Best Friends: A Novel

      Thomas Berger
     Best Friends: A Novel

Since childhood, Sam Grandy and Roy Courtright have been best friends. They grew up in the same prosperous community, went to the same prep school, and later entered the same university. After Sam's father died, Roy's father looked after him. At one point Sam dated Roy's sister, Robin. As best friends, they share a close and loving bond, often stronger than the relationships other men share with their girlfriends, siblings, or wives. But in the twenty years since their friendship began, their fundamental differences have become more apparent and their relationship has grown strained. More and more often they realize they are opposites -- one a womanizer, the other a devoted husband; one careless with money, the other frugal; one independent, the other needy. Do these differences threaten their friendship -- or are the dissimilarities what make it possible? Can they escape the ties of their past, or are they intrinsically bound until death? When Sam's health begins to falter, he draws Roy into his life again -- and into a chain of deceit, sex, delusion, death, and love such as only a best friend could. Thomas Berger has enthralled millions of readers for almost fifty years with his psychologically complex, sharp-sighted storytelling. With exquisite wit and insidious wisdom, Best Friends weaves a powerful tale about friendship -- and the complex loyalties involved.

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    Winter Kisses

      Addison Moore
     Winter Kisses

Librarian's Note: Alternate-cover edition for ASIN B00G7SUQ3A Laney Sawyer used to believe in love and all of the trappings that happily ever after could provide until Ryder Capwell crushed her heart. When Laney is auctioned off as a prize at the drama department fundraiser the last person she expects to trade cold hard cash for her company is Ryder. Ryder Capwell is in love with Laney Sawyer. One year ago she walked out of his life and took the light of his world right along with her. Ryder would do anything to have another chance with Laney, including purchasing her for the evening courtesy of Whitney Briggs University, and he does just that. One thing leads to whiskey, which leads to a one-night stand. She thinks it’s revenge sex—he thinks its make up sex. Things can only go wrong from here...

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    The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America

      Timothy Egan
     The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America

On the afternoon of August 20, 1910, a battering ram of wind moved through the drought-stricken national forests of Washington, Idaho, and Montana, whipping the hundreds of small blazes burning across the forest floor into a roaring inferno that jumped from treetop to ridge as it raged, destroying towns and timber in the blink of an eye. Forest rangers had assembled nearly ten thousand men  —  college boys, day workers, immigrants from mining camps  —  to fight the fire. But no living person had seen anything like those flames, and neither the rangers nor anyone else knew how to subdue them. Egan narrates the struggles of the overmatched rangers against the implacable fire with unstoppable dramatic force. Equally dramatic is the larger story he tells of outsized president Teddy Roosevelt and his chief forester, Gifford Pinchot. Pioneering the notion of conservation, Roosevelt and Pinchot did nothing less than create the idea of public land as our national treasure, owned by and preserved for every citizen. The robber barons fought Roosevelt and Pinchot’s rangers, but the Big Burn saved the forests even as it destroyed them: the heroism shown by the rangers turned public opinion permanently in their favor and became the creation myth that drove the Forest Service, with consequences still felt in the way our national lands are protected  —  or not —  today.

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    More Than Enough

      Jay McLean
     More Than Enough

More Than Enough is book five in the More Than series and may be read as a standalone, though it is recommended to read in series order. Series reading order: More Than This (Book one) More Than Her (Book two) More Than Him (Book three) More Than Forever (Book four) -- There’s no emotion greater than fear. No ache greater than grief. No sound greater than silence. I’m grateful he showed up on my doorstep, pissed off and angry at the world. If he hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here. And I don’t just mean here on this journey with him. I mean here, in this world. * I wonder what events in all our lives—hers included—are The Turning Points? The points where we all determine that the fear of our pasts and the uncertainty of our futures are greater than our need for happiness. Here. Now. While time and everything around us stands unmoving… who’s to say we can’t have it all? We wanted it all. We wanted it with each other. We thrived on the chaos we created. And ignored the Mayhem that ensued. Because falling in love was easy. But sometimes, love isn’t enough.

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    The Perfect Husband

      Lisa Gardner
     The Perfect Husband

BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Lisa Gardner's Love You More. What would you do if the man of your dreams hides the soul of a killer? Jim Beckett was everything she'd ever dreamed of...But two years after Tess married the decorated cop and bore his child, she helped put him behind bars for savagely murdering ten women. Even locked up in a maximum security prison, he vowed he would come after her and make her pay. Now the cunning killer has escaped--and the most dangerous game of all begins.... After a lifetime of fear, Tess will do something she's never done before. She's going to learn to protect her daughter and fight back, with the help of a burned-out ex-marine. As the largest manhunt four states have ever seen mobilizes to catch Beckett, the clock winds down to the terrifying reunion between husband and wife. And Tess knows that this time, her only choices are to kill--or be killed. Lisa Gardner sold her first...

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    Miss Communication

      Jennifer L. Holm
     Miss Communication

Watch out, middle school! In her second foray out of graphic novels and into middle grade, Babymouse has a smartphone, and she's not afraid to use it. . . .Ping! Ping! The sound of texting is in the air. Everyone at middle school has a cell phone. Babymouse just has to get one, too.But having a phone is a lot of work! Building up a following on SoFamous, learning text lingo, keeping up with all the important koala videos . . . Babymouse is ready to tear her whiskers out. Why does it suddenly feel like she has no friends? Somehow, Babymouse needs to figure out how to stop worrying and love her smartphone . . . if Locker doesn't eat it first.#Typical.

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    Dray

      Tess Oliver
     Dray

When Cassie, the woman he loves, leaves him for a job in New York, Dray Warner finds his life falling apart. With nothing else to lose he takes up his friend, Barrett Mason’s, offer to head down to Mexico for some surfing and good times. But Dray’s conscience, hot temper and extreme fighting skills hurl him into a world of danger . . . a danger that could cost him his life. Cassie Carlton was sure she was making the right decision accepting her dream job in New York. She and Dray had parted ways and while she remains heartbroken by the break up, she needs to move on with her life. But when Cassie learns that Dray is in trouble, she realizes she will sacrifice anything to save him. New adult contemporary romance

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    Breaking Away

      Toni Aleo
     Breaking Away

"This will be the next installment in the Assassins series following Phillip Anderson and Reese Allen. I don’t have the synopsis for any of the books yet but this in this one we will read about how Phillip is adjusting to a new addition that makes him a family. When one encounter leads him and Reese in bed, he finds that he can’t get enough of her. She feels the same but is completely against having a relationship after being hurt by a past lover. Will these two make it? Or will Phillip be left alone in the game of love?"

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    Grown Men (2011)

      Damon Suede
     Grown Men (2011)

Every future has dirty roots.Marooned in the galactic backwaters of the HardCell company, colonist Runt struggles to eke out an existence on a newly-terraformed tropical planetoid. Since his clone-wife died on entry, he’s been doing the work of two on his failing protein farm. Overworked and undersized, Runt’s dwindling hope of earning corporate citizenship has turned to fear of violent “retirement.”When an overdue crate of provisions crashes on his beach, Runt searches frantically for a replacement wife among the tools and food. Instead he gets Ox, a mute hulk who seems more like a corporate assassin than a simple offworld farmer.Shackwacky and near-starving, Runt has no choice but to work with his silent partner despite his mounting paranoia and the unsettling appeal of Ox’s genetically altered pheromones. Ox plays the part of the gentle giant well, but Runt’s still not convinced he hasn’t arrived with murder in mind.Between brutal desire and the seeds of a relationship, Runt’s fears and Ox’s inhuman past collide on a fertile world where hope and love just might have room to grow.

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    The White Terror and The Red: A Novel of Revolutionary Russia

      Abraham Cahan
     The White Terror and The Red: A Novel of Revolutionary Russia

ALEXANDER II. passed part of the summer of 1874 in a German health-resort taking the mineral waters. When not in the castle in which he was staying with his train he affected the life of an ordinary citizen. He did so as much from necessity as from choice. Czar or subject, the same water must be drunk at the same spot and hour by all who seek its cure. Nor can any distinction be made in the matter of the walk which the patient is to take after draining his two or three gobletsful.

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    When God Whispers Loudly

      Chris M. Hibbard
     When God Whispers Loudly

When God whispers, the wise listen. In this short story, a busy husband and father fails to heed the quiet voice of the Lord. In doing so, he experiences the loving admonition of God whispering loudly. 2750 words, available at no charge.Olivia’s best friend is not imaginary. He’s not a ghost, either. And she’s pretty sure he’s not a hallucination. He’s just Mason. He is, however, invisible. When Olivia spotted the crying little boy on her front porch at five years old, she had no idea she was the only one who could see him. Twelve years later when new-girl Robin bumps into the both of them and introduces herself to Mason, they are both stunned. Mason couldn’t be more pleased that someone else can see him. Olivia, on the other hand, isn’t jumping at the chance to welcome Robin into their circle. Jealousy may have something to do with that, but honest fear that Robin’s presence will put Mason in danger is soon validated when a strange black car shows up outside Olivia’s house. The race to find out what Robin knows in time to protect Mason from whatever threats are coming becomes Olivia’s only focus.

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    Bittersweet

      BobA. Troutt
     Bittersweet

Bittersweet is a mixture of thoughts and words to bring some new stories to your heart. The challenging plots and characters will lead you unto some fresh ideas that will enhance your joy of reading. The collection of stories will entertain you with second guessing and make you wonder. Life can be bitter or sweet and our trying times can sometimes push us further than we want to go.DARK HOLLOW CREEK/RETURN TO DARK HOLLOW CREEKThe surprising twists of the story come alive when a bus load of strangers are stranded in a snow storm and take lodge in an abandoned inn. While there, their lives begin to unravel as the storms moves on. The strangers intertwine with their own problems touching the lives of the others which create a surprising finish in their snowbound prison. Finally, they are set free and are on their way to go on with their lives. But, they have made a vow to each other to return to Dark Hollow in ten years for a reunion. FALSE WITNESSA judge picks up a prostitute hitchhiking in Mississippi. He had killed his wife and has her in the trunk of the car. He hires the prostitute to be a false witness to cover up his wife’s murder. The judge has everything worked out with his money and influence. All the prostitute has do is lie. Will it work? He seems to think so. What about you? All she has to do is just lie.DOUBLE TROUBLEWhen Tommy has an affair with another woman and she ends up pregnant, his wife Kimberly is haunted by his infidelity which later on leads to divorce. Revenge may seem sweet at times, but it can be bitter. When Tommy finds out that Kimberly is going to inherit some big money, he doesn’t want a share he wants it all. He then creates a plan to have her stalked, scared and murdered if that what it takes. He hires a set of twins to get the job done. (Double Trouble), do I need to say anymore. In the end, you will find an impressive conclusion which may be rewarding.ON THE CORNER OF PERRY STREETOn the Corner of Perry Street is a little different type of story. On the corner of Perry Street is a bus stop. Throughout the story, all different kinds of people catch the bus there. The bus stop is the only one in town and it is headed out of town. The bus riders who come that way have a lot to say as they wait for the bus.BRIDGE OVER MCKINLEY COUNTY RIVERA young couple and a child’s life are determined on the McKinley Bridge. Their lives will be changed forever by a man with a jealous rage and a lot of anger in his heart. Lives are turned around and changed forever through an incident that just happened. We all have done wrong. We all pay for our wrongs, but it is sad to say innocent players will suffer. Whether we know or believe it, our lives touch the lives of others sometimes without us knowing it.

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    Confessions of a Grasshopper

      C.J. Lanet
     Confessions of a Grasshopper

An audacious kidnapping, a high-speed chase and dramatic rescue are well-traveled features of a run-of-the-mill screenplay, except that the kidnappee and the Grassalot colony are humanoid size, talking grasshoppers; the "hoppernappers" are a raunchy bunch of college kids; and the high speed chase stretches from New Mexico to New York City.DCI Barbara Black investigates the curious death of Adrian Mansfield, an artistic young man cast adrift in a boat on Amberton lake. He has been tied into a sitting position with an insulting sign hung about his neck. Murder is assumed, but Barbara's investigations take us into escalating family tragedy and Adrian's dark, antinatalist philosophy. No-one seems surprised that Adrian has died. He was, we learn, obsessed with his dead sister, a talented young writer, who took her own life a few years earlier. So, indeed, is Martha Bottomley, a retired social worker and friend of the family, who has, according to Barbara's sergeant, a morbid interest in the deaths of young people. Philosophical and thought-provoking detective fiction - a why rather than whodunnit.

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