Drowning Instinct tells the gripping story of Jenna Lord, whose first sixteen years were far from a fairytale. Her father is a controlling psycho, and her mother is a drunk. She used to count on her older brotherâuntil he shipped off to Iraq. And then, of course, there was the time she almost died in a fire.
Enter Mitch Anderson: a dedicated teacher and coach, a caring husband, and a man with a certain... magnetism. This is a story where it's hard to be sure who's a prince and who's a monster, who is a victim and who should live happily ever after.
Drowning Instinct is a novel of pain, deception, desperation, and love against the oddsâand the rules.
New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., have been abandoned. The Bill of Rights has been revoked and replaced with the Moral Statutes.
There are no more policeâinstead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behaviorâinstead, there are arrests, trials, and maybe worse. People who get arrested usually don't come back.
Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren't always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it's hard for her to forget that people weren't always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. It's hard to forget that life in the United States used to be different.
Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs, like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes, and how to pass the random home inspections by the military. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow.
That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jenningsâthe only boy Ember has ever loved.
Eden Newman must mate before her 18th birthday in six months or she'll be left outside to die in a burning world. But who will pick up her mate-option when she's cursed with white skin and a tragically low mate-rate of 15%?
In a post-apocalyptic, totalitarian, underground world where class and beauty are defined by resistance to an overheated environment, Eden's coloring brands her as a member of the lowest class, a weak and ugly Pearl. If only she can mate with a dark-skinned Coal from the ruling class, she'll be safe.
Just maybe one Coal sees the Real Eden and will be her salvation; her co-worker Jamal has begun secretly dating her. But when Eden unwittingly compromises her father's secret biological experiment, she finds herself in the eye of a storm and thrown into the last area of rainforest, a strange and dangerous land.
Eden must fight to save her father, who may be humanity's last hope, while standing up to a powerful beast-man she believes is her enemy, despite her overwhelming attraction. Eden must change to survive but only if she can redefine her ideas of beauty and of love, along with a little help from her "adopted aunt" Emily Dickinson.
When unworldly student Anastasia Steele first encountered the driven and dazzling young entrepreneur Christian Grey, it sparked a sensual affair that changed both of their lives irrevocably. Shocked, intrigued, and, ultimately, repelled by Christian's singular erotic tastes, Ana demands a deeper commitment. Determined to keep her, Christian agrees.
Now, Ana and Christian have it allâlove, passion, intimacy, wealth, and a world of possibilities for their future. But Ana knows that loving her Fifty Shades will not be easy, and that being together will pose challenges that neither of them would anticipate. Ana must somehow learn to share Christian's opulent lifestyle without sacrificing her own identity. And Christian must overcome his compulsion to control as he wrestles with the demons of a tormented past.
Just when it seems that their strength together will eclipse any obstacle, misfortune, malice, and fate conspire to make Ana's deepest fears turn to reality.
Spagna, Costa Blanca. Il sole è ancora molto caldo nonostante sia già settembre inoltrato. Per le strade non c'è nessuno, e l'aria è pervasa da un intenso profumo di limoni che arriva fino al mare. à qui che Sandra, una trentenne in crisi, ha cercato rifugio: non ha un lavoro, è in rotta con i genitori, ed è incinta di un uomo che non è sicura di amare.
à confusa e si sente sola, ed è alla disperata ricerca di una bussola per la sua vita. Fino al giorno in cui non incontra occhi comprensivi e gentili: si tratta di Fredrik e Karin Christensen, una coppia di amabili vecchietti. Sono come i nonni che non ha mai avuto. Momento dopo momento, le regalano una tenera amicizia, le presentano persone affascinanti, come Alberto, e la accolgono nella grande villa circondata da splendidi fiori. Un paradiso. Ma in realtà si tratta dell'inferno.
Fredrik e Karin sono criminali nazisti. Si sono distinti per la loro ferocia e ora, dietro il loro sguardo pacifico, covano il sogno di ricominciare. Lo sa bene Julian, scampato al campo di concentramento di Mauthausen, che da giorni segue i loro movimenti passo dopo passo. Sa bene che le loro mani sottili e rugose si sono macchiate del sangue degli innocenti. Ma ora, forse, può smascherarli e Sandra è l'unica in grado di aiutarlo.
Non è facile convincerla della verità . Eppure, dopo un primo momento di incredulità , la donna comincia a guardarli con occhi diversi. A leggere dietro i loro silenzi, i sorrisi, le parole dette non dette, i regali. Adesso Sandra l'ha capito: lei e il suo piccolo rischiano molto. Ma non importa. PerchÊ tutti devono sapere. PerchÊ è impossibile restituire la vita alle vittime. Ma almeno fare in modo che tutto ciò che è successo non cada nell'oblio. E che il male non rimanga impunito.
'Everybody remembers where they were the day they heard that Paddy de Courcy was getting married'. But for four women in particular, the big news about the charismatic politician is especially momentous... Stylist Lola has every reason to be interested in who Paddy's marrying - because she's his girlfriend, yet she definitely isn't the bride-to-be. Journalist Grace wants the inside story on the de Courcy engagement and thinks Lola holds the key... while Grace's sister, Marnie, still can't forget her first love: a certain Paddy de Courcy. And what of the soon-to-be Mrs de Courcy? Alicia will do anything for her fiancĂŠ and is determined to be the perfect wife. But does she know the real Paddy? Four very different women. One awfully charming man. And the dark secret that binds them all...
Heâs saved her. Heâs loved her. Heâs killed for her.
Eighteen-year-old Archer couldnât protect his best friend, Vivian, from what happened when they were kids, so heâs never stopped trying to protect her from everything else. It doesnât matter that Vivian only uses him when hopping from one toxic relationship to anotherâArcher is always there, waiting to be noticed.
Then along comes Evan, the only person whoâs ever cared about Archer without a single string attached. The harder he falls for Evan, the more Archer sees Vivian for the manipulative hot-mess she really is.
But Viv has her hooks in deep, and when she finds out about the murders Archerâs committed and his relationship with Evan, she threatens to turn him in if she doesnât get what she wants⌠And what she wants is Evanâs death, and for Archer to forfeit his last chance at redemption.
Tricks explores the lives of five teenagers from different parts of the country. The group consists of three girls and two guys, with a mix of sexual orientations, socioeconomic backgrounds, and family situations. They are all navigating their lives the best they can, each searching for something: freedom, safety, community, family, love. However, what they do not anticipate is the complexity and potential danger that comes with saying "I love you" for all the wrong reasons.
The narrative begins with each story separate, but as the plot progresses, these stories intertwine to form a larger, powerful narrative. This book delves into the choices we make, the leaps of faith we take, the lows we fall to, and the process of growing up. It's a poignant exploration of what sex and love mean for young people, at all costs, while grappling with the question, "Can I ever feel okay about myself?"
Lacey Yeager is young, captivating, and ambitious enough to take the NYC art world by storm. Groomed at Sotheby's and hungry to keep climbing the social and career ladders put before her, Lacey charms men and women, old and young, rich and even richer with her magnetic charisma and liveliness.
Her ascension to the highest tiers of the city parallels the soaring heightsâand, at times, the dark lowsâof the art world and the country from the late 1990s through today.
Striking out into the wasteland with nothing but her baby sister, a handful of supplies, and a rumor to guide her, sixteen-year-old midwife Gaia Stone survives, only to be captured by the people of Sylum, a dystopian society where women rule the men who drastically outnumber them, and a kiss is a crime.
In order to see her sister again, Gaia must submit to their strict social code and the oppressive rules of Matrarc Olivia. Meanwhile, two brothers claim her attention as they attempt to understand the environmental trap that keeps the people of Sylum captive, and suddenly Gaia must contend with the exciting, uncomfortable, and altogether new feeling of being desired.
But when someone from her past shows up, Gaia discovers that survival alone is not enough and that justice requires sacrifice.
The Eisner Award-winning 12-issue series from Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely is available in Absolute format! The Man of Steel battles Bizarro, Zibarro, and more before facing the final revenge of Lex Luthor.
Plus: a bonus sketchbook section and more!
Having uncovered the dark secret of her enigmatic classmate, Edward Cullen, Bella Swan embraces her feelings for him, trusting Edward to keep her safe despite the risks.
When a rival clan of vampires makes its way into Forks, the danger to Bella has never been more real. Will she make the ultimate sacrifice to protect the people dearest to her?
The second volume of Twilight: The Graphic Novel completes the visual adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's worldwide bestselling debut novel and is a must-have for any collector's library.
The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn't drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University's Walking One-Night Stand.
Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needsâand wantsâto avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby's resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis's apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.
The Jewel in the Crown is the first of Paul Scottâs renowned historical novels that âlimn the Anglo-Indian world with its lovers, friends, family servants, soldiers, businessmen, murderers and suicidesâall involved in one anotherâs fateâ (The New York Times). It opens in 1942 as the British fear both Japanese invasion and Indian demands for independence. On the night after the Indian Congress Party votes to support Gandhi, riots break out and an ambitious police sergeant arrests a young Indian for the alleged rape of the woman they both love.
âWhat has always astonished me about The Raj Quartet is its sense of sophisticated and total control of its gigantic scenario and highly varied characters . . . The politics are handled with an expertise that intrigues and never bores, and are always seen in terms of individuals.â âNew Republic
âPaul Scottâs vision is both precise and painterly.â âThe New York Times Book Review
âFew people have written about India quite as seductively, or as intelligently, with a sense of loss but also a sense of responsibility and fallibility.â âKirkus Reviews (starred review)
On the night of Skyeâs seventeenth birthday, she meets two enigmatic strangers. Complete oppositesâlike fire and iceâAsher is dark and wild, while Devin is fair and aloof. Their sudden appearance sends Skyeâs life into a tailspin. She has no idea what they want, or why they seem to follow her every moveâonly that their presence coincides with a flurry of strange events.
Soon she begins to doubt not just the identity of the two boys, but also the truth about her own past. In the dead of a bitingly cold Colorado winter, Skye finds herself coming to terms with the impossible secret that threatens to shatter her world. Torn between Asher, who she canât help falling for, and Devin, who she canât stay away from, the consequences of Skyeâs choice will reach further than the three of them could ever imagine.
A Beautiful Dark is the first book in a captivating trilogy by debut author Jocelyn Davies.
Based on a true story, The Book of Negroes tells the story of Aminata, a young girl abducted from her village in Mali aged 11 in 1755. Following a deathly journey on a slave ship where she witnesses the brutal repression of a slave revolt, Aminata is sold to a plantation owner in South Carolina, who rapes her. She is brought to New York, where she escapes her owner, and finds herself helping the British by recording all the freed slaves on the British side in the Revolutionary War in The Book of Negroes (a real historical document that can be found today at the National Archives at Kew).
Aminata is sent to Nova Scotia to start a new life, but finds more hostility, oppression, and tragedy. Separated from her one true love, and suffering the unimaginable loss of both her children who are taken away from her, she eventually joins a group of freed slaves on a harrowing odyssey back to Africa, and ends up in London as a living icon for Wilberforce and the other Abolitionists.
Daunted by the singular sexual tastes and dark secrets of the beautiful, tormented young entrepreneur Christian Grey, Anastasia Steele has broken off their relationship to start a new career with a Seattle publishing house. But desire for Christian still dominates her every waking thought, and when he proposes a new arrangement, Anastasia cannot resist.
They rekindle their searing sensual affair, and Anastasia learns more about the harrowing past of her damaged, driven, and demanding Fifty Shades. While Christian wrestles with his inner demons, Anastasia must confront her anger and envy of the women who came before her and make the most important decision of her life. Erotic, sparkling and suspenseful, Fifty Shades Darker is the irresistibly addictive second part of the Fifty Shades trilogy.
True love can last an eternity... but immortality comes at a price...
On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural St. Andrew, Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting a quiet eveningâuntil a mysterious woman, Lanore McIlvrae, arrives in his ER, escorted by police. Lanore is a murder suspect, and Luke is inexplicably drawn to her.
As Lanny tells him her story, an impassioned account of love and betrayal that transcends time and mortality, she changes his life forever. At the turn of the nineteenth century, Lanny was consumed as a child by her love for the son of St. Andrewâs founder, and she will do anything to be with him forever, but the price she pays is steepâan immortal bond that chains her to a terrible fate.
"Hearts are broken," Lillian Dyson carefully underlined in a book. "Sweet relationships are dead." But now Lillian herself is dead. Found among the bleeding hearts and lilacs of Clara Morrow's garden in Three Pines, shattering the celebrations of Clara's solo show at the famed MusĂŠe in MontrĂŠal.
Chief Inspector Gamache, the head of homicide at the SĂťretĂŠ du QuĂŠbec, is called to the tiny QuĂŠbec village. There, he finds the art world gathered, and with it, a world of shading and nuance, a world of shadow and light. Where nothing is as it seems. Behind every smile, there lurks a sneer. Inside every sweet relationship, there hides a broken heart.
And even when facts are slowly exposed, it is no longer clear to Gamache and his team if what they've found is the truth, or simply a trick of the light.
From the internationally bestselling author of Kane and Abel and A Prisoner of Birth comes Only Time Will Tell, the first in an ambitious new series that tells the story of one family across generations, across oceans, from heartbreak to triumph.
The epic tale of Harry Cliftonâs life begins in 1920, with the words âI was told that my father was killed in the war.â A dock worker in Bristol, Harry never knew his father, but he learns about life on the docks from his uncle, who expects Harry to join him at the shipyard once heâs left school. But then an unexpected gift wins him a scholarship to an exclusive boysâ school, and his life will never be the same again.
As he enters into adulthood, Harry finally learns how his father really died, but the awful truth only leads him to question: was he even his father? Is he the son of Arthur Clifton, a stevedore who spent his whole life on the docks, or the firstborn son of a scion of West Country society, whose family owns a shipping line?
This introductory novel in Archerâs ambitious series The Clifton Chronicles includes a cast of colorful characters and takes us from the ravages of the Great War to the outbreak of the Second World War, when Harry must decide whether to take up a place at Oxford or join the navy and go to war with Hitlerâs Germany.
From the docks of working-class England to the bustling streets of 1940 New York City, Only Time Will Tell takes readers on a journey through to future volumes, which will bring to life one hundred years of recent history to reveal a family story that neither the reader nor Harry Clifton himself could ever have imagined.
Readers and audiences have long greeted As You Like It with delight. Its characters are brilliant conversationalists, including the princesses Rosalind and Celia and their Fool, Touchstone. Soon after Rosalind and Orlando meet and fall in love, the princesses and Touchstone go into exile in the Forest of Arden, where they find new conversational partners. Duke Frederick, younger brother to Duke Senior, has overthrown his brother and forced him to live homeless in the forest with his courtiers, including the cynical Jaques. Orlando, whose older brother Oliver plotted his death, has fled there, too.
Recent scholars have also grounded the play in the issues of its time. These include primogeniture, passing property from a father to his oldest son. As You Like It depicts intense conflict between brothers, exposing the human suffering that primogeniture entails. Another perspective concerns cross-dressing. Most of Orlandoâs courtship of Rosalind takes place while Rosalind is disguised as a man, âGanymede.â At her urging, Orlando pretends that Ganymede is his beloved Rosalind. But as the epilogue reveals, the sixteenth-century actor playing Rosalind was male, following the practice of the time. In other words, a boy played a girl playing a boy pretending to be a girl.
The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, itâs been more useful in communicating mistrust and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.
Now eighteen and emancipated from the system with nowhere to go, Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But an unexpected encounter with a mysterious stranger has her questioning whatâs been missing in her life. And when sheâs forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether itâs worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.
I've seen him on the news. Followed the stories about what happened in Ohio. John Smith, out there, on the run. To the world, he's a mystery. But to me... he's one of us.
Nine of us came here, but sometimes I wonder if time has changed usâif we all still believe in our mission. How can I know? There are six of us left. We're hiding, blending in, avoiding contact with one another... but our Legacies are developing, and soon we'll be equipped to fight. Is John Number Four, and is his appearance the sign I've been waiting for? And what about Number Five and Six? Could one of them be the raven-haired girl with the stormy eyes from my dreams? The girl with powers that are beyond anything I could ever imagine. The girl who may be strong enough to bring the six of us together?
They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They tried to catch Number Four in Ohioâand failed.
I am Number Seven. One of six still alive.
And I'm ready to fight.
Book 1 of a 4 book series
Stephan Coleman knows what his future holds as the president of a not-for-profit foundation and he knows what he wants out of life. All that changes when a simple lunch with his college friend, mentor, and fellow Dominant, Daren, leads him to buying a slave.
Thrust into a situation he never thought heâd be in, Stephan canât walk away. He is compelled to help this girl in the only way he knows how.
Brianna knows only one thing: she is a slave. She has nothing. She is nothing. Can Stephan help Brianna realize that she is much more than just a slave?
An innocent man is about to be executed.
Only a guilty man can save him.
In 1998, in the small East Texas city of Sloan, Travis Boyette abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high school cheerleader. He buried her body so that it would never be found, then watched in amazement as police and prosecutors arrested and convicted DontĂŠ Drumm, a local football star, and marched him off to death row.
Now nine years have passed. Travis has just been paroled in Kansas for a different crime; DontĂŠ is four days away from his execution. Travis suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. For the first time in his miserable life, he decides to do whatâs right and confess. But how can a guilty man convince lawyers, judges, and politicians that theyâre about to execute an innocent man?
The Last Letter from Your Lover is a sophisticated, page-turning double love story spanning forty years, an unforgettable encounter for our times.
It is 1960. When Jennifer Stirling wakes up in the hospital, she can remember nothingânot the tragic car accident that put her there, not her husband, not even who she is. She feels like a stranger in her own life until she stumbles upon an impassioned letter, signed simply "B", asking her to leave her husband.
Years later, in 2003, a journalist named Ellie discovers the same enigmatic letter in a forgotten file in her newspaper's archives. She becomes obsessed by the story and hopeful that it can resurrect her faltering career. Perhaps if these lovers had a happy ending, she will find one to her own complicated love life, too.
Ellie's search will rewrite history and help her see the truth about her own modern romance. A spellbinding, intoxicating love story with a knockout ending.
Tanner Layne and Raquel Merrick fell in love young, hard, and fast, and both of them knew a beautiful life they thought would be forever. Until Rocky left Layne, no explanation, no going back.
Layne escapes The âBurg only to come back years later because his ex-wife has hooked herself to the town jerk, and Layne needs to make sure his sons get raised right. Layne manages to avoid Rocky, but when Layne gets three bullets drilled into him while investigating a dirty cop, he canât do that because Rocky stops avoiding Layne.
They make a deal to work together to expose the dirty cop, but they have no idea the strength of their enduring attraction or the sheer evil at work in The âBurg.
As Tanner Layne and Raquel Merrick play their game and dance around the pull that draws them together, Layne has to discover the dark secrets buried so deep in Rockyâs heart she doesnât even know theyâre there. At the same time, he must untangle a sinister web of crime so abhorrent it has to be stopped... at all costs.
To do it, Layne has to enlist everyone, including his ex-CIA mentor, Rockyâs detective brother, the townâs unpredictable informant, and Layneâs two teenage sons, all the while stopping Rocky from doing something crazy and keeping their game secret so Layne won't get himself dead.
Itâs New York City, December 1999. As one millennium ends and another begins, an erratic chain of events unfold that could change the face of the Italian Mafia forever. In the turmoil, a vacuum is created when one family falls, creating an unprecedented void of power and a subsequent struggle for control of the underworld.
Roman Sabarese is the owner of Evangelineâs, the hottest restaurant in Tribeca. Heâs also close with an A â list television star who adores him. After a tawdry cover story in a popular celebrity tabloid, a spotlight illuminates the fact that Roman is the son of an indicted Mob kingpin, and therefore, heir presumptive to his fatherâs vast criminal enterprise that commands the Tri-State area.
ZoĂŤ Greene is young, attractive and enjoying rave reviews in her role on The Prosecutor, a prime time network television series. While on hiatus from her show for the New Year holiday, she visits the restaurant where she worked her way though college. After a quick dinner with her friend Roman, and among the frantic holiday crowd, she disappears.
Captain Stan Fitzgerald is the decorated head of the NYPDâs First Precinct in Lower Manhattan. His hands are full with the upcoming New Year celebration, a personal battle with renal cancer and the rigors of police life. When an old friend appears in his office to ask for help in locating the missing starlet, he is more then reluctant.
As the clock ticks and precious time runs out, the city is turned upside down in a desperate attempt to find that which is lost and answer questions that have been a mystery for over a generation. In the end, secrets will be revealed, alliances will be forged, and friendships will be betrayed. Table 21 will have you guessing to the last page, who will live to see the new millennium and who will not.
Chloe's older sister, Ruby, is the girl everyone looks to and longs for, who can't be captured or caged. When a night with Ruby's friends goes horribly wrong, and Chloe discovers the dead body of her classmate London Hayes left floating in the reservoir, Chloe is sent away from town and away from Ruby. But Ruby will do anything to get her sister back, and when Chloe returns to town two years later, deadly surprises await.
As Chloe flirts with the truth that Ruby has hidden deeply away, the fragile line between life and death is redrawn by the complex bonds of sisterhood. With palpable drama and delicious craft, Nova Ren Suma bursts onto the YA scene with the story that everyone will be talking about.
A serial killer is hunting the Pacific Northwest, murdering victims in a gruesome and spectacular way. The local police suspect "monsters" are involved, and have called in Anita Blake and Edward, U.S. Marshals who really know their monsters, to catch the killer.
But some monsters are very real. The Harlequin have been the bogeymen of the vampire world for more than a thousand years; they are a secret so dark that even to speak their name can earn you a death sentence. Now they are here in America, hunting weretigers...and human police.
The Harlequin serve the Mother of All Darkness, the first vampire. She was supposed to be dead, but only her body was destroyed. Now she needs a new one, and she's decided that Anita Blake's is the body she wants. Edward thinks the serial killings are a trap to lure Anita closer to the most dangerous vampire they've ever hunted. The vampires call Edward "Death" and Anita the "Executioner," but Mommy Darkest is coming to kill one and possess the other, and she doesn't care how many others have to die along the way.
Tom Franklin's extraordinary talent has been hailed by the leading lights of contemporary literature. His narrative power and flair for characterization have been compared to the likes of Harper Lee and Flannery O'Connor. Now, the Edgar Award-winning author returns with his most accomplished and resonant novel so farâan atmospheric drama set in rural Mississippi.
In the late 1970s, Larry Ott and Silas "32" Jones were boyhood pals. Their worlds were as different as night and day: Larry, the child of lower-middle-class white parents, and Silas, the son of a poor, single black mother. Yet for a few months, the boys stepped outside of their circumstances and shared a special bond. But then tragedy struck: Larry took a girl on a date to a drive-in movie, and she was never heard from again. She was never found and Larry never confessed, but all eyes rested on him as the culprit.
More than twenty years have passed. Larry, a mechanic, lives a solitary existence, never able to rise above the whispers of suspicion. Silas has returned as a constable. He and Larry have no reason to cross paths until another girl disappears and Larry is blamed again. Now, the two men who once called each other friend are forced to confront the past they've buried and ignored for decades.
The Craving is the third book in L.J. Smithâs bestselling Stefanâs Diaries series, which unveils the intriguing backstory of the Salvatore brothers, Stefan and Damon, from The Vampire Diaries series.
Stefan Salvatore has come to terms with being a vampire. The events of the past few months have sobered him, and the fog of his own blood lust has begun to lift. He travels to New York City to start a new lifeâone that does not require him to kill humans to survive. Instead, he feeds off of animals in Central Park. But the quiet life he envisioned is jolted when he runs into his brother Damon, who has convinced New York high society that he is Italian royalty.
While Stefan is regaining his humanity, Damon has completely lost his. Stefan will do whatever it takes to protect Damon from himselfâbut there is another villain present. A vampire that seeks revenge for a death the Salvatores are responsible for. Stefan and Damon will have to work together to fight the greatest evil yet.
Full of dark shadows and surprising twists, the third book in the New York Times bestselling Stefanâs Diaries series raises the stakes for the Salvatore brothers as they face new loves, old treacheries, and unimaginable threats.
Dear Anna,
What I have to tell you is difficult to write, but I know it will be far more difficult for you to hear, and Iâm so sorry...
The unfinished letter is the only clue Tara and Emerson have to the reason behind their close friend Noelleâs suicide. Everything they knew about Noelleâher calling as a midwife, her passion for causes, her love for her friends and familyâdescribed a woman who embraced life. Yet there was so much they didnât know.
With the discovery of the letter and its heartbreaking secret, Noelleâs friends begin to uncover the truth about this complex woman who touched each of their livesâand the life of a desperate strangerâwith love and betrayal, compassion and deceit.
Told with sensitivity and insight, The Midwifeâs Confession will have you turning pages late into the night.
In this novel, Susan Kay reimagines Gaston Leroux's famous novel The Phantom of the Opera in greater depth and detail. Phantom begins with a young widow giving birth to her only child. The child's face is severely deformed, and despite the signs of genius he shows from his early days, she cannot bring herself to love him. The child, Erik's, childhood is spent longing for the love of a mother whose only gift to him was a mask.
Eventually Erik runs away and joins a circus freak show. The cruel owners capitalize off his hideous face and his hauntingly beautiful singing. After leaving the circus, Erik becomes an apprentice to a stone mason, and experiences an adolescent crush on the mason's daughter, but after his appearance inadvertently causes a terrible tragedy, he escapes once again, this time to Persia, and the queen's court. Finally, tired of the world's rejection, Erik helps to design the Paris Opera House, complete with a cavernous and labyrinthine basement, where he intends to live out the rest of his days. It is here that he encounters, Christine, a young soprano with whom he falls in love.
Enigmatic and sexy, Professor Gabriel Emerson is a well respected Dante specialist by day, but by night he devotes himself to an uninhibited life of pleasure. He uses his notorious good looks and sophisticated charm to gratify his every whim, but is secretly tortured by his dark past and consumed by the profound belief that he is beyond all hope of redemption.
When the sweet and innocent Julia Mitchell enrolls as his graduate student, his attraction and mysterious connection to her not only jeopardizes his career, but sends him on a journey in which his past and his present collide.
An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love and redemption, Gabriel's Inferno is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man's escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible...forgiveness and love.
Save Me will have readers wondering just how far they would go to save the ones they love. Lisa Scottoline is writing about real issues that resonate with real women, and the results are emotional, heartbreaking, and honest.
Rose McKenna volunteers as a lunch mom in her daughter Melly's school in order to keep an eye on Amanda, a mean girl who's been bullying her daughter. Her fears come true when the bullying begins, sending Melly to the bathroom in tears. Just as Rose is about to follow after her daughter, a massive explosion goes off in the kitchen, sending the room into chaos.
Rose finds herself faced with the horrifying decision of whether or not to run to the bathroom to rescue her daughter or usher Amanda to safety. She believes she has accomplished both, only to discover that Amanda, for an unknown reason, ran back into the school once out of Rose's sight. In an instance, Rose goes from hero to villain as the small community blames Amanda's injuries on her.
In the days that follow, Rose's life starts to fall to pieces. Amanda's mother decides to sue, her marriage is put to the test, and worse, when her daughter returns to school, the bullying only intensifies. Rose must take matters into her own hands and get down to the truth of what really happened that fateful day in order to save herself, her marriage, and her family.
Send the messengers for the Faery Courts. This is the end.
The Summer King is missing; the Dark Court is bleeding; and a stranger walks the streets of Huntsdale, his presence signifying the deaths of powerful fey. Aislinn tends to the Summer Court, searching for her absent king and yearning for Seth. Torn between his new queen and his old love, Keenan works from afar to strengthen his court against the coming war. Donia longs for fiery passion even as she coolly readies the Winter Court for battle. And Seth, sworn brother of the Dark King and heir to the High Queen, is about to make a mistake that could cost his life.
Love, despair, and betrayal ignite the Faery Courts, and in the final conflict, some will win...and some will lose everything.
The thrilling conclusion to Melissa Marr's New York Times bestselling Wicked Lovely series will leave readers breathless.
For Carrie, Chris and Cathy, the attic was a dark horror that would not leave their minds, even while they built bright, promising new lives. Of course, mother had to pretend they didn't exist. And Grandmother was convinced they had the devil in them. But that wasn't their fault. Was it? Cathy knew what to do. She knew it was time to put what she knew to the test. To show her mother and grandmother that the pain and terror of the attic could not be forgotten... Show them. Show themâonce and for all.
A twisted relationship between two couples reaches a terrible climax in this novel by the New York Times-bestselling author of Machines Like Me. Colin and Mary are lovers on holiday in Italy, their relationship becoming increasingly problematic as they become increasingly alienated from one and other. They move from place to place in this foreign land but seemingly without aim or purpose, seemingly bored and without attachment.
Then they meet a man named Robert and his disabled wife, Caroline. Colin and Mary seem happy for the diversionâhappy to meet another couple that takes their focus off of each other for a while. But things become strange when they attempt to leave: Robert and Caroline insist that they stay with them for a while longer. While Mary and Colin do rediscover an erotic attraction to each other during this time, they also find that their relationship with Robert and Caroline is taking a dreadful and horrific turn, in this "fine novel" by the Booker Prize-winning author of Saturday and On Chesil Beach.
"McEwan perfectly captures the thrill of travel when one is divorced from familiar surroundings and the chance of something unusual and out-of-character seems possible. Of course, this being a McEwan fiction, the possibility is a brutal truth about how people find love in extreme ways."âThe Daily Beast
Martin Swan was not a terrorist, nor a truck driver. He only replied to the want-ad because the wording linked Florida with Washington DC and wanted someone who could speak Arabic. The year was 2008. Jobs were scarce, gas prices high. The back page ad called for a big rig driver with a clean record, who could be at Black Water Crossing the day before Halloween.
As fate would have it, a quirky satellite blackout occurred before the government agent could complete the overseas agreement. A follow-up call led nowhere. Thus, the mid-east connection never fell victim to a federal communications dragnet â nor could Martin Swan detail the pending threat against Washington, or where the explosives would come ashore.
Join Martin on a thrilling adventure filled with suspense, mystery, and a touch of humor as he navigates through unexpected twists and turns.
Love, like everything in the universe, cannot be destroyed. But over time it can change.
The hot Texas nights were lonely for Ben before his heart began beating to the rhythm of two words; Tim Wyman. By all appearances, Tim had the perfect body and ideal life, but when a not-so-accidental collision brings them together, Ben discovers that the truth is rarely so simple.
If winning Timâs heart was an impossible quest, keeping it would prove even harder as family, society, and emotion threaten to tear them apart.
Something Like Summer is a love story spanning a decade and beyond as two boys discover what it means to be friends, lovers, and sometimes even enemies.
Five Point Someone is a story about three friends in IIT who are unable to cope. The book starts with a disclaimer, âThis is not a book to teach you how to get into IIT or even how to live in college. In fact, it describes how screwed up things can get if you donât think straight.â
Three hostelmates â Alok, Hari and Ryan â get off to a bad start in IIT; they screw up the first class quiz. And while they try to make amends, things only get worse. It takes them a while to realize: If you try and screw with the IIT system, it comes back to double screw you. Before they know it, they are at the lowest echelons of IIT society. They have a five-point-something GPA out of ten, ranking near the end of their class.
This GPA is a tattoo that will remain with them, and come in the way of anything else that matters â their friendship, their future, their love life. While the world expects IITians to conquer the world, these guys are struggling to survive.
Will they make it? Do under performers have a right to live? Can they show that they are not just a five-point-somebody but a five-point-someone?
The Blue Bloods have powers beyond human comprehension: strength that defies logic, speed that cannot be captured on film, the ability to shape-shift, and more. But in matters of the heart, no one, not even those immortal vampires, has total control.
In Bloody Valentine, part of the best-selling Blue Bloods series, author Melissa de la Cruz offers three tantalizing stories that delve deep into the love lives of the all-powerful vamps (and their Red Blood friends) from New York's Upper East Side. Might a witchy new girl help cure Oliver's broken heart? How did Allegra fall in love with a human? Will Schuyler and Jack finally be bonded?
Romantic and sensual, Bloody Valentine reveals the undying love, the hope and devastation, and the lust and longing that have defined the Blue Bloods throughout history. Prepare to be swept off your feet.
17-year-old Kate has lived her whole life in abject poverty, with an alcoholic father and drug-addicted mother, who severely abuses Kate. At school, her second-hand clothing marks her as a target. Her refusal to stand up for herself makes her the recipient of her classmates' taunts and bullying.
That is, until Henry returns. Henry Jamison moved away six years earlier, just as he and Kate had begun to develop feelings for one another. He returns to find the bright, funny, outgoing girl he had known now timidly hiding in corners, barely speaking to anyone around her, suspicious of even him.
Kate can't figure out what game Henry is playing with her - for surely it is a game. What else would the gorgeous, popular boy from her past want with her?
Kate finally decides to trust Henry's intentions, opening her heart to him. Just when it seems he might be genuine in his friendship, tragedy strikes, threatening everything Kate has worked so hard to gain. Can Henry help her to overcome this new devastation, or will it tear them apart forever?
Trying to work things out with Nashâher maybe boyfriendâis hard enough for Kaylee Cavanaugh. She can't just pretend nothing happened. But "complicated" doesn't even begin to describe their relationship when his ex-girlfriend transfers to their school, determined to take Nash back.
See, Sabine isn't just an ordinary girl. She's a mara, the living personification of a nightmare. She can read people's fearsâand craft them into nightmares while her victims sleep. Feeding from human fear is how she survives. And Sabine isn't above scaring Kaylee and the entire school to death to get whateverâand whoeverâshe wants.
You only hurt the ones you love.
Logan Witherspoon recently discovered that his girlfriend of three years cheated on him. But things start to look up when a new student breezes through the halls of his small-town high school. Sage Hendricks befriends Logan at a time when he no longer trusts or believes in people.
Sage has been homeschooled for a number of years and her parents have forbidden her to date anyone, but she won't tell Logan why. One day, Logan acts on his growing feelings for Sage. Moments later, he wishes he never had. Sage finally discloses her big secret: she was born a boy. Enraged, frightened, and feeling betrayed, Logan lashes out at Sage and disowns her.
But once Logan comes to terms with what happened, he reaches out to Sage in an attempt to understand her situation. But Logan has no idea how rocky the road back to friendship will be.
Once his anger cools, Logan is filled with incredible regret, and all he wants is to repair his friendship with Sage. But itâs hard to replace something thatâs been brokenâand itâs even harder to find your way back to friendship when you began with love.
Sixteen-year-old Cheyenne Wilder is sleeping in the back of the car while her stepmom fills a prescription for antibiotics. Before Cheyenne realizes what's happening, the car is being stolen.
Griffin hadn't meant to kidnap Cheyenne and once he finds out that not only does she have pneumonia, but that she's blind, he really doesn't know what to do. When his dad finds out that Cheyenne's father is the president of a powerful corporation, everything changesânow there's a reason to keep her.
How will Cheyenne survive this nightmare? Prepare yourself for a fast-paced and hard-edged thriller full of nail-biting suspense.