A dour duke and a wistful wallflower—an impossible match until fate intervenes one enchanted night.Caution: This Historical Regency Romance contains a duke who literally thumbs his nose at society, a sweet and intelligent wallflower with a secret dream, a villainess worthy of a fairy tale, and two delightful match-making dowagers.A dour duke.Jules, the Sixth Duke of Dandridge disdains Society and all its trappings, preferring the country's solitude and peace. Already jaded and cynical since the woman he loved died years ago, he's become even more so since unexpectedly inheriting a dukedom's responsibilities and finding himself the target of every husband-hunting vixen in London.A wistful wallflower.Forever in her stunning sister's shadow, Jemmah Dament has adored Jules from afar for years—since as children they were the best of friends. She... Views: 27
The theme of trust, betrayed or fulfilled, runs through this collection of short stories: Parents lead children into peril, husbands abandon wives, wives manipulate husbands, and time undermines all. Love pangs, a favorite subject of the author, take on a new urgency as earthquakes, illnesses, lost wallets, and deaths of distant friends besiege his aging heroes and heroines. One man loves his wife's twin, and several men love the imagined bliss of their pasts; one woman takes an impotent lover, and another must administer her father's death. Bourgeois comforts and youthful convictions are tenderly seen as certain to erode: "Man," as one of these stories concludes, "was not meant to abide in paradise." Views: 27
The short stories of Kingsley Amis - the great master of post-war comic prose - are dark, playful, moving, surprising and extremely funny. This definitive collection gathers all Amis's short fiction in a single volume for the first time and encompasses five decades of storytelling. In 'The 2003 Claret', written in 1958, a time machine is invented for the weighty task of sending a man to 2010 to discover what the booze will taste like. In 'Boris and the Colonel' a Cambridge spy is unearthed in the sleepy English countryside with the help of a plucky horse, while In 'Mason's Life' two men meet inside their respective dreams. The collection spans many genres, offering ingenious alternative histories, mystery and horror, satirical reflections and a devilishly funny attacks. Amis's stories reveal the scope of his imagination and the warmth beneath his acerbic humour, and they all share the unmistakable style and wit of one of Britain's best loved writers.With a new... Views: 27
It was supposed to be simple. Find the bad guy and save the girl. I hadn’t expected Race True—a golden-haired beauty with a silver tongue that made me want to toss the rules aside. I tried to fight my attraction to her, but she made it impossible. Our chemistry became too much to ignore. Temptation is dangerous. In a moment of weakness, everything changed. We gave in to our carnal desires, letting ourselves drown in the passion we could no longer deny. The problem was that I still had a job to do before her world collapsed. If I failed at finding the person behind the threat, I’d lose Race forever. Views: 27
Review“The tales are variously charming, funny, poignant, and even hair-raising, as when [Ephron] finds herself spending an afternoon with Manson family alumna Squeaky Fromme.” (Jewish Journal of Los Angeles )“Well-written, empathetic, and a joy.” (BookLoons Reviews )“A frothy, lighthearted, often witty collection of essays about marriage, motherhood and the power of a good piece of jewelry.” (Shelf Awareness )“Actively intelligent and utterly descriptive, Amy Ephron always makes you feel as if you’re right there with her feeling what she’s feeling and seeing what she’s seeing… Loose Diamonds is a sincerely-written book…that you shouldn’t miss.” (BookRoom Reviews )“All of these fascinating experiences and relationships described in Loose Diamonds add to the richness of this loosely woven set of essays. Ms. Ephron’s thoughts on marriage, divorce as well as her ‘Tips for Women getting a Divorce’ are written with wit and panache.” (Laura Shultz, New York Journal of Books )“In Loose Diamonds, Ephron offers a deeply honest and compelling look at the events that made her the woman she is today.” (The Daily Beast )“She is an expert at introspection as entertainment...the collection masters brevity and range.” (Claire Howorth, The Daily )“The pages turn themselves...Not only do the essays stand up on their own, the overarching themes unravel (Julia Gazdag, Hello Giggles )“This is a great women’s interest title, appealing to lovers of Ephron’s historical fiction and to fans of humorous essays alike.” (Annie Bostrom, Booklist )“Her honest approach to her good and not-so-good relationships might be just the thing for anyone feeling sorry about themselves.” (Morgan Murrell, Harper's Bazaar ) About the AuthorAmy Ephron is the bestselling author of the acclaimed novels One Sunday Morning and A Cup of Tea. Her magazine pieces and essays have appeared in Vogue; Saveur; House Beautiful; the National Lampoon; the Los Angeles Times; the Huffington Post; Defamer; her own online magazine, One for the Table; and various other print and online publications. She recently directed a short film, Chloe@3AM, which was featured at the American Cinematheque’s Focus on Female Directors Short Film Showcase in January 2011. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Alan Rader, and any of their five children who happen to drop in. Views: 27
A graduate student stumbles across an insidious plot to unleash nuclear terror on America's greatest cities in a blood-chillingly prescient tale from one of thriller fiction's twentieth-century masters Personable, good-looking, and a whiz at physics, graduate student Allan Diffenduffer "Duff" Bogan has a bright future ahead of him. But while staying at the home of an invalid widow in Florida, Duff makes a discovery that freezes his blood: a cache of uranium hidden in the locked closet of a fellow guest. The FBI is initially skeptical, but Duff knows all too well what his findings portend. Suddenly, not only is his future in jeopardy, the fate of millions of Americans hangs in the balance as well. If he cannot expose the horrific plot his nation's enemies set in motion years before, entire cities will be reduced to piles of radioactive rubble in an unthinkable nuclear nightmare stretching from coast to coast. And time, it seems, is rapidly running out. Views: 27
Curb your Outlander cravings with Allison Butler’s seriously sexy Scottish novel about an English woman, a Scottish Laird, a case of mistaken identity and a love that will surpass all barriers. An outcast in her own home for as long as she can remember, Lynelle Fenwick will do anything to earn her father’s approval. Including exaggerating her healing skills, and setting off alone to rescue her step-brother from a band of raiding Scots. Living under a curse that has haunted the Closeburn Clan for years, Laird William Kirkpatrick, will do anything to save his sole surviving brother. He may not believe in curses, but his clan does, and the growing number of graves seems to support their side. Having banished all healers from the clan for trickery, he has no choice but to allow an Englishwoman, claiming to be a skilled healer, into his home and into the room of his wounded brother. Enemies by birth and circumstance, they can only succeed together. But blood runs deep, and tensions high. What matters the desires of a heart? Views: 27
