Tragedy strikes—a brother and sister find themselves facing a situation that will shape the rest of their lives. When a fire destroys the Lundys' barn, Winnie is injured trying to get the animals to safety. Confined to a hospital for weeks, out of touch with her loved ones who live too far away to visit by buggy, she must depend on Englisher Samuel Miller to keep her company. Though his family is part of Winnie's tight-knit Amish community, Samuel left years earlier to pursue a university education. Through conversations, and Samuel's dedication to her recovery, a friendship forms. But despite their growing attraction, Winnie knows it can never develop into something more as long as Samuel chooses to remain in the outside world.When Winnie returns home, she finds her brother, Jonathan, struggling with his own dilemma. Cigarette butts were discovered in the debris of the barn and Jonathan is determined to find out who is responsible for destroying his property and putting his family at risk. But in a community founded on grace and forgiveness, will his unwillingness to move on eat away at the trust that is the foundation of their lives? Views: 52
Ex-detective Macmillan has a taste for bad girls, but his last lover really took the cake?and his humanity. Now a half-demon, Mac?s lost his friends, his family, and his job. Then a beguiling vampire asks for his help to find her son. Suddenly, Mac has a case to work?one that leads him deeps into the supernatural prison where Mac learns that cracking the case will cost him his last scrap of humanity. Views: 52
In this sparkling comic novel by one of the most "inside" of fashion insiders, journalist John Sharkey recounts his career under that legendary tyrant of the fashion press Bingo Marsh. Heady as champagne, arch and funny as the best dinner partner you've ever had, Fashion Show is a completely captivating romp through the elegant wilds of style. Views: 52
In this new mystery series set on the islands off the coast of British Columbia and Washington State, Noel Franklin and Kyra Rachel team up to form Islands Investigations International. Quickly they come to realize that some crimes respect no boundaries.Their first job takes Noel and Kyra to Gabriola Island and the unsolved murder of an art gallery groundskeeper. The vicious rumours surrounding the case take several sinister turns, leading them into grave personal danger. As each investigator falls prey to those they need to trust, Kyra and Noel discover that even charming island communities can keep deadly secrets. Views: 52
After her daughter's disappearance, a world-weary grandmother becomes the guardian of her two street-wise grandchildren -- but their demented, no-good father will do anything to get them back. After twenty-nine years of marriage, Hattie has paid her dues. She's now retired and looking forward to enjoying her peaceful golden years. Unfortunately, her calm life is changed forever when her daughter Neema mysteriously disappears and she finds herself to be the sole guardian of her two unruly grandchildren. To make matters worse, their crazed father, Topps Jackson, is determined to get them back. A ruthless drug dealer, Topps runs a dangerously lucrative drug trafficking operation. Now Topps wants to bring his young son into the business at an early age. The only person giving him grief and standing in his way is Hattie Sims. Grandmother or not, Hattie has to go. Driven away by his constant threats, Hattie is forced to live her life on the run, depending on... Views: 52
From Publishers WeeklyWhile no doubt the bravado with which Hennessy frames his account of daily life in a war zone reveals the crucial but often overlooked heart and mind of a soldier, the unsettling results confirm the vapid promises of war: that in battle, there is no context, no history, but only boredom, adrenaline, or grief. "Fun," "thrill," and "excitement" drive Hennessy, and apparently his comrades as well, even after a lot of blood and death; that this fact endures becomes more horrifying than the wars enveloping them. Hennessy's story jumps from daily life at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, to drills in the British countryside, to Iraq and Afghanistan, and the sum of these parts never quite adds up to a cohesive tale, though sections share a hurried disjointedness that occasionally comes off as narrative momentum. The jargon and relentless use of acronyms certainly captures military speech but obscures the basic development of many scenes. Though a glossary of terms is included, flipping for every DTDF, OPTAG NCO, and GPMG would make for more back-and-forth than any attention span would permit. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. From BooklistStarred Review Oxford graduate Hennessey decided he wanted to do something exciting, so he went to Sandhurst, England’s Royal Military Academy, and then to Bosnia, Iraq, and, ultimately, Afghanistan as a lieutenant and platoon leader in the Grenadier Guards. There he found what he was looking for, and this voluble, kinetic, and often funny book recounts his experiences. He’s cheeky about Sandhurst, describing it as “Hogwarts with guns” and asserting that military knowledge and leadership were taught primarily through “MARCHING, IRONING, and SHOUTING,” but he also acknowledges the program’s effectiveness. (He became the Royal Army’s youngest captain.) His time in Iraq melded boredom and frustration because he and his fellow guards realized they “weren’t going to have a fight” in Baghdad; with time on their hands, Hennessey and his fellow junior guards formed the titular reading club. Reassigned to Afghanistan, however, he found his fights, which rivaled Korea and even WWII in intensity. The book’s pace, never leisurely, accelerates in Afghanistan, as Hennessey vividly describes near-constant battle with Taliban fighters and confronts his reactions: exhaustion, fear, grief, fellowship, confusion, and what he calls the “rapture” of war. All wars generate fine books. This may be one of the best to come out of the war in Afghanistan. --Thomas Gaughan Views: 52
Ronan Marino thought his life was going to be easy when he won the biggest jackpot in the history of the California lottery, left a successful career in the military and moved back to his boyhood home in Lowell, Massachusetts. He couldn't have been more wrong. When his girlfriend is found dead in the cold waters of the Merrimack River, Ronan learns she had a dark secret; one that powerful men on both sides of the law are desperate to remain hidden. Calling on his mob enforcer cousin for backup, Ronan dives headfirst into places where even angels fear to tread, committed to finding who took his girlfriend's life, even at the cost of his own. Views: 52
