Linea Hills is an attractive, confident, full-figured woman in full control of her heart and her life—until she falls into lust with her best friend’s husband. Then her life is turned upside down as she feels betrayed by love that hits her at the wrong time and with the wrong man. Her precarious situation worsens when her friend tries to draw her into the martial games she and her husband play. Grant West is an eligible bachelor with a job that keeps him on the road and a charm that ensures he has his choice of companionship from a succession of women—none of whom can expect a commitment from him. Then he meets Linea and falls for a woman who is determined not to surrender what he wants most from her—her heart. Views: 30
When Vincent Walker falls for the beautiful woman in the red dress, he has no idea she will change his life forever – by ending it. Now Vincent's body is changing, and his thoughts are getting darker by the minute. Is it possible the wild story she told him was true? Could he really be turning into a vampire? Views: 30
Rumplestiltskin is not his name and this hunk’s no gnarled old goblin. Fairytale Fantasies, Book 2 In his quest to land her a rich husband, Gwyneth’s father has gone one step too far and bragged to the king’s steward. Now she faces an impossible task: spin a room full of straw into gold by morning, or their lives are forfeit. She despairs, until a black-garbed figure offers to solve her problem for a price. One kiss. He returns the second night, and the third. With each sensual encounter, the stakes escalate along with her attraction to her mysterious visitor. Then he claims the ultimate price—her child—and she realizes too late she’s made a deal with the king of the Underworld. From the moment he kisses her, Ragnorak knows Gwyneth’s child will be a worthy heir for his kingdom. But with each touch, he wants more. He wants her to be queen of his strangely beautiful world—and for her to want to stay. But that will mean giving her the ultimate weapon—the power of his name. Gwyneth has only three chances to drive her demon lover over the edge of bliss. But when the stakes suddenly shift, it’s Ragnorak who stands to lose everything… Warning: This book turns a well-known fairytale upside down, and involves hot sex with a villainous demon—or is he…? Views: 30
An engaging novel about body image, eating disorders, diet myths and the big fat fabrications and lies that the media forces us to swallow. A compelling, entertaining story infused with fascinating little-known facts about ancient goddesses, curious New Age remedies, the foibles of modern-day celebrities and the truth about retouched images in the world of fashion magazines, from which so much self-body-hatred comes. A story of compassionate vulnerability and determined empowerment. The Hungry Mirror is the fictional tale of a young woman overwhelmed. Lured by false promise and seeking fickle social acceptability, she starves herself and fast becomes trapped when seeming-sanctuary proves a cage of addictions walled by self-hatred and filled with doubt. Within the context of fashion magazines, the young woman is both participant and observer in the perpetuation of the myth of beauty; the retouched images, the impossible standards that ordinary women are expected to follow and achieve. A firsthand account of the role of the media in the war with body image, this is the story of everywoman and the relentless ghosts that pursue her. Increasingly ill, her marriage cold, her family well-intentioned enablers of mistaken social belief, the young woman realizes the choice is hers; to live or die. The work encompasses the complex friendships between women, the unspoken truths about marriage and sexuality as well as various religious and spiritual messages, ancient philosophies, fairytales and legends. In the end, the young woman learns the true value of size zero is indeed nothing.About the AuthorBorn in South Africa, Lisa de Nikolits has a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Philosophy. She has lived and worked all over the world, and has art directed on magazines such as marie claire, Vogue, Vogue Living and Cosmopolitan. Her fiction has been published in the anthologies Stories from Our Black Book and Simply the Best. Her prize-winning poetry was published in The Boy from New Brunswick. Her first novel, Single Girls Go Mad Sooner, was published in 1995. She lives in Toronto. Views: 30
Working over Christmas isn't all bad. For insurance investigator D. D. McGil, who lost her fiancé two years ago, a routine job offers welcome distraction. But who could guess that running employee background checks at Hi-Data, a major software company in Chicago's Silicon Valley, would lead to three dead bodies, counterfeit money, and a killer on her tail?
The electrocuted corpse of a Hi-Data partner, who just happens to be her ex-brother-in-law, is only the first nasty surprise in this deadly web of corporate treachery. Is it possible that her aunt's newfound Robert Burns discovery - a literary treasure worth millions if authenticated - is somehow connected?
Relying on her own tools of the trade and the preternatural fact-finding skills of her antiquarian bookseller friend, D. D. slowly pieces together a sordid case of high tech villainy, which turns out to be shockingly linked to her fiancé's mysterious death. Views: 30
They called him Johnny Berlin and he had an instinct for cards, for trouble... for dames. He'd dealt at all the biggest tables in Reno and Vegas. He'd told the head of the gambling syndicate to go to hell—and repeated the message to his hired killers. He'd had women throwing themselves at him at every turn... and he loved it. That was Johnny Berlin. Who would have thought he'd find the dice loaded against him in a peanut-sized town off a back road in northern California? Who would have thought he'd fall for a nice girl? And who would have thought he'd risk his life for her? Nobody—least of all Johnny Berlin himself.On his way from San Francisco, Johnny gets lost in the fog while driving the costal route to Portland, Oregon. Stopping to get directions from a stranger turns out to be deadly, when that stranger—a dangerous racketeer—turns up dead... and Johnny is pegged as the killer. Now it'll take all his smarts and toughness to save himself and the... Views: 30
“There is good luck, and there is bad luck, and then there’s the ambiguous sort of luck that’s a lot of this and some of the other.”Philip Lawrence, a robust and pleasure-loving furniture-maker, dies suddenly at the age of forty-six. Though that’s terribly young by most standards, he’s lucky to have passed presumably peacefully in his sleep. Less fortunate, however, are the three women he leaves behind to make sense of his loss. There’s Nora, his wife of seventeen years, who wakes up next to his dead body. A fiery visual artist, Nora’s feminist re-interpretation of biblical themes stoked fundamentalist outrage from her small-town neighbours. Now, as her emotions run the gamut, she must confront solo life in a place she despises. Nora shares the house with Sophie, a buxom and bossy redhead, who works as the couple’s housekeeper and personal assistant. A recovering virtue addict, Sophie turns to menial tasks as a way to suppress painful memories of her two-year stint as an overseas aid worker. Philip’s death leaves her quietly reeling. And then there’s the pliable and vacuous Beth, a former beauty queen, who serves as Nora’s live-in muse and model. She mourns not Philip so much as the loss of a haven from her own creepy past. The novel follows the three days immediately after Philip’s death. Privately, each woman deals with memories and emotions, secrets and uncomfortable revelations, while at the same time preparing for the public rituals of mourning (including a funeral like no other). The narrative moves seamlessly from one perspective to another with delicious dark humour and wry insight into the nature of death, love, mourning, fundamentalism and luck. Barfoot’s tenth novel, Luck was shortlisted for the 2005 Scotiabank Giller Prize. The jury citation reads as follows: “Joan Barfoot is at the peak of her powers with this splendidly realized tragicomedy about a household in the wake of an unexpected death. With its note-perfect narration, mordant wit and wonderfully neurotic cast of characters, Luck shows how death can reveal life in all its absurdity and complexity. This scintillating comedy of manners is also a profound meditation on fate, love, and artifice.” From the Trade Paperback edition.From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Canadian novelist Barfoot (Dancing in the Dark) may finally get the recognition she deserves for this brilliantly conceived, masterfully realized 10th novel. Nora, a successful sculptor in her late 30s, wakes up one morning to find her custom furniture-designer husband, Philip Lawrence, 46, dead beside her. The rest of the novel simply follows her and the rest of the household, verité-style, as they make decisions and try to internalize what has happened over the course of that day and the two that follow. The rest of the household consists of Beth, a wispy former model who moved in to serve as Nora's muse over the past few years, and Sophie, a fleshy economist who burned out as an aid worker, and has been holed up with the other three as caretaker and financial manager. Barfoot makes the most of this uncomfortable ménage without overplaying her hand a single time: yes, Philip and Sophie were sleeping together, and yes, it's even possible that Beth poisoned Philip in order to get with Nora. Barfoot alternates among the three women's points of view with comic but never trivializing adroitness, and expertly spins out their backstories and recent lives together. The book is set in an English West Country town (with flashbacks to London), and there's a nice subplot concerning Nora's controversial use of religious imagery. But the real fireworks are in the minute explorations of this closed set of unorthodox relationships, all brought to a finish in a short coda set a year after Philip's death. Coming upon this novel is a fine piece of luck indeed. (Mar.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist"What?" and "Now what?" are the fundamental questions the protagonists in Barfoot's novel ask themselves--again and again. Philip Lawrence "has the misfortune to die," and his wife, Nora, a sculptor, has the equal misfortune (or is it?) to wake up one morning to discover that Philip, lying beside her, has died during the night. Enter Beth, Nora's artist's model, and Sophie, the housekeeper; emotions among the women are high and run the gamut, and readers will quickly find themselves as shocked as Nora, Beth, and Sophie--after all, Philip always looked the picture of health and vitality. The narrative follows the three days immediately after Philip's death. Nora, Beth, and Sophie are a family of sorts, both before Philip's death and certainly after, and so this is very much a novel about family and home as well as death. It is at times disappointing; the basic story line is somewhat thin. But readers interested in a quick read, with its share of real life and real death, will find the book satisfying. Sarah WatsteinCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Views: 30
Best Women’s Erotica 2011 delivers risky, romantic, and heart-pounding thrills. Joyful, daring, and authentic, these steamy stories revel in erotic adventure, from the sparks between strangers to the knowing caresses of long-time lovers. These stories are not merely erotic, but filled with strong characters and clever narratives showing a wide variety of sexual expression. Violet Blue's newest anthology is a glorious celebration of the finest and friskiest female erotic fiction today. Views: 30
