Named a Best Book of Summer 2014 by Publishers Weekly!"An earnest, well-done historical novel that skillfully blends fact and fiction."—Publishers Weekly"A profound story of how one unforeseen event may tear a family apart, but another can just as unexpectedly bring them back together again."—Publishers Weekly, Best Book of Summer 2014 PickNo one without a heart as big and warm as Barbara Taylor's possibly could have written a story about a family tragedy that's infused with so much hope and love, humor, mystery, and down-to-earth wisdom. This is a book I'll want to give to people. I could not put it down and can't wait to be captured again by the next book this wonderful human being writes."—Beverly Donofrio, author of Astonished: A Story of Evil, Blessings, Grace, and SolaceNot since reading Richard Llewellyn's How Green Was My Valley fifty years ago... Views: 13
Venice, 1742. Tito Amato has regained his zest for performing and is once again singing lead roles at the Teatro San Marco. On opening night, the famous castrato has the entire audience entranced—except for one box with its scarlet curtains stubbornly drawn. Annoyed at being ignored, Tito aims the full force of his golden throat at the fourth-tier box. He is astounded when the curtains part and a woman tumbles over the railing. The victim is Zulietta Giardino, a mischievous courtesan involved with a young glass maker. As Tito was the only one to see the masked man who pushed Zulietta to her death, the chief of Venice’s rudimentary police force requests the singer’s assistance. Did a wager over a rival courtesan’s jewels spell Zulietta’s death? Or did the motive involve sinister events in the glass factories of Murano? Tito faces troubles of a different sort at home. His upstanding neighbors regard his household as an immoral den of theatrical riffraff and disdain his wife, Liya, as an apostate Jew. While Liya attempts to reconcile with her disapproving family, Tito strives to be a good father to his adopted son. The singer’s difficulties collide when the masked killer transfers his vengeance to Tito’s loved ones.From Publishers WeeklyVenice's Teatro San Marco opera house forms the dramatic backdrop for the start of Myers's absorbing fifth historical to feature castrato Tito Amato (after 2008's The Iron Tongue of Midnight). On the opening night of Torani's Armida, Tito has the audience in his thrall, except for the occupants of a fourth-tier box with its scarlet curtains drawn. Keen to attract their attention, Tito projects his voice in the direction of the closed box. Suddenly, the curtains part, and he sees a masked man struggling with a woman, later identified as Zulietta Giardino, a conniving courtesan. Pushed by her assailant, Zulietta falls to her death into the orchestra pit. Tito and his wife, Liya, who shares a similar background to Zulietta, take a personal interest in her case. Encouraged by Tito, Liya hesitantly returns to the Jewish ghetto of her childhood to investigate, and unexpectedly begins to reconcile with the family that once shunned her. As ever, Myers bring 18th-century Venice to vivid life. (Sept.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review"As ever, Myers bring 18th-century Venice to vivid life." --Publishers Weekly on Her Deadly Mischief"An interrupted aria at the Teatro San Marco, 1742. Tito Amato, the principal castrato at Venice's main opera venue, is midway through the debut performance of Armida when a spectator tumbles into the pit from the fourth tier. Zulietta Giardino, a much-admired courtesan, had been sitting in the box of Alessio Pino, handsome son of the isle of Murano's master glassmaker. With everyone's gaze on the stage, Tito, looking toward the audience, is the only eyewitness. As he tells the Messer Grande, chief of the Venetian constabulary, he saw a very tall, caped intruder, masked for carnevale, struggling with Zulietta just before she fell. When Tito recounts the evening's events to his wife Liya, a Jewess disowned by her family for the indiscretion that resulted in her son Titolino, she joins him in researching Zulietta's background, rooted in the Jewish ghetto. Meanwhile, Tito and the Messer Grande investigate Zulietta's staff, which includes Pamarino the dwarf; her many lovers; and her rival La Samsona, who had wagered Zulietta her cache of diamonds that she would be the first to sit in Alessio's box. With barely enough time to rehearse a new opera, Tito and Liya confront rampant anti-Semitism, the kidnapping of Titolino and more death before Venice simmers down. The mystery is serviceable enough, but the real accomplishment of Myers (The Iron Tongue of Midnight, 2008, etc.) is her rendering of 18th-century Venice." - Kirkus 7/1/2009(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)Publishers Weekly (07/13/2009):"Venice's Teatro San Marco opera house forms the dramatic backdrop for the start of Myers's absorbing fifth historical to feature castrato Tito Amato (after 2008's The Iron Tongue of Midnight). On the opening night of Torani's "Armida", Tito has the audience in his thrall, except for the occupants of a fourth-tier box with its scarlet curtains drawn. Keen to attract their attention, Tito projects his voice in the direction of the closed box. Suddenly, the curtains part, and he sees a masked man struggling with a woman, later identified as Zulietta Giardino, a conniving courtesan. Pushed by her assailant, Zulietta falls to her death into the orchestra pit. Tito and his wife, Liya, who shares a similar background to Zulietta, take a personal interest in her case. Encouraged by Tito, Liya hesitantly returns to the Jewish ghetto of her childhood to investigate, and unexpectedly begins to reconcile with the family that once shunned her. As ever, Myers bring 18th-century Venice to vivid life. "(Sept.) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information. Views: 13
In the latest from the national bestselling author of Trick or Deadly Treat, Phyllis Newsom returns with a festive Christmas recipe that's to die for... 'Tis the season in Weatherford, Texas, and everyone in town is gearing up for the annual holiday parade and tree-lighting ceremony in the town square, where Phyllis Newsom will be serving her much-anticipated candy cane cupcakes. Local rancher Barney McCrory manages to charm one away from her before the ceremony begins. But unfortunately, when the minty confection is finished, so is he. This isn't the first time someone has dropped dead after eating one of Phyllis's treats. But when the paramedics determine the rancher was shot, suspicion swiftly falls on McCrory's daughter and her husband—who both stand to reap some sweet rewards from his death. Though Phyllis doesn't want to get mixed up in another murder investigation, something about this case doesn't sit right with her. With a little help... Views: 13
Noah Brandt is a successful blacksmith and businessman in Splendor, Montana, with few ties to his past as an ex-Union Army major and sharpshooter. Quiet and hardworking, his biggest challenge is controlling his strong desire for a woman he believes is beyond his reach. Abigail Tolbert is tired of being under her father’s thumb while at the same time, being pushed away by the one man she desires. Determined to build a new life outside the control of her wealthy father, she finds work and sets out to shape a life on her own terms. Noah has made too many mistakes with Abby to have any hope of getting her back. Even with the changes in her life, including the distance she’s built with her father, he can’t keep himself from believing he’ll never be good enough to claim her. Unexpected dangers, including a twist of fate for Abby, change both their lives, making the tentative steps they’ve taken to build a relationship a distant hope. As Noah battles his past as well as the threats to Abby, she fights for a future with the only man she will ever love. Views: 13
Comparable to The Voyage of the Short Serpent, VIKING SAGA is a pulse-pounding literary historical thriller, set in 793 AD, when Norway was ruled by many small kingdoms and folk still worshipped the old gods. Halfdan the Black -- a young fighter and beer-soaked poet, with a Norse father and African mother -- vows revenge for the killing of his king. Halfdan's fate leads him through actual historical events, such as the raid on England's Lindisfarne nunnery and the first Norse contacts with Christianity. This spare, cunningly ironic novel is set against a brutal backdrop of life in the "Dark Ages", and features violent action, a unique love-story, odd twists, cool humour, primitive poems and more. Well-researched and fast-moving, VIKING SAGA follows Halfdan the Black as he battles, boozes and rhymes his way to revenge, love, wisdom ... and becoming Norway's first king. Views: 13
Return to Holmes County, Ohio, for Amish style cooking class. Lyle and Heidi Troyer have taken in a brother and sister, who were orphaned when their parents were killed in a car accident. Hoping to help the children adapt and make friends, Heidi decides to hold a series of cooking classes for kids. But kids are always accompanied by an adult—and that is where the trouble arises. Miranda Cooper is living the life of a single mom to her two kids while separated from her husband, but Trent is trying to worm his way back into her heart. Denise McGuire's life as a wife, mom, and real estate broker is full and spilling over. Darren Keller, single dad and firefighter, and Ellen Blackburn, single mom and nurse, find a few things in common. Will hearts be healed over plates of Amish food? This is the third book in The Amish Cooking Class series. Book #1: The Amish Cooking Class - The Seekers... Views: 13
True Love Has a Date with DestinyNew York City’s beautiful Central Park becomes center stage in the lives of four generations of heroes who face cruel circumstances. Will each risk their heart a second time and find a way to bring love full circle?Returning from his stint in Afghanistan, Sean Wolfe is defeated in life and discouraged in love. Will old letters and an ancient coin delivered by wanna-be ballerina Jamie Russo give him the courage to Dream a Little Dream?Before he ships out to Vietnam, Alan James meets Gail Gibson, who blazes a fire across his heart. Will she be true to him until he returns from war or disappear, forsaking any chance of realizing A Love Meant to Be?Her dreams of becoming a singer dashed, Helen Wolfe, jilted and struggling to provide for herself and her siblings, reluctantly hocks a Confederate gold piece. Pawnshop owner Bernie O’Day is taken by this unselfish damsel in distress. Will he help Helen find a way To Sing Another Day?When the Civil War leaves William Wolfe disfigured in body and soul, he rests his hopes in returning to the arms of his fiancée. Will her rejection of him keep him from seeing the Beauty from Ashes and risking his heart again?Will God help these couples persevere to find lasting love? Views: 13
The Duke of Wittaker has been living a lie…
He’s been spying on the dissolute,
discontented noblemen of the ton, pretending to share their views. Now he’s
ready to step out of the shadows and start living a real life…but when the
prime minister of England is assassinated, he’s asked to go back to being the
rake-hell duke everyone believes he still is to find out more.
Miss Phoebe Hillier has been living a lie, too…
All her life she’s played by society’s
rules, hiding her fierce intelligence and love of life behind a docile and
decorous mask. All it’s gotten her is jilted by her betrothed, a man she
thought a fool, though a harmless one. But when she discovers her former fiancé
was involved in the plot against the prime minister, and that he’s been
murdered, she realizes he wasn’t so harmless after all.
And now the killers have set their sights on her…
The only man who can help her is the Duke
of Wittaker—a man she knows she shouldn’t trust. And she soon realizes he’s hiding
behind a mask as careful as her own. As the clock ticks down to the assassin’s
trial, the pair scramble to uncover the real conspiracy behind the prime
minister’s death. And as the pressure and the danger mounts, Phoebe and
Wittaker shed their disguises, layer by layer, to discover something more
precious than either imagined—something that could last forever. Unless the
conspirators desperate to hide their tracks get to them first.
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Adam Burns, Washington Post columnist and controversial presidential critic, is dead. With no clear circumstances, speculation, gossip, and rumor flood the media—was it accident, suicide, or murder? Conspiracy theories run amok, accusing none other than the President of the United States. Was Adam Burns the target of a government hit squad? Did someone decide to silence his diatribes once and for all?Fiona Fitzgerald, an unlikely hero in Washington D.C.'s blue-collar, predominantly male police force, is entrusted with unraveling Burns' death. Born into the elite social circles of the nation's capital, and with privileged access to what lurks behind the pristine façade of the political establishment, Fiona is determined to expose the chicanery buried under prim rose bushes and concealed within the ceaseless Washington Masquerade.Days roar by—pressure mounts—clues mislead—intuition betrays. Can Fiona clear the President's name? Is one woman... Views: 13
Book Two – The Misfit Series. When Clair Holladay hears that she has until September to live, she decides that she will live life to the fullest. She heads West, enjoying things she has never done before. And when she loses her heart to Billy West, Claire finds out how hard it is to walk away from the one thing she wants the most. Can love work miracles? Views: 13
Sometimes the journey is more pleasurable than the destination . . .In Gilded Age New York City, the bachelors of the Knickerbocker Club spend their days rubbing elbows with Manhattan's most elite citizens--and their nights with its most intoxicating women . . . Standing on the platform at Grand Central Station, Ted Harper is surprised by a fiery kiss from an undeniably gorgeous damsel in distress. He's certain she's a swindler who's only after his money, but he's never met a woman so passionate and sure of herself. Disarmed, he invites her to spend the journey to St. Louis in his private car--perhaps against his better judgment . . . Clara Dawson has long known how to take care of herself, but the savvy shop girl is at a loss when she witnesses--and becomes entangled in--a terrible crime. Desperation propels her into a stranger's arms at the train station, but she hadn't expected Ted to offer her the protection she so badly needs--nor did she expect... Views: 13
