Showing results by narrator "Virginia Ferguson" in All Categories

Columbine Pepper Drugget's background wasn't one that equipped a young woman to manage a motel worth a million dollars, or cope with rude guests, jewel thieves, an unscrupulous competitor - or even the attentions of a brassy but oddly attractive lawyer. She had spent her life so far as an assistant to her aunt at Miss Cordwainer’s School for Girls from 5-to-10. What she knew about the world was limited to the novels of Jane Austen and such bits of knowledge as the pupils possessed.

This seaside town holds more secrets than you could ever imagine. Grace and Dick Thomas are the proud owners of the Sandybank Guest House, a pristine establishment set in a prime location overlooking the beach. Tourists come and go all year round, enjoying the beautiful setting and their host's wonderful culinary skills. However, the permanent residents of this pretty coastal town cause net curtains to flutter and tongues to wag with their myriad of secrets and tales to be told.

Jessie Harper, a librarian with a passion for the supernatural, discovers her unique gift when her talking cat, Khan, reveals a world beyond the ordinary. Together, they embark on a journey into the dark forces hidden in the shadows of Liverpool. When Jessie's dear friend Elsie is murdered on a River Mersey ferry, Jessie's life takes an unexpected turn. Determined to unravel the mystery, Jessie, Khan, and an unlikely team of allies, including family friend George Jenkins and local detective Bill Roberts, plunge into a sinister underbelly of lies and corruption within the local council.

Abigail Sutton does not take kindly to being dumped. Desperation leads her to seek comfort in the arms of her surly horse trainer, Jack Johnson from America. A night of fleeting passion results in a life-altering “predicament”. Now, the baroness finds herself fighting for the attentions of an entirely different sort of man - a man who is much more than he seems - a man who might just offer her the family she’s never had. That is, if she can prove to him she is not just a pampered pain in the ass. Her pursuit of the handsome but stubborn drifter lands the baroness in Montana.

Having traveled much and tried his hand at many jobs, Alexander Kuprin ran into all sorts of people over the course of his tumultuous life. Human Types is a selection of sketches from the vast gallery of portraits he had created as part of his writing.

The Blessed South lies somewhere between a travel diary and a poetic sketchbook. With his usual skill, Alexander Kuprin lends the air of romance even to the most mundane scenes and situations, inviting the listener to be captivated and enjoy.

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860-1904) was a Russian playwright, writer, and doctor. Known best for his plays, he had also written a great multitude of short stories for and about people of all ages and all walks of life. Life as It Happens is a selection of just such stories and novellas. From sad to ridiculous, to dramatic, to funny, by way of tragic or bittersweet - there is something here for everyone.

When Elizabeth’s best friend told her that she was in love, Elizabeth decided to do everything she could to forward the match between Caroline and Charlie’s friend Mr. Darcy. After all, Elizabeth and Caroline Bingley had always been the dearest of friends since they were tiny children, and whenever they were apart they wrote reams and reams of paper in correspondence.

In the Metfield of the 1930s, you could do all of your shopping without leaving the village, have a choice of pubs and "spend happy evenings helping to dig potatoes and listening to the old boys". If this sounds too idyllic to be true, Evelyn Whiting's charming memoir of growing up in this Suffolk community is quick to remind us that making a living from the land was hard and tedious work in those days. There was no electricity and water came from the sky, or from the pond.

"What happens when an irresistible force encounters an immovable object?" The ancient paradox becomes a real-life problem when a woman, whose wealth and influence are matched only by her arrogance and violent temper, encounters someone with the strength of character to rival her own. It is bad enough that this new, formidable foe is a mere girl. But to make matters worse, she also happens to be the great lady's only granddaughter.

When Stella McKenzie is summoned to meet her Great Aunt Bess, her grandmother's sister, on the occasion of that lady's 100th birthday, she keeps the appointment with a great deal of trepidation. All her life she has been told about this mysterious lady, to whom her grandmother has not spoken since the First World War. She has been told that she is mean and spiteful, that she wrecked the engagement of her sister to the man she loved out of spite and jealousy.

The last thing the Duke of Greystone wants is a wife, until the Lady Jane Blackmore seeks out his quiet corner of Earl Braxton's ballroom. But there she stands, attempting to shut out the rest of the world by simply closing her eyes, but the duke understands better than most that life is never that simple.

The widowed Elise is a perfect English lady living within the confines of society for the sake of her impressionable young son. Her quiet world is shattered when she meets the impulsive and scandalous Jared Amesbury. His roguish charm awakens her yearning for adventure. But his irrepressible grin and sea-green eyes hide a secret.

With Christmas fast approaching and the constant threat of closure for Bixton Police Station, Gammon knew he had to get these murders solved. He was under immense pressure in his professional life and his personal life. So many things will change in this latest book for John Gammon.

A child turns up at a rural police station in Yorkshire, with a tale that will shock the nation. As Thea Watts begins her investigation, she realizes she can't trust the system to keep the boy safe, so she calls on the one man she knows won't let her down, Jack Quinn, a vigilante with his heart set on doing one thing: the right thing.

Bethany Simmons takes a shortcut on a stormy night and ends up in a place where one man is both sustained by the ghosts of his past and held captive by them.

Another set of vivid, exquisitely detailed stories from all walks of life from the giant of Ukrainian literature Mihailo Kotsubinsky.

Elizabeth Tudor has chosen never to marry. The man she loves, Robin Dudley, has lost his wife in mysterious circumstances. Knowing that were she to marry him, it would lead to his destruction and hers, Elizabeth has made up her mind... But Robin does not know this yet. Afraid to lose her favourite, Elizabeth has told Robin there may be hope. As times goes on, Robin attempts persuasion, pressure and trickery to take his place beside her on the throne of England. And it is not only with her beloved that Elizabeth is having problems...

Literary critic, E. A. Koltonovskaya, described the literary style of novelist Maria Krestovskaya as follows, “Her pen, for all its feminine agility, is often remarkable for its nearly masculine reticence. She has none of the chaotic flood of thoughtless emotions, which so frequently plagues the works by female writers. She does not like lyrical diversions and allows her characters to speak and act for themselves. Even during the most dramatic scenes, her tone remains restrained. Her formulation of women’s issues gives one the sense of a broad, universal foundation...."

"The Test" is a short, powerful piece that describes a day in the life of a woman, whose past comes to haunt her just as she thinks she is settled and perfectly safe in her life. Faced with memories of long ago as well as considerations and responsibilities of today, she must make a difficult choice she knows will change her life and affect the lives of those around her.