When Elissa sets off in search of her brother, the last thing she expects is to be trapped in safety while a raging war threatens her family. Despite her inability to leave her strange host, she is determined to save those she loves from the rebels, no matter the cost.They were coming. They never stopped coming.A wolf howled, the call rising to an eerie pitch before dropping, hurtling downward. The echo barely faded when another howl replied. Always… Always, forever, and yet again, they would come.His breath slipped between his teeth and he finally lifted his gaze from the crimson rose as the wind hurtled off, whistling through the narrow pass that led outward. Out into the forest. Out into Aslaria.And so he waited.Meanwhile, war clouds the horizon and rebels gather under a mysterious leader. Alone, with her two younger sisters, Elissa watches the mountain road desperately for her brother’s return. Instead, she receives news of his capture by a strange figure covered in scars and cloaked in wolf skins.With rebels drawing nearer, she sets off to find her brother. To save him. There is no one else who can.Yet she soon finds the rose that granted her warning now holds her captive in safety. Outside the valley, war threatens those she loves most. Though her strange host claims the ancient promises of the Prince’s return and victory over the rebels, Elissa knows the blood-drenched truth. She is on her own. Elissa will do anything to keep her family safe, but more than one kind of wolf stalks the Blackwood and danger lurks closer than she could ever imagine. Perfect for those who love fantasy, but don’t have the time to sit down for a full-length novel, this first novella in the Legends of Light series presents the story of Beauty and the Beast as you have never read it before. Danger, sacrifice, and treachery combine a thrilling retelling of a favorite fairy tale.Each Legends of Light novella focuses on one of the nine aspects of the Fruit of the Spirit while also following the conflict between the Prince and Tauscher and retelling popular fairy tales in a clean, exciting, and inspiring manner.Note: A novella is not a full-length novel. At 107 pages, this novella is a fairly quick read which can be finished in two or three hours. Views: 334
Hawk, known many years ago as Trashcan Hochley, is the attendant at an aging hotel/bar establishment where his desk is safely enclosed at the front door in a cage with bars. When saleslady, Ashley Adams, lands in a new city without a reservation and is forced to take a room in what even he'd describe as a "dive," Hawk is drawn back through his own memories to contemplate his life and choices.Stories in the Tales of A Traveling Saleslady series take a voyage through the metamorphosis of an ex-farm wife into a woman of the world in 1985. From small towns on the Canadian prairies to the Los Angeles County Fair, Ashley Adams, the saleslady, finds herself in a perpetual state of limbo. On one hand her new lifestyle alienates her from the life she's always known, while on the other, she's still a naive country girl who often finds herself in unexpected predicaments as she does here in The Cage. Each of the stories is narrated, not by the saleslady, but by the people she encounters on her journey.In The Cage, Hawk, known many years ago as Trashcan Hochley, is the attendant at an aging hotel/bar establishment where his desk is safely enclosed at the front door in a cage with bars. When saleslady, Ashley Adams, lands in a new city without a reservation and is forced to take a room in what even he'd describe as a "dive," Hawk is drawn back through his own memories to contemplate his life and how he has ended up working the night shift in a cage.The Cage is about life--the choices we make and the ones we avoid. Views: 333
1905 London is a heady mix of unimaginable wealth and simmering political tensions, and with war looming Flora Maguire wants to keep her family safe. So when her beloved charge Viscount Edward Trent is accused of murder, she's determined not to leave the investigation to the police. Flora has trodden the path of amateur sleuth before, but with so much at stake, this time it's personal. Slowly the body of the victim found stabbed on a train bound for Paddington starts giving up its secrets, and Flora and her husband Bunny become mired in a murky world of spies, communists and fraudsters. And with the police more sure than ever that Edward is their murderer, Flora must work fast to keep him safe. Anita Davison's compulsive story-telling, combined with the irresistible mix of historical drama and gripping mystery, make this unputdownable. Views: 333
Ten-year-old McKenna has always been a good student-and great at gymnastics. So when her grades suddenly begin to fall, her teacher suggests a little extra help from a tutor. McKenna is horrified until she meets her tutor, Josie, a super-confident girl who also happens to be in a wheelchair. Josie encourages McKenna to focus on her strengths and work toward her goals one day at a time. But just as McKenna begins to shine in school, she's sidelined with a gymnastics injury—and her confidence unravels. Now she's worried about her grades and earning a spot on the competitive gymnastics team. Can she find a way to believe in herself again? Views: 330
Anna is content with her life. She works as a kindergarten teacher for a local school, and gives as much of her time as she can to her church. The new pastor at her church has caused quite a stir among the single females, because not only is he a single pastor, but he’s a handsome single pastor. Anna knows she doesn’t have a shot with him. Or does she?Running for his life, he takes her along for the ride….Werewolf Levi Harris has a habit of going off half-cocked and getting into trouble. But this time, the trouble just might prove fatal. He’s stolen a trove of information from a powerful vampire mafia network, and they won’t rest until they get it back—and get revenge. His only chance of survival is to extract the information and put it to use before the bad guys catch up with him. Curvy bombshell Harper Bailey is a good girl with a weak spot for bad boys. When Levi appears, she thinks her dreams have just rolled up on the back of a motorcycle. Little does she know that he’s about to hijack her car and take her straight into the crossfire. But Levi himself might just prove the greatest danger of all….~~~~~~ Views: 329
In December 1993, Pentagon weapons designer and engineer Doctor Olivia Tolchin attends a Washington, DC arms show. She is accomplished, professionally stymied and personally drifting. Then the senior Russian military intelligence officer in America, Major General Getmanov, approaches her and makes her an offer she can't refuse. A love, politics, and war story set in Russia in the 1990s.It is December 1993 in Washington, DC at an arms show. Pentagon weapons designer and engineer Doctor Olivia Tolchin is drifting. She is at the conference to network and to interview, to take the next step in her life. In a cliché, she is a brilliant, beautiful blonde.Professionally, she is stymied, on the verge of allowing herself to be co-opted by the Military-Industrial-Congressional complex, a far more lucrative life than her current one at Los Alamos. She is a highly-regarded engineer, worth a great deal of money to a defense contractor who could use her to sell sensors for urban combat to the Pentagon: fragile, exotic and hopelessly overpriced, while she wants to create reasonably-priced, reliable, good-enough. In the aftermath of the Cold War, she knows that this is more and more the defense contracting game. Playing it would give her access to better labs, equipment and personnel. It would make her a wealthy woman, while the betrayal, of herself and her country’s best interests, would embitter her deeply. Personally, Olivia was badly hurt in a light plane crash. A licensed instructor pilot, she learned too late how reckless her student was. In the instant when she chose to save her student’s life as well as her own, and then during all the months of therapy that followed, she fundamentally chose to live without compromise. By the time of the arms show, she is still unable to run but she can now hike again. Her lover didn’t wait to experience the changes in her character: he left her while she was still hospitalized. She settled out of court with the wealthy lawyer who was her student. Between the settlement, her family money, and her personal ability, she is more than financially secure. There is a great deal she could do with the rest of her life: it doesn’t have to be defense. She has many options. She is pondering these facts of her life in a defense contractor’s hospitality suite at the arms show when the senior Russian military intelligence officer in America, Major General Getmanov, approaches her. He tells her simply: you and your work are of great interest to us. Although we are not yet friends, we are no longer enemies—but we share common enemies. Call me if you want your work to matter. She does. Late that night, walking and talking, he makes her an offer. Come work for us, he says. Be our Walter Christie, the tank specialist whose ideas revolutionized our armor designs and helped us win World War II. She counters in a way that strips him of his tradecraft: not here, that would make me a criminal or worse. In Russia. Where I will skip all the phony testing and benchmarks, and within a quarter, maybe two, go straight to operational testing and evaluation in the field.In the cauldron that is the First Chechen War, a cauldron made infinitely worse by a Russian Army collapsing into the particular horror of military ineptitude.The last thing Olivia does before she gets on that plane to Russia is to tell the CIA what she’s going to do, and why. It’s not a promising meeting. Her CIA contact blows her off as drunk, drug-addled, probably promiscuous, delusional and grandiose, but, he promises her, he’ll write a memo. Do that, she tells him: gelding. Of course that memo is sold. Back to the Russians. Where it threatens to destroy not just Olivia but all those she has come to love and who have come to trust her.A love, politics, and war story set in Boris Yeltsin’s corrupt and violent Russia of the 1990s. Views: 329
Chip Clewt, known simply as the weirdo, lives like a hermit in the Powhatan Swamp, a National Wildlife Refuge that is at the center of a heated controversy between local hunters and environmentalists. A hunting ban on the Powhatan is about to expire. The environmentalists want to protect the wildlife; the hunters are oiling their guns. Then someone completely unexpected comes forward to spearhead the conservation effort--the weirdo.
*Includes a reader's guide. * Views: 327
Lucy James can't seem to finish college, but she's good at figuring at puzzles. A big one drops right in her lap. Something's wrong at the local art museum and with her best friend and trusty dog, she attempts to find out what. With help from her mentor, Sherlock Holmes, Lucy weaves her way though a complicated maze of danger and deceit. But will her meddling bring trouble to them all?Lucy James can't seem to finish college and seems stuck in her movie theater job. But she's always been good at figuring out puzzles and a big one drops right in her lap. Something's amiss at the local art museum and with her best friend, Cindy, and trusty dog, Baskerville, she attempts to find out what. With a little help from her mentor, Sherlock Holmes, Lucy weaves her way through a very complicated maze of danger and deceit. Nancy Drew has nothing on this girl, but will her meddling cause trouble to come crashing down on them all? Views: 327
When lawyer Patrick O'Neill agrees to resurrect an old mystery and challenge the Blackstones' legacy of greed and corruption, he doesn't expect to be derailed by the kindhearted family heiress, Gwen Kellerman. She is tasked with getting him to drop the case, but when the mystery takes a shocking twist, he is the only ally she has. Views: 327
In the summer of 1922, Robert Shannon, a Marine chaplain and a young American hero of the Great War, lands in Ireland. He still suffers from shell shock, and his mentor hopes that a journey Robert had always wanted to make—to find his family roots along the banks of the River Shannon—will restore his equilibrium and his vocation. But there is more to the story: On his return from the war, Robert had witnessed startling corruption in the Archdiocese of Boston. He has been sent to Ireland to secure his silence—permanently. As Robert faces the dangers of a strife-torn Ireland roiling in civil war, the nation’s myths and people, its beliefs and traditions, unfurl healingly before him. And the River Shannon gives comfort to the young man who is inspired by the words of his mentor: “Find your soul and you’ll live.” Views: 327
Francis Lynde was an early 20th century author best known for writing Westerns, which were extremely popular in the wake of the frontier "closing" at the end of the 19th century. His most famous works are The Master of Appleby (1902), The Grafters (1904), A Fool for Love (1905), The Quickening (1906), Empire Builders (1907), and The Taming of Red Butte Western Views: 326
In this charming middle grade novel that's perfect for fans of Tim Federle and Gordon Korman, Zadie is determined to spend the summer helping at the community theater—but things go hilariously awry!Zadie loves Tae Kwon Do, comic books, and outer space. She also loves visiting the community theater that her mom runs, especially the lighting grid over the stage and the stage manager's booth, which is filled with levers and buttons like a spaceship control panel. So when the family's finances suffer a blow and Zadie has to give up her usual activities to spend the summer at the theater, she doesn't mind too much. After all, she's always wanted to tech a show. She knows she'd be great at it, but her mom and the new stage manager are totally opposed to the idea of having a kid do tech. Instead, Zadie's stuck handing out snacks and folding flyers. But the future of the theater rides on this show, and Zadie is determined to help. She's going to make... Views: 325
Some houses seem to want to hold their secrets.
It’s 1759 and the world is at war, pulling the North American colonies of Britain and France into the conflict. The times are complicated, as are the loyalties of many New York merchants who have secretly been trading with the French for years, defying Britain’s colonial laws in a game growing ever more treacherous.
When captured French officers are brought to Long Island to be billeted in private homes on their parole of honour, it upends the lives of the Wilde family—deeply involved in the treasonous trade and already divided by war.
Lydia Wilde, struggling to keep the peace in her fracturing family following her mother’s death, has little time or kindness to spare for her unwanted guests. French-Canadian lieutenant Jean-Philippe de Sabran has little desire to be there. But by the war’s end they’ll both learn love, honour, and duty can form tangled bonds that are not broken easily.
Their doomed romance becomes a local legend, told and re-told through the years until the present day, when conflict of a different kind brings Charley Van Hoek to Long Island to be the new curator of the Wilde House Museum.
Charley doesn’t believe in ghosts. But as she starts to delve into the history of Lydia and her French officer, it becomes clear that the Wilde House holds more than just secrets, and Charley discovers the legend might not have been telling the whole story...or the whole truth. Views: 321
