"Last Chance captures the essence of Southern charm and quirkiness. I'm totally captivated!" —- Sherryl Woods, New York Times bestselling authorJenny Carpenter is the unrivaled pie-baking champion of Last Chance, South Carolina's annual Watermelon Festival and the town's unofficial spinster. With her dream of marriage and children on hold, she focuses on another dream, turning the local haunted house into a charming bed-and-breakfast. But her plans go off course when the home's former owner shows up on her doorstep on a dark and stormy night . . .Mega-bestselling horror writer Gabriel Raintree is as mysterious and tortured as his heroes. His family's long-deserted mansion is just the inspiration he needs to finish his latest twisted tale, or so he thinks until he learns it's been sold. The new innkeeper proves to be as determined as she is kind, and soon Gabriel finds himself a paying guest in his own home. As Jenny and Gabe bring new... Views: 27
The Free-Spirit… Nikki Maguire does what she wants, says what she wants, and lives by her own set of rules. She is an intoxicating combination of beauty, sex-appeal and sharp wit that men find irresistible. Unfortunately for them, none have ever come close to holding Nikki’s attention, and settling down is not even on her radar. The Politician… Sexy Senator Michael Gowan lives under a microscope. As a man of power and influence, he always has to do and say the right thing. Every move he makes is heavily scrutinized. After being named one of People’s 100 Most Beautiful People and landing on countless Most Eligible Bachelor lists, the spotlight on his personal life has never been more intense. But Mike has no interest in love...he doesn’t even believe it exists. The Stormy Night… Grounded by a snowstorm, they share an anonymous night of passion and connection, both finding what their souls have been missing. But in the light of day, will the illicit high-stakes world of politics cause Nikki to deny her feelings or can Mike convince her that the only place she belongs is with him? When the world is against them, will their unlikely love endure? Intended for Adults 18+ Views: 27
In Over the Wine-Dark Sea and The Gryphon’s Skull, H. N. Turteltaub brought to life the teeming world of maritime Greece, in the unsettled years following the death of Alexander the Great. Now Menedemos and Sostratos, those dauntless capitalists of the third century B.C., have set sail again--this time to Phoenicia. There Menedemos will spend the summer trading, while his cousin Sostratos travels inland to the little-known country of Ioudaia, with its strange people and their even stranger religious obsessions. In theory, Sostratos is going in search of cheap balsam, a perfume much in demand in the Mediterranean world. In truth, scholarly Sostratos just wants to get a good look at a part of the world unknown to most Hellenes. And the last thing he wants is to have to take along a bunch of sailors from the Aphrodite as his bodyguards. But Menedemos insists. He knows that bandits on land are as dangerous as pirates at sea, and he has no faith in Sostratos’ ability to dodge them. Meanwhile, it turns out that the prime hams and smoked eels they picked up en route are unsalable to Ioudaians. (Who knew?) And worst of all, Sostratos’ new brother-in-law has managed to talk their fathers into loading the Aphrodite with hundreds of amphorae of his best olive oil--when they’re trading in a region that has no shortage of it. It’s a hard day's work, hustling for an honest drachma. **From BooklistTurteltaub, better known (as Harry Turtledove) for his alternate-history novels, brings us the third installment in the tales of those Grecian adventurers, Sostratos and Menedemos. The time is 308 B.C.E., not too long after the death of Alexander the Great. Greece is in turmoil, politically and socially, but our heroes are getting away from it all, traveling by sea to Phoenicia, where they intend to spend a few months trading, but things aren't going according to plan. There's the matter of their ship's unwanted cargo, olive oil they are supposed to dispose of (coals to Newcastle). There's the matter of the unwanted guests on the voyage, a band of sailors who are supposed to protect them from various dangers. And, well, the whole adventure is just full of misadventure. Turteltaub keeps things moving at a brisk clip, throwing in just enough period detail to remind us we're in ancient Greece and scattering real historical figures throughout the story (Menedemos himself actually existed). It's a lighthearted, whimsical story, another solid entry in an entertaining series. David PittCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reservedReview“Superlative historical adventure.” –Kirkus Reviews on The Gryphon’s Skull Views: 27
Joe Wood has dreams. Big dreams. He wants to be a newspaperman, and though he's only fourteen, he's already borrowed money to start his own press. But it's April, 1861, and a young nation is teetering on the brink of a civil war. As effects of war begin to spread over Joe's hometown of Wiscasset, Maine, he must juggle his personal ambitions with some new responsibilities. He has to help Owen, his young assistant, deal with the challenges of being black in a white world torn apart by color. He needs to talk his best friend, Charlie, out of enlisting. He wants to help a young spiritualist, Nell, whose uncle claims she can speak to the dead. And when Owen disappears, it's up to Joe to save him. Lea Wait skillfully draws on the lives of real people in Maine's history to tell this story of three young adults touched by war and the tension it brings, forcing them into adulthood—before they may be ready. Views: 27
Marc Abrahams collects the odd, the imaginative, and the brilliantly improbable from around the world. Here he investigates research on the ins and outs of the very improbable evolutionary innovation that is the human body (brain included). This Is Improbable Too explores the odd questions that researchers are asking, such as: What's the best way to get a monkey to floss regularly? How much dandruff do soldiers in Pakistan's army have? If you add an extra henchman to your bank-robbing gang, how much more money will you earn? Why is it so impossible to estimate the number of stupid people in circulation? How many dimples will be found on the cheeks of 28,282 Greek children? Who is the Einstein of pork carcasses? This Is Improbable Too also investigates unlikely medical cases, including a boy with an "Eiffel head injury" (involving a toy tower), and even more unlikely inventions, such as a patented system for attacking your enemy with a bio-waste bomb. Views: 27
