A tantalizing tale of a legendary knight and a headstrong lady whose daring quest for a mysterious crystal will draw them into a whirlwind of treachery–and desire. When the fearsome knight called Hugh the Relentless swept into Lingwood Manor like a storm, everyone cowered–except Lady Alice. Sharp-tongued and unrepentant, the flame haired beauty believed Sir Hugh was not someone to dread but the answer to her dreams. She knew he had come for the dazzling green crystal, knew he would be displeased to find that it was no longer in her possession. Yet Alice had a proposition for the dark and forbidding knight: In return for a dowry that would free Alice and her brother from their uncle's grasp, she would lend her powers of detection to his warrior's skills and together they would recover his treasured stone. But even as Hugh accepted her terms, he added a condition of his own: Lady Alice must agree to a temporary betrothal–one that would soon draw her deep into Hugh's great stone fortress, and into a battle that could threaten their lives...and their only chance at love. From the Paperback edition.

Contains ROUGH, HARD, and FIERCE - all three books in Colin and Allie's complete story! This boxed set in the Chicago Underground series is over 400 pages. Meet the woman shaped by betrayal and the man determined to save her at any cost... ROUGH (Book One) I'm a cautionary tale. A statistic. A victim. A single teenage mother from the poor part of town. Most of the time I'm too busy working and struggling to care what people think. Survival doesn't come easy. I have a dark secret, a pressure valve, a rare moment just for myself. On these nights I visit a club. There I find men who give me what I need. Men like Colin. But he wants more than a few stolen hours. He demands more than my body. He wants my heart and soul--my happily ever after. I never thought I'd be Cinderella. I never thought a man that rough could be my prince. HARD (Book Two) What Colin doesn't know can't hurt him. At least that's what I tell myself about the secrets I keep. I don't have a choice, not if I want to keep my daughter safe. And keep him Colin safe too. There are enemies in the shadows waiting to strike from all sides. I'm holding them out with my bare hands, but it's hard not to get crushed in the process. And the truth has a way of coming out. If I'm not careful, the past I've been working so hard to hide, the pain I've been fighting so long to outrun, will wipe out the man I love. FIERCE (Book Three) I'm torn between what I want and what I need. Between the men in my past and the man by my side. Colin has tried to control me, to use me. But he also guards me so fiercely my heart aches. Raincheck. Business. Don't wait up. --C That's the note he leaves for me, as if I could sit around while he fights my dragons. As if I could let himself get killed in some vain attempt to protect me. There's no protection left for me. No redemption either. This is my battle, and I've already lost. Boxed sets in the Chicago Underground series: Rough Hard Fierce - Colin and Allie's story Wild Dirty Secret - Luke and Shelly's story

Cassidy Roarke is in love with Mr. Wrong. His name is Richard Tiernan. He is deadly handsome, darkly brilliant, and devastatingly attractive to women. He has been convicted of killing his wife, and his children have disappeared. Now he wants to make Cassidy the latest victim of his powers of seduction and secret agenda. Cassidy knows all this. But still she chooses to surrender her heart and soul to a lover whose reasons for wanting her are as mysterious as the violent act that branded his a murderer. Cassidy is his now, to do with what he wishes...as he leads her through a labyrinth of desire that is her only path to the terrifying truth...

All I craved was one night to forget about the tragic murder of my brother Marcus. Elijah Malakai seemed like the perfect person to take my mind off everything my family had endured. He was a hunter and for the first time in years, I felt safe. But Elijah had his own tragic past. As his secrets unraveled, my world was thrown into turmoil once more. I had to decide whether or not Elijah was worth the pain his past would bring and if I was strong enough to stand by his side and fight.

Sixteen-year-old Ember Morrow is promised to a group called Conatus after one of their healers saves her mother's life. Once she arrives, Ember finds joy in wielding swords, learning magic, and fighting the encroaching darkness loose in the world. She also finds herself falling in love with her mentor, the dashing, brooding, and powerful Barrow Hess. When the knights realize Eira, one of their leaders, is dabbling in dark magic, Ember and Barrow must choose whether to follow Eira into the nether realm or to pledge their lives to destroying her and her kind.

Alternate Cover edition here. Troubled young Fawn Bluefield seeks a life beyond her family's farm. Enroute to the city, she encounters a patrol of Lakewalkers. The necromancers armed with human bone knives fight "malices", immortal entities that draw out life, enslaving humans and animals. Dag saves Fawn from a malice - at a devastating cost. Their fates are now bound in a remarkable journey.

When Mairelon made Kim his ward, he promised to teach her to be a lady and a magician. But magic proves to be harder than it looks for a girl who has just learned to read, and being a lady is even harder. Before frustration - and Merrill's formidably correct aunt - can drive her mad, a mysterious gentleman attempts to burgle the Merrill town house. As disaster strikes Mairelon, Kim must negotiate the hazards of London society, aided by a London moneylender, a Russian wizard prince, seven legendary French wizards...and Mairelon's charmingly eccentric mother.

For the Rider Wen, peace in Gillengaria has only brought despair. Plagued by guilt for failing to protect her king, Wen has fled the royal city and given herself the penance of a life of wandering, helping strangers in need, making sure they remain just that: strangers. Until the day she helps a terrified young woman abducted by an overeager suitor. The girl, she discovers, is the daughter of one of those who rose against the dead king, and is now heir to the great estate known as Fortune. Once she has delivered her safely home, Wen wants nothing further to do with the girl or her family. But fate has other plans...For behind the walls of Fortune, Wen will find her future - and she will finally confront the ghosts of her past.

Scarlett McLean had been only 21 when she married Robert, her extremely aggressive husband. One Christmas, she meets and falls in love with Isaac, his half brother, who gives her respect and love. As Scarlett is caught in a painful tug-of-war between a loveless marriage and a fiery passion, she tries to juggle both with dangerous consequences...Last Chance - a small town set on the edge of the far frontier. It is a place of gentle manners and common civility. After all, it should be since more than three quarters of its residents are women. However times change when a Talent Master runs rampant, savages threaten war, and an illegal militia from an alternate universe plans invasion and empire. A hero is needed. A Savior. Meet Aaron Turner, the small unassuming man who runs the Last Chance General Store. He is this town's--this world's--only hope. Unfortunately for the town, Aaron also happens to be a soldier and Militia spy whose job is to prepare the ground for the Militia's invasion. To help him with this task, he has a cellar filled with advanced weaponry and the unique ability to teleport between the two worlds. However after a year of living within Last Chance, Aaron is no longer sure in which direction his loyalties lie.

Heaven is rays of sunlight dancing on wheat stalks, and wind twirling itself around chimes hung from tree branches.Heaven is a flightless crow, a promise of forever tied to a necklace, and hidden love letters tucked away safely inside a tree.Heaven is a fire-haired boy named Rust and his love for Ancel, a boy full of storm clouds.Heaven is all the tiny threads of hope that hold them together.Heaven is rays of sunlight dancing slowly on wheat stalks. It's wind twirling itself around chimes hung from low tree branches, and robust bursts of scent and color, far beyond anything describable with words.Heaven is a flightless crow, a promise of forever tied to a necklace, and hidden love letters tucked away safely inside a tree.Heaven is a fire-haired boy named Rust and his love for Ancel, a boy full of storm clouds.Heaven is all the tiny threads of hope that hold them together.

The stories included in this collection have in their backdrop the turbulent political milieu in West Bengal, India during 1969-2011. The period was characterized by terrorism, political crimes, instability and uncertainly. The stories in this volume depict the struggles of human beings to wade through this abysmal darkness.Things are bad enough when the Holy Order's high priest has a vision compelling him to revive long-dormant public fears of witchcraft and devils. When the ancient sect shakes off its millennium of decline to start burning and beheading people, with full support from the government's new self-proclaimed autocrat, a veritable reign of terror unfolds. The inevitable resistance isn't far behind.Oppressed genetic aberrations historically known as wizards and sorceresses find themselves in the odd position of having a choice: worship the Maker and kill anyone who doesn't, or reject the Maker and die in a cleansing fire.With their continent buckling under the weight of political and religious upheaval, the small core of a fledgling rebellion must guard against annihilation before many of the reluctant participants even fully understand why they fight."Ascendancy" is book one of the Maker's Eye trilogy.

The perennial New York Times bestselling author returns with an emotionally resonant novel that illuminates the power of friendship in women's lives, and is filled with her trademark wit, poignant and timely themes, sassy, flesh-and-blood characters, and the steamy Southern atmosphere and beauty of her beloved Carolina Lowcountry.Few writers capture the complexities, pain, and joy of relationships—between friends, family members, husbands and wives, or lovers—as beloved New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank. In this charming, evocative, soul-touching novel, she once again takes us deep into the heart of the magical Lowcountry where three amazing middle-aged women are bonded by another amazing woman's death.Through their shared loss they forge a deep friendship, asking critical questions. Who was their friend and what did her life mean? Are they living the lives they imagined for themselves? Will they ever be able to afford to retire?...

In a dazzling career spanning a dozen acclaimed novels, Kristin Hannah has distinguished herself as an amazingly sensitive writer who can tap into the deepest, most precious mysteries of the heart. If You Believe is one of her finest books--a timeless tale of two lonely people who witness the miracle of second chances. Mariah Throckmorton was hiding from a past filled with scandal. Mad Dog Stone was a drifter looking for a few days' work. He walked into her life, threatening Mariah's peace of mind and stirring emotions she tried to hide. Their love was born against all odds, difficult to count on, impossible to hold. Together they would learn the bittersweet truth--that love exists only if you believe. . . .

Extrait: ...ma maitresse Sans pouvoir la r'trouver, Pour un bouquet de roses Que je lui refusai Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, Jamais je ne t'oublierai. Maria looked through the window at the white fields circled by mysterious forest; the passion of religious feeling, the tide of young love rising within her, the sound of the familiar voices, fused in her heart to a single emotion. Truly the world was filled with love that evening, with love human and divine, simple in nature and mighty in strength, one and the other most natural and right; so intermingled that the beseeching of heavenly favour upon dear ones was scarcely more than the expression of an earthly affection, while the artless love songs were chanted with solemnity of voice and exaltation of spirit fit for addresses to another world. . Je voudrais que la rose Fut encore au rosier, Et que le rosier meme A la mer fut jete. Il y a longtemps, que je t'aime, Jamais je ne t'oublierai . . "Hail Mary, full of grace ." The song ended, Maria forthwith resumed her prayers with zeal refreshed, and once again the tale of the Aves mounted. Little Alma Rose, asleep on her father's knee, was undressed and put to bed; Telesphore followed; Tit'Be arose in turn, stretched himself, and fined the stove with green birch logs; the father made a last trip to the stable and came back running, saying that the cold was increasing. Soon all had retired, save Maria. "You won't forget to put out the lamp?" "No, father." Forthwith she quenched the light, preferring it so, and seated herself again by the window to repeat the last Aves. When she had finished, a scruple assailed her, and a fear lest she had erred in the reckoning, because it had not always been possible to count the beads of her rosary. Out of prudence she recited yet another fifty and then was silent-jaded, weary, but full of happy confidence, as though the moment had brought her a promise inviolable. The world outside was lit; wrapped in that frore splendour... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

After surviving a brutal attack, psychic Mica Thomas vows to live life on her terms, but when an old enemy returns, she’s swept under the protection of an immortal special ops team with a mission too fantastic to believe. For Primani Sean O’Cahan, this should be a routine protection detail, but nothing about this crazy, sexy woman is routine. He's forbidden to mess with destiny, but he's no angel.Sometimes destiny is wrong...After surviving a year of heartbreaking tragedy, college student Mica Thomas is finally ready to have some fun. Determined to live life on her terms, she sets her sights on the gorgeous mystery man who keeps showing up when she’s in trouble. Intense, cranky, and oh, so sexy, he’s the exact kind of challenge she loves. Romance, adventure, and good friends--She’s living the dream, but this dream is shattered when fate intervenes. When her life is threatened again, this budding psychic is suddenly swept under the protection of an immortal special ops team with a mission too fantastic to believe. Powerful and ruthless, Sean O’Cahan is a legendary Primani. His job is to disrupt demon activity and protect special humans. When his special ops team is assigned to Mica Thomas, he knows he’s there to guard more than her body. There are plans for her. Plans that’ll change everything she believes if she survives long enough to learn the truth. For the Primani, this is a routine protection detail, but nothing about this woman is routine. Fiercely independent, brave, and sexy as hell, she’s making him crazy. He’s supposed to watch from the shadows, but the more he watches, the more he wants her in ways that break all of the rules. As their attraction grows, sparks fly and emotions run hot. Sean’s not allowed to mess with destiny, but one moment of weakness awakens a power in Mica that sends her careening down a path towards immortality that no one saw coming.Accompanied by her demon-hunting Dalmatian, Mica’s pulled into the Primani world of angels and demons until there’s no way out, and she doesn’t want to leave. Urban Fantasy Romance filled with humor, sexual situations, and intense action sequences. Series Description: Primani are soldiers with supernatural abilities granted by an archangel. They police demon activity that threatens humankind. Before becoming Primani, all were superior warriors (Celts, Huns, Vikings, etc.) with unique psychic abilities. The series follows them as they cross lines, fall in love, and butcher demons to save the world. Living by a loose code of morals, they’re more mercenaries than angels, prone to violence, vengeance, and in the end, sometimes, heartbreakingly pure love. The first three books follow Mica’s transformation from human to immortal after she becomes entangled in the Primani world. Each subsequent book focuses on the unique story of each Primani as they battle both Hell and their own inner demons. Often dark, funny, full of twists, and steamy passion, the Primani series crosses the lines of paranormal romance, metaphysical fantasy, and occult suspense.