Showing results by narrator "Madeleine Leslay" in All Categories

Tobias Walcott, the Earl of Blade, has learned it is best to exercise rigid control over his passions and emotions in all that he does. Uncaring that it makes him seem cool and aloof to most in the ton, he is content with his desire to only woo agreeable and demur females. Then, unforeseen circumstances see him trapped in a closet at a house party with the last woman he would ever make his countess.

Tim Parkes was three when his parents were killed in a train crash and he went to live with his aunt May, first in New Cross and then to Walworth, where the living was cheaper. They managed splendidly - and then came the war. Tim Parkes became Gunner Parkes and Aunt May spent most of her nights in the Walworth air raid shelters with Tim keeping an eye on her whenever he was able.

From the bustling streets of post-Great War London to the idyllic 1920s Sussex countryside, this is a breathtaking story of passion and persistence from a phenomenal Australian storyteller about how true love can overcome incredible odds, even in the most extraordinary circumstances. A humble soldier, known only as "Jones", wakes in hospital with no recollection of his past. The few fleeting fragments of memory he glimpses are horrifying moments from the battlefield at Ypres.

Kate Rickman seems just like any other 19-year-old girl. She goes to university, she dates nice, normal boys, and she works in her local tourist office at the weekend. But Kate's not really normal at all. "Kate" is in fact a carefully constructed facade for a girl called Jennifer Jones...and it's a facade that's crumbling fast. Jennifer has spent the last nine years frantically trying to escape from her horrifying past. Increasingly desperate, Jennifer decides to do something drastic. She contacts the only other girl who might understand what she's dealing with, breaking every rule of her parole along the way.

1789. The Bastille is marked for destruction. Skirmishes in the city are rife and revolution is in the air. When a gruesomely murdered rebel is found in the prison morgue, a plot is suspected. English spy Attica Morgan, is laying low after an abortive mission. So when she's given an assignment inside the Bastille, her instinct is to run. Instead, she's offered a pardon, in return for solving the mystery of the dead revolutionary; and exposing a plot that leads to Marie Antoinette.

When Hugh Winthrop, the future Earl of Albury, decides to advertise for a wife in the London paper, he never expected an anonymous response from a woman who matches him wit for wit. Their back-and-forth letters on the true nature of love, something they disagree on wholeheartedly, leave him shocked - and intrigued. But then the woman he’s been corresponding with shows up on his doorstep, enticingly beautiful and offering a marriage of convenience in exchange for his protection.

This Friday the 13th has been particularly unlucky. Jess has been fired from her comfortable job. She's gone from dating two guys to none. She's been kicked out of her mediocre flat. And worst of all, she's really really let down her best friend. As she drifts off to sleep, she is filled with relief that this terrible day is over. Tomorrow she will try to fix things; tomorrow cannot be any worse than this. Except it is. Maybe not worse...but exactly the same. When Jess wakes up the next morning, it is Friday the 13th again. And again. And again. And again.

Lady Evie Chesterfield is a darling of the ton who refuses to become engaged. She's been desperately in love with her brother's friend, Richard Maitland, Marquess of Westfall, since forever. But the dark, dangerous marquess only sees her as a friend and refuses to marry any woman. When circumstances change and Evie has no choice but to take a husband, she decides to convince London's most notorious gentleman to marry her by seducing the scoundrel.

It all started with just one dance.... Stella Myles is forced to make ends meet by selling herself as a dance partner in a Piccadilly ballroom. Here she meets the enigmatic Montgomery, who orchestrates a job for her as governess with the wealthy Ainsworth family at Harp's End, Sussex. But at Harp's End nothing is as straightforward as it first seems.

The highly anticipated new blockbuster from the best-selling author of The Lavender Keeper and The Last Dance. On the eve of the First World War, Fleurette, the only daughter of the wealthy Delacroix perfume dynasty, is being forced to marry a man she loathes, Aimery De Lasset, head of the preeminent perfume manufacturer in France. It is only the cathedral bells tolling the rally to the front lines on her wedding night that save her from sharing his bed.

Monica Felton's 1945 novel gives a lively account of the experiences of a group of men and women working in a munitions factory during the Second World War. Wide-ranging in the themes it touches on, including class, sexism, socialism, fear of communism, workers' rights, anti-Semitism and xenophobia, the audiobook gives a vivid portrayal of factory life and details the challenges, triumphs and tragedies of a diverse list of characters.

Life isn't turning out quite how Annie expected. In her 20s, she had a dream job, an amazing social life and bags of confidence. Now, she's living with her boyfriend, Luke, and is a stay-at-home mum to their baby daughter. The promising career has petered out, and along with it, her confidence and creativity. And then Luke does the unforgivable. Annie will need the help of her group of loyal friends more than ever. Is old Annie gone forever, or could this finally be the chance to find herself once more?

Jenneen, Kate, Ellamarie and Ashley are enviable women. They are desirable and powerful, with glamorous jobs in the media and the theatre and, most importantly, the closest of friendships. But each of the friends has a dark secret, and none of them can ever be entirely safe from the passion, deceit and danger which threatens to seduce and then destroy them.

London 1859. Carina Temple has put away the stifling black crepe demanded by the death of her father - but with it, she has also cast aside society’s expectations of what a single young lady should be and do. When Carina’s uncle summons her to Belgrave Square to inform her that her reputation is ruined, thanks to a certain Lord Danby, he tells her that she must travel to Italy until the gossip recedes and a suitable match can be found for her.

Sukie has had enough of not putting herself out there. She has had enough of her mother thinking so very little of her timid daughter. On a whim, she accepts an offer to go to a Greek island for the weekend with Jake, a man she has barely begun dating. If that isn't putting herself out here, she doesn't know what is. Heather is at the airport when she sees a young woman with an older man—and immediately she understands that the woman is in danger. Because in 15 years, Heather hasn't been able to forget what Jake did to her.

England, 1255: Sarah is only 17 when she chooses to become an anchoress, a holy woman shut away in a small cell, measuring seven paces by nine, at the side of the village church. Fleeing the grief of losing a much-loved sister in childbirth and the pressure to marry, she decides to renounce the world, with all its dangers, desires, and temptations, and to commit herself to a life of prayer and service to God.

Everyone connected to the court of Louis XIV has something to hide. For the Baroness Marie Catherine, it is the pleasures she seeks outside of her unhappy marriage, indulging in a more liberated existence of decadent salons and discussions with writers and scholars. At the centre of her illicit freedom is her lover Victoire Rose de Bourbon, Mademoiselle de Conti, the androgynous, self-assured countess.

A breathtaking tale of heartbreak and heroism, love and longing by a powerhouse Australian storyteller. 'Love comes out of nowhere for most of us, when we least expect it.' Amidst the carnage of Gallipoli, British nurse Claire Nightingale meets Australian Light Horseman Jamie Wren. Despite all odds, they fall deeply in love. Their flame burns bright and carries them through their darkest hours, even when war tears them apart.

Megan doesn't speak. She hasn't spoken in months. Pushing away the people she cares about is just a small price to pay. Because there are things locked inside Megan's head - things that are screaming to be heard - that she cannot, must not, let out. Then Jasmine starts at school: bubbly, beautiful, talkative Jasmine. And for reasons Megan can't quite understand, life starts to look a bit brighter. Megan would love to speak again, and it seems like Jasmine might be the answer.

Can romance and riches ever work out? One minute, Jemma Pears is a struggling theatrical make-up artist in London. The next, she's been left a vast fortune by her estranged grandmother. However, there's a catch: she must marry a man with a title to inherit. Jemma thinks this is truly impossible: she's a romantic, searching for true love, not just a convenient marriage... and besides, where would she even find a titled guy? Enter Ashford, the new Duke of Burlingham. His legacy: massive debts that he must pay back immediately or risk the bank seizing his assets.