"Burrowes delivers red-hot chemistry with a masterful mix of playfulness and sensuality." —Publishers Weekly Starred ReviewLady Eve's Got The Perfect PlanPretty, petite Evie Windham has been more indiscreet than her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Moreland, suspect. Fearing that a wedding night would reveal her past, she's running out of excuses to dodge adoring swains. Lucas Denning, the newly titled Marquis of Deene, has reason of his own for avoiding marriage. So Evie and Deene strike a deal, each agreeing to be the other's decoy. At this rate, matrimony could be avoided indefinitely...until the two are caught in a steamy kiss that no one was supposed to see.Praise for Lady Maggie's Secret Scandal:"A tantalizing, delectably sexy story that is one of the best yet from an author on the way to the top." —Library Journal Starred Review"A delight...strikingly unique characters with realistic emotions and exciting... Views: 43
The German planes patrolled in hunting squads. They flew fast fighting craft, streaking across the sky in tight formation. The greatest of them was the Red Baron, the deadliest ace on the Front. He'd shot down twenty-one of our planes in a single month. And now we were in his firing line... The war in France rages in the skies, and support for the war in Australia turns cold. Alex flies high above the trenches of the Western Front, while a world away his sister Maggie finds herself in the midst of political upheaval. Somehow, both must find the courage to fight on. Views: 43
In this 6th delightful culinary mystery from Joanne Pence, dilettante chef Angie Amalfi plans a romantic cruise with her hunky boyfriend, but hits rough water when murder becomes part of the itinerary.Food writer and culinary entrepreneur Angie Amalfi imagined a high seas cruise aboard a ship bound for Acapulco with her homicide detective boyfriend Paavo Smith would be heaven. With no crowds or pending police business, it might even provide Paavo the perfect opportunity to propose.But Angie's "Love Boat" fantasy starts springing leaks almost immediately, beginning with the cook's bizarre attempt to jump ship...in the middle of the ocean! Add an oddball collection of fellow passengers, yawningly unimaginative onboard meals, Paavo's increasingly bizarre behavior, and the fact that someone's been rifling through her luggage, and Angie's soon ready to leap overboard herself. But it's not until she offers to help out in the galley and murder is abruptly added to the menu that... Views: 43
“Fantastic . . . an honest, beautifully detailed book and an entertaining read.”
—DIANA GABALDON, THE WASHINGTON POST
“Simultaneously sweeping and intricate . . . Tompkins’s amazing debut novel conjures an epic battle for the soul of Ireland. Filled with papal machination and royal intrigue, magic and mayhem, faeries, Vikings, legates, kings and queens, angels and goddesses, this is one wild and breathless ride.”
—KAREN JOY FOWLER**
“Plundering the treasure chest of human myths, from mysterious biblical giants to ferocious Celtic faeries, Tompkins has created a fantasy adventure with the shifting perspectives of dreamscape. A novel rich and strange.”
—GERALDINE BROOKS
What became of magic in the world? Who needed to do away with it, and for what reasons? Drawing on myth, legend, fairy tales, and Biblical mysteries, The Last Days of Magic brilliantly imagines answers to these questions, sweeping us back to a world where humans and magical beings co-exist as they had for centuries.
Aisling, a goddess in human form, was born to rule both domains and—with her twin, Anya—unite the Celts with the powerful faeries of the Middle Kingdom. But within medieval Ireland interests are divided, and far from its shores greater forces are mustering. Both England and Rome have a stake in driving magic from the Emerald Isle. Jordan, the Vatican commander tasked with vanquishing the remnants of otherworldly creatures from a disenchanted Europe, has built a career on such plots. But increasingly he finds himself torn between duty and his desire to understand the magic that has been forbidden.
As kings prepare, exorcists gather, and divisions widen between the warring clans of Ireland, Aisling and Jordan must come to terms with powers given and withheld, while a world that can still foster magic hangs in the balance. Loyalties are tested, betrayals sown, and the coming war will have repercussions that ripple centuries later, in today’s world—and in particular for a young graduate student named Sara Hill.
The Last Days of Magic introduces us to unforgettable characters who grapple with quests for power, human frailty, and the longing for knowledge that has been made taboo. Mark Tompkins has crafted a remarkable tale—a feat of world-building that poses astonishing and resonant answers to epic questions.
**Review
Praise for *The Last Days of Magic*
“Reading The Last Days of Magic is like playing a well-constructed video game. There’s a fantastic world . . . and an exciting storyline. Set as a battle between wild-and-free ancient Magic and aggressive Religion bent on absolute control, the action focuses on Ireland, designated as the last place on Earth where real magic (known as Ardor) still flourishes in its natural form. . . . An honest, beautifully detailed book and an entertaining read.”
—Diana Gabaldon, *The Washington Post*
“A heady brew of Celtic and Biblical mythology with late medieval political intrigue and warfare. . . . Tompkins combines deft characterization with treachery, battle, magic, and hints of Dan Brown.”
—*Publishers Weekly*
“Simultaneously sweeping and intricate, reaching all the way back to the Dead Sea Scrolls and all the way forward to now, Tompkins’s amazing debut novel conjures an epic battle for the soul of Ireland. Filled with papal machination and royal intrigue, magic and mayhem, faeries, Vikings, legates, kings and queens, angels and goddesses, this is one wild and breathless ride.”
—Karen Joy Fowler
“Plundering the treasure chest of human myths, from mysterious biblical giants to ferocious Celtic faeries, Tompkins has created a fantasy adventure with the shifting perspectives of dreamscape. A novel rich and strange.”
—Geraldine Brooks
“A wild grab bag of myth, history, folklore, and the fantastical, The Last Days of Magic is the perfect read for a frozen evening by the fire or a summer night in firefly country. It fills Ireland with blood, monsters, and witchcraft, and fans of Deborah Harkness and Erin Morgenstern will delight in it.”
—Maria Dahvana Headley
“An epic adventure . . . If you are a fan of Game of Thrones, then this will certainly delight you. One of the best aspects of this book is that there are wonderful female characters. . . . All of the different stories are woven together to create a rich tapestry of Ireland and a time gone by.”
—Pondering the Prose
“The Last Days of Magic reminds me why I started to read fantasy. Read it and get lost in the green woods of Eire and in the mist of legends that still permeate Irish hills.”
—Libretto Reviews
“A half-goddess, a Vatican mercenary, kings, queens, warriors, and faery creatures battle for control of Ireland in this historical fantasy adventure. . . . Tompkins creates an intriguing world stocked with colorful characters and rich with biblical and mythological allusions.”
—Kirkus Reviews
About the Author
Mark Tompkins is the founder of the Aspen Writers’ Network and serves on the board of Aspen Words, a program of the Aspen Institute. Born in Texas of Irish ancestry, Tompkins lives in Boston, Houston, and Aspen. The Last Days of Magic is his first novel. Views: 43
Samuel Todd is a regular guy: ...Failed husband... ...Loving father... ...Dutiful worker... ...Aspiring rockstar. He had no idea if anyone would care, or take the time, to read his daily blog entries about his late night observations. But what started as an open monologue of his day-to-day life became a running journal of the firsthand account detailing the rising of the dead and the downfall and degradation of mankind...Review"T.W. Brown is becoming one of the best Zombie horror genre writers out there.""For anyone who says that they don't like horror stories, I encourage you to at least try TW Brown's books."About the AuthorMy name is Todd Brown. I write. Ever since a sixth grade project where the teacher put a single sentence on the board and said, "write a one page story using this sentence," and I wrote seven pages (typed with my left and right index finger), I knew that writing was my dream job.My life has been anything but boring. I've been a submarine sonar man, a club DJ, a sports talk radio host, a prison inmate, a GED tutor, and a music teacher. I have four marriages and three divorces and I only really regret one of the marriages. I've played football at the North Pole, seen the Pyramids of Giza and the ruins of Rome.My Border Collie, Aoife (pronounced EYE-fa) keeps me from spending every waking moment at my keyboard. Border Collies are NOT lap dogs. They need trips to the beach, mountains, or any of the wonderful hiking trails here in the beautiful Pacific NorthwestI enjoy playing guitar in my spare time, and have been in a few bands There is something unexplainable about stepping up to the mike and singing or looking into an audience-be it forty or four hundred-after nailing a guitar solo. But that's what I do for fun.I write for a few reasons. First, I love a good story. That is what drives me. However, I'd be a big fat liar if I did not admit to wanting the possible fame and fortune. There is a definite ego gratification in knowing that by putting words on paper I made somebody laugh, cry, or cringe.People can say "I do it for the artistic expression..." blah, blah, blah. I write because I want people to be a fan of my writing. I want you to lose yourself in my story for a few minutes or an hour. And when you're done...I want you to want more. That's t he honest truth.When I write I listen to Mozart, Holst, or Future Sound of London. The last is perfect for zombie writin' music. Views: 43
Few authors inspire the kind of passion that Arturo Pérez-Reverte does. Reviewers, readers, and booksellers alike have embraced his fiction as the perfect blend of suspense and literary ambition. A global bestseller, he is one of the most admired and widely read authors in the world. And his stunning new novel is his best yet. A remarkable tale, The Queen of the South spans continents, from the dusty streets of Mexico to the sparkling waters off the coast of Morocco, to Spain and the Strait of Gibraltar. A sweeping story set to the irresistible beat of the drug smugglers' ballads, it encompasses sensuality and cruelty, love and betrayal, as its heroine's story unfolds. Teresa Mendoza's boyfriend is a drug smuggler who the narcos of Sinaloa, Mexico, call "the king of the short runway," because he can get a plane full of coke off the ground in three hundred yards. But in a ruthless business, life can be short, and Teresa even has a special cell... Views: 43
It is the late-14th century, a time beset by war and plague. Nicholas Barber, a young cleric, abandons his post in the church and joins a troupe of travelling performers. The players re-enact the murder of a young boy, but as they rehearse they discover the truth has yet to be revealed Views: 43
Separated by an inconceivable tragedy, can faith and love reunite childhood friends and light the way to a bright future? In a quiet corner of northern Edwardian England, Margaret Lounsbury diligently works in her grandmother's millinery shop, making hats and caring for her young sister. Several years earlier, a terrible event reshaped their family, shattering an idyllic life and their future prospects. Maggie is resilient and will do what she must to protect her sister Violet. Still, the loss of her parents weighs heavily on her heart because she wonders if what happened that day on the lake...might not have been an accident. When wealthy inventor and industrialist William Harcourt dies, his son and Maggie's estranged childhood friend, Nathaniel returns from his time in the Royal Navy and inherits his father's vast estate, Morningside Manor. He also assumes partial control of his father's engineering company and the duty of repaying an old debt to the Lounsbury family.... Views: 43
The handsome and aristocratic, thirty-five year old diplomat Lord Athelstan knows that he is heading for trouble on his mission to the Caucasus to investigate how long the legendary Shamyl, the Imam of Daghestan, can hold out against the invading Russians.But little does he expect to be faced with another kind of conflict – with a beautiful young hostage imprisoned in the Imam's stronghold.The lovely Natasha is only nineteen and she was seized along with a Royal party by the Imam's followers and held to ransom against the release of the Imam's only son by the Russians. Orphaned, she has no hope of raising a ransom and instead has reluctantly agreed to be given to the Sultan of Turkey as a 'wife' for his vast harem in return for the release of her nine-year-old brother.The Imam implores Lord Athelstan to escort Natasha safely to Constantinople – a favour he cannot grant lest it anger the Russians and compromise Great Britain.But then he meets her –... Views: 43
