You're eight years old. An only child. You love your parents, but you're convinced you're not enough for your mother because she fosters other people's kids. You've learnt to cope, just about, with how this makes you feel -- but then a boy called Robert arrives, and he and your Mum seem to connect in a way you never have. You hate him for it. And her. And one day you do something really bad to teach them both a lesson. At twenty-eight, you return home to face your mother, who is now chronically ill. Despite the intervening years, you haven't forgiven her - or yourself - for what happened. Ultimately, though, it's her forgiveness you crave, even after all this time - because you need to know, finally, that you were enough for her. Views: 56
Howard Hughes embodied the American dream: envied by powerful men, desired by beautiful women, Hughes lived his life larger than all who surrounded him and yet died an emaciated recluse.This makes him the perfect subject for red-hot biographer Alton Reece. Riding high on the wave of previous astonishing success, Reece sees Hughes as more than simply a name worth the seven-figure advance he's demanding from his publisher. He finds in Hughes a kindred spirit of greatness, a man misunderstood and beaten down by jealous inferiors. But even as Reece struggles to 'know' his subject, his own rapidly unravelling life keeps finding unexpected ways to intrude.With a deft comic touch and an astounding narrative style, Steven Carter's novel creates a picture of a Hughes who might have been, a biographer who can't separate his subject from his own visions of grandeur, and a public that demands its heroes be larger than life – if only so they can be more easily torn down. Views: 56
Rules for a perfect life . . . Rule One: Do not ditch the man everyone says is perfect for you because he eats the last yellow jelly-baby in the bag. Rule Two: Do not move to a shack in the country to 'find yourself' and inadvertently become an object of ridicule for the locals. Rule Three: Do not fall for a man who has two children who hate you, a saintly dead wife you can never live up to and a mother who thinks you are the hired help. Maggie wants the perfect life - but if she keeps breaking the rules can she ever have it? Views: 56
She was supposed to hate him.... Ten years ago Mac Conlon broke her heart... right before she nearly lost her life. But with the lethal assassin who'd tried to kill her back on her trail, Susan Monroe had nowhere else to turn. She entrusted herself to Mac's protection and willed herself not to lose her heart all over again. She was the only woman he'd ever loved. And his need to protect her overrode every reasonable, logical bone in his body. Mac just hoped he could remain sane enough in her enticing presence to do what he'd been trained to -- keep them both alive. Views: 56
October 1929
Times are hard in Whitley, West Virginia, and harder times are just around the corner. But not for William Pitch, as long as he returns to Ward Rock Mountain and give that creature what he wants. And not for the Mayor or the Judge, or the young country doctor as long as they play along with Pitch.
Earl Peters signed on for two reasons: more money, less stress. And Deputy Sheriff sure sounded a lot better than beat cop. He left the big city for a small mountain community. Where the biggest crime is somebody jaywalking across Elm Street, or old lady Travis buying a jar of Henry Walker's white lightning.
But soon the young deputy will wish he'd stayed put. Because Pitch is coming to town, bringing death and despair along for the ride. Views: 56
I lie in bed and study the shadows on my ceiling, leafy and stretched oblong, not so different from the ones in Dayton. I try to work out what I feel about this new place, think I'll never fall asleep. Then the scent of Mother's Dayton soap in the sheets blurs me and I'm anesthetized into deep, dark Panama night. She is fifteen, ready for something— anything—to happen. What happens is Panama. The U.S. government has asked her father to help build the Canal. The whole family will go, be a part of this historical event. But Panama isn't as she imagines. Americans live in the Zone, which has been designed to look and feel just like an American town. She wants more. She wants different. The fantasy is out there. She'll find it. Views: 56
Bestselling author Melody Carlson (more than 5 million books sold) continues her Homeward on the Oregon Trail series with this third and final adventure.Elizabeth Martin and her two children have finally reached the Oregon Country. But Eli Kincade, the wagon train scout who captured her heart, has chosen to continue life on the trail. As other pioneer families begin building new homes, Elizabeth has never felt more alone.However, when Eli unexpectedly returns, confesses his love, and proposes, Elizabeth accepts with her family's blessing.A community begins to take shape, but not without growing pains. As an alternative to the local minister's fiery sermons, Elizabeth's father begins to preach at home, raising the ire of some. Racial biases arise against Brady, Elizabeth's African-American hired hand. Eli's warm sentiments toward Indians also raises concerns.Can Elizabeth and her family overcome these differences and begin a legacy of reconciliation and love?About... Views: 56
In a world where Gods rule and Daemons are feared, Hades, the most notorious Phlegethon daemon-god to roam the ancient world, is released from his prison in Tartarus by the Olympian Zeus to aid in the war against the Titians.Past shrouded in darkness, Persephone, daughter of the earth goddess Demeter, heals from the ordeal that stole her memories and the magic that is an integral part of who she once was. When she meets a stranger in the woods, her life is forever changed. Betrayed by the Gods he once served, battle-weary Hades promised to never allow another god power over him, but he didn't plan on the intervention of the Fates intertwining his future with the stunning woman dancing in the moonlight, or the rise of his Phlegethon nature that demands he claim her as his own. Persephone has become the siren calling him, promising the completion of heart and soul, but only a fool accepts the gifts of a siren, or fight against the will of the Fates.About the AuthorStephannie Beman has been a storyteller since the moment she first learned to speak, an avid reader since before she could really read, a writer since she penned her first story, and a daydreamer on a mission. She loves the feel of the wind in her hair, the grass against her skin, and the feather light touch of breath on her neck. She is a child of nature, wild and free.Stephannie, her husband, and two daughters presently live on a small ranch in Southwestern Wyoming in the original homestead cabin. She enjoys acres of trees, meadow land, mountains, and a river which only fuel her already fertile imagination. In her world legends walk, love is eternal, fables are alive, fairy tales have lessons to teach, and myths are survivors of bygone years. Views: 56
The Lies You Tell was previously published as Swimming Upstream. 'I once read that the end of a relationship is like being involved in a road traffic accident. Which is quite fitting really, given what happened.' Cambridge, 1992. For Lizzie Taylor, one moment changes her life forever. When she accidentally steps out in the path of an oncoming car, an old friend comes to her rescue and everything she thought made her happy starts to unravel: the long-term boyfriend no longer feels like her soulmate and her job isn't fulfilling anymore. Lizzie starts to make drastic changes, not knowing that a terrible betrayal will soon rip apart the new life she's built. Set in the early 1990s in Cambridge and London, it's a story of divided loyalties and the moral choices we face everyday. What readers are saying about The Lies You Tell: 'The story is both entertaining and enlightening in equal measure. There is... Views: 56
In Searches & Seizures, Elkin tells the story of the
criminal, the lovelorn, and the grieving, each searching desperately for
fulfillment—while on the verge of receiving much more than they
bargained for. Infused with Elkin’s signature wit and richly drawn
characters, “The Bailbondsman,” “The Making of Ashenden,” and “The
Condominium” are the creations of a literary virtuoso at the pinnacle of
his craft. This ebook features rare photos and
never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate and from the
Stanley Elkin archives at Washington University in St. Louis.Review
For Elkin, the sentence is more than instrumental to the end, and its
loving elaboration of perceptions, surprising and just, is the key to
his work, putting him among not only the best of novelists, but only the
best of writers. --Howard NemerovThe searches of Elkin's latest
book are philosophical, but the seizures are almost epileptic. In three
novellas, through three very different alienated characters, Elkin
traces a search for an Other, whether it be a criminal prey, a beloved,
or the dead. In each case the search is ended through a seizure, a
paroxysm of hate, lust or despair. Elkin's strength as a writer lies in
his arch, tricky, pyrotechnical style, and his ability to fuse horror
and humor in each "seizure." He has given us three good novellas in this
book, worthy of inclusion in any college or university fiction
collection. --ChoiceWrenchingly funny and oddly moving. This
collection of three new novellas should provide the uninitiated with an
ideal introduction to Elkin's art even as it confirms addicts like me in
our belief that no American novelist tells us more about where we are
and what we are doing to ourselves. This is a remarkably various talent,
and the stories in Search & Seizures nicely illustrate its range Views: 56
