Finally the day has come when Jess can bring home her filly Opal. But after Opal almost drowns in a flooded river, she falls ill and won't get better. Has Diamond's spirit abandoned her? This is the final book in the Diamond Spirit series.'What did you decide to call her?' asked Lawson, looking over Jess's shoulder.'Opal,' said Jess, gazing lovingly at the little chestnut foal.'Bad-luck stones,' grunted Lawson.Finally the day has come when Jess can bring home her once-in-a-lifetime horse. But Opal falls ill, the local vet just can't find a cure and Lawson casts her out onto his cattle station to 'do or die'.Wild with anger and refusing to give up, Jess heads west on an outback droving trip with her best friends - and Luke. Will she be able to bring Opal home? And could Luke be her once-in-a-lifetime boy? Views: 18
If you're looking for long boring descriptions of people, places and things read War and Peace 'cause this ain't it. This is a post-apocalypse action adventure story not a fancy dancy "character development" novel.Set in America during the short period when MultiCam was a camouflage pattern available to civilians but not yet adapted by the US military the story's weapons include M16's, M60's and the Browning designed M1911A1 Colt pistol which will still be in use long after Captain Kirk retires his phaser.The reader will hopefully forgive the author's insistence on including survival specifications, military minutia and common sense into the story. It is, after all, intended to be instructional as well as entertaining. Views: 18
007 FACES FATHERHOODSteely government agent Steve Henderson was a lone wolf. Afraid of nothing. Needing no one. Until compassionate nurse Victoria Reynaud placed a newborn in his arms, inexplicably calling the baby girl his!The orphaned little one made Steve's strong knees go weak. And he desperately needed this nurse's nurturing to keep the precious infant safe. Worse, once he whisked the tiny baby and tenderhearted Victoria to his moonlit mountain hideaway, the macho loner was beset with incomprehensible yearnings. Besotted with both woman and child. And—heaven help him—beginning to feel a lot like the father of this makeshift "family"! Views: 18
In the vein of Infidel comes this spellbinding memoir of survival and courage from Afghanistan’s most popular female politician.On the day Fawzia Koofi was born, her mother set her under the blazing Afghan sun to die. She was the nineteenth child of twenty-three in a family with seven wives, and her mother did not want another daughter. Despite severe burns that lasted into her teenage years, Fawzia survived and became the favourite child.In Letters to My Daughters, Fawzia tells her remarkable life story. Fawzia’s father was an incorruptible politician strongly attached to Afghan tradition. When he was murdered by the mujahedeen, Fawzia’s illiterate mother decided to send the ten-year-old girl to school, and as the civil war raged, Fawzia dodged bullets and snipers to attend class, determined to be the first person in her family to receive an education.She went on to marry a man she loved, and they had two cherished daughters,... Views: 18
The temptation to return to the club and to Anando was too strong. Despite her better judgment, despite the risks to her heart, Virginia goes back to see her vampire lover. He agrees to the rules she sets easily enough, but those same rules, once they are alone in his bedroom with a few toys between them, suddenly seem too restrictive to Virginia herself... Views: 18
American surgeon Caitlin O'Donahue nearly lost her life doing volunteer work in the sultry jungles of El Salvador. She escapes to her childhood ranch to discover her father is in hiding. Now the place that was once safe seems dangerous. The only man she can trust is a stranger -- a gorgeous rancher with an agenda and deep-set secrets. Undercover agent Rhett Kane is hell-bent on busting Caitlin's father. His assignment doesn't include protecting Caitlin...or taking her under cover in the most sensual way. When his dual lives collide, he's left with the ultimate choice. Will he choose love over duty -- and will it cost him his life's mission? Views: 18
What The Billionaire Wants...There's something suspicious about his sexy new secretary. Now Western Oil COO Jordan Everette is determined to reveal every one of Jane Monroe's secrets. And it isn't in this billionaire's nature to just ask questions. He'll seduce the truth out of her.But is the playboy actually the one being played? Because Jane is on a mission—to investigate a corporate wrongdoer. The prime suspect? Jordan Everette. But when her hidden agenda clashes with his not–so–hidden allure, she has to choose between a dream career...and the man of her dreams.Which will it be? Views: 18
“The Uninnocent is a masterpiece of empathy and of storytelling. I love this chapel of unholy stories with their charming, monstrous, wholly sympathetic characters.”—Karen Russell, author of *Swamplandia!*Bradford Morrow’s stories have garnered him awards such as the O. Henry and Pushcart Prizes and have given him a devoted following. Now gathered here for the first time is a collection of his finest, gothic tales. A young man whose childhood hobby of collecting sea shells and birds’ nests takes a sinister turn when he becomes obsessed with acquiring his brother’s girlfriend, in “The Hoarder” (selected as one of the Best American Noir Stories of the Century). An archeologist summoned to attend his beloved sister’s funeral is astonished to discover it is not she who has died, but someone much closer to him, in “Gardener of Heart.” A blind motivational speaker has a crisis of faith when he suddenly regains his sight, only to discover life was better lived in the dark, in “Amazing Grace.” In all of these stories, readers will find themselves enthralled and captivated by one of the most potent voices in contemporary American fiction.From Publishers WeeklyConjunctions founding editor Morrow (The Diviner's Tale), creates beautifully dark and soulfully intimate stories in his first collection, featuring characters who, though hardly citizens of virtue, reveal their true colors with little remorse. Each tale is told close at hand, with first-person narrators drawing the reader into their confidence, making readers complicit in shadowy inner workings that they don't completely understand. A man who enjoys collecting trinkets sets his sights dangerously on his brother's girlfriend in "The Hoarder." A blind man, in "Amazing Grace," regains his sight only to realize that the enlightened life he had imagined for himself is actually shrouded in darkness. After misplacing his mind, a man finds that, "whereas before he was dependable (had been with the same accounting firm for fifteen years, was the star shortstop on their interleague softball team), he now became not just unreliable, but entirely unpredictable," in "Mis(Laid)." In the sinister "Tsunami," a wife and mother relays the details of her unraveled marriage, remaining matter-of-fact: "This story doesn't get any better, so if you wanted to stop here I certainly wouldn't blame you. I can even tell you what happens so you won't have to bother." Morrow's stories are hauntingly honest and linger in the consciousness. (Dec.) From Library JournalA teenage boy obsessively (and surreptitiously) photographs his older brother’s girlfriend. An electrical worker who turns motivational speaker after he’s blinded in an accident miraculously regains his sight and discovers that life was better when he couldn’t see. A young wife prone to fugue states is at the center of a series of murders that involve her husband, her children, and her husband’s lover. A teenage boy murders his grandmother’s male friend, whom he believes to be a Martian landed on Earth as part of the invasion that captivated the country in Orson Welles’s broadcast of War of the Worlds—and no trace of the body can be found. What links all these dark tales from Morrow (The Diviner’s Tale) is that the main characters live in the shadowland where normalcy and mania and at times even depravity meet. VERDICT Hanging on the voices of their narrators—at once fascinating in their fixations and repelling in their twisted logic—and mixing elements of Southern gothic and noir, these powerful tales will linger in the reader’s mind. —Lawrence Rungren, Merrimack Valley Lib. Consortium, North Andover, MA Views: 18
