A masterful new novel from the winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize, hailed for depicting the "landscape of the dispossessed" with “the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose” (Nobel Prize Committee) It was an icy morning in January 1945 when the patrol came for seventeen-year-old Leo Auberg to deport him to a camp in the Soviet Union. Leo would spend the next five years in a coke processing plant, shoveling coal, lugging bricks, mixing mortar, and battling the relentless calculus of hunger that governed the labor colony: one shovel load of coal is worth one gram of bread. In her new novel, Nobel laureate Herta Müller calls upon her unique combination of poetic intensity and dispassionate precision to conjure the distorted world of the labor camp in all its physical and moral absurdity. She has given Leo the language to express the inexpressible, as hunger sharpens his senses into an acuity that is both hallucinatory and profound. In scene after disorienting scene, the most ordinary objects accrue tender poignancy as they acquire new purpose—a gramophone box serves as a suitcase, a handkerchief becomes a talisman, an enormous piece of casing pipe functions as a lovers’ trysting place. The heart is reduced to a pump, the breath mechanized to the rhythm of a swinging shovel, and coal, sand, and snow have a will of their own. Hunger becomes an insatiable angel who haunts the camp, but also a bare-knuckled sparring partner, delivering blows that keep Leo feeling the rawest connection to life. Müller has distilled Leo’s struggle into words of breathtaking intensity that take us on a journey far beyond the Gulag and into the depths of one man’s soul. Views: 27
When Mary Costner wakes up with a bloody knife in her hand and no memory of the night before, she does the only thing that she can . . . she runs. Straight into the arms of Carter Monroe, US Marshal, who thinks Mary is guilty as sin. Views: 27
The island of Kaua`i is remote jungle, golden beaches and ancient culture--but transients are disappearing in paradise, and only Detective Lei Texeira notices.
Fleeing a failed engagement, Detective Lei Texeira transfers to the island of Kaua`i, where she uncovers a pattern of disappearances that may be related to a bizarre cult--or is it just one madman at work? In Lei's world, everyone is guilty until proven innocent.
In Blood Orchids Lei battled her personal demons and won--but now they've come roaring back with reinforcements, including charming real estate magnate Alika Wolcott and former fiancé Michael Stevens. In the midst of the biggest case sleepy Kaua`i has ever seen, Lei must also discover who she loves.
“Lei Texeira is both tough detective and a vulnerable woman in a winning Hawaii crime series created by novelist Toby Neal.” David Bishop, author of Who Murdered Garson Talmadge and other mysteries Views: 27
Cold, distant Alexander Bravo-Callabretti was the last man Liliana of Alagonia had ever imagined marrying! After all, even a princess longs for happily-ever-after. But when a one-night fling with her nemesis led to a royal baby-on-the-way, only a wedding would satisfy their disapproving families. So with a fast, secret ceremony, they were joined for life.Alex had agreed to make an effort for the sake of the baby, even though letting the lovely Lili close was a threat to the barriers he'd long struggled to maintain. But the future of the throne—and his royal honor—was at stake. And when he and Lili posed as happy newlyweds for the paparazzi, he found himself wishing that their marriage could be for real after all….About the AuthorA USA TODAY- bestselling author, Christine Rimmer has written over eighty contemporary romances for Harlequin Books. Christine has won the Romantic Times BOOKreviews Reviewers Choice Award and has been nominated five times for the RITA Award. She lives in Oregon with her family.Visit Christine at http://www.christinerimmer.com. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved."Which of your sons has impregnated my virgin daughter?" King Leo demanded so loud that the words seemed to bounce off the damask-covered walls. He swept the room with a burning, accusatory glance.Liliana, Princess of Alagonia and also the formerly virgin daughter in question, cringed at her spot near the tall, elegantly carved, gold-trimmed double doors. You could have heard the proverbial pin drop.The Bravo-Calabretti family, surprised during their morning meal, did not say a word. They sat perfectly still in the beautiful antique chairs around the large pedestal table. They stared, unmoving, even the children—eyes tracking from Leo to Lili and then back to her furious father again.They were all there, too, in the breakfast room of Her Sovereign Highness's private apartment at the Prince's Palace of Montedoro. Every one of them: HSH Adrienne and her prince consort, Evan, and their four sons and five daughters.Also present were the heir apparent's two young children and the new wife and son of the second-born prince, Rule.King Leo, his face red as the heart of Montedoran orange, started shouting again. "Who is the culprit? Who has dishonored my one and only child?"Lili longed simply to sink through the inlaid marble floor, to crawl under the lush, blue-accented Savonnerie rug. Dear, sweet Lord in heaven. Did it get any worse than this? She was afraid it just might. She had tried her very best to keep her father from finding out about the baby—at least not until she'd had a chance to talk to the exasperating prince she'd made the terrible mistake of having sex with.But she'd received no answer to the letter she'd sent him. He had not returned her two furtive calls. And before she could decide what her next move should be, her father had found out.Lili was an only child and her father loved her absolutely. And somehow, he always knew when something was bothering her. He'd been after her for weeks to tell him what the matter was. He'd kept insisting that she was looking pale, that she never smiled anymore. She had repeatedly denied there was anything wrong.And then, last night: disaster at dinner. It was the lamb that did it. Just the smell of it had her running from the table.Her father had jumped up and come after her. He barreled into her apartment right behind her and even followed her all the way to the toilet, where he knelt on the floor beside her and held her head while she was repeatedly sick. He was beside himself with worry, certain she was desperately ill, that she must be knocking at death's door.As soon as she finished ejecting the meager contents of her stomach, she had tried to soothe him, tried to reassure him that it was nothing. A little indigestion, a touch of the flu….But he wouldn't be soothed. He questioned the servants. They loved her and were loyal to her, every one of them. They all tried to protect her, to claim they knew nothing. But they did know. The servants always do. And her father could be frightening, with his deep, commanding voice, his blustery manner and imaginative, if essentially baseless, threats.In the end, a young chambermaid had broken down in tears and revealed the truth. "Sir, I'm so sorry, Sir. Her Highness is…with child."At which point her father hit the ceiling. For half the night, he'd kept after Lili, demanding to know the name of the scurvy dog who had taken advantage of her. Lili refused to tell him.And her father took action. He was positive it had to be one of the Bravo-Calabretti princes.Unfortunately, he happened to be right—not that she'd admitted it. She hadn't. In fact, she had not so much as spoken a single word to His Majesty since well before midnight.At two in the morning, he'd herded her aboard the royal jet. They took off for the airport at Nice. Alagonia was an island state off the coast of Spain. Montedoro, a short drive from Nice, claimed a particularly scenic slice of the glorious Cote d'Azur. The direct flight took just over five hours, which Lili had spent in her sleeping compartment with the door firmly shut against her father and his fulminating glances, his dire accusations and his neverending insistence that she give him the name of the "low-born son of a dog" who had "used and abused" her. She'd tried to sleep but couldn't.And now, as she trembled in her spot near the breakfast-room door, Lili tried desperately not to further disgrace herself—no! She would not be sick now. Not here, in front of her red-faced, wild-eyed father and all those staring Bravo-Calabretti princes.And while she was busy not letting herself throw up, she also took great care not to look directly in the face of the one who'd relieved her of her virginity. The one who had refused to answer her letter or return her calls. Maybe now he would finally condescend to get in touch with her.Even though she didn't dare meet his eyes for fear she would give him away, she silently prayed he would keep his mouth shut—for now. Let her father get nowhere with his histrionics. Eventually the king would wind down. Then she and the father of her child could discuss the situation in private, just the two of them, as they should have done long before now."I demand that the culprit stand and face me," her father blustered on. "I demand satisfaction and I demand it immediately!"Yet more dead silence in the breakfast room.And then, slowly, every Bravo-Calabretti head but the youngest ones swiveled in Prince Damien's direction. Lili wasn't particularly surprised. Damien was the family jet-setter, famous with the ladies. She knew what they all must be thinking: Who else could it be but Damien? Surely not Rule. Yes, Rule had been expected to propose to Lili for years, but they all knew he thought of her like a sister, that he'd never made any kind of advances toward her. And he was now happily married to the brilliant American, Sydney O'Shea, whom Lili truly admired.Well, and it hadn't been Rule. It wasn't Damien either. But only two people in the room knew that.King Leo didn't miss the way everyone glanced in Damien's direction. "Aha," he crowed hotly. "So, then. It's you, Damien. I suspected it might be. Stand," he commanded, whipping out the ceremonial scimitar he'd strapped on when they'd left the royal jet. How utterly mortifying. Leave it to her father to bring a scimitar. He swung the blade back and forth. It sang through the air of the too-quiet room. And then he assumed a fighting stance, the long, curving sword held high. "Stand and face me, you offal-eating swine."Beyond humiliated now, Lili stifled a moan of pure misery. Her father was a fair man and a good ruler—except when his fury was roused. "Papa," she pleaded, "I beg you. This is not about you. This is between me and the father of my child. I want you to stop this. Now."Her father ignored her.Damien started to stand. Leo lunged forward and Lili opened her mouth to admit that Damien was not the man.But before she made a sound, Damien's twin, Alexander, pushed back his chair and rose. "Sir, you have it wrong. Damien is innocent. I am the guilty one." Alex stood tall, his powerful shoulders drawn back, his haunted eyes level, frighteningly blank.Lili clapped her hand over her mouth and swallowed bile. Yes, she understood that Alex had no choice but to reveal himself at that point. He couldn't just sit there and allow her father to take his ridiculous scimitar to poor Damian, who for once was not guilty of seducing someone he shouldn't have.But still…dear Holy Virgin, what now?Everyone was gaping in shock.They couldn't believe that Alex was the one, which didn't surprise Lili. She could hardly believe it herself—and she'd been there when it happened. They all knew that she'd always despised Alex, and that he felt the same way about her. Plus, well, Alex wasn't interested in women anyway. Not even in women he liked and respected. Not anymore. Not since whatever unspeakable horrors had befallen him in Afghanistan.And yet.The two of them did have sex together. Just once, in the second week of April. Once. That was all it had taken to plant a new life inside her, to change her world forever.Alex. She'd lost her virginity to Alex. She still had trouble believing she'd done that. Because, honestly, how could she?Her father seemed as shocked as the rest of them. "Alexander?" he asked, his voice suddenly without force, utterly disbelieving.But then his fury returned full force. With a bloodcurdling shout, he raised his sword again and went for Alex—Alex, who didn't so much as flinch, but simply stood there, apparently ready to take whatever punishment her father saw fit to inflict upon him."Stop!" Lili shouted.Her father didn't even break stride. She rushed forward to intercept him.But Her Sovereign Highness Adrienne, Lili's dear friend and Alex's mother, was faster.Montedoro's monarch rose lightly to her feet. She had a truly calm, almost-pleased expression on her legendary face. As though she couldn't have been more delighted to learn that her dark and damaged son had actually lurched back to life long enough to impregnate Lili, whom everyone knew was like another daughter to her.Adrienne planted her noble person between the enraged king and her third-born son. Her smile turned even sweeter as she faced down Lili's father. "Leo," she said gently in warm, melodious tones. "I'm so glad you've come. And I think that now would be the perfect opportunity to discuss the wedding, don't you?"Chapter TwoThere were top secret meetings all that day. Alexander had work he should have been doing. But he put his work aside to be there while negotiations for his marriage to Lili were carried through. Views: 27
Lisa love being a member of the Saddle Club. But lately, Stevie and Carole haven't had time for her or their friendship. And if she can'tconvince her friends that their club is just as important, she may have to find new members to replace them. . . . Views: 27
Fever for Three Julia Talbot When Cheri moves to Lobo Basin, all she wants is a quiet place to teach, where she doesn’t have to worry about the perils of the big city. She’s never had a lot of luck in love, so it’s a complete surprise when not one, but two beautiful men show their interest. Cowboy Josh and handyman Paulo come from opposite sides of the werewolf pack that rules the town, and they had a falling out years ago over the firestorm of lust that burns between them. When they both decide they want the new girl in town, the competition between them heats up—and so, finally, does their sexual connection. Cheri doesn’t know what to do with the bickering men or with the bitey little kids in her class at school. Is she a slut for wanting both Josh and Paulo? The men are going to have to work together to win their mate and help her understand her nature—both werewolf and sexual. Views: 27
Susan Chalmers has been abducted by the mentally unstable Hugh, her billionaire lover’s twin brother. Incarcerated in a secret tropical location, she is forced to submit to his every whim. Hugh demands her ransom: half of Channing’s fortune within five days . . . or she will die an unspeakable death. Views: 27
Product DescriptionA new breed of zombie is born. A hacker uncovers a secret transaction, and ultimately finds himself in over his head. When his investigation transforms from the digital world to the real one, things get complicated really fast. His journey to uncover the truth is littered with skeletons from the past, and a few new surprises. Views: 27
Tongues are wagging all over town that bubbly, quirky pet therapist Annabel Cates has been spotted keeping company with Dr. Thomas North. Yes, that Dr. North--the ever-serious, oh-so-gorgeous and utterly unattainable orthopedic surgeon who has dashed the hopes of so many Thunder Canyon cowgirls.Will Annabel really be able to domesticate the medical maverick? Folks round these parts can't understand how two such emotionally opposite people even got together. (We give the credit to an unlikely matchmaker with four paws and a winning smile!) Stay tuned, faithful friends, and find out if sexy Dr. North can stay immune to this adorable Cates sister and her irresistible pup! Views: 27
