In Maggie Barlow's world, reality is overrated. So what if her singing career has hit a sour note or she's no longer the ingénue that she used to be? So what if she drinks and smokes a bit too much or likes to chat with a fairy godperson who appears to her from time to time? She's the queen of denial and an actress to boot—she can just take on the role of someone she likes better than her sorry self. Regrettably, that role is currently Dorothy in the Little Britches Theater Company's production of The Wizard of Oz.Dorothy on the Rocks is the story of a funny, lovable, totally self-destructive woman who, after a night of one-drink-too-many, wakes up with a strange man in her bed: confident, handsome, sexy, twenty-eight-year-old Jack. What happens next is what makes Barbara Suter's coming-of-middle-age tale so much fun. For when the make-believe is finally stripped away, our hurt, lonely, and very afraid heroine finally takes center stage and finds herself... Views: 14
'Close your eyes and slowly count backward from ten.'America, the near future. A young spy on a mission logs her observations. The result is an intense thriller, and a minute dissection of the experience of a woman whose beauty is also her camouflage, for whom control relies on submission: a woman whose success - whose life - depends on being seen and not seen.Originally published online via Twitter by @NYerFiction, Jennifer Egan's first new fiction since the phenomenal success of A Visit From the Goon Squad is a taut, compulsive work of unrelenting genius. Views: 14
Oliver Baldwin, recently back from the Barbary Wars, sets sail in the U.S. frigate Chesapeake on a routine patrol. The patrol becomes anything but routine when the ship is confronted by the 50-gun HMS Leopard outside the Virginia Capes. Commodore James Barron refuses the British captain's orders to produce Royal Navy deserters, and the Leopard fires into the American frigate with disastrous results. Following the ensuing court-martial, a new captain takes command of Chesapeake to enforce the Jeffersonian Embargoes on the Atlantic seaboard, with Oliver Baldwin still in his crew. Baldwin’s adventures continue, encountering more ships of the Royal Navy, going to battle with the HMS Macedonian, and, ultimately, witnessing the actual beginnings of the War of 1812. Steeped in accurate U.S. naval lore and told through well-constructed characters, this chronicle provides a fascinating glimpse into a lesser-known period of crucial importance to both... Views: 13
They live ordinary lives, but they are extraordinary. They are the Offspring, children of a mysterious experiment gone awry—and they are in terrible danger. A sexy stranger awakens Amy Shane in the dead of night. Lucas Vanderwyck barely has time to whisper a few words before three men burst into her bedroom and drag him away. But what Lucas reveals shatters Amy's safe little world forever. Lucas and Amy share a psychic gift—a gift that could put them in mortal danger. And as they share night after night of savage passion, as a shadowy government conspiracy tracks their every move, they will fight to save each other. But only with their powers of second sight can they escape the terror of a perfect darkness. About the AuthorSince she was a kid, Jaime Rush devoured books on unexplained mysteries and psychic phenomena. She knew she would be published, marry a fabulous guy, and win a Toyota Supra. Missing the romance, relationship drama, and action of her favorite television shows—X-Files, Roswell, and Highlander—she created her own mix in the Offspring series. Views: 13
Failure. That's the way Kat would sum up her life if you asked her. The list is impressive: estranged family, two broken relationships. Kat's best friend checks them off one by one, and when Mary Margaret Martin has a point to make there's no stopping her. Kat usually lets Mary Margaret talk while blithely planning to do what she wants anyway. This time would be no different, but for one thing: Kat suspects Mary Margaret is right. She does need to stop drifting and a roof over her head would let her regroup. She knows she deserves better. Is she brave enough to return and face her family? Bestselling author Lyn Denison returns with an irresistible story of facing down the past in order to find a future. Views: 13
A moonlit angel--that's what Harrison Payne sees when he wanders onto the balcony of his luxury Colorado resort. The former pro quarterback knows next to nothing about the sensuous, intriguing stranger basking in the night air, except that he wants to know her much, much better.Discovering that Cherisse Washington is the mother of a promising young skier he's agreed to sponsor is a stroke of luck--and learning that Cherisse's ex is determined to get back in her life is an unwanted setback. But all's fair in love--and Harry intends to use every seductive means available to win the woman he knows belongs in his life forever.... Views: 13
Documentary filmmaker Holly hates Christmas, but she must spend it with her mother and the man mom married after she hadn't seen him for forty years. To make matters worse, big time Hollywood agent Levi Harper is her new step-father's son and Holly has just gone around Levi to get his client to sign a contract to do her new documentary. But working together, they find the Christmas isn't so bad. Views: 13
A naturalist studying the flora of the King family's remote valley runs up against three vicious gold-diggers who plan to strike it rich no matter what the cost. Views: 13
Lieutenant Patricia Kelly Elizabeth Strickland-otherwise known as Podkayne-is a third-generation Martian. Her grandfather, Manny, was one of the first men to set foot on Mars. So Poddy has some planet-sized shoes to fill. That's why she's joined the Music, Arts, and Drama Division of the Martian Navy. Though some may say her voice is a weapon in itself, Poddy passed the audition. And now she's going to Europa, one of Jupiter's many moons, to be an entertainer. But she's about to learn that there's plenty of danger to go around in the Martian Navy, even if you've just signed on to sing.From Publishers WeeklyNebula and Hugo–winner Varley continues the space opera saga of the Garcia-Strickland clan (last encountered in 2006's Red Lightning) in this enjoyable if simplistic tale. Patricia Kelly Elizabeth Podkayne Strickland-Garcia-Redmond, daughter of an earlier series hero, Ray Garcia-Strickland, is glad for any excuse to escape her job as the Martian consul in California, but the news calling her home is dire: her great grandmother is ill and about to go into suspended animation. After a family reunion, Podkayne heads to Europa, where a disaster forces her own suspension. The solar system she awakens to 10 years later is radically different. Podkayne learns of looming trials threatening the survival of mankind and tackles them with undiminished determination. Varley has deliberately made Podkayne an uncomplicated figure who lets major events and traumas roll right off her, rendering her a less than satisfying protagonist despite her heroics. (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistVarley concludes the solar system exploration trilogy of Red Thunder (2004) and Red Lightning (2006) with a zany Heinlein homage, whose immediate tip-off for the fans comes with the disclosure that the protagonist prefers to be called by one of her middle names, Podkayne (see Heinlein’s Podkayne of Mars, 1963). Assigned to the cultural affairs wing of the Martian Navy, she is sent to the Jovian satellite Europa, nominally as an entertainer. She is shortly hip deep in intelligence work, for which she has hardly any training, but also for which she could end up paying with her life. Meanwhile, she becomes the erotic mentor of young Juba, a role for which she has more qualifications and more interest. Readers who have by this time stopped giggling won’t stop reading until they reach the end, where they may launch a peroration largely composed of the titles of the classic Heinlein juveniles, on which at least two generations of readers cut their sf teeth. Not for the humor-impaired, definitely for Varley fandom. --Roland Green Views: 13
In the midst of recovering from their successful if casualty prone first mission, the crew of the Alliance Space Ship Vorpal Blade are suddenly scrambled back into action. All other priorities take second place as word arrives on earth of a gate colony which has fallen to an unidentified alien assault. As the only space ship currently available to the Human-Adar Alliance, the Vorpal Blade is dispatched to find out what happened to the colony, rescue any survivors and learn the identity of the attackers. With new complexities added to the universe started in the novel Into the Looking Glass and continued in Vorpal Blade , Manxome Foe continues the tradition of non-stop action, valorous if quirky characters and rigorous science drawn from the frontiers of current theory. The odd-ball crew of the Vorpal Blade is an unlikely savior of earth, but none dare say they quail at engaging the Manxome Foe. Views: 13
THE WINNER OF a National Book Award, a Newbery Honor, and countless other awards has written her richest, most spirited book yet, filled with characters that readers will love, and never forget. Jane is 12 years old, and she is ready for adventures, to move beyond the world of her siblings and single mother and their house by the sea, and step into the "know-not what." And, over the summer, adventures do seem to find Jane, whether it's a thrilling ride in a hot-air balloon, the appearances of a slew of possible fathers, or a weird new friendship with a preacher and psychic wannabe. Most important, there's Jane's discovery of what lies at the heart of all great adventures: that it's not what happens to you that matters, but what you learn about yourself.From the Hardcover edition. Views: 13
