Steeped in history and filled with heart-wrenching twists, The Stolen Marriage is an emotionally captivating novel of secrets, betrayals, prejudice, and forgiveness. It showcases Diane Chamberlain at the top of her talent.
*One mistake, one fateful night, and Tess DeMello’s life is changed forever. *
It is 1944. Pregnant, alone, and riddled with guilt, twenty-three-year-old Tess DeMello abruptly gives up her budding career as a nurse and ends her engagement to the love of her life, unable to live a lie. Instead, she turns to the baby’s father for help and agrees to marry him, moving to the small, rural town of Hickory, North Carolina. Tess’s new husband, Henry Kraft, is a secretive man who often stays out all night, hides money from his new wife, and shows her no affection. Tess quickly realizes she’s trapped in a strange and loveless marriage with no way out.
The people of Hickory love and respect Henry but see Tess as an outsider, treating her with suspicion and disdain. When one of the town’s golden girls dies in a terrible accident, everyone holds Tess responsible. But Henry keeps his secrets even closer now, though it seems that everyone knows something about him that Tess does not.
When a sudden polio epidemic strikes Hickory, the townspeople band together to build a polio hospital. Tess knows she is needed and defies Henry’s wishes to begin working at there. Through this work, she begins to find purpose and meaning. Yet at home, Henry’s actions grow more alarming by the day. As Tess works to save the lives of her patients, can she untangle the truth behind her husband’s mysterious behavior and find the love—and the life—she was meant to have? Views: 970
Librarian note: Older cover of B06XW6YTKV.
Following her record-breaking debut trilogy, Ann Leckie, winner of the Hugo, Nebula, Arthur C. Clarke and Locus Awards, returns with an enthralling new novel of power, theft, privilege and birthright.
A power-driven young woman has just one chance to secure the status she craves and regain priceless lost artifacts prized by her people. She must free their thief from a prison planet from which no one has ever returned.
Ingray and her charge will return to her home world to find their planet in political turmoil, at the heart of an escalating interstellar conflict. Together, they must make a new plan to salvage Ingray's future, her family, and her world, before they are lost to her for good. Views: 969
New York Times bestseller Penelope Douglas introduces Quinn, younger sister to Jared, Madoc, and Jaxon, in the latest novella in the series that began with Jared and Tate in Bully....
Quinn Caruthers has several problems.
Her father, Jason, and her three older brothers, Jared, Madoc, and Jaxon.
Under the close watch of the men in her family, Quinn has found it nearly impossible to spread her wings—or even date—without them jumping in to hover. And when a family friend—several years older—from her childhood captures her heart, she knows they’re going to be a problem. Lucas Morrow is a man—experienced, sophisticated, and important. And knowing her brothers, he may as well be forbidden.
But Lucas left town years ago and shows no signs of returning. Quinn knows she shouldn’t wait for him anymore.
But then a package turns up on her doorstep with no return address and its contents reveal family secrets that threaten to turn Quinn’s world upside down. She’s never asked about the tumultuous path of her parents’ romantic history, but she soon learns their happy marriage had a very rocky and passionate start.
As she begins to see things around her with new eyes, Quinn will have to make tough choices about whether she’ll keep waiting…or finally go after what she really wants.
*Next to Never is a 60,000 word novella from Quinn's point-of-view. It is not her love story. That will be a full-length novel eventually. This story covers some family history, introduces the new generation, and catches up with the original couples. Views: 968
Adams girlfriend is pregnant, and the only thing she now wants from him is marriage, but Adam declines the offer, claiming he hates the devotion, crying and smell of diapers. She chases him out of her life and house. Now Adam has to make up his mind before he losses everything. ..Daniel Rengaw “(POV)” is a published Historical Novelist drawn into a historical mystery. First, by a letter quilled by Thomas Jefferson. The letter holds the signature of Jefferson and is dated more than one hundred and eighty years after his death ‘The Document’, as it becomes known, is curiously found on the writing desk in Jefferson’s Study at Monticello. A place where it shouldn’t be. A place that few have access to.The Colorado Bureau of Investigation pushes the story further toward the murky as it determines that The Document could have indeed been penned by Jefferson. However, there are below the surface motives that may have skewed their analysis. These motives are both personal and internal. The internal: Fame driven greed of a Department Head. The personal: The same Department Head’s warm-for-the-form of Pamila Rengaw; Danny’s wife of thirty years. Both the Internal and Personal are over the shoulder glances that are looked at throughout the story.Doctor Rengaw is intrigued by a 63 page hand written political dossier sent him. The dossier’s implied meaning for our country, and the fact that it contains the same unknown acronym as The Document, furthers to tickle his curiosity. There is also confusion about an article in a Virginia newspaper. The Managing Editor can’t explain its origin or how it got into the edition. Rojer Ousten, Curator at Monticello and long time High School buddy of Danny’s, begs him to come to Monticello. For these reasons and others, Daniel agrees to go to Jefferson’s home. His going is a balancing act; solving the origin of The Document, and helping his friend with a Press Conference designed by the Monticello Foundation as a fund raiser. Daniel’s visit to Monticello is brief at only 48 hours. Yet it is never without happenings. A tumultuous Pacific wave rolling continual across the ocean.Monticello Foundation Chairman Peter Henderson, Rojer, and Daniel, attend a briefing with the FBI at Quantico. Assistant Director and Mr. Henderson’s friend, leads the analysis of the events that place The Document in the Study. This analysis determines a two second glitch in the digital security video from Jefferson’s Study. This glitch, this unexplained anomaly, is termed by the FBI as a Plasmic Event.That same evening while asleep at Monticello, Danny has a sleep walking experience. Danny has been a sleep-walker since childhood. That morning recalling his sleeping travel with Rojer, he tells of a dream conversation with Thomas Jefferson in the study. Together they view the digital surveillance of the Study. There is a similar glitch. A very similar two second glitch. Perhaps a Plasmic Event.This sends them in search of answers. Along the way they visit with the writer of the Dossier. They visit again only to find that he does not exist. They bump into other people that help them to find their answers. People that help; people that create questions.Daniel’s rink skating mind glides a continual circle of confusion. Nothing is clear. Then some focuses. In the end of this Part One, he thinks he understands what he is supposed to; what they need him to. But it is this why they want him to know, and the what they want him to do with it; this is his new wrestle. With this, in this, he leaves Monticello. Intent to answer the what.The two friends pull the reader within themselves as they share that which comes truest from the heart. Danny’s visit is laced with emotion, humor, anger, and searching for the truth. This travel passes close to some that once were here, again here, and again gone. Figures, that only in the end, are seen as who they are. Or who they were. Historical Icons.This smallest part of the body as I have just time-lined, is only the skeleton. The heart of the body is the true being of the story. There are the lives of the characters. Lives that are cloaked with struggles, abuse, victories, and walks that still need to come to end. Views: 968
It's Valentines and time to celebrate with 20 steamy books by M. S. Parker and Shiloh Walker for your reading pleasure.
Three complete series plus five individual novels and novellas.
This box set is only available for a limited time.
Get lost in the sexy world of MS Parker and Shiloh Walker tonight.
M. S. Parker - Collide: Complete Series
Shiloh Walker - His Every Desire
M. S. Parker & Shiloh Walker - SEALionaire: Complete Series
M. S. Parker - Serving HIM: Complete Series
M. S. Parker - The Client
M. S. Parker - The Champ
M. S. Parker & Shiloh Walker - Ex-Con
Shiloh Walker - Lacey’s Game Views: 966
Steve Soutee is a lawyer, a ladies man, a master gardener and chef, and the man you need in a pinch. When a bailiff runs off with $25,000, Soutee is hot on his trail at the behest of the judge, with a bevy of beauties, a paternity accusation and a new woman who just may know where the money is hidden.Steve Soutee is a lawyer, a ladies man, a master gardener and chef, and the man you need in a pinch. When a bailiff runs off with $25,000, Soutee is hot on his trail at the behest of the judge, with a bevy of beauties, a paternity accusation and a new woman who just may know where the money is hidden. Follow Soutee as he heads to Memphis with his Cadillac's eight track filled with great country tunes, 1979-style. Featuring a Soutee playlist so you can play along! Views: 964
Inspired by Mrs Dalloway and Judy Blume's Forever, Release is one day in the life of Adam Thorn, 17. It's a big day. Things go wrong. It's intense, and all the while, weirdness approaches...
Adam Thorn is having what will turn out to be the most unsettling, difficult day of his life, with relationships fracturing, a harrowing incident at work, and a showdown between this gay teen and his preacher father that changes everything. It's a day of confrontation, running, sex, love, heartbreak, and maybe, just maybe, hope. He won't come out of it unchanged. And all the while, lurking at the edges of the story, something extraordinary and unsettling is on a collision course. Views: 964
In this long-awaited memoir, the beloved author of the bestselling Tales of the City series chronicles his odyssey from the old South to freewheeling San Francisco, and his evolution from curious youth to ground-breaking writer and gay rights pioneer.
Born in the mid-twentieth century and raised in the heart of conservative North Carolina, Armistead Maupin lost his virginity to another man "on the very spot where the first shots of the Civil War were fired." Realizing that the South was too small for him, this son of a traditional lawyer packed his earthly belongings into his Opel GT (including a beloved portrait of a Confederate ancestor), and took to the road in search of adventure. It was a journey that would lead him from a homoerotic Navy initiation ceremony in the jungles of Vietnam to that strangest of strange lands: San Francisco in the early 1970s.
Reflecting on the profound impact those closest to him have had on his life, Maupin shares his candid search for his "logical family," the people he could call his own. "Sooner or later, we have to venture beyond our biological family to find our logical one, the one that actually makes sense for us," he writes. "We have to, if we are to live without squandering our lives." From his loving relationship with his palm-reading Grannie who insisted Maupin was the reincarnation of her artistic bachelor cousin, Curtis, to an awkward conversation about girls with President Richard Nixon in the Oval Office, Maupin tells of the extraordinary individuals and situations that shaped him into one of the most influential writers of the last century.
Maupin recalls his losses and life-changing experiences with humor and unflinching honesty, and brings to life flesh-and-blood characters as endearing and unforgettable as the vivid, fraught men and women who populate his enchanting novels. What emerges is an illuminating portrait of the man who depicted the liberation and evolution of America’s queer community over the last four decades with honesty and compassion—and inspired millions to claim their own lives. Views: 963
THIRDS Team Leader Sebastian Hobbs and Chief Medical Examiner Hudson Colbourn are as much in love now as they were nearly seven years ago when a tragic event on the job destroyed their relationship. The two drift together only to be pulled apart time and time again. When Hudson draws the interest of dangerous enemies, both within and outside the organization, Seb wants nothing more than to protect the man who still means everything to him.
As life and death events, an uncertain future, and startling truths draw Hudson and Seb to each other yet again, they must make a choice: trust their love and take strength from what they share, or lose what matters most for good this time. Views: 963
New York Times bestselling author Patrick Carman delivers a modern reimagining of the classic Mary Poppins tale in this story about family, grief, and healing—with a dash of magic!
Stanley Darrow isn’t sure what to expect when the mysterious Mr. Gedrick appears on his doorstep. He is certain, however, that his family could use Mr. Gedrick’s help: Their lives—and their house—have been a mess since Stanley’s dad died.
The strange new nanny quickly helps them transform their cluttered home into a sparkling and spotless version of its former self, but it’s going to take more than a clean house to help the Darrow family learn to live and love again.
Can Mr. Gedrick help Stanley, his brother, Fergus, his sister, Amelia, and his mom find their way back to each other? And what secrets of his own is Mr. Gedrick hiding behind his crooked grin? Views: 962
When The Usurper Serendipity catches sight of a space pod that she had forgotten about, she takes it to The Pockets of Nothingspace to open it up. What she finds inside is a human, and repairs his broken body to the best of her ability. What she did not intend was that she would almost instantly develop an emotional bond to this human, one that could change the course of a prophecy.When The Usurper Serendipity catches sight of a space pod that she had forgotten about, she takes it to The Pockets of Nothingspace to open it up. What she finds inside is a human, and repairs his broken body to the best of her ability. What she did not intend was that she would almost instantly develop an emotional bond to this human, one that could change the course of a prophecy.This is the latest short story in "The Chronicles of John Alkali". Views: 962
"The Darkness Within" is a short collection by Jessenia Filomeno, full of nonstop suspenseful adventure sure to leave any reader at the edge of their seats with the turn of each page. Three thrilling stories come together to create the ultimate home of darkness and horror."The Darkness Within" by Jessenia Filomeno is a collection of thrilling and suspenseful stories that will not only keep you on the edge of your seat but keep you waiting for more. "Taken Away" is a daring take on a girl who wishes to leave the life she had behind. Little does she know that worse things could be lurking in the darkness. "Great Expedition" is an adventure to the world undersea. Suspenseful thrills await as the crew search for UFO's and try to find the ultimate discovery. "Night Watch" is a chilling tale of a woman who drives her Cadillac town to town looking for any who may appear on her list. These three tales combine to form the ultimate collection of suspense and thriller leaving anybody ready for the impossible. Views: 962
Craft beer and the sexy men who brew it.
My employee’s daughter. The tomboy. The kid who once did odd jobs around the brewery. That’s all she was… until three years passed and she walked into my office for an interview.
Frankee Dawson is no longer that girl I once called Kiddo. She’s grown into a beautiful, sexy, desirable woman. Very desirable. And that’s a problem. She’s my employee’s daughter. Lovibond family. And too young for me. Too innocent.
I want to feel her respond to my kiss.
I want her body to tremble as she anticipates my touch.
I want to learn all the places that bring her pleasure.
But mostly I want her to know that she’s never truly been loved by a man until me.
Frankee is my intern and under me for the summer. Literally. It’s a difficult secret to maintain when you can’t keep your hands off each other.
This was supposed to be a hot summer fling. Sex and fun without commitment. That’s what we called it. But we were wrong. This is more. I’ve never felt this way about a woman. Never cared more about someone else’s happiness more than my own.
I love her. And I’m happy, so damn happy… until a terrible mistake from my past springs forward and threatens to rip us apart.
There are a million reasons for her to leave me. And trust me, she should. But all I really need is one good reason for her to stay. Views: 962
Stranger Shores, a collection of J.M. Coetzee’s essays from 1986 to 1999 was followed by Inner Workings, which contained those from 2000 to 2005. Late Essays gathers together Coetzee’s literary essays since 2006.
The subjects covered range from Daniel Defoe in the early eighteenth century to Coetzee’s contemporary Philip Roth. Coetzee has had a long-standing interest in German literature and here he engages with the work of Goethe, Hölderlin, Kleist and Walser. There are four fascinating essays on fellow Nobel laureate Samuel Beckett and he looks at the work of three Australian writers: Patrick White, Les Murray and Gerald Murnane. There are essays too on Tolstoy’s great novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich, on Flaubert’s masterpiece Madame Bovary, and on the Argentine modernist Antonio Di Benedetto.
J.M. Coetzee, a great novelist himself, is a wise and insightful guide to these works of international literature that span three centuries. Views: 962
Following the events of DARK GUARDIAN, Ethan Daniels has fully embraced his alter ego of The Guardian. His mantle has become a symbol of hope for his nation. After two years of spearheading his mission against the corruption and injustice that has ruled over Crown City for so long, his mission is finally nearing its end. It is now the final weeks of the nation’s revolution against the corrupt regime.
But every burden takes its toll. The more that Ethan wages his war on countless fronts, the more he begins to lose himself to it. However, everything is not as it seems. From the shadows, a darker game is afoot that threatens to destroy everything that Ethan has worked so hard to create. Views: 962
