She'd been a wild teenager willing to risk anything for revenge. But when she seduced Leif Johnston, she hadn't counted on falling helplessly in love... hadn't believed her family would intervene and sweep her off to Switzerland. Seven years later, Tracy Kuger was a successful, independent woman. But her determination to find her father's killer would carry her right back into New York's deceiving limelight... into the treacherous bosom of her powerful family... into Leif's lean, hungry arms. Passion and peril bound them together even as doubts and dangerous secrets tore them apart. Tormented by the past, could Tracy face the truth and embrace the future--a love born under a liar's moon? Views: 51
Boston, 1919. It's been a terrible year for thirteen-year-old Joshua Harper. The influenza pandemic that's sweeping the world has claimed his father's life; his voice has changed, so he can't sing in the Boston Boys' Choir anymore; and now money is tight, so he must quit school to get a job. It's not fair! Joshua begins working as a newspaper boy, hawking papers on the street, but he soon finds himself competing with Charlestown Charlie, a tough, streetwise boy who does not make things easier for Joshua. It seems that fitting in is not as easy as it once was. Then disaster strikes the city of Boston. Joshua must do what he can to help, and in doing so he finds the place—and the voice—that he thought he'd lost.This remarkable novel is fast-paced, suspenseful, and based on true incidents in Boston history. Views: 51
Francesca Hartwell adores cats of every kind. Lions, leopards, tigers. And they all love her. Good thing she gets to see them every day, since her father is their caregiver in the Tower of London's Royal Menagerie. She'd love to find a man with whom she could share her love of animals, but so far, no one has stolen her heart. And there's the added snag that whoever she marries must not have anything to do with nobility, as her mother had left her and her father for an earl.John Fairgate has three rules given to him by his uncle. Inherit the title of baron upon his uncle's death. Give up ornithology. And marry a childhood acquaintance. The first two, John will abide by, but won't like. But the third, marrying a shrew who makes his skin crawl, he simply cannot do. Meeting Miss Francesca Hartwell at the zoo, however, has given him other ideas for a wife. But she's not titled or wealthy. How will he be able to convince his uncle that she's the woman of his heart? Views: 51
From Publishers WeeklyA young Iraqi refugee named Laila provides both the heart and the McGuffin in Hewson's elegant new thriller, the third featuring tough Roman detectives Gianni Peroni and Nic Costa (A Season for the Dead and The Villa of Mysteries). Laila inadvertently witnesses a brutal murder in Rome's Pantheon and earns the guardianship of the top cops. Childless pathologist Teresa Lupo becomes a surrogate mother to the waif as the team slowly closes in on the killer. The position of the naked corpse suggests Leonardo da Vinci's The Vitruvian Man, and carvings on the victim's flesh depict the mystical symbol of the novel's title. The novel seems headed for Dan Brown territory, but Hewson's clever puzzle remains just that, a tantalizing challenge to the detectives and to the encroaching FBI, led by abrasive agents Joel Leapman and Emily Deacon. The perp, it seems, is a serial killer who has similarly carved several victims around the world. Though the novel unfolds via familiar genre conventions—creepy passages from the killer's perspective revealing equal parts of evil and genius, turf skirmishes between our Roman heroes and the FBI suits, imperiled female victims—Hewson's solid writing and multidimensional characters command attention from start to finish of this smart, literate thriller. (Dec.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistStarred Review This third Nic Costa mystery brings back Roman police detective Costa and his partner, loose-cannon Gianni Peroni, in another case with tentacles reaching back to the Eternal City's ancient history. We begin with a stunning set piece: it's Christmas Eve, and the city is being blanketed by a freakish snowstorm, providing an appropriately eerie landscape for the ritualistic murder of an American woman under the dome in Hadrian's Pantheon. Costa, Peroni, and their boss, Leo Falcone, a bit of a maverick himself, fume as the investigation is snatched away by the FBI. Jockeying between the locals and the ugly Americans sets the acrimonious tone until one of the FBI agents, sympathetic to the Italians, turns out to have a connection to the killer. As he's done in the past (Villa of Mysteries, 2004), Hewson expertly blends historical material into the text. This time the key that unlocks the killer's psyche lies in Roman architecture--specifically, Vitruvius' "sacred cut," the idea that the perfect building uses as its starting point the proportions of the human body. Except our killer is carving his sacred cuts into the backs of his victims. All this historical detail gives the proceedings a tasty complexity comparable to Perez-Reverte, but what really makes the novel work is the interplay between the trio of antiestablishment Roman cops--all no-nonsense guys who find ways around whatever obstacles confront them. A masterful mix of the high-concept historical thriller and the cynical contemporary Italian procedural. Bill OttCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Views: 51
He'll never be free... Captured and tortured by the French, Christian Severn, Duke of Mercia, survives by vowing to take revenge on his tormentors. Before the duke can pursue his version of justice, Gillian, Countess of Greendale, reminds him that his small daughter has suffered much in his absence, and needs her papa desperately. Until he surrenders his heart...Gilly endured her difficult marriage by avoiding confrontation and keeping peace at any cost. Christian's devotion to his daughter and his kindness toward Gilly give her hope that she could enjoy a future with him, for surely he of all men shares her loathing for violence in any form. Little does Gilly know, the battle for Christian's heart is only beginning. Views: 51
For Better or Worse!"Do you really imagine that people are going to believe that this marriage is for real?"Helen was facing a "no win" scenario: she could either marry Jacob Hunt or find herself, and her father, out on the street.The question was—why did Jacob want to marry her? He'd hated her and her family all those years ago. Now the local bad boy had made good and Jacob was in a position to dictate terms.The answer was obvious. Jacob was settling old scores! And, unfortunately for her, Jacob believed that marriage was for life…. Views: 51
Our hero is a Tamworth pig with attitude. He was imported from Australia to improve the "bloodline" of the farmer's herd and he is in no doubt about his own importance. But his days of usefulness are numbered and he's about to be packed off on that final journey...or is it? This is a hilarious story based on the escape of the Tamworth Two, from an exciting new writing talent. Views: 50
Mollie: Bride of Georgia is 4th in the unprecedented 50-book American Mail-Order Brides series.Set in the last decade of the 19th century, MOLLIE is a story of courage and hope as a young woman, answering an advertisement for a mail-order bride, confronts an unknown and very challenging future.Years of brutal warfare have left the South with far more women than men. What, Mollie Winters worries, could be so wrong with Dr. Nicholas Avinger that he was forced to advertise for a wife?Despite her misgivings, Mollie takes a desperate leap of faith. Arriving in Atlanta with little more than a few pieces of clothing, two pairs of shoes, and the manuscript of her wildly melodramatic, romantic adventure novel, she prepares to start a new life with the attractive but irascible Dr. Avinger.A haunted man who prefers animals to people, Nick Avinger has driven away more than one assistant, as well as his latest fiancée. Mollie Winters might just fill both bills, if only he didn’t want her so much. And if only he didn’t fear how much he would hurt her.This unforgettable novel by the award-winning author of TERMS OF SURRENDER and TIMELAPSE is the emotional and riveting story of the healing power of love. Views: 50
Penny Beedle’s outlook on Christmas, as her favorite holiday, was destroyed by a messy breakup years earlier and a botched wedding last year—both on Christmas Eve. But since she and her sister now own a greeting card store, and the holidays are their crazy selling season, she has to put on a happy face.
Del Madison has loved Penny since kindergarten. Commissioned by a big greeting card company for a line of Christmas and Valentine’s cards, he has to emerge from behind his alter ego and unveil himself to the public. He chooses Penny Beedle’s shop for the big reveal. If he plays his cards right, he just might gain Penny as part of his life. Views: 50
The highly praised trilogy of Regency romances by award-winning author Grace Burrowes concludes with gifted pianist Valentine Windham, youngest son of the Duke of Moreland. Val retreats to the country after an injury robs him of his musical ability, only to learn from impoverished widow Ellen Markham that he can be loved even when his music falls silent.Ellen Markham tells herself she's happy raising flowers and living in near penury in the Oxfordshire countryside, but when Valentine Windham moves in just on the other side of the wood, Ellen's longing for things she can never have threatens to overcome her good sense. Valentine's artistic soul, tender loving, and ducal determination tempt Ellen to trust and confide in a man who can only be endangered, should he learn of her past. For Valentine, regaining his musical skill becomes far less urgent than winning Ellen's heart. Views: 50
From the author of The Last Testament comes the true love of Bonnie Prince Charlie, her adventures in America and her lasting legacy.In the page-turning popular genre trail-blazed by Antonia Fraser and Phillippa Gregory, The Pretender's Lady, Alan Gold's meticulously researched novel, accurately opens history's pages on a peerless woman who helped change the course of history and whose legend lives on in Scotland today—Flora MacDonald.She was the most famous Scotswoman of her day, single handedly saving Bonnie Prince Charlie. This is her fictionalized life story—her relations with the Prince, her flight to America, Ben Franklin's influence, and her return to Britain to lobby for peaceBut what's hidden from history, revealed now for the first time in Gold's dazzling new work of fiction, is the result of Flora's and Charlie's love: a beautiful and talented boy raised on an American farm. But only she knows his true heritage and his claim to... Views: 50
Terran Times Dreaming of dragons got Vikki into space and only the love of one can bring her back down to solid ground. Vikki has been dreaming of dragons since she was a teen, but as she became an adult, those dreams got more and more graphic. Who needs to seek a relationship when the steamiest sex of a lifetime lies on the other side of your waking mind? Mercuros has been waiting for his mate to come to him for centuries upon centuries. Refusing to believe that she is finally on Geviil, he fights his senses until her touch convinces him of her identity. She is here and she is his. Views: 50
The world always ignored Elsbeth Blakely, given that she was just another young orphan at the Smithfield House for Girls. She was never a part of the bustling world of London Smithfield Market, cooped up inside the great house with no freedom of her own.However, life suddenly takes a turn for the worse when Elsbeth meets Viscount Andrew Radford. A notorious carousing rogue, Lord Radford sets his sights on Elsbeth to be his latest object of affection, expecting that she will simply fall into his arms as every other lady has.But Elsbeth is determined to have her independence. Despite being forced into working at the Radford estate, Elsbeth stands up to the young viscount, finding him determined to get what he wants from her.But, underneath it all, is Lord Radford really the scoundrel that he seems?When news of Elsbeth's real family comes to light, Elsbeth finds her whole world turned upside down, with only Lord Radford able to help. One thing is for certain, however, Elsbeth Blakely is not who she seems either. Views: 50
