Showing results by narrator "Sasha Higgins" in All Categories

Baldwin, the Viscount of Mountgarret, was content with his life. Unexpectedly, his childhood friend dies, leaving him his most prized treasures: his two young daughters. Baldwin’s priorities begin to shift as he arrives home and meets his wards’ infuriatingly stubborn governess. His interest is piqued by the mystery surrounding her, but she’s only a governess. He certainly can’t pursue her. Can he?

On a frigid winter's night, Lady Darriby-Jones is roused from her daydreaming by an unexpected late-night visitor, a familiar yet vexing presence known for annual visits to the Darriby estate. She invites him in, leaving his care to her butler. Little does she know that this decision will lead to a grim discovery. In the early light of day, a shrill cry pierces the serenity, unveiling a most unwelcome gift of the season: the uninvited guest lies lifeless.

Lord Dudley Beauchamp is utterly miserable. A cannon blast damaged his left eye, so he has been released from the Royal Navy and forced to return home to London. He only wants to be left alone, but his family and friends refuse to let him be. They convince him to travel to Felixstowe for a fortnight in hopes that a change of scenery will do him good. Once there, he meets his friend’s infuriating cousin, who is quite possibly the most obstinate woman he has ever met.

Having spent a childhood summer with Viscount Giles Weston, Angelica Wayne has never forgotten his kindness. But when he employs her as his daughter's governess, she finds him cold and formidable. A widower, Giles is engaged to the beautiful but indifferent Lady Barbara Darlington. Darkly cynical, he avoids emotional commitment and wishes to be married in name only. Despite Giles's attitude, Angelica comes to enjoy his company, and her feelings for him start to rekindle. When Barbara calls off the engagement, Giles asks Angelica to take her place as his bride.

When scandal threatens her brother, there is only one thing for Lady Caroline Rutherford to do. She'll use her wit and pluck to land a position at the paper that threatens to spread the rumors. Her family can't be ruined if the lies are kept out of print. Mr. Maxwell Black, the Earl of Helton, took ownership of the London Gazette to reestablish the paper as a legitimate source of news. Unfortunately, the paper's issues run far deeper than he ever imagined, and when help comes along, it's from a most unlikely source: a stunning debutante.

When an American party of intellectuals, who boast of knowledge of a rare slug species, ask Lady Darriby-Jones to stay at Darriby Hall, she hesitantly agrees. She is in for a rude awakening when one of them is found dead with a gunshot wound. She thought it would be a matter that might be swept under the carpet until she's identified as a suspect. It leads her to wonder:Who's the trigger-happy culprit? When did they turn into a slug-slayer? How on earth did they pull off this shocking slug-icide? And . . . Why, oh why, would anyone shoot a slug savant?

Lady Olivia Stone—Liv to her intimates—finally has the control she's longed for. She's hand raised her beloved horse from foal to filly and is ready to enter her in the St. Ledger Stakes. But her father is right about one thing: she needs a proper trainer to take her over the finish line. However, Brandon Casey is not what she had in mind. Until she meets the man ready to challenge—and inflame her—at every turn.

Thirteen-year-old Clementine Merlyn lives with her mom, her aunts, and her cousin Mirabelle at Number Fifteen Pendragon Road. The Merlyns are a family of witches, but because of an ancient falling out with the other branch of the family, the Morgans, they only have powers for a single month of the year: October. And this October may be the one that Clemmie gets her magic.

Chitterton Fells is all of a flutter. Along with every female member of the village Library League, Ellie Haskell has developed a veritable obsession with novels of the romance variety. The steamier, the better. But tragedy strikes when Miss Bunch the librarian is found dead between the non-fiction stacks. Then the local milkman collapses in broad daylight.

Lady Darriby-Jones, ever the gracious hostess, welcomes an eclectic mix of aristocrats, eccentrics, and an unexpected scandal or two to her stately home each year at the most wonderful time of the year. This year, the festive mood is shattered when one of her guests is found dead amidst the Christmas crackers and mince pies. Enter DCI "Rude" Manners, a police chief whose investigative methods are as clumsy as a three-legged reindeer. His theory? Arrest the first suspect he stumbles upon and call it a day. But Lady Darriby-Jones knows her guests—and her reputation—demand more than that.

Lady Darriby-Jones is bursting with joy as her only daughter prepares to wed a cherished member of her household staff—someone who's become like family. But the celebrations take a dark turn when one of the wedding planners is found dead, an arrow piercing their heart.

Seventeen-year-old Emerald Dixon is the worst seamstress in London. Officially. No matter how hard she tries, she's lacking the skills that she's "supposed" to have. Sewing? Nope. Needlework? Absolutely not. Instead, her mind keeps drifting off into daydreams—ones filled with fantastical lands and high society balls. And above all, trying to find the father she's never known. But when her skipping stone hits an attractive young earl, the gilded doors to society are suddenly opened to Emerald . . . if she has the courage to enter.

Emma Manchester was a proper young lady with the soul of a pirate. For the last twelve years she’s done everything she’s supposed to do, while yearning to break the rules, and now she’s engaged to marry a respected magistrate and her future looks bland and assured, without the chance of ever sailing free. Ben Crawford was the love of her childhood, her partner in crime, until he was driven away by her harpy of a mother. Now, all of sudden he’s returned as Nick, king of thieves and ruler of a den of criminals, and she still feels the same way about him.

As the newly minted Lady Fairfax, she finds herself exiled to the tranquil but stifling confines of her husband's Derbyshire estate, her only companionship being that of a governess. Yet amidst the isolation, she encounters Mr. Darcy, the formidable Master of Pemberley, whose aloof demeanor belies a heart yearning for connection.

Nat did something bad. Very bad. But she's not that person anymore. She has a new name and a new life, and no one, not even her husband Brett, knows what she did. She's desperate to keep it that way. When they escape the city to move to their dream home in the suburbs, it seems that life can't get any better. They quickly become friends with new neighbors Fen and Darius, and Nat begins to believe that she can finally put the past behind her. Until the letter arrives.

As Lady Darriby-Jones enjoys a spot of tea with an esteemed guest on the Darriby estate, news of a murder crashes the party, leaving her with a bitter aftertaste. Lady Darriby-Jones knows she faces a murder investigation with a twist—the victim's a local constable, and all eyes are on the hapless and recently demoted DCI Rude Manners as the prime suspect. While Manners may have excelled at incompetence and whining, murder seems a tad ambitious for his resume. While the town gossips, Lady Darriby-Jones dons her detective hat, ready to untangle the truth from a web of incompetence.

Married to the man of her dreams and expecting a darling little bundle of joy, Ellie Haskell is excited to put her feet up and play the part of pampered wife for the next nine months. But handsome hubby Ben has other ideas. He whisks her off to America for an exclusive gourmet cooking competition in Mud Creek, Illinois. And worse, they're staying in crumbling old gothic mansion that's straight out of a horror movie!

London, 1952: Forty-six-year-old Elizabeth Dalloway feels she has failed at most everything in life, especially living up to her mother, the elegant Mrs. Dalloway, an ideal socialite and model of perfection until she disappeared in the summer of 1923—and hasn’t been heard from since. When Elizabeth is handed a medal with a mysterious inscription from her mother to a soldier named Septimus Warren Smith, she’s certain it contains a clue from the past.

Set on the eve of the financial crash of 2008, this evocative novel is made up of three stories linked by time and place, and also by the moving, unexpected interactions of a rich cast of characters. Barcelona Dreaming is narrated, in turn, by an English woman who runs a gift shop, an alcoholic jazz pianist, and a translator tormented by unrequited love, all of whose lives will be changed forever. Underpinning the novel, and casting a long shadow, is a crime committed against a young Moroccan immigrant.

Upon arriving at her grand estate, Lady Darriby-Jones finds it swarming with security forces, their presence a necessity to protect a royal dignitary from Eastern Europe. This mysterious guest, a young noble who recently lost a sibling to a brutal murder in London, is thrust into Lady Darriby-Jones's care for safekeeping. As she struggles to maintain the grace and order of her household amidst the disruption, Lady Darriby-Jones begins to unravel the tragic and lonely life of the royal guest, whose title conceals a world of misery.