Showing results by narrator "Jan Cramer" in All Categories

When Bartholomew Fair, London's largest public festival, is threatened in 1589 by 500 armed soldiers dismissed from service without pay, the authorities act swiftly and decisively to prevent trouble. Yet other trouble is brewing. Young physician and code-breaker Christoval Alvarez stumbles upon a sinister troupe of Italian puppeteers bent on making mischief, but it soon becomes apparent that more than mischief is in the air.

There have been a few changes at Little Eleigh Manor in the last 18 months. Evie and Lukas are engaged and bringing up their young daughter, Alba; Gertie is back from her travels and is running Hamilton Roses with her sisters; and Julian has opened Rose Garden Antiques in the recently restored north wing. But the unexpected arrival of Uncle Portland upsets the festive mood, and Celeste becomes anxious when he starts poking around disused rooms and scouring the attics.

Natalie Love has worked hard to have it all. She runs a successful London theatre that's about to host one of Hollywood's leading stars, Ryan Harrison. She’s pretty sure she’s found her man in yoga boyfriend Benjamin, despite his annoying habit of saying Namaste! every time he speaks. And her eccentric, glamorous Hungarian gran is always on hand to offer sage advice and steaming bowls of goulash. Life in the bright lights of London has always been Natalie's escape from her chaotic family in rural Devon and Jamie, the childhood sweetheart she left at the altar fifteen years ago.

Polly Nightingale never meant to fall in love again, especially not with a biker 13 years her junior. But then Jago Solomon enters her life with a guitar strapped to his back, and Polly and her six-year-old son, Archie, know that they've never been happier.

Morton Hall, with its beautiful, ruined grounds and its reclusive mistress, Emilia Morton, is full of mysteries. For freelance editor Anne Marie, the wild garden has become a serene and secret refuge from her loveless marriage. The only other regular visitor is Cape, the hall's part-time gardener, who is forbidden to tend to anything except the magnificent maze or to meet his enigmatic employer. When Emilia dies, Cape and Anne Marie are astonished to find themselves among an unlikely group of villagers named in her strange will.

After the death of their father, sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood face financial ruin. At the mercy of their half brother, John, and his greedy wife, their only hope is to make a good match. But reduced circumstances make courtship difficult - especially after being turned out of their home. While responsible Elinor takes a practical approach to matters of the heart, Marianne throws herself in unreservedly. In Jane Austen’s first novel, two of literature’s most iconic characters discover that love demands a balance of passion and pragmatism.

Can your final fling become your happy ever after? When Jo Coulson finds herself single again in her late 30s, she finally resigns her membership to Last of the Hopeless Romantics, fully intending to tackle midlife and motherhood alone. First, she plans one legendary last fling.... In walks Harry Inchbold, and the connection is electric. Passionate, unpredictable and messily divorced, Harry is the perfect antidote to cosy coupledom. Known as The Sinner, drama follows him around with a clapper board.

When a stray dog walks into a sleepy Chiltern village, she touches the lives of many people there, but can she help the recently widowed Alfie Ellis, who has been living a kind of half life since the loss of his wife of 43 years?

Kristina is a successful therapist in central Oslo. She spends her days helping clients navigate their lives with a cool professionalism that has got her to the top. But when her client Leah, a successful novelist, arrives at her office clearly distressed, begging Kristina to come to her remote cabin in the woods, she feels the balance begin to slip.

The year after defeating the Spanish Armada, England retaliates. The expedition to Portugal sets out to destroy what remains of Spain's Atlantic fleet, drive the Spanish out of Portugal, put the claimant Dom Antonio of Aviz on the throne, and seize the Azores. But from the time the English fleet, led by Drake and Norreys, reaches Plymouth, things start to go wrong. Christoval Alvarez, sent to carry out two missions by Walsingham, has a more important private plan in mind.

It's the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, but it's also a special year for Katherine Roberts and Warwick Lawton because they're getting married. But can Katherine put aside her fear about the future and can Warwick put his pen down long enough to actually make it up the aisle?

When Kit Alvarez returns from Muscovy, it is to discover that her post as physician at St. Thomas' hospital has been given to another. Trying to eke out the small income she earns from some of Dr. Nuñez's private patients, she undertakes paid work as a copyist with James Burbage's company. But the players' companies find themselves under threat. Two of Burbage's men are murdered. One of Henslowe's men is attacked. And two important new plays go missing, one by Will Shakespeare and one by Christopher Marlowe.

Since Coco Pinchard found first husband Daniel in bed with another woman, she hasn't just picked up the pieces: she's now a best-selling author married to her hunky soul-mate Adam. She feels stronger and wiser and surely the second time round she'll have learnt from her mistakes?

After failing to escape the Roman metropolis of Londinium with Devyn, her lover, and Marcus, her betrothed, Cassandra wakes in inky darkness to find the ground giving way to sand beneath her feet. All three of them have been carted back to the notorious arena at the heart of the city to stand trial by public vote. Cass knows they must escape at any cost: to warn the Celts of the mysterious blood curse ravaging their kin, to foil the schemes of the imperial council....

It's summer and renowned actress, Dame Pamela Harcourt, has organized a treat: the first Purley Hall Jane Austen holiday - to the home of Mr. Darcy no less. With Katherine and Warwick, Robyn, Doris Norris and the rest of the gang, it's going to be a trip to remember.

Christmas is being celebrated in style at Purley Hall in Hampshire because renowned actress, Dame Pamela Harcourt is holding a special Jane Austen conference. Everybody's there: Katherine and Warwick, Robyn and Dan, Kay, Adam and Gemma, and Sarah and Mia. Oh, and Mrs. Soames.

Callie Logan hasn't been able to stop smiling since meeting bookseller Sam Nightingale, and she's thrilled to be spending her first Christmas with his family. For the Nightingales, Christmas Eve is a time for sitting around the fire at Campion House, eating mince pies, drinking mulled wine, and reading ghost stories. As the winter night draws in and the snow begins to fall, the family remembers the Christmas when Sam read from a book over 100 years old and how strange things started to happen afterwards.

Darcy has invited the Bennets and the Bingleys to spend the Christmastide’s festive days at Pemberley. But as he and Elizabeth journey to their estate to join the gathered families, a blizzard blankets the English countryside. The Darcys find themselves stranded at a small inn while Pemberley is inundated with refugees seeking shelter from the storm. Without her brother’s strong presence, Georgiana Darcy tries desperately to manage the chaos surrounding the arrival of six invited guests and 11 unscheduled visitors.

Marina is a gentle soul who makes a modest living in her corner shop. Her husband died years ago, and her children have grown up. Life is pleasantly predictable, if a little dull. But not even her daughters know that 35 years ago Marina spent lonely months on a nearby island, and the events of that summer have haunted her ever since.

The trail has gone cold, and the authorities believe he has disappeared forever. But Erica knows her father better than anyone and feels his presence lurking in the shadows. When journalist Pierre Cloarec uncovers a massive financial fraud–the same method Sterling used to fund his escape–his investigation leads him to a seemingly quiet coastal village. There, a new friendship with a mysterious American takes a dark and disturbing turn, and Erica’s instincts tell her this is no coincidence.