**Big Star, Small-Town Christmas** Country singer Riley Jensen would never have returned to her small Missouri hometown if her publicist hadn't come up with the scheme to tape a Christmas special there. So she never would have known that the man who broke her heart at eighteen—causing her to flee to Nashville—was now a widower with a seven-year-old daughter. Riley has ten years of angst-filled hit songs and Grammy awards to prove she doesn't need Ethan Kent. But suddenly, she can't help thinking of all she gave up by running away... Ethan Kent knew Riley had the talent and the drive to make it as a singer. He also knew she wasn't going anywhere if she stayed in their nowhere town for him. Then one night and one huge mistake sent her running on the road to fame. Which doesn't mean he ever stopped loving her... But with so much separating them, can Riley and Ethan find their way back together one magical country Christmas? **Book 1 of the Kent Brothers Trilogy** 30,000 words

Feel the Touch of Darkness. . . Follow a vampire who can be as deadly as her prey. Meet a down home southern girl who's found out, much to her chagrin, that vampires are her type. Feel the euphoria of fear in the shadow of a reluctant Queen of the Undead. Step closer to the hot-blooded edge of passion as a strange new mythology of the night is unveiled. The bite is back in vampire fiction as today's most provocative authors of vampire fiction cast their irresistible spells on you . . . The brightest and hottest authors—including New York Times best-selling authors Laurell K. Hamilton and Charlaine Harris—tell all-new tales featuring their best known and loved characters. * From Laurell K. Hamilton, a never-before-published Anita Blake story in which Anita, temporarily separated from her vampire lover Jean-Claude, must go to him for help on a case. Where she finds herself once more falling under his erotic spell... * A brand-new, Southern Vampire story by Charlaine Harris features Sookie Stackhouse and the vampires who have come to define her romantic life, and have ended her hope of a normal one... * Newly crowned Vampire Queen Betsy Taylor reluctantly assumes her royal duties in MaryJanice Davidson's brand-new novella. * Introduced in the anthology * [Hot Blooded](https://www./book/show/313268.Hot_Blooded "Hot Blooded") * and the romance * [Master of the Night](https://www./book/show/19909.Master_of_the_Night "Master of the Night") *, Angela Knight has created a fascinating universe melding Arthurian lore with erotic vampirism... * Finally, in the romantic novella "Blood Lust", popular romance author Vickie Taylor brings her own unique spin on vampires...

Going After Cacciato (winner of the National Book Award in 1979) was widely acclaimed as one of the most powerful and emotionally vivid novels about Vietnam. Now, writing with the same sharp, richly expressive language, the same edgy dark humor and complete honesty, and the same rawness of nerve and energy, Tim O’Brien gives us an equally powerful novel about growing up as a child of anxiety—thebig anxiety, the one that’s been with us since the fifties, when we finally realized that Einstein’s theories translated into Russian. It’s 1995 and William Cowling is digging a hole in his backyard. He is forty-nine, and after years and years of pent-up terror he has finally found the courage of a fighting man. And so a hole. A hold that he hopes will one day be large enough to swallow up his almost fifty years’ worth of fear. A hole that causes his twelve-year-old daughter to call him a “nutto,” and his wife to stop speaking to him. A hole that William will not stop digging and out of which rise scenes of his past to play themselves out in his memory. The scenes take him back to his quietly peculiar adolescence (No. 2 pencils had a surprising significance), to his college days, down into the underground, and up through several stabs at “normal” adulthood . . . they take him from Montana to Florida, from Cuba to California, from Kansas to New York to Germany and back to Montana as he makes him way through an often mystifying—but just as often hilarious —labyrinth of fears and desires, obsessions and obligations, blessed madness and less-than-blessed sobriety . . . they take him into the lives of a shrink who’s a whiz a role reversal and of a dizzying eccentric cheerleader; of radical misfits and misfit radicals; of an ethereal stewardess (the traveling man’s dream); and two guerilla commandos who mix shtick and nightmare in their tactical brew. And each scene is a reminder of the unbargained-for-terror that has guided him to the bottom of his hole. For this digging is his final act of “prudence and sanity”—he’s taking control, getting there first, robbing his fears of their power to destroy . . . or so he believes. But is this act really sane? Is his daughter’s estimation of his emotional well-being (“pretty buggo, too”) the only truly sane statement being made? Is sanity even the issue? In the dazzling final scenes, William turns from the hole—from his past and from his future 0 to himself, digging deeper and deeper to find his answers. The Nuclear Age is pyrotechnically funny and moving, courageous and irreverent. It takes on our supreme unacknowledged terror (whose reality we both refuse to accept and all too easily accommodate ourselves to), finds it lunatic core, and shapes it into a story that speaks of, and to, an entire age: our own, our nuclear age. It is an extraordinary novel. **

You may imagine, said the man in the corner, "how keen was the excitement of that moment in court. Coroner and jury alike literally hung breathless on every word that shabby, vulgar individual uttered. You see, by itself his evidence would have been worth very little, but coming on the top of that given by James Terry, its significance--more, its truth--had become glaringly apparent. Closely cross-examined, he adhered strictly to his statement; and having finished his evidence, George Higgins remained in charge of the constables, and the next witness of importance was called up.

She fought brazenly against his manly strength and power...but when her lips touched his in a stormy, rapturous kiss, the fire of her desire could no longer be denied... Young British heiress Chauncey FitzHugh held out her arms to the man she had come to San Francisco to ruin... as he had financially ruined her father back in 1850. Chauncey vowed to destroy Delaney in the cruelest way a beautiful woman could. Making him love her would be the best revenge. She flirted with him, aroused him, enticed him to marry her. But now Delaney demanded a husband's rights. His lips softly covered hers, his hands explored her satiny-smooth body, finding it moist, warm, inviting. Chauncey had plotted to reject his fiery advances, but even as her mind commanded resistance, her desire exploded. With fingers curled into his hair, she pulled him to her... tenderly whispering the name of this man she had sworn to hate... praying she'd have enough strength to betray this handsome rogue tomorrow....

Janet Evanovich, author of the blockbuster Stephanie Plum novels, and Lee Goldberg, writer for the Monk television show, team up once again for the fifth book in their rollicking, New York Times bestselling Fox and O’Hare series! Nicolas Fox, international con man, thief, and one of the top ten fugitives on the FBI’s most-wanted list, has been kidnapped from a beachfront retreat in Hawaii. What the kidnapper doesn’t know is that Nick Fox has been secretly working for the FBI. It isn’t long before Nick’s covert partner, Special Agent Kate O’Hare, is in hot pursuit of the crook who stole her con man. The trail leads to Belgium, France, and Italy, and pits Nick and Kate against their deadliest adversary yet: Dragan Kovic, an ex–Serbian military officer. He’s plotting a crime that will net him billions . . . and cost thousands of American lives. Nick and Kate have to mount the most daring, risky, and audacious con they’ve ever attempted to save a major U.S. city from a catastrophe of epic proportions. Luckily they have the help of an eccentric out-of-work actor, a bandit who does his best work in the sewers, and Kate’s dad, Jake. The pressure’s on for Nick and Kate to make this work—even if they have to lay their lives on the line. From the Hardcover edition.

A year has passed since Gretchen lost her fiancé, but she still can’t sleep. Or paint. And her new home in New Orleans is either haunted or she’s finally going crazy. Her bet is on the latter. So when her best friend, Burke, offers to sweep her away to a private luxury island for a break, she can’t say no. Maybe if she can be someone else for a few days, the ghosts of the past will quiet. At least for a little while. Burke knows what she’s going through. She lost her fiancé, but he lost family. He gets her in a way no else can. But lately she’s noticing things she shouldn’t about her former fiancé’s younger brother—his sexy smirk, that spicy Cajun accent, and the way he looks at her when he thinks she’s not paying attention. A week alone with him? Dangerous. If she blurs the lines between them, she could ruin the only friendship that means anything to her. She could ruin it all. But the island of Eden has its own agenda. The island knows what you need. That’s what the invitation says. She just never imagines it will grant her the one wish that could destroy them both. Contemporary Romance with a Paranormal Twist *Part of the Invitation to Eden multi-author series but can be read as a standalone.

From #1 Bestselling author Morgan Rice comes the debut of a dazzling new fantasy series. A Quest for Heroes revolves around the epic coming of age story of one special boy, a 14 year old from a small village on the outskirts of the Kingdom of the Ring. The youngest of four, the least favorite of his father, hated by his brothers, Thorgrin senses he is different from the others. He dreams of becoming a great warrior, of joining the King’s men and protecting the Ring from the hordes of creatures on the other side of the Canyon. When he comes of age and is forbidden by his father to try out for the King’s Legion, he refuses to take no for an answer: he journeys out on his own, determined to force his way into King’s Court and be taken seriously. But King’s Court is rife with its own family dramas, power struggles, ambitions, jealousy, violence and betrayal. King MacGil must choose an heir from amongst his children, and the ancient Dynasty Sword, the source of all their power, still sits untouched, waiting for the chosen one to arrive. Thorgrin arrives as an outsider and battles to be accepted, and to join the King’s Legion. Thorgrin comes to learn he has mysterious powers he does not understand, that he has a special gift, and a special destiny. Against all odds he falls in love with the king’s daughter, and as their forbidden relationship blossoms, he discovers he has powerful rivals. As he struggles to make sense of his powers, the king’s sorcerer takes him under his wing and tells him of a mother he never knew, in a land far away, beyond the Canyon, beyond even the land of the Dragons. Before Thorgrin can venture out and become the warrior he yearns to be, he must complete his training. But this may be cut short, as he finds himself propelled into the center of royal plots and counterplots, ones that may threaten his love and bring him down—and the entire kingdom with him. With its sophisticated world-building and characterization, A Quest for Heroes is an epic tale of friends and lovers, of rivals and suitors, of knights and dragons, of intrigues and political machinations, of coming of age, of broken hearts, of deception, ambition and betrayal. It is a tale of honor and courage, of fate and destiny, of sorcery. It is a fantasy that brings us into a world we will never forget, and which will appeal to all ages and genders. It is 82,000 words.

Val was working as a land girl when the Americans arrived at the nearby airfield in 1944. Mike, a young American airman, came into her life soon after, and so too did Peter Woodhouse, a dog badly treated on a neighbouring farm and taken in by her aunt. Little persuasion was needed for Mike to take Peter Woodhouse to the airbase and over time he became the mascot of the American squad, flying with them whenever their Mosquitoes took to the skies. When their plane is shot down over Holland both Mike, and Peter Woodhouse are feared lost. But unknown to their loved ones at home, Mike, and Peter Woodhouse survived the crash. Taken in by the Dutch resistance and with the help of Ubi, a German officer, the pair to remain in hiding till the end of the war when they are reunited with Val. We then follow Val, Mike, and Peter Woodhouse as they rebuild a life in England. And Ubi as he returns to Germany at the end of the war and tries to build a new life for himself. His dream is to run a Wall of Death, a circus ring that pitts motorcyclists against gravity as they attempt to stay upright at ever increasing speed.

Hailed by George R. R. Martin as “a fresh, original, and engrossing tale by a bright new voice in the fantasy genre,” The Lies of Locke Lamora introduced one of the most compelling protagonists in years and established Scott Lynch as a household name. Years later, the Gentleman Bastard series continues to shine with Lynch’s signature blend of swashbuckling adventure, sparkling wit, and seemingly impossible heists. It’s all here in this rollicking eBook bundle, which collects the first three volumes of Lynch’s one-of-a-kind series: THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA RED SEAS UNDER RED SKIES THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES   An orphan’s life is harsh—and often short—in the mysterious island city of Camorr. But young Locke Lamora dodges death and slavery, becoming a thief under the tutelage of a gifted con artist. As leader of the band of light-fingered brothers known as the Gentleman Bastards, Locke is soon infamous, fooling even the underworld’s most feared ruler. But in the shadows lurks someone still more ambitious and deadly. Faced with a bloody coup that threatens to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the enemy at his own brutal game—or die trying.

Before there is peace, blood will spill blood... New territory brings new troubles for the fierce cats of the warrior Clans, who are still uncovering the secrets of their new home around the lake. Dangers they have never faced before are lurking in the twilight shadows, and former allies are acting strangely hostile. As divisions between the Clans grow deeper, Firestar's daughters face troubling decisions. One is torn between loyalty to her calling and a forbidden love, while the other struggles with her best friend's betrayal and the surprising perils of the forest. The choices they make now could affect ThunderClan for generations to come . . . and with an unexpected enemy preparing to attack, their courage and strength will be needed more than ever if the Clan is to survive.

ROUND EIGHT, MONKEY BOYS! In a new story, Larry Niven tells of the earliest days of the first Man-Kzin War. The Kzin had learned of the existance of human-occupied space, a find that promised new technolgies for the race, and new wealth for the fierce Kzin Warriors in the form of land, slaves...and food. Kzin had sent ships to probe the Solar System, expecting no danger from mere weed-eating apes. But the Warrior Race had underestimated monkey ingenuity, and the ships were destroyed by "peaceful" technology that the humans had hurriedly changed into weaponry. The surviving Kzin have been caged and are being studied. "For you, the war is over," the monkey-boys have told the Kzin. Incomprehensible to the Kzin, for whom no war is ever over. The humans are sure that the huge warcats cannot escape their prison. But there is something the humans do not realize. One of the Kzin is a Telepath... Cover Illustration: Stephen Hickman

In his first collection of short stories, Barnes explores the narrow body of water containing the vast sea of prejudice and misapprehension which lies between England and France with acuity humor, and compassion. For whether Barnes's English characters come to France as conquerors or hostages, laborers, athletes, or aesthetes, what they discover, alongside rich food and barbarous sexual and religious practices, is their own ineradicable Englishness. The ten stories that make up Cross Channel introduce us to a plethora of intriguing, original, and sometimes ill-fated characters. Elegantly conceived and seductively written, Cross Channel is further evidence of Barnes's wizardry. From the Trade Paperback edition.

Fifty years ago, William Michael Ryan joined the staff of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or, as it is affectionately known to its friends, the "Doghouse." Today he is Special Agent No. 1. This frequently touching, often hilarious, and always entertaining book describes Ryan's adventures with animals during this span of half a century -- adventures that have brought him into contact with more than half a million beasts, birds, and reptiles. Among the animals he has met are such improbable characters as the Professor, a simian genius who disrupted New York harbor for weeks; Rosebud, who became the subject of the most hysterical elephant hunt in the history of Yonkers; Mukluk, the Eskimo husky with a fondness for beer; Dushka and Sachka, two giant Russian wolves who terrorized the guests of one of New York's most fashionable hotels. In a city like New York many animals have not yet come to terms without civilization. A cat sometimes mistakes a chimney for a brick-lined mouse hole and gets trapped in it. A horse may find himself unintentionally in somebody's living room. Chimpanzees wake up in roominghouse beds. A bull suddenly materializes in a powder room, a fourteen-foot snake, uninvited, decides to take a bath in a lady's tub, and lions with no other pressing engagements may stroll nonchalantly through Manhattan's streets. These are only a few of the situations with which Bill Ryan has had to cope. This book is not only the warmhearted, amusing account of Bill Ryan's incredible true adventures with animals -- it is also the absorbing story of a unique organization, the oldest and largest humane society in the Western Hemisphere. In telling of Ryan's career with the ASPCA, Lloyd Alexander has written an engaging book that will be thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who loves animals. At the same time, Fifty Years in the Doghouse offers important insights into the relationships between people and their pets. Underlying it is a sense of respect for all living things. As Lloyd Alexander says: "Laws assure animals of protection -- formally, officially, set down in black and white. But in the long run the best protection is the human heart."

Meet Tess, a brave new heroine from beloved epic fantasy author Rachel Hartman. In the medieval kingdom of Goredd, women are expected to be ladies, men are their protectors, and dragons get to be whomever they want. Tess, stubbornly, is a troublemaker. You can’t make a scene at your sister’s wedding and break a relative’s nose with one punch (no matter how pompous he is) and not suffer the consequences. As her family plans to send her to a nunnery, Tess yanks on her boots and sets out on a journey across the Southlands, alone and pretending to be a boy. Where Tess is headed is a mystery, even to her. So when she runs into an old friend, it’s a stroke of luck. This friend is a quigutl—a subspecies of dragon—who gives her both a purpose and protection on the road. But Tess is guarding a troubling secret. Her tumultuous past is a heavy burden to carry, and the memories she’s tried to forget threaten to expose her to the world in more ways than one. Returning to the fascinating world she created in the award-winning and New York Times bestselling Seraphina, Rachel Hartman introduces readers to a new character and a new quest, pushing the boundaries of genre once again in this wholly original fantasy.

Back on the job after an involuntary leave of absence, LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch is ready for a challenge. But his first case is a little more than he bargained for. It starts with the body of a Hollywood producer in the trunk of a Rolls-Royce, shot twice in the head at close range - what looks like "trunk music," a Mafia hit. But the LAPD's organized crime unit is curiously uninterested, and when Harry follows a trail of gambling debts to Las Vegas, the case suddenly becomes more complex - and much more personal. A rekindled romance with an old girlfriend opens new perspectives on the murder, and he begins to glimpse a shocking triangle of corruption and collusion. Yanked off the case, Harry himself is soon the one being investigated. But only a bullet can stop Harry when he's searching for the truth . . .

10 short stories from the lives of Jorg and his Road Brothers. Contains spoilers for the Broken Empire trilogy. 5 of the stories have previously been published in anthologies, Contains the short story 'Sleeping Beauty' that is also sold separately. A total of 43.000 words or just over half the length of Prince of Thorns. Cover by Pen Astridge. Index: A Rescue Sleeping Beauty Bad Seed The Nature of the Beast Select Mode Mercy A Good Name Choices The Secret Know Thyself

Help Nancy and her friends find out what happened to a superstar’s flower hat in the ninth book in the interactive Nancy Drew Clue Book mystery series. Spring has sprung in River Heights! The annual Flower Sculpture contest is in a couple of days and everyone in town is working hard to finish their floral works of art. But Nancy, Bess, and George are most excited to see the world-famous pop singer, Miss LaLa, perform. The superstar grew up in River Heights and has agreed to kick off the contest with a song. And just when the girls thought life couldn’t get any better, they run into Miss LaLa herself! The singer is in a bit of a pickle though: She brought a giant hat made of white peonies for the show but she doesn’t have a refrigerator big enough to store it in. George thinks quickly and offers to put it in her mom’s catering refrigerator. But when the girls check on the hat the next morning they see something has gone terribly wrong. Half of the snowy white blooms are wilted and brown! They use their detective skills to rule out a blackout. And George can’t remember if she locked the door last night. Could someone have snuck into the kitchen and switched the fresh flowers with droopy ones? Nancy and her friends are determined to find out! Could it be Madame Withers, whose signature wilted rose perfume was rejected by Miss LaLa? Perhaps it was the famous flower artist Pierre, who was angry that Miss LaLa was the star of the show. Or it maybe it was Benjamin Bing, who ruined his flower sculpture with brown hair spray and had no more white peonies to replace them. It’s up to the Clue Crew—and you—to find out!

An amoral young tramp.  A beautiful, sullen woman with an inconvenient husband.  A problem that has only one grisly solution--a solution that only creates other problems that no one can ever solve. First published in 1934 and banned in Boston for its explosive mixture of violence and eroticism, The Postman Always Rings Twice is a classic of the roman noir. It established James M. Cain as a major novelist with an unsparing vision of America's bleak underside, and was acknowledged by Albert Camus as the model for The Stranger. From the Trade Paperback edition.

"Whatever the reason, I find that with each passing Christmas the story of the christmas box is told less and needed more. So I record it now for all future generations to accept or dismiss, as seems them good. As for me, I believe. And it is, after all, my story." So begins "The Christmas Box", the touching story of a widow and the young family who moves in with her. Together they discover the first gift of Christmas and learn what Christmas is really all about. "The Christmas Box" is a Christmas story unlike any other.

Zera is a Heartless – the immortal, unageing soldier of a witch. Bound to the witch Nightsinger ever since she saved her from the bandits who murdered her family, Zera longs for freedom from the woods they hide in. With her heart in a jar under Nightsinger’s control, she serves the witch unquestioningly. Until Nightsinger asks Zera for a Prince’s heart in exchange for her own, with one addendum; if she’s discovered infiltrating the court, Nightsinger will destroy her heart rather than see her tortured by the witch-hating nobles. Crown Prince Lucien d’Malvane hates the royal court as much as it loves him – every tutor too afraid to correct him and every girl jockeying for a place at his darkly handsome side. No one can challenge him – until the arrival of Lady Zera. She’s inelegant, smart-mouthed, carefree, and out for his blood. The Prince’s honor has him quickly aiming for her throat. So begins a game of cat and mouse between a girl with nothing to lose and a boy who has it all. Winner takes the loser’s heart. Literally.