Showing results by narrator "Annabelle Tudor" in All Categories

It is 1914, and as the war draws the young men of Britain away to fight, women must keep the nation running. Two of those women are Peggy and Maude, twin sisters who live on a narrowboat in Oxford and work in the bindery at the university press.

Kasira Severen broke her mother's dying wish to secure the prince his throne – her betrayal carved into the foundation of his rule. Veridian Erris wears the crown of Livadha, but the weight of it is crushing. With a twisted prophecy, gods holding grudges and a sisterhood guarding a dangerous secret, Livadha stands on the edge of ruin.

When Greer MacAlister's despised husband dies, she and her young daughter Fen find themselves in a remote whisky smuggling community in the heart of the Highlands. Here, illicit whisky making is a means of survival in a Scotland under occupation by the British, decades after the disastrous Battle of Culloden. The villagers are suspicious of the widow, but when Greer tricks excise officers away from their illegal stills with a courageous and daring act, they warm to her.

Bestowed the Songs of both Life and Death, Kasira Severen spends her days as a Daughter of Silba, curing the Lowtown of their ailments. When the sun sets, however, she becomes the city’s most notorious assassin. Now, under her father’s command, she’s hunting her biggest target yet. Veridian Erris is the Crown Prince of Livadha, and he fears his whisky-fuelled life is about to end. With the bodies of soldiers piling up on the northern borders and nobles turning up dead on the docks, he has no choice but to try and broker peace with the exiled Queen.

Darcy Archer works in a small bookstore in Manhattan. A daydream believer, she refuses to settle for anything less than being swept off her feet by the perfect man…literally. One day, when cycling to work, Darcy accidentally crashes into a sharply dressed gentleman walking his dog. He is knocked out cold, rushed to hospital and the poor pup gets left behind. Wracked with guilt, Darcy takes the dog and makes plans to reunite him with owner, Aidan. As she discovers the mysterious stranger's world of books, Darcy builds a picture of this man and wonders if he could be THE ONE.

When multi-millionaire Jacki Turner is forced to take stock of her life, she sets her daughters a challenge - in order to inherit her vast fortune, each must fulfil a task that she believes will push them to become better versions of themselves. Rose, an exhausted mother of three, must write and publish a children's picture book. Exercise-hater Mel must run the Gold Coast marathon. Isla, the eldest, must figure out who she is beyond her wealth and status, while commitment-phobic Jess must stay in a relationship for longer than three months.

The cast-out child of an aristocratic mother, Hannah 'Birdie' Bird is a laundry maid with a hidden past and a suspicion that the wealthy family she serves is hers. Longing for beauty and liberation, Birdie risks everything to change her circumstances. She falls into love and crime, committing an audacious heist. When she is betrayed, she finds herself swept into a wave of female convicts, transported to the ends of her known world.

Bree Johnston has given up trying to be the perfect lawyer. It's time to focus on her own dreams, so she decides to leave the city and set up an alpaca farm and wool shop. Her grandmother Rose might be her only supporter, but that's fine. Bree's done trying to win her parents' approval. She finds the perfect property in the charming small town of Wagtail Ridge but gets more than she bargained for when sparks start flying with the handsome real estate agent.

We have choice in every moment of our lives. We can choose to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to an invitation, a job, a partner. We just have to practise cultivating that choice. Change Your Life in an Hour urges you to take back control of how you choose to spend your time – and subsequently your life. Laura Archer first realised the power of small choices when she started reclaiming her lunch breaks and using them to achieve personal goals. In this book, she inspires you to target your mental, emotional and physical health through simple but empowering actions that can fit around any lifestyle.

1814 Sydney Town. When Mary Greenway, freshly arrived from the old country, steps into the maelstrom of Sydney Port with three children at her skirts, she has high hopes of a new beginning, despite having little money and a husband in irons. After all, the sudden death of her sadistic first husband has mean freedom from her gilded cage and Francis Greenway is an architect of some promise, under the protection of Admiral Phillip himself.

Hollywood movies are Beth's passion. She hopes her life will always be filled with 'movie moments', where things like serendipity and fate happen every day. Her boyfriend Danny has always been the embodiment of her perfect Hollywood hero—though after seven years together the initial silver-screen romance has settled into something more predictable. And then, one morning at work, Beth receives an anonymous delivery of a take-out coffee cup with a cryptic message suggesting a meeting at Tiffany's.

It's been two years since Ethan Greene and Gary Knowles collided one fateful evening outside Tiffany & Co on Fifth Avenue. A mix-up with their shopping bags sent each man's life on an unexpected trajectory, and whilst Gary and his fiancée Rachel are heading for the altar, Ethan's love life is not so settled.

Jess feels increasingly left out as the only non-mum amongst her friends. Terrified she might lose them altogether, she embarks on becoming a mother too. But is she really ready? Hollywood actress Ruth Seymour is home in the small town of Lakeview for the summer. But has an ill-advised fling with a handsome co-star resulted in a seriously unplanned consequence? Nina has come to live with her estranged father, Patrick, after a bad break-up. But will she ever dare tell him about the secret she is concealing?

Meet single mum Samantha, entrepreneur Rhea, and first-time mother Tahlie, all from different walks of life, brought together by their weekly mum and baby group in the town of Hickory Creek. Here they all find support—and a moment's peace—in the haze of raising their new-borns. But when the group is cancelled due to a lack of funds, it looks like the invaluable support they received will be no more.

Four new festive rural stories from favourite Australian authors about the country practices at the heart of these small towns.

1850 Sarah Hallow is orphaned, penniless and alone, with only the skills learned from her midwife mother to guide her. Passage on a ship bound for the new settlement of Brisbane, Australia, is her last option. Though her skills are quickly dismissed by the ship's doctor, Sarah is pleased to find instant friendship with her cabin mate, Bridie, a fiery Irish girl with a sharp tongue and midwifery skills of her own. When the two women come to the aid of a labouring woman onboard, Sarah's dreams of opening her own midwifery practice in Brisbane don't seem so impossible.

Her family offered a life of power and privilege, until Lotti turned away from her father’s grand plans – and towards a life that felt more like her own. With a new start as a teacher, Lotti may have even found the right man, a rough-around-the-edges single dad who’d never fit in with her high-brow upbringing, but who has started to feel like home. But Lotti isn’t the only one running. August’s strong silent demeanour may be part of his appeal, but as they get closer, his inability to talk about his past begins to jeopardise their future.

When successful Sydney lawyer Miranda McIntyre searches for something old to go with her wedding dress, she remembers an antique necklace from her childhood. Her mother’s denial of its existence only deepens Miranda’s curiosity, but the discovery of a faded wedding photo and an old newspaper clipping reveal long-buried family secrets. Who is the woman in the photo? And why are these keepsakes hidden in her mother’s closet? Miranda’s quest for the truth takes her on a road trip, south to the idyllic seaside village of Pelican Point.

Sydney, 1941: Olive and Ivy may be identical twins, but they couldn’t be more different. While Olive is focused on marrying a man appropriate to her station, Ivy wants to do more, to be more. Joining the Australian Women’s Army Service is the perfect chance for her to escape her family obligations and make a real difference in the world. She doesn’t expect serving her country to lead to romance...or devastating betrayal and unthinkable grief. Sydney, 2008: Escaping her husband’s betrayal and an impossible personal loss, Madeline returns home to Sydney to nurse her broken heart.

Frenchwoman Avril Montdidier is on a mission: to emigrate to Australia and start her own fashion business, leaving the tragedies of the Second World War behind her. She has family in Melbourne and an apprenticeship at Dior in Paris under her tailored belt, so the future seems bright. Avril settles into 1950s Melbourne and makes friends and contacts for her business-to-be. But just as she's ready to begin, an event in her personal life forces her to make the difficult decision to flee to a cattle station in southern Queensland to work as a nanny. It is here Avril meets Tim.