A fantastic historical novel by the creator of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Set in France during the reign of Louis XIV, the story follows Amory de Catinat, a Huguenot (Protestant) guardsman of the king during a time when France, then predominantly Catholic, became more and more difficult for Protestants, resulting in the Edict of Nates being revoked and the Huguenots being deported to America. Views: 11
As rugged and bold as the Scottish hills, the Highland Knaves take no prisoners when it comes to love...Thrust into indentured servitude as a child, Shona Slayter is counting the days until her twenty-first birthday, when she gains her precious freedom. Unfortunately, the new laird of the estate has other plans--and he's determined to keep her bound to him. The only way for Shona to be free of her bonds is to marry the man who holds the key. But seducing a handsome laird is not what she was trained for, and the more she tries to win his heart, the more she loses hers. With a young son to raise and a crumbling Scottish estate to manage, Conall has enough to worry about without the brazen, beautiful Shona challenging him at every turn. But their heated spats are starting to turn into real sparks...and soon the Scottish hills are ablaze with their forbidden attraction. Yet no matter what Shona is willing to do to buy her freedom, Conall has no... Views: 11
The wedding of Llinos Savage, the young saviour of the Savage Pottery, and the fascinating Joe Mainwaring , sets the small sea front town of Swansea ablaze with gossip. Joe , born of an unlikely alliance between a native American squaw and a wealthy British businessman, is always perceived by the Swansea elite as a foreigner and an outsider. When Llinos's father dies after a long illness, she is devastated, but her grief turns to fear when Joe is accused of his father-in-law's murder by the local doctor and is incarcerated inside the walls of the castle along with thieves and debtors. There among the filth and dirt, Joe makes friends with an old Jewish man, and this brief friendship, formed in the most ill-fated circumstances, proves to be the catalyst to a series of events which unexpectedly threaten to destroy the marriage and the very lives of Joe and Llinos.Iris Gower has created a wonderful background of the romantic china clay industry of South Wales... Views: 11
Written with the same humour, sensitivity and compassion that won the hearts of readers of Book of Lost Threads, The Memory Tree is one family's journey of love and forgiveness.When Paulina dies mid-dance, she leaves 12-year-old Zav and 7-year-old Sealie with their loving but unstable father, Hal. The grieving family decides to plant a tree in her memory - a magnolia which, growing along with the children, offers a special place where secrets are whispered and feelings can be confessed.But as the memory tree grows, Hal, bereft, and increasingly suspicious of the world, turns to his own brand of salvation to make sense of the voices that bewilder and torment him. Mrs Mac, housekeeper and second mother since Paulina's death, cooks, cleans, loves and worries about her 'family'. She is even more concerned when Hal brings a larger-than-life stranger to the house for a beer; but Pastor Moses B. Washbourne, founder of the Church of the Divine Conflagration,... Views: 11
When a dust storm engulfs her Colorado town and pink snow blankets the streets, a heartbreaking decision faces Ruby Cole, a girl who counts birds: She must abandon her baby or give in to her father, whom she nicknames Lord God, and marry a man more than twice her age who already has two wives. She chooses to run, which sets in motion an interlocking series of actions and reactions, upending the lives of an equestrian police officer, pawnshop riffraff, a disabled war vet, Nuisance Animal destroyers, and a grieving ornithologist--a field biologist studies the decline of bird populations. All the while, a growing criminal enterprise moves from cattle rustling to kidnapping to hijacking fuel tankers and murder as events spin out of control,.Set in a time of economic turmoil, virus fears, climate change, fundamentalist cults and illegal immigrant hardship, The Bird Saviors is a visionary story of defiance, anger, and compassion, in which a young woman ultimately struggles to free herself from her domineering father, to raise her daughter in the chaos of the New West, and to become something greater herself.Review“Bill Cobb's The Bird Saviors is a stark modern-day Old Testament story in which the evil that men do is barely balanced by the good that a few manage to achieve. It's a gritty harrowing story set in a dust-blown Colorado town that seems filled with vivid characters. Cobb's expert story-telling compels us forward scene by scene to a final satisfying redemption.” –Kent Haruf, author of Plainsong"A novel told with an unexpected and appealing warmth; the characters in The Bird Saviors become increasingly memorable, page by page, and the story pulled me in without hullabaloo or fuss-- this is good, confident storytelling." --Aimee Bender“Weaving a biblical motif with social, political, economic, and environmental undertones, he does a yeoman’s job of bringing together complex themes in a touching and memorable tale that readers won’t soon forget. It’s Cobb’s prose, in particular, that breathes life into this tumultuous terrain, his every sentence dulcet in the discordance. . .To say The Bird Saviors is “amazing” is also to shortchange Cobb. For his is a timeless story of love and redemption, a classic tale of good vs. evil, and a can’t-miss page-turner that leaves readers wanting more.” –Foreword MagazineAbout the AuthorWilliam J. Cobb is the author a book of stories, The White Tattoo, and two previous novels, The Fire Eaters and, more recently, the critically acclaimed Goodnight, Texas. His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker and in many other magazines. He has received numerous awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts grant, a Dobie-Paisano Fellowship, the Sandstone Prize, and an AWP Award for the Novel. Views: 11
Another high-society thriller from New York Times bestselling author Jane Stanton Hitchcock, Trick of the Eye is a tale of art, intrigue, and murder in a world where evil tarnishes privilege and nothing is what it appears to be. Trompe l'oeil artist Faith Cromwell is hired to paint the famed ballroom of an opulent Long Island estate, but her patron is obsessed with the long-unsolved murder of a daughter, and soon Faith begins to piece together the details of the grisly, shocking crime. The deeper Faith delves into the house's mystery, the more she realizes that she has inadvertently stepped into the starring role of a bizarre, and quite possibly fatal, charade. Like Social Crimes and One Dangerous Lady, Trick of the Eye is another highly sophisticated and deeply compelling mystery from master writer Jane Stanton Hitchcock. Views: 11
Jemma O'Hurley, a spoiled New Orleans debutante
of 1816 who, rather than marry the man her father has chosen for her,
chooses to run away one dark and stormy night. She prays for a way out
and fate brings her in contact with a young woman running for her life
who is more than willing to step into Jemma's shoes. Alone on the
dangerous streets of New Orleans, Jemma is soon spotted by Hunter Boone,
a backwoodsman from Illinois who takes her up the Mississippi where she
not only has to cope with Hunter but his hardscrabble life on the
frontier and the cast of hard working, kindhearted characters she meets. Adventure, humor and passionate "old school" historical romance fill
the pages of JUST ONCE. Views: 11
An epic story of love found and lost, Losing Julia begins in 1928 at the dedication of a memorial to the great War in France. American Patrick Delaney has come to mourn his fallen comrades, especially his best friend, Daniel. When he sees a woman standing alone in the crowd, he realizes she must be Julia, Daniel’s lover. Though Patrick is married, he and Julia fall desperately in love during the brief but unforgettable time they spend exploring the still haunted and battle-scarred countryside. Struggling to reconcile their love with the legacy of war and life’s obligations, Julia and Patrick cling to each other until one fateful step, when Patrick loses Julia, perhaps never to find her again.From the vicious savagery of trench warfare to the sometimes comic and often tragic indignities of life in a nursing home, Jonathan Hull tells a remarkable story of memory and desire, history and destiny—and of the people who slip from our grasp, only to hold us forever. Views: 11
It is said, through prophecy, that every 3,500 years a battle for mankind
begins—the victor takes control of Earth and rewrites mankind’s
existence.The last battle occurred in the year 2003 AD and evil
prevailed. And now . . . it is happening again.• • • • • •
•While covering the war in Iraq, Time magazine journalist William Coulee
meets a mysterious beauty unlike any woman before. Rebecca Badeau is supposed to
be a volunteer helping restore the National Museum of Iraq, however it’s only a
cover for her real mission: locating a world-altering power not seen since the
reign of King Solomon. But when tragedy strikes—and Rebecca is killed—William is
left to pick up the pieces. He uncovers Rebecca’s secret and discovers an
unbelievable truth about life after death—one that goes beyond his accepted
reality . . . and spirituality.Over a thousand years later, William’s
journey is rediscovered and its shocking outcome is revealed. However the person
doing the discovering isn’t ready for what she reads, or the terrible effect it
has on her life. Where William’s quest ended, Rebecca’s re-begins . . .
launching an epic race to recover the biblical power before it falls into evil’s
hands . . . for a second time. Views: 11
