Showing results by narrator "Billie Fulford-Brown" in All Categories

Vicky Beeching began writing songs for the church in her teens. By the time she reached her early 30s, Vicky was a household name in churches on both sides of the pond. Recording multiple albums and singing in America's largest megachurches, her music was used weekly around the globe and translated into numerous languages. But this poster girl for evangelical Christianity lived with a debilitating inner battle: she was gay.

Alia has made a deal with the Sea Witch to give up her life as a mermaid in exchange for a human soul. Now she has only 12 hours left on land to win the prince she loves, or perish. But Alia’s sister, Runa, knows that the prince isn’t capable of true love, so she makes her own bargain with the Sea Witch - and prepares to bring Alia back to the ocean, whether she likes it or not. Below the waves, the Sea Witch has a plan to challenge the order of the sea. It’s going to take power - power she doesn’t yet have.

Poppy Greer is getting married and four of her old schoolmates are to be her trusted bridesmaids. They may have drifted but true friendships last a lifetime, don't they? Plus, who would pass on a free first-class ticket to white sands and bottomless cocktails on a private Caribbean island? But the women have underestimated their host, and each other. And as their darkest secrets are revealed, the trip of their dreams becomes the hen do from hell. Will anyone make it off the island alive?

Haruka and Takashi are devoted to shopping and going out in Tokyo. She loves her Louis Vuitton handbags, Hermès scarves, and Louboutin shoes. He enjoys eating out and looking through the department stores in Ginza and Shibuya. Together they make a cute couple, but love is never easy.

When 16-year-old Jessica Wragg applied for a job at her local farm shop in Derbyshire, England, she never expected to land a position behind the butchery counter. Wragg was younger than many of her colleagues by decades, and she was one of the few women on staff, struggling to earn her keep among colleagues who were reluctant to share the tricks of their trade with a novice. Breaking down carcasses by day, and studying animal anatomy by night, Wragg was soon hooked and determined to establish herself in an industry that is steeped in tradition, and often resistant to change.

1928: Edward Somers, passing the winter at the Hôtel de Corniche on the French Riviera, happens upon a nearby villa within which lives the elusive and beautiful Countess Katerina. Despite the fact she does not seem to be allowed visitors, he manages to forge a friendship and the pair grow closer and closer. But Edward cannot help but wonder: why is she confined to the villa, guarded by a man with a rifle? Who is observing her with a telescope? Why is she so reluctant to be photographed?

Liv knows what kind of boy her grandson is. She knows Seb would never do anything to hurt his girlfriend, Izzy. But could the shadow cast by his father be influencing the boy she loves? Caitlyn, Izzy’s mother, is desperate to reach her daughter, but she only seems to push her further away. Can she help her daughter or are Caitlyn's own demons standing in the way? When an inappropriate photo of Izzy is shared online, no one is prepared for the ripples that threaten to tear their lives apart. Will the truth come out before it's too late? Or is the damage already done?

The close-knit group of scientists who work at the new radio telescope are shocked to receive a mysterious signal from the heart of the Andromeda galaxy. Working with mathematician Christine Jones, Dr John Fleming interprets the signal as the instructions to build a super-computer. When the computer begins to relay the information it receives from Andromeda, scientists find themselves possessing knowledge previously unknown to mankind, knowledge that could threaten the security of human life itself.

When her identical twin dies, 17-year-old Willow’s life falls apart. With her parents’ marriage faltering, she finds escape at her Uncle Joe’s cottage. But even as they begin to get to know each other, Willow is plagued with memories of her sister. Then Lucas arrives in her life - troubled, angry, and with a dangerous past. Joe’s cottage is idyllic, but the forest is filled with secrets. What is Joe hiding from her? What events have brought Lucas to her door? And who is the Slaughter Man who steals through Willow’s sleep?

When Amelia arrives at Nexum House she sparks the fire of revolution. Daughter of a gambler and a scientist, the 16-year-old wants revenge for her parents' murder. But not just against the killers. Amelia wants to start a catalyst that will change the world.

Amelie Ayres has impeccable taste in music. Bowie. Bush. Bob. So when she finds herself backstage at The Keep’s only UK gig, she expects to hate it; after all, they are the world’s most tragic band. In fact, she feels a grudging respect - not (obviously) for their music, but for the work that goes into making them megastars. But the next morning she wakes up, rolls over, and discovers a million new mentions on social media. Overnight, a photo of her backstage has made her the subject of global speculation.

The story of a woman's life, from childhood to death, somewhere in provincial France, from the 1950s to just shy of 2025. She has doting parents, does well at school, finds a loving husband after one abortive attempt at passion, buys a big house with a moonlit terrace, makes decent money, has children, changes jobs, retires, grows old and dies. All in the comfort that the middle classes have grown accustomed to. But she's bored.

1917: When two young cousins, Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright from Cottingley, England, announce they have photographed fairies at the bottom of the garden, their parents are astonished. But when the great novelist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle endorses the photographs' authenticity, the girls become a sensation, their discovery offering something to believe in amid a world ravaged by war.

Myra has a gift many would kidnap, blackmail, and worse to control: she's a portrait artist whose paintings alter people's bodies. Guarding that secret is the only way to keep her younger sister safe now that their parents are gone. But one frigid night, the governor's wife discovers the truth and threatens to expose Myra if she does not complete a special portrait that would resurrect the governor's dead son. Once she arrives at the legendary stone mansion, however, it becomes clear the boy's death was no accident.

Emma Oxley and Nellie Yarrow have been inseparable their whole lives. Ever since they reinvented themselves, changing their names and wiping clean their digital footprints, they have made a game of following wherever the next adventure leads and challenging themselves to thefts, street cons, and mind games. Adhering to only two rules—they will only con men, and only ones who deserve it—Emma and Nellie are secure in their reputation as the most trustworthy swindlers on the European black market. Until suddenly, they must play to save their own lives.

These 16 short tales delve into realms of existential investigation, from dark horror and science fiction futures to fantastical flights of scientific wonder. Each story is a self-contained world of its own, a moment in time that illuminates a thought, a person, an experience or a curiosity.

A dream job on a tropical island. For the world's foremost entrepreneur. But employer and employee have secrets. Whose secrets are the darkest?

For Londoner Fern King, Annwn is her second home—the dream mirror of London, the city she loves. An astonishing world, a world where Dreamers walk in their slumber, their dreams playing out all around them. And Fern, along with her twin brother Ollie, is now a Knight, a trusted guardian and protector of those Dreamers—and every night is spent in Annwn, fulfilling that previously only-imagined destiny to guard those who sleep.

Three months after Aderyn's coronation, the court is celebrating the Solstice, but Aderyn is preoccupied by Lucien's continuing hostility. The celebrations are interrupted by the arrival of nobles who have escaped from the neighbouring country of Celonia - the flightless have risen up and overthrown their rulers. The world is changing. As people being to question whether Aderyn and Aron are strong enough to rule, there is an attempted assassination on Aderyn's life. Siegfried and Tallis have made their move - they have formed an army, declared war and will take the throne.

Fifteen-year-old Londoner Fern is about to uncover a place that she could not have imagined in all her wildest dreams. Annwn is the dream mirror of our world, a place where dreamers walk in their slumber, their dreams playing out all around them. An enchanted, mysterious place that feeds our own world - as without dreams, without a place where our imaginations and minds can be nourished, what kind of humans would we be? But Annwn is a place as full of dangers as it is wonders: it is a place where dreams can kill you.