Showing results by narrator "Laura Brydon" in All Categories

Trish Hinde, 35, was sexually abused by her father, Gerard King, from the age of six. Alone and scared, she internalised her trauma and began suffering from violent seizures. Her father took responsibility for her epilepsy care, even abusing her on hospital visits. Trish and her five siblings were neglected, often relying on neighbours for food and watching helplessly as bailiffs carried away their possessions. In her early teens, Trish was recklessly promiscuous and became a victim of child sexual exploitation, often finding herself in danger.

All the neighbours were laughing, drinking out of plastic glasses and getting along. I almost felt happy. Almost forgot about the terrible argument earlier and the sinister messages I’d been receiving from a strange address all week, threatening to expose the lies behind my perfect life. As we finished with the red and gold fireworks and welcomed everyone back to our house, I believed that everything would be okay. But I didn’t know who I was inviting in.

Written in plain English, The Chemistry Book is packed with short, pithy explanations of some of the most historic moments in science, from the birth of atomic theory to the discovery of polythene and the development of new vaccine technologies to combat COVID-19.

After the year Aidan and I have had, we needed some respite. My husband is overworked, whilst I'm anxious about the past, so renting a night at this converted barn house in the countryside seems like the perfect place for the pair of us to relax and unwind. It might be situated at the bottom of a large garden, but it's private enough that we don't have to mingle with the homeowners who live nearby. Or at least that's what I thought . . .

Marianne is eight years old when her mother goes missing. Left behind with her baby brother and grieving father in a ramshackle house on the edge of a small village, she clings to the fragmented memories of her mother’s love; the smell of fresh herbs, the games they played, and the songs and stories of her childhood. As time passes, Marianne struggles to adjust, fixated on her mother’s disappearance and the secrets she’s sure her father is keeping from her.

Yorkshire Dales, Summer 1997. Vicky Mott slips out the door of her remote cottage, and into the pale dawn light. She scrawls a note for her friends. Gone to see the sunrise. V xxx That's the last anyone ever hears from twenty-year-old music lover Vicky. Another victim of the Fellside Strangler? That would make Vicky the fourth young woman to lose her life this summer. Snatched by a mysterious killer who stalks the fells . . . But Vicky's body is never found.

After a tough breakup, Ellie returns to the only place she's ever really felt at home - the coastal town of Sanderson Bay. A year later, she's living her dream, brewing delicious artisan teas and selling them at her very own café. And when the mysterious and brooding Ben walks into her tearoom, Ellie finally dares to dream of true love. But then her ex shows up in the Bay, and just as Ellie discovers some tragic truths about her family's past, she learns Ben might be hiding an unwelcome secret of his own.

Summer can be murder out on the sun-scorched Yorkshire Fells. When the body of eighteen-year-old Tyler Prasad is found up on lonely Skye Moss, Detectives Leo Donovan and Shan Young are called in to investigate. Tyler lies dead in a bone-dry ditch. His handsome face shattered in a brutal attack that leaves Donovan and Young baffled. They dig into Tyler’s deepest secrets, following a twisty trail that leads straight to Patefield Grange, a luxury country-house retreat across the moors.

Christina O'Connor is the main prosecution witness from the Huddersfield Grooming scandal. In 2017, 11 men were convicted of a staggering 43 offences against her. In this memoir, Christina will describe how, from being a happy child with a loving family, she fell into the clutches of a grooming gang whose abuse of children earned them a total of 221 years in prison.

A winter tale of love rekindled in a cherished York bookstore. Megan Taylor, a young widow, finds comfort in organising book clubs and author events in her family bookstore nestled within the snow-dusted cobbled streets of York. When prize-winning author Xander Stone literally bumps into her and trashes her taste in books, Megan can sense that her self-imposed hibernation from romance might be at an end. Their view on literature clash, leading to animated debates that breathe a new passion into her life, but will it be enough to thaw their frozen hearts.

Four best friends, leaving kids, partners, broken hearts and guilty secrets behind them at home, and heading for Ibiza for the mother of all hen dos. Mums on tour: what could go wrong? Three days and nights of blissed-out sunsets, bottomless Sangria and sun-soaked lie-ins to sleep off the hangovers sounds like heaven—but it turns out you can get into a hell of a lot of a trouble, very fast, on the island where rules are made to be broken. It’s a chance to forget about dodgy exes, feuding families and the 9-5, and realise sometimes your friends are the family you choose.

This is the story of two women. One old, one young. One looking for new adventures. One looking for a purpose. Both needing a friend. And this is how, along with two little girls in need of a family, a gorgeous stranger and a scruffy dog, they bring the whole community together every Saturday morning for love, laughter and a little bit of running...(well, power walking).

1827. At first sight, young heiress of Shrigley Hall, Ellen Turner, does not seem the type to elope with a stranger. Yet when Ellen vanishes from her boarding school in the arms of the rugged scoundrel Edward Wakefield, and the pair are sighted in a carriage racing from Gretna Green to the Port of Dover, everyone is forced to question her virtue. What possessed her to make such a wild transgression?

Kate has always dreamed of a life in music. And now she's finally done something about it–giving up her steady job, moving to the city to enrol in a degree program at a prestigious college. Needing a place to live, she answers an ad and moves in with Amy who seems a nice lady–mothering and protective. At first Kate is glad to have some support in this strange city, but gradually Amy's presence becomes more and more stifling–it just seems so hard to get away from her.

Detective Claudia Nunn’s colleague DS Dominic Harrison has been leading the case against a dangerous serial killer, who hunts his victims using a dating app. But now his own wife has gone missing. Then a large pool of blood is discovered in their garage. And Dominic is the prime suspect. Is Dominic being framed by a serial killer, or will Claudia expose an even uglier truth?

Ettie is trying to figure out her future. Dominic’s just trying to forget his past. But with the help of some unlikely friends, young and old, a secret lake hidden in the grounds of a beautiful estate and a scruffy dog, a new community is formed–right when they all need each other the most.

What would Lily Bennett do? This is the question Lydia Grey finds herself asking when she discovers Lily’s bucket list at the bottom of her shopping trolley. Having just run into her ex—and his supermodel gorgeous new girlfriend—while doing the walk of shame, Lydia’s discovery takes her down an unexpected path…and into the company of Jake Jones. Jake mistakes Lydia for Lily when he offers to help her complete the list, but tempted to be someone—anyone—other than plain old Lydia Gray for once in her life, Lydia doesn’t correct him.

When Julie Quinley wakes up after a night out with friends to find herself accused of murder, it proves to be only the beginning of her worst nightmare. Released by the police due to lack of evidence, Julie nevertheless faces the taunts and hostility of colleagues, as more and more people – including members of her own family – seem convinced she is a cold-hearted killer. Just when it seems as if all hope has gone, and Julie's mental state reaches rock bottom, her friend Vinny announces a breakthrough; something he has witnessed that could prove Julie's innocence once and for all.

The Yorkshire village of Beddingfield is home to the wonderful women of the Allen family: teacher Robyn, wannabe chef Jess, teenage tearaway Sorrel and matriarch Lisa, who holds the whole family together. But underneath her warmth and brilliance, Lisa has a secret – she longs to know who she really is.

Arranged in chronological order, the book covers key themes in the physical and natural sciences, such as geochemistry and the elements. Within each chapter, a series of articles traces the history of scientific thought and introduces the work of the scientists who have shaped the subject such as John Dalton, Marie Curie, Dmitri Mendeleev, Kathleen Lonsdale and Stephanie Kwolek. Along the way, the audiobook addresses some of the most fundamental questions in science, such as what is the universe made of, how is matter created and what are the chemical bonds that make life possible?