Showing results by narrator "Maria Johnson" in All Categories

As a child, Richard dreamed of knighthood and gallant deeds. As a grown man, he is committed to doing his best as an officer of the Guard, as a Lord of the land, and as a father. Living up to his oaths is easy. Being a good husband is much more of a challenge. Alysoun has done everything expected of a woman in her position. She has married well and had two clever, healthy children. That's not enough. Richard is kind, but increasingly distant. Alysoun herself has pain and fatigue magic can't fix. In truth, she is isolated and more than a little bored.

This Very Short Introduction provides an up-to-date, authoritative, and accessible guide to modern child psychology, from birth to early adolescence. Beginning with infancy, Usha Goswami considers the process of attachment and 'bonding', showing how secure attachments enable the development of...

Sound interesting? The author thinks so too! Listen to Anna Karenina, a literary masterpiece by Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy.

Cassandra Comfort's goal for the season is to make an eligible match that will elevate her family's fortunes. But when her luckless brother wagers a marker with her name on it, she must retrieve it before scandal destroys her chances. The only problem is that the politely precise Gerrold Tavinstock won't give the marker back, and every plan to force it from his grasp seems to go desperately awry....

An aimless life. An unsettled conscience. Can the gentlewoman next door bring a new sense of purpose to this duke run aground in Derbyshire? Nigel Lymington, the new Duke of Warrenton, always played second fiddle to his elder brother’s wild exploits. After rising to the title himself, he tries to live up to his family’s rakish reputation, only to discover that he has neither the temperament nor the money to indulge in the wastrel Warrenton way of life.

A missing heiress. A trip to Paris. Can a gentleman-turned-footman convince the runaway beauty that at least one man in her life is worthy of trust?

When Felicity Comfort meets a mysterious artist by the Serpentine in Hyde Park, she has no idea just how moneyed, miserable, and notorious the gentleman actually is. But even when she discovers the truth about the Earl of Anderly, she cannot help feeling a mysterious urge to seek him out. Magnus Blackstone, the Earl of Anderly, has retreated from society ever since the horrific incident that destroyed his life five years ago.

This clean and wholesome regency romance follows the adventures and exploits of a sensible widow, a managing earl, an absent-minded botanist, a high-strung heiress, a coldhearted guardian, and a villainous kidnapper.

When Eloise Blackburn finds a strange gentleman perched in the leafy branches of an ash tree, she has strong suspicions he is not who he says he is. After all, the neighboring Allen family has never mentioned a cousin named Crispin from the West Indies. And what's this he's saying about a missing inheritance and a secret passageway in Allen Abbey?

After losing a hand at Waterloo and selling out of the military, Captain William Allen has little to live for. But when he encounters the clever and exquisite Margaret Blackburn, the necessity of extricating her from a moneylender's clutches gives him a new purpose in life. If Margaret is to remain in London long enough to realise her goal of becoming a published author, William must convince Margaret's mother that he is a suitor in earnest.

Following the demise of the old rector, newly reformed Thomas Allen receives a position as vicar near Allen Abbey, his boyhood home. But memories of Thomas’ wild youth cause both the gentry and the country folk to doubt his sanctity and sincerity. Only Mary Bates, the daughter of the Abbey’s steward, seems willing to believe that the leopard has truly changed his spots.

After seven long years in Devon, Lady Maud Worlington returns to London to reclaim life on her own terms, but a nefarious shadow and the prospect of financial ruin dog her steps. An impulsive and unforgettable kiss under the mistletoe creates a connection with Geoffrey, the handsome, young Duke of Tilbury. Yet, as pleasant as it is to have a suitor, Maud is not sure how a boy of one-and-20 can prove an equal partner in life and the equal of all the forces mounted against her.

DCI Daniel Owen is barely holding things together when an old flame crashes into his life, with a dead body and enough emotional baggage to sink a ship. Then the fires start. Who is Jonathan Cole, and why is he living at a run down holiday park? Did he kill the park's owner? Daniel wants to believe Jonathan is innocent, and Jonathan wants to seduce Daniel. Mal, now Superintendent Kent, wants to come home. His undercover officer has disappeared from the same holiday park, and that can't be a coincidence, can it?

It's not a good Monday for DI Daniel Owen. A body in a wheelie bin. Missing teenagers. His ex turning up as his new boss. A secretive teenager, a nosy secretary, an idealistic social worker, and a dodgy fruit and veg salesman all have pieces of the jigsaw. If Daniel and Maldwyn can trust each other again, they can put the pieces together. But time is running out, and at least one child's life is in danger. It's been raining for weeks, and the flood waters are rising, threatening to engulf them all.

When Lady Jemima Fitzwater is dismissed from Princess Charlotte’s household, she discovers that her invalid mother at Cavendish Square has been running through money like water. Jemima tries to fend off the mounting debts, but an unfortunate indiscretion from her past threatens to destroy both her reputation and her resolve. The only person who might be able to help is her man of business, Mr. Talbot, but is telling him her secret too high a price to pay?

I have always wanted to tell my story, not for sympathy or to shock anyone but to show I am human. My life has been far from perfect. It's not one of those broken child books. I am and never will be broken. I am a strong woman with a successful career. Why is it called Fact or Fiction? Sometimes I have said to myself, " You couldn't make this shit up”, but then wonder if people would actually believe me if I told them.

It is 1535, and in the tumultuous years of King Henry VIII’s break from Rome, the religious houses of England are being seized by force. Twenty-year-old Catherine Havens is a foundling and the adopted daughter of the prioress of the Priory of Mount Grace in a small Yorkshire village.

Felicity Wren, a woman without family, is bound by societal expectations and a lonely past. Theodore “Tad” Hartford, the son of a successful merchant, is an outsider to the world of nobility. Their arranged marriage, a means to secure Felicity’s future and Tad’s ascension in Society, begins as a duty but quickly becomes something more.

Elara Millstone never wanted a life of impossible bargains. But when her father, once a respected alchemist, claims he can change straw into gold, they find themselves trapped in a dangerous game with the powerful Duke of Sutton. If her father fails to deliver on his promise, imprisonment would be the least of their worries. Desperate to save them, Elara makes a deal of her own with a mysterious masked gentleman who seems to hold the key to their survival.

As a favor to their friend Sasha, Daniel and Mal are looking for the husband she fled so she can get a divorce and marry again. Instead of a husband, they find a mystery that could see Daniel charged with murder. It turns out the husband wasn't who he said he was, and anyway he's dead. So who is living in the former marital home, and why is Daniel attacked after they visit? Then one of the people they've talked to is murdered, and the body is dumped on Daniel's doorstep. Daniel is in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the local police have him in the frame for the killing.