Few authors have achieved such renown as World Fantasy Life Achievement honoree and Science Fiction Writers of America Grand Master Andre Norton. With the love of readers and the praise of critics, Norton's books have sold millions of copies worldwide.The House of Norreys—those merchants of gems for over three hundred years—faces its greatest crisis ever: the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. The old Jonkheer lay dying in his bed when he called his grandson to be with him in the last hours of his life, and at this time, young Lorens van Norreys is entrusted with the future of Norreys. That future lies in the legendary Flower of Orange, a priceless baroque necklace that the Nazi scavengers burn to possess. It is up to Lorens to save the necklace and the House of Norreys. With the first encounter with the Nazi invaders, Lorens faces his challenge as The Sword Is Drawn.

"It's like gadgets in shops.You buy a gadget and you develop an affection for it... but all of a sudden there are newer and better gadgets in the shops.More up-to-date models."William Trevor has been acclaimed as the greatest contemporary writer of short stories in the English language, likened to Chekhov for his insights into human nature. These three tales of obsession, heartbreak, silent sorrow and the small tragedies of ordinary lives are profound, immaculate and beautiful.This book includes The Mark-2 Wife, The Time of Year and Cheating at Canasta.

New Ebook Bonus Content:-Book Group Discussion Questions-Q&A with screenwriter John Ballard-Excerpt from Hoops-Excerpt from 145th Street-Excerpt from On a Clear DayWhen Lonnie Jackson leaves Harlem to take a basketball scholarship at a midwestern college, he knows he must keep his head straight and his record clean. That's the only way he'll have a chance of making it to the pros someday.But his street smarts haven't prepared him for the pressures of tough classes, high-stakes college ball, and the temptation to fix games for local gamblers. Everyone plays by a whole new set of rules -- including Sherry, who's determined to be a track star. Her independence attracts Lonnie, but their on-again, off-again relationship is driving him crazy.Lonnie has one year to learn how to make it as a "college man." It's his outside shot at a bright future. Does he have what it takes?

Set in New Orleans in the years after the Civil War, A Separate Country is based on the incredible life of John Bell Hood, arguably one of the most controversial generals of the Confederate Army--and one of its most tragic figures. Robert E. Lee promoted him to major general after the Battle of Antietam. But the Civil War would mark him forever. At Gettysburg, he lost the use of his left arm. At the Battle of Chickamauga, his right leg was amputated. Starting fresh after the war, he married Anna Marie Hennen and fathered 11 children with her, including three sets of twins. But fate had other plans. Crippled by his war wounds and defeat, ravaged by financial misfortune, Hood had one last foe to battle: Yellow Fever. A Separate Country is the heartrending story of a decent and good man who struggled with his inability to admit his failures-and the story of those who taught him to love, and to be loved, and transformed him.

DESTINED TO PLAY It′s simple. No sight. No questions. 48 hours. An innocent drink with an old lover turns into an extraordinary weekend for psychologist Dr. Alexandra Blake. If she allows herself to be placed utterly at his mercy, he will give her an experience more sensual and extreme than any game they have ever played before. DESTINED TO FEEL First he opened her mind. Now she must really feel... Abducted in London, Alexandra Blake becomes caught up in a dangerous game exploring the darkest enigma of female sexuality. How far will Alexandra be willing to go to satisfy her curiosity and her desires? Is this a game too far, or is there still everything to play for? DESTINED TO FLY Escaping captivity was not enough to get Alexandra Blake out of danger. In order to unlock the secrets she holds within her and become truly free, she must embark upon a quest to explore the long-forgotten sexual and spiritual nature of her ancestry. Despite believing that...

Mary Tudor, the headstrong younger sister of the ruthless King Henry VII, has always been her brother's favorite-but now she is also an important political bargaining chip. When she is promised to the elderly, ailing King Louis of France, a heartbroken Mary accepts her fate, but not before extracting a promise from her brother: When the old king dies, her next marriage shall be solely of her choosing. For Mary has a forbidden passion, and is determined, through her own cunning, courage, and boldness, to forge her own destiny.*The Secret Bride* is the triumphant tale of one extraordinary woman who meant to stay true to her heart and live her life just as her royal brother did-by her own rules...

After risking the neck of her loved ones and herself during her perilous sea voyage aboard The Basilisk, and the discoveries made at Keonga, Isabella, Lady Trent, returns to Scirland with the aim of publishing her research. And yet, given the level of secret knowledge she now posses, she is reduced to waiting to reveal her new academic discovery until royal decrees can be lifted and a fraught political situation avoided. In her idle frustration, Isabella vents her spleen upon the shoddy research published by lesser men with swollen heads in local journals. Enjoy the following collection of letters, found in a trunk of mislaid scholarly documents left behind when she removed to Linshire for the season.

In the summer of 1966, Christina Hardcastle—"Tiny" to her illustrious family—stands on the brink of a breathtaking future. Of the three Schuyler sisters, she's the one raised to marry a man destined for leadership, and with her elegance and impeccable style, she presents a perfect camera-ready image in the dawning age of television politics. Together she and her husband, Frank, make the ultimate power couple: intelligent, rich, and impossibly attractive. It seems nothing can stop Frank from rising to national office, and he's got his sights set on a senate seat in November. But as the season gets underway at the family estate on Cape Cod, three unwelcome visitors appear in Tiny's perfect life: her volatile sister Pepper, an envelope containing incriminating photograph, and the intimidating figure of Frank's cousin Vietnam-war hero Caspian, who knows more about Tiny's rich inner life than anyone else. As she struggles to maintain the glossy façade on which the...

Award-winning author Melvin Burgess's thrilling new ghost story for younger readers.David screamed and the ghostly boy opened his mouth and screamed back. But his scream wasn't the scream of a child--it was the scream of an old, old man."Come back, come back," screamed the ghost in his cracked old voice. "Don't leave me. Don't go!"Twelve-year-old David lives with his dad in a big old apartment building called Mahogany Villas. When he discovers he can climb through the vent pipes in the building and get into other apartments and play tricks on people, he simply can't resist. His main victim is Robert Alveston, a forgetful man in his nineties who is afraid that he is losing his mind. But David's nasty pranks soon disturb more than his elderly neighbor. One day he comes face-to-face with a ghost, at first friendly but more and more terrifying as it becomes clear that he has a particular grudge against Mr Alveston. Soon both the...

In 1566, Elizabeth Tudor faces tremendous opposition from Parliament for ruling England without the help of a husband. Instead, she turns to her Privy Plot Council for help, only to discover from her royal herbalist that a woman has drowned in a tub of starch. Soon another garment worker meets the same rigid fate. Elizabeth becomes unbending in her attempts to solve the murders, as well as iron out the problems of her kingdom. But with her list of suspects growing--and firm evidence pointing to those she trusts the most--Elizabeth must hang the murderer out to dry or risk losing her reign… or her life.

Elizabeth and Lev believe the danger with the dark angels and the Dagger of Light are finally behind them, but with Elizabeth’s sacrifice comes a new more menacing threat as whatever power the dagger once possessed now possesses Elizabeth, endangering all those she loves most. Trying to protect them, Elizabeth runs away, unaware her fate rests with a triune of angels who have come to judge her.

From New York Times bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn comes an all-new series set in the realm of her Otherworld novels. I’m Shimmer, a blue dragon shifter. Thanks to a mistake, I was exiled from the Dragon Reaches and sentenced to work for Alex Radcliffe, a vampire who owns the Fly by Night Magical Investigations Agency. Now, not only do I have to adapt to Earthside culture, but every time I turn around, somebody’s trying to kill us. And worse, Alex is as gorgeous as he is exasperating. But you know what they say: All’s fair in love and bounty hunting… When an old friend of Alex contacts him about a haunting at the High Tide Bed & Breakfast in Port Townsend, Washington, we think we’re on a simple ghost hunt. But our investigation quickly transforms into a deadly fight as we uncover an eighty-year-old murder, a cursed house, and a dark force trapping the spirits within. To stop impending disaster we must break the curse and lay the angry spirits to rest.

From international bestselling author, K.N. Lee comes Rise of the Flame, an epic beginning to the Eura Chronicles. There are six races, four realms, and one human girl who can bring them together in peace...or war. Lilae has been hunted since the night of her birth. She is the only heir to the human god's throne. For centuries the races have been separated by an ancient barrier. Now that the barrier is crumbling and vanishing, the races are once again pitted against one another. Who will rule? Which races will survive? Will Lilae give up her chance for the throne to save the race of the man she loves?

"A perfect combination of adventure, humor, and pure imagination!" —Jessica Day George, New York Times best-selling author of Tuesdays at the Castle "Funny, scary, and endlessly inventive." —Bruce Coville, author of Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher Sophie loves the hidden shop below her parents' bookstore, where dreams are secretly bought and sold. When the dream shop is robbed and her parents go missing, Sophie must unravel the truth to save them. Together with her best friend—a wisecracking and fanatically loyal monster named Monster—she must decide whom to trust with her family's carefully guarded secrets. Who will help them, and who will betray them?

Eighteen-year-old Jill Cafferty just made history. Her high school's star pitcher, she is now the first woman drafted by a major league baseball team. Only days after her high school graduation, she'll join the Pittsburgh Pirates' Class A Short Season team . . . but not everyone is happy to have her there. On top of the pressure heaped on every pitcher, Jill must deal with defying conventions and living up to impossible expectations, all while living away from home for the first time. She'll go head-to-head against those who are determined to keep baseball an all-male sport. Despite the reassurance of coaches and managers alike, a few of her teammates are giving her trouble. The media presence following her at each game is inescapable. And to top it all off, Jill is struggling with the responsibilities of being a national hero and a role model for young women everywhere. How can she be a role model when she's not even sure she made the right choice for herself? Didn't...

Anxious Audrey is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Mabel Quiller-Couch is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of Mabel Quiller-Couch then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.

CHAPTER I. Something unusual was about to happen—any one could see that; the tall pine trees swayed and nodded to each other as if whispering together, the leaves blew up against a corner of the fence as though they meant to sweep the old-fashioned brick path clean, and the gate swung to and fro on its hinges as in anticipation of a visitor. In a far-away corner of the United States stood an old farm-house which had put on its company manners and quite left off being an every-day house, though it really never could be called an “every-day” house—it was too old for that. Ever so many children had been born there, and had grown up under its sheltering roof, loved, married and had gone out into the world; it was a very old house, and could have told wonderful stories if any one had listened to them; no, it could not be called an every-day house at all, but to-day it had a look of expectancy quite different from its usual sleepy air. The ancient box-hedge by the rose-garden stood like an old soldier at attention, so! The fresh muslin curtains at the window were stiff with starch, they would not stir an inch to the breeze blowing in. The old farm-house was trying to look young again, that was it! To look young again: how many of us can do that, eh! for it was expecting a visitor, a very young visitor indeed, a little boy was coming. He was not an ordinary little boy, or at least the people at the farm-house (Aunt Laura and Uncle Sam) did not think so—because his mother when she was a little girl had gone there for a visit years and years ago, just as he was coming to-day, and she had loved every nook and cranny of the old house as they hoped he would love it, and to those two people, it seemed almost as if she were coming back again, which really couldn’t happen, for that was ever so long ago. But she had sent her little boy instead, hoping that the change of air would do him good after the winter months spent leaning over school books. So in the quaint low-ceiled bedroom upstairs, sheets that smelled of lavender, with beautiful hand-embroidered initials, made by some bride for her trousseau long ago, were spread on the tall four-poster bed with its curious starched valence and silk patch-work quilt; the pitcher on the wash-stand had been filled to the brim with cool clear spring water, queer knit towels in basket weave design hung ready for use, and a delicious odor of home-made bread floated up from the regions below. It was the little boy’s first journey, everything was new to him—when he got off at the station Uncle Sam met him and lifted him up to the front seat of the carriage with his hand bag tucked in behind, as he had lifted the little boy’s mother up and seated her beside him, years ago. And so they drove out together along the broad country roads, past the green meadows, where quiet cows cropped the grass, until they came within sight of the farm and windmill and turned into the leafy lane under the spreading chestnut trees and stopped at the gate. Aunt Laura was there to welcome him. Aunt Laura was there to welcome him—the little boy’s name was Laurie, he had been given the name out of compliment to Aunt Laura; somehow or other it was almost like “coming home” instead of “going away” he thought, it was so home-like; perhaps it was because everything was so very, very old, that their newness and strangeness had entirely worn off....

Marian Norton started, took one step backward, then stood staring. Startled by this sudden action, the spotted reindeer behind her lunged backward to blunder into the brown one that followed him, and this one was in turn thrown against a white one that followed the two. This set all three of them into such a general mix-up that it was a full minute before the girl could get them quieted and could again allow her eyes to seek the object of her alarm.

"Elmer said we'd take a vote on it!" "Yes, and tonight the next regular meeting of the Hickory Ridge Boy Scout Troop is scheduled to take place, so we'll soon know where we stand." "Thith hath been a pretty tame thummer for the cwowd, all told, don't you think, Lil Artha?" "It certainly has, as sure as your name's Ted Burgoyne. Our camping out was cut short, for with so many rainy days we just had to give it up." "Yeth, after three of the fellowth came down with bad cases of malarial fever. The mothquitoes were so plentiful." --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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