Showing results by narrator "Diana Croft" in All Categories

Ten years ago, Penelope Paiget promised she’d wait for Samuel Black. But she was only a genteel, impoverished paid companion, forced into service after her father’s death revealed his insurmountable debts. Now she’s a successful novelist, posing as secretary to the Earl of Wickshire to hide her identity. Ten years ago, Samuel Black chose his own path instead of upholding his family’s legacy as spies. But having fought for the formation of the Metropolitan Police Force, echoes of his past and his true origins remind him how unworthy he is to call himself detective inspector.

Jane Black is plain and smart, a combination sure to kill any prospects found in a London season. Pretending her wallflower status is of no concern, Jane focuses on the quiet country life she’s planned even as she struggles with the vow she made to her grandfather to protect the family. But when she discovers her grandfather’s friend, Dr. Seymour, carries with him the secret to unmasking the traitor behind the attacks on the Black family, Jane knows it’s her duty to rescue the doctor from Bedlam and carry him to safety. If only the Marquess of Evanshire will allow her to do so.

Torwyn burns as Sanctan Egelrath tightens his grip on power. The Draconate Ministry has gathered its forces, determined to eradicate the Guilds, but Rosomon Hawkspur still stands in their way. Her only hope could lay with Lancelin Jagdor, sent to gather allies in their struggle against the usurper. Can even the greatest warrior in Torwyn hope to succeed with so many adversaries determined to stop him? Tyreta returns home with newfound strength and mysterious sorcerous abilities, only to discover it is not the land she left behind.

When Detective Natalie Ward is called to the home of 14-year-old Roxy Curtis she can’t help but empathise with Roxy’s distraught mother Cathy. Roxy hasn’t come home, last seen heading next door for a sleepover with her best friend Ellie. As the mother of two teenagers herself, Natalie knows that this is every parent’s worst nightmare. But when Roxy’s body is found in the basement of a beautiful Victorian mansion on the other side of town, Natalie’s darkest fears are confirmed. What was Roxy doing there? Cathy seems evasive, and Ellie refuses to talk.

When the frail body of a teenage girl is discovered strangled in a parking lot, shards of ice form in Detective Natalie Ward’s veins. As Natalie looks at the freckles scattered on her cheeks and the pale pink lips tinged with blue, she remembers that this innocent girl is somebody’s daughter. The girl is identified as missing teenager Amelia Saunders, who has run away from home and her controlling father. Natalie’s heart sinks further when it becomes clear that Amelia has been working on the streets, manipulated by her violent new boyfriend, Tommy.

Lori Belkin has been dumped. By her parents. They moved out while she was away on holiday, and now, at the tender age of 25, she must stand on her own two feet. While she’s getting to grips with basic adulting, Lori magically brings to life the super-sexy man she created from celebrity photos as a teenager. Lori learns very quickly that having your ideal man is not as satisfying as it ought to be and that being an adult is far harder than it looks.

Malessar's Curse is broken, the wards around Caenthell destroyed. The Warlock himself lies, exhausted and gravely wounded, in the rubble of his own house. And while the dire spirits trapped behind the wards for centuries are unleashed into the world once more, Cassia is confined to a cell deep in Galliarca's grand palace. Yet Caenthell calls to her, and Cassia must answer. As Heir to the North, the throne and the power behind it belong to her. But the twisted hunger of Caenthell's spirits appalls her. and Cassia vows to do everything she can to defeat them.

Corfu, Greece, 1943. Though they don’t know it, five-year-old Matilde and three-year-old Anna have kissed their mother for the last time. The Nazis have reached their sun-scorched home, and they are being taken to a place of safety, on the northeastern tip of the rocky island. They are to be hidden, at great risk, by kindly Agata and her husband, until the terrible war is over. Matilde and Anna’s tears are soothed by Agata’s bedtime stories, but she is always alert.

Imagine modern Britain without magick. No fae enclaves. No flying chairs. No magick wands. Giddy gods, no unicorns. Who wants to live in that world? Me neither. But with magick on the decline, that's the world we're ending up with. Meet the Society for Magickal Heritage. Our boss is a disembodied voice. Our headquarters is a sentient house. You could say we've a vested interest in keeping magick alive. Can a ragtag bunch of magicians, necromancers and fae prevail against inevitable ruin and decline? Hell yes. Try and stop us.

Summer, 367 A.D. In a land of mystery and enchantment, in an age of Celtic gods, Highland warlords, Roman legions, and powerful druids, a young Pictish healer finds herself embroiled in an epic struggle between gods and men. The Celtic tribes of the lands we now know as Scotland and Ireland conspire to assault Hadrian’s Wall and drive the Romans out of Britain forever. But in order for the warriors to achieve victory in the military campaign, the druids must first gain ascendancy over the new Roman god.

This powerful and moving 1860 novel is believed to be George Eliot’s most autobiographical novel. She was certainly referencing personal experience when she wrote the character of Maggie Tulliver.

Sasha’s 18-year-old daughter Gemma was all she had in the world. Sasha fell pregnant with Gemma when she was still at school, and the two are as close as sisters. So when Gemma’s burned and broken body is found, Sasha’s world ends. Leading the case is Detective Natalie Ward, scarred by her own recent tragedy. When she finds a note in Gemma’s diary from "a secret admirer", she moves quickly, determined to unmask them. But interviews with Gemma’s devastated ex-boyfriend and her charismatic teacher don’t give Natalie the answers she’d hoped for....

Ava Wells is perfect. She has the boyfriend, the career, the looks. But one night changes everything and her life suddenly isn't so seamless. Jade Fernleigh is ambitious. She's worked hard to get where she is. And she's not about to let Ava take the job she rightly deserves. Both women share a secret that could destroy them, but who will crumble first?

Haunted by a tragic mistake in her past that endangered her family and nearly cost the life of the only man she could ever love, Emily now lives a life of exile that just so happens to include sword play and stealth on the dark streets of London in an attempt to stop innocent people from coming to harm at the hands of seedy criminals. Caring not for her own safety, Emily embarks on a life of justice at all costs, if only to rid her mind of the ghostly image of her lost love.

September 1940. As the bombs of the Blitz fall on London, Ruby and Stevie are falling in love. United by a shocking experience when they were evacuees, Ruby believes that she understands Stevie like nobody else can. But then Stevie is sent abroad into danger, and as Ruby waits desperately for letters with foreign stamps that never come, she begins to fear that he is lost forever. And when Stevie does return, he has changed, and Ruby faces a difficult choice.

On a beautiful island, under the Mediterranean sun, two families enjoy a well-deserved holiday. Then, one balmy evening, Emma's father is found unconscious on the sand. Everyone is hiding secrets. Who will you believe?

Rumour’s got a lot to say for itself, and the message is clear: the regulator’s ready. You know. The magickal regulator. The bright and shiny thing with which we, Team Improbable, propose to restore magick to a fading Britain. Somebody’s got to test it, and that somebody is us. Which means wading into the depths of a long-dead realm that nobody’s entered in centuries. And I may have had some practice at that, but this time it’s different. This time, somebody’s still home. And they really aren’t happy about trespassers. Looks like disaster’s on the agenda. Again.

"Caenthell will stay buried, and the North will not rise again until I freely offer my sword to a true descendant of the High Kings, or until one takes it from my dying hands!" With this curse, the Warlock Malessar destroyed Caenthell. The bloodline of the High Kings disappeared and the kingdom faded into dark legend until even stories of the deed lost their power. But now there is an heir to the North.

Patricia's life has fallen apart. Her son, Noah, is in a Russian prison, framed for a crime that he didn't commit. Her husband has abandoned her, and mounting legal costs have left her broke. In desperate need of funds to pursue Noah's appeal, she takes a job supervising the renovation of Gaunt House, an Elizabethan ruin on the North York Moors. When a corpse and a diary are discovered in the rubble, she begins to investigate the house's tragic history - and finds that the past, and the dead, are closer than they seem.

You and I, as well as the dozens of other men and women who also made the conscious decision to take action against their weight gain through this book, have something in common - you've experienced how difficult it is to lose weight after several (and I do mean several) diet and exercise attempts. This is exactly what we're going to explore in this book! Hormones may not have been key topics in several weight-loss books but, now, we're going to get to the bottom of how you can beat flab by resetting your hormones.