Showing results by narrator "Vivienne Rochester" in All Categories

The perfect gift book, featuring the writing of Meryl Streep, Bill Bailey, Emilia Clarke, Olivia Colman, Caitlin Moran, Richard Ayoade, Emily Watson and others, to coincide with the upcoming movie Last Christmas, starring Emma Thompson, Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding. When you think back to Christmases past, what (if anything) made it magical? This is a beautiful, funny and soulful collection of personal essays about the meaning of Christmas, written by a unique plethora of voices from the boulevards of Hollywood to the soup kitchens of Covent Garden.

I’ve been keeping a secret. From my colleagues, my friends and most importantly, my husband - who knows nothing of my past life. Twenty years ago, at college, a boy became obsessed with me. Craig Lane believed he could make me love him back if he just tried harder. When I rejected him, he did something so horrifying, it’s the stuff of nightmares. All my nightmares. Now I’ve been informed by Victim Support Services, that boy - now a man - has been released from prison. The news terrifies me. Am I safe? Or does Craig still carry the same obsession he did when we were seventeen? I don’t know.

A Nigerian-born detective sergeant working for the Metropolitan Police is found unconscious in her own flat and ends up in hospital, where she dies of her injury. The post-mortem reveals that the subdural hematoma is the result of a blow to her head. DI Thomas Lynley, DS Barbara Havers and DS Winston Nkata are called in to investigate a case that touches upon not only the work and the life of the murdered detective but also upon a controversial cultural tradition that damages and often destroys the future of everyone it involves.

When long-serving council leader Roland Whittaker loses his seat to a Monster Raving Loony Party candidate with the same surname and initials, he is both flabbergasted and furious. Young Robin Whittaker (who conducted his entire campaign dressed in a chicken outfit and a Viking helmet) isn’t happy either – he only stood for election as a student prank. Everyone expects him to resign, but he’s persuaded to stick it out, and it’s not long before he’s being proclaimed Mayor (and appointing a very unconventional Mayoress...)

In this version of London, there is a small, private clinic. Behind its layers of security, procedures are taking place on poor, robust teenagers from northern estates in exchange for thousands of pounds - procedures that will bring the wealthy dead back to life in these young, supple bodies for 14 days. It's an opportunity for wrongs to be righted, for fathers to meet grandsons, for scientists to see their work completed. Old wine in new bottles. But at what cost?

A tired old seaside town hiding a series of unsolved arson attacks. A derelict mansion in the woods with a long-buried secret. A bundle of old love letters that mask a dark story. When Jamie's documentary investigation gets too close to uncovering the truth behind a series of deadly arson attacks that tormented Abbeywick in the 1980s, her family might be the ones who pay the price. But for her younger sister, Cleo, the secrets Jamie uncovers have the potential to get exactly what Cleo wants: to remove her mum's toxic new husband from their lives, forever.

Friends do nice things for each other, right? That’s what Polly Bowman tells herself when she agrees to be her friend Bailey’s ‘fake girlfriend’ to help him keep a promise to his family. After all, Bailey has always supported her through difficult times – he even knows about her secret singing sessions. But maintaining a fake relationship isn’t easy, and when Polly’s meddling but well-meaning group of friends throw her and Bailey together as best man and maid-of-honour for an upcoming wedding, Polly soon realises she’s going to have to confront a few long-kept secrets.

What do mascara wands and gardening shears have in common? Absolutely nothing! At least that’s what wannabe beauty influencer Sophie Timney thinks when her friend Polly suggests involving her brother Marcus in Sophie’s makeup tutorials. She needs more views, Marcus needs promotion for his gardening business - in Polly’s mind joining forces will help them both. Sophie isn’t so sure. Because Marcus Bowman has a habit of getting under her skin in a way that no exfoliating face scrub ever could.

The City of Silk is restless, its people suffering in the grip of corruption. Then, one hot July evening, The Leader gathers his followers, half-trained men and boys, and storms the House of Power. Caught up in the mayhem is quiet, scholarly Ashes. He had been inspired by The Leader's charisma, but now he's not so sure. What happens over the next six days will change the small island's future forever....

For Melissa, Christmas has always been overrated. From her cold, distant parents to her manipulative ex-husband, she’s never experienced the contentment of the festive season with a happy family sitting around the table. And Melissa has learned to live with it, but it breaks her heart that her seven-year-old son, William, has had to live with it, too. Whilst most little boys wait with excitement for the big day, William finds it difficult to believe that Father Christmas even exists. But then Daniel McCormick comes into their lives....

When Mya is with Smithy, it feels like her eyes are constantly rolling. His wheeling and dealing charisma charms everyone but her. Well, that’s not strictly true - Mya is only human after all, and there’s no doubt the man is hot with his suits and swagger. It’s just that Smithy knows Mya’s secret, and she’s not sure she can trust him to keep it from their group of friends.

Kaori and Kairi are the first twins to survive infancy on the ancient island of Mu, where gender is as fluid as the crashing waves. One was born of fire, the other of water. But there’s a reason why none have survived before. A prophecy that has haunted the elders since time began. A rivalry destined to sink the entire island beneath a twin catastrophe of volcano and tsunami. As hatred spills from the forbidden twins like the deadly poison of sacrificed sea snakes, they must decide what matters to them most.

Bar owner Paige can't deny that there's just something about Melanie and her prim and proper librarian look that messes with her mojo. But Melanie is no librarian; she owns Lulu, the new super Instagrammable brunch spot in town, boasting bottomless mimosas and prime selfie opportunities. If anything, Melanie and Paige should be rivals, probably not friends - and definitely not anything else.

Across the Scorched Sea is a visionary YA fantasy about a newborn society torn apart by secrets and sedition.