This novel elegantly dissects modern romantic mores. Christopher, a successful shop fitter specializing in transforming dilapidated London buildings into swanky bistros, is romantically involved with Carmen, a one-time academic now unhappily employed as a magazine columnist. Jimmy, a millionaire and virtuoso pianist with a laissez-faire attitude to life, seems to offer the fulfillment she seeks. This novel takes the form of Christopher's "memorial" to his former love. Set in London, Nice, the Greek Isles, and Tuscany, it is a beautifully crafted and utterly convincing portrait of adultery and its repercussions. Murray tracks his characters through the worlds of classical music, journalism, fashion modeling, and architecture, and asks where contentment might be found in an increasingly complex yet superficial world. Views: 29
Fleet Captain Tory Sabin is on a single-minded quest to find her father who disappeared 20 years ago when she was only 13. Ever since, she’s driven herself to excel, to achieve Captaincy and to somehow continue the search for her father’s ship lost in foldspace, a twisty, dangerous form of FTL. Views: 29
As Maea spirals closer to her fate, she and her companions seek shelter in a neighbouring kingdom. But the conspiracy that nearly killed her has taken root there as well and in order to change her destiny Maea must make an alliance with her enemy.***Book 2 of the Reign of Prophecy Series*** Views: 29
Innocent lady's companion? Enigmatic beauty Ellie Rosewood is the talk of the ton. Her appointed guardian, Justin, Duke of Royston, has one job--to find Miss Rosewood a husband. But confirmed rake Justin wants Ellie all for himself! Or lady of mystery? With her coming out a huge success, Ellie is overwhelmed by the attention of London's most eligible bachelors. She finds an unexpected haven in the company of the arrogant Justin, and he begins to discover there is more to this unworldly wallflower than first appears.... Views: 29
In her Loveswept debut, Maggie McGinnis tells the tale of a city girl who's running on fumes--and the cowboy who shows her all the good things she's been missing. After being betrayed by her con man ex-fiancé, Kyla Bennett nurses a broken heart. But Kyla's friends have other ideas and when they whisk her off to Whisper Creek, a dude ranch staffed by cowboys so hot they dim the Montana sunset, all Kyla wants to do is hide under a quilt. Then in rides Decker Driscoll. He's hauling about as much emotional baggage as Kyla, but when he stands close by, both of them want to stay close--and begin to succumb to an undeniable attraction. After experiencing personal tragedy, Decker never thought he'd see Big Sky country again. But now that his family's Whisper Creek property is in deep with a Vegas gambler, Decker's back for the summer--and spending all his time running from "cowgirls" who come to the dude ranch to score some dudes. Then he meets Kyla, a... Views: 29
A beautiful love affair and a burning betrayal…Eliza Lincoln is stunned to find Leo Valente at her door; four years ago his passionate embrace was a brief taste of freedom from her suffocating engagement. Until Leo discovered her secret…Yet he hasn't come to rekindle their affair. He has a proposition he knows Eliza can't refuse: she's the only person who can help his small, motherless daughter.Torn, Eliza can't ignore a vulnerable child, but the last time she was near Leo her desire nearly consumed her. Is she willing to take that risk again now that the stakes are even higher?About the AuthorMelanie Milburne read her first Harlequin at age seventeen in between studying for her final exams. After completing a Masters Degree in Education she decided to write a novel in between settling down to do a PhD. She became so hooked on writing romance the PhD was shelved and soon after she was signed on to the London office of Harlequin Mills and Boon line, becoming the first not previously published Australian author to be contracted for the Presents line in over a decade. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.It was the meeting Eliza had been anticipating with agonising dread for weeks. She took her place with the four other teachers in the staffroom and prepared herself for the announcement from the headmistress. 'We're closing.'The words fell into the room like the drop of a guillotine. The silence that followed echoed with a collective sense of disappointment, despair and panic. Eliza thought of her little primary school pupils with their sad and neglected backgrounds so similar to her own. She had worked so hard to get them to where they were now. What would happen to them if their small community-based school was shut down? They already had so much going against them, coming from such underprivileged backgrounds. They would never survive in the overcrowded mainstream school system. They would slip between the cracks, just like their parents and grandparents had done.Like she had almost done.The heartbreaking cycle of poverty and neglect would continue. Their lives—those little lives that had so much potential—would be stymied, ruined, and possibly even destroyed by delinquency and crime.'Is there nothing we can do to keep things going for a little while at least?' Georgie Brant, the Year Three teacher asked. 'What about another bake sale or a fair?'The headmistress, Marcia Gordon, shook her head sadly. 'I'm afraid no amount of cakes and cookies are going to keep us afloat at this stage. We need a large injection of funds and we need it before the end of term.''But that's only a week away!' Eliza said.Marcia sighed. 'I know. I'm sorry but that's just the way it is. We've always tried to keep our overheads low, but with the economy the way it is just now it's made it so much harder. We have no other choice but to close before we amass any more debt.''What if some of us take a pay cut or even work without pay?' Eliza suggested. 'I could go without pay for a month or two.' Any longer than that and things would get pretty dire. But she couldn't bear to stand back and do nothing. Surely there was something they could do? Surely there was someone they could appeal to for help…a charity or a government grant.Something—anything.Before Eliza could form the words Georgie had leaned forward in her chair and spoke them for her. 'What if we appeal for public support? Remember all the attention we got when Lizzie was given that teaching award last year? Maybe we could do another press article showing what we offer here for disadvantaged kids. Maybe some filthy-rich philanthropist will step out of the woodwork and offer to keep us going.' She rolled her eyes and slumped back in her seat dejectedly. 'Of course, it would help if one of us actually knew someone filthy-rich.'Eliza sat very still in her seat. The hairs on the back of her neck each stood up one by one and began tingling at the roots. A fine shiver moved over her skin like the rush of a cool breeze. Every time she thought of Leo Valente her body reacted as if he was in the room with her. Her heart picked up its pace as she brought those darkly handsome features to mind.'Doyou know anyone, Lizzie?' Georgie asked, turning towards her.'Um…no,' Eliza said. 'I don't mix in those sorts of circles.' Any more.Marcia clicked her pen on and off a couple of times, her expression thoughtful. 'I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try. I'll make a brief statement to the press. Even if we could stay open until Christmas it would be something.' She stood up and gathered her papers off the table. 'I'm sending the letter to the parents in tomorrow's post.' She sighed again. 'For those of you who believe in miracles, now is a good time to pray for one.'Eliza saw the car as soon as she turned the corner into her street. It was prowling slowly like a black panther on the hunt, its halogen headlights beaming like searching eyes. It was too dark inside the car to see the driver in any detail, but she immediately sensed it was a man and that it was her he was looking for. A telltale shiver passed over her like the hand of a ghost as the driver expertly guided the showroom-perfect Mercedes into the only available car space outside her flat.Her breath stalled in her throat as a tall, dark-haired, well dressed figure got out from behind the wheel. Her heart jolted against her ribcage and her pulse quickened. Seeing Leo Valente face to face for the first time in four years created a shockwave through her body that left her feeling disoriented and dizzy. Even her legs felt shaky as if the ground beneath her had suddenly turned to jelly.Why was he here? What did he want? How had he found her?She strove for a steady composure as he came to stand in front of her on the pavement, but inside her stomach was fluttering like a moth trapped in a jam jar. 'Leo,' she said, surprised her voice came out at all with her throat so tightly constricted with emotion.He inclined his darkly handsome head in a formal greeting. 'Eliza.'She quickly disguised a swallow. His voice, with its sexy Italian accent, had always made her go weak at the knees. His looks were just as lethally attractive—tall and lean and arrestingly handsome, with eyes so dark a brown they looked almost black. The landscape of his face hinted at a man who was used to getting his own way. It was there in the chiselled line of his jaw and the uncompromising set to his mouth. He looked a little older than when she had last seen him. His jet-black hair had a trace of silver at the temples, and there were fine lines grooved either side of his mouth and around his eyes, which somehow she didn't think smiling or laughter had caused.'Hi…' she said and then wished she had gone for something a little more formal. It wasn't as if they had parted as friends—far from it.'I would like to speak to you in private.' He nodded towards her ground-floor flat, the look in his eyes determined, intractable and diamond-hard. 'Shall we go inside?'She took an uneven breath that rattled against her throat. 'Um…I'm kind of busy right now…'His eyes hardened even further as if he knew it for the lie it was. 'I won't take any more than five or ten minutes of your time.'Eliza endured the silent tug-of-war between his gaze and hers for as long as she could, but in the end she was the first to look away. 'All right.' She blew out a little gust of a breath. 'Five minutes.'She was aware of him walking behind her up the cracked and uneven pathway to her front door. She tried not to fumble with her keys but the way they rattled and jingled in her fingers betrayed her nervousness lamentably. Finally she got the door open and stepped through, inwardly cringing when she thought of how humble her little flat was compared to his villa in Positano. She could only imagine what he was thinking: How could she have settled for this instead of what I offered her?Eliza turned to face him as he came in. He had to stoop to enter, his broad shoulders almost spanning the narrow hallway. He glanced around with a critical eye. Was he wondering if the ceiling was going to come tumbling down on him? She watched as his top lip developed a slight curl as he turned back to face her. 'How long have you lived here?'Pride brought her chin up half an inch. 'Four years.''You're renting?'Eliza silently ground her teeth. Was he doing it deliberately? Reminding her of all she had thrown away by rejecting his proposal of marriage? He must know she could never afford to buy in this part of London. She couldn't afford to buy in any part of London. And now with her job hanging in the balance she might not even be able to afford to pay her rent. 'I'm saving up for a place of my own,' she said as she placed her bag on the little hall table.'I might be able to help you with that.'She searched his expression but it was hard to know what was going on behind the dark screen of his eyes.She quickly moistened her lips, trying to act nonchalant in spite of that little butterfly in her stomach, which had suddenly developed razor blades for wings. 'I'm not sure what you're suggesting,' she said. 'But just for the record—thanks but no thanks.'His eyes tussled with hers again. 'Is there somewhere we can talk other than out here in the hall?'Eliza hesitated as she did a quick mental survey of her tiny sitting room. She had been sorting through a stack of magazines one of the local newsagents had given her for craftwork with her primary school class yesterday. Had she closed that gossip magazine she had been reading? Leo had been photographed at some charity function in Rome. The magazine was a couple of weeks old but it was the only time she had seen anything of him in the press. He had always fiercely guarded his private life. Seeing his photo so soon after the staff meeting had unsettled her deeply. She had stared and stared at his image, wondering if it was just a coincidence that he had appeared like that, seemingly from out of nowhere. 'Um…sure,' she said. 'Come this way.'If Leo had made the hallway seem small, he made the sitting room look like something out of a Lilliputian house. She grimaced as his head bumped the cheap lantern light fitting. 'You'd better sit down,' she said, surreptitiously closing the magazine and putting it beneath the others in the stack. 'You have the sofa.''Where are you going to sit?' he asked with a crook of one dark brow.'Um…I'll get a chair from the kitchen…''I'll get it,' he said. 'You take the sofa.'Eliza would have argued over it except for the fact that her legs weren't feeling too stable right at that moment. She sat on the sofa and placed her hands flat on her thighs to... Views: 29
The heartwarming and provocative sequel to Diane Hammond's Hannah's Dream, Friday's Harbor is the compelling story of a dying orca, the caring zoo that saves him, and the controversy that threatens his captivity.It's been three years since Hannah, the elephant, departed the Max L. Biedelman Zoo, in Bladenham, Washington, and much has changed, including the appointment of new executive director Truman Levy, and the arrival of a failing killer whale named Friday.With the help of marine mammal rehabilitator Gabriel Jump, and a team of dedicated though inexperienced keepers, Friday begins to recover. But not everyone believes he should be in captivity—a debate that explodes onto a national stage. Now, Friday's fate may no longer rest in the hands of Truman and the caring staff at the Max L. Biedelman Zoo.Like The Art of Racing in the Rain and Like Water for Elephants, Friday's Harbor beautifully illuminates the special bond between animals and humans.** Views: 29
For ambitious engineer Simon Darcy, winning Queen Victoria’s competition to recover lost inventions of historical significance is a matter of pride—and redemption. After all, it was Simon’s failed monorail project that left his family destitute, and winning the tournament would surely restore the Darcys’ reputation. Simon sets his sights high, targeting no less than the infamous time-travel device that forever changed the world by transporting scientists, engineers, and artists from the twentieth century. The Mod technology was banned and supposedly destroyed, but Simon is sure he can re-create it. His daring plan draws the attention of Willie G., the Clockwork Canary, London’s sensationalist reporter. Simon soon discovers that Willie is a male guise for Wilhemina Goodenough, the love of his youth, who left him jilted and bitter. He questions her motives even as he falls prey to her unique charm. As the attraction between the two reignites, Simon realizes that this vixen from his past has secrets that could be the key to his future…as long as he can put their history behind him. Views: 29
A box of Christmas delights from bestselling romance author, Jo Beverley. Jo Beverley is a member of the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame, and has been described by Romantic Times as "one of the great names of the genre." In the box -- three novellas set at Christmas, a description of Christmas in the Regency period, and some seasonal recipes, new and old. A Gift of Light was first published in 1996 in The Christmas Cat. Miss Kitty Mayhew is spending the first Christmas since her parents' deaths quietly, but she ventures out to find the owner of raucous tom that is keeping her awake with his caterwauling serenades to her own cat. When she encounters a half-dressed manservant she's shaken, especially as he's impudent and far too handsome for his own good. When she learns that he's the Earl of Felstowe hiding from Christmas revelries she knows she's bitten off more than she can chew. But the earl is now in determined pursuit of her. The Christmas Wedding Gambit. This has been freely available on my web site for years. Viscount Greystoke is at the end of his tether. A local chit is claiming that she's pregnant with his child and her family is demanding that he marry her. If he refuses, the girl's brother will call him out. And now the chit's fat, plain sister has invaded his house to suggest that he marry her instead. It's taken all Frances Guysley's courage to take this bold step, but she knows it's the only way to avoid disaster for both families. A hasty marriage in Gretna Green could put all right -- if Lord Greystoke doesn't throttle her first. Star of Wonder. First published as Day of Wrath in the collection Star of Wonder in 1999. This story is set in 999 AD, when many believed the world would soon come to an end. Wulfhera of Froxton is preparing to become a nun, but social tumult and Viking invasions send her home, where she finds the people either praying or drinking as they await the end. One of the drunkards is the man she's always secretly loved. Raef is devastated by deaths in battle and enraged over the loss of his estate to a Dane, Magnus Ravensbringer. To make matters worse, Hera's sister was captured by Magnus and liked it so much that she's run back to him. As Hera tries to hold everything together, an old legend comes into play, offering hope, but requiring her to betray Raef in a way he might never forgive. This boxed set also includes an essay about Christmas traditions in the real Regency and some seasonal recipes. It would make a great small gift for anyone with an e-reader. There's a gift card for you to print out here. http://www.jobev.com/giftcard/ Views: 29
