Making It Up

      Penelope Lively
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Hailed by critics as a benchmark in a career full of award-winning achievements, Making It Up is Penelope Lively's answer to the oft-asked question, "How much of what you write comes from your own life?" What if Lively hadn't escaped from Egypt, her birthplace, at the outbreak of World War II? What would her life have been like if she'd married someone else? From a hillside in Italy to an archaeological dig, the author explores the stories that could have been hers, fashioning a sublime dance between reality and imagination that confirms her reputation as a singular talent.

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    Even the Dogs

      Jon McGregor
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On a cold, quiet day between Christmas and the New Year, a man's body is found in an abandoned apartment. His friends look on, but they're dead, too. Their bodies found in squats and sheds and alleyways across the city. Victims of a bad batch of heroin, they're in the shadows, a chorus keeping vigil as the hours pass, paying their own particular homage as their friend's body is taken away, examined, investigated, and cremated. All of their stories are laid out piece by broken piece through a series of fractured narratives. We meet Robert, the deceased, the only alcoholic in a sprawling group of junkies; Danny, just back from uncomfortable holidays with family, who discovers the body and futiley searches for his other friends to share the news of Robert's death; Laura, Robert's daughter, who stumbles into the junky's life when she moves in with her father after years apart; Heather, who has her own place for the first time since she was a teenager; Mike, the Falklands War vet; and all the others. Theirs are stories of lives fallen through the cracks, hopes flaring and dying, love overwhelmed by a stronger need, and the havoc wrought by drugs, distress, and the disregard of the wider world. These invisible people live in a parallel reality, out of reach of basic creature comforts, like food and shelter. In their sudden deaths, it becomes clear, they are treated with more respect than they ever were in their short lives. Intense, exhilarating, and shot through with hope and fury, Even the Dogs is an intimate exploration of life at the edges of society--littered with love, loss, despair, and a half-glimpse of redemption.

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    The Rocker Who Betrays Me

      Terri Anne Browning
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Annabelle I’ve always loved Zander Brockman in some shape or form. The boy who lived next door for the first seventeen years of my life has been my best friend, my confidant, my first crush, and my first love. I trusted him with my life and my heart. When he smiled at me I knew everything was going to be okay… Until it wasn’t. Zander I haven’t seen that girl in seventeen years, and I’ve missed her every damn day. I knew I wasn’t good enough for her, so the night before I left with my bandbrothers for California, I stole a night with her. I lived off those memories. There hasn’t been a day that has gone by that I haven’t wanted to talk to her just one more time, but I knew she deserved a better man than me. Now, after seeing her again, I realize that I didn’t care if she should have a better man. My feelings were still as strong as they have ever been for her. I wanted to be with her… But she hated the very sight of me.

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    Burn For Me

      Cynthia Eden
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"Eden's unsurpassed creativity shines once again!" —Larissa IoneUnder FireEve Bradley was undercover looking for a story, not a cause. But something about the man they called Subject Thirteen got her involved. The scientists said he was a devil, and they had a decent case: Terrifying power. A bad attitude. And looks that could lead anyone to sin. . .Cain O'Connor knows the minute he catches her candy scent that Eve could drive him wild. But she's a threat—in a way no one has been for him in years. She's safer away from him, too. But with a powerful conspiracy determined to shut Eve up for good, there's no time to argue. All they can do is trust their instincts—and their hearts. . .Praise for Cynthia Eden's novels"Cynthia's on my must-buy list." —Angie Fox"A fast-paced, sexy thrill ride you won't want to miss." —Christine Feehan on Eternal Hunter

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    Once Upon a Halloween

      Richard Laymon
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It's Halloween night. The old Witherspoon house stands all alone in the dark, the last house on a dead-end street. Its only neighbors are thick woods and a moonlit graveyard. Not long ago, a grisly murder/suicide took place in the house. Now, it is said to be haunted. Haunted but no longer abandoned. Three years ago, Laura and Shannon moved in. They're young, pretty, friendly... and, best of all, generous with candy on Halloween. Tonight, they're getting ready for a costume party. Shannon is upstairs getting dressed and Laura is downstairs handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. It's a perfect Halloween night until Laura opens the door and finds herself facing a lone teenaged boy... a terrified boy who says: "Let me in! They're gonna get me!" And, for Laura and Shannon, the party begins. It's Halloween night and there are ghosts and goblins in the streets. And something much worse in the graveyard.*** From Publishers Weekly Laymon and Halloween. That sounds like a perfect mix, with the author of the gleefully malevolent The Traveling Vampire Show (Forecasts, Apr. 24) taking on the spookiest night of the year. But his fans know that Laymon can be erratic, sometimes delivering shocking yet emotionally astute entertainments, at other times turning in tangled terrors drenched in sex and gore. The latter, unfortunately, more closely describes his new novel, despite its fast, smart start, in which horror descends like a howling banshee on two young women dispensing candy to trick-or-treaters. A teen boy, Hunter, comes banging on Shannon and Laura's door, claiming he's being chased by a pack of naked adults-witches? Soon the house is under attack by nude sword- and axe-wielding maniacs. A local dad escorting a bunch of kids gets caught in the ensuing mayhem, which features numerous cuttings and, in time, the spectacle of Shannon and Laura stripped and trussed together in the local graveyard as the villains prepare for human sacrifice. Laymon ups the ante to supernatural horror by tossing in a homicidal spirit who's haunting Shannon and Laura's house, but that element only adds to the confusion already made rampant through frenzied racing and chasing by too many characters who don't grow from beginning to end, despite their ordeals. Laymon boasts an intensely loyal following, so this novel will likely sell out its limited print run, but while his fans will love the richly depicted seasonal setting and Laymon's ability to make pages riffle as if in high wind, they'll also sense that, ultimately, this is one sputtering jack o'lantern.

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    The Binding

      L. Filloon
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Two nights after her eighteenth birthday, Lily is attacked while out jogging, but is saved by Tharin Lunar, a Sidhe prince. When she discovers that her attacker is her own brother, Lucas, who disappeared four years ago, Lily refuses to believe that her brother would truly hurt her and becomes determined to find Lucas and bring him home. Lily finds that Lucas’ disappearance is somehow tied to Tharin; so when he informs her that she is his betrothed and must return with him to Velesi, fulfill a treaty between their families and unite the two strongest clans through their marriage, Lily agrees. However, she’s not going to Velesi for a wedding, but to bring home her only family, Lucas.On their journey to the borders of Velesi, the realm of the Thirteen Clans, they’re pursued by a Sidhe assassin group call the Ange, meet with an ogre crime lord that ends badly, deal with a sleazy troll motel manager, and when they discover that there’s a bounty on their heads, they must keep one step ahead of every assassin, bounty hunter and low-life criminal in Velesi.Protecting Lily has become the biggest challenge of Tharin’s life. Lucky for him he has help in the form of his twin brother, Tolan, Lily’s best friend Julia and his three bodyguard cousins.

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    The Secret Kingdom

      Jenny Nimmo
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Timoken has to flee his secret forest kingdom after it is attacked by sneaky, shape-shifting viridees. Protected from birth by a magical moon spider web, he travels with his camel, Gabar, seeking a new kingdom – a new home. Timoken also has magic himself. He can conjure rain from the air, talk to animals and fly high in the air. And when he saves three leopard cubs from a hunter, they become enchanted too, and sworn to protect him. But the powerful, slimy green viridees are always just a breath behind him. They want the moon spider's web. And they will do anything to get it . . .

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    Be It Ever Thus

      Robert Moore Williams
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Be It Ever Thus is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Robert Moore Williams is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of Robert Moore Williams then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.

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    Running to Waste: The Story of a Tomboy

      George M. Baker
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CHAPTER I.STOLEN SWEETS.“Bouncers, Teddy! the roundest and the rosiest. Drop them, quick! My apron’s all ready for the darlings.”“It’s very well to say drop them; but it’s just as much as I can do to keep from falling myself. Don’t you see I’m holding on with both hands?”“What a fuss you do make! Come down, and let me try. I never saw a tree yet big enough to scare me.”“Who’s scart, Becky Sleeper? I ain’t—not by a long chalk. When a feller’s holdin’ on with both hands, he can’t be expected to pick very quick—can he?”“Wind your arm round that branch over your head. There; now you’re all right, Teddy.”“That’s so. What a hand you are to contrive! Now look sharp—they’re coming!”Becky Sleeper, in imitation of famed “Humpty Dumpty,” sat upon a wall, where she had no business to be, for the wall was the boundary of Captain Thompson’s orchard. But there she sat, her feet dangling, her hair flying, and her hands holding her apron by its corners, intent on catching the apples which her brother was plucking from the tree above her head.An active, wide-awake little body was the girl who was acting as accessory to the crime—a very common one—of robbing an orchard. Every movement of her sprightly figure belied the family name. Perched upon the wall, that cool October morning, she might have sat as a model for the Spirit of Mischief. A plump, round, rosy face, with a color in the cheeks that rivaled in brightness the coveted fruit above her, blue eyes full of laughter, a pretty mouth, with dissolving views of flashing teeth, teasing smiles, and a tongue never at rest; a queer little pug nose, that had a habit of twitching a mirthful accompaniment to the merriment of eyes and mouth, a profusion of light hair, tossed to and fro by the quick motions of the head,—all these combined to make a head-piece which would have delighted an artist, brightened as it was by a few straggling rays of sunshine, that darted through convenient openings in the mass of foliage above her head.Miss Becky’s costume, however, did not furnish a fitting finish to her face and figure, but, on the contrary, seemed much the worse for wear. A high-neck, blue-check apron showed unmistakable signs of familiarity with grape and berry juices; the rusty brown dress which peeped out beneath it was plentifully “sown with tares,” and had a rough fringe at the bottom never placed there by the dress-maker; a pair of stockings, once white, had the appearance of having recently been dyed in a mud-puddle, and a pair of stringless boots, which completed her attire, were only prevented from dropping off by an elevation of the toes.With her diminutive figure, her mischievous face, and her eager interest in the apple raid, she might have been taken for a thoughtless, giddy child. No stranger would have dreamed she was a maiden with an undoubted right to affix to her name, age sixteen.

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  • 447

    All I Want for Christmas

      S.A. Meyer
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It's Christmas Eve, little Gabby's first one without her father. She's been extra good all year and asked Santa for only one thing.Tammy Toucan learns to ask God for courage to face her fears after hearing the story of Queen Esther.Tammy Toucan is part of the Kingdom Creatures series, teaching Biblical truths in an easy to understand manner.

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    A Shady Murder

      Adele Davis
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The only thing worse than the brutal murder of a father is when the bereaved are not grieving.Jules' job as a homicide detective has become the perfect cover as he pursues supernatural beings that are determined to eliminate him. This short thriller will have you wishing for more... once you catch your breath.

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    Eye of the Witch (Paranormal Detective Mystery series, book 2)

      Dana E. Donovan
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Book 2 in the Detective Marcella mysteries: Pride, paranoia and paranormal forces all conspire to derail Detective Marcella’s investigation into a series of suspicious suicides in New Castle, Massachusetts. In this sequel to The Witch’s Ladder, Marcella learns that because of the ties that bind their pasts, every potential victim is also a possible suspect.Edited by Leslie Mitchell at G2 Freelance Editing and re-released 2/6/13. Extended Edition. Blood Slave. Captured, taken from her beloved family and woods, Aria’s biggest fear is not the imminent death facing her, but that she will be chosen as a blood slave for a member of the ruling vampire race. No matter what becomes of her though, Aria knows she must keep her identity hidden from the monsters imprisoning her. She has already been branded a member of the rebellion, but the vampires don't know the true depth of her involvement with it, and they must never know. Though hoping for death, Aria’s world is turned upside down when a vampire named Braith steps forward to claim her. He delays her execution, but Aria knows it’s only a matter of time before he drains her, and destroys her. Especially once she learns his true identity as a prince within the royal family, who started the war that ultimately brought down humankind, reducing them to nothing more than servants and slaves. Aria is determined to hate the prince, determined not to give into him in any way, but his strange kindness and surprising gentleness astonish her. Torn between her loyalties to the rebellion, and her growing love for her greatest enemy, Aria struggles to decide between everything she has ever known and a love she never dreamed of finding.Mature YA/New Adult. This book contains some language, violence, and sexual situations. Recommended for ages sixteen and up.Cover art by EbooklaunchThis series is now complete. Recommended reading order for The Captive Series.Captured (Book 1)Renegade (Book 2)Refugee (Book 3)Salvation (Book 4)Redemption (Book 5)Broken (The Captive Series Prequel) Vengeance (Book 6)Unbound (Book 7)

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    An Unsuitable Occupation for a Lady

      Jackie Walton
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Spying isn't the thing for ladies, but Chiara Brownlee's skills make her invaluable in the fight against Napoleon. Assigned to rescue the Pope with Rafael FitzHenry, she finds that allies can be more dangerous than enemies. He wants her, just not working with him because this is an unsuitable occupation for a lady.Spying isn't the thing for ladies, but Chiara Borwnlee's skills make her invaluable in the fight against Napoleon. When she's assigned to rescue Pope Puis VII with Rafael FitzHenry, the mutual loathing is obvious to all around them. Working together provides a foundation of mutual respect, but even that can't overcome old scars. They find that suspicion, failure, and loss make a wedge that can separate or unify.

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    Lovedeath

      Dan Simmons
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Horror, love and obsession from a master of the genre--the Hugo Award-winning author of Children of the Night. Here is a riveting collection of novellas exploring the fascinating relationship between eroticism and horror. In his most ambitious work ever, Simmons reveals the exquisite conjunction of love and death that will keep readers awake and reading all night.

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    Shoes

      JT Pearson
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This is the story of John, a young man that works the all night shift at a convenience store, and his good friend Shoes, who is homeless. Against his supervisor's orders John brings Shoes into the store each night to warm up, get something to eat, and rest. One night, Shoes, who is mentally ill, does not come by the store. A night turns into many and John begins to search for his friend.This is the story of John, a young man that works the all night shift at a convenience store, and his good friend Shoes, who is homeless. Against his supervisor's orders John brings Shoes into the store each night to warm up, get something to eat, and rest. One night, Shoes, who is mentally ill, does not come by the store. A night turns into many and John begins to search for his friend.This story is written in a lyrical style inspired by the southern gothic movement, made popular by writers such as Faulkner, McCarthy, and William Gay. This story has simularities to southern gothic in that it uses many metaphores, and it involves characters that struggle to make a living while facing difficult situations that shape them for better or worse. It differs from the classic southern gothic stories in that it is set in contemporary time and in the north.

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