Sister Heather is just dying to see Braden again. Her fantasy is now reality, bringing with it new challenges. Using a contrived excuse, she escapes for two whole days to meet him at a trade show. They plan on packing as much sex and fun as possible into a limited time. Heather is falling in love with Braden, who understands her needs and is surprisingly gentle. It’s not just about sex anymore. Views: 46
Susan Duncan came to Pittwater when she impulsively bought a tumbledown, boxy little shack in Lovett Bay. The move changed her life forever, as she describes in her bestselling title, Salvation Creek. Now Susan lives in Tarangaua, the gracious house built for Dorothea Mackellar in 1925 and is a well loved member of the small Pittwater community. A LIFE ON PITTWATER takes the reader on a memorable trip to this beguiling place and presents all aspects of its distinctive way of life. There is Susan's lovely home with its gorgeous verandah; the lush surroundings, the bush and the bays; the wildlife and the ever-present dogs; the tinnies, the ferries and the peculiarities of living somewhere without cars; the boatsheds and the working boats; the bushfires; and, above all, the close community life. Welcome to Pittwater where neighbours stop their tinnies to have a quick chat. No-one ever dresses up. The kids take the ferry to school. Goannas wander into kitchens and leeches attach... Views: 46
From the author of the New York Times bestselling Once a Runner—“The best novel ever written about running” (Runner’s World)—comes that novel’s prequel, the story of a world-class athlete coming of age in the 1950s and 60s on Florida’s Gold Coast.Quenton Cassidy’s first foot races are with nature itself: the summer storms that sweep through his subtropical neighborhood. Shirtless, barefoot, and brown as a berry, Cassidy is a skinny, mouthy kid with aspirations to be a great athlete. As he explores his primal surroundings, along the Loxahatchee River and the nearby Atlantic Ocean, he is befriended by Trapper Nelson, “the Tarzan of the Loxahatchee,” a well-known eccentric who lives off the land. In junior high school, quite by chance, Cassidy discovers an ability to run long distances, but his real dream is to be a basketball star. Still, Cassidy absorbs Nelson’s view of running as a... Views: 46
Set in a courtly world of masked revels and dances, this play turns on the archetypal story of a lady falsely accused of unfaithfulness, spurned by her bridegroom, and finally vindicated and reunited with him. Villainy, schemes, and deceits threaten to darken the brilliant humor and sparkling wordplay--but the hilarious counterplot of a warring couple, Beatrice and Benedick, steals the scene as the two are finally tricked into admitting their love for each other in Shakespeare's superb comedy of manners.Each Edition Includes:• Comprehensive explanatory notes • Vivid introductions and the most up-to-date scholarship • Clear, modernized spelling and punctuation, enabling contemporary readers to understand the Elizabethan English• Completely updated, detailed bibliographies and performance histories • An interpretive essay on film adaptations of the play, along with an extensive filmographyFrom the Paperback edition. Views: 46
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a lady of rank and distinction is no match for an impoverished preacher. Yet Damian Hathaway is entranced from the moment he spies Miss Lindsay Phillips entering his church. She doesn't appear any different from the other pampered society ladies--and she's betrothed to a gentleman of the ton. But Damian is determined to find the pure heart he's sure exists underneath all the ruffles and lace. The unlikely friendship formed by Damian and Lindsay is a revelation to them both, but is frowned upon by her parents--and Damian's parishioners. Torn between two worlds, the pair must trust that their love can bridge the divide--and conquer all. Views: 46
Keep life simple, safe. Avoid risks. Annie Marsh learned that the hard way when she was just a kid. So what possessed her to forget those rules for one night with Reservist Drew Vincent? Could've been the fact he was shipping out the next day. Regardless, next thing Annie knows, she's a new mommy...and her son's daddy is missing and presumed dead.That is, until two-plus years later when she answers her front door. Turns out Drew is not only very much alive, he's about to discover he's a dad. And that initial spark between Annie and Drew? It's on the verge of becoming all-consuming. But how can she trust her heart and her son to a man who risks his life every day? Views: 46
The Jedi Order is in crisis. The late Jacen Solo's shocking transformation into murderous Sith Lord Darth Caedus has cast a damning pall over those who wield the Force for good: Two Jedi Knights have succumbed to an inexplicable and dangerous psychosis, criminal charges have driven Luke Skywalker into self-imposed exile, and power-hungry Chief of State Natasi Daala is exploiting anti-Jedi sentiment to undermine the Order's influence within the Galactic Alliance. Forbidden to intervene in Jedi affairs, Luke is on a desperate mission to uncover the truth behind Jacen's fall to the dark side--and to learn what's turning peaceful Jedi into raving lunatics. But finding answers will mean venturing into the mind-bending space of the Kathol Rift and bargaining with an alien species as likely to destroy outsiders as deal with them. Still, there is no other choice and no time to lose, as the catastrophic events on Coruscant continue to escalate. Stricken by the same violent... Views: 46
Product DescriptionFor the last two decades, The New York Observer has documented the Platinum Age of New York, when the city's new elite rose and dominated society, media, business, and culture with an amusing arrogance that redefined the power capital of the world. The Kingdom of New York jauntily chronicles the Rise and Fall and Rise of New York City, as personified by the protagonists and antagonists of the past twenty years, told in archival pastiche—a breathtaking sprint of headlines, great reporting, witty writing, and stories in fashion, ideas, real estate, style, media, movies, politics, sex, and finance.All of New York's major players are here—including Bill and Hillary, Rudy Giuliani, Michael Bloomberg, Graydon Carter, Katie Couric, Tom Wolfe, Norman Mailer, Tina Fey, J. Lo, Seinfeld, Tina Brown, Anderson Cooper—as well as essays by Cynthia Ozick, Gay Talese, Woody Allen, and Martin Scorsese. Here, too, are many of the country's finest journalists reporting on the high opulence of the 1990s; the wry irony of the Seinfeld years; the poignant loss of John Kennedy Jr.; and the inconceivable assault of September 11, 2001, and New York's rallying return. Among it all are signature features—from Candace Bushnell's "Sex and the City" columns as they initially appeared to the couples counseling of "George and Hilly"—as the Observer grew into one of the city's most influential papers.Handsomely designed and filled with the paper's trademark attention to politics, status, and wealth, this is a rollicking insider's account of contemporary New York. At once wickedly funny and astute, The Kingdom of New York is a striking tribute to an unforgettable era in the city's history.About the AuthorThe New York Observer was founded in 1987. It covers politics, media, society, real estate, fashion, business, culture, and entertainment in the power capital of the world. It is published weekly as a newspaper and ceaselessly at www.observer.com.
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In this timeless survival story, four indentured servants escape their Russian Alaska work camp in a stolen canoe, only to face a harrowing journey down the Pacific Northwest coast. Battling unrelenting high seas and fierce weather from New Archangel, Alaska, to Astoria, Oregon, the men struggle to avoid hostile Tlingit Indians, to fend off starvation and exhaustion, and to endure their own doubt and distrust. Based on an actual incident in 1853, The Sea Runners is a spare and awe-inspiring tale of the human quest for freedom. Views: 46
A career criminal with OCD tendencies and a savant-like genius for bringing order to his crime scenes, Martin considers himself one of the best in the biz. After all, he’s been able to steal from the same people for years on end—virtually undetected. Of course, this could also be attributed to his unique business model—he takes only items that will go unnoticed by the homeowner. After all, who in their right mind would miss a roll of toilet paper here, a half-used bottle of maple syrup there, or even a rarely used piece of china buried deep within a dusty cabinet?Even though he's never met these homeowners, he's spent hours in their houses, looking through their photo albums and reading their journals. In essence, Martin has developed a friendship of sorts with them and as such, he decides to interfere more in their lives—playing the part of a rather odd guardian angel—even though it means breaking many of his twitchy neurotic rules. Along the way Martin not only improves the lives of others, but he also discovers love and finds that his own life is much better lived on the edge (at least some of the time) in this hilarious, suspenseful and often profound novel about a man used to planning every second of his life, suddenly forced to confront chaos and spontaneity. From the Hardcover edition.Amazon.com ReviewAmazon Exclusive: Alan Bradley Reviews *Something Missing* Alan Bradley is the author of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, the first mystery in the Flavia de Luce series, and one of Amazon's Best of the Month picks. The next book in the series, The Weed That Strings the Hangman’s Bag, will be published in 2010. Read his exclusive Amazon guest review of Something Missing: I once knew a man who thought in precisely the same way that Martin Railsback does. Even the drabbest of tasks, such as going for groceries, or putting out the trash, had to be planned with the utmost strategy and cunning. I found out later that my friend was a retired safecracker.Martin Railsback, Jr., if you haven’t already heard, is the protagonist of Matthew Dick’s first novel, Something Missing: the story of an obsessive-compulsive housebreaker whose every waking moment is jam-packed with finicky clockwork ritual--the kind of intense micro-planning that might have made even Napoleon back off.Martin’s only problem is that, after years of undetected crime, he’s recently begun to think of himself as a sort of guardian angel who watches over his victims, or “clients,” as he prefers to call them. Conscience rears its ugly head.Up until now, Martin has always played life as if it were a game of chess: by thinking a dozen moves ahead of everyone else, he will always come out ahead of the game.And so he does, until the day he accidentally knocks Sophie Pearl’s electric toothbrush into the toilet bowl while stealing a single one (don’t ask!) of her diamond earrings.Thus begins a series of events that play out like a cross between Raymond Chandler and a Keystone Cops two-reeler.Like Jeff Lindsay, whose Dexter series has so brilliantly explored the underside of the underside, Matthew Dicks has created an unforgettable character that will have you torn between wanting to throttle him--or adopt him.--Alan Bradley(Photo © Jeff Bassett) From Publishers WeeklyAn expert thief unexpectedly finds himself aiding his victims in Dicks's charming if rambling debut. During his hours off, barista Martin Railsback burgles the houses of folks he calls his clients, taking only what they won't notice is missing: for instance, three boxes of long grain rice... two rolls of toilet paper (in Martin's estimation, the Gallos had excellent taste in toilet paper), three cups of olive oil and, on occasion, something really valuable. The system works beautifully until the day Martin drops a client's toothbrush into the toilet and feels compelled to replace it. This act of simple decency sets him on an entirely different course, and pretty soon he's breaking into houses to improve the lives of their occupants. Martin's own life starts looking up, too, with the possibility of romance and a new avocation, but the specter of real peril looms. Dicks struggles with digression and repetition—Martin's obsessive allegiance to the rules of his pastime becomes exasperating—but he's created a winning hero in Martin, a crook with a heart of gold. (July) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Views: 46
The spell-binding story of a girl catapulted by fate into maturity – and of a close-knit mining community caught up in the horror and hardship of war. At seventeen it seems that Barbara, youngest of the Hall clan, has the world at her feet. She is pretty, she is mischievous, and she has grown up wanting for nothing. But the carefree idyll is about to end with the suddenness of a summer storm. For a shadow of which she knows nothing hangs over her charmed life; a long dark shadow from the past threatening her happiness and denying her the one man she truly loves. And in the world outside the Hillsbridge valley the clouds of war are gathering . . . Views: 46
Nell has been in foster homes all her life — most of them have been horrible. She finally gets moved to a home she likes, and the ministry threatens to close it down unless an expensive renovation is made to the house. Nell and the two boys in the home, Billy and Tom, decide to raise the funds themselves. How do kids get large amounts of money quickly? By robbing banks, of course. Their first few heists are successful, but when they almost get caught on their sixth robbery, the friends start to fight about whether they should continue. The bank jobs that were meant to keep their family together just might tear it apart. Views: 46
