Showing results by narrator "Deborah Balm" in All Categories

Christmas 1940. Despite the rationing and the blackout, excitement at Mollison Farm is building as Alice and her workforce prepare for the annual Christmas Eve party. The snow has arrived, and this year, Alice has a big secret. She has invited her evacuee children’s mother to spend a few precious days with her kids at Christmas. But disaster strikes, and Alice is given the shocking news that Rose’s home is now nothing more than a pile of bricks, and the woman herself is missing, lost in the blitz.

Lady Veronica Elal has been freed from her tower—and entered a life of servitude. It doesn’t matter that her wizard master has odd ideas about circumventing Convocation tradition and making their relationship equal. Nic prides herself on her practicality, and that means not pretending her marriage is full of hearts and flowers. Besides, she understands that, despite her new husband’s idealism, they face obstacles so great the pair of them could be crushed to nothing, even without dashing themselves brainless trying to fight the Convocation.

It's the wedding of the year in Pigsend, at least if you talk to Vicky Hamblin. The bride-to-be is dead set on making her wedding to baker Allen Mackey the most perfect spectacle in the history of weddings, if only to impress her two snooty aunts. Bev's in charge of hosting them at the Weary Dragon Inn, along with a carefully-curated list of other family members, all designed to impress. But when things start going awry, and Vicky suspects someone might be out to sabotage her wedding, Bev's on the case once more. Can she find out who's out to get the bride before the big day?

When Lanzarote anti-corruption activist Celestino is T-boned on a lonely road, he knows the collision was no accident. Wounded and fearing for his life, he hides in an abandoned fishing village, waiting for a chance to make it home. Meanwhile, his wife Paula is distraught and sets out to look for him. Paula’s search for her husband quickly descends into mayhem, danger, and intrigue.

Something dark is prowling the gaslit streets of London - a monster with a taste for the blood of young women. When her beloved sister is attacked by an unearthly creature, Emma Rose finds herself in a contract of exchange for her life that defies all laws of heaven. A contract with a vampire. Spanning centuries, lifetimes, and the rise and fall of ancient civilizations, Winterly takes her on a journey of self-discovery where Emma awakens to the truth of her identity at last.

A month after solving the murder of the Duke of Everton, Miss Victoria Parker is ready to indulge in a week of leisure. And, what better setting than the quiet solitude of the farm belonging to the brother of her assistant, James Kensington? Although the getaway sounds promising, it does come with two caveats: Victoria and James must quieten their budding romance, and they must play guardian to James’ 18-year-old niece, Dinah, a task to which Vicky readily agrees, and a decision she will soon regret.

Jadren El-Adrel knows he’s a mess. He’s a cobbled-together monster pretending to be a wizard, still unable to master the magic that makes him pretty much immortal and is useless for anything else. Though he’s tried to learn to work with his familiar, Seliah, he’s still terrified to discover what might happen if he gives himself full access to the depths of her powerful magic. Some questions should never be answered.

New recruit Agent Carrie Harris is deployed on assignment at last. As the weeks go by, still not knowing her purpose and with nothing other than the mundane to report, will Carrie keep focused when the tedious veneer cracks to reveal the deplorable reason for her dispatch? Can she be ready to act, ditching the temptation to make her cover story real, or revert to be the honed, ruthless operator again? Will she make the right choices or be sucked into a different life, distracted by a passion which threatens to overwhelm her?

Darcy and his good friend Simon Lockhart are guests of Charles Bingley at Netherfield Park in Hertfordshire. When the otherwise sensible Lockhart becomes infatuated with Miss Elizabeth Bennet, who has neither wealth nor a renowned family name, Darcy attempts to make his friend see reason. But there is a complication—Darcy’s growing attraction for Miss Elizabeth.

Based on a true story, this is the tale of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard’s fight to take her rightful place in the competitive art world of 18th-century Paris. With a beautiful rival who’s better connected and better trained than she is, Adélaïde faces an uphill battle. Her love affair with her young instructor in oil painting gives rise to suspicions that he touches up her work, and her decision to make much-needed money by executing erotic pastels threatens to create as many problems as it solves.

Lord Gabriel Phel at last holds his dream in his grasp—and faces losing everything. He’s finally won the love of his wife, familiar, and mother of his child, and she offers him a heartfelt commitment he can truly believe in. Together they’re building a true house, one with a growing family of friends and allies that can help them stand against their enemies. And he’s learning to master his magic, to use it as the powerful tool and weapon it should be. But old and new enemies array themselves to take it all away.

In the aftermath of World War I, Clarissa Dalloway is an upper-class politician’s wife, who longs for the carefree, impassioned days of her youth. Her marriage to a sensible man gives her many opportunities to socialize and progress in society, but this practicality also prevented her from following other romantic and personal passions. These old regrets come to new light as Clarissa is reintroduced to Peter Walsh, a man she loved—and who had proposed to her—in her younger days.

Emma Hibbert will never again trust a good-looking man. They offer nothing but heartbreak and humiliation. But her conscience won't let her abandon a sinfully handsome stranger needing help—even if he ignites an unwelcome passion in her. She soon realizes she should have left him in the mud where she found him, for he has the power to ruin everything . . .

Bev's on the hunt to understand her mysterious past, and that means a visit to her dear friend Merv. The six-foot moleman doesn't have the answers, but takes her to the secret, underground town of Lower Pigsend, thriving with all the magical creatures seeking refuge after the war. Upon returning to the Weary Dragon, Bev is confronted by sentries from the underground town. They accuse her of stealing a magical talisman that protects the town and - even worse - have threatened to arrest Merv for building a tunnel to the surface.

When Lady Seliah Phel wakes from a drugged sleep to find herself abandoned by her newly bonded wizard, she vows revenge—and to hunt him down. Tracking him through the familiar wilds of the marshlands of her home is the easy part–learning to use her nascent magical skills is something else entirely. So is facing the vast, uncaring society of the Convocation in a time of brewing war.

The Galaxy Unit was relatively new to the force; it had been set up two years previously, specifically to work with cases of child abduction and murder. All of the team worked well together, handling over 30 cases at any one time. The hardest to deal with by far were those children who were taken completely randomly, by strangers for sexual exploitation, trafficking, or sometimes, to replace a lost child. These cases were rare and up until now, Rocco could count the cases she’d personally headed up, on one hand. All that was about to change for all of them, forever.

Lady Katherine Wilson never expected to inherit a horse farm, but she embraces the gift and the opportunity to continue her grandmother's legacy. She decides to breed the farm's mares, but only one stud will do. Unfortunately, the stallion belongs to the Marquess of Holton, and they've never gotten along well.

Only hours after stepping off a plane, and still reeling from the turmoil of her last assignment, agent Carrie Harris’ journey to headquarters is interrupted when the Operation Center tasks her to hunt down something so sensitive they can’t even tell her about it. Can our hero stay focused enough to see if she’s a match for the evil she’s confronted with and return what was stolen, or will Carrie lose everything she holds dear, including her life?

The Harvest Festival is the most-anticipated event in the quaint village of Pigsend, and Bev and the Weary Dragon Inn are ready to welcome visitors from near and far. But when strange occurrences begin happening, including the destruction of Bev's beloved herb garden, Bev's got to put her sleuthing hat back on to uncover the truth.

Isobel: High-flying business woman in her mid-40s. Driven. Confident. Always puts her shining career before a nonexistent sex life. She knows exactly what she wants, but has never found a man capable of playing out her most secret erotic desires.