検索キーワード： ナレーター "Julia Franklin" すべてのカテゴリー

Annie Burrows’ fanciful historical romances have delighted readers far and wide during her lengthy career. Here, Burrows spins the tale of Heloise Bergeron, who will do anything to avoid a forced marriage to a man of infamous cruelty. But when she proposes a marriage of convenience to Charles Fawley, Earl of Walton, neither is prepared for the inconvenient desire that arises between them.

It’s with mixed motives that Karen Slocombe’s cousin Penn pays her a visit. Not only does Penn want to renew contact with a relative, but she is also looking for help with the disappearance of Justine, another cousin. Drew Slocombe’s reputation for unraveling mysteries is widespread and Penn hopes he and Karen can be of assistance. Justine’s mother, Roma Millan, claims to be unconcerned at her daughter’s disappearance. Roma’s husband, Laurie, however, believes otherwise.

Growing up in a small Wiltshire village, Abbie Morris knows what lies ahead of her - a life of drudgery as a menial servant, like that of her sisters. But everything changes when Abbie is twelve and their emotional, spirited mother casts them into a crisis for which no one is prepared. Six years later the Morris family have rebuilt their lives, and when Abbie and Beatie, Abbie's adored elder sister, set off for the county fair, the world seems a good place. But their new-found happiness is not to last.

Leanne and her teenage daughter, Abby, have recently been forced to move from London back to Kesterley-on-Sea, to Ash Morley Farm, where Leanne grew up. Leanne's husband Jack, Abby's father, killed himself over a year ago, and the pair are still reeling from the shock waves caused by the tragedy. Also living at Ash Morley farm is Leanne's mother, Wilkie, who is a rock for everyone, and family friend Klaudia and her two children.

Suffolk, 1955. Rosy Gilchrist is asked by her friend Lady Fawcett to join her on a trip to Southwold to visit Delia Dovedale, an old school chum she hasn’t seen in years. Rosy reluctantly agrees to be her companion on the reunion jaunt, but on arrival they discover that their hostess is dead - recently murdered at the local flower festival. Faced with incompetent village police officers and a stern manservant with an eyepatch, Rosy and her friends face the impossible task of finding the murderer in a town of suspicious characters - before the body count rises.

Commissioned in 1750, the Palazzo Venier was planned as a testimony to the power and wealth of a great Venetian family, but the fortunes of the Venier family waned, and the project was left abandoned and unfinished. Yet in the early 20th century, it attracted three fascinating women: Luisa Casati, Doris Castlerosse and Peggy Guggenheim.

Summer has come to Windermere, where Persimmon "Simmy" Brown runs her own florist shop. But the shop is struggling for money, so a contract to provide floral displays for a hotel in Hawkshead couldn't have arrived at a better moment. However Simmy's association with the hotel soon turns sinister when she finds a body in the lake. To make matters worse, her friend, Ben Harkness, is now missing and thought to be kidnapped.

Professor Olivia Sweetman has worked hard to achieve the life she loves, with a high-flying career as a TV presenter and historian, three children and a talented husband. But as she stands before a crowd at the launch of her new best seller, she can barely pretend to smile. Her life has spiralled into deceit, and if the truth comes out, she will lose everything. Only one person knows what Olivia has done.

Pru Plum is the owner of a famous Mayfair bakery. She wears Chanel and her hair is expensively cut. Few would believe that she turned sixty-six last year. But Pru is not the confident, successful businesswoman she appears. She has done shameful things to get to where she is today. And she will do anything to protect the secrets of her past - especially now she has finally fallen in love...

Can the imperfect family really have the perfect Christmas? Juliet Joyce adores Christmas. She loves the presents, the tree, the turkey, the tinsel, everything. Already the festive spirit is upon her, which is just as well as this Christmas things are starting to get out of hand. Her son, Tom, is out of work and bringing home a slew of unsuitable partners; pregnant daughter Chloe and her little boy have moved back in; Juliet's father, Frank, is getting over heartbreak of his own; and Rita, her eccentric mother, is behaving more erratically each day.

Rosie Jackson is beginning to slowly come to terms with a new life and a new future at the age of 65. Rosie is bereft when her husband, Mike, dies. She misses him terribly; even though he wasn't the love of her life, she feels lonely in her grief, despite being close to her two grown-up daughters. With time away from the family florist business, Rosie has the space to think about the past and what might have been.

Sappho Jones stopped counting birthdays when she reached 30, but even with her hazy grip on mathematics she realises that she's on the slippery slope to the big four-oh! With the thought suddenly lodged in her mind that she's a mere cat's whisker away from becoming a single eccentric female living in a country cottage in Wales, she has the urge to do something dramatic before it's too late. The trouble is, as an adventurous woman of a certain age, Sappho's pretty much been there, done that, got the T-shirt. In fact the only thing she hasn't tried is motherhood.

Random House presents the audiobook edition of The House of Hope and Dreams by Trisha Ashley, read by Julia Franklin. When Carey Revell unexpectedly becomes the heir to Mossby, his family’s ancestral home, it’s rather a mixed blessing. The house is large but rundown and comes with a pair of resentful relatives who can’t be asked to leave. Still, newly dumped by his girlfriend and also from his job as a TV interior designer, Carey needs somewhere to lick his wounds. And Mossby would be perfect for a renovation show.

In mid 17th-century England, the nation was in upheaval. In the Dorset countryside, one sunlit afternoon, a young girl, illicitly bathing in a stream, first fell in love with a passing stranger. Her parents called her Dorcas, but he called her Campion and that's what she longed to be, then and forever. She had one gift left for her by her unknown father - a pendant made of gold, banded by tiny glowing stones and at its base was a seal engraved with an axe and the words: St Matthew.

Charlotte Nicholls has a secret that haunts her. She and three-year-old Chloe have left their home and friends, and are now building a new life for themselves elsewhere. All Charlotte wants to do is to forget the past, to blot out what went before, and to look only to the future. At last she and Chloe feel safe. Then, suddenly, their nightmare returns, and Charlotte finds she has no power to prevent what comes next…

After losing all her family in the Great War, Nell is grateful to marry Stan Hibbert. However, five years on, she is just another backstreet housewife, making every penny do the work of tuppence and performing miracles with scrag-end. When she discovers that Stan is leading a double life, she runs away to make a fresh start. Two years later, Nell has carved out a fulfilling new life for herself and her young children in Manchester, where her neighbours believe she is a respectable widow. But the past is hard to run from, and Nell must fight to protect the life she has made for herself and her children.

August 1939. Genie Watkins, a Birmingham kid, would love to have a proper happy family like her Italian friend, Teresa. But Genie hasn't reckoned with the outbreak of war, her already rocky family being split up and the strangely liberating effect it all has on her mother.... Under Birmingham skies darkened by blackout, Genie shares her fears and hopes with Teresa, keeps her spirits up with her nan and glamorous auntie Lil, and tries to hold her family together. And amid it all, she discovers love....

The sun is out, and the beach huts at Everdene Sands are filling up once again. Jemima is artist in residence for the summer, capturing the antics of the holiday makers on canvas. But it's not long before she becomes embroiled in their tangled lives.Vince and Murphy are best mates, and misspent their youths in the waves and bars of Everdene. Now they are making plans for The Lobster Shack, eager to make their fortune.

Having been recently widowed in her 40s, shy Jane Redfern finally plucks up the courage to go on holiday alone. Embarking on a 10-day coach trip to Germany, the last thing she anticipates is to meet someone new and fall in love. But gradually she finds herself drawn to a fellow passenger, Shropshire farmer Dave Falconer, who has also lost his partner. In the stunning Black Forest, her friendship with Dave looks set to blossom. But riddled with guilt at having to leave her cantankerous 85-year-old mother in a retirement home, Jane finds it impossible to imagine a new life with someone else. And there’s something Dave hasn’t been telling her....

Rose and Myrtle Sylvester look up to their older sister, Peggy. She is the sensible, reliable one in the household of women headed by their grandmother, Grace Booth, and their mother, Mary Sylvester. When war is declared in 1939 they must face the hardships together and huge changes in their lives are inevitable. For Rose, there is the chance to fulfil her dream of becoming a clippie on Sheffield's trams like Peggy. But for Myrtle, the studious, clever one in the family, war may shatter her ambitions.