Showing results by narrator "Philip Battley" in All Categories

James Gardner weaves both the brutality and the compassion of modern Africa into his thriller, The Lion Killer. His protagonist, Rhodesian war hero Rigby Croxford, is hired by the unscrupulous American litigator Max Turner to rescue his son from Congolese rebels after a peaceful safari to see the mountain gorillas turns into a bloodbath of rape and murder. Croxford is apprehensive about Max’s hidden agenda, but it’s too late to back out. The adventure has more twists than the Zambezi River with danger at every bend.

Mr. Benedict Grey is the only heir to a long-standing title, and he knows his duty: find a suitable girl, get married, secure the succession beyond himself. But if a gentleman could be called a wallflower, Benedict would fit the description perfectly. And for the past six years, he’s been out of Society more than he’s been in it. How will he find a woman to wed and bed when he can barely converse with the ladies of the ton?

Harry Browning was a motherless guttersnipe, and the morning he came across the elderly Alexander Preston, The Viscount Stamford, clinging to a sheer rock face, he didn't believe in fate. But the fates have plans for Harry whether he believes or not, and he's not entirely sure he likes them.

Ever since Kit Mathison took control of the modest estate he inherited, he’s had nothing but setbacks. When the roof of his house caves in and makes the place unlivable, he’s frustrated but not surprised. How much will this disaster cost? Where will he stay while repairs are made?

No way, not a chance. I’m officially in “retirement”. Not that I’m anywhere near old enough. I’m just done facing off against the dregs of humanity and looking filth right in the eye. And now it’s time to trust the one man who makes it all worthwhile—the one who makes me lose control. He’s chaos and mayhem, and I cannot get enough.

When the beautiful Lady Isabella Scranford finds herself in the family way and her lover refuses to do the honorable thing, she knows her life is at an end. With a reputation for being a cold-hearted bitch, there will be no sympathy for her, only shame and ridicule. Finding that even her best - and only - friend refuses to be associated with her any longer, Isabella decides she cannot go on and makes a fateful decision. When a filthy and frightening man rescues Isabella from drowning, she begins to believe her fate has taken an even darker turn. Yet appearances can be deceptive....

Letty Henderson wasn't looking for love. She was looking for more people to sell her milk and beef to. After a tragedy took the lives of her father and brother, it's all she can do to keep her little ranch running. And she wasn't the only one. The same tragedy took the lives of an entire posse, and with a town population of less than thirty, that's a lot. So is it any wonder when six English gents pass through town and offer assistance, that her head is turned in their direction?

Darcus is lured deeper into these war-ravaged lands and is captured by a slaver. Not trained in the powers of the realm or the powers of the void, Darcus is cast into a world ruled by an evil Shaläri wizard king and prince who seek to rule over all men, elves, dwarves, giants, centaurs, and the Mërka Uran. Darcus must learn how to master his powers and protect his enchanted sword that has been sought after for over 1,000 years while uncovering who is friend or foe.

Luke Frankland, a junior intelligence officer just home from the Iraq War, finds himself cast into a world of cyber espionage and state-level politics. Out of his depth and with no one in the government heeding his warnings, he forms a makeshift team and tries to establish who is waging a new kind of war from behind a keyboard. The truth will leave him plunged into an arena he little expected, and where the real cost is not measured in 1s and 0s but in human life.

Lucretia ‘Crecy’ Holbrook has a secret, a secret she has kept for many years. Even her dearest confidant and sister, Belle, would not understand what Crecy is prepared to do, the risks she is prepared to take, to get her heart’s desire. For Crecy is not like the other smiling débutantes; she despises poetry, thinks dancing a chore, and is quite prepared to throw something at the next fool to compare her to Aphrodite. Far more likely to return from a country walk with a badger’s skull and some bloody, injured creature than a posy of wildflowers, Crecy is drawn to the dark, the damaged, and the unlovable. Her heart longs for one man alone, one with a wounded soul, one so dreadfully damaged that even her tender care might not be enough to save him.

After her father was killed by outlaws, Jean Campbell was forced to take on the role of undertaker. Like so many other women in Apple Blossom, she did what had to be done after a devastating tragedy took the lives of an entire posse. But months later, things were becoming hard, and she wasn't sure what to do. And that's when they came to town. Six English brothers who took it upon themselves to help those in need. And so far, three of the brothers had found love. But Jean knew that wasn't about to happen to her. After all, who wanted to woo an undertaker?

As a duke, the boundaries and loyalties are clear. I may be the marquess of Wells with a stoic and rigid father on his deathbed, but I have desires and needs that break those boundaries. Falling for an assassin may be an issue. But I haven’t faced a problem yet that I can’t solve - other than assembling a crib.

Surely the daughter of a viscount, even an impoverished one, ought to be able to live, just a little? But her father, Viscount Rennard, is a violent man, and one who is hard to thwart as he harshly restricts Keziah's society. When Keziah learns of her father's plans to marry the recently widowed and fabulously wealthy duchess of Chartley, it doesn't take the lovely Miss Todd long to realize that the woman's only son, Felix - the new duke of Chartley - is an inconvenience that her father will remove with haste.

It’s midsummer, 1591, at Richmond Palace, and love is in the air. Gallant courtiers sport with great ladies while Tom and Trumpet bring their long-laid plans to fruition at last. Everybody’s doing it - even Francis Bacon enjoys a private liaison with the secretary to the new French ambassador. But the Queen loathes scandal and will punish anyone rash enough to get caught.

When it comes to women, the Duke of Danby is an audacious rake...but when it comes to ridding the kingdom of smugglers, he’s leading the charge. The Prince Regent has bankrupted the country more than once, and Danby isn’t about to go down with a sinking ship. The Honorable Eleanor Kent hides behind the image of a self-proclaimed spinster...though in truth she’s one of England’s most sought-after privateers. When their paths cross at a royal dinner...Danby suspects the stunning redheaded woman is more than she seems.

Spring, 1593. A ballad is posted in the heart of London inciting violence. The Lord Mayor offers 100 crowns for the name of the author. Thomas Clarady wants that money and drags Francis Bacon into the game. At first it’s just a riddle to be solved. Tom talks to poets, while Francis analyzes the verse. Things take a dangerous turn when the authorities focus on two popular playmakers. One is cruelly tortured. Another is killed in dubious circumstances. Did he start a brawl that ended in tragedy? Or was he murdered by his dinner companions? The official story seems plausible, at first.

Lord Percy Nibley needs a wife, preferably before his mother’s nagging on the subject drives him to distraction....In desperation, the shy nobleman enlists the help of Baron Marchmain - Lord August Bright...August selects a suitable young lady for Lord Nibley; Miss Patience Pearson, a cool, level-headed woman, close to being on the shelf and with the reputation of a blue-stocking, meanwhile setting his own sights on capturing the heart of her vivacious younger sister, Caroline.

As he teetered on a narrow rock ledge, a yak's bellow short of the stratosphere, with a rubber mask strapped to his face, a pair of mittens the size of a sea lion's flippers, and a drop of two kilometres below him, it's fair to say Mark Horrell wasn't entirely happy with the situation he found himself in. He had been an ordinary hiker who had only read books about mountaineering. When he signed up for an organized trek in Nepal with a group of elderly ladies, little did he know that ten years later he would be attempting to climb the world's highest mountain.

Morgan Locke, university student, has been hiding his debilitating illness with fair enough success when two unlikely emissaries arrive bearing the news that he is prince to a nation of creatures out of folklore. Ridiculous! And yet, if magic exists, could it heal him? The ensuing journey will resurrect the forgotten griefs of history, and before it's over, all the world will be remade by thorns and steel.

To the public, they’re winemakers—each a billionaire in his own right. However, there’s far more to these men than meets the eye. Their membership in the secret society known as Los Caballeros has been handed down to them from their fathers and grandfathers for generations. Their vow? To come to the aid of the innocent and less fortunate, offering protection and safety, even when it means putting their own lives on the line.