At the end of a long and useful life, Penelope Keeling's prized possession is The Shell Seekers, painted by her father, and symbolizing her unconventional life, from bohemian childhood to wartime romance. When her grown children learn their grandfather's work is now worth a fortune, each has an idea as to what Penelope should do. But as she recalls the passions, tragedies, and secrets of her life, she knows there is only one answer...and it lies in her heart. Views: 503
Sometimes the walls we build to save ourselves have to come tumbling down. For the last ten years, Huey has built his life around his sobriety. If that means he doesn't give a damn about finding love or companionship for himself, well, it's probably better that way. After all, the last thing he wants is to hurt anyone else. Until Felix Reyes walks into his bar, fresh-faced, unbearably sweet—and, for some reason Huey can't fathom, interested in him. As the eldest of five kids, Felix Rainey spent his childhood cooking dinner, checking homework, and working after-school jobs. Now in his twenties, he's still scrambling to make ends meet and wondering what the hell he's doing with his life. When he meets Huey, he's intimidated . . . and enamored. Huey's strong and confident, he owns his own business—hell, he's friends with rock stars. What could he ever see in Felix? As Huey and Felix get closer, the spark catches and soon they can't get enough... Views: 503
Forty Winks for Jonah.The crowd, Twenty-Eight-Stories below, clamors for his death as he pens the story no one believes. It is showdown time for Jonah and the monster that has pursued him for the past eighteen years. From his fifth birthday on, things only got worse.Jonah is not the prophet of the bible but is reluctant and nonetheless at odds with God. His tale, a true tale of horror (that few believe), is told as he sits atop a twenty-eight-story building in Jacksonville, Florida. The crowd below clamors for his death, but he's not worried, for Jonah has bigger FISH to fry. It is showdown time for him and the monster that has pursued him for the past eighteen years.His tale began just days before his fifth birthday, chased by the monster from Ms. Wilkin's Kindergarten Sunday School class. That day’s Bible Story: Jonah's namesake being swallowed by a whale. From there it only got worse. Views: 503
'The power that I have dreamed of all my life is mine at last!'
How far is a mother prepared to go to secure her daughter's future? Madame Fontaine, widow of an eminent chemist, has both the determination and the cunning to bring young Minna's marriage plans to fruition, with dangerous consequences for anyone who dares to stand in her way. But has she met her match in Jack Straw, one-time inmate of Bedlam lunatic asylum? It will take a visit to the morgue to find out who triumphs—and who comes out alive.
Reminiscent of Collins's blockbusters The Woman in White and Armadale, this suspenseful case study in villainy is set against the financial world of 1820s Frankfurt and tells the story of two widows, one of them devoted to realizing her husband's social reforms, the other equally devoted to the pursuit of her daughter's happiness. Views: 503
When the Ku Klux Klan's unwelcome reappearance rattles Stella's segregated southern town, bravery battles prejudice in this Depression-era tour de force from Sharon Draper, the New York Times bestselling author of Out of My Mind.
Stella lives in the segregated South; in Bumblebee, North Carolina, to be exact about it. Some stores she can go into. Some stores she can't. Some folks are right pleasant. Others are a lot less so. To Stella, it sort of evens out, and heck, the Klan hasn't bothered them for years. But one late night, later than she should ever be up, much less wandering around outside, Stella and her little brother see something they're never supposed to see, something that is the first flicker of change to come, unwelcome change by any stretch of the imagination. As Stella's community - her world - is upended, she decides to fight fire with fire. And she learns that ashes don't necessarily signify an end. Views: 503
Representing a man accused of throwing his wife overboard, chic attorney Lauren Hill begins to artfully present her case. But when Judge Howell seems to morph into God, Lauren's life of infidelity, poor parenthood, and self-absorption is questioned by the Almighty, who charges Lauren with committing the seven deadly sins. Views: 503
"When it comes to love, there are a million theories to explain it. But when it comes to love stories, things are simpler. A love story can never be about full possession. Love stories depend on disappointment, on unequal births and feuding families, on matrimonial boredom and at least one cold heart. Love stories, nearly without exception, give love a bad name.... It is perhaps only in reading a love story (or in writing one) that we can simultaneously partake of the ecstasy and agony of being in love without paying a crippling emotional price. I offer this book, then, as a cure for lovesickness and an antidote to adultery. Read these love stories in the safety of your single bed. Let everybody else suffer." --Jeffrey Eugenides, from the introduction to My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead
All proceeds from My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead will go directly to fund the free youth writing programs offered by 826 Chicago. 826 Chicago is part of the network of seven writing centers across the United States affiliated with 826 National, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. Views: 502
'No one gets to the heart of human relationships quite so perceptively as Brookfield.' The MirrorWho can you trust with your darkest secrets...Everyone that meets Kat Keating is mesmerised. Beautiful, smart and charming, she is everything a good girl should be.Her sister Eleanor, on the other hand, knows she can't compete with Kat. On the awkward side of tall, clever enough to be bullied, and full of the responsibilities only an older sibling can understand, Eleanor grows up knowing she's not a good girl.This is the story of the Keating sisters - through a childhood fraught with dark secrets, adolescent rivalries, and on into adulthood with all its complexities and misunderstandings. Until a terrible truth from the past brings the sisters crashing together, and finally Eleanor begins to uncover just how good Kat really was.Good Girls is a mystery, a love story, a... Views: 502
Perhaps the fastest moving story ever written, "Teck Infection" is an experimental short story exploring meta-time and hyper-technology. In little more than 7300 words, "Teck Infection" moves from a thirty-mile hike in the swamplands to the rebirth of the Multiverse.Perhaps the fastest moving story ever written, "Teck Infection" is an experimental short story exploring meta-time and hyper-technology. In little more than 7300 words, "Teck Infection" moves from a thirty-mile hike in the swamplands to the rebirth of the Multiverse. Follow Archie as he becomes infected by a parasitic red nematode on his hike, realizes that the parasitic nematode actually imparts some new abilities upon him - rapid healing, telepathy, telekinesis – and learns to take advantage of the infection. The power bestowed upon Archie by the infection incites drastic shifts to the world order, the structure of the solar system, all the way to the very configuration of the Multiverse. Exploring our relationship with power and technology, "Teck Infection" will completely redefine your perception of self, the role of technology in social progress, and the freedom of choice. Views: 502
She was my best friend's little sister—and the woman who ruined my life.O'Neal Jones was the last person I expected to run into on this mountain in the middle of nowhere.I wanted her, even if it was a bad idea.But this thing between us was dangerous. It tore through flesh and bone to sear my soul. Then, in the course of one night, she worked her way into my tent and my sleeping bag...The question was, could I heal my wounds enough to let her into my heart?Loving the Wounded Warrior is a sexy standalone novella, in the Love at Last series.Originally published in the Rogue Affair anthology, this edition has been expanded with new material. Views: 502
Two lifelong friends decide to trade places the week before Christmas and end up finding love along the way in this delightful novel from the queen of holiday stories, #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber. Peter Armstrong and Hank Colfax are best friends, but their lives couldn’t be more different. Peter, the local pastor who is dedicated to his community, spending time visiting the flock, attending meetings, and, with the holiday season approaching, preparing for the Christmas service and live nativity. As a bartender, Hank serves a much different customer base at his family-owned tavern, including a handful of lonely regulars and the local biker gang. When Peter scoffs that Hank has it easy compared to him, the two decide to switch jobs until Christmas Eve. To their surprise, the responsibilities of a bartender and a pastor are similar, but taking on the other’s work is more difficult... Views: 502
