"A marriage is always two intersecting stories." This realization comes perhaps too late to the husband of Etna Bliss-a man whose obsession with his young wife begins at the moment of their first meeting, as he helps Etna and her companions escape from a fire in a hotel restaurant, and culminates in a marriage doomed by secrets and betrayal. Written with the intelligence and grace that are the hallmarks of Anita Shreve's bestselling novels, this gripping tale of desire, jealousy, and loss is peopled by unforgettable characters as real as the emotions that bring them together. Views: 636
Enter a decaying far, far future society, a time when anything and everything is possible, where words like 'conscience' and 'morality' are meaningless, and where heartfelt love blossoms mysteriously between Mrs Amelia Underwood, an unwilling time traveller, and Jherek Carnelian, a bemused denizen of the End of Time.
The Dancers at the End of Time, containing the novels An Alien Heat, The Hollow Lands and The End of All Songs, is a brilliant homage to the 1890s of Wilde, Beardsley and the fin de siècle decadents, satire at its sharpest and most colourful. Views: 636
When the Predators choose LV-363 for a hunt and seed it with Xenomorph eggs, the result is bizarre alien hybrids and humans trapped between the Predators and their prey.The planet LV-363 teems with exotic life, including a plant growing in the shadows of its deep rifts. The plant’s flower yields a valuable narcotic, and people are forced by the cartels to harvest it. When a Yautja (Predator) ship arrives for a hunting ritual, the Predators seed the rifts with Xenomorph eggs. The aliens emerge and the result is bizarre and deadly hybrids, with humans trapped between the Predators and their prey. These deadly Xenomorph hybrids—some of which possess the ability to fly—swarm out of control and may prove more than either the Yautja or the humans can defeat.© 2021 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS Views: 636
Let #1 New York Times bestselling author Iris Johansen sweep you away to an island paradise of passion and temptation.
They met in the most terrible of circumstances. She was lost, terrified, and in grave danger. He was wounded, wary, and unable to ignore the lovely girl who needed his help. Ten years have passed since that bleak day, and now Serena Spaulding is independent, successful, and unwilling to be strong-armed into anything. Even when the strong arms are attached to a devastatingly handsome man—the very same one who rescued her all those years ago.
All he knew was her name . . . and that he had to see her again. Gideon Brandt has never stopped searching for Serena. And the moment she walks back through the gates of his tropical estate, he is flooded by desire—and overcome with the longing he has endured for a decade. Finding her has taken years, and convincing her that true love is worth the risk could take even longer. But from their first electric kiss, Gideon just knows: If it takes a lifetime to win Serena’s trust, it will be a lifetime pleasurably spent.
Includes a special message from the editor, as well as excerpts from these Loveswept titles: Slow Summer Burn, Blue Lines, and After the Kiss. Views: 636
*The beloved Noel Streatfeild classic back in print!
*It's a stroke of great luck when Harriet Johnson’s doctor prescribes skating after an illness that has left her feeling frail and listless. For on her very first day at the rink, Harriet meets orphaned Lalla Moore, who is being brought up by her wealthy aunt Claudia to be a skating champion. Although they have little in common, the girls form a fast friendship. Harriet is energized by talented, funny Lalla, and Lalla in turn blossoms under the affection of openhearted Harriet. The girls skate together more and more. But just as Lalla’s interest in skating starts to fade, Harriet’s natural talent begins to emerge. Suddenly Lalla and Harriet seem headed in two very different directions. Can their friendship survive?
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 635
The wind has always dictated Vianne Rocher's every move, buffeting her from the French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes to the crowded streets of Paris. Cloaked in a new identity, that of widow Yanne Charbonneau, she opens a chocolaterie on a small Montmartre street, determined to still the wind at last and keep her daughters, Anouk and baby Rosette, safe. But the weather vane soon turns, and Zozie de l'Alba blows into their lives. Charming and enigmatic, Zozie provides the brightness that Yanne's life needs--as her vivacity and bold lollipop shoes dazzle rebellious and impressionable preadolescent Anouk. But beneath their new friend's benevolent facade lies a ruthless treachery--for devious, seductive Zozie has plans that will shake their world to pieces. Views: 635
Mildred Pierce had gorgeous legs, a way with a skillet, and a bone-deep core of toughness and determination. She used those attributes to survive a divorce in 1940s America with two children and to claw her way out of poverty, becoming a successful businesswoman. But Mildred also had two weaknesses: a yen for shiftless men and an unreasoning devotion to her monstrous daughter.
Out of these elements, Cain created a novel (later made into a film noir classic) of acute social observation and devastating emotional violence - and a heroine whose ambitions and sufferings are never less than recognizable.
Narrated by Christine Williams. Views: 635
In 2012 I began a holiday tradition of writing Christmas codas for some of my — and your — favorite stories. I ran the codas on my blog and left them up there for readers to enjoy all year round.Readers requested that I collect the codas and make them available digitally and in print, and I thought that was a fun idea, which is how you come to be reading this. I decided to add another ten new codas to the collection, as well as some recipes for cocktails and dishes that are either featured in the original works or seem to add some final comment or insight into the era or the characters or their relationship.Happiest of Holidays to you all. May this season be filled with love and laughter, and may the New Year bring you health and happiness. Views: 635
Dartmouth students Kristina, Conni, Albert, and Jim seemingly inseparable friends. But they are bonded by dark, seductive secrets. Intense passions and simmering tensions have been building for years until a brutal act on a bitter cold night reveals shocking truths about each. This compelling narrative--with a surprise twist at the end--grips the reader from first page to last. Views: 635
The Flim-Flam Affair is the latest charming historical mystery in Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Bill Pronzini's detective series.Carpenter and Quincannon Professional Detective Services is now a fixture in San Francisco at the dawn of a new century. Sabina and John will protect their clients, doing what is necessary to run the dregs of society into the arms of the law. Sometimes that involves brute force. And then there are cases where a more subtle touch is needed.Professor A. Vargas, medium extraordinaire, and his partner Annabelle don't use picks to open locked doors, and most certainly don't use violence to get what they want. Instead they prey upon hopes and fears to swindle bereaved patrons.And so John and Sabina find themselves in a dusky room, preparing to take the lying duo down.It is then that a knife flashes...and our detectives must discover who is conning whom. Before they themselves are dispatched.The... Views: 635
William "Kid" Collins was once a respected boxer. Now he's a drifter, on the run after escaping from a mental institution.
One afternoon he meets Fay, a beautiful young widow. She is smart and decent--at least when she's sober.
Soon Collins finds himself involved in a kidnapping scheme that goes drastically wrong almost before it even begins. Because the kid they've picked up isn't like other kids: he's diabetic and without insulin, he'll die. Not the safest situation for Collins, a man for whom stress and violence have long gone hand-in-hand.
After Dark, My Sweet once again displays Jim Thompson as the undisputed master of American noir. The basis of James Foley's critically acclaimed film of the same name, with the sweep of an epic tragedy, Thompson's classic limns the dangerous territory of honest people all-too-easily sucked into wickedness, with no way out but down. Views: 634
The King of the Giants has met his match...When her brother goes missing, Ruth Hallbrook follows the only lead that she has – a story told to her by a strange woman she meets in town. Armed with a 'magical' shell that will supposedly guide her, all she has to do is repeat the words she hears when she puts it to her ear. That would have been fine if she could have understood what it was saying! One wrong word lands her in a kingdom filled with giants, including one very large, irritating one who thinks she belongs in his gilded cage – fat chance of that!An opportunity to escape for a little peace and quiet turns into a disaster when Koorgan, the King of the Giants, finds himself stuck in an old well. Unable to climb out, he is sure his only hope of rescue will come from the search party eventually finding him. The last thing he expects is his rescuer to be barely larger than his hand.Afraid that something might happen to the tiny creature, he... Views: 634
An unknown enemy wanted to take everything from us.GravesI'd spent all my forty-plus years paying for mistakes when I'd simply been human. Living in the shadow of my friend's happiness grew harder every day. I didn't mind being the odd one out. I didn't mind being considered the unlovable strait-laced-ish one to their mayhem. Acceptance after a lifetime of not measuring up was nice. I'd found my rhythm and my place among the weirdness of my unit. That was until Marcel Douglas, the new ego-maniac in Homicide, decided he had to pick apart every case I'd left behind.DouglasLeaving Chicago hadn't been in my plans, but my daughter needed me. I'd do anything to make her happy. When her mother was transferred overseas, I'd moved so my daughter could stay with her friends—the place she'd come to love. Being at the bottom of the hierarchy and earning respect didn't sit right with my pride. I wasn't afraid to admit that. And I'd made one hell of an enemy.... Views: 634
It’s 1905 and the Chicago Cubs are banking on superstar Donald “Duke” Dennison’s golden arm to help them win the pennant. Only one thing stands between Duke and an unprecedented ten thousand dollar contract: alcohol. That’s when sportswriter David Voyant whisks Duke to the one-horse town of Picksville, Missouri, so he can sober up in anonymity. He bides his time flirting with Ellie Jane Voyant, his unofficial chaperone, who would rather hide herself in the railway station ticket booth than face the echoes of childhood taunts. Ned Clovis, the feed store clerk, has secretly loved Ellie Jane since childhood, but he loves baseball and the Duke almost as much–until he notices Ellie Jane may be succumbing to the star’s charm. Then there’s Morris, a twelve-year-old Negro boy, whose only dream is to break away from Picksville. When Duke discovers his innate talent for throwing a baseball, Morris might just have found his way out. Four individuals, each living in haunted isolation, each harboring a secret passion. Providence brings them together. Tragedy threatens to tear them apart. Will love be enough to bring them home? Views: 634
Three novellas. One amazing collection.
Second Kiss
Daisy Grace Webber's life hasn't exactly turned out how she thought. She didn't think she'd drop out of college and come back to the small town she grew up in. To be fair, she didn't think her love of baking would turn into a job at the Violet Hill Cafe either, but it did.
Something else she didn't expect was for Molly Madison to walk back into her life, eight years after she moved away. They'd been best friends forever, or so she'd thought. But Molly is back in town and she's looking... really good, actually. And that reminds Daisy of that one time at a sleepover when they'd kissed during a game of Spin the Bottle. That one kiss has been on her mind since then, but it's irrelevant. Molly isn't into girls.
But as Daisy and Molly spend more time together, feelings start to grow, and Daisy is wondering just how "straight" Molly really is...
Double Exposure
Anna Corcoran's life is hectic, but that's how she likes it. Between her jobs at the Violet Hill Cafe, the local library, and doing publicity work for authors, she doesn't have much time for anything else. Until Lacey Cole walks into the cafe and she feels like she's been knocked off her axis.
Lacey's a photographer and writer and wants to do a profile on the cafe, including an interview with Anna. She's game, but after spending a few days with Lacey, Anna is falling. Hard. The only problem is that Lacey isn't going to be sticking around. She floats from town to town, never staying in one place.
But as they get closer and closer, Anna wonders if maybe this would be the one time when Lacey would decide to stay put. With her.
Second Chance
Serena Nolan's summer isn't going how she planned. Fortunately, her cousin, Anna, is there to rescue her from spending her time off from college with parents who don't understand (or want to understand) her. Serena's thrilled to be living with Anna and her girlfriend, Lacey in Lacey's studio, and working in the Violet Hill Cafe. She's even adores Lacey's cat, Murder.
What she definitely didn't plan was running into her ex, Fiona Davis. They'd been best friends that had turned into something else, but everything had crashed and burned before the end of high school several years ago.
Serena is still smarting from the heartbreak, but she can't say no to spending some time with Fi. Against her better judgement, old feelings are mixing with new ones, and she doesn't know what to do. Serena will have to decide if past heartbreak is going to keep her from a potential future with Fiona. Views: 634
