Showing results by narrator "Des Powell" in All Categories

Clutter is not just a storage problem. It is a stress problem. From overflowing closets and chaotic kitchen counters to digital overload and paper piles, clutter quietly drains your time, energy, and mental clarity. It turns your home into a source of anxiety instead of a place of rest. The Clutter-Free Mind is a practical, no-perfection-required guide to reclaiming your space and restoring calm to your daily life.

Maddy fled the market town of Havenbury Magna three years ago, the scene of a traumatic incident she revisits most clearly in her dreams. Even so, when she is called back to help at the Havenbury Arms when her godfather, Patrick, suffers a heart attack, she is unprepared for the welter of emotions her return provokes. Psychologist and ex-army officer Ben finds himself falling for her. Then Maddy's mother, Helen, arrives, and Patrick himself must confront a few uncomfortable truths about his history and the pub's future. 

When Rowan Bellamy’s marriage collapses in spectacular style, she retreats with her two children, Bella and Theo, to the last place she ever wanted to return—her windswept Cornish hometown of Port Agnes. Taking the headteacher role at the local primary school is the easy part. Facing village gossip, curious neighbours, and old flames? Not so much. Especially when one of those flames turns out to be Nathan Lark — the boy who broke her heart and the man who now has a reputation as bruised as her own.

This is the remarkable story of the English language; from its beginnings as a minor guttural Germanic dialect to its position today as a truly established global language. The Adventure of English is not only an enthralling story of power, religion, and trade, but also the story of people, and how their lives continue to change the extraordinary language that is English.

Midwife Ella Mehenick can’t wait to marry the love of her life, Dan Ferguson. They have both waited so long for their perfect day, and they know their future together will be everything they’ve ever dreamed of. But when Ella suddenly and unexpectedly collapses – all plans are put on hold.

When Nancy O’Brien returns to St Nicholas Bay, the seaside town of her childhood, it isn’t the life she imagined. A talented drama teacher, she’s put her own ambitions aside to care for her family—always the one to shoulder responsibility. But when her path crosses with Jack, a grieving young widower trying to build a life for himself and his baby son Toby, Nancy finds her heart pulled in a direction she never expected.

Philippa Gregory's first story in the best-selling Wideacre trilogy. A compelling tale of passion and intrigue set in the 18th century. From the author of The Other Boleyn Girl and The Virgin's Lover. Wideacre Hall, set in the heart of the English countryside, is the ancestral home that Beatrice Lacey loves. But as a woman of the 18th century, she has no right of inheritance. Corrupted by a world that mistreats women, she sets out to corrupt others.

Meg is definitely not in the Christmas mood. She’s never gone in for tinsel, baubles and mistletoe, and right now she’s still getting over an illness. Yet when she’s invited to spend the run-up to Christmas in the snowy countryside rather than dreary London, she can’t refuse. Arriving at a warm and cosy family home in a small hilltop village, Meg soon begins to wonder what a proper Christmas might be like. But just as she’s beginning to settle in, she spots a familiar face. Lex. 

Fifteen years ago, one desperate act tore sisters Bex and Briony apart. Growing up side by side against the backdrop of a feckless father and a hardworking mum, they were inseparable—until Briony’s attempt to save Bex from a disastrous engagement shattered their bond. Now Bex has the life she dreamed of: a loving family, a new glamping site on the family farm, and roots she’s proud of. Briony, living under the online alias “Holly Day,” drifts from place to place in her van, watching her sister’s happiness from afar.

Midwife Jess is so used to helping other mums achieve their dreams that she’s put her own hopes of motherhood firmly on hold. After having her heart broken once before, Jess is determined to focus all she has on her small family and stepson Riley and make sure he feels safe, happy and loved. But when Jess is asked to care for a tiny baby and new mum in need of support, she’s torn. Jess wants to help, but she isn’t sure her battered heart could cope with saying goodbye to another baby she’s fallen in love with.

Des Powell left school with no qualifications and little in the way of formal education. At nineteen he signed up to join the Parachute Regiment. Famously, the Paras is home to the UK military's second-toughest training regime after the SAS. Des Powell knows all about both. In fact, Des knows SAS selection better than anyone because he's done it twice. In SAS: Trial by Fire he tells the story of those gruelling tests: how Para training turned him into a soldier but, more crucially, how the SAS process turned him into a member of the elite.

Wendy Tyler’s marriage ended when she discovered her ex-husband, Mike, had got his much younger new partner, Chloe, pregnant. Wendy’s over Mike, but suddenly she fears her own daughters will find a new baby much more exciting that their old mum. But when Wendy bumps into Chloe at St Piran’s, it’s clear something is troubling the fragile young woman. Wendy doesn’t want to be sucked into Chloe and Mike’s relationship, but she can’t help worrying that Chloe needs someone to turn to.

For A&E nurse Eden Grainger, Port Kara offers more than just a safe haven. It's a chance to break free from her ex Jesse and start a new life. Her focus now is solely on her four-year-old son, Teddie, whose autism means he sees the world in his own unique way.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. But for single mum and busy midwife Nadia, it’s quickly turning into her worst Christmas ever. Her marriage is over, and whilst her husband has moved on, Nadia finds herself back home, squashed into her mum’s spare room with her two small children. They might not be a perfect family anymore, but Nadia is determined to make this Christmas special for them. Dr Hamish Spencer totally understands Nadia’s pain. As a fellow single parent, he’s struggling to cope with a rebellious teen daughter and a precocious six-year-old!

All five volumes from the landmark BBC radio series This Sceptred Isle: The 20th Century. Christopher Lee’s vivid, compelling history tells the story of Britain from the death of Queen Victoria to the dawning of a new millennium. This collection includes the original volumes 1-5.

In this New York Times best seller, award-winning author Simon Schama presents an ebullient country, vital and inventive, infatuated with novelty and technology - a strikingly fresh view of Louis XVI's France. One of the great landmarks of modern history publishing, Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution is the most authoritative social, cultural and narrative history of the French Revolution ever produced.

As winter descends on the coastal town of Port Agnes, midwife Toni Samuels’ mood is as dark as the winter clouds that roll in. Toni loves her job as a midwife, but her private life is falling apart. Because Toni is keeping a secret - a relationship with fellow male midwife Bobby that no one can ever know about. Kind and gorgeous, Bobby is a huge hit at the midwifery centre, but he’s tired of keeping his feelings for Toni a secret - of always coming second best.

Midwife Jess knows she’ll never have a baby of her own, but she’s determined to still be a mum. So Jess decides to foster, providing love and support for children who desperately need it - something Jess never had as a child when she was in foster care. Jess loves caring for the precious babies who come into her life, but letting them go again breaks her heart every time - can she really be a mum after all?

There’s an apocryphal story that Alexander the Great once captured a notorious pirate named Diomedes. The great conqueror decided to interview the doomed pirate, asking him what he thought gave him the right to seize the property of other people. The pirate responded by asking the emperor what he thought gave him the right to take property that doesn’t belong to him, including entire countries. The story goes that Alexander thought the pirate very clever, granting him freedom instead of execution.

When nine-year-old orphan Georgia James is unexpectedly fostered by the kindly Celia and her bank manager husband, she can hardly believe her luck. But then - on her 15th birthday - she suffers the cruellest betrayal of all at the hands of her foster father and is forced to run away, leaving everything she loves behind.