The author of the bestselling phenomenon The Christmas Box presents a new holiday novel about family, fate and forgiveness. Joseph Jacobson is the twelfth of thirteen siblings, all of whom are employed by their father’s successful Colorado advertising company. But underneath the success runs a poisonous undercurrent of jealousy; Joseph is his father’s favorite and the focus of his brothers’ envy and hatred. When the father seems ready to anoint Joseph as his heir, the brothers make their move, forcing Joseph from the company and his Denver home, severing his ties to his parents and ending his relationship with his soon-to-be fianceé. Alone and lonely, Joseph must start a new life. Joseph joins a Chicago advertising agency where his creativity helps him advance high up in the company. He also finds hope for a lasting love with April, a kind woman with a secret. However, all secrets hold consequences, and when Joseph learns the truth about April’s past, his world is again turned upside down. Finally, Joseph must confront his own difficult past in order to make his dreams for the future come true. A Winter Dream is an ingenious modern retelling of the Old Testament story of Joseph and the coat of many colors by the master of the holiday novel. The #1 bestselling master of the holiday novel reimagines the classic story of Joseph and the coat of many colors, presenting an inspiring modern story of family and forgiveness. The story I’m about to share with you begins with a dream. . . . Whether the dream was prophetic or the cause of all that happened, I’ll never know. But for years, I kicked myself for telling the dream to my father, who, for reasons I’ll never understand, chose to share it with my eleven brothers. —From the Prologue of A Winter DreamReview"Readers will relate to these characters, be moved to tears and laughter by them, and most importantly, be inspired by them . . . a journey you should definitely take." (*Kirkus Reviews* ) About the AuthorRichard Paul Evans is the #1 bestselling author of The Christmas Box. Each of his twenty novels has been a New York Times bestseller. There are more than 15 million copies of his books in print worldwide, translated into more than twenty-four languages. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Mothers Book Award, the Romantic Times Best Women’s Novel of the Year Award, the German Audience Gold Award for Romance, two Religion Communicators Council Wilbur Awards, the Washington Times Humanitarian of the Century Award, and the Volunteers of America National Empathy Award. He lives with his wife Keri and their five children in Salt Lake City, Utah. Visit RichardPaulEvans.com. Views: 7
As the inhabitants of the island of Mistmantle prepare for the coronation of Crispin the squirrel, robes are stitched, cakes are baked, wine is brought up from cellars, and the Heartstone—the unique gold-and-silver-flecked stone that only the rightful ruler of the island can hold—is readied.But the newly established peace in Mistmantle is soon under threat. A storm-ravaged ship from a distant land appears in the mist surrounding the island; a dramatic revelation about the revered Heartstone comes to light; and the extrasensory powers of a young islander reveal the evil close at hand.Urchin finds himself journeying to a hostile island, where the maniacal King Silverbirch and his sorcerer, Smokewreath, await him. There, Urchin will have to face challenges greater than those her has ever known, and in so doing, he will learn a secret about his past that will change his life forever.From School Library JournalGrade 4-7–In this sequel to Urchin of the Riding Stars (Hyperion, 2005), Mistmantle's animal inhabitants are preparing for the coronation of Crispin the squirrel. All does not go smoothly, and Urchin, a Companion to the King, is kidnapped and taken to the island of Whitewings, where he is imprisoned by a silver-obsessed dictator. As is always the case in books of this genre, good is victorious in the end. Readers leave the animals to their happy lives, though presumably there will be some new disaster presented in another installment. While predictable, this is an engaging read with appealing characters and lots of action. Rayyan's whimsical illustrations at the beginning of each chapter are quite effective. Unfortunately, the artist repeatedly represents a character that was meant to be a hedgehog as a mole. This is a minor criticism, but it is an inconsistency that fans of this genre are likely to notice. The similarities to Brian Jacques' Redwall series (Philomel) are obvious. It is interesting to note that McAllister avoids the implication that some animals are just born bad by having the evil characters come from the same species as the good ones. The author also uses a slightly smaller cast of characters and steers away from the use of any potentially confusing dialect, which makes this series approachable for readers who may not be quite ready for the Redwall books.–Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.About the AuthorM. I. McAllister has written several previous novels, published by Oxford University Press in the United Kingdom, including The Secret Miceand most recently The Octave of Angels. She is married to a minister and has three nearly grown-up children. She lives with her family in Yorkshire, England. Views: 7
A stunning new look for the irresistible novel from Guardian-award-winning novelist, Jenny Valentine. Number 33 Georgiana Street houses many people and yet seems home to none. To runaway Sam it is a place to disappear. To Bohemia, it's just another blip between crises, as her mum ricochets off the latest boyfriend. Old Isobel acts like she owns the place, even though it actually belongs to Steve in the basement, who is always looking to squeeze in yet another tenant. Life there is a kind of ordered chaos. Like ants, they scurry about their business, crossing paths, following their own tracks, no questions asked. But it doesn't take much to upset the balance. Dig deep enough and you'll find that everyone has something to hide! Views: 7
A delightfully funny novel packing a clever punch, from the author of the New York Times bestselling Julie and Romeo A mom in her early fifties, Clover knows she no longer turns heads the way she used to, and she's only really missed when dinner isn't on the table on time. Then Clover wakes up one morning to discover she's invisible--truly invisible. She panics, but when her husband and son sit down to dinner, nothing is amiss. Even though she's been with her husband, Arthur, since college, her condition goes unnoticed. Her friend Gilda immediately observes that Clover is invisible, which relieves Clover immensely--she's not losing her mind after all!--but she is crushed by the realization that neither her husband nor her children ever truly look at her. She was invisible even before she knew she was invisible. Clover discovers that there are other women like her, women of a certain age who seem to have disappeared. As she uses her... Views: 7
Port Mortuary, the title of Patricia Cornwell's 18th Scarpetta novel, is literally a port for the dead. In this fast-paced story, a treacherous path from Scarpetta's past merges with the high tech highway she now finds herself on. We travel back to the beginning of her professional career, when she enlisted in the Air Force to pay off her medical school debt and found herself ensnared in a gruesome case of what seemed to be vicious, racially motivated hate crimes against two Americans in South Africa. Now, more than twenty years and many career successes later, her secret military ties have drawn her to Dover Air Force Base, where she has been immersed in a training fellowship to master the art of CT-assisted virtual autopsy--a procedure the White House has mandated that she introduce in the private sector. As the chief of the new Cambridge Forensic Center in Massachusetts, a joint venture of the state and federal governments and MIT, Scarpetta is confronted with a case that could shut down her new facility and ruin her personally and professionally. A young man drops dead, apparently from a cardiac arrhythmia, eerily close to Scarpetta's new Cambridge home. But when his body is examined the next morning, there are stunning indications that he may have been alive when he was zipped inside a pouch and locked insider the Center's cooler. Various 3-D radiology scans reveal more shocking details about internal injuries unlike any Scarpetta has ever seen. These suggest the possibility of a conspiracy to cause mass casualties. She realizes that she is fighting a cunning and cruel enemy that is invisible as she races against time to discover who and why before more people die. In Port Mortuary, Patricia Cornwell brings Scarpetta together with Marino, Benton, and Lucy in an intimate way that is reminiscent of the early novels, and we welcome a voice we haven't heard in years. The point of view is Scarpetta's, and this is her story. Views: 7
In 1914 Hungary, Hendrik and Ferenc hide their love amidst the deserted ruins in the hills above their tiny, sheltered town. Hendrik is engaged to Ferenc’s younger sister, and a place to escape the rigid strictures of their families is worth braving the legend of the snagov vrolok—the snow vampire—who is said will claim the blood and flesh of anyone foolish enough to wander near.Yet sometimes dark tales are based on truth, and something wicked does lurk in the abandoned monastery. Suddenly the lovers find themselves faced with a heartbreaking choice: brave a world in which their love is impossible or face the evil that lives in the snowy heart of a cold Carpathian mountain.A Bittersweet Dreams title: It's an unfortunate truth: love doesn't always conquer all. Regardless of its strength, sometimes fate intervenes, tragedy strikes, or forces conspire against it. These stories of romance do not offer a traditional happy ending, but the strong and enduring love will still touch your heart and maybe move you to tears. Views: 7
Trey Aston is hiding from the mob.Desperate to save her life, she sells her body in order to make the monthly payments her father owes the mob, but when Trey discovers he hasn’t been making the payments, she’s forced to turn to the one man she hoped never to see again for help.Deputy Luke Johnson refuses to acknowledge his high school sweetheart is a prostitute and is determined to make Trey see it for herself. Until she starts treating him as a client. His ability to know right from wrong is challenged and he isn’t the only one who’s noticed. The force doesn’t have his back where Trey is concerned, leaving him to fight against them for a criminal.The Camino Family is out to make her pay, but what really has Trey on edge is the fact she has fallen for the deputy who wants her behind bars. Views: 7
Just years before America witnessed the turn of the century, the three eldest Stuart children left their home in the hills of Arkansas to pursue their dreams in the land of opportunity. Now they are back for a family reunion at the humble home they left years ago.In an unforeseeable turn of events, their visit is cut short when Lylah and Amos are required to return to the city as the world edges closer to war. Within months they find themselves and their brother Gavin deeply involved in the war efforts, but not in the ways they had ever expected. And as the conditions in Europe worsen, they must face a startling reality: before it's all over, the war could claim the life of one of their own. Will the Stuarts survive these tumultuous times and return to their family safe and sound? Or will World War I forever change the lives they know? Views: 7
Easily roused to anger, Seranne Laurence is furious when her mother announces she is to marry the latest in a long line of unsuitable men-friends. She soon realises that she hasn't the right to interfere in her mother's life, but that means she has to leave the Victoria-style tearooms she and her mother run together. Filled with resentment towards her step-father, she moves to the small, Welsh village of Cwm Derw and the cottage called Badgers Brook.There she finds many new friends including Betty and Alun at the Ship and Compass, Babs and Tony at the bakery and many others. Then there is Luke, who laughs at her misfortunes and whose friendship she accepts. It is he, too, who risks his own life to rescue her. Views: 7
Topanga Canyon is home to two couples on a collision course. Los Angeles liberals Delaney and Kyra Mossbacher lead an ordered sushi-and-recycling existence in a newly gated hilltop community: he a sensitive nature writer, she an obsessive realtor. Mexican illegals Candido and America Rincon desperately cling to their vision of the American Dream as they fight off starvation in a makeshift camp deep in the ravine. And from the moment a freak accident brings Candido and Delaney into intimate contact, these four and their opposing worlds gradually intersect in what becomes a tragicomedy of error and misunderstanding. Views: 7
