The Brightest Star In The Sky

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A wry and life-affirming novel from the internationally bestselling author

Marian Keyes's inimitable blend of rollicking humor, effervescent prose, and stories that deal with real-life issues have captivated readers around the globe. She is one of the bestselling authors of women's fiction in the English-speaking world. Her new novel will delight fans of Candace Bushnell's darkly comic sensibility and Sophie Kinsella's fast-paced action. The Brightest Star in the Sky follows seven neighbors whose lives become entangled when a sassy and prescient spirit pays a visit to their Dublin townhouse with the intent of changing at least one of their lives.

But what will this metamorphosis be and who will the sprite choose? There's Matt and Maeve, the newlyweds struggling to overcome the first obstacle in their storybook romance; Lydia, the brassy but vulnerable cabbie; Katie, the just-turned-forty PR executive searching for a more gratifying life; and the eldest resident, Jemima, currently playing hostess to her son Fionn, who is in town to star as the hunky gardener in a hot new television show.

Keyes's universal themes and appealing characters have made her an international phenomenon, and are sure to conquer a wider American audience. With The Brightest Star in the Sky, she delivers another satisfying story charming in its wit and surprising in its depth.

At Last Comes Love

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Step into a world of scandal, intrigue, and enthralling passion as New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh sweeps us into the lives of an extraordinary family: the Huxtables. Margaret, the eldest, embarks on the most risque adventure of her life and agrees to marry the most notorious man in London....

Only desperation could bring Duncan Pennethorne, the infamous Earl of Sheringford, back home after the spectacular scandal that had shocked even the jaded ton. Forced to wed in fifteen days or be cut off without a penny, Duncan chooses the one woman in London in frantic need of a husband. A lie to an old flame forces Margaret Huxtable to accept the irresistible stranger's offer. But once she discovers who he really is, it's too late--she's already betrothed to the wickedly sensual rakehell. Quickly she issues an ultimatum: If Duncan wants her, he must woo her. And as passion slowly ignites, two people marrying for all the wrong reasons are discovering the joys of seduction--and awaiting the exquisite pleasure of what comes after....

The Zahir

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It begins with a glimpse or a passing thought. It ends in obsession.

One day a renowned author discovers that his wife, a war correspondent, has disappeared leaving no trace. Though time brings more success and new love, he remains mystified -- and increasingly fascinated - by her absence. Was she kidnapped, blackmailed, or simply bored with their marriage? The unrest she causes is as strong as the attraction she exerts.

His search for her - and for the truth of his own life - takes him from South America to Spain, France, Croatia and, eventually, the bleakly beautiful landscape of Central Asia. More than that, it leads him into a new understanding of the nature of love, the power of destiny and what it really means to follow your heart.

With The Zahir, Paulo Coelho demonstrates not just his powerful and captivating storytelling, but also his extraordinary insight into what it is to be a human being in a world full of possibility.

Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea

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Handler proves the adage that just because one can, doesn't mean one should. This applies to both her role as a writer and a narrator. In this disjointed collection of memories and experiences, even her overenthusiastic voice cannot compensate for the irrelevance and frivolousness that is this book. Her anecdotes cover a range of topics from sex to sibling rivalry to parental humiliation, all showcasing how smart and witty she can be-in hindsight. Whether rambling about how she's freaked out by red-headed men or bemoaning her arrest and short stint in prison, her attempts to be funny fall flat and her valley-girl persona wears quickly on listeners. Her lively voice has the potential to do well with audiobooks, but the overall tone and ecstatic energy she emits only emphasizes the inconsequential prose. Listeners might find themselves asking for Vodka to help reach the end of this production.

Love You More

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WHO DO YOU LOVE?

One question, a split-second decision, and Brian Darby lies dead on the kitchen floor. His wife, state police trooper Tessa Leoni, claims to have shot him in self-defense, and bears the bruises to back up her tale. For veteran detective D. D. Warren it should be an open-and-shut case. But where is their six-year-old daughter?

AND HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO . . .

As the homicide investigation ratchets into a frantic statewide search for a missing child, D. D. Warren must partner with former lover Bobby Dodge to break through the blue wall of police brotherhood, seeking to understand the inner workings of a trooper's mind while also unearthing family secrets. Would a trained police officer truly shoot her own husband? And would a mother harm her own child?

. . . TO SAVE HER?

For Tessa Leoni, the worst has not yet happened. She is walking a tightrope, with nowhere to turn, no one to trust, as the clock ticks down to a terrifying deadline. She has one goal in sight, and she will use every ounce of her training, every trick at her disposal, to do what must be done. No sacrifice is too great, no action unthinkable. A mother knows who she loves. And all others will be made to pay.

Sarah's Key

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PARIS, JULY 1942: Sarah, a ten-year-old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they go door-to-door arresting Jewish families in the middle of the night. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard - their secret hiding place - and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released.

SIXTY YEARS LATER: Sarah's story intertwines with that of Julia Jarmond, an American journalist investigating the roundup. In her research, Julia stumbles onto a trail of secrets that link her to Sarah, and to question her about her own romantic future.

First Comes Marriage

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Against the scandal and seduction of Regency England, New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh introduces an extraordinary family--the fiery, sensual Huxtables. Vanessa is the second daughter, proud and daring, a young widow who has her own reason for pursuing the most eligible bachelor in London. One that has nothing to do with love. Or does it?

The arrival of Elliott Wallace, the irresistibly eligible Viscount Lyngate, has thrown the country village of Throckbridge into a tizzy. Desperate to rescue her eldest sister from a loveless union, Vanessa Huxtable Dew offers herself instead. In need of a wife, Elliott takes the audacious widow up on her unconventional proposal while he pursues an urgent mission of his own. But a strange thing happens on the way to the wedding night. Two strangers with absolutely nothing in common can't keep their hands off each other. Now, as intrigue swirls around a past secret--one with a stunning connection to the Huxtables--Elliott and Vanessa are uncovering the glorious pleasures of the marriage bed...and discovering that when it comes to wedded bliss, love can't be far behind 

David Beckham : Both Feet On The Ground

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The Last Word on David Beckham

There is only one David Beckham -- and it's not always the one you read about in the newspapers and magazines or see in the movies. From humble East End London beginnings, the boy with prodigious soccer skills grew up to be one of the most gifted athletes of his generation as well as a sex symbol and fashion icon. Along the way he married Spice Girl Victoria Posh Adams, and together they inhabit a celebrity whirlwind of Diana-esque proportions.

In Both Feet on the Ground, David talks candidly about the perils of fame (his wife and son were the targets of a notorious kidnapping plot and he is the subject of almost daily tabloid rumors); the struggle to balance his roles as a devoted husband and besotted father with his globetrotting existence as an international soccer star; the behind-the-scenes stories of his most memorable and heartbreaking (if only he could retake that infamous penalty kick against Portugal in Euro 2004) career moments; the controversy surrounding his first year at Real Madrid after his $41 million transfer from Manchester United, the storied English team he joined as a teenager and led for more than a decade; and, finally, his love of America, where he plans to start a soccer school and perhaps, one day, even play professionally.

Austenland

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December 18, 2006

Dear Colin Firth,

You may notice that this book, Austenland, is dedicated to you. Please don’t be alarmed! I am a great fan of your acting (the muffin scene in The Importance of Being Earnest is truly hilarious). I’m also a recovering BBC Pride and Prejudice addict, clean for five years, happily married, and now only watch the movies on rare occasions. For research. You understand.

In memory of those darker, obsessive times, I wrote this novel. Too many women are crazed with the idea of Darcy, and I’m hoping this book will help them recover. Or at least, I’m hoping it’ll make them laugh.

Would you be willing to take a look at it and perhaps give it a blurb? As your time is precious, I’ve pre-written a few helpful ideas for you:

1. “Austenland is brilliant! If it doesn’t get the National Book Award, some heads are going to roll.”
2. “I’ll have you know, I am much more than a wet shirt.”
3. “I haven’t read this book and don’t endorse it in the least.”

All my best to your family,

Shannon Hale

Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, is ruining her love life: no real man can compare. But when a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Jane’s fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined.

Decked out in empire-waist gowns, Jane struggles to master Regency etiquette and flirts with gardeners and gentlemen—or maybe even, she suspects, with the actors who are playing them. It’s all a game, Jane knows. And yet the longer she stays, the more her insecurities seem to fall away, and the more she wonders: Is she about to kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?

(Mille's Note : all are taken from http://www.squeetus.com/stage/main.html )

Sleeping Arrangements

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The novels of Madeleine Wickham are every bit as sassy and clever as her Sophie Kinsella books. In Sleeping Arrangements, she delivers a tantalizing tale about an outrageous holiday, proving that love lies in the most unexpected places....

CHLOE NEEDS A HOLIDAY. Her partner, Philip, has troubles at work, and the whole family wants a break. Hugh is not a happy man. His immaculate wife, Amanda, seems more interested in her new kitchen than in him, and he works so hard to pay for it that he barely has time for his children. Maybe he'll have the chance to bond with them on holiday.

When the two families arrive at a villa in Spain for their respective vacations, they get a shock -- it has been double-booked. An uneasy week of sharing begins, and tensions soon mount in the soaring heat. But the temperature isn't solely to blame: What no one else realizes is that Chloe and Hugh have a history, and it seems that the "accidental" double-booking may not have been so accidental after all. Soon, an unexpected romance begins to seriously heat up this holiday, and it isn't long before long-buried secrets and fiery passions erupt.

With a style that combines keen insight and razor-sharp wit, Madeleine Wickham will keep you on the edge of your seat. So grab a cool drink, and get ready for a wonderfully wicked trip you'll not soon forget!

Dune Road

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Dune Road is another fun and fearless adventure that will take Green's many fans from laughter to tears and back again. The novel is set in the beach community of a tony Connecticut town. Our heroine is a single mom who works for a famous--and famously reclusive--novelist. 

When she stumbles on a secret that the great man has kept hidden for years, she knows that there are plenty of women in town who would love to get their hands on it--including some who fancy the writer for themselves. Dune Road is the story of life in an exclusive beach town after the tourists have left for the summer and the eccentric (and moneyed) community sticks around. 

Dune Road will surely be the book to pack in beach bags next summer.

See Jane Die

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The low rumble of an outboard motor shatters the quiet of the lake. Treading water, fifteen-year-old Jane Killian waves her arms to alert the boater to her presence. But instead of veering off, he points his craft directly at her. The boat's hull fills her vision. A scream rips past

Jane's lips, lost in the engine's roar....

Now, seventeen years after the afternoon that changed her life forever, Jane has everything to live for. A series of reconstructive surgeries has restored her lovely face. She's the toast of the Dallas art community, her edgy sculptures lauded as both disturbing and beautiful. She and her husband, renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Ian Westbrook, are completely in love -- and overjoyed that Jane is pregnant.

Then Jane's happiness shatters. A woman with ties to Ian is found brutally slain. Unbelievably, the police focus their investigation on him, making him their prime suspect. Still in shock, Jane receives an anonymous message that reads simply, "I did it on purpose. To hear your screams."

The police, including Jane's estranged sister, Detective Stacy Killian, believe the message is from a crank, someone who's become aware of Jane's past through the media attention surrounding her controversial artwork.

But Jane knows better. It's from him. The man who stole not only her face, but her sense of security. The man she has always believed deliberately hit her -- and got away with it. And now he's found her again. Living with this terror, Jane digs into Ian's past in an effort to prove him innocent. But each new clue she uncovers points not to Ian's innocence -- but to his guilt. And as she struggles against doubt and suspicion, her stalker moves closer. His anonymous messages take a terrifyingly intimate turn, and no one close to Jane, it seems, is safe.

Rachel's Holiday

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The fast lane is much too slow for twenty-seven-year-old Rachel Walsh, who is always the last one still standing whenever there's a party. And New York City is the perfect place for a young female to over-do ... everything! But her love of a good time is about to land her in the emergency room and alienate her best friend and her boyfriend.

Soon the Walsh clan has come to hustle their daughter home to check her into the local version of the Betty Ford Clinic. And just when another million hours of group therapy are about to drive her crazy, Rachel meets a new man and resolves to ride this wild dream to love--or wherever else her heart may lead her.

Keeping Faith

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When the marriage of Mariah White and her cheating husband, Colin, turns ugly and disintegrates, their seven-year-old daughter, Faith, is there to witness it all. In the aftermath of a rapid divorce, Mariah falls into a deep depression--and suddenly Faith, a child with no religious background whatsoever, hears divine voices, starts reciting biblical passages, and develops stigmata. 

And when the miraculous healings begin, mother and daughter are thrust into the volatile center of controversy and into the heat of a custody battle--trapped in a mad media circus that threatens what little stability the family has left.

Mercy

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Police chief of a small Massachusetts town, Cameron McDonald makes the toughest arrest of his life when his own cousin Jamie comes to him and confesses outright that he has killed his terminally ill wife out of mercy.

Now, a heated murder trial plunges the town into upheaval, and drives a wedge into a contented marriage: Cameron, aiding the prosecution in their case against Jamie, is suddenly at odds with his devoted wife, Allie -- seduced by the idea of a man so in love with his wife that he'd grant all her wishes, even her wish to end her life. And when an inexplicable attraction leads to a shocking betrayal, Allie faces the hardest questions of the heart: when does love cross the line of moral obligation? And what does it mean to truly love another?

Plain Truth

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The small town of Paradise, Pennsylvania, is a jewel in Lancaster County -- known for its picture-postcard landscapes and bucolic lifestyle. But that peace is shattered by the discovery of a dead infant in the barn of an Amish farmer. A police investigation quickly leads to two startling disclosures: the newborn's mother is an unmarried Amish woman, eighteen-year-old Katie Fisher. And the infant did not die of natural causes. Although Katie denies the medical proof that she gave birth to the child, circumstantial evidence leads to her arrest for the murder of her baby.

One hundred miles away, Philadelphia defense attorney Ellie Hathaway has achieved an enviable, high-profile career. But her latest court "victory" has set the sands shifting beneath her. Single at thirty-nine and unsatisfied with her relationship, Ellie doesn't look back when she turns down her chance to make partner and takes off for an open-ended stay at her great-aunt's home in Paradise.

Fate brings her to Katie Fisher. Suddenly, Ellie sees the chance to defend a client who truly needs her, not just one who can afford her. But taking on this case challenges Ellie in more ways than one. She finds herself not only in a clash of wills with a client who does not want to be defended but also in a clash of cultures with a people whose channels of justice are markedly different from her own.

Immersing herself in Katie Fisher's life -- and in a world founded on faith, humility, duty, and honesty -- Ellie begins to understand the pressures and sacrifices of those who to live "plain." As she peels away the layers of fact and fantasy, Ellie calls on an old friend for guidance. Now, just as this man from Ellie's past reenters her life, she must uncover the truth about a complex case, a tragic loss, the bonds of love -- and her own deepest fears and desires.

Harvesting The Heart

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Paige has only a few vivid memories of her mother, who abandoned her when she was five. Now, having left her father behind in Chicago, she dreams of art school, marries an ambitious doctor--and soon becomes a mother herself. 

Overwhelmed by the demands of having a family, Paige cannot forget her mother's absence and the shameful memories of her own past, which make her doubt both her ability to give and her sense of self-worth. Out of Paige's struggle to find wholeness, Jodi Picoult crafts with astonishing clarity and evocative detail an absorbing novel that explores issues and emotions we can all relate to.

Salem Falls

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A handsome stranger comes to the sleepy New England town of Salem Falls in hopes of burying his past: Once a teacher at a girls' prep school, Jack St. Bride was destroyed when a student's crush sparked a powder keg of accusation. Now" washing dishes for Addie Peabody at the Do-Or-Diner, he slips quietly into his new routine and Addie finds this unassuming man fitting easily inside her heart. 

But amid the rustic calm of Salem Falls, a quartet of teenage girls harbor dark secrets--and they maliciously target Jack with a shattering allegation. Now, at the center of a modern-day witch hunt, Jack is forced once again to proclaim his innocence: to a town searching for answers, to a justice system where truth becomes a slippery concept written in shades of gray, and to the woman who has come to love him

Lucky : A Memoir

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When Sebold, the author of the current bestseller The Lovely Bones, was a college freshman at Syracuse University, she was attacked and raped on the last night of school, forced onto the ground in a tunnel "among the dead leaves and broken beer bottles." 

In a ham-handed attempt to mollify her, a policeman later told her that a young woman had been murdered there and, by comparison, Sebold should consider herself lucky. That dubious "luck" is the focus of this fiercely observed memoir about how an incident of such profound violence can change the course of one's life. Sebold launches her memoir headlong into the rape itself, laying out its visceral physical as well as mental violence, and from there spins a narrative of her life before and after the incident, weaving memories of parental alcoholism together with her post-rape addiction to heroin.

In the midst of each wrenching episode, from the initial attack to the ensuing courtroom drama, Sebold's wit is as powerful as her searing candor, as she describes her emotional denial, her addiction and even the rape (her first "real" sexual experience). She skillfully captures evocative moments, such as, during her girlhood, luring one of her family's basset hounds onto a blue silk sofa (strictly off-limits to both kids and pets) to nettle her father. Addressing rape as a larger social issue, Sebold's account reveals that there are clear emotional boundaries between those who have been victims of violence and those who have not, though the author attempts to blur these lines as much as possible to show that violence touches many more lives than solely the victim's.

The Talisman

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Fantasy and reality collide in this whirlwind tale as "The Talisman" chronicles the journey of a young boy attempting to save his dying mother. After meeting an eccentric old man in an amusement park, Jack Sawyer becomes aware of an alien realm called the Territories. Jack must trek across America, facing the evil creatures of the Territories and of this world, to retrieve a valuable prize that can save his mother's life.

Shutter Island

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It's 1954, and U.S. Marshals Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule arrive at a small island in Massachusetts' Outer Harbor. It is home to Ashcliffe Hospital, a federal institution for the criminally insane, and one of the patients has escaped. Although the two men are new partners, they have already developed a wry, jocular relationship while also swapping personal, painful details. Daniels' lost his much-loved wife two years prior in a fire, while Aule requested a transfer out of Seattle after being harassed over his personal relationship with a Japanese American woman. 

After interviewing the hospital's medical personnel, both men have the feeling they are being stonewalled, especially by the director, who seems to alternate between a cold authoritarianism and a sudden and sweeping compassion. When the island is hit by gale-force winds and Aule disappears, Daniels must go it alone, beset by the fear that he has been fed psychotropic drugs and the belief that the hospital is performing radical brain surgery as part of a secret-ops program. Lehane throws in one mind-bending plot twist after another in a psychological thriller that will leave readers in suspense right up to the end.

A master of the adroit psychological detail, Lehane makes the horrors of the mean streets pale in comparison to the workings of the human mind.

Mystic River

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Twenty-five years ago, Dave Boyle got into a car. When he came back four days later, he was different in a way that destroyed his friendship with Sean Devine and Jimmy Marcus. Now Sean's a cop, Jimmy's a store owner with a prison record and mob connections, and Dave's trying hard to keep his demons safely submerged.

When Jimmy's daughter Katie is found murdered, each of the men must confront a past that none is eager to acknowledge. Lehane tugs delicately on the strands that weave this neighborhood together, testing for their strengths and weaknesses; this novel seems as much anthropological case study as thriller.

Why We Suck

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According to Leary, his first book is not for the faint of heart, by which he means Americans: "I am here to debunk and declassify and otherwise hold up a brutally honest mirror to our fat, ugly, lazy American selves." Now, a good many comedians make a career out of daring to speak the ugly, gasping truths that few others would. Leary brings a particularly acid-tinged tone to his rantings about annoying children, why cats are satanic spawn, what an ugly racket the Catholic Church is and (more surprisingly) why he loves Oprah. The book will most likely appeal to fans of Leary, and while the material might have been better delivered as a live performance (some of these hate-laced monologues are just begging to be read aloud), Leary himself wildly entertains.

The Kiss

 

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Everyone loves a wedding...Nothing lifts our hearts like the joyous peal of wedding bells. Or the sight of a happy couple being showered with confetti and good wishes. Now the most exciting new names in romantic fiction - and the bestselling author who started it all - escort you down the aisle to a place of honor at four glorious celebrations of everlasting love: Kathleen E. Woodiwiss reintroduces us to the beloved characters from The Flame and the Flower - including Jeff Birmingham, who seals an impetuous proposal with one brief, precious and passionate kiss.

Mille's note : .PDF contains only The Kiss

Lisey's Story

 

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Every marriage has two hearts, one light and one dark...

Lisey Landon shared a profound and sometimes frightening intimacy with her husband, Scott, a celebrated bestselling novelist -- and a man with many secrets. One was the place where his gifts of imagination came from, a place that could heal or destroy him. Now, two years after his death, it's Lisey's turn to face Scott's demons on a nearly fatal journey into the darkness he inhabited. .

Mr. Darcy's Diary

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Monday 9th September
"I left London today and met Bingley at Netherfield Park. I had forgotten what good company he is; always ready to be pleased and always cheerful. After my difficult summer, it is good to be with him again. ..."

The only place Darcy could share his innermost feelings was in the private pages of his diary...

Torn between his sense of duty to his family name and his growing passion for Elizabeth Bennet, all he can do is struggle not to fall in love. 

Mr. Darcy's Diary presents the story of the unlikely courtship of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy from Darcy's point of view. This graceful imagining and sequel to Price and Prejudice explains Darcy's moodiness and the difficulties of his reluctant relationship as he struggles to avoid falling in love with Miss Bennet. Though seemingly stiff and stubborn at times, Darcy's words prove him also to be quite devoted and endearing - qualities that eventually win over Miss Bennet's heart. This continuation of a classic romantic novel is charming and elegant, much like Darcy himself.

Pride and Prejudice has inspired a large number of modern day sequels, the most successful of which focus on the rich, proud Mr. Darcy.

Start Me Up

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Lori Love is yearning for something more...

She’d always planned to get out of tiny Tumble Creek, Colorado, but when her late dad left her his beloved auto repair shop, Lori stayed. Now she needs some excitement in her life and, according to her best friend, some hot, no-strings-attached sex would be just the thing to get Lori’s engine purring.

Quinn Jennings has buildings on the brain—not love and romance. A serious architect, he’s delighted to discover that Lori is willing to skip dating protocol and head straight for the sheets. Using the Lori’s collection of steamy books as a guide, Quinn gets busy making all her wildest fantasies come true. Mind-blowing, meaningless sex is one thing, but then life in Tumble Creek takes a dangerous turn for Lori, and Quinn’s protective instincts kick in. Suddenly he cares. More than either of them ever expected…

Crazy For Love

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Chloe Turner thought she was going to marry the perfect man-until her fiancé's plane crashed. And then she got the really bad news: he'd tried to fake his own death to avoid marrying her. Now America's most famous
bridezilla (a tag she most definitely does not deserve), Chloe escapes to a remote island to avoid the paparazzi. And right next door is a man who just might be the cure for Chloe's heartache.... 

 

A magnet for wild, complicated women, Max Sullivan is relieved to have finally found someone "normal." Chloe is his girl-next-door fantasy come to life, and best of all, she gets him. With her, he can be himself, a treasure-hunting millionaire who desperately wants out of his sexy but reckless job. 

But when Chloe's notoriety catches up with them, will their torrid romance make it to the mainland?

Who's Pulling Your Strings ?

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Millions of people, both men and women, can become involved in relationships with manipulators--people who control through emotional manipulation, insults, and mind games. These "toxic" relationships erode self-esteem and make life miserable for the victim. Whether the manipulator is a relative, a spouse or romantic partner, a boss, coworker, or subordinate, or even a trusted friend or advisor, Dr. Harriet B. Braiker, bestselling author of The Disease to Please, shows you how to break this damaging cycle for good.

Who's Pulling Your Strings? will help you end a current destructive relationship, understand how it occurred--and prevent you from ever getting involved in a manipulative relationship again. Using revealing self-assessment quizzes, action plans, and how-to exercises, Dr. Braiker empowers you to:

• Recognize the signs of a manipulative relationship
• Spot manipulators and their typical ways of operating
• Assess your own vulnerability to manipulation
• Identify the 7 main "Head Games" manipulators play
• Utilize effective resistance tactics against manipulator's efforts
• Transform yourself from a "soft" to a "hardened" target
• Extricate yourself from manipulative relationships that do not change
• Protect yourself from falling prey to manipulators' control in the future
• Stop others from pulling your strings once and for all

With insight, compassionate advice, and self-affirming strategies, Dr. Braiker helps you end any manipulative relationship and regain control of your life--starting right now.

It Happened One Autumn

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Four young ladies enter London society with one necessary goal: they must use their feminine wit and wiles to find a husband. So they band together, and a daring husband-hunting scheme is born.

It Happened at the Ball...

Where beautiful but bold Lillian Bowman quickly learned that her independent American ways weren't entirely "the thing." And the most disapproving of all was insufferable, snobbish, and impossible Marcus, Lord Westcliff, London's most eligible aristocrat.

It Happened in the Garden...

When Marcus shockingly -- and dangerously -- swept her into his arms. Lillian was overcome with a consuming passion for a man she didn't even like. Time stood still; it was as if no one else existed...thank goodness they weren't caught very nearly in the act!

It Happened One Autumn...

Marcus was a man in charge of his own emotions, a bedrock of stability. But with Lillian, every touch was exquisite torture, every kiss an enticement for more. Yet how could he consider taking a woman so blatantly unsuitable...as his bride?

Watchers

 

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From a top-secret government laboratory come two genetically altered life-forms. One is a magnificent dog of astonishing intelligence. The other, a hybrid monster of a brutally violent nature. And both are on the loose ... Bestselling author Dean Koontz presents his most terrifying, dramatic and moving novel: the explosive story of a man and a woman, caught in a relentless storm of mankind's darkest creation ...

By The Light Of Moon

 

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On the road, on a hot Arizona night, Dylan O'Conner is overpowered by a stranger who injects him with an unknown substance. All he's told is that he's the "carrier," not of a disease but of something wondrous that will transform his life in remarkable ways -- if it doesn't kill him in the next twenty-four hours.

Now Dylan, his autistic brother, Shep, and another "carrier," a young woman, are swept into a desperate search for the shattering truth of what they are and what they might become. But first they must elude those sent to destroy them.

Their only chance to survive is to discover the meaning of the messages that Shep, with precious time running out, begins to repeat, about a man who does his work..

A Turn In A Road

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In the middle of the year, in the middle of her life, Bethanne Hamlin takes a road trip with her daughter, Annie, and her former mother-in-law, Ruth.

 

They're driving to Florida for Ruth's 50th high-school reunion. A longtime widow, Ruth would like to reconnect with Royce, the love of her teenage life. She's heard he's alone, too…and, well, she's curious. Maybe even hopeful.

Bethanne herself needs time to react, to ponder a decision she has to make. Her ex-husband, Grant—her children's father—wants to reconcile now that his second marriage has failed. Bethanne's considering it….
Meanwhile, Annie's out to prove to her onetime boyfriend that she can live a brilliant life without him!
So there they are, three women driving across America. They have their maps and their directions—but even the best-planned journey can take you to a turn in the road. Or lead you to an unexpected encounter—like the day Bethanne meets a man named Max who really is a hero on a Harley. That's when Bethanne's decision becomes a lot harder. Because Grant wants her back, but now there's Max….

From Seattle's Blossom Street to the other end of the country, this is a trip that could change three women's lives.

Scandal In Spring

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After spending three London seasons searching for a husband, Daisy Bowman's father has told her in no uncertain terms that she must find a husband. Now. And if Daisy can't snare an appropriate suitor, she will marry the man he chooses-the ruthless and aloof Matthew Swift.

Daisy is horrified. A Bowman never admits defeat, and she decides to do whatever it takes to marry someone . . . anyone . . . other than Matthew. But she doesn't count on Matthew's unexpected charm . . . or the blazing sensuality that soon flares beyond both their control. And Daisy discovers that the man she has always hated just might turn out to be the man of her dreams.

But right at the moment of sweet surrender, a scandalous secret is uncovered . . . one that could destroy both Matthew and a love more passionate and irresistible than Daisy's wildest fantasies.

Secrets Of A Summer Nights

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Four young ladies enter London society with one common goal: they must use their feminine wit and wiles to find a husband. So a daring husband-hunting scheme is born.

1841. Annabelle Peyton, determined to save her family from disaster, decides to use her beauty and wit to tempt a suitable nobleman into making an offer of marriage. But Annabelle's most intriguing -- and persistent -- admirer, wealthy, powerful Simon Hunt, has made it clear that while he will introduce her to irresistible pleasure he will not offer marriage. Annabelle is determined to resist his unthinkable proposition ... but it is impossible in the face of such skillful seduction.

Her friends, looking to help, conspire to entice a more suitable gentleman to offer for Annabelle, for only then will she be safe from Simon -- and her own longings. But on one summer night, Annabelle succumbs to Simon's passionate embrace and tempting kisses ... and she discovers that love is the most dangerous game of all.

Something About You

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FATE HAS THROWN TWO SWORN ENEMIES...
Of all the hotel rooms rented by all the adulterous politicians in Chicago, female Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Lynde had to choose the one next to 1308, where some hot-and-heavy lovemaking ends with a death. And of all the FBI agents in Illinois, it had to be Special Agent Jack Pallas who gets assigned to this high-profile homicide. The same Jack Pallas who still blames Cameron for a botched crackdown three years ago -- and for nearly ruining his career...

INTO EACH OTHER'S ARMS
Work with Cameron Lynde? Are they kidding? Maybe, Jack thinks, this is some kind of welcome-back prank after his stint away from Chicago. But it's no joke; the pair is going to have to put their rocky past behind them and focus on the case at hand. That is, if they can cut back on the razor-sharp jibes -- and smother the flame of their sizzling-hot sexual tension...

Practice Makes Perfect

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WHEN IT COMES TO THE LAWS OF ATTRACTION...
Payton Kendall and J.D. Jameson are lawyers who know the meaning of objection. A feminist to the bone, Payton has fought hard to succeed in a profession dominated by men. Born wealthy, privileged, and cocky, J.D. has fought hard to ignore her. Face-to-face, they're perfectly civil. They have to be. For eight years they have kept a safe distance and tolerated each other as coworkers for one reason one: to make partner at the firm.

...THERE ARE NO RULES.
But all bets are off when they're asked to join forces on a major case. Though apprehensive at first, they begin to appreciate each other's dedication to the law- and the sparks between them quickly turn into attraction. But the increasingly hot connection does not last long when they discover that only one of them will be named partner. Now it's an all-out war. And the battle between the sexes is bound to make these lawyers how under the collar.

Just The Sexiest Man Alive

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From a dazzling new talent comes a delightful debut a hunky heartthrob and the woman who refuses to let him capture her heart...

COOL. CALM. COLLECTED...
Nothing fazes Taylor Donovan. In the courtroom she never lets the opposition see her sweat. In her personal life, she never lets any man rattle her--not even her cheating ex-fiance. So when she's assigned to coach People's "Sexiest Man Alive" for his role in his next big legal thriller, she refuses to fall for the Hollywood heartthrob's charms. Even if he is the Jason Andrews.

CONFIDENT. FAMOUS. IRRESISTIBLE...
Jason Andrews is used to having women fall at his feet. When Taylor Donovan gives him the cold shoulder, he's thrown for a loop. She's unlike any other woman he's ever met: uninterested in the limelight, seemingly immune to his advances, and shockingly capable of saying no to him. She's the perfect challenge. And the more she rejects him, the more he begins to realize she may just be his perfect match...

First Dance

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Manhattan's top female divorce attorney a bridesmaid? Stranger things have happened. The bride's best friend, Vivien Shelton has seen the ugly side of love--and alights in Texas with the perfect wedding present: an iron-clad pre- nup. But the groom's good-ole-boy lawyer is itching for a fight--especially one with Vivien, a woman he has tangled with in the past...

First Date

 

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Take one bride. Add three bridesmaids. And you get four sexy and sassy tales of modern-day romance. From first glance to "I do," this wedding party is learning about love the hard way--but taking it all in stride straight down the aisle....

Meet the sister of the bride, Jersey girl Sydney Spinelli. Syd has her heart set on stopping the wedding between her little sister and her Texas boyfriend of one month. The only problem is that Syd's heart is getting distracted by the groom's sexy best friend....

The Shining

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A six-hour ABC-TV miniseries airing in May, starring Steven Weber and Rebecca De Mornay. High in the isolated, wintry Rocky Mountains, terror awaits behind every door of the Overlook Hotel--a place where the guests are deceased but not necessarily departed. Now the only hope against the ghastly forces that threaten to claim the hotel's caretaker and his family is his young son, a boy possessed of a fearsome power he neither knows nor understands.

Hell House

 

 

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Rolf Rudolph Deutsch is going die. But when Deutsch, a wealthy magazine and newpaper publisher, starts thinking seriously about his impending death, he offers to pay a physicist and two mediums, one physical and one mental, $100,000 each to establish the facts of life after death.

Dr. Lionel Barrett, the physicist, accompanied by the mediums, travel to the Belasco House in Maine, which has been abandoned and sealed since 1949 after a decade of drug addiction, alcoholism, and debauchery. For one night, Barrett and his colleagues investigate the Belasco House and learn exactly why the townfolks refer to it as the Hell House.

"Hell House is the scariest haunted house novel ever written. It looms over the rest the way the mountains loom over the foothills." --Stephen King

The Haunting of Hill House

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Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House has unnerved readers since its original publication in 1959. A tale of subtle, psychological terror, it has earned its place as one of the significant haunted house stories of the ages. 

Eleanor Vance has always been a loner--shy, vulnerable, and bitterly resentful of the 11 years she lost while nursing her dying mother. "She had spent so long alone, with no one to love, that it was difficult for her to talk, even casually, to another person without self-consciousness and an awkward inability to find words." Eleanor has always sensed that one day something big would happen, and one day it does. She receives an unusual invitation from Dr. John Montague, a man fascinated by "supernatural manifestations." He organizes a ghost watch, inviting people who have been touched by otherworldly events. A paranormal incident from Eleanor's childhood qualifies her to be a part of Montague's bizarre study--along with headstrong Theodora, his assistant, and Luke, a well-to-do aristocrat. They meet at Hill House--a notorious estate in New England.

Hill House is a foreboding structure of towers, buttresses, Gothic spires, gargoyles, strange angles, and rooms within rooms--a place "without kindness, never meant to be lived in...." 

Although Eleanor's initial reaction is to flee, the house has a mesmerizing effect, and she begins to feel a strange kind of bliss that entices her to stay. Eleanor is a magnet for the supernatural--she hears deathly wails, feels terrible chills, and sees ghostly apparitions. Once again she feels isolated and alone--neither Theo nor Luke attract so much eerie company. But the physical horror of Hill House is always subtle; more disturbing is the emotional torment Eleanor endures.

Desperation

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There's a place along Interstate 50 that some call the loneliest place on Earth. It's known as Desperation, Nevada.

It's not a very nice place to live. It's an even worse place to die.

Let the battle against evil begin.

Welcome to...Desperation

The Dead Zone

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Johnny, the small boy who skated at breakneck speed into an accident that for one horrifying moment plunged him into The Dead Zone

Johnny Smith, the small-town schoolteacher who spun the wheel of fortune and won a four-and-a-half-year trip into The Dead Zone

John Smith, who awakened from an interminable coma with an accursed power-the power to see the future and the terrible fate awaiting mankind in The Dead Zone

Intensity

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Past midnight, Chyna Shepherd, twenty-six, gazed out a moonlit window, unable to sleep on her first night in the Napa Valley home of her best friend’s family. Instinct proves reliable. A murderous sociopath, Edgler Forman Vess, has entered the house, intent on killing everyone inside. A self-proclaimed “homicidal adventurer,” Vess lives only to satisfy all appetites as they arise, to immerse himself in sensation, to live without fear, remorse or limits, to live with intensity. Chyna is trapped in his deadly orbit.

Chyna is a survivor, toughened by a lifelong struggle for safety and self-respect. Now she will be tested as never before. At first her sole aim is to get out alive-until, by chance, she learns the identity of Vess’s next intended victim, a faraway innocent only she can save. Driven by a newly discovered thirst for meaning beyond mere self-preservation, Chyna musters every inner resource she has to save an endangered girl—as moment by moment, the terrifying threat of Edgler Foreman Vess intensifies.

Under Her Skin

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Heiress Engaged To Marry Playboy!

Lexi Titan can just see the headlines. All of Titanville will be buzzing. Not that she has any other choice. Faced with exactly thirty days to come up with two million dollars, she is out of options. Marry Cruz Rodriguez or lose everything--the successful day spa she built herself, her tyrant of a father's respect. And the long-standing competition with her sisters for the family business.

Cruz has money, success, smoldering good looks--everything but the blue blood needed to become a true member of Texas society. If Lexi agrees to be his fiancee for six months, lending him her famous father's influence and connections, he'll hand her a check on the spot. And in six months they'll go their separate ways.

But neither one is prepared for their long-ago shared passion to throw a wrench into what would seem to be the perfect deal.

Brazen

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SHE KNEW WHAT SHE WANTED...
After agreeing to a loveless marriage, Samantha Reed needed to taste true desire, at least once in her life. So she decided to take a week and experience everything she'd never have - passion, excitement, ecstasy...Even if it was with a stranger. And a sexy bartender seemed like the perfect man to love and leave behind...

HIM!
Wealthy resort owner Ryan 'Mac' Mackenzie wasn't really a bartender. But he wasn't about to admit it - especially since Samantha seemed to want him just the way he was. And he really wanted her. Her eyes invited him, her body tempted him...and her naivete captured his heart. He'd had a week - now he needed forever. Then he discovered Samantha already had a fiance...

Cross My Heart

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SHE'S GONE FROM RICHES TO RAGS -- AND BACK AGAIN!

Lacey Kincaid is a classic New York success story. As the owner of Odd Jobs, she's gone from rags to riches...sort of. Because Lacey's harboring a secret -- she was born Lillian Dumont, and spent her childhood with a silver spoon in her mouth, until the deaths of her wealthy parents and the evil schemes of an abusive uncle forced her to take drastic measures. She'd never planned to return to her former life or her abandoned identity -- but when her childhood sweetheart, Ty, resurfaces and urges her to claim her rightful inheritance, she decides that maybe being the Dumont heiress wouldn't be so bad. Lacey's uncle doesn't see it that way, though -- and he's willing to do anything to stop her.

Now, it's up to Ty to protect Lacey before that silver spoon becomes a silver bullet. But if they live through this, the future's looking bright for this downtown guy and his brand-new uptown girl!

Business @ The Speed Of Thought

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So where do you want to go tomorrow? That's the question Bill Gates tries to answer in Business @ the Speed of Thought. Gates offers a 12-step program for companies wanting to do business in the next millennium. The book's premise: Thanks to technology, the speed of business is accelerating at an ever-increasing rate, and to survive, it must develop an infrastructure--a "digital nervous system"--that allows for the unfettered movement of information inside a company. Gates writes that "The most meaningful way to differentiate your company from your competition ... is to do an outstanding job with information. How you gather, manage, and use information will determine whether you win or lose."

The book is peppered with examples of companies that have already successfully engineered information networks to manage inventory, sales, and customer relationships better. The examples run from Coca-Cola's ability to download sales data from vending machines to Microsoft's own internal practices, such as its reliance on e-mail for company-wide communication and the conversion of most paper processes to digital ones (an assertion that seems somewhat at odds with the now-infamous "by hand on sheets of paper" method of tracking profits that was revealed during Microsoft's antitrust trial).