With all of time at risk, it's a bad time to fall in love...unless it's the only time...Robert Clementyne is going on a transmogrification machine hunt. He fears finding the machine will be as difficult as pronouncing the name. How can the steam-powered device perform as advertised, and how useful can any information be, coming from a steampunk themed bowling alley/museum?It's pretty crazy, but he's been there, done that, and thinks he can handle it.And then he meets the proprietor/curator...Emily Babcock.Emily grew up in crazy, still lives in it—hey, it's her freaking zip code. So no worries when Robert and his team walk into her bowling alley. The first visitors ever to her museum.But neither of them is prepared for what happens when they open the door to the past...and the future. With a side trip through Roswell...and a face-to-face meeting with an evil genius/wannabe—who is on his way to becoming evil overlord-of-everything... Views: 5
A Lamia, a sea creature worthy of John Keats' prose, teams up with a vampire with serial tendencies. When young promising artists are found dead, the Preternatural Bureau sends Cassandra Hayes to the Hamptons to help a fellow hunter track down this lethal duo. She's only spoken to Mr. Green once on the phone and when she meets him in person, he is not what she expects. His hunting skills are spot on, but there is something the man is hiding, and she's determined to find out what it is despite the attraction developing between them.Tremayne Graystone, a vampire from one of the oldest septs, is not pleased when he finds a dead hunter left on the doorstep of his pub. He should have never answered the hunter's phone, but someone is trying to frame him and he wants answers. Surely he can masquerade as Mr. Green, the hunter Cassandra is supposed to meet, before she figures out his true identity and stakes him. She's a Hayes, from a long line of vampire hunters, and fraternizing with the... Views: 5
Years ago, Rebecca Beachy kept her reasons for rejecting Gideon Troyer's marriage proposal a secret. Then Gideon left their Amish community. Now, Rebecca crafts quilts to raise money to cure her blindness. She's also busy guarding her heart against love. Until Gideon returns, at risk of being shunned, to make the winning bid on one of her exquisite quilts. Will the quilt—a patchwork promise of rediscovered love—bring Gideon and Rebecca back together again? About the AuthorPatricia Davids was born and raised in central Kansas. Her family’s strong sense of faith has remained her bulwark in times of trouble. She currently works as an RN in the NICU where miracles happen every day. Her free time is spent enjoying a movie with her husband, shopping with her daughter, spoiling her two grandchildren and researching locations for her next book. Pat always enjoys hearing from her readers. Visit her on the web at www.patriciadavids.com. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved."Booker, if you're gonna die, at least have the decency to go home and do it there."Slumped over his desk, Gideon "Booker" Troyer kept his aching head pillowed on his forearms, but managed to cast a one-eyed glare at Craig Murphy, his friend and partner at Troyer Air Charter. "I'm fine.""And pigs can fly." Craig advanced into Gideon's office."If they pay cash I'll fly them anywhere they want to go." Gideon sat up. His less-than-witty comeback was followed by a ragged, painful cough. A bone-deep shiver shook his body.Craig took a step back. "You're spreading germs, man.""So leave." Was a half hour of peace and quiet too much to ask? The drone of the television in the waiting area supplied just the right amount of white noise to let him drift off."You're the one leaving—for home.""I can't go anywhere until this next load of freight gets here. Then I'm taking it to Caribou." Gideon barely recognized his raspy voice. He sounded almost as bad as he felt. Almost."If I was sick as a dog, you wouldn't let me fly a kite, let alone your prize Cessna."It wasn't like Gideon had a choice. Their business was finally showing a profit. A small one, but it was something to build on. He'd make today's flight. If his austere Amish upbringing had taught him anything, it was the value of hard work. "I've got a contract to fulfill."Shaking his head, Craig said, "We've got a contract. I know you think you're indispensable, Booker, but you're not."The two men had known each other for six years, since their flight school days. It had been Craig who'd given Gideon his nickname on the first day of class. Gideon—Bible—the Book. Hence, Booker. Gideon had returned the favor a few weeks later when their trainer plane experienced mechanical trouble the first two times Craig took the controls. Craig was saddled with "Law" as in Murphy's Law. If anything can go wrong, it will."Are you offering to take this run?" Gideon took a swig of lukewarm coffee from the black mug on the corner of his desk. It turned into razor blades sliding down his throat."Yes. Go home and get some rest."Gideon looked at him in surprise. "You mean that? I thought you had plans with Melody?""We're sort of on the outs. Caribou in October will be warmer than the reception waiting for me the next time I see her."A woman's voice from the other room said, "That's because you're a knucklehead."Craig rolled his eyes and raised his voice. "Stop giving people a piece of your mind, Roseanne. It's almost gone."Gideon rose to his feet. The room spun wildly for a second before settling back into his cluttered office.Craig put out a hand to steady him. "You're grounded, buddy. Not another word."Gideon hated to admit it, but he was in no shape to be in a cockpit. "Thanks, Law. I owe you one."Craig leaned closer. "Roseanne is making me do it."Gideon cracked a grin. Their secretary's powers of persuasion were legendary. She might look like someone's cookie-baking grandmother with her gray hair pulled back in a bun, but she didn't have a maternal bone in her body."I'll be back tomorrow," Gideon promised.Roseanne came around Craig with Gideon's coat in her hands. "You will not come back for a week."Gideon scowled at her. "Tell me again who's the boss here?"Roseanne plopped her hands on her ample hips. "You two might own this business, but I run it. If I come down sick, we're really in trouble. Who can handle the computer, the phone, the fax machine, invoices, accounts payable and the coffeepot all without leaving her chair?""You," he and Craig said together.Gideon smiled. "You're indispensable, Roseanne.""And you're sick. Get out of here and take this with you." She held out a foam cup with a lid on it."What's this?""Your favorite brand of blackcurrant tea. I'd send some chicken soup home with you, but I don't have any here."Blackcurrant tea had been his mother's surefire remedy for sore throats when he was growing up. He'd thought about sending her a box of this gourmet blend, but he knew she wouldn't accept it. Not from the black sheep of the family. Gideon was the only one of her five children who'd left the Amish faith.As if his thoughts of home brought up a connection, he heard the words Amish country on the television. Glancing toward the small screen, he saw a female reporter, bundled against the brisk October chill, gesturing to a row of Amish buggies lined up behind her."Roseanne, turn that up, please." His voice was failing him. The words barely squeaked out.She sighed, but picked up the remote and raised the sound level so he could hear the reporter."Preparations are under way in Hope Springs, Ohio, for this quiet Amish community's largest event of the year. The Quilts of Hope charity auction is being held here this weekend."Craig moved to stand beside Gideon. "Is that where you're from?""Nearby." Hope Springs was forty miles from his father's farm, but Gideon had never been there. Until he left the Amish he hadn't traveled more than twenty miles from the farm where he was born. Now he lived in Rochester, New York, and he'd been to every state and all but one Canadian province.The camera panned away from the buggies to a group of Amish men raising an enormous red-and-white-striped tent. After a second, the camera swung back to the reporter and followed her until she stopped in front of an intricately pieced quilt hanging on a display frame. "In the past, this event has raised thousands of dollars for the special needs of Amish families throughout Ohio. This year they are helping one of their own."Roseanne said, "Now, that's pretty. I wouldn't mind owning a quilt like that."The reporter ran her hand down the cloth and the camera zoomed in to capture the details. "Rebecca Beachy is the Amish woman who made this incredible quilt.""It can't be." In an instant, Gideon was transported back to his youth when he had courted the prettiest girl in Berlin, Ohio. The girl who broke his heart and turned him down flat when he'd finally found the courage to propose."Someone you know?" Craig asked."No. There are a lot of Beachys in Ohio. The girl I knew would be married to some Amish farmer or carpenter." It was the life Rebecca wanted—as long as he wasn't the farmer or the carpenter. Chances were slim that it was the same woman, but his gaze stayed glued to the screen.The camera switched to a group of Amish women who were talking. The women didn't realize they were being filmed. They were dressed alike in dark coats and bonnets. One held a baby on her hip, but it was the woman in the center that he strained to see.The reporter's voice cut into Gideon's thoughts. "The money from this year's auction is going to help pay for some very specialized surgery for Miss Beachy."The camera zoomed in on the group of women and Rebecca's face filled the television screen. The sight knocked the breath from his body. After almost ten years, his heart still ached at the sight of her. She was more beautiful than ever. Her heart-shaped face with those stunning high cheekbones had matured from the soft roundness of youth into a quiet elegance."Why do they wear those odd white hats?" Roseanne asked."It's called a prayer kapp. Amish women believe the Bible commands them to cover their hair when they pray.""But they don't just wear them in church?" Roseanne turned to stare at him, waiting for an explanation.He wanted to hear what the reporter was saying. "A woman might want to pray anytime, so she keeps her head covered all day. They never cut their hair, either."Rebecca's blond hair must be past her hips by now. He'd seen it down only once. It was the night he talked Rebecca into going to a hoedown with him and his rowdy friends.Hoedown was a benign name for a weekend-long party with loud music, alcohol and drugs attended by some of the wilder Amish youth during their rumspringa, or running-around time. He had made the most of his rumspringa and partied hard. For Rebecca, that one party had been her only venture on the wild side.Gideon took the remote from his secretary and turned up the volume. The TV reporter droned on. "Miss Beachy stitched this beautiful quilt entirely by hand. What's even more amazing is that she is totally blind.""How on earth can a blind woman make a quilt?" Rose-anne's skeptical comment barely registered in Gideon's brain.Rebecca was blind?Suddenly, he was gasping for air and coughing so hard his head pounded. It took a minute to catch his breath. Roseanne pulled the lid off the tea and offered him some. He took a grateful sip.Concern filled her eyes. "Do you know her?""I once asked her to marry me. I think if she had said yes, I would be a bearded Amish farmer now." With a blind wife.Rebecca was blind. He couldn't wrap his brain around the fact. Why? When had it happened? The thought of the vibrant woman he'd known living her life in darkness left an ache in his chest that had nothing to do with the flu. Before he could gather more details, the news program moved on to the weather forecast and warnings about an artic front plowing southward delivering early ice and snow in its wake.Craig said, "I read the Amish don't believe in health insurance. Is that true?""Most don't. The community would rally round a family that had big medical expenses, but they could only do so much."Gideon had to help. He pulled his pho... Views: 5
*Life in small-town America during World War II springs vividly to life as schoolteacher Miss Dimple and her fellow townspeople battle valiantly against worry, rationing, and crime at home as well as abroad.*It's September 1943, and the town of Elderberry, Georgia, including their beloved first-grade teacher, Miss Dimple Kilpatrick, has exciting plans for the Bond Rally to support the troops fighting the war abroad. Miss Dimple's friend, Virginia Balliew, has agreed to chair the big event, with the help of Buddy Oglesby. But when children discover a skeleton at the edge of a field, and Buddy disappears along with the war bond money, it's clear that something is amiss in the little town; and Miss Dimple, along with her fellow teachers, is soon on the case. Views: 5
In the golden days of Ancient Greece and Rome, amidst the splendid art and architecture, the philosophy and politics - there was always a full measure of intrigue, mystery and murder.In this new collection twenty-two writers take up their pens to give an enthralling picture of classical crime. Favourite historical detectives such as Gordianus the Finder, Decius Metellus, and Sister Fidelma rub shoulders with eminent temporary sleuths such as Socrates and that honourable man Brutus, whilst other great names - Augustus, Archimedes, and even the spoilt and beautiful goddess of love, Aphrodite herself - also become enmeshed in terrible and ingenious crimes.Contributors include:Keith HellerEdward D. HochPhyllis Ann KarrTheodore MathiesonAmy MyersWallace NicholsAnthony PriceSteven SaylorDarrell SchweitzerBrian StablefordKeith Taylorand many more Views: 5
Jeff Rand, a feared and vengeful gunslinger since his family were murdered, is persuaded by Jim Miller to give up his gunning and join him in peaceful gold-mining. All goes well until one day Jeff returns to camp to find Miller murdered and the gold stolen. Jeff rides off in a black mood of revenge. But after a saloon fracas, he is forced by gunmen to take part in a bank raid. Then the raiders are ambushed and though Jeff escapes with half the gang, they accuse him of informing and beat him up. Can Jeff extricate himself? Can he clear his name and can he bring the murderers to justice? Lead must fly before he can find the answers. Views: 5
Diane Farr—Numb3rs star, Loveline veteran, and FunnyorDie.com contributor—always took for granted that she could love anybody she chose. But when she, a white woman, fell in love with a Korean-American man, she quickly learned a tough lesson: When it comes to navigating the landscape of interracial love in America today . . . you're going to step on some landmines.At turns introspective and outrageous, Kissing Outside the Lines is Farr's unapologetic—often hilarious—look at the complexities of interracial/ethnic/religious/what-have-you love, told through the lens of her own experience of dating, marrying, and creating a family with someone from a race and culture different from her own. Along the way, she exposes the many ways in which prejudice rears its ugly head—whether subtly or overtly—when you dare to love outside the lines," and she shares the stories of other multiracial couples from different corners of... Views: 5
King Harold Godwineson (c.1022-66) is one of history's shadowy figures, known mainly for his defeat and death at the Battle of Hastings. His true status and achievements have been overshadowed by the events of October 1066 and by the bias imposed by the Norman victory. In truth, he deserves to be recalled as one of England's greatest rulers. Harold: The Last Anglo-Saxon King sets out to correct this distorted image by presenting Harold's life in its proper context, offering the first full-length critical study of his career in the years leading up to 1066. Ian Walker's carefully researched critique allows the reader to realistically assess the lives of both Harold and his rival William, significantly enhancing our knowledge of both. Views: 5
