From Publishers WeeklyThe author of the Wideacre trilogy offers another intense, absorbing tale, a grisly drama of passion and witchcraft in 16th-century England. Growing up as an ill-used apprentice to Morach, the much-feared wise woman of the moors, Alys finds respite by joining an order of Catholic nuns. When young Lord Hugo and his men burn the abbey to the ground during a drunken rampage, Alys is the only one to escape; she flees back to Morach, consumed with guilt at having abandoned her dying sisters. Summoned to minister to Lord Hugh, Hugo's father, Alys soon finds herself deeply involved in the treachery and intrigue surrounding the old man's attempts to have his son's marriage to the barren Lady Catherine annulled. Attracted to Hugo despite his murderous past, Alys begins to practice witchcraft in earnest to rid him of Catherine and become his wife. Her spells work all too well: Catherine's long-awaited pregnancy ends disastrously, and Hugo comes to love Alys, but in a sickly haze of lust that provides no basis for marriage. Alys soon finds herself so sunk in evil, so removed from God's love, that only a truly shocking gesture can bring about her salvation. Gregory adeptly manipulates hair-raising horror and mounting suspense, brilliantly evoking the period's turbulent atmosphere. Dou ble day Book Club alternate. Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalThis new novel by the author of Wideacre (S. & S., 1987) and other popular historical fiction profiles a woman versed in charms, conjuring, and fortune-telling who nonetheless falls into catastrophic misfortunes time after time. Escaping from an English convent, young Alys learns the arts of healing and magic from the "wise woman" who takes her in. Her struggle to find an independent life takes her among an array of characters, including a mediocre lover, a sickly old man still very much in control of the lives around him, and two challenging women: Marach and Mother Hildebrande. Gregory weaves a vivid tapestry of life in the 16th century, including plenty of sex, as the narrative strains toward a not-unexpected end.- M.E. Chitty, Fairchild International Lib. Inst. , Plainfield, N.J.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 37
The Granger brothers left behind their family's Virginia estate—and the bad memories it holds—years ago. But their dying grandfather's request brings them home: to a failing business, a legacy of secrets and a deathbed promise to make things right.As the eldest brother, attorney Jace Granger is determined to take responsibility for Granger Aeronautics, his family's failing business. But the years of mismanagement seem impossible to untangle. As CEO, he hires a consultant to turn the company around. Smart, sexy Shana Bradford is the right person for the job—and the right woman to turn Jace's world upside down.But the passion between them is jeopardized when old secrets begin to emerge. A woman from Jace's past suddenly reappears. And an explosive discovery changes everything Jace thinks he knows about his mother—and his father, who was convicted of her murder.Jace Granger tried to leave his family history behind once before. But this time he needs to face the past…or risk losing his future.Three brothers. One legacy. A lifetime of secrets.Review"Readers can't deny that Jackson knows how to bring the heat, and more. Her characters are multidimensional, tantalizing and charming."-RT Book Reviews on Texas Wild, 4 ½ stars, Top Pick"Brenda Jackson is the queen of newly discovered love... If there's one thing Jackson knows how to do, it's how to pluck those heartstrings and stir up some seriously saucy drama."-BookPage on Inseparable"This deliciously sensual romance ramps up the emotional stakes and the action with a bit of deception and corporate espionage....[S]exy and sizzling."-Library Journal on Intimate Seduction"Jackson does not disappoint...first-class page-turner."-RT Book Reviews on A Silken Thread, 4 ½ stars, Top Pick"Jackson is a master at writing."-Publishers Weekly on Sensual Confessions About the AuthorA New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling and award-winning author of more than seventy-five romance titles, Brenda is a recent retiree who divides her time between family, writing and traveling with her husband. Readers may write Brenda at P.O. Box 28267, Jacksonville, Florida 32226, by email at [email protected] or visit her website at www.brendajackson.net. Views: 37
Berlin 1942 – when Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move from their home to a new house far far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence running alongside stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people he can see in the distance. But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different to his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences. Views: 37
The new novel from the best-selling author of I Don't Know How She Does It takes us on an unforgettable journey into first love, and--with the emotional intensity and penetrating wit that have made her beloved among readers all over the world--reminds us of how the ardor of our youth can ignite our adult lives. Wales, 1974. Petra and Sharon, two thirteen-year-old girls, are obsessed with David Cassidy. His fan magazine is their Bible, and some days his letters are the only things that keep them going as they struggle through the humiliating daily rituals of adolescence--confronting their bewildering new bodies, fighting with mothers who don't understand them at all. Together they tackle the Ultimate David Cassidy Quiz, a contest whose winners will be flown to America to meet Cassidy in person.London, 1998. Petra is pushing forty, on the brink of divorce, and fighting with her own thirteen-year-old daughter when she discovers a dusty letter in her mother's... Views: 37
The sequel to Alan Marshall's I Can Jump Puddles.This is the Grass is Alan Marshall's moving sequel to the much-loved Australian classic I Can Jump Puddles. First published in 1962, it tells the story of Marshall's adolescence, as he searches for work amid the rough and tumble of 1920s Melbourne. From Wallaby Creek in Donvale Shire where he boards with hard-drinking bushmen, to the slums of East Melbourne, his recollections bring to life a cast of colourful characters, each with his private tragedy. His narrative, encompassing the lived experience of ordinary men and women, is infused with Marshall's deep sense of humanity. Like its famous prequel, This is the Grass is a novel of immense courage, conveying rich insights into little-known aspects of Australia's past. Views: 37
A dazzling blend of military history, high-flying fantasy, and edge-of-your-seat adventure, Naomi Novik's Temeraire novels, set in an alternate Napoleonic era in which intelligent dragons have been harnessed as weapons of war, are more than just perennial bestsellers — they are a worldwide phenomenon. Now, in Tongues of Serpents Naomi Novik is back, along with the dragon Temeraire and his rider and friend, Capt. Will Laurence. Convicted of treason despite their heroic defense against Napoleon's invasion of England, Temeraire and Laurence — stripped of rank and standing — have been transported to the prison colony at New South Wales in distant Australia, where, it is hoped, they cannot further corrupt the British Aerial Corps with their dangerous notions of liberty for dragons. Temeraire and Laurence carry with them three dragon eggs intended to help establish a covert in the colony and destined to be handed over to such second-rate, undesirable officers as have been willing to accept so remote an assignment — including one former acquaintance, Captain Rankin, whose cruelty once cost a dragon its life. Nor is this the greatest difficulty that confronts the exiled dragon and rider: Instead of leaving behind all the political entanglements and corruptions of the war, Laurence and Temeraire have instead sailed into a hornet's nest of fresh complications. For the colony at New South Wales has been thrown into turmoil after the overthrow of the military governor, one William Bligh — better known as Captain Bligh, late of HMS Bounty. Bligh wastes no time in attempting to enlist Temeraire and Laurence to restore him to office, while the upstart masters of the colony are equally determined that the new arrivals should not upset a balance of power precariously tipped in their favor. Eager to escape this political quagmire, Laurence and Temeraire take on a mission to find a way through the forbidding Blue Mountains and into the interior of Australia. But when one of the dragon eggs is stolen from Temeraire, the surveying expedition becomes a desperate race to recover it in time — a race that leads to a shocking discovery and a dangerous new obstacle in the global war between Britain and Napoleon. Views: 37
She was safe in a world of darkness.Now danger threatens in the cold light of day…Before the experimental surgery that gave her sight, Kendra Michaels developed her other senses to an amazing capacity. Now she can identify a Nissan by the sound of its engine, a Norelco electric razor by the pattern of stubble it leaves behind, or an obscure colorless fire accelerant by its sweet smell. Law enforcement agencies clamor for her rare powers of perception and observation, too often disrupting the life she has built helping others through music therapy. Because so very often, only Kendra can get the job done. But in this case, it's Kendra who first realizes that the apparent traffic accident on San Diego's historic Cabrillo Bridge is in fact a murder scene, and she rushes to alert the police before crucial evidence is destroyed. As the body count rises and one murder unveils another, a gruesome pattern emerges. Someone is killing people in ways that mirror Kendra's most notorious cases. She has a fan: someone who admires her work and is twisted enough to show that admiration through murder--while naming himself after the biggest art forger of the 20th century. He views himself not as a monster but as an artist. And he is not working alone.In Iris Johansen's Sight Unseen, as the darkness closes in, near enough to touch Kendra and those she loves, Kendra must come face to face with her greatest fears--and her most ruthless enemy. A man who moves through the shadows, a man she may even know, who hides behind the mask of sanity, sight unseen. ** Views: 37
When an obscure moneylender named William Weems is murdered in the humble Clerkenwell district, there are no mourners--and there is more than a little discreet rejoicing among those whose meager earnings he so mercilessly devoured. Yet when Inspector Pitt finds in the murdered man's office a list containing the names of some of London's most distinguished gentlemen, he begins to realize the magnitude of his duty. William Weems, it transpires, was no common usurer but a vicious blackmailer. Fortunately, Pitt's clever, well-born wife, Charlotte, has entrée to London's best society. Her insights prove to be invaluable to Pitt's investigation as she observes, at glittering balls and over gossipy tea tables, a world of passion, power, and greed that the police are seldom permitted to see. Views: 37
From the author of the internationally bestselling Art of Hearing Heartbeats series, a charming collection of folktales that offer a window into Burma's fascinating history and culture.Since 1995 Jan-Philipp Sendker has visited Myanmar (Burma) dozens of times, and while doing research for his novels The Art of Hearing Heartbeats and A Well-Tempered Heart, he encountered numerous fairy tales and fables. These moving stories speak to the rich mythology of the diverse peoples of Burma, the spirituality of humankind, and the profound social impact Buddhist thinking has had over centuries. Some are so strange he couldn't classify them or identify a familiar moral, while others reminded him of the fairy tales of his childhood, except that here monkeys, tigers, elephants, and crocodiles inhabited the fantastic lands instead of hedgehogs, donkeys, or geese. The teachings they convey resemble those of the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen,... Views: 37
