Showing results by narrator "Stephanie Racine" in All Categories

Scarlet only responds to the advert at the back of the Beano for the role of Defender of the Universe to prove to her annoying younger brother that it’s not a real thing… so she’s a little surprised to be told that she’s got the job and is now responsible for the safety of the entire galaxy. Along with her co-Defender Jasper, Pom-Pom, the cutest alien in existence, and Bot, the cleverest AI robot, Scarlet is thrown into a whirlwind adventure that takes her to the furthest reaches of the cosmos and back again, on a mission to prevent the destruction of planet Earth by an alien species.

As the Second World War enters its final stages, millions in Germany are forced from their homes by bombing, compelled to seek shelter in the countryside where there are barely the resources to feed them. Twelve-year-old Luisa, her mother and her older sister, Billie, have escaped the devastation of the city for the relative safety of a dairy farm. But even here the power struggles of the war play out: the family depend on the goodwill of Luisa’s brother-in-law, an SS officer, who in expectation of payment turns his attention away from his wife and towards Billie.

Two bodies on the beach. One killer out for revenge. Two years ago, a young girl was murdered while playing on the beach, a doll left by her side. DI Bobby 'Marilyn' Simmons failed to catch her killer, and he's been tormented with guilt ever since. So when another dead girl is found in the dunes, another doll, he knows this could be his only chance to silence his demons.

Three best friends are embarking on an all-expenses paid trip of their dreams. The only catch? Every moment will be documented on film. Lizzie's battle with cancer is coming to an end, and now she's ready to embrace adventure for the very first time. There are only three months, but it is Lizzie's time to finally start living! Jaddi is known for her stunning looks, flirtatious attitude and many conquests. But Jaddi has a secret, and on this last trip together she needs to decide whether her best friends will ever know the real her.

A cheating husband has thrown Ella a curved snowball...and for the first time in years, all she wants is her mum. So she heads back to Greece, where her family's taverna holds all the promise of home. Meanwhile, waitress Maddy's dreams of a white Christmas lead her back to London...and her dad.

Stockholm 1954. While investigating the murder of a little girl from the old house at Valley Street 14, the police officer himself is murdered. The case is never solved. In 2017 there is a similar murder in the same place. This time though, PI Jessica Bolton gets involved in the case. But the investigation gets complicated and soon it becomes clear that the old house harbours dark secrets from the beginning of the twentieth century.

Screenwriter Caroline Byrne is desperate to know why her daughter, Jessica, died, murdered in Stratford when she was supposed to be at a friend’s in Somerset. When Caroline discovers the messages Jessica had been sending a boy named Michael, she realises it’s because of him. Because he failed to meet her that day. He’s the reason why her daughter is dead. And so she makes a choice. He’s the one who’s going to pay. That is her promise. Her price.

The mythical Greek king, Oedipus, is no stranger to tragedy. As a baby, he is left to die on the mountainside of Thebes by his royal parents after the Oracle of Delphi prophesies that he will kill his father and marry his mother. Pitied by the shepherd tasked with leaving him, Oedipus is given to another royal family and grows up ignorant of his past as a foreign prince. Returning to Thebes by chance many years later, he defeats the Sphinx terrorising the city by answering her riddle and becomes king. From here on a series of tragic events begin to unfurl.

From ‘The Manchester Marriage’, in which a husband, supposedly drowned at sea, returns to find his daughter, to the two sisters who are comically adrift after the death of their domineering father in ‘The Daughters of the Late Colonel’, and a young girl who enlists the help of a sorceress to win back her boyfriend in ‘The Goodness of Saint Rocque’, Standing Her Ground showcases nine groundbreaking women writers.

Family means everything to Lily Cortez and her sister Zinnia, and growing up in their non-conventional family unit, they and their two mums couldn’t have been closer. So it’s a bolt out of the blue when Lily finds her father wasn’t the anonymous one-night stand she’d always believed—and is in fact the result of her mum's reckless affair with a married man. Confused, but determined to discover her true roots, Lily sets out to find the family she’s never known; an adventure that takes her from Middledip to Switzerland, via a memorable romantic encounter along the way.

1925. Among the ancient honey-coloured walls of the tiny island of Malta, strangers slip into the shadows and anyone can buy a new name. Rosalie Delacroix flees Paris for a dancer’s job in the bohemian clubs deep in its winding streets. 1944. Running from the brutality of war in France, Florence Baudin faces a new life. But her estranged mother makes a desperate request: to find her vanished sister, who went missing years before. Betrayals and secrets, lies and silence hang between the sisters.

Alex knows her daughter would never wander off in a strange place. So when her three-year-old vanishes from an idyllic beach wedding, Alex immediately believes the worst. The hunt for Lottie quickly becomes a world-wide search, but it’s not long before suspicion falls on her mother. Why wasn’t she watching Lottie? Alex knows she’s not perfect, but she loves her child. And with all eyes on her, Alex fears they’ll never uncover the truth unless she takes matters into her own hands. Who took Lottie Martini? And will she ever come home?

You’re looking over your shoulder, thinking someone’s watching. You’re checking the doors are locked, spooked by a noise. You’re running through the woods, convinced you’re being followed. You’re being stalked. And they won’t stop until you’re theirs.

The girl is freezing. Amber instinctively pulls her close, willing her own warmth to seep into her fragile body. ‘Why can’t I remember anything?’ the girl asks. The girl on the beach has no recollection of who she is or what she is doing there. She is clutching a notebook, filled with stories and pictures she can’t recognise. Amber Caulfield finds and takes her in, unsettling a loneliness built by bitter losses. A childhood accident robbed her of three fingers. Her daughter was taken by a tragic illness. And her marriage didn’t survive her daughter’s death.

I have three names: I was born Leigh-Ann. I became Cherrie. When I was a child, they called me Little Bones.... My father was Mr Bones - the notorious serial killer of 25 years ago. As a child I witnessed his crimes. Everything is different now. I have a new identity. I’m a mother. I am finally free. Until that podcast. I should never have listened. They’re linking a recent disappearance to the crimes of the past. They know who I am. They’re calling me Little Bones again. They say I’m a villain, but I’m not. I’m a victim. You believe me, don’t you?

In 1960s Marrakech a young girl travels to meet her estranged grandmother. Vicky Baudin steps on to the train through Morocco looking for the truth about the woman who gave her father up for adoption decades before. Clemence Petier lives in a kasbah on the edge of the Atlas Mountains, her background shrouded in mystery. But the past holds secrets that threaten them both. A face from Clemence’s childhood threatens to expose everything she has built a life to hide.

Marrakech 1966. Vicky Baudin steps onto a train winding through Morocco, looking for the grandmother she has never met. It’s an epic journey that’ll take her to the edge of Atlas Mountains – and closer to the answers she’s been craving all her life. But dark secrets whisper amongst the dunes. And in unlocking the mystery of Clemence’s past, Vicky will unearth great danger too.