On the very edge of nowhere, prospectors long ago found iron ore and mined it, and workers traveled from all over the world to settle and make their homes. It is against this historical backdrop that the characters in Rare Birds live out their desires and unfinished stories in the early summer of 1960. Betty Larsen, raising her lover's daughter on her own, waits impatiently for him to return. Skinny old Gertrude, who rounds the block headlong a dozen times a day, hears the bugs beneath the cut grass and the hysteria of a new season happening. And on the next block, Nicky Marodi, just returned from a state hospital for the mentally ill, lurches along in his new freedom. It is the first day of summer vacation and the trees have blossomed in the brightest green. Meanwhile, three neighborhood girls band together to explore an abandoned house, where they find mysteries in every room, half-packed boxes, what looks like blood, and the mementos of lives they try to imagine... Views: 316
Charity Styles is a world class sharpshooter, martial arts expert, and government assassin... but after a stressful assignment, all she wants is a little time to unwind on the quiet side of St. Thomas, the picturesque Magens Bay. What does she get? A hurricane, an ex, drug dealers, a psychotic murderer, an amorous developer, and forced to stay in the rowdy tourist town of Charlotte-Amalie. Naturally. By the time she sails Wind Dancer back to her beloved Magens Beach, a storm is brewing that threatens to displace her again, but this is a man-made storm and Charity has had all she can take. She's stressed and reckless and not even her friends can hold her in check as she takes on a fight that could change her future and the future of those she cares for. Views: 316
International lingerie model Kelly Boothe is known for being vivacious and sexy. When she meets hot Japanese man Kane at a party, she is convinced he is the one for her, but he is resistant. His traditional parents ingrained in him he should be with a Japanese girl, which he is, but he’s not in love with her. But Kelly’s persistent, and soon Kane can’t resist a sizzling night of passion with her. Then he drops a bombshell– she’s not his type and he doesn’t want to marry her.Kelly, devastated, starts dating model Kevin. When Kane sees them in pictures together, he’s furious. Then a car crash sends him to hospital, and Kelly rushes to his bedside. Will Kane finally find the strength to pursue what he truly wants? Or will he let a woman as great as Kelly just slip by? Views: 315
A PI a long way from home ... a diner a long way from anywhere ... a biker gang out for revenge.Traveling through Croatia in his classic VW Campervan, troubled private detective Adam Park is ready to end his sabbatical and return home. But when he stops off at a kitsch American-themed diner for some bad coffee and a good burger, the last thing he expects is to intervene in an aggressive domestic incident. And once he sees off the abusive boyfriend, he could not have predicted the guy would return. With friends.Violent friends.As the boyfriend's biker gang are revealed to run the local drugs trade and the stand-off escalates to murder, Adam must draw upon his survival instincts, and delve deep into the corners of his soul where he often fears to tread.If he and the other innocents in this isolated place are to live until morning, the beast within Adam that he thought tamed must be unleashed once more, forcing him to confront the notion that he may not... Views: 315
When falling in love isn't part of the contract. Techie Ethan Mattson may have married chef Lily Harper but he didn't vow to love her. His only commitment was to hand her half of his business assets and a year later file for divorce while saving a tidy sum on taxes. Little does Ethan know that the pretty woman from his past needs so much more than just a business. She needs protection and love, the two things he feels too broken to offer. Chef Lily Harper grew up tagging along after Ethan who saved her from bullies, mud puddles and being an outsider. When Lily flees a nasty ex who won't take a hint, she comes running home to Blueberry Springs, striking a deal with her childhood protector, Ethan. If he marries her, she'll take his restaurant off his hands, giving him more time to spend on his dream tech business. Not only that, but she'll finally earn her way into owning a thriving restaurant. It seems like an ideal agreement...until she begins to fall in... Views: 315
The last work by the celebrated author of Franny and Zooey and For Esmé—With Love and Squalor.The author writes: These are entries in a narrative series I'm doing about a family of settlers in twentieth-century New York, the Glasses. It is a long-term project, patently an ambitious one, and there is a real enough danger, I suppose, that sooner or later I'll bog down, perhaps disappear entirely, in my own methods, locutions, and mannerisms. On the whole, though, I'm very hopeful. I love working on these Glass stories, I've been waiting for them most of my life, and I think I have fairly decent, monomaniacal plans to finish them with due care and all available skill.“Seldom more than two or three really first-rate writers exist simultaneously in a given generation. I think that Salinger and Updike are by far the finest artists in recent years . . . ‘A Perfect Day for Bananafish’: This is a great story.”—Vladimir Nabokov, Strong Opinions“‘Zooey’ is arguably Salinger’s masterpiece. Rereading it and its companion piece, ‘Franny,” is no less rewarding than rereading The Great Gatsby. It remains brilliant.” —Janet Malcolm, The New York Review of Books“I am one of those for whom Salinger’s work dawned as a revelation. ‘Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters’ is the best of the Glass stories: a magic and hilarious prose-poem with an enchanting end effect of mysterious clarity, like a koan. . . . The refusal to rest content, the willingness to risk excess on behalf of one’s obsessions, is what distinguishes artists from entertainers, and what makes some artists adventurers on behalf of us all.” —John Updike, The New York Times Book Review Views: 315
"When did two girls of our age have such a chance as we've got - to have a lark entirely on our own? No chaperone, no rules, no..."
"No present income or future prospects," said Lucilla.
It's 1919 and Jane and her cousin Lucilla leave school to find that their guardian has gambled away their money, leaving them with only a small cottage in the English countryside. In an attempt to earn their living, the orphaned cousins embark on a series of misadventures - cutting flowers from their front garden and selling them to passers-by, inviting paying guests who disappear without paying - all the while endeavouring to stave off the attentions of male admirers, in a bid to secure their independence. Views: 315
Elise is looking for an exit. Too many years as a top-talent thief in the digital shadows have whittled away her patience and her humanity. She’s not looking for complications, but with one more job, she’ll finally have enough money to leave the life for good. Na’im does what he must to survive. Whether it’s selling his body to the corporate glitterati, or going on the run when things get bad – but even a survivor can be caught off guard, and his boss’s murder has left him with no one to trust but a thief with her own agenda. Together, they’re on the run trying to figure out who framed them both and stay one step ahead of the murderer who’s close behind. Trust is a rare commodity for accidental lovers, but in a dark future where everything can be upgraded and emotions can be programmed, sometimes all that can keep you human is your heart. Views: 315
