Jaclyn Wilde is a wedding planner who loves her job—usually. But helping Carrie Edwards with her Big Day has been an unrelenting nightmare. Carrie is a bridezilla of mythic nastiness, a diva whose tantrums are just about as crazy as her demands. But the unpleasant task at hand turns seriously criminal when Carrie is brutally murdered and everyone involved with the ceremony is accusing one another of doing the deed. The problem is, almost everyone— from the cake maker and the florist to the wedding-gown retailer and the bridesmaids’ dressmaker—had his or her own reason for wanting the bride dead, including Jaclyn. And while those who felt Carrie’s wrath are now smiling at her demise, Jaclyn refuses to celebrate tragedy, especially since she finds herself in the shadow of suspicion. Assigned to the case, Detective Eric Wilder finds that there’s too much evidence pointing toward too many suspects. Compounding his problems is Jaclyn, with whom he shared one deeply passionate night before Carrie’s death. Being a prime suspect means that Jaclyn is hands-off just when Eric would rather be hands-on. As the heat intensifies between Eric and Jaclyn, a cold-blooded murderer moves dangerously close. And this time the target is not a bride but one particularly irresistible wedding planner, unaware of a killer’s vow.

Landmark, groundbreaking, classic—these adjectives barely do justice to the pioneering vision and lasting impact of The Feminine Mystique. Published in 1963, it gave a pitch-perfect description of “the problem that has no name”: the insidious beliefs and institutions that undermined women’s confidence in their intellectual capabilities and kept them in the home. Writing in a time when the average woman first married in her teens and 60 percent of women students dropped out of college to marry, Betty Friedan captured the frustrations and thwarted ambitions of a generation and showed women how they could reclaim their lives. Part social chronicle, part manifesto, The Feminine Mystique is filled with fascinating anecdotes and interviews as well as insights that continue to inspire. This 50th–anniversary edition features an afterword by best-selling author Anna Quindlen as well as a new introduction by Gail Collins.

The GadflyBy E. L. VoynichThe Gadfly is a novel by Irish writer Ethel Voynich, published in 1897, set in 1840s Italy under the dominance of Austria, a time of tumultuous revolt and uprisings. The story centres on the life of the protagonist, Arthur Burton, as a member of the Youth movement, and his antagonist, Padre Montanelli. A thread of a tragic relationship between Arthur and his love Gemma simultaneously runs through the story. It is a story of faith, disillusionment, revolution, romance, and heroism.Arthur Burton, an English Catholic, travels to Italy to study to be a priest. He discovers radical ideas, renounces Catholicism and leaves Italy. While away he suffers great hardship, but returns with renewed revolutionary fervour. He becomes a journalist, expounding radical ideas in brilliant satirical tracts published under the pseudonym "the gadfly". The local authorities are soon dedicated to capturing him. Gemma, his lover, and Padre Montanelli, his Priest, show various forms of love via their tragic relations with the focal character of Arthur: religious, romantic, and family. The story compares these emotions to those Arthur experiences as a revolutionary, particularly drawing on the relationship between religious and revolutionary feelings. This is especially explicit at the climax of the book, where sacred descriptions intertwine with reflections on the Gadfly's fate. It is debatable to what extent an allegorical comparison can be drawn between the Gadfly and Jesus.

NY Times & USA Today Bestselling Author! Gio Andrade: Rich, powerful, sexy. A man who thinks he has everything...until he meets Julia. Julia Bennett: Sweet, spontaneous, and desperate to sell her jewelry line in New York City. She takes a job as a night security guard to pay the rent. Sparks fly when she mistakes her boss for an intruder. He can’t get her out of his head. She can’t find the strength to deny him. Will lies bring them together or tear them apart forever?

Reese wanted a wife. Someone to have children with, someone to help rebuild his ranch, someone uncomplicated, and very different from his first wife, the woman who'd destroyed his life. Now he had Madelyn--sophisticated, citified, willing to herd cattle, keep house and start a family. The only thing she asked for in return was love--one thing Reese couldn't guarantee.

The placid village of Lymstock seems the perfect place for Jerry Burton to recuperate from his accident under the care of his sister, Joanna. But soon a series of vicious poison-pen letters destroys the village's quiet charm, eventually causing one recipient to commit suicide. The vicar, the doctor, the servants—all are on the verge of accusing one another when help arrives from an unexpected quarter. The vicar's houseguest happens to be none other than Jane Marple.

Originally published in 1965, The Painted Bird established Jerzy Kosinski as a major literary figure. Called by the Los Angeles Times "one of the most imposing novels of the decade," it was eventually translated into more than thirty languages. A harrowing story that follows the wanderings of a boy abandoned by his parents during World War II, The Painted Bird is a dark story that examines the proximity of terror and savagery to innocence and love. It is the first, and the most famous, novel by a writer who is now discredited.

When Dawg Mackay made his four half-sisters part of his family, he vowed that he would care for and protect them with everything he had. But what happens now that the girls are all grown up? The Mackay girls are on the loose, and Somerset County will never be the same… Lyrica Mackay has wanted tall, handsome Marine Graham Brock for as long as she can remember. Unfortunately, Graham only sees her as his friend Dawg Mackay’s “baby sister.” Or so she believes. The truth is, the fiery party girl stirs something in Graham no female ever has. But Graham, like everyone in Somerset County, knows that trouble stalks the Mackays like bears track honey, and when a Mackay runs as hot as Lyrica does, someone’s bound to get burned. Then Graham discovers that Lyrica’s wild side is just a cover for a frightened and vulnerable woman who needs something true and genuine, something only Graham can offer. But surrendering his heart to Lyrica exposes them both to her shocking past—and a sinister secret that, once exposed, could destroy their only chance at happiness and shake the Mackay family to its core.

Hilary Mantel's seventh novel examines the pressures on women during the 1960s to excel--but not be too successful--in England's complex hierarchy of class and status. Pushed by a domineering mother, Carmel McBain climbs her way through the pecking order and ends up at London University as an acquiescent and undernourished teenager, achieving the status so desired by her mother, but too weak to make use of it or pose a threat to anyone. Though this is Carmel's story, it reflects on a generation of girls desiring the power of men, but fearful of abandoning what is expected and proper.

The stories in this collection move from Malaya to America and England, and include some of Maugham's most famous tales; 'Flotsam and Jetsam', the story of an old woman trapped for years in a loveless marriage in the remote rubber plantations; 'The Man with the Scar', and notably the opening story 'The Vessel of Wrath', a tale of the unexpected love that grows between a devout missionary nurse and a drunken reprobate. In this second volume of his collected stories, Maugham illustrates his characteristic wry perception of human foibles and his genius for evoking compelling drama from an acute sense of time and place.

When I met Donovan Kincaid, I knew he was rich. I didn’t know he was filthy. Truth be told, I was only trying to get his best friend to notice me. I knew poor scholarship girls like me didn't stand a chance against guys like Weston King and Donovan Kincaid, but I was in love with his world, their world, of parties and sex and power. I knew what I wanted—I knew who I wanted—until one night, their world tried to bite me back and Donovan saved me. He saved me, and then Weston finally noticed me, and I finally learned what it was to be in their world. And then what it was like to lose it. Ten years later, I’ve found my way back. Back to their world. Back to him. This time, I’m ready. I've been down this road before, and I know all the dirty, filthy ways Donovan will try and wreck me. But it’s hard to resist. Especially when I know how much I’ll like it. From NYT Bestselling author Laurelin Paige, discover a whole new world filled with sex, love, power, romance and dirty, filthy rich men.

It is the year 2081. Because of Amendments 211, 212, and 213 to the Constitution, every American is fully equal, meaning that no one is stupider, uglier, weaker, or slower than anyone else. The Handicapper General and a team of agents ensure that the laws of equality are enforced. One April, fourteen-year-old Harrison Bergeron is taken away from his parents, George and Hazel, by the government.

The Four Loves summarizes four kinds of human love--affection, friendship, erotic love, and the love of God. Masterful without being magisterial, this book's wise, gentle, candid reflections on the virtues and dangers of love draw on sources from Jane Austen to St. Augustine. The chapter on charity (love of God) may be the best thing Lewis ever wrote about Christianity. Consider his reflection on Augustine's teaching that one must love only God, because only God is eternal, and all earthly love will someday pass away: Who could conceivably begin to love God on such a prudential ground--because the security (so to speak) is better? Who could even include it among the grounds for loving? Would you choose a wife or a Friend--if it comes to that, would you choose a dog--in this spirit? One must be outside the world of love, of all loves, before one thus calculates. His description of Christianity here is no less forceful and opinionated than in Mere Christianity or The Problem of Pain, but it is far less anxious about its reader's response--and therefore more persuasive than any of his apologetics. When he begins to describe the nature of faith, Lewis writes: "Take it as one man's reverie, almost one man's myth. If anything in it is useful to you, use it; if anything is not, never give it a second thought." --Michael Joseph Gross

1 New York Times bestselling author Lora Leigh has captivated millions with her sizzling tales. Here, together for the first time, in a short story collection: Reno's Chance (Tempting SEALs #1) Ever since she was a girl, Raven has longed for her friend's brother, Reno, a Navy SEAL. What she doesn't realize is that his true mission is to get into her heart. For Maggie's Sake (Tempting SEALs #3) Maggie is in custody with Joe's SEALs team. Joe, her ex-lover, thinks Maggie is hiding information. He plans to seduce her to get it, but when an enemy captures Maggie, only Joe can save her. Atlanta Heat (Tempting SEALs #6) Em has wanted Macey forever. But as a SEAL under the command of her overprotective godfather, Macey is off-limits…until a kidnapping attempt forces them to share close quarters—and a forbidden desire. Night Hawk (Elite Ops #1.5) For three years, Travis "Black Jack" Caine and Lillian "Night Hawk" Belle have been meeting, late at night. No names given. But tonight is different. An enemy has returned, and Travis and Lillian may never meet again. Are they brave enough to give in to desire and stand together? Cooper's Fall (Wounded Warriors #1) Former ranger Ethan never expected to get an eyeful of prim Sarah Fox from his window. But now his blood is on fire for her. Sheila's Passion (Wounded Warriors #2) As an ex-Marine, Nick's been through some hard things. But when it comes to Sheila, he has his biggest challenge yet. Sheila has sworn off love, but when Nick tempts her into becoming friends with benefits, he intends to make her his forever.