Mara’s in hell! Neither one of the guys in her life is talking to her. Paul, her ex-boyfriend, is afraid she’s going to give birth to a baby demon—complete with horns and hooves. He wants proof that he’s actually the father. And her best friend, Gus, is so obsessed with his new boyfriend and his plans for the late, great, Lord Grundleshanks the Poisonous Toad, he has no time for anyone else. After Gus flips the seasons and manages to bring summer into winter, everything starts going weirdly wrong. Summer refuses to leave. Household electronics start going haywire. When J.J., a local boy, vanishes from Mara's car, Mara begins to suspect he's been turned into a rat. But it’s such a crazy idea, who could she possibly talk to abut it? Then, her dead Aunt Tillie shows up to warn her that Gus is in trouble—big trouble—and it’s up to Mara to save him. Before Mara can stop him, Gus opens up a portal to Hell and the Devil comes calling. Now, she’s got her hands full, trying to find out what happened to J.J., assure Paul she’s not going to give birth to a mythological creature, and broker a truce between Gus and the Devil before Gus becomes Hell’s newest resident. Views: 10
For as long as 17-year-old Alex Wayfare can remember, she has had visions of the past. Visions that make her feel like she’s really on a ship bound for America, living in Jamestown during the Starving Time, or riding the original Ferris wheel at the World’s Fair. But these brushes with history pull her from her daily life without warning, sometimes leaving her with strange lasting effects and wounds she can’t explain. Trying to excuse away the aftereffects has booked her more time in the principal’s office than in any of her classes and a permanent place at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Alex is desperate to find out what her visions mean and get rid of them. It isn’t until she meets Porter, a stranger who knows more than should be possible about her, that she learns the truth: Her visions aren’t really visions. Alex is a Descender – capable of traveling back in time by accessing Limbo, the space between Life and Afterlife. Alex is one soul with fifty-six past lives, fifty-six histories. Fifty-six lifetimes to explore: the prospect is irresistible to Alex, especially when the same mysterious boy with soulful blue eyes keeps showing up in each of them. But the more she descends, the more it becomes apparent that someone doesn’t want Alex to travel again. Ever. And will stop at nothing to make this life her last. Views: 10
Eddie G. must discover why someone wants to kill him. His friends Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland are concerned for him, too.After Dean Martin saves Eddie G. from being hit by a car, Eddie's torpedo buddy Jerry arrives from Brooklyn with the news: somebody's put an open contract out on him. As anybody can cash it in, pros and amateurs alike are coming out of the woodwork to have a shot. So when Eddie is asked by Frank Sinatra to go to LA to help his friend, Judy Garland, with a problem she's having, Eddie and Jerry seize the opportunity to leave Vegas.Unfortunately the contract follows Eddie there. While doing his best to stay alive long enough to find out who hates him so much they want him dead, Eddie must also solve Judy Garland's problem of a possible stalker and blackmailer. Views: 10
"Ipaint what I see and not what it pleases others to see." What other words than these of Édouard Manet, seemingly so different from the sentiments of Monet or Renoir, could best define the movement of Impressionism? Without a doubt this singularity was explained when, shortly before his death, Claude Monet wrote: "I remain sorry to have been the cause of the name given to a group the majority of which did not have anything Impressionist."In this work, Nathalia Brodskaïa examines the contradictions of this late 19th-century movement through the paradox of a group who, while forming a coherent ensemble, favoured the affirmation of artistic individuals. Between academic art and the birth of modern, non-figurative painting, the road to recognition was long. Analysing the founding elements of the movement, the author follows, through the works of each of the artists, how the demand for individuality gave rise to modern painting. Views: 10
Two young men and a girl go scavenging for fossils—but find something entirely different instead. A girl inherits a baby from the estate of her older sister. An apparently aimless young man turns out to have surprising powers. From Journey Prize-nominee Nicholas Ruddock comes an outstanding new collection of short fiction. How Loveta Got Her Baby is a set of linked stories about growing up unsure of the world and trying to stand up straight, about love from afar and love up close, love imagined, love going right and wrong and sideways, about being young and imperfect. Stories that are by turns, funny, tender, sexy, painful, passionate, heartbreaking, and joyous: Ruddick writes with deft insight into who we are, and how we change. Views: 10
Boudoir Lies...Overworked tax attorney Penelope Sue fields never had time for romance—so she invented a phantom lover named Raoul to fill the gaping hole in her love life. But all it takes is one chance encounter with hunky undercover cop Tony Olano in a New Orleans elevator, and Penelope is ready to give her fantasy man the boot in favor of the flesh and blood, rippling muscled real thing. Now if only he would notice her.Bedroom EyesBadboy-turned-cop Tony Olano can't help but notice the dreamy-eyed lawyer—she's not only desirable, she's a suspect in his ongoing criminal investigation! And that's where grandmotherly Mrs. Meableel Merlin comes in. A well-meaning meddler, Mrs. Merlin's prepared to use mystical arts to unite the "all-work-no-play" lady lawer and the sexy, sensitive lawman. Trouble is that her spell goes seriously awry, leaving Tony and Penelope to forge their own tumultuous path to good old-fashioned passion. Views: 10
