marriage. When her husband falls gravely ill, Frankie's mother takes over, causing serious trouble for her daughter. And her cousin, an unscrupulous local builder, starts to help her for his own reasons.

Bristol - 1953. It’s Coronation Year. A new beginning in the aftermath of war, but there are still battles to be fought and secrets to be kept. Charlotte Hennessey-White copes with the shortcomings of her marriage and throws herself into helping refugees unwelcome by some and exploited by others. Edna Burbage has three beautiful children and considers herself lucky until the advent of a deadly twentieth century disease makes her think otherwise. Polly Chandler still hopes for a better life, but there are too many obstacles standing in her way.

Lady Celia Cleveden is the picture of pragmatism and sensible behavior, having no interest in uncouth louts or brutish rakes. That is, until the wild prince Ramiz of A’Qadiz rescues her amidst the shifting desert sands. Ramiz offers Celia a place in his harem - a proposal the cultured lady would normally refuse. But with their torrid nights burning hotter than the desert’s midday sun, Celia feels compelled to at least consider the sheikh’s enticing offer.

Charlotte Nicholls has a secret that haunts her. She and three-year-old Chloe have left their home and friends, and are now building a new life for themselves elsewhere. All Charlotte wants to do is to forget the past, to blot out what went before, and to look only to the future. At last she and Chloe feel safe. Then, suddenly, their nightmare returns, and Charlotte finds she has no power to prevent what comes next…

July 1940. With Hitler’s bombs getting closer, WAAF Diane Forsyth is determined to face the oncoming danger and do her duty to support the brave RAF pilots who risk their lives as they take to the skies. And there’s one pilot in particular Di hopes remains safe—Squadron Leader Freddie Hanover. But with a romance between them growing, Di and Freddie know their duty must always come first. How can they dream of a future together whilst this terrible war continues?

Spring has brought many new beginnings into the world of Persimmon ‘Simmy’ Brown. Not only has her baby arrived, but she and her fiancé, Christopher, have moved to the historic village of Hartsop - and their forthcoming nuptials are only a short month away. But when a former acquaintance of Christopher’s reminds him of an undertaking made a decade previously that he hasn't fulfilled, their lives soon take a sinister turn. Yet even with a young baby to consider, Simmy cannot ignore her instinct to investigate.