In the sequel to Travels With My Family, the family is on the road again — this time to spend a year in a tiny village in southern France.They experiences the spring migration of sheep up to the mountain pastures, the annual running of the bulls (in which Charlie's father is trapped in a phone booth by a raging bull), and other adventures large and small. Most of all, though, Charlie and his little brother, Max, grow fond of their new neighbors — the man who steals ducks from the local river, the neighbor's dog who sleeps right in the middle of the street and their new friends Rachid and Ahmed, who teach them how to play soccer in the village square. Views: 36
Sultry encounters, forbidden passion, irresistible temptation-what more could you want in a collection of four scintillating stories by today's sexiest authors?Luring Lucy by Lori Foster: All Lucy was looking for when she went to her vacation home was an innocent fling to quell the yearning she had felt since her husband died four years ago. She never expected her longtime friend Bram to lure her into a love affair so hot.Truth or Dare by Laura Bradley: Undercover P.I. Shay McIntyre takes on the guise of a reporter to uncover who's behind the suspicious deaths of two bullriders, and finds herself locking horns with the sinfully tempting Luke Wilder in a deliciously wicked game of truth or dare.Compromised by Gayle Callen: Country baron John Malory nobly offers to wed Lady Elizabeth Stanwood when they are caught together alone in a garden. Elizabeth never expected to be compromised--or to soon be wed to a man whose affection she does not... Views: 36
Sparring has never been so sweetly seductive as in this delicious romance from Debra Dixon, who entangles a sassy workaholic with a formerly buttoned-down and bottled-up hero determined to show her how to seize the day. Sam Tucker isn't the kind of man to wait for an invitation, not when his mission is to help business executive Clare McGuire learn the joys of losing control. He's a man who truly appreciates living in the moment. Can he tempt his beautiful apprentice into doing the same? Convinced Sam only wants to change her, Clare insists she likes her life just as it is. Until, that is, the free-spirited, hold-your-breath-handsome professor kisses her with a fiery need that echoes her own. Loving Sam means having fun, living life to the fullest, and putting old sorrows to rest--if she dares to take a chance. Includes a special message from the editor, as well as excerpts from these Loveswept titles: All Is Fair . . ., Bad to the... Views: 36
The Greatest Love Story of All Time is a laugh-out-loud debut novel from the Marie Claire blogger, Lucy Robinson. It's Fran's thirtieth birthday and things are good...She's bluffed her way into a Very Posh Job and her outlandishly handsome and talented boyfriend Michael is escorting her to the Ritz with a bulge the shape of a ring box in his pocket. But something has gone wrong. Very wrong. By the end of the evening Fran is howling in bed with a bottle of cheap brandy and one of Michael's old socks. In her quest to figure out why her life has suddenly gone down the pan, Fran comes up with a failsafe plan: live like a badger, stalk a stranger called Nellie and cancel her beloved Gin Thursdays in favour of drinking gin every night. But then Fran's friends force a very different plan on her and it's nowhere near as fun. How could eight dates possibly make her feel better? But eventually she agrees. And so begins the greatest love story of all time...Praise for Lucy Robinson: "The new Marian Keyes ...romantic and laugh-out-loud hilarious" (Cosmopolitan). "An absolute must-read" (Huffington Post). "Prepare for public-transport belly laughs" (Glamour). "Refreshingly playful" (Red). The Greatest Love Story of All Time is Lucy Robinson's debut novel. Prior to writing Lucy worked first in West End theatre production and then factual television, working on documentaries for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and five. Her writing career began when she started a dating blog for marieclaire.co.uk where she entertained readers with frank tales from her laughably unsuccessful foray into the world of internet dating. Lucy is from Gloucestershire where she was brought up surrounded by various stupid animals and is currently conducting an early mid-life crisis in South America. When in London she likes to think she lives in Highbury but in truth she is a person of no fixed abode.** Views: 36
"Betray your sisters or your lover. You choose."After the warrior she loves saved her from a murderous gargoyle, Chalice watched helplessly as Aydin turned into a gargoyle himself. Now, free from the curse that enslaved her, Chalice pledges to join her sister knights in The Order of the Hatchet—and do whatever it takes to regain Aydin's humanity...and his love. What she encounters within their hallowed sanctuary is pure intrigue.Someone—or something—is murdering her sisters in their sleep, provoking fear and suspicion among the order. Meanwhile, Aydin, unable to stay away, starts haunting Chalice's dreams, urging her onward. Ultimately, Chalice will be faced with an agonizing choice—one that will tear away at her newfound identity and force her to choose between duty and desire....About the AuthorKaren Duvall has been telling stories since the age of three, when she wasn’t yet able to write but could tell her tales to her mother, who wrote them down for her. Illustrating the stories with crayons was one of her favorite parts of writing those early books. She still draws pictures, but is now a professional graphic designer with a passion for portraying her characters and scenes by painting pictures with words. You can visit her blog at www.karenduvall.blogspot.com. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved."You're coming with me, right?" I asked Rafe when he opened the silver veil that separated the physical world from the realm of angels. This misty otherworld was home to Rafael, my guardian angel, but not to me. I think I'd overstayed my welcome.Rafe towered above me and scowled. "No."I leaned forward to peer through the filmy curtain. "I'm not ready to go there alone. It's too soon.""Chalice, it's been over a month." Rafe closed his eyes and sighed so deeply I thought he'd collapse a lung if he had one. "But if you prefer to wait a while longer.." He held his palm flat against the transparent veil and the sigil on his hand glowed. The surface began to solidify.I grabbed his arm. "Wait."His sigh came even louder this time. "Make up your mind."I narrowed my eyes at him. "You have no idea how hard this is for me."The deep creases in his forehead smoothed as his eyes crinkled with the start of a smile. It made him appear almost human. "I can imagine.""No, you can't." The memory of my last day of bondage to Shui, a homicidal gargoyle, remained clear in my mind. The gargoyle's death had freed me of the curse that once threatened to take my humanity and turn me into a winged devil as horrible as Shui. But my freedom had come at a price. In order to save me from my fate, Shui had to be killed by another gargoyle. Aydin, who was also bonded to a gargoyle, had allowed the curse to change him so that he could fight Shui to save my life. But, by doing so, I'd lost the only man I'd ever loved. It was time for me to bring Aydin back, to make him human again. The only way for that to happen lay on the other side of this veil, at the Vyantara fatherhouse. Home of my nightmares, where failing a heist used to mean a beating by my master or a death threat from Shui. Lucky for me the gargoyle died before getting his chance to feast on Chalice tartare.I sucked in a breath. "I can't face another gargoyle.""Then don't face it. Just kill it." Rafe's hand stayed in place against the veil, but he didn't reopen it. He waited for my okay."Come with me," I told him, trying to make it sound like an order. He was usually good at following orders."You know what would happen if I did?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "My presence would set off every alarm and ward in the house."I winced. "That would defeat the purpose of sneaking in, right?""Mmm-hmm."I heaved in a fortifying breath and blinked. Even after a month, it felt strange not to wear my contact lenses. Or the filters for my ears and nose. I'd worn these protective devices practically all my life. For being half angel, even if that half was the fallen kind, my unusual abilities helped keep me out of trouble. Unfortunately, they helped get me into almost as much. Rafe had been forbidden to meet me until after my curse was broken, so only recently was he able to teach me control over my hypersensitivity through meditation. Now I could turn my powers off and on as easily as a light switch, though I hadn't practiced under stressful conditions. I was about to test my new skill big-time."I'm ready," I said. "Open the veil.""One last thing before you go—""No!" I glared at him. He was about to deliver another lecture about staying focused and making safety my first priority. I'd heard it over a dozen times. "Do it now before I lose my nerve.""As you wish."The veil opened and I stepped through, my booted feet landing on a dark Oriental rug as wide and long as the room I stood in. I glanced behind me. Rafe and the veil were gone.My heart did a brief tap dance against my ribs before I reminded myself that Vyantara fatherhouses fed on fear. I knew from experience that this building would suck out my energy like a baby sucks milk from a bottle, and I'd end up too weak to do what I'd come for. I had to kill the gargoyle Shojin and take its heart for Aydin. Before he had turned into a gargoyle, Aydin had been bonded to Shojin and now only Shojin could save him. I knew the gargoyle was here because on the last day Aydin and I were together, this is where the Vyantara had said he would be.I thinned my mind's sensory defenses just enough to get a sense of the place. Straining against the silence, I listened for signs of life and found two beings upstairs. Whether they were human or not didn't matter. I only cared about hearing one heartbeat: the rapid bass drum pound that belonged only to a gargoyle.It didn't take long for me to detect it. One gargoyle was in the basement and it had to be Shojin. No two gargoyles could occupy the same space or there was sure to be a fight.Mouth dry as parchment, I swallowed my fear and sniffed the air. The kitchen smelled close by and I knew I'd find a door to the basement there. That's how most fatherhouses were laid out due to the spell-casting needs of their magic-users.I crept down the narrow hall toward the scent of herbs and cooking oil. Squinting in darkness that appeared gray as fog to my sensitive eyes, I detected no ghosts. Most likely the house's warding spells kept them out. Good. Ghosts were annoying distractions and the last thing I needed right now. My focus had to be sharp as a gargoyle's talon.The vibration down my spine told me I was surrounded by curses and charms. I sensed a huge collection here, possibly even bigger than the fatherhouse in Denver before it blew up. It reminded me of one more task on my to-do list: steal back every magical object in the Vyantara's gallery of hellish artifacts. After I'd been kidnapped from a monastery in Lebanon at thirteen by the leaders of this nasty black veil group, I'd been forced to steal many of these artifacts for the Vyantara. I had my work cut out for me.The wooden stairs creaked with my slight ninety-eight pounds of body weight. If Shojin didn't hear me coming, he'd surely have smelled me by now. A gargoyle's senses were nearly as keen as mine.I sniffed the air and it chilled my lungs, which came as no surprise considering this was a Canadian fatherhouse in the dead of winter. But it didn't lessen the scent of damp feathers and unwashed fur. When I reached the bottom step, a plume of steamy gargoyle breath seethed out of the darkness and enveloped me like a blanket.Shojin's eyes glowed red and I listened for his heartbeat to speed up, but he remained calm. His breathing came slow and steady despite the billowing clouds of hot air that puffed from his flared nostrils. I didn't know Shojin well, only that Aydin had been bonded to him and that their eight hundred years together had forged a rare friendship. I did a mental eye-roll. In the thirteen years I'd been with Shui, we had shared only hatred. Gargoyles were assassins for the Vyantara. I could never befriend a murderer.The gargoyle growled. Oh, there we go. That was the behavior I expected. I didn't deal well with the unpredictable. Monsters should act and react in accordance with their vile and murderous nature.I slid my balisong blade from its sheath on my back. The knife glinted a glorious purple in the red light that shone from Shojin's eyes. No ordinary blade, this balisong could do something no other knife could. It could kill an immortal gargoyle because it was created from the dead body of one."I know you and Aydin were good buddies, Shojin. And I'm sorry to have to do this." I brandished the blade and stood poised to strike. "But you have what I need to make Aydin a man again."The gargoyle hissed and lunged at me. It was an ancient creature, possibly the oldest one on earth, but you'd never know it by its speed and agility. Shojin's wings spanned the width of the room and with just one flap, I was airborne and sailing toward the stairs. I landed on my back, the air whooshing from my lungs like a deflating balloon. I managed to roll sideways just as the gargoyle pounced. He missed me by a hair.I wanted to yell but I didn't have enough breath to make a sound. It was all I could do to stay conscious. We were both in full battle mode and my intent to win replaced any fear I might have had. There was no room in my mind to be afraid. My head filled with tactics and strategy, driven by instinct to survive.Shojin matched my intensity. He wanted to win just as badly. He knew what I'd come for and wasn't about to let me take it from him.One clawed hand the size of a grizzly bear's paw sliced through the air to backhand my head and send me sprawling. My arms and legs flailed as I slid across the dirt floor to slam into a wall. I hit so hard I didn't see stars, I saw planets. I wasn't so fast getting back up this time. And Shojin took full advantage.He grabbed me by the throat and lifted me up off the ground. I swiped the blade toward the arm holding me, but dizziness kept me from seeing straight and I connected with nothing but air.I wanted to scream at him that he owed Aydin his heart. Killing me wouldn't bring Aydin back, but killing Shojin could. Struggling to breathe, I gritted my teeth and tried forcing my will on the gargoyle. He stared hard at me, his ridged brow deeply creased with age, his curved raptor's beak parted as if to bite. I fisted a clump of fur on his arm and hung on tight, sucking in what air I could while watching the edges of my consciousness fade to black.Fury in his eyes, Shojin lowered me to the ground. His grip on my neck lessened, but I felt something warm trickle down the collar of my shirt. I vaguely wondered how badly I'd been wounded, and if it even mattered. For the second time in less than two months I was about to become gargoyle chow.If I hadn't been so weak from lack of oxygen I'd be slicing through his thick chest right now and cutting out his beating heart. As it was, my legs couldn't even hold me up. I hung from... Views: 36
The war in Europe is over and a new feeling of freedom is sweeping across America. The skirts are getting shorter, the women are getting faster, and the Stuart family is caught up in a sea of changes.From the Arkansas hills to the streets of Chicago, with a stop off in Hollywood on the way, One Shining Moment will hold readers in its mesmerizing grip. From daring cross-country flights to seedy speakeasies to the Salvation Army headquarters, the Stuarts cross paths with the likes of Louis Armstrong, Rudolph Valentino, and Al Capone himself while they chase their dreams—and try to stay alive! Can the Stuart family survive in this country turned upside down? Views: 36
Reckless Heart Madeline Baker Blush: This is a suggestive romance (love scenes are not graphic). First in the Reckless series. Hannah and Shadow had played together as children. He taught her to fish. She shared her mother’s cookies with him because he had no mother of his own. Then, abruptly, Shadow and his people left the valley. When he returns, Hannah is a beautiful young woman and Shadow is a full-fledged warrior of the Cheyenne Nation. Their friendship quickly turns to something much deeper and Hannah finds herself falling in love with the handsome man who sweeps her into his arms, awakening a fierce longing she has never known. But there is talk of war between the whites and the Cheyenne, and Hannah knows Shadow will be considered the enemy. When Hannah’s homestead is attacked, Shadow comes to her rescue. Though their love grows stronger, Hannah fears the day when she will be forced to choose between his world and hers. Publisher’s Note: Originally published elsewhere in 1985. Views: 36
Bestselling author Donna Kauffman offers up a steamy tale of two people on a dangerous mission--and the passion that threatens to consume them if they survive. By the time she enters the last seedy bar on Key West, Kira Douglass is desperate. She's looking for the one man who can help her: Cole Sinclair, an ex-smuggler turned musician with a highly refined set of skills and a keen knowledge of the reefs and waterways of the Keys. But what she finds is a man whose dark eyes and powerful manner send a frisson of desire to her very core. Kira needs Cole's help to recover the dolphin that was stolen from her charitable organization, but now she realizes that she needs his body and his soul, as well. Cole Sinclair isn't looking for a job. He has worked hard to isolate himself from the world, to be alone with his own tortured past and the pain left in its wake. But the attraction he feels simmering with Kira leaves him unsettled and uncertain. If he agrees... Views: 36
Product DescriptionAt Gram's Country Cooking School, Betts and Gram are helping students prepare the perfect dishes for the Southern Missouri Show-Down, the cook-off that draws the first of the summer visitors. Everything is going smoothly until they discover the body of local theater owner Everett Morningside in the school's supply closet, and Everett's widow points an accusatory finger at Gram. Now, Betts has to dig deep into Broken Rope's history to find the modern-day killer-before the last piece of chicken is served... Views: 36
The county of Lincolnshire is a beautiful mixture of low-lying marshy fen land, modest hills and the steep valleys of the rolling Wolds; it is also home to a wealth of folklore, legend and intrigue. With one of the most interesting dialects in the country, this vast region is also rich in superstitions, songs and traditional games. A study of daily life, lore and customs of Lincolnshire are here interspersed with stories of monstrous black hounds, dragon lairs, witches, Tiddy Mun, mischievous imps and tales of the people known as the Yellowbellies. This fully illustrated book explores the origins and meanings of Lincolnshire's traditions and shows how the customs of the past have influenced the ways of the present. Views: 36
