Showing results by narrator "Olivia Vinall" in All Categories

Cleo knows she should be happy for her brother Mark. He's managed to find someone new after the sudden death of his first wife - but something about Evie just doesn't feel right.... When Evie starts having accidents at home, her friends grow concerned. Could Mark be causing her injuries? Called out to their cliff-top house one night, Sergeant Stephanie King finds two bodies entangled on blood-drenched sheets.

When there’s a ring on her doorbell on Christmas Day, there’s only one person Edie Thompson wants it to be. The person who’s still in her heart. The person who just might be The One. She and Elliot Owen called it quits once before – but aren’t they too good together not to try? And here he is – offering her everything she dreamed of. But dating Elliot, an actor, is anything but plain sailing. Being an ocean apart and followed by the press is one thing, but when Edie’s friends and Elliot’s family are drawn in, things get messy.

1841. Mr Montgomery Hurst of Radcliffe Park is getting married. To the great consternation of the county of Wickenshire, he is not marrying the daughter of an earl, but an impoverished widow with three children, whom nobody has ever heard of. Society is both appalled and intrigued. Nobody is more curious than Mr Ashpoint, a wealthy local brewer, who had hoped Mr Hurst might choose his daughter, Amelia, as his bride. Only, Amelia has no interest in marrying Mr Hurst - or indeed in marrying at all.

One of the most celebrated and important authors of the 20th century, Doris Lessing was awarded a Nobel Prize for the ‘visionary power’ of her fiction, which spans a variety of genres and explores themes such as racism, feminism and social and political upheaval. This collection includes the radio productions of three of her acclaimed novels and four short stories, as well as a fascinating discussion of her life and work.

When struggling influencer couple Adele and Jack post a crowdfunding video online, they're amazed by a mysterious benefactor's offer: to buy them an idyllic 17th century French château. It’s the lifeline they need to leave all their troubles behind – and patch up their relationship after a rocky period. For Adele, it’s a dream come true. She will post videos from the fairytale setting, renovating the grand building as thousands of online subscribers follow their journey. But the château is not all it seems, and the local community is far from welcoming.

It's 1951 and the servants of Stalin are closing in on the occupied nations of eastern Europe. As the Red Army tightens the net, Greta - best and bravest of freedom fighters - is told to escape to the West and undertake a dangerous mission. The Exile is the stunning prequel to The Partisan, Patrick Worrall's critically-acclaimed debut, which introduced the world to the force of nature that is Greta. This is her white-knuckle ride into the black heart of postwar Europe - a terrifying world in which allies and enemies are impossible to tell apart.

In this fascinating and deeply researched book, Sharon Marcus challenges everything you thought you knew about our obsession with fame. Icons are not merely famous for being famous; the media alone cannot make or break stars; fans are not simply passive dupes. Instead, journalists, the public, and celebrities themselves all compete, passionately and expertly, to shape the stories we tell about celebrities and fans. The result: a high-stakes drama as endless as it is unpredictable.

Cole is the perfect husband; a romantic, supportive of his wife’s career, keen to be a hands-on dad, not a big drinker. A good guy. So when his wife leaves him, he's floored. She was lucky to be with a man like him. Craving solitude, he accepts a job on the coast and quickly settles into his new life. Then he meets reclusive artist Lennie. And though she is quite different from the woman he’d expected, he believes he has finally found a soulmate. But as their relationship develops, two young women go missing while on a walk protesting gendered violence, right by where Cole and Lennie live.

A cat-and-mouse thriller set in Victorian London, The Burial Plot is the third novel from Sunday Times bestseller Elizabeth Macneal, about murder, manipulation, and a young woman wrestling power from the hands of a dangerous man.

Cleo knows she should be happy for her brother Mark. He's managed to find someone new after the sudden death of his first wife - but something about Evie just doesn't feel right...When Evie starts having accidents at home, her friends grow concerned. Could Mark be causing her injuries? Called out to their clifftop house one night, Sergeant Stephanie King finds two bodies entangled on blood-drenched sheets. Where does murder begin? When the knife is raised to strike, or before, at the first thought of violence?

Growing Up with Two Languages provides a highly accessible account of the stages of language development, describes and evaluates the various systems and strategies that can be adopted and looks at the problems that can occur when a child is exposed to two languages and cultures. Combining research-informed advice and the experience of parents raising children as speakers of a wide range of languages in every populated continent in the world, this book and its associated web material will answer questions and provide material to enlist support.

Tess’ number one priority has always been her three-year-old daughter, Poppy. But splitting up with Poppy’s father, Jason, means that she cannot always be there to keep her daughter safe. When she finds a disturbing drawing, dark and menacing, among her daughter’s brightly coloured paintings, Tess is convinced that Poppy has witnessed something terrible. Something that her young mind is struggling to put into words. But no one will listen. It’s only a child’s drawing, isn’t it?

In London 1799, Dora Blake is an aspiring jewellery artist who lives with her uncle in what used to be her parents' famed shop of antiquities. When a mysterious Greek vase is delivered, Dora is intrigued by her uncle's suspicious behaviour and enlists the help of Edward Lawrence, a young man seeking acceptance into the Society of Antiquaries. Edward sees the ancient vase as key to unlocking his academic future. Dora sees it as her chance to restore her parents' shop to its former glory and to escape her uncle.

I learned early in life how to survive. A skill that became vital in my position. I was given no power, yet I was expected to hold my own with the most powerful man in the country. My people were my children. I stood between him and them. I am not the person they say I am. I am not my husband. I am innocent. Do you believe me?

When Milla is invited to a reunion in the French Alps resort that saw the peak of her snowboarding career, she drops everything to go. While she would rather forget the events of that winter, the invitation comes from Curtis, the one person she can't seem to let go. The five friends haven't seen each other for 10 years, since the disappearance of the beautiful and enigmatic Saskia. But when an icebreaker game turns menacing, they realise they don't know who has really gathered them there and how far they will go to find the truth.

When Miss Catherine Symonds arrives to take up a position as governess at remote Locksley Abbey in the foothills of the Black Mountains, where England bleeds into Wales, she is apprehensive. It is not the echoing, near-empty house with its skeleton staff that frightens her, nor the ancient woods that surround the Abbey or even the dogs that the owner, Sir Rowland, encourages to stalk the grounds, baying for blood. It is Catherine herself who fears scrutiny: her reference and very identity are fraudulent. She is travelling in disguise to investigate the fate of the last governess at the house.

Two Lives. Two Loves. One Impossible Choice. Lydia and Freddie. Freddie and Lydia. They've been together for almost a decade, and Lydia thinks their love is indestructible. But she's wrong. Because on her 27th birthday, Freddie dies in a car accident. So now it's just Lydia, and all she wants to do is hide indoors and sob 'til her eyes fall out. But Lydia knows that Freddie would want her to live her life well.

But no one was married that day. Now Lucas has invited us back to celebrate the anniversary. But the anniversary of what? The wedding that never happened, or the tragedy that occurred just hours before the ceremony was due to begin? He's told us that tonight he has planned a game. We have our costumes, we have our parts, and everyone must play. The game, he tells us, is about to begin. What does Lucas want from us? What are we not being told? And what's going to happen when this terrible game is over?

Celia, Juliette and Nadia are complete strangers with one thing in common: they have all been wronged by Ellis Cobain. A wealthy philanthropist on course for a knighthood, Ellis' public persona is bulletproof - but lurking beneath this veneer is a sinister side that only the women closest to him have seen. When they meet at a boutique hotel on the Cornish coast, brought together by the blind arrogance of their tormentor, they realise what connects them and form a pact: to blackmail him and free themselves from his grasp.

A buried corpse disappears. A child is kidnapped. A woman suddenly vanishes. The only clue - mysterious Chinese symbols; left behind at each of the crime scenes in a provincial town in Northern Denmark. In the eye of the storm is Eva. After suffering a deeply sorrowful tragedy - where her long-awaited daughter is stillborn - Eva is fighting to get her life back on track together with her husband who recently, and inexplicably, became paralyzed and is now unable to take care of himself. In an attempt to escape her grief, Eva embarks on her own investigation to find out who is behind these violent crimes.