Showing results by narrator "Imogen Comrie" in All Categories

When you’ve spent your life trying to be perfect, how easy is it to let go? Marion Markshop is the undisputed queen of Penmenna and has the perfect life - ask anyone. Doting husband? Hmm, maybe not.... Well-behaved, angelic children? Definitely not. A network of close, supportive friends? Not so much, it turns out. Marion sets out to change her autocratic ways by starting up a wedding planning enterprise in the village.

Born on the night of a bad-luck comet, Ursula Flight has a difficult destiny written in the stars. Growing up with her family in the country, she is educated by a forward-thinking father who enables her to discover a love of reading, writing and astrology. Ursula dreams of becoming a famous playwright but is devastated to learn she must instead fulfil her family's expectations and marry. Trapped and lost, Ursula plots her escape - but her freedom will come at a price.

Life is about to blossom for Lili.... In the three years since her husband died in a car accident, Lili has just about managed to resume her day-to-day life as a single mother and successful illustrator. She can now get her two girls to school, show up to work and watch TV like a pro. But there's still the small problem of the aching loss she feels inside. When she's commissioned to illustrate a series of horticultural books, and signs up to a weekly gardening class, finally her life starts to bloom again.

Beth Martin is 31, newly divorced and wondering just what life holds for her.... Best friend Heidi is adamant that all the answers lie in Corfu - the island where the girls partied away their youth. So cue a trip to a sun-drenched Greek island, ouzo cocktails, a trip down memory lane...and Alex Hallas, the man Beth has never quite forgotten. As they dance under the stars, the sand beneath their toes, old feelings begin to resurface, and Beth might just have a chance to take back her life. If they can learn to love the people they've become....

Ex-ballerina and single mum Sylvie is in trouble. Juggling her ballet classes in the nearest town, preparing shy Sam for his first day at Penmenna Village school and trying to finally move out from the farm she shares with her cantankerous Uncle Tom means life is anything but easy. Television journalist Alex is facing challenges of his own. Seeking a calmer environment for his newly adopted daughter, Ellie, he’s swapped reporting in war zones for the school PTA in quiet Penmenna, where his best friend Chase has persuaded him to start laying some roots.

Teaching assistant Alice has sworn off men, which is fine because with Christmas coming she’s super busy organising the school Nativity. This should be a blast with the help of close friend and village vicar, Dan - if she can ignore those more-than-just-a-friend feelings she’s developed for him...Dan is happy to help Alice - his secret crush - but not only is his beloved Granny Annie about to be made homeless, the church choir has disintegrated and he’s battling some dark demons from his past. With meddling grannies and PTA wars thrown in the mix....

It's the mid-1990s, and 15-year-old Guernsey schoolgirls Renée and Flo are not really meant to be friends. Thoughtful, introspective and studious Flo couldn't be more different to ambitious, extroverted and sexually curious Renée. But Renée and Flo are united by loneliness and their dysfunctional families, and an intense bond is formed. Although there are obstacles to their friendship (namely Flo's jealous ex-best friend and Renée's growing infatuation with Flo's brother), 15 is an age where anything can happen.

It's a year and a half on from Paper Aeroplanes, and Renée is now living idyllically with her Auntie Jo. They even have geese, and Renée likes to sit and watch them, wondering if she'll ever find 'the One' - someone who will love her no matter what and be there for her no matter how bad things get. She and Flo are in their final year at school, and they've got some tough choices to make - like will they go to university? And if so where - and will they go together?

The menopause is a completely natural, normal life event, but a lack of information exists around how best to manage it. Using the latest evidence and her own experience, GP and menopause specialist Dr Louise Newson has created a one-stop guide to give you the facts, bust the myths and help make choices on how to have your best possible menopause.

In today's world of supplements, celebrity diets and social media, it's very easy to be hard on ourselves about the way we look. With all this pressure to strive for 'perfection' aesthetically, it is easy to forget how damaging this can be psychologically. Michelle Elman is a leading part of the body positivity movement that has been gathering momentum to liberate people from these unrealistic standards, recognise that all bodies are equally valuable and broaden the billboard definitions of beauty.

Following heartbreak, Rosy has rebuilt her life in the beautiful Cornish village of Penmenna. Now headmistress of the local school, she is living by The Rule: no dating anyone in the village. Easy, right? But Rosy Winter has a new neighbour: handsome gardener Matt. In Penmenna for his new gardening TV show, this guy next door will do everything he can to persuade her to break her rule and win her heart.

May, 1910. As the blazing Halley's comet draws close to the Earth, Nancy is uprooted to start a new life in Suffolk with a grandfather she has never met. With every curtain drawn shut, Nancy is forbidden from leaving her grandfather's house: no one must know that she or her mother are there. Yet, when Nancy discovers the house's secret observatory, she watches her mother and grandfather creep out every night.... Where are they going? And why mustn't any of them be seen? As the mysteries pile up, Nancy has to bring dark secrets from the past to light.

Emily Parker is set to have the worst Christmas ever! Her flatmate's moved out, she's closed her heart to love and she's been put in charge of the school original Christmas show - with zero musical ability. Disgraced superstar Ray Stone is in desperate need of a quick PR turnaround. Waking up from a drunken stupor to a class of 10-year-olds snapping pics and Emily looking at him was not what he had in mind. Ray needs Emily's help to delete the photos, and she needs his with the show. As they learn to work together they may just open their hearts to more than a second chance.

Rebecca is happily married and content with her job in a London art gallery. But when tragedy strikes and her life comes crashing down around her, she flees to her childhood home in the country, hoping time will help her heal. Born in the same country town, Joe had a falling out with Rebecca and hasn’t seen or spoke to her in a decade. Now he’s the successful owner of a wine bar, and is breaking local hearts. Rebecca finds living with her parents again a challenge. Nor is it easy to discover that Joe lives and works too close for comfort.

For teaching assistant Pippa, life in her home town of Penmenna is reassuringly predictable. Between managing the Easter egg hunt and dealing with her annoying but well-meaning family, Pippa thinks she has it all sorted. That is until gorgeous new substitute teacher Kam Choudhry arrives at Penmenna School, and turns everything upside down. Pippa and Kam are instantly drawn to each other, but they want very different things from their lives. Can they find a way to reconcile their differences and come together?

When her love life crashed down around her, Edie turned to work for solace. But things go downhill with the departure of her work wife, Ruby, and the arrival of new guy Cameron – a chauvinist, a womaniser and the very opposite of a team player. But is Cameron the bad guy he seems to be?

At 13, Lottie discovers a huge secret that her parents have kept from her...the impact of which proves to be life-changing. Because of the resulting fallout, she’s rejected by her mother and deemed troublesome, rude and wilful. Now an adult, Lottie decides to follow her dreams to become an artist. But will she succeed, and can she put her troubled past behind her? As Lottie embarks on a journey of self-discovery, she will come to examine the importance of life, love and friendship.

The Willows have been through a lot. Louise has devoted her life to caring for her disabled youngest daughter. Pete works abroad, almost never seeing his loved ones. Their eldest, Eliza, is burdened by all the secrets she's trying to keep from her overloaded family. Meanwhile, Patience observes the world while trapped in her own body. When the Willows are offered the opportunity for Patience to take part in a new gene therapy trial to cure her Rett syndrome, they face an impossible dilemma.

Hong Kong, 1950: Rowena's daughter, conceived during the horrors of the Japanese invasion, is safely at boarding school. Her great love, Connor O'Connor, is by her side. But just as they begin planning a new life together, bad news comes. A female doctor is urgently needed in Seoul. The powers that be would like Rowena to go. At first she plans to refuse until rumours begin to swirl that the sinister, beautiful man who held her captive during the war may still be alive and looking for her. Korea on the brink of war seems safer by comparison. Except that of course it isn't.

We need to change our attitudes to sleep, to stop obsessing about how much we get and what’s keeping us awake, and get back to a more natural sleep-wake pattern. By explaining the science of sleep and how human sleep habits have changed, this book dispels the paranoia and anxieties that exacerbate or even create problems and helps achieve well-adjusted attitudes towards sleep.