Shopaholic Takes Manhattan

The irresistible heroine of Confessions of a Shopaholic and Shopaholic Ties the Knot is back! And this time Becky Bloomwood and her credit cards are headed across the Atlantic.... With her shopping excesses (somewhat) in check and her career as a TV financial guru thriving, Becky's biggest problem seems to be tearing her entrepreneur boyfriend, Luke, away from work for a romantic country weekend. And worse, figuring out how to pack light. But packing takes on a whole new meaning when Luke announces he's moving to New York for business--and he asks Becky to go with him! Before you can say "Prada sample sale," Becky has landed in the Big Apple, home of Park Avenue penthouses and luxury boutiques. Surely it's only a matter of time until she becomes an American TV celebrity, and she and Luke are the toast of Gotham society. Nothing can stand in their way, especially with Becky's bills miles away in London. But then an unexpected disaster threatens her career prospects, her relationship with Luke, and her available credit line! Shopaholic Takes Manhattan--but will she have to return it?
Views: 775

The Smallest Part

“In the end, only three things matter. How much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.” - Unknown It was a big lie. The biggest lie she’d ever told. It reverberated through her head as she said it, ringing eerily, and the girl behind her eyes—the girl who knew the truth—screamed, and her scream echoed along with the lie. “Are you in love with Noah, Mercedes?” Cora asked. “I mean . . . I know you love him. You’ve been friends forever. We all have. But are you in love with him?” If it had been anyone else—anyone—Mercedes would have stuck out her chest, folded her skinny arms, and let her feelings be known. She would have claimed him. But it was Cora. Brave, beautiful, broken Cora, and Cora loved Noah too. So Mercedes lied. And with that lie, she lost him. With that lie, she sealed her fate. She was the best friend, the bridesmaid, the godmother, the glue. She was there for the good times and the bad, the ups and the downs, the biggest moments and the smallest parts. And she was there when it all came crashing down. This is the tale of the girl who didn’t get the guy.
Views: 772

Switched

When Olivia Abbott moves to town, she's excited to join the cheerleading team and make new friends. Then she meets Ivy Vega. At first, Ivy, pale and dressed all in black, looks like Olivia's opposite. Then the girls look beyond the glittery pink blush and thick black eyeliner to discover they're identical--identical twins! Olivia and Ivy are brimming with plans to switch places and pull every twin trick in the book. But Olivia soon discovers that she and Ivy aren't exactly the same. Ivy's a vampire. And she's not the only one in town.
Views: 767

Chasing Forgiveness: A Tala Prophecy Companion Novella

When terror strikes, forever altering your life, it doesn’t ask permission or forgiveness.Madeleine and Amélie’s quiet lives are ripped apart by a creature they never imagined could exist outside a horror story. Their mother is murdered, their father is missing, and the only safe haven is with a family full of secrets. They soon learn some choices can’t be undone.When terror strikes, forever altering your life, it doesn’t ask permission or forgiveness.Madeleine and Amélie’s quiet lives are ripped apart by a creature they never imagined could exist outside a horror story. Their mother is murdered, their father is missing, and the only safe haven is with a family full of secrets. But rescue comes at a price.Ripped from the light of youth, the sisters are forced into the shadows—where they meet brothers Rafe and Rowan.It’s not the time for infatuation or love, but the heart rarely listens to reason. Now, the young women have decisions to make. Will they be able to achieve their unified goal of stopping evil, or will it consume them from the inside out? They soon learn some choices can’t be undone.
Views: 765

Earthling Ambassador

Nicola Berry has only one day left to save the world. Armed with little more than her two closest friends, her annoying brother, her more annoying archrival, and an unusually tall alien named Shimlara, Nicola’s not sure she’s up to the task. She must convince the awful princess of Globagaskar to end her sinister plan of turning the Earth into a giant garbage can.
Views: 763

The Secret's Keeper and the Heir

Having earned a tenuous place on the sailing ship Turnagain, Rose maintains her disguise as a boy while continuing on her quest to find Benson, her abducted twin brother. As if preserving her cover isn't difficult enough, she must face bullies, forbidden attractions, and her first fumbling attempts at espionage.Having earned a tenuous place on the sailing ship Turnagain, Rose maintains her disguise as a boy while continuing on her quest to find Benson, her abducted twin brother. As if preserving her cover isn't difficult enough, she must face bullies, forbidden attractions, and her first fumbling attempts at espionage. Though she has her doubts as to whether the mysterious scribe Fenric—an accused murderer—can be trusted, she follows him into a plot that could either begin the restoration of the monarchy or end in the assassination of the heir to the throne. The Secret's Keeper and the Heir is the second book in the Rose's Garden and the Sea series.
Views: 762

Skinny Dipping

** Second Place Winner - Amazon Breaththrough Novel Award **Sophie Smart's most important advertising client, handsome Matthew Silver, is insisting she learn how to swim. She can't blame him really - he's the owner of a chain of swimming centers, and Sophie's in charge of his new advertising campaign. But with a childhood phobia to face, along with a broken heart, will she learn to trust him?** Second Place Winner - Amazon Breaththrough Novel Award **Everyone has a fear. Fear of spiders? Arachnophobia. Fear of small spaces? Claustrophobia. And of course, the fear of being tickled by feathers: pteronophobia.Sophie Smart fears drowning. No, her fear isn’t some made up malarkey like exposedflabophobia (acute paranoia when wearing a swimsuit and baring pasty thighs and a round bottom). Sophie drowned as a child. She died for three minutes. Her childhood trauma is real.Yet Sophie, hot-shot advertising executive, isn't a child anymore. Now Sophie's most important client, handsome Matthew Silver, is insisting she learn how to swim. She can't blame him really - he's the owner of a chain of swimming centers, and Sophie's in charge of his new advertising campaign.The last thing Sophie wants to do is get in the water, in a clingy swimsuit, with a client she’s trying to impress. She's not going to win him over flapping around like an idiot, is she? But with a broken heart from her last relationship, maybe getting into the pool is just what Sophie needs. Maybe she can trust Matthew with her fears. Maybe it's time for her to forget about her past and take the plunge?
Views: 761

Paulie

After the death of her husband's grandparents, Alice and her family inherit a century old farmhouse located on the outskirts of Pittsburg, New Hampshire. Alice thinks their new home is ideal, though isolated. What Alice doesn't know is that an unknown terror has risen just over the Canadian border, and the latest town to be overtaken by chaos and a nameless horror is only 30 miles away.After the death of her husband's grandparents, Alice and her family inherit a century old farmhouse located on the outskirts of Pittsburg, New Hampshire. With the house paid off, and with plenty of room for her family to grow, it quickly outshines their small overpriced apartment in Brooklyn, New York. Alice thinks their new home is ideal, but unnervingly isolated. What Alice doesn't know is that an unknown terror has risen just over the Canadian border, and the latest town to be overtaken by chaos and a nameless horror is only 30 miles away.
Views: 758

Rylae's Storm

Book One of the Ugly Dirt Box Universe. Commander Rylae Westiel is the elven Executive officer of the UCST Corsari, an ambassadorial starship. Her mission to a goblin homeworld to prevent a war turns out to be nothing like she expected. Continuing to learn how to become Captain of her own starship, Rylae has to learn one very important point - goblins won't always be goblins.Book One of the Ugly Dirt Box UniverseCommander Rylae Westiel is the elven Executive officer of the UCST Corsari, an ambassadorial starship. While docked on Terra, the UCST Admiralty receives a declaration of war from the goblin world of Stenchstone. The Corsari is dispatched to Stenchstone with the mission to defuse the situation, which appears easy at first.From the beginning, Rylae is confronted with details which don't add up properly, and the more she digs, the more she finds. Is there really a war starting, or is another agenda unfolding? If she truly wants to be a captain, Rylae has to learn one very important point - goblins won't always be goblins.
Views: 757

Nine Perfect Strangers

Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever? In Liane Moriarty’s latest page-turner, nine perfect strangers are about to find out... Nine people gather at a remote health resort. Some are here to lose weight, some are here to get a reboot on life, some are here for reasons they can’t even admit to themselves. Amidst all of the luxury and pampering, the mindfulness and meditation, they know these ten days might involve some real work. But none of them could imagine just how challenging the next ten days are going to be. Frances Welty, the formerly best-selling romantic novelist, arrives at Tranquillum House nursing a bad back, a broken heart, and an exquisitely painful paper cut. She’s immediately intrigued by her fellow guests. Most of them don’t look to be in need of a health resort at all. But the person that intrigues her most is the strange and charismatic owner/director of Tranquillum House. Could this person really have the answers Frances didn’t even know she was seeking? Should Frances put aside her doubts and immerse herself in everything Tranquillum House has to offer – or should she run while she still can? It’s not long before every guest at Tranquillum House is asking exactly the same question. Combining all of the hallmarks that have made her writing a go-to for anyone looking for wickedly smart, page-turning fiction that will make you laugh and gasp, Liane Moriarty’s Nine Perfect Strangers once again shows why she is a master of her craft.
Views: 747

Untouchable Friends

In the 1970s Baya and other children in the Rajasthan desert region worked as sweepers at houses, where they were treated as untouchables. Although outsiders kept away from them, they enjoyed each others company, being good friends. Feudal attitudes influenced the life of all the sweeper families. The book also deals with death rites, Ganga water rites, Chandals and the meaning of outcasting.In the 1970s Baya and other children in the Rajasthan region, India, worked as sweepers at houses, where they were treated as untouchables. Although outsiders kept away from them, they enjoyed each others company, being good friends. Ageold prejudice and feudal attitudes influenced the life of their families, as they belonged to a caste with sweeping and cleaning toilets as the traditional profession. Exploited and oppressed they had learnt the art of handling other villagers by meekness. They were a small minority with few possibilities to retaliate. The lived among themselves and carried out their social functions outside the view and knowledge of high caste neighbours. In this book Tan Dan shows how he followed their life from his childhood in the 1940s up to the 1980s. Their visits as pilgrims to Hardvar, their role in village politics, their skill in making strong baskets and the daily rounds for removing shit from other people's toilets. Ageold prejudice about the bottom ranked castes of Bhangi and Chandal are disclosed and discussed in this book. Prejudice which occur among high caste Hindus and in ancient Sanskrit hymns. Tan Dan describes death rites, death meals and Ganges water rites. The meaning of outcasting and being casteless. The book is above all an attempt to present individuals personally known to Tan Dan and to show them as the human beings they all are, like we are, and all others who belong to the all including jati Homo sapiens. The only jati, caste or species that will remain, when all manmade social barriers have faded away.
Views: 736

Embracing Change

A Jamaican fable set in the small village of Complacent Arkansas. The children are changed when they visit the old man at top of the hill.The windows of life and death can be in your power, they can be out of your power. Whether it is yours or that of the one standing in front of you. What choice will you make? What choices can you make? These are snapshots into worlds where people are faced with the greatest fact of life, and what they choose to make of it.
Views: 735

Something About Love (This Is Not Erotica)

Short story (12,442 words) The first night she meets Jo, Sophie realizes there are complications in Jo’s life. Jo doesn’t drink, and doesn’t kiss Sophie after Sophie has been drinking, and does both like it is something terribly serious. Sophie decides she likes Jo enough she will manage, whatever Jo’s problem is. This is the story of a few particular nights at the start of one relationship.Short story (12,442 words)The first night she meets Jo, Sophie realizes there are complications in Jo’s life. Jo doesn’t drink, and doesn’t kiss Sophie after Sophie has been drinking, and does both like it is something terribly serious. Sophie decides she likes Jo enough she is happy to work around whatever Jo’s problem is. Over time, as they get to know one another, Sophie learns about Jo’s past, and her drinking, and how she is managing to overcome it. Sophie does her best to support Jo when she can, and find what she needs herself as well. This story concentrates on a few particular nights in the first six months of Sophie and Jo’s relationship, those that are pivotal to their lives. This is not erotica, as the title says. I wanted this to be clear. There is no sex at all in this story, and it is barely a romance either. It’s a story about how people meet, and the problems they have staying together, and how they manage to overcome these problems.
Views: 732

The Tennis Party

It was Patrick's idea that they should have the tennis party weekend. After all, he had the perfect setting - the White House. Bought out of his bonuses as an investment salesman, it was complete with stable, cocktail bar, jacuzzi, shell-shaped bedheads and, of course, the tennis court (towered over by an authentic Wimbledon-green umpire's chair). He hadn't actually told Caroline, his brash and beautiful wife, what the real reason for the party was. And if she suspected that he had a hidden agenda, she managed to hide it in a cloud of Pimm's-induced laughter. She was glad to welcome Stephen and Annie, their impoverished former neighbours, less glad to see newly wealthy Charles and his aristocratic wife Cressida, and barely able to tolerate the deadly competitive Don and Valerie. As the four couples gathered on the sunny terrace, it seemed obvious who was winning in life and who was losing. But by the end of the party, nothing would be certain. As the first ball is served over the net it signals the start of two days of tempers, shocks, revelations, the arrival of an uninvited guest, and the realisation that the weekend is about anything but tennis. A funny, cutting, penetrating and perceptive novel from a brilliant writer.
Views: 726

Comfort Food

Shortly before turning the big 5-0, boisterous party planner and Cooking with Gusto personality Augusta "Gus" Simpson finds herself planning a birthday party she'd rather not-her own. She's getting tired of being the hostess, the mother hen, the woman who has to plan her own birthday party. What she needs is time on her own with enough distance to give her loved ones the ingredients to put together successful lives without her. Assisted by a handsome up-and-coming chef, Oliver, Gus invites a select group to take an on-air cooking class. But instead of just preaching to the foodie masses, she will teach regular people how to make rich, sensuous meals-real people making real food. Gus decides to bring a vibrant cast of friends and family on the program: Sabrina, her fickle daughter; Troy, Sabrina's ex-husband; Anna, Gus's timid neighbor; and Carmen, Gus's pompous and beautiful competitor at the Cooking Channel. And when she begins to have more than collegial feelings for her sous-chef, Gus realizes that she might be able to rejuvenate not just her professional life, but her personal life as well. . . .
Views: 724