Honest Illusions introduces us to Roxy Nouvelle, the daughter of a world-renowned magician. She has inherited not only her father’s talents but also his penchant for jewel thievery. Into this colorful world comes Luke Callahan, an escape artist who captures her heart.
Roxy and Luke become partners in more ways than one: first in the art of magic, then as jewel thieves, and finally in love. However, their partnership is threatened when a shadow from Luke's past emerges, forcing him to vanish from Roxy's life.
Now, Luke is back, bringing with him secrets and danger. Roxy must decide whether she can ever trust him again.
Possession is an exhilarating novel of wit and romance, at once an intellectual mystery and triumphant love story. It is the tale of a pair of young scholars researching the lives of two Victorian poets. As they uncover their letters, journals, and poems, and track their movements from London to Yorkshire—from spiritualist séances to the fairy-haunted far west of Brittany—what emerges is an extraordinary counterpoint of passions and ideas.
Dear Reader,
Nearly a decade ago, I published my first novel with Avon Books, Only in Your Arms. Since then, romance has changed—and so have I—so I decided to give the book a makeover—and a new title, When Strangers Marry.
In When Strangers Marry, I had a great time rediscovering the story of Maximilien Vallerand and his stolen bride, Lysette. The promise of this handsome, though mysterious, man's love proves irresistible to her, but she doesn't know the secrets he hides.
I hope you will enjoy revisiting the Vallerand family, or perhaps meeting them for the first time. And, as always, thank you for your support and encouragement, as we escape together into the magical world of romance novels.
Wishing you love and happiness,
Lisa
Everyone knows that Colin Bridgerton is the most charming man in London. Penelope Featherington has secretly adored her best friend's brother for...well, it feels like forever. After half a lifetime of watching Colin Bridgerton from afar, she thinks she knows everything about him, until she stumbles across his deepest secret...and fears she doesn't know him at all.
Colin Bridgerton is tired of being thought nothing but an empty-headed charmer, tired of everyone's preoccupation with the notorious gossip columnist Lady Whistledown, who can't seem to publish an edition without mentioning him in the first paragraph. But when Colin returns to London from a trip abroad he discovers nothing in his life is quite the same - especially Penelope Featherington! The girl haunting his dreams. But when he discovers that Penelope has secrets of her own, this elusive bachelor must decide...is she his biggest threat - or his promise of a happy ending?
Beautiful Sorcha is the courageous young woman who risked all to save her family from a wicked curse and whose love shattered generations of hate and bridged two cultures. It is from her sacrifice that Sorcha's brothers were brought home to their ancestral fortress Sevenwaters, and her life has known much joy. But not all the brothers were able to fully escape the spell that transformed them into swans, and it is left to Sorcha's daughter Liadan to help fulfill the destiny of the Sevenwaters clan.
Beloved child and dutiful daughter, Liadan embarks on a journey that shows her just how hard-won was the peace that she has known all her life. Liadan will need all of her courage to help save her family, for there are dark forces and ancient powers conspiring to destroy this family's peace--and their world. And she will need all of her strength to stand up to those she loves best, for in the finding of her own true love, Liadan's course may doom them all... or be their salvation.
Being a princess isn't all that...
You've heard the fairy tale: a glass slipper, Prince Charming, happily ever after...
Welcome to reality: royal genealogy lessons, needlepoint, acting like "a proper lady," and—worst of all—a prince who is not the least bit interesting, and certainly not charming.
As soon-to-be princess Ella deals with her new-found status, she comes to realize she is not "your majesty" material. But breaking off a royal engagement is no easy feat, especially when you're crushing on another boy in the palace...
For Ella to escape, it will take intelligence, determination, and spunk—and no ladylike behavior allowed.
Polly has two sets of memories...
One is normal: school, home, friends. The other, stranger memories begin nine years ago, when she was ten and gate-crashed an odd funeral in the mansion near her grandmother's house. Polly's just beginning to recall the sometimes marvelous, sometimes frightening adventures she embarked on with Tom Lynn after that. And then she did something terrible, and everything changed.
But what did she do? Why can't she remember? Polly must uncover the secret, or her true love — and perhaps Polly herself — will be lost.
When I was twelve, a fortune teller told me that my one true love would die young and leave me all alone. Everyone said she was a fraud, that she was just making it up. I'd really like to know why the hell a person would make up a thing like that.
Written with the snap, glitter, and wit of The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing, God-Shaped Hole is a memorable, poignant love story that will leave you weeping with laughter.
It is told in the wry, vulnerable voice of Beatrice "Trixie" Jordan who replies to a personal ad, "If your intentions are pure I am seeking a friend for the end of the world." In doing so, she meets Jacob Grace, a charming, effervescent thirty-something writer, a free spirit who is a passionate seeker of life.
He possesses his own turn of phrase and ways of thinking and feeling that dissonantly harmonize with Trixie's off-center vision as they roller coaster through the joys and furies of their wrenching romance. Along the way, they try to come to terms with the hurt brought about by their distant fathers who, in different ways, forsook them.
This story will prove so touching you will rush to share it with a friend or loved one or even a stranger.
From the author of the masterpiece All Quiet on the Western Front, The Black Obelisk is a classic novel of the troubling aftermath of World War I in Germany. A hardened young veteran from the First World War, Ludwig now works for a monument company, selling stone markers to the survivors of deceased loved ones. Though ambivalent about his job, he suspects there’s more to life than earning a living off other people’s misfortunes.
A self-professed poet, Ludwig soon senses a growing change in his fatherland, a brutality brought upon it by inflation. When he falls in love with the beautiful but troubled Isabelle, Ludwig hopes he has found a soul who will offer him salvation—who will free him from his obsession to find meaning in a war-torn world. But there comes a time in every man’s life when he must choose to live—despite the prevailing thread of history horrifically repeating itself.
Mighty Kushiel, of rod and weal
Late of the brazen portals
With blood-tipp'd dart a wound unhealed
Pricks the eyen of chosen mortals
The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassed beauty and grace. The inhabiting race rose from the seed of angels and men, and they live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.
Phèdre nó Delaunay was sold into indentured servitude as a child. Her bond was purchased by a nobleman, the first to recognize that she is one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one. He trained Phèdre in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber—and, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze.
When she stumbled upon a plot that threatened the very foundations of her homeland, she gave up almost everything she held dear to save it. She survived, and lived to have others tell her story, and if they embellished the tale with fabric of mythical splendor, they weren't far off the mark.
The hands of the gods weigh heavily upon Phèdre's brow, and they are not finished with her. While the young queen who sits upon the throne is well loved by the people, there are those who believe another should wear the crown... and those who escaped the wrath of the mighty are not yet done with their schemes for power and revenge.
Weiner's witty, original, fast-moving debut features a lovable heroine, a solid cast, snappy dialogue and a poignant take on life's priorities. For twenty-eight years, things have been tripping along nicely for Cannie Shapiro. Sure, her mother has come charging out of the closet, and her father has long since dropped out of her world. But she loves her friends, her rat terrier, Nifkin, and her job as pop culture reporter for The Philadelphia Examiner. She's even made a tenuous peace with her plus-size body.
But the day she opens up a national women's magazine and sees the words "Loving a Larger Woman" above her ex-boyfriend's byline, Cannie is plunged into misery...and the most amazing year of her life. From Philadelphia to Hollywood and back home again, she charts a new course for herself: mourning her losses, facing her past, and figuring out who she is and who she can become.
"I am Princess Meredith, heir to a throne—if I can stay alive long enough to claim it." After eluding relentless assassination attempts by Prince Cel, her cousin and rival for the Faerie crown, Meredith Gentry, Los Angeles private eye, has a whole new set of problems. To become queen, she must bear a child before Cel can father one of his own. But havoc lies on the horizon: people are dying in mysterious, frightening ways, and suddenly the very existence of the place known as Faerie is at grave risk. So now, while she enjoys the greatest pleasures of her life attempting to conceive a baby with the warriors of her royal guard, she must fend off an ancient evil that could destroy the very fabric of reality. And that’s just her day job...
The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good... and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.
Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission... and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.
Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair... and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear.
Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel's Dart-a massive tale about the violent death of an old age, and the birth of a new.
Cursed into an eternity of slavery by his own brother, Julian of Macedon has spent centuries in hell, where the only respite he knows is measured in a handful of weeks whenever he’s summoned through an arcane spell. With the modern age, those summonings are becoming fewer and fewer, and he lives in fear of the day when they’ll stop for good.
Grace Alexander doesn’t believe in much of anything. But when her “psychic” girlfriend talks her into performing the spell as a joke on her birthday, the last thing she ever imagines is it working. But work it does. Now, she finds an ancient Greek general in her living room and trapped in her life for the next month. Worse, they learn too late that part of the spell means Grace will lose her sanity should he return to his captivity.
Now it’s a race against time to free him. Something much easier said than done, since it was the ancient gods who cursed him to his fate. And the last thing they want is to see him go free of the punishment the gods believe he deserves. It’s man against the gods, and a race against time.
Feeling Sorry for Celia is a hilariously candid novel that captures the roller coaster ride of being a teenager. Written entirely in the form of letters, messages, postcards, and bizarre missives from imaginary organizations, the book delves into the life of Elizabeth Clarry, whose existence is anything but simple.
Her best friend, Celia, has a habit of disappearing, her father who was absent has now reappeared, and her communication with her mother relies solely on wacky notes left on the fridge. To add to her confusion, Elizabeth's English teacher is determined to revive the art of letter writing, leading to a Complete and Utter Stranger knowing more about her than anyone else.
Elizabeth is on the brink of numerous changes. She might lose her best friend but could find an incredible new one, share a kiss with the sexiest guy alive, and even participate in a marathon. The story goes to show that a lot can happen in the time it takes to write a letter.
Feeling Sorry for Celia is not just a story about teenage life; it sharply captures the essence of female friendship and the moments of bonding and separation that come with growing up. Jaclyn Moriarty's debut is as much fun as it is poignant, offering a vivid reminder of the highs and lows of adolescence.
On the night of Guinevere’s birth, a wise woman declares a prophecy of doom for the child: She will be gwenhwyfar, the white shadow, destined to betray her king, and be herself betrayed.
Years pass, and Guinevere becomes a great beauty, riding free across Northern Wales on her beloved horse. She is entranced by the tales of the valorous Arthur, a courageous warrior who seems to Guinevere no mere man, but a legend. Then she finds herself betrothed to that same famous king, a hero who commands her willing devotion. Just as his knights and all his subjects, she falls under Arthur’s spell.
At the side of King Arthur, Guinevere reigns strong and true. Yet she soon learns how the dark prophecy will reveal itself. She is unable to conceive. Arthur’s only true heir is Mordred, offspring of a cursed encounter with the witch Morgause. Now Guinevere must make a fateful choice: She decides to raise Mordred, teaching him to be a ruler and to honor Camelot. She will love him like a mother. Mordred will be her greatest joy–and the key to her ultimate downfall.
Return to a time of legend—the days of Guinevere and Arthur and the glory that was to become Camelot.
ONLY A MOMENT BEFORE
Camilla Haven is on holiday alone and wishes for some excitement. She had been sitting quietly in a crowded Athens café writing to her friend Elizabeth in England, "Nothing ever happens to me..."
Then, without warning, a stranger approached, thrust a set of car keys at her, and pointed to a huge black touring car parked at the curb. "The car for Delphi, mademoiselle... A matter of life and death," he whispered and disappeared.
From that moment, Camilla's life suddenly begins to take off when she sets out on a mysterious car journey to Delphi in the company of a charming but quietly determined Englishman named Simon Lester. Simon told Camilla he had come to the ancient Greek ruins to "appease the shade” of his brother Michael, killed some fourteen years earlier on Parnassus. From a curious letter Michael had written, Simon believed his brother had stumbled upon something of great importance hidden in the craggy reaches of the mountainside. And then Simon and Camilla learned that they were not alone in their search...
The ride was Camilla's first mistake... or perhaps she had unintentionally invoked the gods. She finds herself in the midst of an exciting, intriguing, yet dangerous adventure. An extraordinary train of events turned on a nightmare of intrigue and terror beyond her wildest daydreams.
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli is a poignant exploration of the highs and lows of nonconformity in the microcosm of high school society. At Mica Area High School, blending in is the unspoken rule, a norm that Leo Borlock adheres to without question. However, the arrival of Stargirl turns his world upside down. With her colorful attire, ukulele in hand, and home-schooled innocence, she captivates the student body with her unique charm.
But popularity in high school is fickle, and Stargirl's refusal to conform soon leads to her ostracization. Amidst the shifting social tides, Leo finds himself falling for her, drawn to the very differences that the school community shuns. Jerry Spinelli weaves an emotional narrative that delves into the fleeting nature of popularity, the courage it takes to be different, and the unforgettable thrill of first love.
The year is 1771, and war is coming. Jamie Fraser’s wife tells him so. Little as he wishes to, he must believe it, for hers is a gift of dreadful prophecy—a time-traveler’s certain knowledge. Claire’s unique view of the future has brought him both danger and deliverance in the past; her knowledge of the oncoming revolution is a flickering torch that may light his way through the perilous years ahead—or ignite a conflagration that will leave their lives in ashes.
S@motność w Sieci is a novel so contemporary that it couldn't be more so: with the Internet, pagers, electronic flight tickets, genome decoding, and SMS messages. Yet, it remains as traditional as a classic love story. This is a tale of love in the Internet era. The ultimate love, the kind you dream of, the kind that makes you cry and takes your breath away.
Wiśniewski narrates this love analytically and enchantingly, creating an atmosphere of almost solemn tenderness, only to surprise a few lines later with bold eroticism. S@motność w Sieci is also a tribute to wisdom and knowledge. Intertwined with the love plot are fascinating stories about the molecules of emotions, who truly discovered DNA, and what happened to Einstein's brain after his death.
After reading S@motność w Sieci, one realizes that the virtuality of the Internet is merely an agreement and that an email doesn't have to differ from a letter delivered by a messenger's carriage.
Written in the eleventh century, this portrait of courtly life in medieval Japan is widely celebrated as the world's first novel. The Tale of Genji is a very long romance, running to fifty-four chapters and describing the court life of Heian Japan, from the tenth century into the eleventh.
Revenge - When Eugenides, the Thief of Eddis, stole Hamiathes's Gift, the Queen of Attolia lost more than a mythical relic. She lost face. Everyone knew that Eugenides had outwitted and escaped her. To restore her reputation and reassert her power, the Queen of Attolia will go to any length and accept any help that is offered... she will risk her country to execute the perfect revenge.
...but - Eugenides can steal anything. And he taunts the Queen of Attolia, moving through her strongholds seemingly at will. So Attolia waits, secure in the knowledge that the Thief will slip, that he will haunt her palace one too many times.
...at what price? - When Eugenides finds his small mountain country at war with Attolia, he must steal a man, he must steal a queen, he must steal peace. But his greatest triumph - and his greatest loss - comes in capturing something that the Queen of Attolia thought she had sacrificed long ago.
A millennia-old prophecy was given when the Forbidden Ones were driven from Achar. And now, the Acharites witness its manifestation: Achar is under attack by an evil lord from the North, Gorgreal—his ice demons strike from the sky and kill hundreds of brave warriors in the blink of an eye. All Acharites believe the end is near.
One young woman, Faraday, betrothed of Duke Borneheld, learns that all she has been told about her people's history is untrue. While fleeing to safety from the dangerous land, Faraday rides with Axis, legendary leader of the Axe-Wielders—and hated half-brother of Borneheld—and a man Faraday secretly loves although it would be death to admit it. She embarks on a journey, which will change her life forever, in search of the true nature of her people.
This grand and heroic story tells the tale of one woman's plight to learn the truth of her people and change their hearts and their minds forever. She fights against oppressive forces to share this reality and will not desist until everyone knows... the truth of the Star Gate.
Miles Ryan's life seemed to end the day his wife was killed in a hit-and-run accident two years ago. As deputy sheriff of New Bern, North Carolina, he not only grieves for her and worries about their young son Jonah but longs to bring the unknown driver to justice. Then Miles meets Sarah Andrews, Jonah's second-grade teacher. A young woman recovering from a difficult divorce, Sarah moved to New Bern hoping to start over. Tentatively, Miles and Sarah reach out to each other...soon they are falling in love. But what neither realizes is that they are also bound together by a shocking secret, one that will force them to reexamine everything they believe in—including their love.
In a searing novel of love and loyalty, guilt and honor, the acclaimed author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Horse Whisperer gives his millions of readers another hero...
His name is Connor Ford and he falls like an angel of mercy from the sky, braving the flames to save the woman he loves but knows he cannot have. For Julia Bishop is the partner of his best friend and fellow “smoke jumper,” Ed Tully. Julia loves them both–until a fiery tragedy on Montana’s Snake Mountain forces her to choose between them, and burns a brand on all their hearts.
In the wake of the fire, Connor embarks on a harrowing journey to the edge of human experience, traveling the world’s worst wars and disasters to take photographs that find him fame but never happiness. Reckless of a life he no longer wants, again and again he dares death to take him, until another fateful day on another continent, he must walk through fire once more…
Dragonfly in Amber is the second book in the acclaimed Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, taking readers on a thrilling journey back to 18th-century Scotland. The story revolves around Claire Randall, who has kept her secrets for twenty years. Now, she is returning to the mist-shrouded hills of Scotland with her grown daughter, Brianna, to reveal a truth as stunning as the events that gave it birth.
The narrative unfolds around the mystery of an ancient circle of standing stones, a love that transcends the boundaries of time, and James Fraser, a gallant Scottish warrior who once drew Claire from the safety of her century to the perils of his own. As Claire's journey of self-discovery continues, she finds herself in the intrigue-ridden Paris court of Charles Stuart, amidst a race to thwart a doomed Highlands uprising, and in a desperate fight to save both her child and the man she loves.
Flyy Girl is the bestselling urban classic novel about a young woman coming of age in the late 1980s. Tracy Ellison, a young knockout with tall hair and attitude, is living life as fast as she can. Motivated by the material world, she and her friends love and leave the young men who will do anything to get next to them.
It's only when the world of gratuitous sex threatens heartbreak that Tracy begins to examine her life, her goals, and her sexuality. This captivating tale, written with fluid narrative and contemporary dialect, captures the complete feel and sounds of the streets and is destined to become an urban classic.
In the land of Ingary, such things as spells, invisible cloaks, and seven-league boots were everyday things. The Witch of the Waste was another matter. After fifty years of quiet, it was rumored that the Witch was about to terrorize the country again. So when a moving black castle, blowing dark smoke from its four thin turrets, appeared on the horizon, everyone thought it was the Witch.
The castle, however, belonged to Wizard Howl, who, it was said, liked to suck the souls of young girls. The Hatter sisters--Sophie, Lettie, and Martha--and all the other girls were warned not to venture into the streets alone. But that was only the beginning. In this giant jigsaw puzzle of a fantasy, people and things are never quite what they seem. Destinies are intertwined, identities exchanged, lovers confused. The Witch has placed a spell on Howl. Does the clue to breaking it lie in a famous poem? And what will happen to Sophie Hatter when she enters Howl's castle?
Diana Wynne Jones's entrancing fantasy is filled with surprises at every turn, but when the final stormy duel between the Witch and the Wizard is finished, all the pieces fall magically into place.
New York Times bestselling author Catherine Anderson presents the beloved Coulter family in a novel that's romantic through and through.
One glance. That's all it takes. Wealthy rancher Ryan Kendrick falls hard and fast for the lovely Bethany Coulter. A beguiling mix of sass and shyness, naivete and maturity, she shares his passion for horses, has a great sense of humor, and can light up a room with her beautiful smile. She's absolutely perfect—in every way but one...
A long-ago barrel-racing accident has left Bethany confined to a wheelchair. In the years since, she has known both betrayal and heartbreak—and vowed never to open her heart to a man again. She has even accepted the possibility that she'll never be able to enjoy a healthy intimate relationship—or have children of her own. But there's something about handsome Ryan Kendrick. Something that makes her believe she can overcome every obstacle. Something that makes her believe in lifelong, lasting love...
Mia Thermopolis is pretty sure there's nothing worse than being a five-foot-nine, flat-chested freshman, who also happens to be flunking Algebra. Is she ever in for a surprise.
First mom announces that she's dating Mia's Algebra teacher. Then Dad has to go and reveal that he is the crown prince of Genovia. And guess who still doesn't have a date for the Cultural Diversity Dance?
When Nell Channing arrives on the charming Three Sisters Island, she believes that she's finally found refuge from her abusive husband—and from the terrifying life she fled so desperately eight months ago.
But even in this quiet, peaceful place, Nell never feels entirely at ease. Careful to conceal her true identity, she takes a job as a cook at the local bookstore café—and begins to explore her feelings for the island sheriff, Zack Todd. But there is a part of herself she can never reveal to him, for she must continue to guard her secrets if she wants to keep the past at bay. One careless word, one misplaced confidence, and the new life she's created so carefully could shatter completely.
Just as Nell starts to wonder if she'll ever be able to break free of her fear, she realizes that the island suffers under a terrible curse—one that can only be broken by the descendants of the Three Sisters, the witches who settled the island back in 1692. And now, with the help of two other strong, gifted women—and with the nightmares of the past haunting her every step—she must find the power to save her home, her love, and herself.
Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life-and one of her coworkers checks out.
Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn't such a bright idea. Dead Until Dark is the first novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Sookie Stackhouse series—the books that inspired the HBO® original series True Blood. Sookie is quiet, doesn't get out much, and tends to mind her own business—except when it comes to her “disability.” Sookie can read minds. And that doesn’t make her too dateable. Then along comes Bill Compton. He’s tall, dark, handsome—and Sookie can’t hear a word he’s thinking. He’s exactly the type of guy she’s been waiting for all her life...
But Bill has a disability of his own: he’s a vampire with a bad reputation. And when a string of murders hits Bon Temps—along with a gang of truly nasty bloodsuckers looking for Bill—Sookie starts to wonder if having a vampire for a boyfriend is such a bright idea.
Sunset at Blandings is the final, unfinished novel by the beloved author P.G. Wodehouse. Although Wodehouse passed away before completing this work, it remains a delightful installment in the Blandings Castle series.
The novel follows the familiar Blandings formula: a pretty niece is brought to the castle to be separated from her suitor. The suitor, using an assumed name, infiltrates with the help of the ever-resourceful Gally. Meanwhile, the hapless Lord Emsworth innocently divulges secrets to an angry sister, creating a web of comic misunderstandings.
Despite its incomplete nature, Sunset at Blandings offers readers a glimpse into Wodehouse's masterful storytelling. His notes provide insight into the intended plot's final stages, allowing fans to imagine the conclusion of this charming tale.
Even in his final years, Wodehouse's writing remained funny, fresh, and young at heart, filled with sunshine and the promise of love.
The Feast of Love is a sumptuous work of fiction about the thing that most distracts and delights us. In a re-imagined A Midsummer Night's Dream, men and women speak of and desire their ideal mates; parents seek out their lost children; adult children try to come to terms with their own parents and, in some cases, find new ones.
In vignettes both comic and sexy, the owner of a coffee shop recalls the day his first wife seemed to achieve a moment of simple perfection, while she remembers the women's softball game during which she was stricken by the beauty of the shortstop. A young couple spends hours at the coffee shop fueling the idea of their fierce love. A professor of philosophy, stopping by for a cup of coffee, makes a valiant attempt to explain what he knows to be the inexplicable workings of the human heart.
Their voices resonate with each other—disparate people joined by the meanderings of love—and come together in a tapestry that depicts the most irresistible arena of life.
Sputnik Sweetheart is a novel that delves into the complexities of love and human longing. The story revolves around Sumire, an aspiring writer with a unique fashion sense reminiscent of a Kerouac character, who finds herself in love with a woman seventeen years her senior, named Miu. Sumire's best friend, K, a primary school teacher, grapples with his own feelings for Sumire, which remain unspoken.
As Sumire confides in K about her life's big questions, such as the nature of sexual desire and whether to confess her feelings to Miu, K contemplates revealing his unrequited love. The narrative takes an unexpected turn when Miu, in a state of desperation, calls from a Greek island to report that Sumire has mysteriously disappeared. This event thrusts K back into Sumire's enigmatic world, leading to a search that is fraught with ominous visions and a haunting sense of absence.
Sputnik Sweetheart is a subtle and evocative exploration of the yearning that drives us to seek connection and the profound impact of love and loss on the human psyche.
Tory Bodeen grew up in South Carolina, in a small run-down house, where her father ruled with an iron fist and a leather belt—and where her dreams and talents had no room to flourish. But she had Hope, who lived in the big house just a short skip away and whose friendship allowed Tory to be something she wasn't allowed to be at home: a child.
After young Hope's brutal murder, unsolved to this day, Tory's life began to fall apart. And now, as she returns to her hometown, with plans to settle in and open a stylish home-design shop, she is determined to find a measure of peace and free herself from the haunting visions of the past.
As she forges a new bond with Cade Lavelle—Hope's older brother and the heir to the family fortune—she isn't sure whether the tragic loss they share will unite them or drive them apart. But she is willing to open her heart, just a little, and try.
Living so close to those unhappy memories will be more difficult and frightening than Tory could ever have expected, however. Because Hope's murderer is nearby as well...
Ghosts ruin everything. Especially your love life.
Everything is going great for Suze. Her new life in California is a whirlwind of parties and excellent hair days. Tad Beaumont, the hottest boy in town, has even asked Suze out on her very first date. Suze is so excited that she's willing to ignore her misgivings about Tad... particularly the fact that he's not Jesse, whose ghostly status - not to mention apparent disinterest in her - make him unattainable.
What Suze can't ignore, however, is the ghost of a murdered woman whose death seems directly connected to dark secrets hidden in none other than Tad Beaumont's past.
One of Thomas Hardy's most powerful works, The Return of the Native centers famously on Egdon Heath, the wild, haunted Wessex moor that D. H. Lawrence called "the real stuff of tragedy." The heath's changing face mirrors the fortunes of the farmers, inn-keepers, sons, mothers, and lovers who populate the novel. The "native" is Clym Yeobright, who comes home from a cosmopolitan life in Paris. He; his cousin Thomasin; her fiancé, Damon Wildeve; and the willful Eustacia Vye are the protagonists in a tale of doomed love, passion, alienation, and melancholy as Hardy brilliantly explores that theme so familiar throughout his fiction: the diabolical role of chance in determining the course of a life. As Alexander Theroux asserts in his Introduction, Hardy was committed to the deep expression of [nature's] ironic chaos and strange apathy, even hostility, toward man.
My name is Meredith 'Merry' Gentry, but of course it's not my real name. I dare not even whisper my true name after dark for fear that one hushed word will travel over the night winds to the soft ear of my aunt, the Queen of Air and Darkness. She wants me dead. I don't even know why...
I fled the high court of Faerie three years ago and have been in hiding ever since. As Merry Gentry, I am a private investigator for the Grey Detective Agency: Supernatural Problems, Magical Solutions. My magical skills, scorned at the courts of Faerie, are valued in the human world. Even by human standards, my magic isn't flashy, which is fine by me. Flashy attracts attention and I can't afford that.
Rumour has it that I am dead. Not quite. I am Princess Meredith NicEssus. To speak that name after dark is to call down a knock upon your door from a hand that can kill you with a touch. I have been careful, but not careful enough. The shadows have found me, and they are going to take me back home, one way or another.
So the running is over. But the fighting has just begun...Rich, sensual, brimming with dangerous magic, A Kiss of Shadows is a dazzling tour-de-force where folklore, fantasy and erotically charged adventure collide.
The Dancers at the End of Time is a series of science fiction novels and short stories written by Michael Moorcock, set in an era where entropy is king and the universe is collapsing upon itself. The inhabitants of this era are immortal decadents, creating flights of fancy using power rings drawing on energy stored by their ancestors millions of years prior.
Time travel is possible, and throughout the series, various points in time are visited and revisited. Space travelers are also common, though most residents find leaving the planet distasteful and clichéd.
This tenth volume of the Eternal Champion series blends humor and romance in a monumental story that spans all of space and time. Can love blossom across millennia, in a world where 'conscience' and 'morality' are meaningless, amidst a multiverse collapsing and racing toward destruction?
Prodigal Summer weaves together three stories of human love within a larger tapestry of lives inhabiting the forested mountains and struggling small farms of southern Appalachia.
From her outpost in an isolated mountain cabin, Deanna Wolfe, a reclusive wildlife biologist, watches a den of coyotes that have recently migrated into the region. She is caught off-guard by a young hunter who invades her most private spaces and confounds her self-assured, solitary life. On a farm several miles down the mountain, Lusa Maluf Landowski, a bookish city girl turned farmer's wife, finds herself unexpectedly marooned in a strange place where she must declare or lose her attachment to the land that has become her own. And a few more miles down the road, a pair of elderly feuding neighbors tend their respective farms and wrangle about God, pesticides, and the possibilities of a future neither of them expected.
Over the course of one humid summer, these characters find their connections to one another and to the flora and fauna with whom they share a place. Prodigal Summer demonstrates a balance of narrative, drama and ideas that is characteristic of Barbara Kingsolver's finest work.
Ivanhoe, set in the late 12th century, marks a significant departure for Sir Walter Scott from the Scottish settings of his previous novels, venturing into English history. This novel artfully intertwines the seemingly divergent themes of historical authenticity and chivalric romance, social realism and high adventure. At its heart, Ivanhoe is a story of dispossessed Saxons pitted against their Norman overlords, a tale that seamlessly blends the historical and the fictional.
Returning from the crusades, Ivanhoe is banished from England for seeking to marry against his father's wishes. Joining Richard the Lion Heart, he finds himself entangled in a dangerous game upon his return. His longing for the beautiful, yet forbidden, lady Rowena draws him deeper into a bitter power struggle between the noble King Richard and his malevolent brother John. The novel is celebrated for its vivid portrayal of medieval tournaments and sieges, chivalry, and adventure. With Ivanhoe, Scott not only addresses a purely English subject but also creates a highly romanticized medieval world that continues to captivate readers.
When Sierra discovers a handcrafted quilt made by one of her young ancestors, she embarks on a journey that intertwines her life with the past. Through the quilt, she finds the journal of a young pioneer woman on the Oregon Trail, leading her to realize that their lives, though separated by time, are strikingly similar.
As Sierra delves into the past, she finds herself rediscovering her own spirituality and understanding the meaning of unconditional love and surrendering to God's sovereignty. This touching narrative explores themes of love, loss, and the enduring power of faith, guiding Sierra to find her true path and reconnect with her own heart.
When confronted by raging fires or deadly accidents, volunteer fireman Taylor McAden feels compelled to take terrifying risks to save lives. But there is one leap of faith Taylor can't bring himself to make: He can't fall in love. For all his adult years, Taylor has sought out women who need to be rescued, women he leaves as soon as their crisis is over, as soon as the relationship starts to become truly intimate.
Then, one day, a raging, record-breaking storm hits his small Southern town. Denise Holton, a young single mother, is driving through it when her car skids off the road. With her is her four-year-old son, Kyle, a boy with severe learning disabilities and for whom she has sacrificed everything. Unconscious and bleeding, she—but not Kyle—will be found by Taylor McAden. And when she wakes, the chilling truth becomes clear to both of them: Kyle is gone.
During the search for Kyle, the connection, the lifeline, between Taylor and Denise takes root. Taylor doesn't know that this rescue will be different from all the others, demanding far more than raw physical courage. That it will lead him to the possibility of his own rescue from a life lived without love. That it will require him to open doors to his past that were slammed shut by pain. That it will dare him to live life to the fullest by daring to love.
In The Rescue, Nicholas Sparks weaves his inimitable spell, immersing us in the passions and the surprising complexities of modern relationships—and in doing so, teaching us something about our own.
As a child, Hester Wyatt escaped slavery, but now the dark-skinned beauty is a dedicated member of Michigan's Underground Railroad, offering other runaways a chance at the freedom she has learned to love. When one of her fellow conductors brings her an injured man to hide, Hester doesn't hesitate, even after she is told about the price on his head.
The man in question is the great conductor known as the "Black Daniel", a vital member of the North's Underground Railroad network. However, Hester finds him so rude and arrogant that she begins to question her vow to hide him.
When the injured and beaten Galen Vachon, aka the Black Daniel, awakens in Hester's cellar, he is unprepared for the feisty young conductor providing his care. As a member of one of the wealthiest free Black families in New Orleans, Galen has turned his back on the lavish living he is accustomed to in order to provide freedom to those enslaved in the South. However, as he heals, he cannot turn his back on Hester Wyatt. Her innocence fills him like a breath of fresh air, and he is determined to make her his.
But traitors have to be found, slave catchers have to be routed, and Hester's refusal to trust her own heart has to be overcome before she and Galen can find the freedom only love can bring.
A heartstrong story of family and romance, tribulation and tenacity, set on the High Plains east of Denver.
In the small town of Holt, Colorado, a high school teacher is confronted with raising his two boys alone after their mother retreats first to the bedroom, then altogether. A teenage girl—her father long since disappeared, her mother unwilling to have her in the house—is pregnant, alone herself, with nowhere to go. And out in the country, two brothers, elderly bachelors, work the family homestead, the only world they've ever known.
From these unsettled lives emerges a vision of life, and of the town and landscape that bind them together—their fates somehow overcoming the powerful circumstances of place and station, their confusion, curiosity, dignity and humor intact and resonant. As the milieu widens to embrace fully four generations, Kent Haruf displays an emotional and aesthetic authority to rival the past masters of a classic American tradition.
Utterly true to the rhythms and patterns of life, Plainsong is a novel to care about, believe in, and learn from.
Madame Bovary yearns for a life of luxury and passion of the kind she reads about in romantic novels. But life with her country doctor husband in the provinces is unutterably boring, and she embarks on love affairs to realize her fantasies. This new translation by Margaret Mauldon perfectly captures Flaubert's distinctive style.
'Would this misery go on forever? Was there no escape? And yet she was every bit as good as all those other women who led happy lives!' When Emma Rouault marries Charles Bovary she imagines she will pass into the life of luxury and passion that she reads about in sentimental novels and women's magazines. But Charles is a dull country doctor, and provincial life is very different from the romantic excitement for which she yearns. In her quest to realize her dreams she takes a lover, and begins a devastating spiral into deceit and despair. Flaubert's novel scandalized its readers when it was first published in 1857, and it remains unsurpassed in its unveiling of character and society. In this new translation Margaret Mauldon perfectly captures the tone that makes Flaubert's style so distinct and admired.
In Brooklyn, New York, in 1927, Carl Brown and Annie McGairy meet and fall in love. Though only eighteen, Annie travels alone to the Midwestern university where Carl is studying law to marry him.
Little did they know how difficult their first year of marriage would be, in a faraway place with little money and few friends. But Carl and Annie come to realize that the struggles and uncertainty of poverty and hardship can be overcome by the strength of a loving, loyal relationship. An unsentimental yet uplifting story, Joy in the Morning is a timeless and radiant novel of marriage and young love.