Showing results by narrator "Polly Edsell" in All Categories

As winter turns to spring, Hollie—owner of The Starfish Café—is feeling content as she settles into her new life with her loving boyfriend, Jake, and their adorable dog Pickle. But when an unwelcome visitor threatens the future of her café, Hollie must stay strong to protect her family's legacy.

Bronte Ashton thought she knew everything about her mother Loretta—until a stranger appears at her funeral claiming to be Loretta's long-lost sister. But Loretta was an only child. Grief turns to confusion, then a desire to find out the truth. Because while her siblings dismiss the woman as an impostor, Bronte can't ignore the nagging feeling that maybe they didn't know their mother at all.

Lara has spent years trying to outrun her past, and experience has taught her to recognise danger. So when she becomes convinced her sister Hannah’s life is at risk, she knows she can’t ignore it. The sisters are about to reunite at a remote cottage for their mother’s fiftieth birthday, and Lara is certain something terrible is coming. But Lara’s deepening anxieties only reawaken old tensions. With her young daughter watching on, she must navigate a maze of past trauma and doubts.

Sir Dominic De Lacy – one of the season’s most eligible gentlemen – has recently proposed marriage… to a woman he scarcely knows. But his father’s choice for him, Miss Maria Nightingale, seems amiable, and at 29, Dominic cannot live the life of a bachelor forever. He hopes he can provide a happy future for her as they learn to care for each other. Maria, however, has other ideas. Midway through their engagement celebrations, she confesses to Dominic that she is not Maria at all, but her identical twin sister, Margaret.

Brought to you by Penguin. Catch up with Alice, Kate and Naomi in the fourth book in The Wartime Bookshop series January, 1942: Victoria is looking for a life away from the dangers of wartime London for herself and two orphaned children. Her search takes her to Churchwood in Hertfordshire which...

Secret femme-fatale in training Millicent Whittenburg needs to escape her unpleasant and restrictive betrothal. Taking matters into her own hands, she plans her eventual ruin! Then she can disappear from society to carry out the Queen’s deadly missions. Step 1: seduce the one man who despises marriage more than her!

Lady Hannah Simmons is a quintessential wallflower, unassuming, dowdy yet ignored by most. But underneath her plain exterior, Hannah is hiding a thrilling secret! Unbeknownst to the rest of the ton, she is Queen Victoria’s leading femme fatale, slipping unnoticed through the streets of London and listening to scandalous whispers from lords and ladies. But with daggers in her stockings and pistols in her pockets, Hannah's mission is to apprehend a deadly killer.

Underneath the patina of civilized society lies the Sadean demimonde: a bundle of lustful appetites fueled by momentary impulse and a desire for unfettered indulgence. And the target of this savagery: Justine de Bertole, a pious and virginal heroine. Grotesque, inhumane, and compelling, Sade’s novel overturns Rousseau’s views of the social contract, and the common trope that punishment only visits sinners, to deliver a passionate treatise on good and evil, virtue and sin.

Sophie wasn’t expecting to find love in Sicily. But then she sees him: Emilio, a professor who works at the university where she is teaching for the summer. He’s kind, intelligent, funny, exciting and deliriously unpredictable… …maybe perfect. But paradise quickly turns to purgatory as she uncovers the haunting disappearance of Emilio’s first wife. And when she senses a shadowy character following her, watching her every move, Sophie starts to question her grip on reality. Is she being paranoid, or is nothing about her new life really what it seems?

The year 1934. Kitty Underhay steps out of the battered Rolls Royce and onto the graveled driveway of Thurscomb Castle in deepest Yorkshire. She’s honored to be a bridesmaid at her cousin Lucy’s wedding to the reluctant Lord Rupert Woodcomb, but as family and friends gather for welcome drinks, Kitty dodges intrusive questions about her own marital status by taking a stroll about the castle grounds. As she passes through the manicured gardens, a fatal shot rings out....

Brought to you by Penguin. Alice, Kate and Naomi want to keep the magic of Christmas alive in their village of Churchwood but a thief in the area and a new family that shuns the local community are only the first of the problems they face. Naomi is fighting to free herself from Alexander...

It is two years since Harpers opened in Oxford Street and Ben is planning to expand the premises. Life is good for Sally and Ben as they look forward to their first child and hope for a prosperous future. Beth is settling into married life with Jack, gradually recovering from her aunt’s tragic death, though still unable to conceive a child. New girls have joined Harpers and Marion, Janice and Becky all become a part of the daily life at the busy store. Rachel is undecided whether to marry a man she isn’t sure she can trust, while Minnie meets an old love.

A gorgeous and evocative novel about three sisters and a life-changing summer in Corfu. What if your life worked out perfectly...for someone else? It's been 18 years since Ava spent the summer on the Greek island of Corfu, but she has never forgotten what happened during those months—or who she left behind. Now single, estranged from her family, and preparing to wave her daughter off to university, Ava's life seems a million miles away from the one she dreamed about as a teenager—a life now being lived by her sister instead.

After a bloody and expensive war, the British Army can’t afford to keep the lake and build a convalescent home on its shores yet they still battle with Walden Council and a railway company for ownership. But an old mansion used as an officer training academy stands where the railway company plans to build a lakeside hotel. It belongs to General Cheverton – and he won’t leave his home.

Brought to you by Penguin. They won't let the war stop them from finding happiness... Naomi is upset to find a nasty, anonymous letter land on her doorstep. Who could’ve sent something like this? Naomi, Bert and the Churchwood bookshop organising team are determined to figure out who it is...

Don't miss the sixth instalment in the Maisie Cooper Mystery Series, Murder at the Wedding, available to pre-order now! Maisie Cooper is ready to tie the knot... but first she needs to untangle one last mystery... Amateur sleuth Maisie Cooper is busy planning her wedding to police officer Jack...

Between her emotionally absent mother and her physically absent father, there is nobody to answer them. Eva is convinced that all is not as it seems. Why are there no baby pictures of her? Why do her parents avoid all questions about her early years? When her parents’ relationship crumbles, Eva begins a journey to find these answers for herself. Her desire to discover where she belongs leads Eva on a journey spanning decades and continents—and, along the way, she meets women who challenge her idea of what a mother should be and who will change her life forever....

Peggy could lose her beloved pub. Maggie her acclaimed restaurant. Maureen her business and her home. Everyone had something to lose. Whilst old friends try to come to terms with the shocking news, the younger generation continue to forge ahead in the swinging sixties. Relationships flourish and new opportunities blossom; the ever changing world becoming their oyster. But family bonds remain strong, after all, it's people that matter not the buildings.

THE NEW FIRST WORLD WAR SPY THRILLER FROM THE MASTER OF THE GENRE 'A masterful storyteller with an intricate knowledge of his subject' The Daily Telegraph 'Judd, a veteran spy novelist and former diplomat, knows his way around Britain's world of shadows. He takes the reader straight back to the...

London 1917. As the Americans enter the war, there is renewed energy in the war effort. With husbands and sons fighting for freedom, the women of Harpers are left to tackle the day-to-day affairs at home and work. With Ben Harper away, Sally fears she is being followed by a mysterious woman. Who is she, and what does she want? Maggie Gibbs collapses seriously ill in the frontline hospitals and is brought back to England close to death. Can she be saved, and what does the future hold for her and her broken heart?