When Queen Victoria is called upon to arrange a marriage for the dashing King Alexius of Vultarnia to save him and his country from the predatory Russians, the adventurous and beautiful Pythia takes the place of her cousin, Princess Erina, and heads for the small Balkan country in a British Battleship.Princess Erina has just fallen in love with a good-looking Peruvian and Pythia could not allow her happiness to be torn from her for cold political strategy.On her arrival in Vultarnia she receives a warm reception and she is determined to win the hearts of her new subjects and the heart of their cosmopolitan worldly King. The King is surprised and impressed by his new wife and sees how much he could learn from her. But a Russian plot threatens to throw this popular new marriage into jeopardy and Pythia must think quickly in order to save the King and the beautiful country of Vultarnia.Will King Alexius fall in love with Pythia or remain attached to his glamorous and seductive... Views: 507
For the bright young things of 1929, the beautiful days seem endless, filled with romance and heartbreak, adventure and intrigue, friendship and rivalry.
After a month in New York, Cordelia Grey and Letty Larkspur are small-town girls no longer. They spend their afternoons with Astrid Donal at the Greys’ lush Long Island estate and their nights in Manhattan’s bustling metropolis. But Letty’s not content to be a mere socialite. She is ready at last to chase her Broadway dreams—no matter the cost.
Cordelia is still reeling from the death of her father at the hands of Thom Hale, the man she thought she loved. Now she is set to honor Darius Grey’s legacy . . . and take her revenge.
Promised to Cordelia’s half brother, Astrid is caught up in a world of dazzling jewels and glittering nights—and the sparkle is blinding. Charlie Grey is a gangster playing a dangerous game; and for Astrid, Cordelia, and Letty, the stakes could be deadly.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Luxe comes the second book in an epic series set in the dizzying last summer of the Jazz Age. Views: 507
A restless teen who coveted a posh lifestyle, Elena hated that her village was known for the legend of the infamous Red Witch. Mocked by the upper class who made the Red Witch into a touristy attraction, Elena soon learned how deep her connection to the legend was.~Romancing The Bull Rider~Rebecca is an extraordinary nurse at her local hospital. Although she is grateful for her job, she feels unfulfilled and stuck in her small town. Fate eventually brings her together with a handsome bull rider named Lucas. Rebecca tries to fight her attraction to him but eventually has no choice but to give in. Follow Rebecca’s journey as she tries to find love, happiness and her true self.~Craved By The Cowboy~After the biggest tragedy of Charlotte life, she finds herself in an unwinnable situation. She is now on the run from the law and they are closing in quickly. Through fate, Charlotte crosses paths with a handsome man who has his own skeletons. Together, they start on a journey of a lifetime and quickly realize that they are meant for each other. Follow Charlotte as she tries to overcome tragedy and maybe in the process find love.~Cruise Away With Him~Jaime is engaged and is busy planning the best day of her life. Things are going according to planned until one day she gets the shock of her life. Jamie decides to confront her worst nightmare head on and live in the moment. A few weeks later Jamie finds herself aboard a luxury cruise ship deep on the Pacific Ocean. While on the journey Jamie discovers herself giving in to her inhibitions, as she longs to live, love and laugh again. Views: 507
Gore Vidal's Narratives of Empire series spans the history of the United States from the Revolution to the post-World War II years. With their broad canvas and large cast of fictional and historical characters, the novels in this series present a panorama of the American political and imperial experience as interpreted by one of its most worldly, knowing, and ironic observers.To most Americans, Abraham Lincoln is a monolithic figure, the Great Emancipator and Savior of the Union, beloved by all. In Gore Vidal's Lincoln we meet Lincoln the man and Lincoln the political animal, the president who entered a besieged capital where most of the population supported the South and where even those favoring the Union had serious doubts that the man from Illinois could save it. Far from steadfast in his abhorrence of slavery, Lincoln agonizes over the best course of action and comes to his great decision only when all else seems to fail. As the Civil War ravages his nation, Lincoln must face deep personal turmoil, the loss of his dearest son, and the harangues of a wife seen as a traitor for her Southern connections. Brilliantly conceived, masterfully executed, Gore Vidal's Lincoln allows the man to breathe again.Amazon.com ReviewLincoln is a masterwork of historical fiction, in which Gore Vidal combines a comprehensive knowledge of Civil War America with 20th-century literary technique, probing the minds and motives of the men surrounding Abraham Lincoln, including personal secretary John Hay and scheming cabinet members William Seward and Salmon P. Chase, as well as his wife, Mary Todd. It is a book monumental in scope that never loses sight of the intimate and personal in its depiction of the power struggles that accompanied Lincoln's efforts to preserve the Union at all costs--efforts in which the eradication of slavery was far from the president's main objective. As usual, there's plenty of room for Vidal's wickedly humorous deflation of American icons, including a comic interlude in a Washington bordello in which Lincoln's former law partner informs Hay that Lincoln had contracted syphilis as a young man and had, just before marrying Mary Todd, suffered what can only be described as a nervous breakdown. (Protestors should note that Vidal is only passing along what that former partner had written in his own biography of Lincoln.) Don't be intimidated by the size of Lincoln; if you like historical fiction, you should read this book at the first opportunity. --Ron HoganReview"Superb . . . a grand entertainment. . . . A plausible and human Lincoln, of us and yet beyond us." --Harold Bloom"A portrait of America's great president that is at once intimate and public, stark and complex, and that will become for future generations the living Lincoln, the definitive Lincoln. . . . Richly entertaining . . . history lessons with the blood still hot." --The Washington Post"[Lincoln] is in Vidal's version at once more complex, mysterious and enigmatic, more implacably courageous and, finally, more tragic than the conventional images, the marble man of the memorial. He is honored in the book." --Chicago Tribune Views: 507
Queen Elizabeth I of England (ruled in late 1500's), also known as Gloriana and Good Queen Bess, has been a source of endless fascination for centuries. There are many movies (Elizabeth made Cate Blanchett's career) and dozens of books, not to mention Web sites devoted to her. While there was great strife during her reign, Elizabeth I was one of the most beloved monarchs of all time, and her period is known as the Golden Age of English history. Some of the world's greatest luminaries came from her country in that period, including William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlowe, and Sir Walter Raleigh.
A fable satirizing Spenser's The Faerie Queene and reflecting the real life of Elizabeth I. GLORIANA, OR THE UNFULFILL'D QUEEN tells of a woman who ascends to the throne upon the death of her debauched and corrupted father, King Hern. Gloriana's reign brings the Empire of Albion into a Golden Age, but her oppressive responsibilities choke her, prohibiting any form of sexual satisfaction no matter what fetish she tries. Her problem is in fact symbolic of the hypocrisy of her entire court. While her life is meant to mirror that of her nation¿an image of purity, virtue, enlightenment, and prosperity the truth is that her peaceful empire is kept secure by her wicked chancellor Montfallcon and his corrupt network of spies and murderers, the most sinister of whom Captain Quire, is commissioned to seduce Gloriana and thus bring down Albion and the entire empire. Views: 507
This book is a remarkable tale of pulse-pounding excitement with a uniquely sympathetic, fascinating portrait of the werewolf as noble warrior-and conflicted being. Complex, compelling and utterly real. Views: 506
Union soldier Lieutenant Hixson Morris is dying on the battlefield, gut shot. But instead of dying he finds himself in the care of beautiful, mysterious Sarah Westbay who has a miraculous gift. Sarah's tragic and troubled history is turned toward a new hope and a new beginning. In saving Hixson she saves herself. Hixson learns that he can offer Sarah something that no one else can.Union soldier Lieutenant Hixson Morris is dying on the battlefield, gut shot. But instead of dying he finds himself in the care of beautiful, mysterious Sarah Westbay who has a miraculous gift. Sarah's tragic and troubled history is turned toward a new hope and a new beginning. In saving Hixson she saves herself. Hixson learns that he can offer Sarah something that no one else can.This book contains mild sexual situations and a reference to violence, but is not extremely explicit. Views: 506
When black cloaked Sarah Canary wanders into a railway camp in the Washington territories in 1873, Chin Ah Kin is ordered by his uncle to escort "the ugliest woman he could imagine" away. Far away. But Chin soon becomes the follower. In the first of many such instances, they are separated, both resurfacing some days later at an insane asylum. Chin has run afoul of the law and Sarah has been committed for observation. Their escape from the asylum in the company of another inmate sets into motion a series of adventures and misadventures that are at once hilarious, deeply moving, and downright terrifying. Views: 506
Pre-order the BRAND NEW instalment in the bestselling Mulberry Lane series!With Mulberry Lane's favourite pub, The Pig & Whistle undergoing renovation, proprietors Peggy and Able Ronoscki leave the chaos behind and head off on a trip of a lifetime to America. But disaster hits and Peggy finds herself in a critical condition in hospital. Meanwhile, business is booming for young entrepreneurs Fay Ronoscki and Maggie Rowan with their new restaurant and catering empire. It seems neither has time for love. But when fate throws a famous global singing sensation and glamourous racing car driver into the girls paths, falling in love with Jace and Greg seems beyond their control. Cupid has struck. Life is made up of laughter, love and tears. What is next for the folk of Mulberry Lane - can they find the happiness they all so crave? Another passionate tearjerker from Rosie Clarke in the Mulberry Lane series. Views: 506
A tour de force of history and imagination, The Lady and the Unicorn is Tracy Chevalier’s answer to the mystery behind one of the art world’s great masterpieces—a set of bewitching medieval tapestries that hangs today in the Cluny Museum in Paris. They appear to portray the seduction of a unicorn, but the story behind their making is unknown—until now.
Paris, 1490. A shrewd French nobleman commissions six lavish tapestries celebrating his rising status at Court. He hires the charismatic, arrogant, sublimely talented Nicolas des Innocents to design them. Nicolas creates havoc among the women in the house—mother and daughter, servant, and lady-in-waiting—before taking his designs north to the Brussels workshop where the tapestries are to be woven. There, master weaver Georges de la Chapelle risks everything he has to finish the tapestries—his finest, most intricate work—on time for his exacting French client. The results change all their lives—lives that have been captured in the tapestries, for those who know where to look.
In The Lady and the Unicorn, Tracy Chevalier weaves fact and fiction into a beautiful, timeless, and intriguing literary tapestry—an extraordinary story exquisitely told. Views: 505
This humorous short story introduces a fictional world called "Hilbert Space".The name, an homage to the mathematical concept of a Hilbert Space, is not the only reference to modern day science you will find. Let Professor Tinwin, an eccentric scientist, explain to you what makes Hilbert Space the most interesting place in the observable universe and how it all comes down to entropy in the end.This humorous short story introduces a fictional world called "Hilbert Space".The name, an homage to the mathematical concept of a Hilbert Space, is not the only reference to modern day science you will find.Let Professor Tinwin, an eccentric scientist, explain to you what makes Hilbert Space the most interesting place in the observable universe and how it all comes down to entropy in the end.Follow him on an adventure at the desert planet Kevar 7 where you can learn a lot about ancient Tinillian poetry and find out, how neglacting air resistance can save your life. Views: 505
