SWAT Captain Michael Cutler's pulse was racing. He should have been thinking about the intense hostage crisis he'd just diffused. But he couldn't keep his mind off of her -- Jillian Masterson, the leggy brunette who had come to him for protection from an obsessive stalker. He certainly hadn't been looking for love, especially with someone fifteen years his junior. But their chemistry was undeniable. As the stalker's threats intensified, Michael knew he'd go to any lengths to bring him down. Even if that entailed giving Jillian some very personal security.... Views: 17
In 1936, Dorothy L. Sayers abandoned the last Lord Peter Wimsey detective story. Sixty years later, a brown paper parcel containing a copy of the manuscript was discovered in her agent's safe in London, and award-winning novelist Jill Paton Walsh was commissioned to complete it. The result of the pairing of Dorothy L. Sayers with Walsh was the international bestseller Thrones, Dominations. Now, following A Presumption of Death, set during World War II, comes a new Sayers-inspired mystery featuring Lord Peter Wimsey, revisiting his very first case. . . . It was 1921 when Lord Peter Wimsey first encountered the Attenbury Emeralds. The recovery of the gems in Lord Attenbury's dazzling heirloom collection made headlines—and launched a shell-shocked young aristocrat on his career as a detective. Thirty years later, a happily married Lord Peter has just shared the secrets of that mystery with his wife, the detective novelist Harriet Vane.... Views: 17
He was a brilliant teller of tales, one of the most widely read authors of the twentieth century, and at one time the most famous writer in the world, yet W. Somerset Maugham's own true story has never been fully told. At last, the fascinating truth is revealed in a landmark biography by the award-winning writer Selina Hastings. Granted unprecedented access to Maugham's personal correspondence and to newly uncovered interviews with his only child, Hastings portrays the secret loves, betrayals, integrity, and passion that inspired Maugham to create such classics as The Razor's Edge and Of Human Bondage.Hastings vividly presents Maugham's lonely childhood spent with unloving relatives after the death of his parents, a trauma that resulted in shyness, a stammer, and for the rest of his life an urgent need for physical tenderness. Here, too, are his adult triumphs on the stage and page, works that allowed him a glittering social life in which he befriended and... Views: 17
As compelling and revelatory as Colm Toibin's The Master, Walt Whitman's Secret mines the life of the most influential poet in the American canon for insights about creativity, relations between the sexes and the dangers of excessive patriotism.In this wonderfully imagined novel, Walt Whitman's secret isn't his homosexuality but another one entirely. It's a political secret, one that the greatest American poet of the nineteenth century has pledged himself to keep until he is on his deathbed.Only in that way can Whitman protect the great love of his life - a Confederate deserter he met in Washington during the Civil War - from the calumnies and scandals that have muddied his own reputation ever since the first publication of Leaves of Grass. The person who finally hears his confession is Horace, his unpaid amanuensis and helper, a young man who will go on to fill nine fat volumes with a verbatim record of the great man's tabletalk and... Views: 17
Space Scout is another fantastic series from the creators of Zac Power! Scouting a giant underwater city sounds awesome to Kip. That is, until he meets the poisonous Jelly People who live there... Views: 17
Now in paperback, the first installment of a Regency era trilogy starring a feisty heroine with a taste for adventure.Twelve-year-old Katherine Ann Stephenson has just discovered that she’s inherited her late mother’s magical talents, and despite Stepmama’s stern objections, she’s determined to learn how to use them. But with her eldest sister Elissa’s intended fiancÉ, the sinister Sir Neville, showing a dangerous interest in Kat’s magical potential; her other sister, Angeline, wreaking romantic havoc with her own witchcraft; and a highwayman lurking in the forest, Kat’s reckless heroism will be tested to the utmost. If she can learn to control her new powers, will Kat be able to rescue her family and win her sisters their true loves?In this charming blend of Jane Austen–era culture, magical whimsy, and rollicking adventure, readers will find a true friend in the refreshingly unladylike Kat Stephenson.From School Library JournalGr 6-9–Resentful of her stepmother, her secretive older sisters, and the whole code of ladylike conduct in early-19th-century England, 12-year-old Kat Stephenson takes action. She chops off her hair, learns to use her mother's magical mirror, and fends off both well-meaning and threatening adults. Posing as a highwayman, she captures husbands for her sisters. There is more than a little wish-fulfillment here as the ignored younger sister–constantly criticized for her curiosity and impulsive behavior–discovers her exalted status while providing for her less-adept older siblings. The Regency world is drawn in broad strokes, and some secondary characters are more caricature than convincing, but the sisters–clearly close to the 21st century in their basic outlooks, even if Elissa, the eldest, fancies herself a Gothic heroine–are appealing and their relationship is believable. Regency romance and fantasy adventure all in one, this is a satisfying read and a promising beginning to a trilogy that is sure to be popular with middle school girls.–Kathleen Isaacs, Children's Literature Specialist, Pasadena, MD. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. From BooklistThis first title in the Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson series evokes Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, Alfred Noyes, and Libba Bray with tongue firmly in cheek. It’s 1803 and 12-year-old Kat must deal with her heritage of as-yet-untrained magic powers while saving her eldest sister from marriage to a wealthy cad old enough to be her father and helping the middle sister connect with her true love. Also in the mix are a loving but ineffectual father, a vicious stepmother, a dashing highwayman, and the mysterious “Order” of witches trying to recruit Kat for proper training in magic. Although it’s unlikely that young readers will be familiar with all the literary references, Burgis’ debut title rides on its swift pace and the delightfully feisty Kat, whose fearless and frequently impulsive actions will have readers cheering her on. Historical-fiction fans will enjoy this quick romp, and romance readers may discover Regency England’s charms, perhaps even enough to seek out Pride and Prejudice and other inspirations. Grades 6-10. --Debbie Carton Views: 17
