Showing results by narrator "Katie Villa" in All Categories

Suzanne's life changes forever the day she receives a visit from Rose Anderson, the woman who has been living with her estranged father, Don. Don is dead, but Rose wants Suzanne to have his possessions - including a series of intimate diaries and a mysterious collection of photographs of women. To Suzanne's shock, one of the photos is of her friend, Sophie, who died 10 years ago in an unexplained and devastating fire. But Don met Sophie only once, during an unsettling visit he paid Suzanne just days before Sophie's death.... So why did he have a picture of her?

Since Faye met her gorgeous Aussie boyfriend Dan, they’ve traveled all over the world to meet in amazing, crazy, and romantic locations. They’ve eaten gateaux in a chateau, chocolate torte in a moonlit port, and even had stolen kisses in a sparkling Christmas market. Neither of them wanted to settle down… until now. When Dan asks Faye to marry him and to move to Australia it throws a real spanner in the works. Faye’s daughter Emma needs her here, so moving to the other side of the world - even for a hunk like Dan - simply isn’t an option. Is it?  

Josie Beaumont is a free spirit. She changes jobs about as often as she changes her relationship status. Frequently! The only constants in her life are the comfy old shoes that she refuses to part with. When unemployment looms again, she’s intrigued by a job opportunity at a dog kennels in rural Devon. As someone who thrives on change, a move to the sticks doesn’t faze her at all. She’s expecting life in the country to be quiet and uneventful. What she’s not expecting is Sam.

Following a whirlwind four-month romance, lawyer Claire and hotel entrepreneur Angus are engaged to be married. Happy and successful, and ready to start their new life together, Claire and Angus find what they believe to be the perfect home. But when Claire meets Mark, the man selling them the house, he looks eerily familiar. He looks exactly like the man she loved five years ago, the man she couldn’t bear to lose.

On a damp October day, a body is found in an abandoned hospital, too burnt to be identified, but detective Alex King knows that every victim is someone’s daughter or son. Pushing aside her own troubles, Alex puts everything into finding the killer, but when someone else is found dead, she begins to suspect that the body in the hospital was just the first of many. Just as Alex uncovers a heart-breaking link between the victims, she finds her own safety under threat. Is this a figure from her past hell-bent on revenge, or could the murderer be even closer than she thinks?   

When Mara Hughes inherits her late mother’s tumbledown beach house overlooking the bright, sandy sweep of Magpie Cove, it couldn’t have come at a worse time. With her marriage on the rocks and her husband threatening to take the family home, the beach house - with all the bittersweet memories it holds - might be the thing that finally sends Mara’s world crashing down around her. She tells herself she’ll spend only a few days there, sell it, and move on to rebuilding her life. 

Well-Being in the Workplace: A Guide to Resilience for Individuals and Teams is aimed at managers who need to build resilience in both themselves and their team, and improve their own and others’ well-being. Managers, team leaders, those in HR roles, and employees looking to adapt to new ways of working will find this book invaluable. 

Emily Winters would do anything for her best friend Josie. Every week they meet for a catch-up at the Old Boathouse - an idyllic little café by the Thames where Josie’s boyfriend Jack works. As the summer draws on, life seems perfect. Emily’s writing career is taking off and she’s throwing herself into the dating scene. There’s just one problem: she compares all the men she meets to Jack. And none of them measure up.

All Emily wants for her wedding is a low-key celebration with family and friends. But with a best friend like Josie, it’s no surprise that there’s a touch of drama to the day. Meanwhile, Tara is dealing with problems of her own. In a bid to face up to her past, she sets out to make amends with her estranged father and reunite with her half siblings. Thankfully, she has James to support her when times get tough.

Emily only meant to spend a week in Hope Cove. But when the quirky locals involve her in various events, she happily extends her stay. She just wishes Jack was with her and not stuck working back in Oxford. For Lizzie, Emily’s visit is well-timed. She’s struggling to balance work and family life, and having her friend nearby is exactly the breath of fresh air she needs. Josie has everyone worried. She’s trying her best to stay upbeat, but after two failed pregnancies, she’s definitely lost some of her sparkle.

Josie loves her new life in the country with Sam. But she has a secret that she doesn’t want anyone to know. Unfortunately, it’s hard to keep anything to yourself in a tiny village. Lizzie is adjusting to motherhood and finding it more demanding than she ever expected. Life has become a haze of sleep deprivation and dirty nappies, and it’s taking its toll on her relationship with Max. Emily has finally got the man of her dreams. However, life with Jack isn’t as straightforward as she expected. A certain ex-girlfriend and money worries wreak havoc on their relationship.

When Tara Fitzpatrick tells a string of lies during the world’s most informal job interview, she has no idea of the path she’s set herself on. Renovating the rundown bookshop with her new boss, James, turns out to be more fulfilling than she could ever have imagined. Soon, she finds herself falling in love with the quaint little shop. And with James. But Tara has never let herself dream of a happy ever after. Ever since she was a little girl, she knew she would never have children. 

Josie Hudson's whole life has been about one thing and one thing only: keeping her son Scott alive. And when Scott, now 19, finds out that his heart is once again failing - with no hope of a transplant - Josie's world comes crashing down. Determined to give meaning to his final months, Scott decides to find a match for his mum: someone to be there for her when he will no longer be. But can Scott succeed in finding love for his mum before it's too late? Or will his place in her heart be too large to fill?