New preacher Wade Kendrick might as well have taken out an ad for a wife--all the church mamas paraded their daughters in front of him every Sunday. But after a tainted past, Wade wanted a reserved, traditional woman. Everything his star gospel singer was not. But he only had eyes for her--Pearl Lockhart, aka Ms. Wrong. Pearl had her eye on gospel stardom. She didn't fit into the preacher man's world any more than he fit into hers. But he was one fine black man--and their sexual chemistry downright sizzled. What was a sister to do? Views: 20
A lyrical and profoundly moving story of love, loss and civil war, set in Sri Lanka, London and Venice.When author Theo Samarajeeva returns to his native Sri Lanka after his wife’s death, he hopes to escape his gnawing loss amid the lush landscape of his increasingly war-torn country. But as he sinks into life in this beautiful, tortured land, he also finds himself slipping into friendship with an artistic young girl, Nulani, whose family is caught up in the growing turmoil. Soon friendship blossoms into love. Under the threat of civil war, their affair offers a glimmer of hope to a country on the brink of destruction…But all too soon, the violence which has cast an ominous shadow over their love story explodes, tearing them apart. Betrayed, imprisoned and tortured, Theo is gradually stripped of everything he once held dear – his writing, his humanity and, eventually, his love. Broken by the belief her lover is dead, Nulani flees Sri Lanka to a cold and lonely life of exile. As the years pass and the country descends into a morass of violence and hatred, the tragedy of Theo and Nulani's failed love spreads like a poison among friends sickened by the face of civil war, and the lovers must struggle to recover some of what they have lost and to resurrect, from the wreckage of their lives, a fragile belief in the possibility of redemption.Beautifully written, by turns heartbreaking and uplifting, `Mosquito’ is a first novel of remarkable and compelling power.From Publishers WeeklyIn Tearne's beautifully crafted debut, middle-aged novelist Theo Samarajeeva leaves London after the death of his wife and returns to his native Colombo, Sri Lanka, which has been ravaged by the continuing civil war between Tamil separatists and the Sinhalese majority government. In his many novels, Theo, who is Sinhalese, empathizes with the Tamil cause, but he refuses to take any extra precautions for his own safety on returning, despite the danger his books bring. After teenage artist Nulani Mendis, whose father was burnt alive by separatists, continually appears in his garden, where she draws in solitude, Theo commissions her to paint his portrait. As Theo and Nulani's lives become increasingly intertwined, genuine romance begins to unfold, but dangers lurk: a menacing former Tamil child solider, Vikram, has taken a liking to Nulani; meanwhile, Nulani's venomous uncle soon learns of the relationship with Theo. Tearne captures the desperation, fear and hope of love during wartime, showing multiple sides of the human capacity for survival. (July) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistAfter a self-imposed exile in London, writer Theo Samarajeeva returns to his homeland of Sri Lanka, which is on the brink of a violent uprising. Determined to write and to grieve over the death of his murdered wife, Theo is surprised by the friendship and blossoming love between himself and a young Sri Lankan artist, Nulani Mendis. Just as the two begin to create a life together, the encroaching civil war shatters their plans, casting them adrift and changing their lives forever. Tearne’s painterly approach to narrative renders visible the memory of love, the sensations of hope, and the heart-wrenching brutality of a war-torn nation. Mosquito depicts the Sri Lankan landscape just as beautifully as it explores its characters’ emotional pain and sense of longing. Like García Márquez in Love in the Time of Cholera, Tearne addresses questions of enduring love and the power of memory, guiding the reader into times of hopelessness but clinging to the traces of love that buoy the characters through unimaginable trials and sorrow. --Heather Paulson Views: 20
How do you choose between two lovers, when you deserve neither? Two knights, William and his foster brother Allen, are summoned to fight for their baron. William leaves behind his wife by an arranged marriage and enters a political game where the baron, the king and maybe the devil himself, each have their plans for him. On the eve of battle, William meets a being called Ahriman and is offered a chance to save Allen’s life...but only at a great price. Although it tears him apart, William agrees to save Allen from his fate and begins a chain of events that offers him great treasures-the crown of the nation, a magical device that opens a door to a world of dragons and, rarest of all, the love of two good people-which he knows he does not deserve. Can the aid of the dragons put right the damage done? Warning: This book is an alternative romance with three people (two men and a woman) falling in love. Views: 20
A woman steps over the line into the unthinkable in this brilliant, powerful, and unforgettable new novel by the author of The Lovely Bones and Lucky. For years Helen Knightly has given her life to others: to her haunted mother, to her enigmatic father, to her husband and now grown children. When she finally crosses a terrible boundary, her life comes rushing in at her in a way she never could have imagined. Unfolding over the next twenty-four hours, this searing, fast-paced novel explores the complex ties between mothers and daughters, wives and lovers, the meaning of devotion, and the line between love and hate. It is a challenging, moving, gripping story, written with the fluidity and strength of voice that only Alice Sebold can bring to the page. Views: 20
After an accident allowed surgeons to reconstruct her face with Barbie in mind, Misty Cordell focused on proving to herself she's much more than a pretty face, even joining the Medusas, the first all-female Special Forces team. But when she saves a handsome pilot, it's a good thing she knows that looks can be deceiving. Because Gregorii Harkov isn't who he says he is. As Greg and Misty run for their lives from an unknown enemy, they hardly know whether to trust one another, let alone anyone else. Can they find their way through the layers of deception to the only truth that matters? Views: 20
For three nights, Sophie Fyne has dreamed of a man with green eyes. She understands very well what that means; the man who will father her child is coming to her. When she finds Kane Varden sleeping by the pond where she swims on each warm morning, she realizes he is the one, and she wastes no time in claiming him. Kane is a rebel, running from the pain of loss, and wounded still from an ambush that left his fellow soldiers dead. In a stupor he believes the angel who comes to him to be a dream, and he leaves the pond a different man. A lucky man who remembers nothing of his past pain. Until he returns to Sophie and the good luck she blessed him with disappears and the pain of his losses returns with a vengeance. When their child is kidnapped, he swears to save the baby—and his Angel. But between Sophie and Kane’s happiness lies treachery, dark magic, jealousy, and a prophecy that promises to take Kane’s life if he is loved by a Fyne... Views: 20
The seductive story of a dangerous love triangle, inspired by the infamous Nabokov marriage, with a spellbinding psychological thriller at its core.In the 1920s, Zoya Andropova, a young refugee from the Soviet Union, finds herself in the alien landscape of an elite all-girls New Jersey boarding school. Having lost her family, her home, and her sense of purpose, Zoya struggles to belong, a task made more difficult by the malice her peers heap on scholarship students and her new country's paranoia about Russian spies. When she meets the visiting writer and fellow Russian émigré Leo Orlov—whose books Zoya has privately obsessed over for years—her luck seems to have taken a turn for the better. But she soon discovers that Leo is not the solution to her loneliness: he's committed to his art and bound by the sinister orchestrations of his brilliant wife, Vera. As the reader unravels the mystery of Zoya, Lev, and Vera's fate, Zoya is faced with... Views: 20
Meet Megan Matthews, a detective who is cursed with always being right. Her instincts are good, her deductive reasoning even better. But she’s that most men find her intimidating, so she’s given up trying to find Mr. Right and has settled, perversely, for arresting Mr. Wrong. Crime scene photographer Ryan Andrews has had a wicked crush on the sexy detective since he first took her photograph by accident at a crime scene. That picture became headline news, and she hasn’t talked to him since. He’s tried everything to get her attention, and when nothing works he’s left with only one option. But is blackmailing a cop into marriage really a good idea? Views: 20
