Showing results by narrator "Annette Holland" in All Categories

When Libby Nicholls arrives in London, broken-hearted and with her life in tatters, the first person she meets on the bus is elderly pensioner Frank. He tells her about the time in 1962 he met a girl on the number 88 bus with beautiful red hair just like her own. They made plans for a date, but Frank lost the ticket with her number written on it. For the past sixty years, he's ridden the same bus trying to find her. Libby is inspired by the story and, with the help of an unlikely companion, she makes it her mission to continue Frank's search.

Amid the salt marshes and rolling fields of Periwinkle Bay, Magda Conway is enjoying her retirement in ivy-clad Mistletoe Cottage. Yet with three weeks to go until Christmas, as the fairy lights twinkle and the trees go up around the village, her peace is disrupted when she’s left in sole charge of her two mischievous grandchildren. Before long, she’s at her wit’s end—but high on a kitchen shelf lies her mother’s handwritten recipe book. And as she turns to it for advice, she finds more than just recipes between its tattered covers.

Tucked away amongst the winding, cobbled streets of Pengelly, the old stone cottage on Memory Lane is full of secrets. Brimming with trinkets and treasures, there are thousands of stories hidden within its walls. Fifty-four-year-old Grace Clarke arrives in Pengelly determined to uncover the secrets of her past. Standing outside the little cottage, she feels sure that the answers she craves lie inside. The truth about her mysterious long-lost mother and the even more mysterious gifts she was born with....

In the dead of night, 72-year-old Miriam Narracott is found wandering on Exmoor, holding a knife and covered in blood. Inside the family farmhouse lies the body of her adult son, Gabe. CSI Ally Dymond is on compassionate leave, but when approached by the new DI, recently arrived from London and eager to have Ally's keen eye and local knowledge on the case, she finds herself being drawn back in. With their only suspect Miriam unwilling – or unable – to talk, the team must dig into the family’s history to uncover a motive.

After having given up her baby at seventeen, Sonya is inspired by her work at an orphanage to discover what happened to her daughter twenty-five years ago. Reunited, they struggle to bond whilst braving the war together. Nurse Lily has returned to St Ives to finish training as a midwife. But when old flame Tristan is brought in wounded, she must put the past firmly to bed in order to care for him. And working at Tristan’s convalescent home, Mary longs for the romance she reads of in her novels. But her overprotective mother is making that more difficult at every turn.

When Alice is forced away from her spy training in London under tragic circumstances, she is distraught. That is, until she’s asked to join a local branch of codebreakers that might just be finding the key to winning the war. Young Imogen feels impotent to help her beloved Bude as war rages on. When she suspects the attractive new Vicar of betraying their country, she gets to work to uncover his deceit. Meanwhile, American entertainer to the troops Pearl pours her heart into supporting the troops to stop their moral from waning, but is jilted by her young soldier love.

April 1942. Enemy gunfire on Penzance beach brings the Cornish Girls rushing to the rescue. But even as the war rages around them, the biggest challenge facing each woman turns out to be one of the heart. Can the Cornish Girls help one another to open themselves up to love?

Recently widowed, Sheila is determined to run the Porthcurno shop on her own, despite family opposition. Seeing villagers facing hard times, she’s desperate to help but not sure where to even start. When her soldier beau breaks off their engagement to marry someone else, Land Girl Selina is devastated. Will going to the aid of her struggling sister restore her faith in human nature?

Cornwall 1943. When eighteen-year-old Alice receives a mysterious work summons for a special unit in Bude, she's terrified but excited. Forbidden from telling a soul, she launches into training for the most important job she’s ever had. Meanwhile, Penny – a land girl from the farm – also heads to Bude to work at the dairy. Dreaming of finding love, Penny longs for the confidence to speak to a charming local fisherman. Young widow Florence runs the boarding house where Alice and Penny are staying. Between caring for a small child and her tearaway younger sister, she is utterly run off her feet.

It’s 1941 and Christmas is approaching in St. Ives. Shy Lily wishes she could hide from the war. But when her friend Eva writes asking if she’ll join her in St. Ives, Lily can’t refuse. There are officers to nurse back to health and a Christmas party to plan. Eva came to St. Ives to be near Max, the stranger who almost gave his life protecting her from an air-raid. But the wounded pilot keeps pushing her away. Rose can’t help envying Eva, who turns too many heads. But when she suspects the orphanage next door is mistreating its charges, Eva is the only one who can help her.

After 58 years of playing it safe, Lucia Lemon wants something more from life. If only she knew what.... Until she receives a package in the post from an old friend that will change her life forever. Inside, she finds a bundle of cash, a collection of old maps and a beautiful compass that no longer points north. Holding the compass in her hand, Lucia suddenly feels hopeful - for the first time ever, life feels full of possibility and the open road is calling. If only she’s brave enough to answer it.

When Rose’s old friend Elise suddenly arrives on her doorstep having just escaped a controlling marriage, she offers her a place to stay. But Elise wants more than a safe refuge, she wants Rose to help her get her daughter back, so that she can truly start afresh with five-year-old Daisy safely in her arms. Every little girl needs her mother, after all. Ready to insert herself into Elise’s old home, Rose gets a job as a teacher, home-schooling Daisy. But when Rose is asked to take the little girl and bring her to Elise, she gets cold feet. Elise’s behaviour is becoming increasingly erratic.

May Rosevere has reached the grand old age of 110, thanks to several slices of toast with butter every morning, a glass (or two) of port, and the wonders of the Cornish sea air - or so she tells everyone. But there’s much more to May than her remarkable age. She has a secret. One that no one has ever discovered....

Nick and Amber Miller are splitting up and selling their Devon family home. But despite the desirable location, the house isn’t moving. Not a single viewing so far. When their estate agent suggests an open house event, Amber agrees, even as she worries about their gossiping neighbours attending and snooping around their home.