Showing results by narrator "Victoria Brazier" in All Categories

Isabella Ashton has always been her father’s favourite, but when she gets involved with the new Birth Control Movement, he is scandalised. A decade has elapsed since the end of the Great War and running a family planning clinic in Salford is challenging but rewarding work. Bella is grateful for the help of Violet Howarth, a generous-hearted woman who takes her in off the street. Before long, a friendship with Violet’s son, Dan, blossoms into the beginnings of love.

Jess Delaney has always longed for independence. But when the Blitz reaches Manchester, she is locked in the cellar by her feckless mother, Lizzie. As bombs rain down from a sky turned blood red with flame, Jess waits for Lizzie to return. But fortunes are fickle, and soon Jess finds herself packed off to live with her tyrant Uncle Bernie, a bullying black marketeer. Though he treats her like a servant, she seeks refuge in the Sally Army, and her natural musical talent offers both an escape route and the chance for love.

Ruby McBride has always been on the wrong side of authority. The grand opening of the Manchester Ship Canal is set to be a day of unfettered festivity for Ruby and her younger sister and brother. Even Queen Victoria will be in attendance. But the glories of the ceremony fade into insignificance when their dying mother delivers them to the imposing oak doors of Ignatius House. Abandoned in the not-so-tender care of the nuns, the siblings are soon separated.

Dolly Tomkins has always known what it is to live hand to mouth. In the mean streets of a Salford struggling under the mantle of the Great Depression, the only one making a decent living is the talleyman. Though Nifty Jack has a money bag where his heart should be, Dolly’s mam is in hock up to her ears and in dire need of assistance. But when Jack offers to wipe the slate clean, Dolly just can’t bring herself to trust him. Instead, she takes him on at his own game and in the process endangers everything she holds most dear as a revelation about the past rocks the very foundations of her world.

Hester Carlye has no wish to look after the pampered offspring of the rich anymore, in spite of being a highly sought-after governess. But with her elderly father frail, and the roof of their rundown cottage falling in, she has no choice but to accept a dazzling new placement. Movie star Aidan Neil is box office gold, but after the tragic death of his wife Dinah Doyle, he needs Hester’s help to raise their young daughter Erin. Aidan and Dinah were once the perfect Hollywood couple, but stars don’t shine forever…

World War Two has arrived for the girls of the Rowntrees factory, and with rationing crippling the country, chocolate production has been driven to a bare minimum. It's all change for the Freeman sisters when the Rowntrees factory is turned over to making munitions. Molly is put on the fuse and detonator line, soon becoming skilled at her work despite the dangers. Rose copes with husband Ned’s absence with the RAF by relishing her position on the Board. And Annie joins the Land Army, billeted to a pig farm in Lancashire.

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The aroma of chocolate was as familiar to Molly Freeman as the nose on her face. Living and schooling on Haxby Road alongside the Rowntrees Chocolate Factory, Molly watched the daily trudge of women employed there in their white uniforms as she sat at her school desk. When Molly secures a job on the production line at the factory, she's excited to become one of these women. As she labours hard at the factory, she meets Connie. Quickly the two form a close friendship, and Molly begins to see the world differently.

As the youngest son of a duke, Edward Wentworth is neither the heir nor the spare, leaving him feeling restless and uncertain. He decides to forge his own path by embarking on a journey to the newly formed United States that will change his life forever. But when he stumbles upon a beautiful Irish woman being sold into indenture, he knows that he cannot turn a blind eye to her plight.

Hattie Green is five and twenty, unmarried, and growing tired of waiting for fate to hand her a soul mate. But when her sister-in-law arrives for a visit with the intent of helping her find a husband by any means necessary, Hattie digs in her heels—for, everyone knows that fate cannot be forced.

Manchester, 1960. When you're young, unmarried and pregnant, in a shaming society that will never understand, there's only one place left to go. St Ann's mother and baby home. That's how restless Joan, who dreams of a glamorous new life in the Big Smoke, finds herself shut away with two unlikely new roommates: spirited Megan and timid country-girl Caroline, who fell pregnant on her first time. Abandoned by their families, they have no one to rely on but each other, as they wait out the days before they birth their babies - only to be parted from them forever.

Gytha is 13 years old when her father, King Harold of England, dies at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 AD. She and her brothers go on the run from William the Conqueror. In this untold tale of true love and real evil, Gytha flees west to Exeter, where she is betrothed to a painted Celtic prince. She escapes from him to Denmark. But with no dowry, no parents, and no country to call home, she is bartered to a wicked bride-trader and taken to the farthest edge of Christendom to wed Vladimir, a prince of Rus, only to find he is promised to another girl.

When a cryptic invitation brings Giulia Pepper to her uncle's remote estate in Devon, she arrives in dire need of a benefactor, only to discover that her uncle never sent her any invitation—nor does he want her there. Forced into a corner, Giulia must contrive a way to convince him to allow her to remain, just long enough to figure out where to go next.

Mabel Sheffield is too tall, or so she believes. It's one of the reasons she has given up on finding a husband and instead, embraces her role as a spinster, dedicating her days to managing her grandmother's estate and her seven-year-old sister. But when Liam MacKenzie shows up at her house to stay for the summer, she's unsure if she can keep her resolve. The problem: He's the other reason she's a spinster.

Amelia Fawn is cursed—or so she believes. How else can she explain each of her husbands' deaths within the first year of marriage? So after the ton names her the Black Widow and warns eligible men to stay clear, Amelia vows never to marry again. Not even if she falls in love. Charles Fremont has loved Amelia Fawn his entire life. But after enduring countless rejections and watching her get married three other times, he's finally had enough. He swears a vow to never ask anything from her again. Even if it kills him.

Ruth Wycliffe always thought falling in love would be easy. But after countless introductions and no promising prospects, she’s starting to lose hope. Desperate for a change, she strikes a deal with her good friend, Oliver Rose: at an upcoming house party, they’ll help each other find the perfect spouse.

Samuel Harding has a flair for fashion, a talent for flirtation, and a reputation as Harewood's most charming dandy. But beneath the cravats and clever repartee lies a heart recently bruised from watching the woman he loved marry his cousin. With his pride wounded and his faith in love faltering, Samuel has found unexpected solace in a series of anonymous letters—witty, wistful, and altogether unlike anything his well-ordered world has ever offered.

Pippa Sheffield has a penchant for trouble. She doesn't ask to be thrown into slippery situations, but they tend to find her. She has worked at maintaining good behavior--she owes that much to her sister--until her new neighbor, William Blakemore, moves in. Come to find out, he is nothing but trouble.

'Utterly captivating. Perfect for fans of The Marlow Murder Club Mysteries' Michael Wood, bestselling crime fiction author 'A humorous, gripping cosy mystery story that every crime fiction lover will really enjoy' Fiona Leitch, bestselling cosy crime author Nothing is deadlier than angry...

Aurelia Beswick’s life hangs by a thread. Penniless and alone, she grasps at her last hope: a position as a governess far from London. Little does she know that fate has a cruel twist in store. Her new employer is none other than Lord Ryland—a man from her past she never expected to see again. Luckily, he doesn’t seem to remember her. Determined to keep her position, Aurelia finds herself walking a precarious line, keeping her identity a secret while every interaction with Lord Ryland seems to draw them closer together.