First published in 1960, this collection of four novellas continue Bates's sensitive, often witty, explorations of unhappy love. The title story, 'An Aspidistra in Babylon', is a reminiscence of a girl's loss of innocence. Christine, who describes herself at eighteen as 'dull as one of the aspidistras that cluttered up ... our little boarding house' is seduced by the forty-year-old Captain Blaine, who charms her imagination with stories of a life on the Continent. 'A Month by the Lake' is a comedy of errors set in 1920s Lake Como revolving around two middle-aged vacationers unable to express their affection for each other. A film version starring James Fox, Vanessa Redgrave, and Uma Thurman was directed by John Irvin in 1995. Also featured in this collection is 'A Prospect of Orchards', as narrated by a familiarly mild-mannered Bates character, concerning unfolding affections and blossoming relationships in this quirky tale of extra-marital... Views: 319
When Poppy's mother disappears one day, Aunt Daisy comes to look after the family. Poppy and her brother Eddie try to find out where their mother has gone. Eddie insists space monsters have taken her while Poppy is sure there must be another explanation. But the truth turns out to be stranger than either of them would have imagined as they travel through time to the future.Muse is a young cat whose mind has a special power, but she feels trapped living her life as a stray in the big city. With no memories of her kittenhood, she is haunted by dreams of the countryside, and she begins to wonder if the country is her real home.Two other stray city cats befriend Muse, and each of them has its own journey to make as well. Together, they embark on an adventure to discover what it means to be home, to find peace, to experience joy, love, loss, and acceptance, and to experience a wild ride along the way.Will Muse's unique abilities help or hinder her on her quest? Will she find the dream she's looking for? Views: 319
Jared Hawk wasn't looking for a fight. But he wasn't walking away when the Mexican called him out ... he killed the pistolero.He didn't know the man's brother headed an outlaw gang working the Border country. But he had been warned: 'My name is Luis Brava. Remember that. I want you to know my name when I kill you.'And Luis Brava took his revenge.He left Hawk to die.It was a mistake, because Hawk wasn't the kind of man to die easy. He went looking for his own personal vengeance. And when he got hired to track the Brava gang he had two reasons for doing the job the only way he knew how ... violently! Views: 319
Will and Izzy are forced to flee from Zzyk's army. After months away from Alberta, they fly their sailing ship into BC thinking that they would be safe there. Bad mistake! Izzy is captured. All Will has to do to save her life is turn himself in for a free brain-band fitting appointment. That's what happens when you wear a Zorro costume to a dance.Ryan Butler is a lazy, selfish individual. At 14 years old he would rather sit in his room playing computer games than put any effort into achieving the grades he is capable of at school. Deep down he is actually quite sensitive, but he puts on a brash façade to ensure he maintains his popularity. He has known his neighbour, Daisy, all his life, but since starting secondary school he has avoided her as all the other kids think she's a bit strange.Through a series of dreams, during which the same man keeps cropping up, Ryan discovers that he has the staggering ability to contact other people in the waking world and influence their thoughts. He soon finds out that Daisy also shares this gift, along with two other kids from his school. Sophie is the object of Ryan's affection, a constant overachiever who accepts his friendship because her numerous gifts are met with resentment among her other classmates. Billy is her twin brother, whose arrogance leads him to constant conflict with Ryan, and whom Sophie can't stand the sight of. Together they enrol at the Academy – a facility established to maintain order within the sleeping world, and inhabited by a bizarre group of dreamers. The man Ryan kept seeing, Tristram, is a senior Dreamweaver and is charged with helping them to develop their skills. They soon discover that the Academy is engaged in a bitter struggle with a mercenary group, led by the enigmatic Rasputin, who use their skills to manipulate the minds of powerful businessmen and world leaders to fulfil the designs of the highest bidder. Their Dreamweaving lessons provide an enjoyable diversion from school life, which is often fickle and cruel, but then Sophie goes missing in a dream and Tristram heads off to find her. The others recklessly choose to follow, and events take a gruesome twist when they finally locate Sophie and discover that the world around them is a terrifying distortion of reality, and one that they cannot readily wake up from. Views: 319
You wake up to find yourself in a dark field ... with two choices.And with a threat coming from high above, depending on which decision you make.Also check out the novel Nowhere Man and Orange Girl: a new novel by J.W. Walker (pen name for Wayne Haroutunian)"Your book has replaced Netflix for me." A.H. “I could totally see this as a movie.” C.B.Shonna belongs to a cohort of teens called by Yesher to fight evil and protect the children of earth. Endowed with Triune Power, armed with swords of hallowed metal and spiritually wise beyond their years, the Slayers face off with Belial's wicked minions to demonstrate Yesher's sovereignty in their small Massachusetts town.The battle becomes very personal when Shonna's widowed mother unknowingly marries a Familiar Spirit who has taken on the human form of Ian Corbet. Distracted by her own developing relationship with fellow Slayer, Jake Hannaford, Shonna struggles to maintain her focus on rescuing her mother from Ian's nefarious plot, even if it means personally killing her new stepfather...or die trying. Views: 319
A blazingly inventive near-future thriller from the best-selling, Hugo Award-winning John Scalzi.Not too long from today, a new, highly contagious virus makes its way across the globe. Most who get sick experience nothing worse than flu, fever and headaches. But for the unlucky one percent - and nearly five million souls in the United States alone - the disease causes "Lock In": Victims fully awake and aware, but unable to move or respond to stimulus. The disease affects young, old, rich, poor, people of every color and creed. The world changes to meet the challenge.A quarter of a century later, in a world shaped by what's now known as "Haden's syndrome," rookie FBI agent Chris Shane is paired with veteran agent Leslie Vann. The two of them are assigned what appears to be a Haden-related murder at the Watergate Hotel, with a suspect who is an "integrator" - someone who can let the locked in borrow their bodies for a time.?If the Integrator was carrying a... Views: 319
This book can be read as a standalone.
Izzy Sawyer has always been the it girl. She believes she’s the last person on earth who deserves a happily ever after. Holt Edwards has always been the player that women voluntarily fall to their knees for. When it comes to love, Holt doesn’t believe in fairytale endings.
When Izzy dives back into the dating pool, Holt is right there, ready and willing, to offer tips and tricks to get her through an entire army of blind dates—starting with a bone melting demonstration on how to deliver mouthwatering kisses.
One thing leads to whiskey and Izzy is starting to think happily ever after doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. Holt is starting to rethink his stance on fairytale endings.
But Izzy has a secret that has turned her world upside down. Holt has a secret of his own that cost him far more than he ever bargained for.
Sometimes life doesn’t give you the happily ever after. Sometimes it’s best to leave fairytale endings on the bookshelf where they belong.
Izzy can’t stop thinking about Holt.
Holt can’t seem to quit his favorite new addiction—Izzy.
The mercury is rising—secrets are percolating—and their lust for one another is just about to detonate.
Izzy needs just one more hit of Holt and his late night Whiskey kisses, but deep down she knows that will never be enough. She wants all of him—every bone melting kiss he ever has to offer.
Izzy wants Holt
Holt worships Izzy.
Summer in Hollow Brook just heated up.
Sparks are flying.
Together Izzy and Holt are unstoppably electric. Views: 319
Jennifer Johnston's powerful novel of 1920s Ireland and one woman, on her deathbed, looking back on the tragic day that changed the course of her lifeIn northwest Ireland, eighteen-year-old Miranda Martin lives in a country estate home with her father. A recent widower, he spends his days consumed by a project to reforest their tranquil Donegal surroundings. Miranda, on the cusp of adulthood, spends her summer engrossed in a chaste but passionate courtship with a local boy named Cathal. Members of the Anglo-Irish class and the Protestant Ascendancy, Miranda and her father are sympathetic to the burgeoning movement for home rule. On the other side of the argument is Miranda's brother, Andrew, a soldier in the British military during the First World War. On leave from service, Andrew has come home with his friend and fellow soldier, Harry. Their fateful visit, recalled by Miranda years later, is marked by tensions over the family's disparate politics and culminates in a... Views: 318
The Haeven Collection is a series of four short stories that are only connected through genre and genre alone. Each story has a unique voice and gives glimpses into the world of urban fantasy.“The Haeven Collection” is a series of four short stories set in semi modern times. Only through genre are the stories in any way connected and each one has a beginning, a middle and an end. The stories give the reader and inside look at the world that each of the characters live in and comes from as well as a look at how they interact with said world and each other in the individual stories.The Haeven Child-When a witty and temperamental young witch is forced into a situation not of her making and beyond her control, she must traverse the terrible waters of family life and child rearing.Kitten-Running away from home sounds like a good idea, but not when you’re and Skin Changer with major daddy issues and a dead mother. An adolescent Skin Changer runs away from home with her mother’s skin after she dies, her father is looking for her and he is not happy.150-One hundred fifty years is a long time to be with someone you hate, especially if that person is your sire and he controls your very life. A “young” vampire is stuck with the creature that changed him into a monster of the night and his rebellious attitude will not be tolerated.Diner-A diner is such as non-threatening place. However, when a meeting between to associates is cut short because of a joke, the other two men try to keep it together and take the intrusion with grace and poise. Views: 318
The first book in the series The Feelings Are the Same.Since 1954, the Neubulisskys, from Planet Neubulis, have abducted people from around the world for their psychological experiments. The experiments are about human feelings and interactions, and Suki, having few friends and relatives, seemed perfect for the project of loneliness. Or so they thought.The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance. –John 10:10, AMPGood Friday started off as anything but that for Melinda Black. After losing her job and self-dignity, a series of events cascade her onto an emotionally charged roller coaster ride that drastically changes her life forever.Will Melinda be able to handle the pressure when she stands to lose what's most important in her life? Once Upon a Sunday is an inspirational short story. Views: 318
Adventure, magic, and hilarity collide in New York Times bestselling author Carrie Ryan and John Parke Davis's first book in a fantastical series.*
*To Master Thief Fin, an orphan from the murky pirate world of the Khaznot Quay, the Map is the key to finding his mother. To suburban schoolgirl Marrill, it's her only way home after getting stranded on the Pirate Stream, the magical waterway that connects every world in creation. With the help of a bumbling wizard and his crew, they must scour the many worlds of the Pirate Stream to gather the pieces of the Map to Everywhere--but they aren't the only ones looking. A sinister figure is hot on their tail, and if they can't beat his ghostly ship to find the Map, it could mean the destruction of everything they hold dear!
Heart-pounding escapades and a colorful cast of characters will have readers setting sail through this wholly original and unforgettable tale. Views: 318
Three teens. Three stories. One high-stakes art competition.Can a shy artist gain the upper hand in a face-off against her domineering twin?Will paint cans fly as two teams from vastly different backgrounds butt heads?Will a fun-loving volunteer find the courage to carve his own path?Follow three teens as they grapple with issues of love, loss, friendship, identity, and harbored prejudices in a race against time to complete their artwork in the 2nd Annual National High School Fresco Painting Competition. Views: 318
These undercover operatives were definitely not from Russia ... a short science fiction story by David Wesley Hill.What if the tables were turned, and the hunter became the hunted? What if Mother Nature, in her infinite wisdom and fickleness, changed the rules on us? What if the animals began culling the herds of humans encroaching on their land? Let's find out together... Views: 318
"The Motivation Manifesto is a poetic and powerful call to reclaim our lives and find our own personal freedom. It's a triumphant work that transcends the title, lifting the reader from mere motivation into a soaringly purposeful and meaningful life. I love this book." - Paulo CoelhoThe Motivation Manifesto is a pulsing, articulate, ferocious call to claim our personal power. World-renowned high performance trainer Brendon Burchard reveals that the main motive of humankind is the pursuit of greater Personal Freedom. We desire the grand liberties of choice-time freedom, emotional freedom, social freedom, financial freedom, spiritual freedom. Only two enemies stand in our way: an external enemy, defined as the social oppression of who we are by the mediocre masses, and an internal enemy, a sort of self-oppression caused by our own doubt and fear.The march to Personal Freedom, Burchard argues, can be won only by declaring our intent and independence, stepping... Views: 318
The Louisiana bayou heats up when a grieving psychic returns home to find a new chance at love—and a foreboding message from the spirit realm. When Boston psychic Gabriella Deveaux's husband is killed in a plane crash, she and her daughter head home to the Louisiana estate where Gabriella was raised. Shocked to find the gracious old estate is crumbling, Gabriella is even more horrified to learn that she's lost her connection to the spirit world. Into this chaos comes Jarrod Landry, her new lawyer—but while Gabriella is hesitant to trust the man, she can't fight the sultry heat of attraction between them. When an otherworldly presence makes itself known, Gabriella must choose between guarding her battered heart, or confronting an evil more malevolent than she has ever known. Praise for Jill Jones "Jones is especially adept at creating tense plots and authentic characters." —Publishers Weekly ... Views: 318
